three

Hahaha, You’re right and I thought the same when I looked at the images again! There’s a very nice bass amp too. I’ll have a look later in the week. Rare, valve and classy!

The fretless is very nicely done and I like the markers over the edge of the board - they're not intrusive but sufficient as a guide. I'm not sure as I didn't have that long to play the bass, however, it appears that the board is in two parts (not visible in these images). The the edge with the markers looks like a separate strip, though this abuts the main part of the board perfectly and it's very hard to see if there's a joint or not. The replacement board looks like a very nice piece of ebony and it's a really thick slab. The finishing work is really impressive and it's clearly a high-end job. There was a superb luthier in the area (really, world-class), though he very sadly passed away a couple of months ago. It wasn't his work apparently, so a bit of a mystery. The nut is brass too and I'm pretty sure it would have been fitted at the same time as the board.

I was in a local music shop this morning – a really nice place, with a friendly and knowledgeable owner. His wife runs a lovely cafe at the back of the premises. It’s not a bass heavy shop, though occasionally there’s some really nice stuff in there. There are two black ‘70s Precisions and a late ‘70s or early 80s Jazz available at the moment. There’s a ‘77-‘78 P that’s had an ebony fretless slab board fitted (very impressive job), and a ‘75 fretted with a rosewood board (in extremely good condition). Both need a set-up tweak but play very nicely. The fretless is around £1700, and fretted is around £2100. I think the jazz is up for £2250. Just a heads-up but worth a visit if you’re in the area: Gibson Music Ashton under Lyne - I’m not affiliated in any way.

I'd certainly agree with TheGhostofJaco's assessment of the Mullarkey pickups - the bridge pickup is fairly P-like and has a great deal of clarity but also a great deal of complexity and richness. It sounds big - and certainly captures a lot of the string and a lot of the note. In some respects reminiscent of an Alembic single coil. I thought I'd find myself using the 'both' pickup selection but don't. Most of the time I use the bridge only. The neck pickup is a monster and has the same dynamic range and fullness as the bridge, though given its positioning, provides a more traditional/vintage tone to my ears - not something that I really use. On conception, materials, execution and build-quality - just superb basses in every respect. As good as anything that you'll find from any other top UK luthier and at a much more reasonable price-point.

I buy on looks alone - I can make anything sound dreadful 😁

This has pretty much everything I’d be looking for in a new TE higher powered head. Power amp in and pre out, pre-shape and dual band compression, straightforward tone stack, recording interface, mute, accessories included. Lightweight too (I think) - looking forward to more on the amp module and power supply. Logo isn’t too obtrusive for me. Checking bank.

Very classy look - really cool '70s aesthetic. The cats couldn't look much less interested but beautiful in their own right - as Mokl suggests, nicely coordinated.

I had a Quest years ago - sublime. Even the knobs were a thing of beauty (turned aluminium if memory serves)

Yes, things got quite badly out of hand for a while. I sort of went stereo. A bit of order restored now, though the sight of a lovely rack pre makes me go a bit weak.

Oooh, those look nice and not a ridiculous price second hand. I agree entirely on channel strips for pure and uncoloured - I like a nice compressor too!

I prefer rack pres to stomp/floor units (though I do sometimes use the latter, notably an Agi Tonehammer). After some really exhaustive testing (genuinely, a lot of money lost!), I worked out that I tend to prefer SS rack pres. My favourite is the Warwick Hellborg, for me it's a stellar, ultra-clean and forensic pre. I also use an Alembic SF2 - a strange but brilliant device indeed and one for which there's quite a learning process. Another favourite - somewhere between a floor-box and rack device is the Millennia TD-1. Superb in every respect and mastering quality EQ. It also has a valve path should one wish to use it. An honourable mention also to the Warm Audio Pultec clone - the only all valve rack pre that I really got on with. I've had a Noble and that was lovely but not really what I wanted (as with the DB680). As I said, quite a journey, and an expensive one.

I wouldn't be too concerned about rapid wear with roundwounds, though avoidance of some brands/types of roundwounds may help. I was told by a very high-profile tech many years ago that Rotosound swing bass (steel) rounds can be hard on frets - I then experienced this phenomenon myself. I've used nickel or nickel plated rounds for a very long time without any appreciable problems.