uk_lefty

From Louisville, Kentucky... They also had a Timothy B Schmidt Carvin but I didn't get a photo sadly

I received my first bass aged 15 with a crappy learner book. Didn't have a tuner so goodness knows what I was doing for the first few months!! You can now get the Boss Tuner as a phone app, problem solved, so always make sure you play in tune... Took me ages to get going with no lessons or Internet resources but slowly and surely I learned some of my favourite songs from tabs to the point I could play along to one and a half sides of a cassette. Not long later I tried playing with friends who were guitarists but they were at a similar stage to me. I applied for a bassist wanted position less than two years after starting, keep in mind that first few months was wasted, and at my first session just gave them a list of songs I could play. The guitarist was a massive egotist but amazing at guitar so he could play most of the songs and loved having someone who would just do as they were told. The drummer was hands down the best I have ever heard and I learned loads from jamming with him to the structure of the skgns as the guitarist widdled away. Playing with better musicians, who are not going to be Richards about you being a beginner, is the best learning experience I find.

And back to the op... What an idiotic statement for number 1!!! Nowt wrong with epiphone, some prefer them to the Gibsons. I was expecting him to say he'd need more lessons and theory lessons but buying new gear? Not right. And number 2? Someone doesn't get out much. I'm starting to use a pick more and more these days 21 years in. In my early learning days I found finger style easier to control string vibrations and having a budget bass I got a more pleasing tone by finger than pick but I'm starting to really try to expand my horizons with the pick now, definitely some real skill involved. I guess being a guitar teacher is like a lot of trades. You have a guitar and need money so you call yourself a teacher. Like in my area most tree surgeons and gardeners are just guys with a white van and some tools, no farking clue what they're doing (one guy patronisingly told my wife "no dear, that's definitely a blue bell" when talking about the forget me nots springing up all over our garden)

Us lefties (I don't mean politically) are an odd bunch. I am only left handed for writing and playing guitar. All sports are strictly right handed/ footed but I have a slight bit more left side coordination thsn most right handers/ footers in sports. I could have a go at playing bass right handed, in fact I used to in my youth sling my bass round behind my back and play a few bars right handed reaching behind myself, nothing complicated though.

Well it looks the part, interested to hear about quality. Have heard good things about SX P and j copies but then again some people really rare Westfield basses for the price and I wouldn't call them anything more than a very basic beginner bass... I had a Brice from the same outlet as SX and have to say it was sh!te, hope this is good for you!

I had a hipshot put on a Mexican jazz alongside Gotoh basic fender replacement tuners. The luthier chap is very handy with all sorts of engineering and woodwork stuff and he had to grind down the edge of the hipshot to fit it on. If he hadn't told me I would never have known.

I really liked the tone from my Hohner B2A "cricket bat" just couldn't get on with the string spacing but like all of us regret selling and wish I'd just tried harder with it!

They look nice!!

It's a great looking bass, shame they discontinued that whole series, maybe didn't sell enough to justify continuing?

Aware of that and was backing you up! Particularly on parking tickets there's a lot of Internet advice that is plain wrong but people follow it anyway in hope because Jeff265 from Chipping Norton says he did it and got away with it. It is tempting to look for the easier way through these things, not that the OP or most would make such a mistake but many, many people do.

I loved my Sire, go for it! I had a lefty vintage V7 fiver because the options on a £500 bass just weren't available in lefty at under 1200ish. It was my main gigging bass until a tax rebate bought me a Stingray!! I felt bad about having two jazzes and thought the Stingray would be my go to so sold the Sire. Now I'm sorely tempted to buy a version 2 lefty Sire jazz in 4 string, a satin finish neck, ebony board and some of the new colours are very tempting. They also look after us lefties incredibly well with almost everything available to us, unlike most brands. You won't regret it, but I think there was a P7 at a great price on the forum, why not go second hand to see if it's your thing and you wouldn't take much of a loss if any if you move it on? I took quite a hit selling mine which I'd bought new.

Steinberger did one in the cheaper Spirit line around 18yrs ago. Was it the XZ? I always fancied one, still do, but the electronics are supposed to be awful.

I'd be careful with that tactic. It's very cheap and easy for a private individual to raise a claim, even easier for a company because they sell off the debt to collection agencies and then discussing the situation really does end.

I'd go for this if it means a much smaller settlement. Make the point you are happy to compensate their direct loss, eg the cost it should have been, but punitive fees making essentially a penalty is not compensation of their actual loss. Its quite a shady business practice in this case, its only just recently become legal for private parking companies to impose penalties in excess of what the parking ticket would have cost but they have to clearly display their terms and the penalties everywhere. Also question why indeed it was collected, sorted at least once, and shipped when so clearly the package size did not correspond to the label. But tempting as it is don't then suggest they need to consider whether their internal quality controls need reassessment... You've already made the point without that. Good luck.

Lozz, I only met you for a matter of minutes while buying a cab but I "know" you from here and can tell how hard a decision this must have been. Mental and physical health often come hand in hand, and are difficult to recover if things aren't right. I hope you can keep going with bands on a schedule that suits you better so you get your fix of performance but without the pressure. Best of luck to you mate.

I wouldn't change the finish or tinker too much, keep it period correct, "warts" and all. But BEAD and 80s distortions are surely a must for this bass??!

Forgot to add... An item getting lost in the post is a nightmare. Last Xmas I didn't give someone my heart but I did sell a nice bass to someone in Belgium. He bought using ebay International shipping. They lost the package in their own depot. They knew it was there, they just didn't know where...... And it was somehow down to me to field all the questions. Eventually they found it and he received it 4 or 5 weeks later than planned. I'm going to stop using ebay soon, its such a hassle.

I think the risk of shoddy packaging is the same. If someone is going to do a bad job of it they will do a bad job regardless of who is responsible for the shipping arrangement and cost. The insurances are 9/10 worthless anyway if it gets lost or whatever so as a buyer I'm now more inclined to use a known and reliable service that will collect a bass in a hard case for 15-25.

YES!!! I bought that on 45, what a tune. Their whole album was later given to me on cassette by an American lad who ended up at my school. Some absolute nonsense songs on there but they just work, if you have that nasal a singing voice though I suppose it's the only way to go. My tuppence worth: lyrics are important to me. I remember them, I think about them, etc. But I can see why so many people only remember the chorus or completely get it wrong. 'When a man loves a woman' is often requested for weddings etc when it's actually about her doing the dirty, for example, because people only remmebr the key line from the chorus. But that to me also makes it a clever song because you "need" to go deeper in to it for the real meaning. Nonsense lyrics also work for me if they're catchy or part of something bigger. We Didn't Start the Fire is just a list of stuff, but it's making a point. Unlike rappers listing out "luxury" brand names. Then there's famously "Sting 's gibberish classic" of course.

I'm ready to lose my sh!t with this completely. F@ck ebay. They force their courier service on you at an estimated cost that's nowhere near the actual cost. You go through the packlink website and have to pay before it tells you where to drop off...?! Errr no. Tell me where the drop off point is and I'll see whether its worth it to me to get there. Got to swallow a 10 quid loss on postage just to get the package out now. F@ck ebay.

First honest player available ad!

I know this thread is about P basses and flats but if you're not fully sold on the sound and or feel of flats but you want to depart from rounds.... Consider Tapewounds. The Scott Devine video on them and an ebay promotion led me to having Fender tapewounds on my P bass for a year. I even slapped a bit with them. Worth considering... Anyway, flats are good.

Here's my flats experience for what it's worth... Ernie Ball Cobalts currently on my Fretless. Jury is out, I hadn't played them in nearly enough before I went out to gig with the bass and it didn't feel great but I think they've settled a bit now. This isn't a P bass though so I'll move on... TI flats. Had them on my P Bass for quite some time. They sound good but they are very low tension and light. They aren't my preference but I've kept them back because I think they'd sound great on a Jazz bass... I just don't have a jazz bass right now. These felt really light because I was previously using... Roti Steve Harris signature flats. They are HEAVY. Thick and solid feel under the finger. I was wincing as I wound these on my bass fearing the neck would snap. But the tone! Big, clear, full sounding strings that will go on forever and ever. I like these a lot. But my favourites are... Fender flats. For a P bass they're my perfect match. The right amount of tension, really good balance in terms of clarity but also a little bit of grittiness for digging in or playing with a pick. At their price you just cannot go wrong. I can't see me going back to anything else until I get bored once again.

I'd prefer the double-jazz pickup or whatever they call it myself.

Looks like a Sire P7 to me but with a slightly better headstock.