Doctor J

Very important. I’ve seen enough outrageously priced Fenders with shonky neck alignment to always study the pictures very carefully. So much about an instrument can be seen if you actually look for it. Pay attention to the details in the pictures, the hardware used to build it and the reputation of the builder. There’s not that much you can do, after that. You either get on with it or you don’t. You’ll never know, however, unless you try 🙂

I don't even go by youtube reviews, I farking hate slap 😂 If it looks nice and has an interesting pickup/electronic setup, chances are that's enough. I don't really see the point in trying as the first thing I do is apply my preferred strings and setup to it, so it's going to feel and sound different anyway. Plus, the setups in most shops would discourage anyone from purchasing in the first place. Nowadays I tend to be drawn to instruments I haven't played, rare birds, if you know what I mean. Who needs to try a P or a J, it's not as if we haven't played hundreds of them before?

Give it time. When I started playing nobody thought 70’s Fenders would ever be worth a damn and now look at the crazy, crazy world around us 😉 Everything becomes more valuable once it hits thirty years of age. A limited model like this? For sure, I think it will be priced on the higher side by our future replacements.

Yes! It can't be a coincidence that the last four characters of the youtube link are "HIFI" 😂 I can't believe Dave's fringe was ever cool in any dimension.

I love the thunder which comes out of G&L MFD pickups but I wouldn’t be able to live without a forearm contour. Instead of the ASAT I’d go for a L2000, but that’s just me. They’re wildly versatile basses with almost limitless low end if you want it. But G&L either way, no question about it.

Nice. Sweet Bacchus too!

And the side-project Vanilli-Ice-T was an assault on the hearing.

You mean wrap it in a Powerslave t-shirt, surely?

Unless Steve still owns it you’re free to do as you wish. If he wanted it to remain original he should never have sold it to you 😉 There’s no point just owning a bass you’re not happy with or which isn’t the bass you really want. Either sell it or modify it which, let’s not forget, is how Steve ended up with that bass in the first place... and his one isn’t blue anymore either 😂 If you’re really that troubled by it, pick up a cheap P body off ebay and route that. Then you can always put everything back to normal when some forum warrior is whining at you for not realising that, some day around thirty years into the future, this bass will have grown mojo and be most desirable in unplayed original form. Make sure to post the end result 🙂

Every truss rod adjustment should end with a small tighten, to make sure any slack is taken up. In fact, on any adjustment of any threaded bolt or screw, always tighten up to your desired end point. Never slacken and leave it at that.

It’s a copy of the Warwick Just-a-nut version 1. I have one on my old Streamer, the real JAN1, that is. I dunno, I mean, when it comes to nuts you get it right once and then you leave it alone for the rest of the life of the instrument. I’d just buy some round files with the money and learn to file nut slots to taste. It’s far cheaper in the long run.

I would always, always loosen the strings before adjusting the truss rod. Having the nut work against the additional load the strings will apply on the rod is opening the door to trouble. Once they’re slack, it’s easy to move A and D aside and clear the space you need.

Some sage advice for David and Pink Floyd

Everyone goes nuts for the blunt force trauma these days but, if you want to make a point, use a point!

Cera flew the flag in the fantastic Scott Pilgrim Vs the World. Is there another movie out there with a Bass Battle?

Eddie Van Halen is an accomplished and tasteful guitarist, an innovator like Larry Graham. The problem is not the innovator nor the technique, but those who follow and think more=better... Tap isn’t the problem, it’s tappers. And slap isn’t the problem either, it’s slappers (the other kind 😁)

I'm enjoying these. He's playing to Duran Duran fans rather than bass players which makes it quite charming.

You did it again?

If you want to see grown men cry you play the guitar intro to Sweet Child O’ Mine but popped and slapped on a bass.

I hate that it is automatically associated with funk. Slap is not funk. Funk is about space. Slap is, unfortunately, used by many as an opportunity to play more notes than they should and, therefore, is the opposite of real funk. Used sparingly, slap is fine. Abused as it is by seemingly 95% of those with twitchy thumbs, it is an aural abomination.

I also had to order a one-off pearloid tuner button specislly made by Gotoh to replace the broken one as there wasn’t a single spare one on this planet 😂

Tough but fair, I reckon 😂 I was able to source a correct replacement part from Deviser. The order of the universe will be restored.

This could be interesting, especially if he has a custom t-shirt for each vid 🙂

This is the Ray-type. I can’t remember the model name... Anyway, it has been abused, note the bbot bridge atrocity, but it sounds and plays like a total beast and I am in the process of restoring it. I’m gonna fix it real good 😁