MichaelDean

Amazing! Free set of new strings for my Mustang! Thanks for the heads up!

It'd probably be a Mustang: - Pickup modelled after the one in mine - 40mm nut - 7 ½" radius - neck shaped like a little p bass - maple neck, rosewood board (maybe ebony...) - gloss neck - mother of pearl inlays - vintage size stainless steel frets - 500k pots, 0.047uf capacitor - Hipshot ultralites with a drop tuner - Ash body with tummy and forearm contours - black grainfill on white cerused body, white grainfill on black cerused competition stripe - black three ply pickguard - thumbrest in 70s position - mustang bridge - thru body strung with D'Addario nickels It'd probably have to be a bit more than the JMJ Mustang because of the finish, but I reckon it'd sell well...

Ugh. Payment/invoicing portals are the worst. When I was working in an invoicing role, we were invoicing a company in Ireland for certification. No VAT applied as they're EU. Took months to get it right on their portal and get paid. They couldn't get it right at their end. These things aren't suited to one off/weirdy-beardy transactions. Can't imagine having to jump through these hoops for a gig!

I was pretty annoyed when the Mikey Way Mustang came out (due to the band affiliation!), it would have been my dream colour scheme but with a regular Mustang pickup and the same neck profile as my 70's one. Still kinda fancy picking one up someday but they don't come up much. Nothing else signature wise really floated my boat, but never say never!

I can totally see that side of it too, but programatically speaking, it shouldn't be hard to categorise them as bass or guitar effects. Then you know you have a set of effects that are optimised for bass and then you can try out some guitar ones if you feel the need later down the line. Like: Overdrive Bass X Y Z Guitar A B C

I messaged John about a loom for my Mustang bass after I butchered the electronics with my cheap soldering iron (now in the bin...). The mini Bourns pots feel really nice and it's a very reasonable cost and an excellent product! Screw terminals are just so convenient. Why aren't they standard practice?!?

Small rant... I'm a bit torn. On the one hand, it's nice having products built with a bassists needs in mind (A/B inputs, XLR out, etc.). On the other, I don't quite understand why Zoom still insist on doing a bass version and a guitar version. The extra bits on the B6 has would, I'm sure, also be very welcome on the G6. All of the other manufacturers have combined the guitar and bass units and then been able to sell to both markets straight away, reducing on manufacturing/tooling costs, etc. Then they make sure the product works well before expanding the range with variants on the theme. Plus, it always feels a bit like hand holding to have a reduced set of effects like reverbs and delays vs the guitar version. Almost like they're saying "No! You can't use a shimmer reverb on bass! Fool!". Can't they just give us everything and let us choose what's a suitable effect for bass?

I got my B4n to do delay and reverb for lush volume swells, as it's cheaper than two good pedals of either flavour and certainly sounds good enough to my ear. Plus I made a mean squelchy synth patch for "Toxic" when I was in a covers band. Now I've used that programme to load the extra guitar effects on to it, my pedalboard can do double duty for the guitar I bought a few months back. I'm very happy they're a thing!

I've also used and would recommend Flight Case Warehouse. It was a few years ago, but they made a custom case for my Mustang, turned it around in a couple of weeks, including me posting them a tracing of my bass. It protected my bass perfectly while flying to Japan and back 👌

I got a Harley Benton Tele (TE52) earlier this year. Great value for money, really pleased with the purchase. Based on that, I'd feel pretty happy trying just about any of their stuff. The SC550 II Les Pauls are a bit over budget (≈£240) but seem to get great reviews (have a look on YouTube) and have some great features including stainless steel frets. If I could sneak another guitar into the house, one of these would be on my shortlist!

I've never had a d tuner, but I've been in a originals post-rock band where swapping from drop d to regular tuning was required. I just turned on my tuner and retuned between songs. Didn't seem like a big deal at the time. I also spent time in a hip hop covers band and a function type band where a 5 string made a lot more sense. It's all horses for courses. If you picked up a second hand 4 and have a hunt for a d tuner, and it doesn't work out for you, you could probably pass it on again without losing much. Just don't necessarily get rid of the 5er straight away. Or at all. I like having different basses around that inspire me differently. I feel like sometimes the limitations of a 4 make me play a certain way. Other times, I want a 5 to expand my options.

Link to the listing: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Mustang-Bass-vintage-1973-1974-matching-serials-on-neck-and-body-plate-/133850670529?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0 For context, I've got a 76 Mustang I refinished about 10 years ago. I think it's had a refin on the body and headstock at some point. The logo looks all sorts of wrong. Based on the pictures, the paint doesn't look thick or shiny enough for the poly used in the 70s. The type of wear on the poly looks odd to me too. For that year, white is the correct pickguard colour. Seems very white to me, but there do seem to be age related marks on it. Like someone has tried to adjust the trussrod without taking the neck off and some discolouration around the screw holes. Might be an oddly well preserved pickguard. The pitting on the tuners looks authentic to me and the bridge has the mute bars that reissues don't have. It also has the brass shielding plate in the control cavity, which are only in vintage instruments. The wiring looks familiar to me too. All in all, I'd say it probably is a 70s Mustang.

About 10 years ago, I bought an older version of this from ACS. They were awful. Sound quality was terrible (harsh treble, crappy bass response) and the cable was super microphonic. I'd hope they would have improved by now, but I'd buy proper IEMs everytime.

Another vote for the Polytune Mini. Great tuner.

I'd second trying to play a few different options now that you've made a start playing bass. You'll have an idea for what might fit your hands and trying different necks/pickups might reveal something tonally you haven't thought about. I reckon that the best bass for you right now is the one that makes you want to pick it up whenever you look at it and feels good in your hands, whether that be the Ibanez, some P Bass or a Bootsy bass!

My brother wanted to learn guitar, so decided I should play bass. He got a Marshall starter kit, but I decided that I hated the shape of p basses at 13, so didn't want to get a Squier affinity starter kit. Some of my friends had them and some real issues with the necks. So, I bought mine from Noteworthy Music in Chippenham a good 20 years ago. It was an Aslin Dane jazz bass copy (sold with a really crappy starter amp, but that's another thread). Solid ash body, Canadian maple neck with a phenolic fretboard. With the hubris of youth, I decided that it wasn't a very good bass and I wanted to move on to something else quickly. I played it so much when I first got it though. The pots died after a while and then it sat unused for about 18 years until I finally rescued it this year. I replaced the pots and changed the strings for the first time since I bought it (gross I know...) and did a little setup. I took it to a jam earlier this year and it played well, but it was as heavy as remembered and didn't sit where I wanted it to in the mix, so I sold it in March this year to someone who will hopefully feel inspired by it.

I got one made about 10 years ago by Flight Case Warehouse when I had to fly mine. I sent a tracing of my Mustang and then they made a case to fit. Looks like they're charging £180 now... The thing is a tank though and really well made. https://www.flightcasewarehouse.co.uk/industry/product.asp?item=bass-guitar-flight-case-fits-all-3140-3980

I feel your pain! My first 5er was a SBMM SUB Ray5. Really nice thing, and I played that almost exclusively for a few years while I was in a hip hop band and a function band after that. Then I got my Dingwall and the neck on that is so much wider than the Ray 5 as you go up the neck (still comfy though). Thing is my main 4 stringer is a Mustang. As long as I play them both regularly it's fine, but the Mustang is tiny in comparison!

I had a TU2 for about 10 years until the output jack failed last year and I botched the repair. Picked up a Polytune 3 mini and I think it's better. Quicker to pick up the notes (including a B string) and a much brighter display. Always thought the TU2 was fine till I got that. I find the Polytune ability a bit of a gimmick when I use it with a guit*r though, I prefer doing it one at a time. I want to get a TC clip on tuner too now to have around the house.

Happy to be proven wrong here! You might have better luck sending the little stubby out via the effects loop send (still with a load on the speaker) and feed that into the return on your class D head. The manual says that the send comes after the preamp, so accomplishes the same goal and you only need jack cables.

I thought it was great when I played in Japan. Every venue had an 8x10 with an Ampeg SVT450 or Hartke HA3500, drums minus breakables, a guitar combo (usually a Roland JC120) and a Marshall half stack plus keyboard stands etc. It made it really easy to play there because we knew we didn't need to bring amps, plus the sound guys know all of the foibles of the equipment. I guess if you trash the gear, word gets round and you don't get invited back too! Seemed like a really efficient way of doing it. Not sure you'd convince many venues round here to do that though!

The input should be set to match your bass and how you want to hit the front end of the amp. Ashdown recommend just tickling the red zone on the VU meter when you dig in. Try different settings to see what you like. For the output, it's so dependent on the room, your cab(s), if there is PA support. It isn't really a setting that ought to be replicated. Use your ears and guidance from the sound guy if there is one.

When I got mine back from Ashdown the other week, I did notice that it needed less gain on the input than before. Sounds like a good plan.

I want to second or maybe third the Planet Waves string winder with the cutters. I never wanted to spend the money to buy one, but always wanted one. I ended up getting one from my wife for Christmas and it's great! The cutters were much better than I expected them to be. If you're difficult to buy for, stick it on a list and let someone else get it for you 👍

Another idea (in addition to lightweight gear to help with your back issues) is to get a sack truck to help with not having to carry long distances. I got one from Aldi that I can put my pedalboard (one of these), cab (Zilla, vertical neo 2x12) and head (Ashdown ABM600) on. Bass is on my back in a gig bag. It's a game changer and I'm only 33. I can move it all in one trip!