Lw.

Current bands; La Dispute - interesting music & super positive vibes at gigs Previous bands; Jefferson Airplane - mostly because I have a bit of a thing for Late-60's Grace Slick but the music was cool too

I've also used the 410+115 Orange stacks & never noticed the difference! Not sure what you mean by "safer" though? You'd need a hell of a over-hang before things start falling over! Maybe Orange designed the cabs based on sound/performance rather than looks?

Congratulations - I'll give the show a listen this afternoon. I can't find you on Spotify - got any links to your music?

Funny what people will find to argue about. My position on the contentious points is that clip-on tuners are fine for home & studio use but completely amateur on stage; They can come off, are not as reliable if everything around you is being loud & too many people fail to mute their bass/guitars when using them. Watches, meh. I get that if your band plays in fancy dress then a watch might not be appropriate but I can't say I've ever noticed anyones watch (or lack there of) in the hundreds of bands I've seen live. I have no idea what Big Red looks like or what their band wears but I'm really struggling to think of an example where a watch would stand out as bad, I can only think of Slipknot but then the sleeves would cover the watch anyway.

I think the reliced Fenders are trying to reflect the wear on heavily used 50's/60's Fenders - I assume the nitro lacquer that they used back then offered substantially less protection than the very thick poly stuff they (and most others) use now so comparisons to more recent, heavily painted basses from other manufacturers are kind of pointless. My Warwick has been my main gigging bass for 15 years, the body is absolutely battered - this is kind of hidden by the finish & the grains in the wood but if it had a more traditional body shape & finish I think it would probably look like a medium relic from current providers. Fender haters are always going to hate & this wouldn't be basschat without a dollop of bitching so it's all good. I'll be in the market for a P-bass at the end of the month (well, I've been trying the market for weeks but I'll have the readies at the end of the month) & it's nice to see if I do like one of the reliced offerings I won't be up against too much opposition.

The fortunate thing about the free market is if you don't like something you don't have to buy it. I'm not really sure what the point of this thread is, how can you be bored of something completely unrelated to you? Unless you mean you have one & don't like it any more? I've never owned a pre-reliced instrument but I wouldn't rule one out. I've played on a few recently & the necks have been incredible - the comfiest I've ever played. The other benefit is it stops you being precious about little knocks & dings - those of us in heavier bands know how easy it is for other people to scratch your gear when playing!

Nice performance - doesn't look like he's using the lovely custom Warwick at the BRIT awards, what's that - looks like some kind of 5-string jazz?

Played The Star Inn in Guildford on Saturday with my hard-rock/metal type band; arrived with my gear to be met by a pub full of nicely turned out people eating their dinner & thought “Oh dear, it’s going to be one of [i]those[/i] nights” but the barman sees me then sends me to the back-room & it’s awesome – proper little music venue, good sized stage & decent looking PA, result! Crowd wasn’t the biggest but an ok size, we played fine & got another booked somewhere else off the back of it so all good. The best part was actually getting to use my “big-rig” which looked tiny compared to the 410+115+different heads the other bassists were using as it’s only 2*112 but it sounded absolutely thunderous – I forgot how aggressive the TKS S112’s can sound when you start driving them with some decent power!

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1486742326' post='3234302'] I keep telling myself I need a P bass in the stable, it's a classic sound etc etc... and it felt odd not having one the last time I sold one, but to be honest despite the "classic tone"... [/quote] It's a fair argument really; every bassist should have a classic J and P style bass in their armoury. Then add modern actives, fretless, acoustic etc... To taste. It doesn't matter if you don't use them, it's just good to have the option available for if it's ever required!

Looking good! Could we have a back of neck shot please?

I know how you feel - I'm in a similar boat at the moment! Limelight wouldn't do a non-reliced bass when I asked a few years ago, though I have since seem some hardly reliced at all basses of theirs which could be close enough for you. Fender do a nitro-covered P in their classic-MIM range but I don't think you'd like the neck. It's basically a Roadworn before they've taken a sander to it. You could have a look at Peterbuilt basses & Maruzcyck - they do close approximations of Fender though might not be able to offer everything you've spec'd.

I have an Eden WTX264 - not noticed it being underpowered when I've used it for rehearsals or gigs. It's not my "loud" amp but it does the job in a pop-rock band I play with (used with a 112); has the features you want & I think is hard to beat for £200. I'm sure any of the small amps will do for your purposes though - I've found you generally only need big power amps & lots of speakers when you're playing pub-size gigs in heavy bands with only the vox going through the PA which it doesn't sound like you're doing at the moment.

Build it & they will come! There are plenty of people out there that want to go to a gig but often there just isn't a good enough one available to justify the effort. So long as you don't spend too much money trying to over-reach yourself I don't think you can go wrong with booking your own band plus, say, two extra ones I don't think you can go wrong - just keep things nice, simple & cheap! I've played lots of these types of gigs & they often turn out quite good.

The BB2 should definitely be on your to-try list - I'd look at some of the offerings from Bergantino & TKS too. By try I mean actually, physically go somewhere & try them, specs are pretty much meaningless if you're trying to discern tone which is an important factor IMO.

P-bass GAS. It started off as a mild interest in making a bitsa P, then maybe getting a nicer Squire & upgrading it, but why not get an American Standard as they're so heavily discounted at the minute, low what's that - a custom shop you say, ME GUSTA!

Can we stop the increase in price on vintage musical instruments too please? I demand to only pay retail/tag price at the time of sale for my mid-60's Fender!

The guitarists write the basslines?! I'm out. Seriously though, if they've got the riffs recorded already & you want to do a few gigs with your mate then by all means learn them but don't get involved with anything (esp not sly practices on the side) until the current guy is gone.

[quote name='AutomaticWriting' timestamp='1486251745' post='3230422'] ... Also tried out a Squier Classic Vibe 70's P Bass and was very disappointed compared to the classic vibe guitars I've played and owned before... [/quote] I was out a couple of weeks ago trying P basses & tried that exact one too (unless they sold the one I tried & got a new one in) - fair to say it was a disappointment, shame as some of the Squire range is great! Somewhat foolishly I tried the cream Custom Shop P they've got on the wall at the back - possibly the nicest bass I've ever played, definitely the nicest of the day & I had already played 60's, 70's, current Fenders & a few Squires. Shame it's completely out of my budget :-(

[quote name='prowla' timestamp='1486284850' post='3230495'] What are these 27 month interest free cards, please? [/quote] Mine is post office but that was a few months ago, I think the supermarket banks are offering better now. Have a look on money saving expert. It's your money but always, always pay them off before the interest free period ends & don't get one at all if you don't have a suitable income.

Good to know - who makes them?

They have a flea sig jazz in Guitar Guitar Camden & I think they do credit. There are also 27month+ free interest credit cards out there at the moment which would probably be cheaper.

You need to go straight to the company & spell out the situation as you have here - see what they're going to do about it. Any half-decent company will try to put things right. Only if this option fails should you name & shame - good luck!

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1485861329' post='3227207'] Both Fender and Musicman seem to struggle with this, when G&L, who have a much smaller share of the market, can offer you a whole range of colours on a make to order item, it makes you wonder why Fender can't. [/quote] Because smaller companies are generally more flexible and able to react to market pressures much faster than large corporations? That is how they grow their business after all... [quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1485862447' post='3227223'] I wonder how many Maruszczyk owners didn't need a new bass until they saw other people's sofa shots of something colourful and pretty, and thought... That's what marketing is all about, and Fender just seem to be rubbish at it. [/quote] I'm not sure, Adrian is generally quite responsive isn't he? I'm sure if a multiple buyer of his were to ask him he'd probably provide a % split by colour of his last years orders (it'd only be a 1 minute job on his orderbook spreadsheet)... A quick glance at the Maruszczyk thread would suggest the classic colours (or natural) are still the most popular with seemingly black winning. Not sure about the marketing point either; managing to sell the same old designs & colours to bassists for the last 50 years or so must be a master stroke of marketing mustn't it?

It's just the same as Fender have always done isn't it? Black, white & sunburst plus one or two extras each yearly cycle (this years' being the quite nice IMO green). 90% of bassists are probably happy with the basic colours anyway. It would be nice if people that wanted different colours could specify but Fender are a mass-producing brand & the small number of people wanting different colours seemingly just aren't worth the effort. As others have mentioned, there are plenty of other manufacturers (both Leo Fender derived & not) out there offering different colour options. Or just get a Fender re-finished.

My old band used to quite regularly gig with a band whose guitarist had an acrylic/perspex BC Rich Mockingbird - it was heavier than any bass or guitar I've ever picked up but did sound decent enough, I'd even say it sounded exactly the same as his wooden one - though this was a metal band so a lot of the guitar tone was hidden behind distortion.