three

I was a fan of these years ago when the workshop was in Partington. A mate of mine has a gorgeous hand-built black P that was gifted to him some decades back and I owned a lovely semi acoustic bass. Good to see use of the Gypsy design in a bass but these get very expensive very quickly if one adds in some of the options. I’d be interested to see/feel the quality of the new instruments given the price (the originals were very lovely)

I've tried my Newport in a Fusion Urban guitar bag and it fits fine. There's not a lot of clearance at the headstock but the length of the bass doesn't appear to be an issue.

I like Hiscox but the SKB i-series are in an entirely different league. Not a cheap option but the quality and protection is exceptional https://www.skb-europe.com/3i-5014-44/

I’ll check tomorrow and get back

I just spent the afternoon listening to SC - I enjoy some of the tones that he gets out of his Series I but others not so much. I agree re: the low pass filters, they can produce some pretty mundane tones alongside the extraordinary. I too have an SII but it's a four. I was just thinking the other day, I'm not sure I've ever really spent much time with a Ric - I've certainly not owned one (or a Musicman). I shall seek out a Ric this weekend - thanks for the thread - I'm inspired.

I concur entirely, exactly the same experience for me - set-up not too bad, tuners fine for the price, probably best to avoid central position on the pan, and the nut just needs a bit of work. For me, all the colours in the range are brilliant and the quality of finish is pretty outstanding at this price point. That said, I'm just about to sell mine - lovely bass but I have a few (!) shorties and the Epiphone just isn't getting any play time

This is helpful, thanks. Maybe something like a Greenboy Crazy 8? They don't seem to come-up for sale very often and I'm not sure that a commission would bring one in on budget, though maybe worth a look around?

Probably a little bigger than your requirements but an Aguilar sl112 might be worth a look. Compact and 25lbs. Lovely, full and round bloom with fretless and plenty of definition and focus

Both fantastic colours! Capri orange with competition stripes has to be one of the coolest looks known to humanity. Reminds me very fondly of a Slazenger tennis racket cover I had in the early ‘70s. Cool as

As above, I find DR Pure Blues to be very silky and comfortable. Another option is Thomastik Infeld Nickel Rounds - possible the silkiest rounds I've played. Very expensive and very quiet in terms of finger squeak. I'm not sure about lengths but TI are pretty good at sharing specs

I've just received my old fretless back from Aidan - it's been with him for the past few years and he very graciously offered to sell it back to me in the Mono case that I also sold to him in a post fretless deal (see earlier posts in this thread). Absolutely perfect deal and some fabulous conversations throughout. We share more than just an obsessive interest in basses. The bass was brilliantly packed and arrived exactly on schedule - it was also in perfect condition and has been treated extremely well throughout Aidan's ownership. A stellar member of our community - deal in entire confidence. Cheers Aidan, another very enjoyable encounter!

I use a Fusion Urban guitar gig bag for a Status SII. It’s a high quality bag with an inner ‘collar’ that holds the instrument firmly in place. Protection is good all round and the bag has a number of useful features (and some gimmicks that are fairly pointless add-ons for me). Not cheap at over £200 but a durable and well-padded bag that should fit many headless basses: https://www.fusion-bags.com/collections/guitar-and-bass-gig-bags/products/urban-electric-guitar-gig-bag

Some excellent writing, fabulous basslines and bass-players (all good but Alan Spenner is a particular favourite), and simply sublime production. Rhett Davies is an absolute genius IMO. I saw Roxy last year in Manchester in a venue that is notorious for dire sound. Somebody/everybody in the Roxy crew had clearly been paying attention - even in the cheapest seats, the sound was staggering - faithful to Davies’ ideas and vision (as far as that’s possible live). A bit of an eye-opener

I've just received a bridge from OJ - exactly as described (better really, pretty much as new), well-packed and delivered super-rapidly. A fine and upstanding member of our community. Very highly recommended - thanks OJ!

Just had a glance at 'Basses for Sale' - it would appear you're right

Just received the email and had a good look - 12 of the 40th Anniversary, and 18 Special Edition. Prices for the former around £7500, and for latter, around £5k up to £6.5k. Not sure about the 'remastering' but all of the basses look beautiful and finishing is exactly as one would expect. Looks like I'll be sticking with my old SII. The new basses are well out of range (not that I suspect that Status will have any problem in selling these very rapidly)

I've just received a lovely little Baby Sumo from Ben - exactly as described (perfect) and beautifully presented with highly protective packaging. All arranged really quickly too and Ben did exactly what he said he'd do, getting the package into the post immediately (it was a next day delivery and all worked brilliantly). Ben was extremely generous too in offering to return any overpayment of shipping (and then very kindly declined to take the additional cash when it became clear that I'd made an underpayment!) An absolute pillar of our community (as this thread attests!) and entirely recommended to all on Basschat and beyond. In addition, the sumo is an absolutely brilliant little thing - superb design and functionality. Thanks very much Ben!