NickA

I shouldn't worry about the neck profile too much. There are bigger issues with playing a 5; namely: damping, fingering patterns and relearning coordination between the string you fret and the string you pluck! For one thing, with a five you can play most things higher up the neck, so though the neck is wider, the frets are closer together. Main probem i found with buying a 5 was finding one whose B string didn't sound like it was a different instrument from the other 4 strings (fenders and rays included to an extent).

Me too. Think the seller told me it was the only electric bass made by a Bristolian acoustic guitar maker. But a search of acoustic Luther's didn't help. Amazing "Smith plus" build quality and a great sound, but ugly as .... and not that comfy to play.

Indeed ... that's where I got to try one. It was near Luke and opposite me. It was an enfield (cannon?) with a "super 8" pickup I think - two quads in one casing, but with less flexibility as to where you put the coils along the strings. Not sure they make those any more. I quite liked it set in Jazz bass mode, in which it sounded quite like a normal Jazz bass. So if I wanted that sound, I'd probably buy a jazz bass. Same bloke was selling an amazing red bass with three sets of american built pickups which sounded incredible, but looked ... just weird. Cannot track that bass or its maker down.

One Sims quad = 3 ways (4 Inc off) Two sims quads = 15 ways (4 X 4 -1) Three Sims quads = 63 ways ( 4x4x4-1 ) He missed a trick by not having positions for a) reverse p, b) both j locations. Then you could have 6x6x6-1 ways = 215 different basic pickup options. Look forward to seeing it at the next Midlands bass bash!

That one is real. Elite vintage guitars selling under one of their pseudonyms ... https://elitevintageguitars.com/2018/09/03/wal-bass-mk-1-1983/

Played one at a bass bash. So many pickup options! Liked it best set as a jazz bass .. it sounded like ..a jazz bass. I guess if you want one baß to make all the standard sounds ( p jazz stingray h or HH ) then it's a good idea; but if there is one sound you want then buy the bass that does it anyway. This so called MK4 Wal that's up for sale (;if you have £8k) is interesting because you get the woods and solidity of a Wal with a lot more sound options ... Doubt it sounds like a Wal, but probably does a LOT of other sounds, some of them unique.

Doubt anyone has a circuit diagram .. and the PCB is surface mount; not easy to repair. Maybe rip it out and go passive into a piezo pre-amp (sans amp or similar). You'd lose the on board tone control and headphone socket is all.

Shall have to revisit those later releases ... got a bit stuck on the middle years ( aka the "stupid girl" phase ). No one like Don Juan's reckless Daughter then? Don't think I've ever made it through all of Paprika Plains ... but there are good bits in there. Weird Guitar tunings and one, otherwise great, track where Jaco just fails to think up a bass line.

Ooooh. How very dare you! Though he's not on many (most) of the tracks I like best, he certainly adds to those he's on. Coyote for instance, would not be the same; though Amelia is none the worse for his absence.

That is an issue, especially that ott whiny vibrato on the early stuff. She got better though.

Album? Hejira No1 . No question. I rate Mingus higher too, maybe no 2 for me. They didn't even mention miles of aisles which is excellent and has many of the songs from blue done better. Anything after (and including) wild things run fast is not much good for me.. gave up after that. Best tracks? Edith and the king pin probably, hissing of summer lawns maybe (the rest of that LP isn't close to those two). Almost anything on Hejira ( Jaco on bass aside: he's not even on some of the best tracks ) Even without the great music, some of her lyrics are brilliant " Richard got married to a figure skater, bought her a refrigerator and a coffee perculator" a particular fave ( when I'm sitting up most evenings drinking beer with the TV on 😉 ).

^^ indeed. I do like and own some "coffee table" basses; but wooden knobs and pickups ...bit odd. Like do they have wooden windings and pole pieces .....

David 😉 . They seem to do their own deliveries in a big van. You'd think they could arrange DHL or something. There are other rental agencies .. eg I went to try out some basses at Thwaites ( Watford) and was told that, unfortunately, most of the basses in my price range had been rented out! Some searching needed. Think bass bags have the monopoly on renting out affordable factory made basses tho.

I was told it was the same, but "Closely resembles" according to the manual. Different then. Lots more octave shifting for starters!

Obviously 🙂 🙂 Tablet typing, couple of whiskies ... it would have to have a treble recorder mode for me as it's the only wind instrument I've ever played. Doesn't it feel a bit wrong way round to a flautist?

My bro has an EW 15000. Plays it in sax mode but the fingering can be changed to flute or oboe, think you can even put it in "brass mode" with simulated valves. Makes every sound under the sun.

I wouldn't buy a double bass I hadn't played. Too many variables. In these days when you can't spend several hours trying lots of them out, rental is the way to go. Bassbags is 10 minutes from my house ... had several bits and pieces from them over the years. Tried a few of their basses and can't fault the setup ( that Eastman VB503 is nice, though the 1910 English bass was better .. I nearly bought it ). They'll probably talk you into spending more than you planned, though ... maybe it's just me being a soft touch 😉