Jonesy

First up - I hope you're enjoying having a breather on your hols, it sounds like you need it. Hope you're OK too as you mentioned that you weren't in your first post. Band things are stressful at times and can be annoying, but ultimately there are a lot of things more important in life, so I hope you're switching off and recharging. It's hard to say whether you've over reacted without knowing more about your situation, the type of person the singer is and what they're going through. If it's constant drama and he's hard to work with then I can understand your reaction. However, if everything is normally a happy ship and his message is out of the blue then I'd have said you slightly over reacted. It's tough to call, but the line about 'before it comes out and you hear from other people' makes it sound like he's going through something huge. If it's rocking his life, his family and work, then the band and your holiday is low on his list of considerations, so it's understandable that he's struggled to find time to chat given what he's potentially going through. I'd have just said something along the lines of 'guys, I'm off on hols. Can we find a date to chat when I'm back? I need a break so I'm muting notifications for now but will be back on xxxx' and then go from there. I don't know the guy, so can't say for sure, but if it were me and someone left the band chat because I wasn't communicating properly then I'd be hesitant to reach out to them. My initial thought would be 'bugger, I've annoyed them' so I'd give them some space. If you add on what he's potentially dealing with then maybe he's just retreating into himself?

What I'm about to say has already been said, but I'll regurgitate it anyway.... What you do depends on how good a mate your friend is and how you think he'd take your critique. When I have non muso mates at gigs and they give their opinion, mostly it's 'yeah, that was great' and I just sweep it under the rug. They're just saying that to be polite or, hopefully, it did sound good and they actually enjoyed it! I have a few mates in bands that I know will give honest feedback and they're the ones I listen to most. We've talked about this and I do the same for them, it really helps to have mates that can hear what needs to be tighter and offer feedback. We even check in with each other mid first song to get an idea of levels etc. Whether the form of feedback is 'that was crap' or 'that could be improved' is down to your friendship, I guess.

Depending on final pricing, it'd be interesting to see if HB can convince people to spend more on their brand. The most expensive 4 string currently comes in at £421 and regular MVs are £240ish. They do look cool though

I'm not usually a fan of quilted tops, but they do look good on more modern shaped basses. Still, I think it's the white one for me - it's pure Mike Starr and looks like his Euro sig.

Wow, I was expecting these to come in slightly higher than the Pulse 2. That's a pretty amazing price point for a bass with a lot of features that are considered upgrades on the Pulse. I'm looking forward to these hitting the shops, hopefully I can find somewhere with them and the Pulse in stock!

I usually prefer a J neck and had a go on a MK1 Vintera 50s P Bass in a shop. I went in thinking I'd hate it, but was surprised by how much I liked the neck. I found it to be quite thin back to front and pretty playable. AFAIK, the biggest differences you'll likely notice between the Player and Vintera neck are.... - The Vintera has a gloss neck vs satin on the Player - The Vintera has a vintage (narrow & tall frets) vs med jumbo on the Player - The Vintera has a smaller radius (so more curved) fretboard All of which I like and would lead me to pick a Vintera over a Player. Both are lovely necks though.

Just found this in the loft after selling the amp years ago. There's also 4 screws and washers for attaching it to a rack. Just let me know where to send it 😁

Those are really cool. I really like the inlays and gloss finish on the entry level model. I wonder how the aguilar pre amp and pups compare to the EMGs in the Pulse. Fingers crossed they'll be a raft of 2nd hand Pulse sales for me to choose from soon 😄

This is fantastic news, it's a really cool shape and pretty unique!

I love the St V shape and, like you, wish MM made a bass version. Good luck with he build, I'm looking forward to seeing the finished bass!

If you're happy to go used you could look at an Ibanez Talman, they often come up within your budget.

Good shout about the colour options. These are essentially gateways to the Hurley and Pino sig and they look fantastic. I wonder what the neck depth (back to front) is like? I'm usually a fan of jazz width necks, but have to say the Vintera I 50s P bass I played had a lovely neck. That was 1.75 too, but fairly shallow front to back, and it felt really nice to play, I was surprised how much I liked it.

Hahaha, that was my first though when I saw @Iheartreverb's reply. Happy hunting in Glasgow. I'm looking forward to the NBD thread already!

You're right, I'm sorry. Maybe for my penance I should buy a new P bass?

Charcoal frost - phwoar! Puts head in hands and repeats - '2 p basses is enough, 2 p basses is enough, 2 p basses is enough'

Really cool! Enjoy your new purchase. I'd hate to think how much a string change sets you back. Hopefully you like the sound of worn in rounds 😃

Ultimately if you're not happy with it, then chatting about it with the band is the best thing to do, just to get everything out in the open. See where the land lies and go from there. Personally I think if it's done well and with the best intentions then it's cultural appreciation rather than appropriation, which is a fantastic thing. Life is a shared experience and it'd be a terrible shame if we didn't learn from and grow with the people we meet and the cultures we come into contact with. If you wrote a song that became globally renowned, would you ever hold the view point that it shouldn't be performed by a band based on where they live or the colour of their skin?

Ah, you're in for a treat!

Don't know if it beats Sabbath, but it comes bloody close...

Jeeze, the length some people will go to. Sounds like you made the right call not worrying about contacting him about it. To go to that extreme then he either has serious issues, or is a little shit not worth knowing.

Fake your own death? If they're all sound then I'm sure they'll understand if you just have an (reasonably) honest chat with them, but I'd lean more towards it being an issue with you rather than saying 'you lot are going nowhere, I'm off'. It sounds like gigs aren't on the cards? So you're under no obligation to play x amount of upcoming shows and sticking around for too long but, I'd offer to stick at it for a month or 2 until they find a replacement just to keep it civil.

You'd hate seeing me play a Thunderbird then. I'm far too many stone past being able to call myself stocky 😂 I really want to like the JC, but I think the body is a bit too cumbersome for me. This is the 2nd one I've had and 2nd one of sold for that reason. Maybe the 3rd will be different.......? I know what you mean. This shaped tuners on a bas designed before 1980 don't look right to me...

Very nice, those are both lovely. Unfortunately my PB Jack Casady will likely be out the door to make way for the bird. I think the Babicz is what I'd go for if replacing the bridge. I'm just not sure if putting a £140 bridge on a £300 bass makes much sense. Feels kinda like a boy racer putting a spoiler on a Micra.

Ah, nice! That's exactly the sort of thing I was thinking of. Did you have e any issues with height when fitting it?

Good shout, I was wondering about replacing the single saddle but didn't think about buying from AliExpress. Cheers for that!