Cato

In other news music retailer Gear For Music have just announced bankruptcy after an unfortunate pricing error was ruthlessly exploited by an online bass community...

Now listed as 'this product is currently not available for purchase. Either they've noticed, or we've just bought them all.

Half of that is p &p, presumably it's below the free postage threshold.

Reluctantly ordered, despite postage and packing almost doubling the price. Someone reassure me, assuming that this is some sort of pricing c.ock up, they can't just take the full amount out of my account without my permission?

Welsh language jazz fusion? Who knew such a thing existed?

I've modded a Squier VM70s Jazz to the point where on paper it's higher spec than a standard US Fender. I did it over quite a long period of time because it was easier to meet the costs that way, I installed high spec Aguilar pickups, a new wiring loom with CTS pots, had the frets dressed and levelled by a local luthier and put a new bridge on. It sounds and plays brilliantly, but is it actually a better bass than a US Jazz? I have no idea. I also have a couple of £1000 + instruments that I've never felt needed to be upgraded. I suspect a lot of it is psychological, if you don't believe that you get whar you pay for, there's no point in buying the more expensive instrument.

Bit of a can of worms this one. Is it possible to take,say, a Harley Benton Jazz, and upgrade everything, from the fret finish and tuners to installing all new electronics, to the point where it plays and sounds as good as a Sadowsky.? I have no idea, other than that buying all the premium components would cost a lot of money in itself, but anyone who has bought a much more expensive bass, and I'm one of them, would prefer to think that it isn't.

This why I love Basschat. At 43 in the real world I'm 'on the turn', but I'm still a whippersnapper on this forum.

Nasty.

I heard this on the radio the other day and it's been stuck in my head ever since. I thought I'd share the wealth. Anyone else want to share whatever is currently playing on repeat on their internal hi fi?

I guessed it probably wasn't an off the peg model. It's just too unique looking, in the best possible way

That's the problem with these things. Personally I think Flea and the Chilli Peppers peaked with 'Mother's Milk' After that they became a lot 'safer' and less unique.

Led Zep one was pretty transformational in terms of how bass guitar was recorded and mixed. Led ZepTwo followed it's lead and picked up where it left off.

I don't think he got the offer. The version that I heard was that Charlie got the final decision and he felt he clicked best with Daryl.

I don't know if he wrote any of Living Colours songs during their brief flash of mainstream success in the late 80s/early 90s, bit he's definitely had a more successful career than most as a session musician/sideman. He caught the attention of Mick Jagger and the Stones, and ended up working with both. Apparently he came close to getting the permanent Stones gig after Wyman left, but quite a few prominent session players have similar stories. Also played with James Brown. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Wimbish

I really like that. What is it?

Hipshot do some nice stuff. http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Hipshot,_Knobs.html

Funnily enough I was working through this guys funk guitar tutorials last night. I've not been overly impressed with a lot of the guitar stuff on YouTube, a lot of it just isn't filmed well enough to let you see what's going on, but this guy is amongst the best I've found.

Yeah, but you're quite handy with a camera. It was probably much more horrible in the flesh.

Andertons have had those two high spec fretlesses at a bargain price in stock for at least 6 months. So I suspect there may be something to 'the curse of the black cherry burst'.

Yep, I'm in the shallow camp. It could be the best sounding, most comfortable to play instrument in the world, but if i don't like the shape or the colour it's a deal breaker. To bring us almost back on topic, that's exactly what stopped me getting one of these the other day. https://www.andertons.co.uk/spector-bass-legend-4-classic-black-cherry-lined-fretless-sl4clbc-lf?LGWCODE=SL4CLBCLF;56375;6335&gclid=Cj0KCQiAyNjRBRCpARIsAPDBnn3kq5pJ91_N4SFEVnlCcx4Ev5QGsKKQ-zmDTB8kOMtN0JCeDQTmz8QaAm3cEALw_wcB

Probably a bit of a safe choice, but I'm very happy with my Fender Precision Deluxe Special. It's switchable between active and passive so you can get the classic p bass tone as well as a lot more 'modern' options. The only possible down side is that there's no passive tone control, but you can get a lot of variation by panning between the p and j pickups. Having said all that, I'd also be very interested in trying one of the new Yamaha 734s.

I've got a fretless 4 string V7 in transit from Thomman at this very moment. I'm expecting it to be a bit of a boat anchor, but I'll try to remember to let you know the weight when it turns up.

Ooof... To state the obvious, that is stunning.

They do have their own unique sound, even when plugged in, kind of like a zingy but boomy thing going on - almost exactly not like a double bass. Although a lot of that is probably coming from the phosphor bronze strings most of them have fitted. I've been tempted a couple of times and I'm sure that they're great fun for home practice but ultimately I've always resisted.