Misdee

That looks like a nice bass to me. Beginner-level price point basses have come on a bit since I was a lad, that's for sure.

It's also a bit disappointing that EBMM have started treating the Bongo a bit like a ginger haired stepchild. Only two crap colours and one pickup configuration available ect. Ironically, the Bongo would look great in some of these new finishes. I love the Bongo and would cheerfully buy another if EBMM would make the effort to tempt me.

For my taste, these new standard colours for the Stingray Special are bloody awful. The only inoffensive ones are the black one and the Black Rock. The Candyman does indeed need black pickup covers and either a white or black pickguard. The rest are all far too Liberace for my taste. Maybe this latest selection is so conspicuously unappealing in order to usher prospective punters towards the soon to be available custom order service. I recently bought a Stingray Special and would like another to give me a choice between rounds and flats. I am intrigued what options EBMM will be offering to tempt me, but it better be good. A new ordinary Stingray Special is overpriced for what it is, and no doubt a custom one will be too.

I think a significant difference is that Pino and John Giblin both had a much more formalised and conventional approach to playing bass than Mick Karn. That made them much more suited to mainstream session work than Mick Karn, who's style was probably just a bit too idiosyncratic for some artists and producers.

Tickets available from £2.50. Those were the days...

Mick Karn was always a maverick. It's not really that useful to compare him to Jaco Pastorius in so much as Jaco was an educated musician whereas MK played by instinct. Mick was always very frank about his disregard for conventional technique and saw it as a strength rather than a shortcoming. Jaco was from a completely different idiom steeped in tradition and scholarship. His jazz background is what defined his style and put him streets ahead of the competition. They're both magnificent in my estimation and I enjoy them both tremendously. Mick Karn was a mesmerising talent back in the early '80's and surely a fretless icon forevermore.

It's really refreshing to hear a bass player who isn't afraid to deviate from the orthodoxy of "less is more" and who has the taste and skills to make busy playing serve the songs in such a compelling way.

For my taste, Tony Kanal is one of the best bass players of recent times. Such creative and interesting bass lines.

Whether they were better or not is a matter for conjecture, depending on what you value, but Yamaha made some top quality basses back in the day. The standout models were the BB1200, BB2000 and BB3000. All world class instruments in their own way that you've heard on countless hit records. Myself, I've never been keen on the older active BB basses like the BB1200, the only exceptions being the NE2 and BB1500A. The current BB P34 is equally well-made and a superb bass in its own right but to my my taste lacks a little of the characteristic classic BB tone. I had one for a while but I found it's exceptionally clear and precise tone not that useful for my own needs. The 20 Series basses were/are epic. Arguably the best BB basses ever, providing you like the neck profile ect. The bottom end is massive, so much so that if you turn it up loud through an amp you can feel the bass hitting you in the chest like someone prodding you. The mids are rich and complex and the treble extends much further than on a traditional Fender-style bass. What struck me when I first played one was how un-Fender like the sound was, despite being a passive PJ made out of very similar materials. The quality is as good as anything out there, that is except the crappy pickup selector switch. That is equally true of the vintage basses. It's also worth mentioning that in my experience the "X" models are notably heavier than the non-X version. You wouldn't think so but the scratch plate and metal knobs ect must add nearly half a pound

I've never owned one, but I remember when the original Cruise Bass came out in the very early '80s and it got rave reviews. I longed for one at the time but alas it was way out of my price range in those days.

As Robert DeNero famously said in Taxi Driver, are you talking to me?🙂 Anyhow, the answer is no, I like the P Bass best.

Outstanding work, as usual. I liked the sound of all of them, but I liked the Stingray the least in this instance. If it had been the Stingray Special it would have probably have sounded just as good as the other basses. My vote is for the P Bass, but horses for courses ect, that bass collection consists entirely of great options.

I really can't see what advantage the more expensive original model has, except it looks like someone has been using it to do the gardening with.

Fair enough!😊

I really like the Pacific Peach and I dislike the Eggshell Pink on the original Flea. The only aesthetic fly in the ointment on the newer version is the tort pickguard. I would swap it for a vintage white one.

Down the Old Kent Road?

These are indeed really superb instruments. That reverse P pickup seems to give such a good growl to these basses. Looking at that bass you can see what a beautiful shape these original BB basses were. They subsequently tweaked the body shape. I don't know why, because these basses look so elegant in their simplicity. Lots of top players used these Bb1200 basses back in the day. Lee Sklar, Abraham Laboriel, Paul Jackson ect. And the geezer out of Chas and Dave for that matter (also a good player, by the way.) Have a lovely Xmas putting your new bass through it's paces. I would like to think that you will be ripping some smouldering late '70s funk and disco lines on this beauty. And/or some Chas and Dave.

What a stunning bass! The 'burst is beautiful. It's very contrasty, just like the best Fender Custom Shop finishes. P Bass with a Jazz neck is always a bit of a treat, too. That looks a very good purchase. I hope you enjoy it.

I'm very sorry that you are now without a bass. If it is solely because of financial hardship then that's even more upsetting to hear, because selling your gear will only give temporary respite from your money problems. Salvation lies in changing your financial situation, not cashing in your assets. That's much easier said than done, though. Trust me, my friend, I know all about being poor and it's a seemingly never-ending cycle of misfortune and exclusion. It's very easy to feel despondent and think that there is no end to it, but that's not really true. Hang on in there and things will change for the better sooner or later. They always do.

I've been tormented by not owning a Spector bass on and off for a very long time now. I definitely deserve one, but the pound to dollar exchange rate doesn't look like improving anytime soon. There are not many basses left that I still hanker for, but a full-tilt USA NS2 is very tempting. I love the sound that Eddie Jackson got with his on those classic Queensryche albums, and there are so many other examples I could point to. If I could remember them right now.

If I were looking to buy an old P Bass this is exactly what I would not be looking for, unless it was available at a bargain price. If I was investing in a vintage bass I would spend a little bit more to get an all-original example. Ten grand is an awful lot of money for a compromise.

Unless it's a really special high-end bass that is an excellent instrument I would be very hesitant to act hastily just based on sentiment and nostalgia.

There are folks who can hear the difference between a stack knob Jazz control configuration and a regular v/v/t setup. I'm not one of them! Don't get me wrong, vintage Fenders are lovely things, but not that practical nowadays, if you see what I mean. And do you really want a bass that is fairly fragile, relatively irreplaceable and cost £26000? To me It would be more of a burden than anything else.

If people want vintage basses good luck to 'em, but I really do think that there is more than a little of The Emperor's New Clothes in the assumption that older is better when it comes to Fender basses in particular. Back in the Seventies when new Fender instruments were increasingly patchy in terms of quality control I can understand folks gravitating towards older basses. Nowadays, however, a new USA Fender sounds and plays great. If you want a Fender-sounding tool for a bass playing job it will do you proud. Whatever you are getting for your 26k with this bass, only a relatively small proportion of that sum is for the actual instrument. The lions share is for romantic associations.