Jonesy

Hahahaha! It sounds like he just has a knackered input jack and is just pulling the lead in and out. I do love 'Warhead' though, such a tune!

Good shout! I've seen a couple of thunders come up here and there and will keep an eye out for one. I hear P&O also look out for them when they need boat anchors, what was yours like?

Ta for the extra info. I could get away with doing most of that, but would have to tap out when it comes to drilling holes I reckon. Ah, I didn't know HB did an unlined fretless. Ta for the heads up, I doubt that neck would fit in the PJ body I have, but the bass itself is another option.

I do like the look of those and when I was searching through the forum the Portamento was getting a lot of love. If one came up second hand and in budget I'd jump at it as I've heard nothing but good things. However......trying to balance GAS vs the waiting game will be difficult!!

Nice! Really like it without the control knobs too. Did you have to do much fettling with the neck, or does it drop straight in? I'm guessing it doesn't come predrilled too? And one last Q......are there side dots on the neck in the right place?

GAS being GAS, I've been playing with the idea of picking up a fretless over the past month or so. Maybe I'll play it loads, maybe it'll gather dust. Who knows? Either way it sounds like fun and something else to learn. I've never picked up a fretless before the other week, but had a go on a couple of lined fretless in a shop, just to get an idea of what they're like.... Player Series Jazz - seemed Ok, fretboard was really dry, but that can be sorted. Ibanez SRH500 - I liked it a lot more than I thought I would tbh, but wouldn't normally go for something that looks like it was designed after 1975. Since playing those I've realised 2 things......I think I want to go unlined for more of a challenge and I don't want a sunburst J with no scratch plate. I was thinking of spending £400 max and reckon my options are...... Revelation P bass. I'd probably prefer a PJ, but don't want sunburst. Dimavery MM fretless Fazley PJ fretless (although it is sunburst) Or I look at lined options..... Ibanez SR370. Despite what I said about the SRH500 looks, I quite like the 370 for some reason and have heard good things about the power span pups. Or go left field...... I have a Harley Benton PJ that I bought as a deco and must have ended up with one of the only duds. The necks warped, but I could pick up a HB fretless and put the neck on the PJ body. Or I do the same with a couple of Squiers and put a fretless neck on a non jazz body. Has anyone got any views on the basses above or can throw some other ideas out there?? At the minute I'm leading towards the revelation as I've heard good things.....

Yeah, I think you're right to look at a PJ for the versatility, as has been mentioned - MM basses are worth a look at too and fit what you're after. Sire basses have a really great pre amp in them and you can get a wide range of tones from them. The G&L L2000 Tribute is extremely versatile, but worth playing one just to see how you get on with the neck as it's a chunky one, the main selling point with these is you get exactly teh same pick ups and bridge that goes into the full fat USA version. Where abouts are you? Just thinking we may be able to throw some decent shops your way so you can get a feel of the different necks and their profiles, or throw something 2nd hand near you your way. TBF, it's pretty hard to find a crap bass nowadays and you can still get some decent gear (like Harley Benton, SX or Revelation) at the lower end, so I wouldn't go into this thinking cheap = crap. I regularly gig a £300 bass over a £2k bass and there is some great value to be had out there at the minute. On the amp front - I'd look at something that's about 15w for home use, Fender, Ashdown, Orange & Ampeg all make great practice amps for home use. I have a 15w Fender Rumble and don't need to go any way near above 9 o clock for home use, I'm always well under so 15w is loads. Depending on who else is in the house and how much you like you neighbours, the main thing to make sure it has is a headphones out for silent practice and an aux in so you can jam along to mp3s. If you haven't got a clip on or some sort of app then a tuner is a nice to have too. Or you could pick up something like a Zoom B1 Four. It's a great little pedal with a few decent effects thrown in and you can use it for completely silent home practice. I have an 8 month old daughter in the house, so have to make time to play around her naps. This is a great bit of kit for me! This is great advice and is what I'd do too. If you don't mind losing £300 or so if, in a few months, you've had a go at bass and want to shift that thing in the corner that's just gathering dust, then buy new. Otherwise, look second hand as you'll make your outlay back and be able to invest it back in a more expensive bass if you really want to upgrade later on. The only issue is that the Model T isn't that common and don't come up loads second hand, so if you have your heart set on it and don't want to wait then new might be your only option. Can't say I've played one, but I do like the look of them, and they come with decent EMG's from what I've heard.

You've got quite a wide range of styles of music you want to play and also quite a wide variance in price from the basses you've listed as possibilities. I'd definitely be looking at a J or PJ to cover the difference between slap and the grunt you want from metal and I'd stick to a 4 string for now. What's your budget and do you need an amp as well??

Just play whatever you enjoy the most, I wouldn't worry about any 'rules' around what basses work for specific genres. Although if it helps and you do think about these sorts of things, the bassists from Ash and Placebo both used Thunderbirds. Problem solved! Oh, one more thing....... Give us pics of your t'bird!! ☺️

I didn't know that Cass played with Gary Moore, I'm just giving the monsters of rock album a listen now though. Great stuff! Does anyone have any other recommendations of albums he's played in outside of Skunk Anansie?

I caught them about a week before Glasto at the Royal Festival Hall on the South Bank and they were excellent then too. Cass sounded huge and he seemed like a really nice bloke. Half way through the second song, Mark somehow broke the skin of his bass drum. Fair play to him, he didn't drop a beat though and just signaled to their tech, who rushed on and took the drum away to replace the skin. He carried on using his floor toms for the boomier bits and the band jammed until the drum was back in place and good to go. I think that's the only time I've ever seen a drummer break a bass drum skin (unless you're including Keith Moon playing with explosives!). I was a bit skeptical about seeing them at a seated venue, but as soon as they came on stage everyone stood up. At the end Skin remarked that they were nervous about the venue too, but they were happy that no one knew how to use seats 😂

Yeah, I guess these ones are up there with the MIA in price. They are the equivalent of Vinteras though, so higher spec and vintage features compared to standard MIJ models. Last year, just after Christmas, they put a load of basses on eBay in an auction rather than BiN and they went for more reasonable prices, so it might be worth hanging on if you get the cash around the back end of the year. If you're around North London then Richard at Electrohill (in the same building), is worth a look if you're looking for anyone to do setups etc too.

Ah, Fender Fever aren't too far away from me, I bought my current MIJ P from them (in an auction on eBay). They're a good shop and have a nice collection of MIJ basses too. As for the price, MIJ basses (along with everything else!) seem to be creeping up recently and shops like FF or Bass Bros seem to have them at around the £1k-£1.2k mark for the non export or rarer models. Personally I'd keep an eye out for a second hand private sale and would look at spending £600-£800ish depending on model and condition.

No worries! This site is pretty handy for looking at the different models, though I'm not sure on how up to date it is with newer models etc https://japanfender.wordpress.com/ The easiest way to tell (stock) import vs non export is the machine heads. Export will generally have a smaller base: And non export will be bigger Some non export models will have spiral spring saddles in the bridge too.

I haven't tried a MIJ 51 or 55, but I've owned a MIJ 70s and have a Hama Okamoto sig (which is essentially a 60s P body with a J neck) and can't rate the MIJ stuff highly enough. Build quality, fit and finish etc has been excellent and on par with any MIA basses I've tried (which, admittedly, isn't loads!!). I've read that some people find the stock pups/guts to be the weak point, but the models I've owned have been the non export models that come with US hardware/electrics and I've been more than happy with them. I think the 51 comes with the SD Bassline SCPB-1? Or at least a version of it did at some point.

Most shops I've been into are great. I used to spend hours in my local shop (Harrow Music) when I was a teen chatting to the staff and they were all really sound. The worst service I've seen was down on Denmark St. About 10 years ago a guy asked to play a Gibson LP and the guy behind the counter said he could play an Epiphone instead to see if he likes the feel of that and make his decision to buy based on how the Epi felt. Maybe they're sick of people coming in just to noodle on nice guitars, but that was terrible. I really want to like Andertons, I love their YT channel and content, their site is easy to navigate, range is ace and prices are decent too.......but every time I've gone there or talked to them on the phone it feels like they're too busy to care or just aren't that knowledgeable. I get that they're busy, but I'm not a fan of their service level. PMT and GuitarGuitar on the other hand I think are great from a service point of view. I was with my mate the other day when he went to drop his strat into PMT for a setup. The tech looked at it when he handed it over and said he could see where it wasn't setup properly, tinkered with it for 10 minutes then handed it back for no charge.

I was in the exact place as you about 2 years ago. I went to Andertons and tried a Squier, Sire and G&L and ended up with the G&L. I really like the feel of the neck, the bridges are great and I preferred the sound. I did end up putting in a pair of the Fender 74 J pups in and a ki0gon loom. It sounded good before, but it sounds amazing now! The Sire sounded good too. The preamp in them is great and can give you a really wide range if tones, but the G&L just edged it for me.

I prefer the neck of a J, but the sound of a P. J's are a bit too thin sounding for me, but a series/parallel switch sorts that out.

I always used to think P's we're really boring. Everyone had one and they were just a bit big standard, so I generally stayed away from them. My first bass was a Squier affinity P bass, complete with machine heads that rattled, a crackly jack, scratchy pots and strap buttons that didn't like being attached to the body. So that was probably why I wasn't too keen on them. Then I picked up a really nice one (MIJ PB70US) and came to my senses. They just fit perfectly and there's a reason why they're a standard.

That's what works for me, so hopefully it does the trick for you too. If it does and you're ever caught short then you can pick up solpadeine or boots own version of it over the counter too. Anything that is a mix of paracetamol and codeine will do the trick, I find the effervescent ones most effective as they act quicker. I was just scrolling through FB and found a for sale post where some bloke was selling a snakepick and said it's the only type of plectrum he can use since getting arthritis. I've never used one, but it might be worth a look if it works for him? And if you play with a pick?

100%, it comes with its own health warnings but, if you follow your doctor's advice when taking it then you should be fine

Ibuprofen is a non steroidal anti inflammatory drug, so is good for reducing swelling and pain relief. At least that's my understanding. I'm not a doctor, but have been using it to help with gout for nearly 20 years (along with a few other meds). Gout is a different type of arthritis, so I'm not sure how sage this advice is, but......diclofenac is the most effective nsaid for me and I find soluble pain killer like solpadeine is good for pain relief when it's bad. The boots own version is good too, essentially anything with codeine in it is what I look for. I've tried a few natural remedies like turmeric and cherry and they don't work for me, but I do know people who swear by them, so they could be worth a go for you. When I have a flare up I generally try to rest, elevate and ice the joint as much as possible.

Ah, didn't even know such a thing existed.......... probably better to get them rather than bodge some tape around a case 😂

I've got a couple over the summer. Skunk Anansie at the Southbank Centre. I've never seen a band there, so am pretty interested in what it'll be like Pearl Jam in Hyde Park, supported by The Pixies and a few others. I've had tix for about 2 and a half years and OJ are one of my favourite bands, so I'm very excited!!