Dan Dare

They may have improved since, but when I tried a set of groundwounds some years ago, I found they lost their zing/newness quickly. I'd be inclined to look at some of the bright flats that are on the market.

Not bass related, but i got a wooden leg. Only a stocking filler 😑

Agreed. Better to have the holes too tight than loose. Ease the screws in using a good quality screwdriver bit (don't use a powered driver) that doesn't slip in the heads and chew them up or jump out completely and scratch the body. Snug them up tight but no need to lean on them.

I like that bass a lot. A guitar player in a band I was in had a Kawai. Beautifully made LP/PRS style instrument with 2 humbuckers. Sounded great. He loved it.

This. Stay well away from the power supply, especially. The reservoir caps hold lethal voltages for a long time. If in doubt, take it to a tech'.

This. I appreciate that bands such as Journey have made their millions and probably don't need to worry about alienating people, but it makes no commercial sense to do so. Given that much of the world, not just the US, is polarised these days, it makes little sense to do it anywhere.

Doesn't appeal to me. Very unorthodox and not a keeper.

Will it work if you have "big hands"?

Ah, Black Widows. I replaced the nasty stock drivers in my Bassman 2x15 cab (one blew and the other didn't look too clever) with BWs in the 1980s. Needed a Volvo estate to get it around, but sounded epic with a Trace AH350.

The race to the bottom, eh?

Chromes work for me. Definitely more bite (not as much as a round, of course) than Thomastiks. Only a little more tension than TIs. Last well, too, if you keep them clean.

The sound of the bridge pickup on a J bass has much to do with its positioning. I once played a bass with 2 P pickups and the one nearest the bridge sounded very different from the one nearest the neck. I think you may struggle to find what you are after, especially as you are looking for a single coil with only two connectors.

Speak for yourself. NHS and other public service staff don't seem to be afflicted in that manner. But then, they aren't doing nicely, thanks.

Really? Words almost fail me.

Sad, isn't it? Whilst I may not live in France, I am also retired and comfortably off. I try not to forget that not everyone is as fortunate as me.

Yep. Royal Mail has been asset stripped. Many main post offices have been closed and replaced with mini post offices in supermarkets, etc. Those post office buildings, which are often in prime high street locations, can now be sold off. Staffing levels are being slashed and pay and working conditions for staff are under the hammer. Hardly surprising those staff are not happy.

Interestingly, monitors are often designed to be RFI (as in Radio Frequency Interference) shielded to prevent issues in studios that are stuffed full of equipment sitting cheek by jowl.

Usually when they return from the pub, I suspect.

Sorry. It's a bad habit of mine.

Isn't using ones heart as opposed to ones head down to psychology? It isn't either/or or one or the other in reality. Case in point. I bought a used (abused, actually - it was a bit of a mess, but I fixed it up) 1972 Jazz bass back in the late 1970s for £250. Cheap by today's standards, but the going rate back then. At the time, my motivation for buying it was primarily because I had always wanted a nice J bass. However, it has gone on to earn me quite a lot of money and is now worth many times what I paid for it. Win win. As far as tools are concerned, one usually doesn't recoup the cost of purchase of quality equipment in the space of a year. Ask any tradesman. The sensible ones buy quality tools, which last and enable them to work efficiently and earn more in the long run. The taxman allows them to write off the cost of purchase over a number of years, helping to make it economic. Scale that up and it's exactly what most businesses do. A company that invests £millions in CNC machinery won't expect it to pay for itself in the space of a year. However, during its lifetime, it will pay for itself and then some.

I don't have to fund my musical purchases out of gig earnings. Nor do many others. I can afford to indulge myself in toys - instruments, fishing tackle, hobby stuff, etc - if I wish. I don't do so very often. I have a few (less than a dozen) nice instruments (of all kinds, not just basses) and decent backline, PA, etc. They don't need to pay for themselves, although most probably will have, if I add it all up. £60 a week, every week, is pretty small beer. I was making several times that a week, every week, from playing back in the 1980s and it was only a side-line from the day job.

If you can stretch to around £280, Adam T5Vs are excellent. Check the reviews.

Not sure I follow that. Are you arguing that the car is responsible for earning your entire yearly income? Might be true if you are mini-cabbing, but apart from that, I don't see how. I've earned more, often much more, than £3k a year - which is less than £60 a week - from playing the bass for most of the last 30 years. I haven't been doing anything involving fame/high profile. Just playing in function bands and similar. It hasn't even been my main source of income, either. I had a full time day job.

Unless I'm misunderstanding this, they appear to be offering to charge you for ready worn/grooved frets. Am I missing something?

He and Roy Buchanan were something else.