Misdee

More articulate flats like Thomastiks might be the way to go.

When I got my first Stingray in the '80's a pre-EB 2 band, I always felt that in a band mix I was inaudible due to the big scoop in the midrange frequencies that is one of the defining characteristics of that bass. I was used to more mid-forward tones like a Jaydee or Status ect. Tastes change though, and now I really appreciate the idiosyncrasies of the Stingray sound. It's both punchy and understated at the same time, if that makes sense. More recently, I especially like a 'Ray with flats. It never occurred to me back in the day that Bernard Edwards might have used flats. I thought everybody had ditched them asap when rounds became popular. Nowadays we know better.

I'm in complete agreement with you Pete. Under normal circumstances I play a P-style Bass 90 percent of the time. My personal experience is that I have a couple of boutique P Basses and an ordinary USA Fender P Bass and in terms of sound and overall usability there's no real reason to get a boutique P except I could get the spec I wanted. I love them all, but in terms of playability and tone the Fender at about half the price does just a good a job in its own way. The boutique basses were an expensive and unnecessary indulgence (but I don't regret it). When I see people paying upwards of five grand for a new boutique Precision Bass I just hope whoever buys it realises they will end up with something which at the end of the day is essentially very similar to a much less expensive example. P Basses are so much in vogue it's easy for some folks to get carried away with the mythology and lose sight of the practicalities.

I've got a Stingray Special and for me it's the best Stingray ever. It's light, comfortable to play and sounds incredibly punchy. It's definitely different to the vintage Stingray basses of my youth, but for my taste all the differences are improvements. The overall tone is a bit richer and less harsh in the treble whilst still being 100 percent Stingray, the ergonomics are much better and the reduced weight is essential for my aging back and shoulder.

That is a beautiful Rick. I've seen a couple of one-off Custom Shop basses that Rickenbacker have offered for sale in that dark Fireglo finish. Whatever it's called, I really like it.

To me, what is an expensive bass depends not just on the price but on what I'm getting for the money. £3000 is a lot of money if it's a boutique P Bass which ultimately offers only notional advantages over a decent regular P Bass at a fraction of that price. If I'm buying an Alembic then three grand is a bargain. At what price point a bass becomes expensive is open to debate, but what isn't open to debate is that nice basses have become more expensive. Allowing for inflation, high-end basses are significantly more expensive than they were in the past and that trend shows no signs of abating. For the equivalent price of a Wal with a fitted hardcase or Warwick Thumb Bass in 1989 in 2025 you can get a Spector Euro NS2 . For the price of a Status Series 2 in the late '80's you can now get a Stingray Special.

I've had the same problem with various sets of roundwounds over the years. It can, in certain instances, be to do with how the string has been cut and fitted. You might say "But I've had it happen with two identical E strings!", but that might be because they've both been fitted the same incorrect way. I'm not saying that's what happened in this case, but it's always a possibility when evaluating any case of Dead E String Syndrome.

I like your taste,Si. Now I know it's Sherwood Green I can see it right away. Excellent basses made by a very good people. Let's us know how you like it.

Is that green or charcoal grey, Si? It's very nice whichever. So essentially a passive J configuration on the MM- inspired body shape, by the looks of it. What pickups have you gone with? I'm a big fan of Lakland's own pickups myself. I think they're very underrated.

For my taste, this music is very hard to listen to. It's all too much to take in. There's too much going on. It's relentlessly dynamic, and has no dynamics as a result of that. I'm not averse to complex instrumental music by any means, and the virtuosity of the playing is there to behold, but all I can say is I'm surprised Simon Phillips hasn't got anything better to do.

I can thoroughly recommend listening Red by Black Uhuru. Every track is a banger, and it features Sly and Robbie (and the rest of the Compass Point AllStars) at their very best. I've been listening to that album since it came out in 1981 and I never get tired of it. The first few UB40 albums a great, too. Good songs, good playing. The early 1970's to the mid-1980's was, for my taste, the Golden Age of Reggae. Check out anything on Studio 1 Records from that era.

Regarding Mohini Dey, I wouldn't condemn her as being a bad person for playing unnecessarily complex bass guitar, or for trying make some money from it by endorsing AI, or whatever. I just think she's either made some bad decisions, and/,or been badly advised by someone on how to further her career via social media. In the Internet Age there's so many more opportunities to make bad decisions that can be instantaneously shared with the whole world forever. Everybody makes mistakes, I've made plenty of my own and then made more when I should have known better. It's important to keep things in proportion. No one has been irreparably harmed by Mohini Dey and whatever she does on social media. Myself, I couldn't care less about AI, it's going to do whatever it's going to do. Nothing is going to hold back that tide. Bring a crap bass player and trying to make a few quid doesn't make her The Wicked Witch of the West.

That's very helpful and informative, thank you. So essentially there's nothing too wrong with the Legacy in itself, but it's still distinctly different to the HAZ that's such a big part of the Spector tone. That's fair enough. I don't have a HAZ-style preamp as a point of comparison, but my assessment of the CST with the Legacy preamp is that played through my Bass Driver and Diamond BC1 Bass Compressor the tone is pretty epic and easily identifiable as a Spector NS2. It certainly seems to get fairly close to the sound we all know and love. As I said before, I'm no expert and this CST is my first Spector, despite having wanted one for more than 40 years. I'm in the market for another one, maybe even a USA model so I'm doing my research. I've got a lot of nostalgia for the Kramer-era Spector basses that as a young hopeful, I used to oggle in upmarket guitar shops in the USA in the late '80's. I've been toying with the idea of ordering a custom NS2 that looks like one from that era, with a HAZ pre, of course. That said, my CST seems so good that I might just get a Euro Doug Wimbish to keep it company. It certainly makes more economic sense to do that.

I first saw/ heard Danny Sapko demonstrating various basses on YT on behalf of Gear4Music. I remember being impressed with his playing, especially because his style actually lets you hear what a bass sounds like. It might sound simple but it's a trick that eludes so many other would-be equipment demos. A four minute double thumping slap and tap fest doesn't really tell me much. And he was wearing proper clothes.