NancyJohnson

While I prefer a passive bass, certainly the bass that prompted my original post (a Spector EuroLT) delivers something a little more different over the Lulls, dare I say it, more shizzle/dynamic. On the subjective matter of pre-amps (or whatever you'd classify as a pre-amp), over the years I've transitioned from a wholly clean tone (straight in), through a variety of Sansamps into power amps, up to where I'm at now (Darkglass A/O head or a Sansamp dUg into the effects return thereon); in isolation, I would not expect the bass to replicate anything the Sansamps or the Darkglass does to shape my tone.

John Schnatter has gone from Papa Johns, hasn't he? You can now enjoy a guilt free Mexican or All The Meats.

I did sell up everything 20+ years ago. Stupid big rig, too much gear. Got an invite to go and play with a newly forming covers band for someone's birthday. I was kind of on the back foot from the outset, covers really are not my thing at all, but I went along to help more than anything else. When I got back, my wife asked how it had gone and I just questioned everything, even down to the point of why I was even bothering doing band stuff. Everything went...a huge SWR and Trace tri-amped rig, several basses. One guy took an old Hamer Scarab and another head (Laney, I think) and offered me a 1979 Fender Precision in a trade. This sat under a bed for a little while until I got an offer else where and it all started again. I actually found the whole experience quite cathartic. Out with the old and in with something older. Of course I went back into things with a gusto. After the mortgage was paid I was in double figures for Gibson Thunderbirds alone - all gone to fund two Lulls. I'm down to five basses now and a smallish Darkglass/Barefaced amp set up.

Just on the subject of Pizza Express, when was the last time anyone actually ate at one? I haven't been for maybe ten years, perhaps longer, and found it underwhelming to say the least. (I've eaten more pizza in Italy in that time.) Whether or not one considers Papa Johns or Dominos to be the real deal or not, they deliver, it's tasty and not too expensive if you can hit them with an, 'Are there any deals on tonight?' when you phone up.

Hey hey @TrevorR Nope, honestly not trolling. When I was a kid I remember my brother dishing out some kind of schpiel about leaving headphones plugged into my little cassette recorder would make the batteries go flat, so I guess I have an underlying fear of power failures. I've had active basses previously (Ibanez, Warwick, MusicMan Bongo, plus a John East) but - and not that I've looked much - I honestly don't have a clue about battery life. It's 2019, probably would have expected new basses to have some kind of cut out. I tend to just have a bass plugged in for readiness in the house, suppose I just need to unplug the Spector more often. See you Sunday.

Is this like a vegan burger made from 100% Scotch beef?

Didn't someone come up with having an interior rechargeable battery? You just had something like a phone charger but it had a 1/4" jack on the end, plug it in et viola battery charged.

Me forking too.

Just a quickie. If you leave an active bass plugged in 24/7, is there any evidence this will this cause the 9v battery to drain? Does the jack plug create a circuit that is always on or does something in the circuit just cut out, deactivating it?

You coming this year then, Sean? Be nice to catch up again.

Updated Attendance & Gear List: 01. Silverfoxnik - BC Rich Eagle, Ander van der End JB5, RBV5, Ampeg V4BH head and matching cabs. 02. Hamster - Tea, Coffee, Pastries, the Wife - might bring a bass! 03. @Frank Blank 's Acoustic Corner - Rob Allen Mouse, Godin A4, FRFR setup (QSC K12.2, HX Stomp and HX Edit). 04. RodFunnell - '78 Stingray, Assorted Warwicks, Vanderkley Spartan, Mesa Prodigy 4:88, Barefaced Big Twin T and it's still a few months away so maybe more! 05. obbm - Sadowsky Metros, Handbox WB100,Bergantino cabs. 06. Cetera - Spector USA NS2, Spector USA NS2X 'Spectorbird', Spector Euro LT, Hamer Impact, Hagstrom Super Swede, Italia Imola GP, Fender FSR PJ, Fender FSR 70's Ash P, 80's Gallien Krueger 400RB, GenzBenz Neox 2x12 07. @NancyJohnson - Lull JAX/NRT5, Spector Euro LT, Darkglass A/O Head, Barefaced Big One (the #000) 08. Rumblefish - Rumblefish bass,Wal Bass, MB Mpulse 600,Berg CN212 09. Steve Browning - SVL & Fender Precisions, Mesa Walkabout 15 10. @Stingray5 - MM Stingray5, MM Stingray fretless, Tune TWB-6, Tune SWB-4; Trace Elliot GP12SMX or Eden EC15 combos; Boss GT-6B. 11. ChunkyMunky - Builds of mine (P5, J5 etc), SWR SM900, a Greenboy/Fearful build or two and some other assorted goodies.  12. samcrabtree00 - Warwick Streamer Stage II, USA MM Sub, Genzler Magallen 800, Barefaced BB2, Various effects 13. TrevorR - Wal Custom and Pro, Aria SB700, MarkBass LMII & Traveler 2x10 14. @Graemeross - 4 Ps, 3 Js, 2 Aria SBs , Darkglass MT900, 2x Barefaced BB2, HX Effects with Line 6 G75 wireless. 15. prowla - Rics, Warwicks, Statii (whatever I chuck in the car!), Markbass EVO 1 & 1x12. Maybe a Minitaur & 12-step (if I've got 'round to figuring out the 12-step by then). 16. OrangeFriday - Third build - J bass - may contain LEDs... 17. Wolverinebass - haven't decided what to bring yet. 18. Kebabkid - A Roland Bass Cube 120XL and a couple of 4 string Sires (V7 & V3)and if there's a bass shoot out, I'm happy to include one or both of these in thecompetition 19. MacDaddy - custom Shuker/s, Snapdragon Folding Bass, Rob Allen Mouse. 20. G-77 - [Possible attendee] Can bring 2 of the following, D-Bird (purple shift) Anaconda Crusher CXE (green), Status King Bass Prototype #4 (left in photo) or Status Streamline. "If anyone got a preference let me know." 21. bassace - Kolstein travel EUB (ex Clarky, ex Dave Swift). Plus a Genz Benz combo. 22. thestick - Ken Smith, Wal and Markbass ninja head and ninja cab. 23. pete.young - Yamaha BBNE2 Nathan East, Duesenberg Starplayer, Yamaha BB800, HH Studio 60 Bass combo 24. @mangotango - Spector Legend Classic 5, Spectorcore fretless 5, Aria SWB-04 EUB, GenzBenz Streamliner 900, Barefaced Compact One Ten

I saw Mike Peters of The Alarm last Friday in Fleet, Hampshire. It was somewhat excruciating. Two 55 minute sets of just him, an acoustic guitar and a bass drum, followed by a short run of Alarm material. He was doing this odd story arc thing, deep diving tracks from two of The Alarm's later albums Eye Of The Hurricane and Change, linking everything together with short speeches like, 'And the angel showed itself to me and said, 'You have come so far but you are One Step Closer To Home'. And so on. Like I said, excruciating. He lost his audience after about five minutes; people just talking and on their phones. Also, while I thought that we were in row J, we were actually on table J - the whole thing felt like being at a wedding reception, but without the suits. While it feels like Mike is on a mission to keep The Alarm's legacy alive - and credit to him for doing this - but this backfired spectacularly and it made me want to never listen to Declaration or Strength (AKA 'The Good Stuff') again.

Picked up this earlier in the week. EuroLT. Needed a bit of work despite only being a couple of months old. Truss rod wasn't doing anything at all. That said, it now plays nicely. This is my first foray into Spectors; initial impressions? Well it's very pretty, forking tiny compared to my Lulls, nice chunky neck profile, fairly lightweight, balances nicely. Due to work commitments (and two lost evenings working on it!), I haven't really noodled much, but it's very lively...will do so in the next day or two.

There is a bit of a self-build house thing that's come in over the last few years for charring/burning/toasting wood that's being used as cladding/sidings. It just releases oils, which when burnt form a natural defence against weathering/rot. Toasted maple, though? Frankly, while it looks nice enough, we have guitars and basses out there that are 60/70 years old that probably still play as well now as they did when they left the factory, maybe better. I don't see how a £2,000 toasted maple Stingray would have better stability or longevity from that of my 41 years old beater, a 1978 Aria Primary which is pretty trashed and has seen a lot of action. It's all hype.

It's a 2019 Euro LT. Bartolini pickups, active Darkglass circuit. Reliably informed it's an Alder back, a walnut stripe and flamed maple top. Three piece maple neck, ebony board. Gotoh machines. [Edit: it's my first Spector.] Despite the specs, it did need some work; despite being a couple of months old, the truss rod wasn't doing anything and (to my standards at least), it was unplayable, so I worked on it last night for a few hours. I had some money from my late mum's estate and hadn't used a penny of it for any kind of vanity purchase, saw this last week and pulled the trigger on it. I might put a photo of her on the back of the headstock.

A while back, when I was gigging an awful lot and had an endorsement elsewhere, I shot a speculative email to Ken Haas to see if I could get a Thundergun made with a reverse headstock, explaining I was doing a couple of smallish festivals, while to be honest I didn't fancy taking out any of my expensive basses for these. Ken was pretty accommodating considering I was just a zero, I do remember him saying, 'my basses love stages' and that really stuck with me. I think it was more about exposure for Reverend at that juncture than anything else and I still have a soft spot for the marque. In then end, despite being offered a deal of sorts, the primary caveat was that I'd have to pay in dollars, cover shipping and duties from the USA. It would have been a great deal if I'd lived in Enid, Oklahoma, but once you factored in import costs, there wasn't much of a difference in UK retail of a similar model. I appreciated the offer though.

I'd concur. The headstock is much nicer than the one the dog chewed.

Here you go.

I'm being serious. This is a bit of a departure. It's not Thunderbird shaped.

Yep, NBD.

I don't mind hosting a blindfold test if Gary wants to sit behind the curtain again. It's been 50 weeks since I've heard any Kansas bass lines.

@Floyd Pepper Jim There's usually a table in the the front hall where you can just pile your stuff up. Just put prices on each piece and an indication of who you are. Easy! P

If you go over to the contact page, there's a link to the guys Facebook page, but I mean, why wouldn't you put this link up on the front page? There's a huge quantity of photos on the Facebook page, but in the main, they're just hugely annoying as well. Of the 40-odd I flipped through (before I lost interest), I think I saw maybe three of the full instruments; there were lots of shots of sawdust artfully sprinkled over apparent works-in-progress, taped bindings and some gappy-teethed kids. It looked more like a photography project than a site to show off guitars.

I found that website VERY annoying. Just show some stills of the full instruments.