neepheid

So, what if I told you that my gig on October 7th has been cancelled...

They probably felt they needed to, with Thomann/Harley Benton squeezing them from below and Sire pressing down on them from above. I've always said that G&L Tributes should also be in that mix too but G&L still seems to be a relative enigma in the grand scheme of things.

I came into this thread expecting a tale of woe about the forced selling of some basses, leaving the OP with a paltry collection of five...

Only useful to you in a generic sense as you seem to be set on a J style bass, but I am enjoying my Sire D5 (the '51/'54 P-a-like one) very much. Quality all round is excellent for the price, lovely neck, decent weight, pretty good hardware. My only "complaint", and it's more of an observation really, is that the single coil P pickup they use is a bit low output. Now this doesn't bother me in the slightest - amp has gain and volume knobs for this very reason, but some people get sniffy about these things so I'm just mentioning for completeness.

I'm not going to tell anyone how to bass. I use 2 pedals - a tuner and an overdrive - between my bass and the amp. I hadn't ever considered what other people might think of that. I'm probably the sort of player who can please neither camp, two is too many for the minimalists and two is pathetic for the pedalboard crowd. I do me, you're very welcome to do you. Or do one

53 basses after I started and I guess I have become a Epiphone Jack Casady and G&L guy in the main. In a former life I was Mr. Gibson, but hard times had me pack up and sell them all. I doubt I'll get back into the Gibsons now - they're a waste of time right now when it comes to new basses, and the prices of old ones that I'd be interested in have gone doolally. These days I'm all about value, and that means things like G&L Tributes, Sires, that kind of bang for buck level.

Also, for '51/'54 P shaped objects, the Sire D5 is a great deal at £369 from Thomann (I bought mine a few weeks ago and I've been super impressed with it)

G&L Tribute LB-100 - can be had for as little as £350 new on a deal and will kick a Squier P at a similar price point into the middle of next week IMO.

Sounds like my originals band...

I'm at a music festival right now and I'm half cut. Your opinions are not facts, and my opinion is that if you have to write more than a paragraph, you're probably having a rant.

Jesus wept - shots fired!

I don't mind admitting to being shallow and favouring looks first. Ergonomics comes second (principally string spacing my fingers seem picky about) and bottom of the heap is sound. All basses sound bassy - it has been pointed out that a bunch of us can't even pick out our own basses by sound alone... so as long as it sounds "good" by my nebulous definition then I'm happy.

47 here, only started playing bass in my 30s.

There was a 10cc greatest hits tape in the parental house when I was growing up, enjoy a lot of their stuff. Also really enjoy the mashup 2manydjs did with Dreadlock Holiday and Destiny's Child's Independent Women part 1 - it mashed together really well!

I'll bite - warranty, brand new item, peeling protective film off pickguard, not having someone else's dead skin cells in your bass, also not everyone feels confident navigating the second hand market. Don't get me wrong, I hear you, but you did ask...

At the price point you're talking about, pretty sure Harley Benton is about the best in class.

Do we not drive on the left in order to keep our right hand free for swinging swords at people?

I'd play that at a country night, or in church. Anyone who complains is a churlish killjoy.

I hate it when venues suck and have not the slightest clue what's involved in setting up a band.

So, I've had it a few weeks now - how goes it? Very well. The setup out of the box did end up needing a small tweak - there was a little too much relief in the neck so a cheeky quarter turn on the truss rod dialed that out nicely and it's playing great with no buzz but low enough action for a bit of clank if I dig in. But apart from that, it was pretty much bob on. I don't ever mark a bass down for the setup it arrives with - I can do it myself anyway and my setup is my own. I'm not expecting any bass to arrive set up the way I like it, what an amazing coincidence that would be! Again, this is just a pure coincidence but it comes strung with what appear to be D'addario XL nickel rounds. Which are my strings of choice, so one less job to do. Dunno what gauge they are but they feel OK to me. I've played the bass at one band rehearsal and a couple of gigs now. Very happy with the way it went. The bass is quiet and the volume pot works as expected, any issues that might have been raised with early output of this bass by YouTube reviewers seem to have been addressed. In our RF hellhole of a rehearsal room, there was a bit of background noise but I have other basses which have been way worse and I've had to get the copper tape out. This one is tolerable so I probably won't bother, shielding seems adequate for normal use cases and isn't completely thrown by the abnormal case of our rehearsal room. In the rehearsal room and at the gigs, I did note that the pickup is not particularly high output. It also is very mid focused. Not bothered a jot about output - turn the amp gain/volume up, big whoop. But the focus of the sound did compel me to do some EQ tweaks, boosting the lows a bit. After I dialed that in I was very pleased with the sound I got, it's chunky, it's old school but it's not flat, there's a lot of life in there. Gigs went great, bass was as good as gold, lovely neck, great balance (never felt like I was fighting it). Looks like this one's a keeper. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a '51/'54 Precision shaped object, and at only £369 from Thomann (if DHL don't steal, sorry "lose" it en route) I consider it a great deal compared to the Squier '51 Precision shaped objects out there, with the roasted maple neck, the rolled fingerboard edges and the decent hardware being the obvious "upgrades" from what a Squier could give you out of the box.

As usual, the bass player completely unaware until a PA speaker is trying to assimilate him. There have been times when I have relied upon the spacial awareness of my bandmates to avoid a trip to A&E also...

Damn, those must have been some good chips n cheese...

My D5 is 4.05kg - 8.9lbs - not heavy by any means for the type of bass it is, but I'm guessing not the answer you wanted to hear? If it helps any, it balances well and with a decent strap (I use Neotech Mega straps), it's easy to fling about - no shoulder/back complaints this morning. Clark's sounds like a cool place. House PA? Luxury! Don't suppose they're averse to northern barbarians coming down to play? We haven't pillaged and raided any further south than Montrose so far...

I've seen one fight kick off in there in all the times I've played there. Was dealt with pretty swiftly. I've never felt unsafe in there. Things might be different if we sucked!

Second night of a double header, this time at Wilson's in Aberdeen. What a great night. Our guest "guitarist" joined us for a few songs, it was busy and folk were right into it. Got some great comments after the show and the audience were enthusiastic but respectful - interacted with us without pawing at the singer this time! Maybe picked up a booking for a birthday party out of it too. One for the books. Played really well, loving the Sire D5 (why did it take me so long to investigate '51/'54 Precision shaped objects?), it's a keeper.