martthebass

Quite a few have gone down the tried and tested Rega route, visually (other than the RP8 type) these are little changed since the 1970s. I replaced my much prettier Systemdek with the RP3 nad the sonic improvement was significant. It comes down to what the priorities of the user are, and how deep the pockets.

With £1500 in my pocket I'd probably take one of the HiFiHub Linn decks as they look to have been well serviced and would hopefully come with warranty/backup. I'm still using my Rega RP3 bought new in 2003 and I don't think my hearing would do justice to a Linn these days. I do get a hankering for a good condition Michell Syncro on occasion though.

I used to play the original TT line on fretless with my old band; it's a lovely bassline. I don't currently own a fretless (not much call for one with my current band) but it doesn't seem the same playing on a fretted even with lots of chorus.

I've had 3 soft aged reliced Lionels (still have one). I got one from Thomann and it was a B stock.....I did ask about condition before purchase and was told it was just a return with no 'extra' damage. When I received it the back was well chewed up with belt marks and as I had a comparison bass that showed this wasn't standard I returned it. There are some differences between relics, they don't seem to be done to a template (like the JMJ Mustang), my white one had some minor belt grooves on the back and generally more wear than the gold one I still have. My gold one does have some factory scratches, the most significant one is pictured which isn't as bad as the one on yours but is getting there.

The The weight of my EBMM shorty is 7lb 5oz vs 8lb 8oz on the Sterling shorty that it replaced

Last gig of 2025 went to a large WMC, nice and local too! It was a ticket job and fully sold out, we had reservations as flu is still rife but we were happy to see a rammed club full of enthusiastic punters. 3 sets instead of our normal 2 and the obligatory Auld Langs Ayne, we were knackered at the end but it was a cracking night. That’s it for us Glam Lads until the 10th of Jan when we hit the Lion in Cas Vegas. A happy new year to all youse in the BC gigging fraternity.

We’re not spring chickens Daryl. We only do 1 per week now and limit it to 36 gigs per year.

Never say never Daryl, I was playing post-punk stuff before joining a Glam band. Joined as a dep for 6 weeks - still here 9 years later

That shorty TT has me twitching……

The last gig before XMas at the Hilltop club in Dronfield for Glam Viva! last night. This is a great club and was packed to the rafters with enthusiastic dancers. I said on here last week that the silly season gigs can be a bit hit and miss but fortunately this was a hit. Booked back for next NYE with the promise of a mid year gig also. Next Saturday we’re back to pub land, a nice venue we played mid year in Worksop….they’ve asked for some XMas songs so maybe Xmas isnt over band wise just yet.

Not sure how doable that would be as the string spacing is the same as the long scale, they are both 19mm at the pup. I think the Sterling version looks a bit cluttered due to it using the same bridge as the full size and the full size control plate but this is fixed to a certain extent with the use of the Ray special bridge in the ebmm version.

I’ve currently got a passive alder bodied Lionel and briefly had a pink active. I found the stock 40-100 strings horrible and weak and changed up to 50-105 ebmm slinkies which to me had a less brittle and more even tone - plus had better tension. Some owners consider the stock pup a bit modern sounding, well I wasn’t looking for old school and preferred the bit of bite, that said it’s nothing that can’t be dialled out with the tone knob and it’s more than capable of thump if that’s what you’re after. The active I had was more hifi and, had I kept it, (if you recall it had a finish defect) I would have found it a usable tone on some stuff I play but I don’t think it was the sort of catch all that the stock passive does…….and the pup is hot for a passive anyhow (it has as much output as the active neo pup on my Darkray…).

I really didn’t like the Sandberg strings that came on my Lionel. I thought the sound overall was a bit weak and they felt a bit ‘sticky’ to my fingers. I changed to 50-105 EBMM shortscale slinkies which work well for me. Forgot to add, I always need to go heavier gauge on shorties, I use 40-100 on my long scale basses but prefer 50-105 or even 50-110 on shorties to stop them being too flappy.

We get the odd Sunday Afternoon Dave but most clubs seem to want us on a Saturday night.