Bigwan

Surely the Sterling 5HS is too close to your current Ray 5? Be daring! Bongo, Bongo, Bongo!

Why not go the whole hog and have a precision modded to be a Jazz (Like Wille Weeks'/Clarky's Alleva)? Jazz bass sound with precision ergonomics. Problem solved. It's a step better than the PJ idea for me - PJ doesn't do the 'role-off-1-pickup-slightly' sound due to the mismatch in the pickup types. I seem to remember seeing a Musicman 'Ray modded this way somewhere along the line - think it was yer man from the Stereophonics... Or you could just put a P neck on a J...

I bought my Lakland 55-01 used for £400. It's a fantastic bass for that money. Hangs with anything under a grand (and to me it's better than the musicman stingray 5 i used to have). Also, if you can find one, there's the Cort RB5/Josh Paul signature. If you can handle the tight string spacing an Ibanez atk305 is worth a look too.

Bongos rule. Love my 4HH. I'd love a 5 string version again but can't get on with any EB 5. Something about the ergonomics doesn't work for me (ray and bongo). You learn to get around the limited spacing for slap with the neck pickup. I'll agree the visual aspect isn't for everyone, but you soon get past that! Don't think about it, just buy one!!!

I always fancied one of these. Smart looking bass.

Meh... they're no Bongo ;¬p

Bought one of these here a while back. Great preamp. Mine's fast becoming a fav!

I remember GarethHughes did some clips of a fretted custom he had for sale with ghs brite flats on it and I thought they sounded really roundwound-esque...

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='956531' date='Sep 14 2010, 08:54 PM']You'd think with all his high-profile gigs he could afford to get his bass set up properly.[/quote] Properly for you, or properly for him ;p I do see your point though!

Buy used. You'll get a lot of amp for £500. There's a used Hartke Hydrive 2x10 combo local to me in as new condition for £375 so something like that's worth a look. An Ibanez Promethean is good by all accounts, but one 10" speaker will only do so much.

Other than all valve, you'll be hard pressed to find a 'modern' amp that doesn't have a fan of some description. What do you have against them? When you're playing with a drummer you're unlikely to ever hear it anyway! You could try a Trace Elliot V-Type head/combo. I recently bought a V-Type preamp and it's full of vintage valve goodness! There's also the Mesa Walkabout head/combo which sounds really nice and valvey. There's the Orange Terror Bass head too. I've always sworn by the Ashdown ABM, but very few others seem to like them nowadays - both mine are the (better for me) original, pre-EVO models. These are all valve pre/solid state amp over 300 watts, but if you're playing with a drummer you'll need more than 60 solid state watts if you ask me. If you want to go uder modern you could try the TC Electronics RH450 - it seems to do vintage VERY well by all accounts.

I've been considering this myself lately (especially with all these gorgeous ACs knocking around all of a sudden!), but there are very few basses I've ever played that have 'shocked me to my core' (to quote Anton Ego). When I find 'THE ONE' I'll maybe sell a lot of stuff, but at the minute I have a nice range of available options. I've only 2 basses I will NEVER sell (my Fender P was a wedding present from my lovely wife and my old Aria Pro II and I have been through too much together!). Although my Lakland JO is my no.1, if something extra special fell into my hands, who knows - I have a list of people willing to take it off my hands.

The BG500 looks great except for the weight. I suppose with a decent hand truck it wouldn't be an issue until you came to stairs - then it'd be a VERY big deal, at least for my back! Shep on here has one (pantherairsoft) and has a whole page to himself in the new BGM singing its praises so he might be the guy to ask.

[quote name='Veils' post='947980' date='Sep 7 2010, 09:26 AM']It's only been out about a year?[/quote] Ya see that's what happens when yer band's named the same as an old metal tune (by Cynic) and I haven't me brain plugged in... and surfing in work where I can't see the vid in the first place!

Do your own homework I say... but then not everyone researches stuff the way I do!

+1 to a second Aggie cab. That'd be the first thing I'd do with £800... and since all those black boxes look alike another can appear right under her-indoors nose without raising an eyebrow! After that I'd be lost - but apparently the Mex 70's classic series jazz (rw neck, pearl inlays) is very nice for the money. Should be possible to manage both used and have change for a curry!

FOR ME the 2 best basses I've played in my 18 years of bassdom were a 66 P bass and Flanker/CK's old Celinder Jazz Update (the black bass featured at the top of this very page I believe - the scarbee celinder). Should have bought both of them to be honest. Neither were scandalously expensive - the Celinder was used and the P-bass was a refin. I GASed for a WAL for years, then owned one for a while, now not remotely interested any more. It was good, but no cigar... I don't really GAS so much for basses I haven't laid hands on any more. I'm pretty close to these 2 choices with my top 2 basses I currently have so my GAS doesn't bother me as much as it used to - although nearly every Alleva Coppolo that turns up on here sets me off, especially Clarky's! Maybe an AC should be my answer, but without playing one how would I know?!

[quote name='bluesparky' post='943118' date='Sep 2 2010, 10:45 AM']I've done a couple of gigs recently where the drummer used an electric kit. It did keep the on stage volume down, and also the out-front volume was at a level where the punters didn't leave with bleeding ears. However both times, because of the set-up the drum sound was only coming out of the drummer's monitor (which was to his right and pointing at him and i was playing on stage right) and out front, i couldn't hear him, which meant i spent the entire gig with my head pretty much bent over his kit so i could hear him play through his monitor. To try to get over this he turned up, which meant he was louder, therefore everyone else turned up.... I much prefer playing with a drummer with a "proper" kit.[/quote] Don't you have a monitor too? If not, why not? They're really a must if playing with an e-kit, but then I think they're a must anyway!

+1 to removing the neck AND to shipping with APC.

[quote name='bobbytodd' post='942944' date='Sep 2 2010, 06:51 AM']our drummer uses a roland v kit the one with the mesh heads and for the really small pubs we sometimes play its great because you can set the onstage volume really low and at the end of the night your ears are not ringing like hell.[/quote] Exactly the same as me. I'd no probs with moving to playing with an e-kit. Much prefer it actually.

Sounds like there's a lot of feet being dragged. Dump them and move on. Bands aren't always as hard to find as you think.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='937724' date='Aug 27 2010, 01:18 AM']I remember seeing a Wal on sale at the gallery for £1200 a few years ago. It had some mojo but I recall a year later it would likely have appreciated probably 70% in value. It's a funny old game we're in![/quote] I bought a Wal for £500, kept it for 4 years and played it pretty solidly then sold it on here for £1450 as I wanted a BCer to get it (knew I could get more for it elsewhere).... Imagine how pi$$ed I was when the same punter sold it on the 'bay the week after for £700 more than I was asking... git... at least I got the credit card cleared, eh...