Misdee

That is a lot of money for a bass that has a bit of a school woodwork project vibe about it.

New Sadowsky Special Editions for 2026: The Masterbuilt for 2025 was £8000+ and the Metroline Special Edition about £4300. These are not likely to be any less expensive. I'm not at all keen on a satin finish on any of the Metroline basses, let alone a Special Edition model. Gloss looks more finished and is much more durable in the long term. The Masterbuilt looks very nice to me. It's an awful lot of money, though.

From what I can make out, the aging is just about the colour of the white finish rather than relicing.

Still waaayyy too much gold for my liking. Each to their own, but it would have been nice to have an anniversary model that was something a bit different in terms of construction and sonics rather than just cosmetics. The Thirtieth Anniversary Stingray with a mahogany body ect is still just about the best Stingray I've ever heard. I was expecting something like that but with the added advantages of the Stingray Special revamp that has happened inbetween times. That's why I'm a bit disappointed.

I've just found out these are two different shades of gold. The "Donald Trump" bass is Liquid Gold ( on the right), the other bass is Molten Gold, which doesn't look quite as bad to me. It's hard to tell with such scant images. You would think if EBMM wanted to show these basses off they would supply some better pictures, i.e so we could see what these basses actually look like on the cold light of day rather than treating us as if they are doing us a favour letting us look.

So much better than the purple one.

That looks like a nice Spector ruined by art students.

It's only lightly aged apparently, not unlike myself. Anyway, I'm gonna get me one asap. That's the problem with the NAMM show, there's lots of new stuff on show but it's usually at least six months until you can actually get your hands on it.

If Donald Trump was a bass player and ordered a custom Stingray it would look exactly like that 50th Anniversary model. All that gold! It's horrendous. I'm sure it will be very popular. I wonder if they are offering any other colours for bass players who aren't megalomaniacs and don't aspire to be Liberace? I'm not keen on any of the new Stingray Special colours either. It's a shame because I'm in the market for another Stingray. That Tech21 Geddy Lee Retirement Fund chorus pedal looks good, though. A bit surprising though, because you don't necessarily associate Geddy Lee with that effect. I know he's used it, but not much. Tech21;are such a great company. I'm sure it will sound very good.

It's funny you say that, because the other day I watching some footage of MK/Level 42 where he was playing a King bass with what looked like the Parametrix EQ on it and it sounded like an Alembic. It had that extended, glassy top-end and super-deep punch you associate with a full-spec Alembic. It made me wish Status were still making graphite basses so I could buy another one. For me, MK's first solo album, Influences, is his best work. I remember when it came out in the summer of 1984 and what an impact it made. It really shows what he can do, and that his talents go well beyond the slap show pony tricks that really don't appeal to me. Tracks like Clocks Go Forward and the title track show the depth and subtleties of his style, and the slapping is super,-tight and appropriate where he uses it. Everything on that album sounds good to me.

I can never fathom why so many folks set both bass and treble on full on that two band Stingray preamp. It's too much boom and clank for my taste

I suppose one question is what constitutes a charity? I've never been asked to do a gig for a charity as such, but looking back I've been asked to do a couple of gigs where the money went to a supposedly worthy cause. A benefit concert for the Miners Strike of 1984/5 springs to mind, and I played an AIDS benefit gig in the early 1990's. In both cases it didn't cost us to play. Regarding the first instance though, I still remember the arguments between members of the band over it.

You're at it again aren't you? Lecturing me on how to be an adult and telling me off for not fitting in with your world-view. Value system? I don't have one. Not least of all because neither know or care what one is. I'm not pedalling stereotypes, I'm telling you what happened. Evidence to support my assertions? Should I have filmed it on my phone and then conducted interviews with those concerned? I was doing my shopping, not making a feature for Newsnight. And as for Northern stereotypes, I am a Northerner, born and bred. I come from generations of Northerners. That's why I know what I'm looking at when I see it. I don't take lectures from the likes of you on being Northern.

I've known plenty of people for whom eating fruit is something between taking an unpleasant medicine and a punishment. What I will say is that fruit is expensive. Good quality fruit is very expensive.

I agree with a lot of what you have to say, but in my instance I would venture that people weren't wandering past free fruit to preserve their pride or dignity. It was more because they didn't equate fresh fruit with something they would want to eat as a snack. Distinct groups in society have different priorities and preferences when it comes to food. It doesn't necessarily come down to money and what people can afford, either, although that's part of it. It's more about what people think is important, and why. And on the subject of charity and food banks, yes they shouldn't exist. The fact that they are increasingly necessary and have become an accepted part of normal life in this country is a phenomena I never expected to see in this day and age. It's part of a wider trend to blame poor and unfortunate people for their own predicament, and the revival of Victorian ideas distinguishing between the deserving and undeserving poor.

Why's that then? Because you want to pretend that situation didn't happen and people like that don't exist? It did, they do, and there's lots of them. I make no apologies for noticing. Don't take it out on me just because it doesn't fit with what you like to think certain people are like, or your patronising ideas of how they should be portrayed. You should bin your own self-righteous indignation and virtue signalling.

A few years ago I was in a Tesco supermarket in a fairly typical economically deprived town up north. Near the entrance amongst the fresh produce they had baskets of free fruit for children to help themselves to. Both parents and children were walking past this generous offer, despite looking exactly like the kind of socially disadvantaged stereotypes this gesture was obviously aimed at. I don't think they knew what fruit was, or if they did it definitely wasn't something they contemplate eating except as a flavour of Haribo.

That Palladium bass is another lost classic. Two passive humbuckers and a supremely playable neck. I remember reading an interview with Geddy Lee and him mentioning that Jeff Berlin had gifted him one (I was going to say "had given him one" but thought better of it...) and was very impressed.

Wow, I remember being a postgraduate student sitting in my crappy apartment reading that very article. I used read every issue of Bass Player Magazine over and over, so much that I can pretty much still remember everything in them now. Such an idiosyncratic design is bound to divide opinion and have it's own quirks, but all I can say is I wish I had one.

I remember these! I don't think they were made for long. They were a beautiful, elegant design. Never seen one in the flesh but I remember Bass Player Magazine featured one, must have been sometime in the early '90's and they always looked lush to me. Didn't they have a piezo pickup in the bridge? I bet this is a beast of a bass. God knows what it would cost if it were made today.

A USA-made Peavey bass is going to be a quality instrument. I've played the Palladium Bass they made for Jeff Berlin back in the early '90's and that was excellent. I wish I had bought one. They've become a bit of a cult classic on the used market and get snapped up very quickly. The same shop had a Rudy Sarzo signature model too, and that was also a very nice pro-level bass. Peavy basses have got a decent pedigree. I remember seeing Roger Glover playing a Peavey DynaBass four string with Deep Purple back in the '80's. John Taylor used Peavey Cirrus basses for a long time, and he's a good judge of a bass. Also, I don't know if anyone remembers a top London-based session player called Kevin Powell, used to play with Chris Rea, Midge Ure ect. Superb player. He used a Peavey TL 5 from the early '90's onwards as his main bass. Last time I saw him on some TV show or other about ten or fifteen years ago he was still using one.

Okay, the situation is that about sixteen years ago I bought a Korg Pandora for silent practise at home. Looking back, it was the best £90 I ever spent iny life. The amp models ect sounded shockingly good and we're excellent for home recording. The unit was easy to use and I had year after year of sterling service from it. Unfortunately, even though it still works (just) it's absolutely knackered. I need a suitable replacement. Recommendations and suggestions gratefully received. I should mentionI bought a Boss Katana Go, but it's not as convenient as I thought it might be despite Bluetooth connectivity because if you plug it into a bass with an input jack at the bottom it's both inaccessible and awkward. Also, the quality of the amp models is nowhere near as good as my old Korg Pandora. I asked the question of AI and it came up with the Line 6 Pod Express Bass, and that does seem to fit the bill, unless someone can tell me why not.

I couldn't possibly comment on this individual circumstance, but something I have learnt over the years is that charity is a business. The higher up the chain you go, the people running the show aren't so much altruists as businessmen and women. Ordinary folks are brought up to equate charity with giving for free if they want to be a nice person. Those running charities are acutely aware of that and know how to exploit it. The people who give the most proportionately are often those who can least afford it.

Totally this. Blues can be many things, and a lot of them ain't easy. Listen to Robben Ford play blues and imagine having to back him up. Firstly, how does move through the changes? Not all blues is 1-4-5, and even if it is you need to make it sound good. What and where are the turnarounds? What cliches are the right ones? I know we're only talking about a jam night but if it's with an audience and not in your mate's front room you don't want to show yourself up.

People would probably love it - extra vintage. I'm a sucker for a black/tort P Bass ever since I saw footage of Deep Purple and the LSO at the Royal Albert Hall and Roger Glover is sporting a beautiful example. Also George Murray with David Bowie. Both big influences on the young Misdee plunking away on the bass in his bedroom.