Gwilym

I disagree that you necessarily have to spend a lot of money. Maybe if you're picking an instrument at random, you're less likely to have problems from a "high end" bass than a mass produced bass, but arguably that's because the expensive bass is more likely to have a good setup (costing time and money) than a less expensive off the shelf bass. You have to play it to find out.

If you download and read the user manual there is a schematic in there which appears to indicate what you suggested i.e. the "master volume" is missing and effectively full on. Volume will be a combination of bass output, gain and any eq you apply.

It doesn't get much better than this. NHOP and Mulgrew Miller playing the Duke Ellington piano & bass duets. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Duets_(Mulgrew_Miller_album)

You'd be lucky to get 50% (of what you could sell for privately) in a trade in. Similarly, a commission sale will be 15 to 20%. I think this explains why there is such a healthy and liquid private sales market 😁

No skin in the game here mind, I'm not particularly a big Fodera or P or J fan. I've only played 1 Fodera at the Bass Gallery a few years ago. It was a lovely looking Emperor 5 but I thought the sound was underwhelming (given my expectations). Ultimately, it was just another bass, albeit with a high level of handmade craftsmanship involved. The economic climate might mean people would rather the (hefty amount of) cash in their pockets at the moment. Also some of the regular sellers of Fodera (and other high-end basses) on this forum appear to be dealing basses as more than a hobby, or maybe just very obsessive collectors wanting to try ever single wood combination going.

Not really sure if this is remarkable? The rate of gear turnover, Fodera or not, seems to be consistently high. Definitely a lot of J and P basses for sale. What's wrong with them?

Perhaps counterintuitively, I've found my preference is a lower gauge B string (on a 35" scale bass), and possibly with a taper at the bridge where the taper still has winding on the core. The Labella super steps with the exposed core at the bridge sounded fine, but the string was too free to vibrate and therefore felt a little bit too lively under the fingers, and more prone to rattling against the frets. Maybe fine if you had a very light touch. The partial taper (or lighter gauge) feels like a regular untapered string but is easier to get sitting properly over the bridge saddle, therefore less likely to have its vibration inhibited by a bad set up, for want of a better description. I also think the lighter gauge makes the B string tone more consistent (with the E string) higher up the neck too. So my recommendation would be 125 gauge max. It's been a long time since I played a 34" scale 5er, so the above is mainly from my experience on 35" (and 34.5") scale.

I would recommend https://www.bassjapandirect.com too. Bought a bass from Danny earlier this year and all went smoothly. No language barrier either.

I see the original for sale/trade ad was for £1650 I was about to say around £1500, and I guess you have some idea of what it was worth to you in the trade? I've always thought these are nice looking basses, and the Princess SC shape is my favourite. A shame (for me) this is a six stringer. Looks very cool, and sounds great from the clips on the advert too.

Definitely false metal.

Are we meant to list bass players we think could objectively be considered to be influential? Or is this just another exercise in listing our personal influences or favourites (again) ? 😁

Not really assuming too much, just my opinion, and opinions are not facts 😁 great that you have found that rare unicorn ☺️

And there's nothing wrong with that of course, been there and done it myself. It didn't make me a better bass player either. Even if you find a bass that fits you perfectly, and that bass is your dream bass, even then the joy of ownership will diminish eventually, and all that's left is you as a player, warts and all, or maybe no warts at all. How many times have I seen threads about "I've found my dream awesome bass, keeper for life etc" only for it to show up for sale not long after because some new shiny thing caught their attention. Nothing wrong with that either, by the way, but perhaps the elusive dream bass is just a dream after all. 🙂

Thanks 👍 The internet is a dangerous thing, I was just Googling Dragonfly basses to learn a bit more about them as I'd seen @thebassgallery had a few in stock recently. I definitely wasn't looking to buy another bass (said all the members of bass chat, not 😂), but this popped up. I love the look of koa on a bass. If this is indicative of their basses as a whole, then you can't go wrong. As nicely put together as Atelier and they are good. I think the newer basses have a proprietary Dragonfly preamp, but it's a Aguilar obp-3 in this one, which seems pretty good actually.

Indeed 😂

No idea why you would think it's a snarky comment, it wasn't intended that way, but the truth hurts sometimes maybe? I didn't say you shouldn't buy what you like if you can afford it, and I have done myself, but my point is don't get hung up about it, the initial shine will fade pretty quickly no matter how good it is. To continue with the bike analogy, as it's something close to my heart: enjoy riding the bike you have, riding more will make you a better, fitter and stronger cyclist, and when you do splash out on your dream carbon bike you will get even more out of it.😁

New to me anyway... it's over 20 years old. Brought from Danny at @bass_japan_direct I've use his pictures here as they do the bass justice. This is my first fretless bass in a while, and it's a beauty. I'd forgotten how much more tactile it is to play than a fretted instrument. Koa on Alder, with an epoxied rosewood fingerboard, with fret inlays, so I can get my Jaco on. No idea if it was originally fretless or not, but who cares. Edit: here's a demo of it:

...did the seller ever really have the cab in the first place?

Easier to dream about the next bass than to knuckle down and practice and improve as a musician/player. As others have noted, you always end up sounding like you. IME the instrument is rarely the limiting factor 😁

The logo is WAY TOO BIG.

I believe Albert King did the original version. IMO neither of these covers come close 😁