Cato

I Great looking bass. 've been interested in these for a couple of years I keep finding myself drawn to the one at Bass Direct. http://w.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/G%26L_Kiloton_White.html But I keep telling myself there's other gear I need to prioritise before I get another bass.

As others have said you're not going to find any global company who volunteers to pay more tax in a given country than that country's tax laws stipulate that they must. The Amazon tax avoidance thing has been going on for over a decade now. Same with Facebook, Google and the rest. The UK government has had years to close the loopholes, the fact they haven't done so strongly suggests that, despite what various politicians say in public, the reality is that they are perfectly happy with those tax arrangements, or lack of, carrying on as they are.

Nobody should be put off by the Made in Mexico label these days. I've got the Deluxe Special bass and 2 MIM Telecasters that are all, as far as I'm concerned, faultless. There' no real build quality difference between US and Mexican Fenders as far as I can tell. The US Fenders tend to use more expensive electronics and hardware and may feature prettier pieces of wood on natural/sunburst finishes or on necks and fretboards but other than that I reckon in terms of how well the instruments are put together most people would struggle to point out any way in which the US Fender is 'better' built than the Mexican.

I've got a 2016 Deluxe Special, which, as far as I know is the same spec. Jazz profile neck, active/ passive switching, 3 band EQ, it's a great instrument. It's been my first choice bass for most things since I got it.

One of the best lives bands I've ever seen. When they're not jumping around the stage rapping, they're also an extreemely competent bass/guitar/drums combo.

I think I'll check it out tonight. I'm a big fan of Dre and the whole G Funk thing. Dr Dre is a fascinating character. He has this rapper persona of being some sort of old school LA gangsta street hood, whereas the reality is that he's been a succesful DJ, producer and composer since the age of 19 before forging a name as rapper , initially in an almost Ringo-with-the-beatles type role with NWA where they just gave him the occasional relatively light hearted track to front on top of his DJ/producer duties. Since then he's gone on to become one of the most succesful rappers ever in his own right, produced and composed on a shedload of hit records for other people and forged a billion dollar business empire.

I genuinely think that it's one of the best looking basses out there. The aesthetics just work. It really shouldn't look so much better than the near identically configured and coloured Fender, but it does. I don't need another active PJ, but if I did...

Aerodyne?

It was a commercially available product, I think a couple of companies made something similar. Edit. Here you go https://www.shapeways.com/product/S9UMXUFE7/thumbrail-fits-fender-jazz-70-s-geddy-lee

Sorry, double post.

Sorry double post.

I've got a jazz and a precision but find I use my PJ (Precision Jazz in deference to the OP) the most. Best of all possible worlds.

I'm not so sure about the hollow bodies or the melted teles, but the rest of them are some of the most aesthetically pleasing gguitars I've seen in a long time. You'd definitely need a silver jumpsuit to complete the look though.

I had a moment of clarity just before I went on holiday a couple of years ago. I haven't got any really expensive instruments or amps, certainly not by basschat standards, but it suddenly dawned on me that I've got enough kit, accumulated over 26 years of playing, that it would cost me a substantial amount to replace it all with equivalent new gear. At that point I realised it might be an idea to have a word with the house insurance people just to check that my stuff was covered by my standard policy , gather some proof of ownership and record the serial numbers just in case I ever got burgled and had to make a claim or ask the police to keep an eye out for it amongst any stolen goods they might recover.

I've got pictures of instruments and amps etc, complete with serial numbers and where possible I've archived the email records of the purchase transactions, but it's all a bit haphazard and definitely isn't organised enough to be classed as an inventory.

I've seen it happen with out of print Roman histories, not anywhere near $23million but a few thousand quid where there are maybe 3 copies available from different sellers and they're all basing their pricing algorithm on each others prices which causes an ongoing exponentially increasing price rise in all of them. Every time one price goes up the other two automatically increase their price accordingly which then causes he first one to increase it's price in line with the others.... ad infinitum. Some of these books are relatively rare, but they 're not that rare and a lot of the texts are available free online. Some of the prices quoted on Amazon are in specialist auction at Christies territory.

Yep. They're called 'The Jazz', 'The P', 'The Fretless' and 'The Washburn'.

RR7400: LA041717 (catchy title) by S U R V I V E. I thought I'd give them a go because a couple of the lads from this band wrote the theme and background music for Netflix series Stranger Things. i'm not disappointed, listening to their albums is a bit like being in your own John Carpenter movie.

I reckon a bass has to be at least 25-30 years old before you can get away with describing wear and tear as 'mojo'. Even then it depends on the bass. i've got a 26 year old headless Washburn Status that I've had since my 18th birthday. It's been well looked after but it's got the chips and dings you'd expect from an instrument of that age that's seen a lot of use. i can't imagine anyone ever describing it as having 'mojo' or a situation where more serious cosmetic damage wouldn't devalue it. It's just not the kind of bass that would look good knackered. Anyway it's all moot now. I reckon the 'road worn' thing is on it's last legs. Fancy wood tops and extreme 'natural' finishes on non boutique basses are the new marmite.

The thing that gives DPD the edge over their competitors for me is that they give you a one hour delivery window and ,in my case, so far, they've never missed it. That and the fact they've never left anything for me in a neighbour's recycling bin (helpfully described on the 'sorry we missed you' card as an 'out building') on bin day. I can't say the same for Hermes. Although I've probably just jinxed myself...

I ordered some new walking boots today. I was offered either free untracked Hermes delivery for a random day some time next week or tracked DPD for an extra £7. £7 well spent I reckon.

Funnily enough I was thinking of this guitar the other day when I got de ja vu reading about Fender's new Acoustasonic. Although this is clearly on a different level.

They were the first ones I tried from the list. I've now added their back catalogue to my playlist.

I'm currently working my through this. https://funkatopia.com/funk-music-reviews/20-best-funk-albums-of-2018/ As recommended by @PJ-Bassist. A lot of truly excellent stuff, much of it from bands and artists I was completely unaware of. Tonight it's Big Sam's Funky Nation (me neither) with Songs in the Key of Funk. Great stuff.

Bobby Vega gets damned close. It's all about the ghost notes.