Lw.

Scott (of bass lessons fame) has been talking these up recently - I think they look pretty decent. Clearly aimed at the Moolon/Fender Custom Shop crowd, I'd certainly like to try one!

@scrumpymike - yes, decent little amps! It was my back-up amp tucked in my bag at gigs but it probably deserved a better shot at things, they do have a great tone - I don't do anything with the EQ! If I'm being picky, I'd prefer it if the fan wasn't always on but that's the case for many amps! The cab is TKS - probably similar ethos as the BF; lightweight with vintage tone. Has a real bark when cranked though!

Here's a little & large shot of my new acquisition. I'm getting used to the much smaller neck, if not the polish - I think that's going to have to go! Plays nice after a good setup though!

Thanks! I've just taken delivery of a vintera Mustang & it feels so tiny! It's ~20.2mm front to back & 41mm nut. I think I've ruined myself with a super chunky '57P re-issue! Going to have to see if I can get used to the smaller size! Happy NBD!

@Aidan63 nice! Do you have a ruler handy? If so, could you measure front to back of the neck at 1st fret please?

Interesting thanks, I'd forgotten about the vintera range actually - bit out of the loop with fenders current naming convention! There's so much mixed information around on th specs of each one! Annoying the shops aren't open for trials too - might have to start with the cheapest then return and try the next level up until I find one I like!

I think I'm falling down the SS-bass rabbit hole - convinced myself I need a smaller bass at the side of my home-working desk, for cheeky daytime noodling. On the Mustangs; I quite fancy the squier VM but am seeing specs saying it's a 38mm nut. Is it just the fender JMJ that has the 42mm but? My main bass is is 44.5mm "soft-v" neck so quite chunky and I'd rather not drop down to a teeny-tiny neck...

I'd just get a P-bass, if you don't you'll end up with a nagging feeling at the back of your head telling you you made th wrong decision, then you'll have to buy one later down the line anyway. Lots of brands and price points available. There's a reason everyone plays P's - took me 15 years to work that one out!

Recently moved house so have the space to get my music stuff out again, I'm sure my new neighbors are enjoying it as much as I am!

I've got one of the cheapy Fender electro-acoustics - the idea of an acoustic bass guitar is nice but in practice I'm not sure if they really work: - I've used it for home practice but it's not as nice to play as my precision due to the body size - I've used it for acoustic rehearsing in a band, was ok but you have to be playing it at full beans with the guitarist barely stroking the strings to get the volume balance right - I've done a couple of "acoustic" gigs with it but the guitar was mic'ed up so the bass went DI into the small PA. I suppose the sets looked more acoustic but I could easily have just taken my electric - The most useful thing I've found for it is noodling in the garden during the summer. Though this is obviously limited by if you have a garden & if it's actually sunny on your days off! In terms of your questions; I wouldn't worry about the fixed bridges, the set-up can still be sorted. I suppose you can get them in most scale length but I think they tend to be shorter but given the size of the body you don't feel like it's a really small bass.

I've never been a believer in in fretboard wood types having a huge influence on tone - there are just too many other variables in play that just swapping the necks wouldn't even be definitive. In terms of aesthetics I've always associated rosewood with being vintage & maple with punk so would go rosewood-flats & maple-rounds. Having said that my precision is maple, strung with flats & I played it in a hardcore band... 🤔🤷‍♂️

Both should always be the option.

I'd be looking at the amp. I've heard other people using them & they've sounded great so I know they're decent amps but every time I've had to use one I've never been able to get a sound out of it I liked, even using my own cabs. I assume this is because there's something clever going on with the EQ that isn't immediately obvious; as you own it I'd either spend a load of time reading up on what the EQ is really doing & so try to get it to sound nice, or just sell it & get something a bit more straight forward.

For me part of the charm of a P-bass is their simplicity & vintage styling (one pick-up, two knobs, classic shape), one of the reasons people go to the more bespoke builders is because they want more than that (active circuitry, fancy woods, lightweight machinery etc...) so going to a bespoke builder for something classic would miss the benefits of both for me. Whilst Shuker undoubtedly make great basses, if you want a classic P then I think Fender would be the better option. How much is the Shuker? About 2k? You'd be looking at a used custom shop or a new USA (vintage style or not) Fender for that - both would be really nice basses. Now if I were going for a super-jazz type bass I think the argument would go the other way...

All about personal preference. Playability is just a combination of what your hands & mind like - I've played a huge variety of basses & my go to bass is a precision with wide spacing & a soft-v neck profile. I can play songs on that that I can't on my others - I assume it's a mental thing plus having the space for my fingers to move. You'd think closer strings & thinner necks would make you be able to play faster but that hasn't always been the case in my experience.

Good to know thanks - I'll head & check one out come payday.

I thought I'd dredged this post by accident then - I've been considering getting one & was reading this earlier! Are they that good? I've just had a change a living arrangement recent so could do with the option of silent practice, my main amp is at the studio so I'm just using the headphone output on my cheapy practice head & it's not that great; not particularly good sound & the volume control on it doesn't work well when you've got you phone plugged in too.

The only issue with posts like these is you just get people listing the stuff they've got, which is not bad but can make things difficult. One thing I would say is that the cabs you've mentioned have a range of baked in tone (or not in some cases) rather than specifically listing that you want a certain sound. What kind of music are you playing? Just to muddy the waters further (and conform to tradition) I'd say you should probably hear some TKS cabs while you're doing the rounds; light, moderately affordable & decent tone with the drawbacks of not being as point blank loud as some of the others. A short summary of the brands you're looking at (from my experience): BF - I've never been able to get on with them (just don't seem to work for me). Do flap trousers though. Aguilar - nice tone but pricey Fearless - don't know, never seen or heard one Harkte - decent cabs but not stand out at anything GK - I do like these. Good tone & performance

No necessarily - everyone's hands & ears are different. I was annoyed I missed out on those Matt Freeman's, I tried several of the "70s" one they replaced it with but they were all rubbish 😫

P-basses are such an odd beast; they're arguably the most basic form of bass yet the variation in tone & feel is absolutely massive. If you are half-decent with a set of tools I'm sure you can make a perfectly usable bass from just buying the parts & bolting them together yourself but then you can get nice basses for not much money from the main manufacturers so what's the point? I went completely the other way & spent a fair bit on a (used) Fender Custom Shop (journey man '57 relic) - it's brilliant in every way, though the price was more than you're looking to pay. But it's essentially a posh version of the Roadworn series which is itself a more expensive version of the Classic 50's so I'd imagine there's a fair bit of the same DNA flowing through there. If I was to get a 2nd P I think I'd go for one of those cheap kits, replace the really bad bits & bolt it together myself so I've got something I can just leave in grotty gig venues & not worry about it.

Great cabs, love mine! The build quality is just ridiculous for the price too...

@wateroftyne Is that an S212 the Handbox is sat on, so just two 12" speakers? I've got two S112's which I guess will act similarly - how loud is it at those settings you're showing there?

At that budget I think I'd rather just go for a new Fender Mexican Standard or even a Squier VM70's (and save half your money) over a used bass of unknown provenance from the internet (different if you know the seller or get it used off here). The Mexican basses Fender are pushing out really are pretty good work-horse basses.