Nicko

Normally I'd expect anything from a small volume manufacturer to be seen as a potential future classic, but to be honest I have an old Patrick Eggle 6 string guitar - one of the shorter production run ranges in an unusual configuration which is a great player and its worth approximately nowt. I suspect a good big name brand limited production example using materials which are becoming scarce/controlled (ie a mahogany body and rosewood board rather than ash and maple) might outperform a small bespoke manufacturer product.

I think the questions here are: 1) Whether the so called experts on Flog It should have valued an item they clearly know nothing about. Not everyone can be expected to know how much a certain object is worth, and vintage guitars should and normally do go to specialist auctions so the auctioneers they use as experts on Flog It probably had no idea what they're looking at. 2) Why anyone would take anything of potential value to Flog It in the first place. Most auction houses have free valuation days - thats how they get their stock in the first place. The service is paid fro by the commissions on the sale. Anyone who has the misfortune of catching the end of Flog it will often see the estimate is rarely correct. I'm actualy a fan of Bargain Hunt - the auctioneers there seem to have a much better handle on valuations than the experts - the fact that its buying at retail and selling at wholesale as someone pointed out earlier is the whole point.

Fender Made in Mexico Deluxe Active Jazz bass, sunburst, synthetic tortoiseshell pick guard. CITES 3040 compliant resin construction and graphite neck. Hardly used as I prefer precisions. In full working condition, except requires obsolete 2 x 9V batteries. Could convert to solar power for daytime use only.

Should be a standard "kettle" lead - normally its just a fused plug with a three pin socket at the other end - they're not specific to amps and you'll probably have something suitable in the house (lead from an old PC or monitor?) - if not your local hardware shop should be able to supply one.

Paul Martin is one of those people tht you watch on TV and wonder how he ever got a job presenting. I hope he's more talented as a musician than he is as a personality.

Started playing bass on a borrowed Ibanez SG style bass and Roland Cube- probably a 120 in a large temporary building/bar on a construction camp in the desert in 2009 - having played six string for years in my bedroom. Only played a couple of gigs before buying my own bass - a Peavey BX Cirrus from Wunjo when on home leave. Got fed up with changing the batteries so went for a Precision, and traded the BXP for a Squier CV Precision (bought as a backup) a few years ago. The first amp I owned was a Line 6 lowdown 15 wqtt practice, but I bought a Markbass Blackline 250 and 2x10 traveller cab for my first UK gig which I still use.

Location?

Good point. I guess even a someone who has never driven will sit in a car and understand if the seats a comfortable, they can reach the pedals and like sitting in the cabin.

The OP seems to be missing the point with Ronaldo's training. He didn't start off using the ankle weights he progressed to them. By this token we shoud all start off with super easy basses to play, then swich to massivey high action and huge string gauges once we have developed some stamina and technique. And Ronaldo, while being a great footballer, is a massive bell end.

Not elped by Siobhan's insistence that it turns out they realy do like each other after all this time. The version they performed was pretty poor.

To be honest QC issues affect most brands. I certainly would not recomment buying Affinity on line, but if you try one in a shop and it has no issues you might just pick up a bargain. Just a shout out for Squier VM - I play one rather than the US Fender I also own as it sounds better. The VM was bought as a backup but its just so good.

fixed

They should be set up, but not necessarily how you want them set up. If you have access to a large store like Andertons do pay them a visit and play with some of their stock - the bass room at Andertons is quite private and you'll not have to play "in public" and the staff will be used to dealing with noobs - but you'll be paying retail for a new bass unless they have a suitable s/h one. If you can, go during the week rather than on Saturday. ps, I've never had to tinker with bass set ups aside from changing strings.

I'd take a slightly different approach to this question. As stated above you need a bass that is comfortable for you to play, but what bass you buy depends on what you intend to do with it. If you want to learn in your bedroom with a cheap practice amp and have no intention of being in a band the sound produced by the bass is unlikely to be a factor. If you want to play in a band and gig you need a bass that will sound OK in the band mix and create the sounds you need. Most cheap basses are better these days, but if you are convinced that you will stick at it it might be better buying a good quality second hand bass that will last you forever, rather than one that you'll want to trade in after 6 months.

To be honest this is the first band I've been in where people come to rehearsals having properly learnt the songs, but playing as a band is IMHO the only way to elevate it from a jam to a good band. Less so with this band as its two guys and two girls.

I started a new band with a guitarist in December. By mid January we had a full line up, and we have been working on building a setlist. Everything is going well you might think. Except getting everyone together is proving difficult. For various reasons it looks like Wednesday or Thursdays are preferred practice nights, but no one seems to commit to putting a reguar day in the diary and cancelling if they have something else they really need to do so we end up agreeing a date week by week and finding that we have no chace of getting a rehearsal room. We met once in March, once in April and its looking like once in May is all we can manage. Although they're talking about gigging and have been offered a slot at a pub the set list is not long enough and with one practice a month none of the songs are particularly polished to a standard thats giggable. I was on the verge of quitting when we met last time but I really enjoyed it when we got together that I feel I'd be cutting off my nose to spite my face if I walked away. I understand that work and family commitments have to come first but I'm beginning to wonder what the point of the band is.

I take it you are an originals band looking to put some extra material into the set. You can cover anything and put your own spin on it. Not to my taste but metal verions of Nancy Sinatra? These boots are made for walking

This may be the case for you, but my timing is spot on with a pick (or at least undetectaby off) - I play maybe 30% of the time with a pick. I personally find I have to grip tighter with a stiffer pick, whick not only interferes with my timing it also means I lose my grip more. Horses for courses.

These are my pick of the picks, plenty of grip. They're available in different thicknesses if you want more stiffness. They last forever too. Dunlop

No stitches, but took a while to stop. Spray plaster didn't help much. Its my right hand so I suspect I'll open up the wound the moment I pluck a string as I do tend to go quite hard. Will be trying to use a pick as much as I can.

I'm playing a dep gig on Friday - first full gig for over a year. Just made some lunch and sliced my index finger open on a tin can. I've managed to stop the bleeding but I'm expecting blood on my scratchplate at the gig😒

I hadn't realised just how loud traditional instruments are. I've never walked out of an opera (and yes - I go quite often) thinking "wow, that was loud" Makes last night's drummer seem tame

As opposed to putting each member of the brass secion in an isolation booth?

Action will play a huge part in your perception of tension because a low action will require less pressure exerted to properly fret the string. When you fret a string you are effectively making it longer than its resting position, so the lower the action the less you need to stretch it, and by Hooke's law force required to stretch is proportional to the extension required.

Personally I use an old Line 6 15 watter like this GAK. Discontinued but I've seen them on ebay for £10 or 20. Its not fantsastic sound quality but for practice who cares. Headphone socket has never been used on mine, but I suspect it wont be speaker emulated. I don't bother much with the modelling functions but there are a number of tonal options available if you really want to sound like something in particular.