Misdee

I've got a USA Lakland passive PJ with a Jazz Bass neck on it and it's a superb instrument in every way. Sounds great, plays great, feels great. The neck profile is sublime. If you trawl the internet you might find a used one within your budget.

I remember when no one used flats, back in the '80's and early '90's. At that time flatwound bass strings were something they had in the old days, like rickets and diphtheria. Definitely to be avoided. It all changed with PIno and that Voodoo album. Nowadays everybody has to have a Precision with flats on. It's become yet another bass playing tyranny. When I finally got some TI flats about ten years ago it was a revelation how much fun they were to play and how I could now accurately emulate bass parts I'd been playing right but that didn't sound like the original. More than anything, the different attack and decay you get on flats compared to roundwounds made all the difference.

I can't entertain the idea of buying a bass with blocks but without binding. It aught to be illegal.

You've also got to bear in mind, modern amps and cabs can make any bass with flats sound different to the olden days when valves and boomy cabs were the only option. There's an awful lot of hi-fi bass rigs about nowadays that can give a much more precise and detailed version of the flatwounds sound. That clarity, power and punch can negate some of the reasons why bassists ditched those strings in favour of roundwounds.

I've got a Fender AVRI 74 Jazz Bass with TI flats on and it's a lot of fun. Great for reggae and also '70's funk stuff. Also a great combination for using a pick with to get that clicky old-school sound. I actually prefer that bass to a Jazz with roundwounds nowadays.

It's quite a while since I was last in Nashville but I remember talking to a bass player who told me was getting 20 dollars a set on Broadway, three sets a day. The bandleader kept the tips. He asked me if he'd do better in London. I told him yes and no; you'll get more than that for a set but you won't play three sets a day.

Could have been worse. At least you didn't nearly drive off with Kiera Kenworthy. Kidnapping is a serious offence which people generally take a pretty dim view of nowadays

Never underestimate the power of suggestion. It's known as positive association advertising. It really works. I strongly suspect that what PIno is looking for from these strings is not so much a new sound but more a financially-secure future. That's not to say that they aren't a really great set of strings- I'm gonna buy a set to see what they're like now I've read a few user reviews- but if they didn't exist we wouldn't be missing them, if you see what I mean. There was already enough strings like these Any signature models I've ever owned were incidental to their artist. I used to have a custom Jaydee Mark King and the last thing I wanted was to sound like Mark King. I wanted to sound like Alembic-era John Entwistle but I couldn't afford an Alembic. However, if there was a signature bass for an artist that really didn't appeal to me and was cognitively dissonant to my own self-image for whatever reason I might well not buy it even if the instrument suited me.

My brother likes his Italian food and he says it was a different class, especially compared to the previous works outing they had at one of Jamie Oliver's establishments, where they overpaid for small portions of very mediocre food and most folks stopped off for chips on the way home because they were still hungry.

For me, Thin Lizzy were one of the best bands of all-time. Phil Lynott was an extroadinary talent; singer, songwriter,frontman and teriffic bass player. The complete package.

My brother used to work in Whitchurch, round the corner from that restaurant. Apparently it's got a really excellent reputation in Cardiff.

Folks on Basschat seem to be baulking at the prospect of paying ninety quid for a set of Pino's signature strings, let alone a few grand for the bass. Like I said a while ago, three and a half grand for the standard version actually seems pretty reasonable to me considering what other EBMM basses cost nowadays. My concern would be how many enthusiastic amateurs with a few quid in their pockets are going to get carried away listening to vintage Pino from back in the '80's and buy the unlined fretless and then have it dawn on them how hard it is to actually play it in tune convincingly. It's easy to watch PIno play the bass be so beguiled by his effortless brilliance that you start to think it's achievable for mere mortals. Buying one of these basses could give some folks a rude awakening especially if they try it out on a gig. Back at the height of the fretless fad in the ,1980's I remember witnessing some shocking live performances from bass players who's enthusiasm outstripped their ability to play in tune.

It's a big bad world out there. Let the buyer beware.

Sadowsky basses ( both USA and Metroline) have an excellent low B if you prefer a 34 inch scale. So do EBMM, if you can also cope with tighter spacing and the G string being very close to the edge of the fretboard.

Anyone can ask for over £9000 for a used one. It would take a prize pillock to actually pay it.

So if you're British, buy yourself a proper USA-made Bongo and cheer up, things could be worse!🙂

Most British people don't realise things like that if you call an ambulance in the USA, it can cost thousands of dollars. Most Americans wouldn't call an ambulance unless someone was literally dying in front of them, no exaggeration. Plenty of people die for exactly that reason. And as for prescribed drugs, describe to the average American the system we have here with NHS prescription charges and exemptions ect and they literally won't believe you. For lots of my friends over there who are about the same age as me, helping their elderly parents pay for medicines is an ongoing expense and major worry. By way of contrast,here in the UK the NHS will send an ambulance with a lovely helpful crew to pick up your elderly and frail parent and take them to a hospital appointment if necessary. That's unthinkable in America unless you're rich. In the U.K doctors will prescribe whatever is appropriate and even have it delivered to the elderly patients home free of charge. In America pensioners go on bus trips to Canada and Mexico to buy cheaper drugs and bring them back across the border because of the inflated prices of most medications in the USA.

This all relates to buying bass equipment, because in America the sticker price may be less on some gear, but you have to factor in the wider lifestyle you would be living in a completely different society. Would you be reckless enough to spend a substantial portion of your savings on bass-related purchases if you and your family didn't have the kind of safety net we enjoy in the U.K? Would you be able to enjoy what you bought? When I first moved to the States and got my own place to live I was having the time of my life. The only problem was I kept getting charged for everything by everybody at every opportunity. Phone company, utilities, building maintenance, college tuition, medical, dental ect. And if you don't pay them they don't deal with excuses, they just cut you off and /or sue you for payment. America hadn't got the memo that I was only there to enjoy myself. They treated me like a regular person, not the carefree celebrity I really was . It was one of the most salutary lessons of my adult life. I still find it hard to forgive them.

Medical costs in the USA are the most frightening thing to me, and many/most Americans.. Unless you are properly rich, you can easily reach the limitations of even the most comprehensive medical insurance, as I'm sure you're well aware, Russ. Brits have never heard the term "co-pay" when they go to the doctors, but every American has. That's all money that won't be available for buying basses ect. We've been spoiled in the U.K by the NHS and the welfare state ect and we take it all for granted. In America it's a much harsher reality for most people. The high cost of living in the States nowadays is hard for me to get my head around, because in the 1980's when I first went it was shocking how much cheaper everyday items were. Groceries, eating out, CDs, clothes ect were much less expensive than in Britain. It was El Dorado. Now they want to charge you just for entering the country and everyone is obsessed with the price of eggs. I remember when if you were British they wanted to give you stuff for free. Life in America seems to have got meaner, in every sense.

Take it from me, we have it easy in the U.K compared to the U.S.A ( for now, anyway...). Relative prices is a very complex equation, of which the exchange rate is only one factor. Let me put it this way, if you are living in the U.K and struggling to afford a bass, chances are if you had the equivalent life in America you would struggle even more. It's an unforgiving place with some very harsh realities when it comes to money, especially if you don't have much.

That's a stunning bass. I bet it sounds as good as it looks, too I've wanted one of these Roscoe basses since I first saw them in the mid-1990's. Such an elegant design with an unapologetically modern tone. Regarding the string spacing, I've got 18 mm and 19 mm spacing examples and I can't get used to either. If it's not like a Fender 4 string it feels wrong to me, so subsequently I can live with either spacing, if that makes sense. It's a five string, it's meant to feel weird.

Regarding the pricing if USA EBMM basses v the import ranges ect, it's a complicated situation. So much is about marketing rather than what you are actually getting for your money. Manufacturers are becoming more aware that part of what gives their instruments value in the minds of their potential customers is charging a high price for them. Putting up the price can actually attract punters to buy your goods because of the new way they perceive them. It's all about how you present the package. EBMM tweaked the Stingray into being the Stingray Special and simultaneously put about another 30-odd percent on the price. They wanted to start putting their USA-made instruments in a different marketplace and the redesign gave them the perfect excuse.

Fair enough. All I can say is that ceramic magnets certainly wouldn't put me off any bass in any price range. The think about ceramic pickups, like any other pickup, is the magnet is only part of the equation. The wire, bobbins and shielding can also influence the tone. I've got an EBMM Reflex bass that has ceramic magnets like a USA Sterling with Stingray wire wound on Bongo bobbins going into a tweaked Bongo preamp that's switchable between series/ parallel and active/passive. Not surprisingly, it sounds unique.

There's nothing at all wrong with ceramic pickups, but in this instance the point is that neodymium pickups are the essence of the Bongo's unique tone. It was the first EBMM bass to feature those magnets, and was probably one of the first basses anywhere with that type of pickup. Allied to that four band preamp, those pickups give the Bongo it's incredibly powerful output and tone. Without that formula you are may well be left with just a funny-shaped bass that ain't that cheap. I love the Bongo, always have done. At these prices, like others have suggested, I'd look out for a used USA one.