Mokl

Was supposed to be playing nye until our kb player unilaterally cancelled it as he was panicking we were unprepared Long story, but after nearly 3 years of stop/start rehearsing it's become clear he'd rather just rehearse and never play live. Shame as the band was really tight and musically very competent. Very frustrating... needless to say that band is sadly no more Good luck to those of you playing out, maybe next year for me 🤞

Sorry to hear this. Have you seen that stuff you can spray into your throat at the first sign of cold symptoms? I don't usually go for that kinda thing but someone's randomly gave me some and recently, being very bored of constant illness, have tried it, and it does seem to work! May not make any difference if you have the flu, of course. Other than that, consider annual flu jab? Hope you're able to do the gig.

This is a great point and something I've learned over the years (took me longer than it should have lol). I wish I'd given more of the basses I've had more gigging time and I probably would have settled on a core selection somewhat sooner and have less regrets about some of the ones I moved on!

I feel a bit better about mine when I consider the timescale 😄 I don't feel there need to justify it to anybody, I drive a sh+t car, wear my clothes until they're threadbare and don't have large debts. I also flipped most of my bases whilst working in music retail, which made it very easy. I find it interesting to think back at basses I've had and nearly forgotten, silly decisions I've made, instruments I've enjoyed, how my tastes have changed and phases I've been through over 30yrs of playing. Interesting to read about others experiences too. More power to those of you that have never had more than the bass you started on, but no need to look down on those with different priorities.

Westone Thunder 89 Stingray (still have, amazing) Rickenbacker 64 reissue Jaydee Super Session Wal Custom MK1 (wish I still had) G&L ASAT Thumb BO 4 (amazing) Lakland 55-01 Sei Flamboyant 5 Modulus Flea 4 Zon Sonus 4 (why did I sell this?) F Bass BN4 (wish I still had) Fender 76 P Bass ( wish I still had) Fodera Monarch VW Classic (amazing, still have) Bravewood fretless Jaco Jazz (still have) 77 Jazz black n maple ( Still have) Bacchus 4 string Jazz W/Audere Bongo 6 (still have) Alusonic Django 5 (still have, brilliant) Lakland 55-02 brilliant but heavy Jap Marcus Miller Jazz oly white De Gier Be Bop 70s - still have, lovely Stingray Special 2023 ( still have, lovely) Wal Mk 2 5er, never could quite love it, but I miss it. G&L SB-1 Goodfellow 5 String (Lowden era) Sei Jazz 5 I feel like I've had a good cross section, but not as many as others. I know now I like Stingray tone instinctively but wish I hadn't parted with many of the above, especially the F Bass and Zon (and Wal MK1, even though ergonomics were bad for me).

Ps I'm in the UK

Have you tried contacting them directly? It was years ago now, but they sent me some saddles for my 80s Stingray at no charge - was very impressed with how helpful they were. I just emailed them with a pic of the bass and serial number.

I have a Bravewood fretless Jazz and can echo the positive comments about the quality etc. I rarely play it these days, although really should sit down with it and become more closely acquainted with it again. There are a few niggles with it, main one being the side dots are essentially invisible (I think this has gotten worse as its gotten older) and although it's lined the lines are almost invisible too. I need all the help I can get on fretless, so this isn't ideal. He seems a good guy in my limited experience, but has a very particular way of doing business, which I respect but I suspect some may not like. I didn't want a pickguard when I ordered my bass (I was going through a Jaco phase), and whilst he clearly states he doesn't supply aged parts for general sale, thought he might have accommodated me when I had a change of heart! He politely declined to help, which was fine, but I can imagine this wouldn't go down well with all.

Oof, nice score!

A giant of the music industry if ever there was one, and what a life lived!

I've had an extravagant year for me, by recent standards anyway. Acquired an Alusonic Django Std 5 earlier in the year and very pleased with the tonal variety and playability of it. Somehow convinced myself I needed a Stingray Special a month or so back (I've had a late 80s Stingray a good 30 years now) and am really loving it now I've adjusted to the slightly different tone and getting to grips with the 18V preamp. It's a great sounding thing and really rekindling my passion for playing, so worth every penny. No duff purchases I'm pleased to say. A few difficult farewells to some lovely basses though.

I typically don't like Bartolinis, but ironically I had a Lakland 55-01 with the MK1 pickups in, and that sounded brilliant in a band context. It did have an upgraded (Bartolini) NTMB preamp though, so perhaps it was that?

That looks awesome 😎

When I worked in musical retail we had a few instruments stolen. The first places we would always check were Cash Generator/Converters. I can't speak for how they conduct their business now (my experience was over a decade ago), but back then they definitely didn't follow due diligence in establishing ownership of the items they were selling. This was borne out by the number of stolen instruments that used to turn up in there. I'm sure plenty of the stock in them is fine, but I would treat anything of half decent quality in there with a healthy dose of suspicion.