prowla

Squier is Fender's budget brand, but folks say "ah, but the VM is the bee's knees". So what is a VM?

Probably not.

They're under £60 a set, so OK if you just need an odd one.

Oh no, it's ruined - it's not got the genuine Flea wear'n'tear anymore! I have to say, if I bought one of those I'd have it refinished anyway.

I fink it's a smiley!

I considered buying one and replacing the speakers for a practice amp/cab. But TE now make a compact one anyway (and others do too), so the idea is redundant.

Yep - a bit too rich for me too.

Aye - as I mentioned, I have a couple of other Warwicks which I like. 🙂

Grrrr - I as going to go to this today; it's been in my calendar for a while.

My over-painted Ric shows some of the original fireglo finish, which is slightly worn and shows some of the wood. My 2nd Ric has a blob by the pickup surround where its previous owner used to rest his thumb, and the scars of some customisation work I did over the years. ...unfortunately its original tailpiece was sacrificed to fit a Badass.

Well, my two favourite basses (Rickenbacker & Warwick) seem to feature here! I've never sold a Ric I've had (including one which was my 2nd bass) and I've a couple of Warwick Corvette 5-strings which I really like. As far as basses which haven't worked out for me, I could say: A Warwick Rock Bass 5-string; the neck was the wrong shape for me and it hurt my fingers to play it. An Aria Pro II SB 700; it was a nice bass, but it was very big, quite heavy, and didn't do the sounds I was trying to get it to. I've had a couple of cheapies, eg. a Squier Precision which weren't very good, so they can have a (dis)honourable mention. I had a Hohner The Jack headless, it was black and I had a red strap, so it matched our outfits in a club band I was in. It did its job, but it never sounded great and wasn't fantastic to play. I replaced it with a Washburn Status, which was a stepping stone to a real Status Graphite headless.

Buy it 'cos it's cheap and a couple of weeks later look at it and think "why did I buy that?".

I've got the book now and Manchester's a way away.

My 60s Ric made an appearance at last year's SE Bass Bash. (It's the white one.)

Yep - I think this one is beyond polishing; it'd make a wall-hanger in a man cave. Mind you, I have this one in need of repair, after a fall; it's a Shaftesbury (Rickenbacker never made this precise model of bass).

"As with all Status instruments, the graphite neck is fully adjustable to allow you to set the relief to suit your playing style." Erm, mine isn't...

Wow, is the no-Rickenbacker rule lifted?

I guess that about sums it up! 🙂

I've got a US one on my Precision and it sounds great. If I were to look at options, I would check out the Geezer ones.

A decent luthier-type should be able to replace a truss-rod; there are videos online of people doing it and it seems a straightforward procedure for someone who can work with wood (ie. not me!).

Dunno if this is a one-off, or if there will be more.

I'm holding out for John Hall at the Albert Hall...

I'd be interested in seeing what he has to say; I'm sure it's more than just promoting new models. (But I'm not interested enough to travel 4 hours each way, which would cost a heck of a lot more than £7.50!)

I'm sensing negativity...