Happy Jack

If this is any indication of the standards in the merged pair, some of us will have to raise our game:

Pickup? Nah ... treat it like a kickdrum. Sometimes I stick a proper kickdrum mic (on a small folding tripod) facing into the vent, but most frequently I put a cushion or a folded towel on the floor inside the cajon and rest a normal vocal mic there. Shure 57 works well for me (because I have one) but frankly, it's just a thump, innit? The RV range from Red Audio will do a great job for you, and you buy a LOT of those for £200 ...

Amazing what you can achieve with an Octaver and the right attitude.

German-built genuine Hofners are about 6lbs. Just saying. Mind you, for that money you could buy a Lull anyway ... @fretmeister If you're anywhere near Harrow, you're welcome to come and spend a day trying my selection of medium-weight, light-weight, and uber-light-weight basses. Plus both my boat anchors.

Meanwhile, back in the real world ...

Hmmmmm. That's 5000DM, not €5000. It's a long time since I had to think in DM but I think that's about £1500, maybe less.

Truly lovely piece of marquetry but really not sure what it's actually for? The whole 'Earthquaker' thing makes little sense on what sounds like a fairly standard 4-string bass, no matter how pretty it may be.

I thought you'd only just sold one, Mick?

This. Absolutely this.

My very best mate from school was in the choir with me and anything musical, anything at all, that a pair of teenaged schoolboys could do we did together. We sang the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean and Simon & Garfunkel and the Everly Brothers as we walked to school, all of it in perfect harmony. We learned to play honky tonk piano duets and swopped guitar chords we'd discovered. The first-ever recording of me playing rock music was a duet with the two us thrashing out Caroline by Status Quo on a pair of cheap Spanish guitars. He went to university and studied music while I got an office job in London. 30 years later I took up bass so he came round for a jam on guitar. Even as a newbie on bass who hadn't touched a musical instrument in over two decades, I could tell that he wasn't great. His 60th was earlier this year. He'd joined a band and been playing with them for two years, and the band was going to play at his party. Their first set was dreadful and he was comfortably the weakest member of the band. Their second set was indescribably bad; I've routinely taken part in jam sessions where none of the musicians on stage have even met before which sounded better than this. When they finished playing, our chief interest was in finding a way of leaving fast enough that we could dodge the "how did we sound?" question. In answer to the OP, no, I've never done anything like he describes.

Late to the party, but so's Discreet so that's OK. I do this for fun. The money's nice and I do expect to be paid, but enjoying myself is way more important than the money. [Cue lengthy and tangential posts by pro musician Basschatters explaining why I'm undermining their market and need to change my attitude.] In the OP's situation my only real questions would be: Am I still enjoying playing this music with these bandmates? If I devoted this particular time & effort to finding another band and then playing that music with those bandmates, would it be likely to be more fun? If my limited career as a gigging musician has taught me anything, it's that every band has issues, every band has problems, every band has a list of reasons to make me want to throw my toys out of the pram and flounce. Which makes flouncing a less attractive option, since I know what I'll be walking into next ...

Now this guy may have found the answer: https://www.joinmyband.co.uk/classifieds/one-bloke-band-available-t1105873.html

https://www.joinmyband.co.uk/classifieds/rock-paniokey-boardist-t1105077.html

I hope you have read through the Auditions In Hell thread?

Can't argue with that, but it makes for great Modern Art ...

Ahead of the dream?

I saw FM at the O2 a few years back, the reunion gig with Christine McVie rejoining. My three memories of that night were: (1) how wonderful John McVie's bass sounded, played onstage through a big stack of Orange AD1s with FoH actually taming the venue for bass, (2) how uncomfortable Christine McVie looked and how woodenly she played, and (3) that the whole evening rested on the shoulders of Lindsey Buckingham ... he was an absolute fireball of energy and enthusiasm and he carried the whole damned thing by himself.

All things are possible ...

Talent has never necessarily gone hand-in-hand with intelligence, or indeed with basic politeness.

It will look great hung over my fireplace, like a hunting trophy.

Stew, you shouldn't have done that, you really shouldn't. I've bought it. I just had to.

502 errors? I haven't even been counting ...

Have to say, I think your backdrop is more stylish than mine ...

Ludicrously, eight months after being 'launched' at NAMM in California, this is STILL not available: https://www.thomann.de/gb/rickenbacker_4003s5_mapleglo.htm?sid=37d22fa6bed62b78e05dde5063b5e162 Being one of the lucky few to have actually played this bass, I can assure (most of) those who dislike the Rickenbacker that the 4003S5 actually addresses the great majority of the issues discussed here. I have absolutely no need for any more basses, but if I was going to buy just one more brand new bass it would be one of these.