FinnDave

This is a pic of my left arm ;

You need a Finnish bear - google Karhu, the Finnish for bear and also the name of a leading brand of beer there. I have the Karhu (beer) logo tattooed on my left arm as a reminder of the years I lived in that fine country.

I stand between the keyboard player and the drummers, doing my best Phil Lesh impression. Get away with it most of the time.

I've been doing that for the last 4 years or more!

Yes, the 506 has Bartolini Mk 1s in it, sounds OK, but lack the definition and punch of the Nords. I don't think it's worth spending serious money on replacement pick ups for my back-up bass, though.

I had to start using a pick after a motorcycle accident left me with a permanently damaged right hand. Took a little while to get used to it, but now I play in a band which covers material in which the original bass player had a distinctive tone and his use of a pick was a big part of that. I prefer thick and totally inflexible picks, currently 3mm Dunlop big stubbies. Haven't dropped one yet (a pick, I mean!) despite having a much reduced grip in my right hand.

I've never played a five string - after 40 or so years playing 4 strings bass, I moved to a six string. I use the high C and low B strings less than the other strings, but they are useful, mainly to allow me to stay closer to the middle of the neck where I prefer the tone. I occasionally play the notes that only the low B can provide, mainly when going for Lesh-style 'bass bombs'.

First thing I learnt on the bass was either 'Interstellar Overdrive' (Syd era Floyd) or 'Fohat digs holes in Space' (Gong), probably about 1974 I reckon.

I don't work for anyone and no one gives me any money. I only wish they would!

No they won't - they don't work sat'days.

I only woke up half an hour ago and I've already offended my wife and the next door neighbour*. I even managed to offend myself twice while brushing my teeth. We live in the era of offence. *The next door neighbour may not have taken offence, we were talking about the wooden panels that separate out gardens, so he might have said he was 'taking the fence' now that I come to think of it. He is Canadian, so some of his vowels are slightly different. I have now offended the entire population of Canada as well, and it's not even breakfast time yet!

Another happy user of the PRO 17s here - had mine five years or more, got a set of 20dB filters for a particularly loud band a couple of years ago, but don't use them now, the 17s work fine for the only band I'm in now.

If you are taking pictures on pubic land, then you had better make sure you have the consent of the model, and if you then want to publish them in any media, you will need a model release.

That wouldn't help with damage, though - my experience is the opposite of Lozz's - I have had a bass damaged in transit but never lost one. The damaged one was in a hard case and I had taken out the extra insurance, but somewhere in the microscopically small print, even with the additional premium paid, the maximum pay-out for a musical instrument was £100.00. I have sent basses to buyers in hard cases that they have then returned to me, and another time a buyer sent me a hard case for me to send a bass to him.

Thanks, but I'll leave it for now, paying 50% of the purchase price of the bass for new pick ups for a back up that rarely leaves its case is not viable for me at the moment. Good info for future reference, though, should it be needed.

It probably did, but I don't think I ever used it!

I'll have to look into that, it maybe that whatever Nords Ibanez fit to the SR1206 would fit the SR506 - the string spacing is the same. I want to avoid throwing too much money at the 506, though, it was a cheap bass (£550) and I keep it only to use if my main 6 string develops a problem.

My SR 506 (standard range) and SR1006 both had Barts, but the 1006 had an East pre-amp which made it difficult to tell whether the pick ups were similar in sound. The Nord equipped SR1206 sounds great even with the standard pre-amp (the East uni-pre wouldn't fit in the cavity without serious surgery to the bass, unfortunately). If I could get a pair of Nords similar to those in my 1206 and retro fit them to the 506 (my back-up bass) for a reasonable price, I would be a happy man.

I used to know the laws about photographic copyright inside out - I spent years on BBC TV News' equivalent of the picture desk, sourcing and clearing images for all the news and current affairs programmes. But I although I know the laws have changed over the years, I am not sure what those changes are now. I am fairly sure that using pictures taken during a public performance are fair game for re-use and copyright belongs to the photographer or the person/organisation that commissioned the shoot, unless a specific agreement to contrary was entered into before the event. Pictures taken of the band rehearsing, a non-public performance, in effect, could not be used. The laws about this changed after the famous paparazzi pic of the Fergie 'toe sucking' incident.

I have two Ibanez six string basses, one has Barts and the other Nords - the Nords are definitely better when playing with a band.

The best guitarists I know are all left handed. I can't help but feel this is more than just coincidence.

Depends on what sound you need, I find the Nords come through the mix well playing live, but then I play in a 6 piece with 2 drummers and 2 guitarists plus keys, so every little helps! Played alone, I prefer the Barts.

The two finger lift is a novel way of describing my band mates' reaction when I asked them for a hand getting my gear up the stairs last time we played Hebden!

They're great basses, aren't they? I definitely prefer the Nordstrand pick ups in these to the barts in other's I've had (still have in one case).

Just got in from our first gig of the year - Cockfosters Football Club. A Deadhead invasion of this quiet leafy London suburb! We played a couple of lengthy sets which were well received by the knowledgeable audience - we played a couple of encores and they would have had us carry on for another hour or two, but the venue had to close at midnight. First gig with my Ibanez SR1206, sounded great through Ashdown ABM 600 & Barefaced Super Twin. Small venue so none of the instruments went through the PA. I received quite a few compliments on both the sound of my bass and my playing, which doesn't happen too often. Next one's in Putney on Good Friday.