ezbass

Sire U5. Cheap enough to try. https://www.andertons.co.uk/bass-dept/bass-guitars/modern-bass-guitars/sire-version-2-marcus-miller-u5-short-scale-alder-4-mint

Rob Allens sound just like this… They are not overly loud acoustically, not much more than some solid bodies.

Once you've moved and installed yourself, you could always just build and sell bitsas for the fun of it, plus maybe a little income.

This was exactly why I didn't but an MM Sterling fiver some years back, everything about it was great, except that the G string was barely on the fretboard. Bought a Lakland instead.

I put rounds on my JMJ and whilst it was an improvement over the stock Fender flats, I wasn’t totally happy with them. Cue fitting a spare set of EB cobalts - sorted!

Doh, double post of @Woodinblack’s video. Note to self, have the decency to check the last half a dozen posts at least.

Shielded my JMJ Mustang’s cavities with copper tape as there was nought but the ground wires to reduce hum. By adding a small strip of the tape from the pickup cavity to the control cavity over the top, it connected with the metal control plate and is now quiet as a quiet thing. I can’t remember who pointed out that the shielding needed to be earthed too, but if they hadn’t, it would still be buzzing away (I knew this, but had managed to forget as it’d been years since I last shielded a bass), so thanks for that.

Pino slapped his fretless Stingray on Paul Young’s Come Back & Stay.

Where did you source the mute from @Ander87? I’d love to fit one to my JMJ. I’m using a Nordymute at the moment and the Mustang is the best sounding of my basses with it, but it’s a bit of a faff to use compared to a simple rocker affair.

Just what you want in a pandemic, some random, drunken person screaming into your microphone. In normal times I find this unacceptable, now… the mind boggles .

One of the few places that will go and weigh an instrument for you. Always a great company to deal with, yes their videos can often be cringy and annoying (especially the bass ones) but it’s a small price to pay for good customer service.

Washing in the Water - Peter Gabriel

What's the benefit of playing fretless? It's a slightly different beast and you can get different tones and effects on it that you can't totally replicate on a fretted bass (the reverse is true too). It may improve your ear, you may find it easier to play. I love the tone and like the feel of it. Plus, I get to try and emulate Pino, John Giblin, Mick Karn, Tony Levin, Larry Klein, etc (not necessarily with any great success, but I try).

Prepare to be charmed.

Fortunately, the BC collective seems to have sorted the OP’s desires.

Si Tu Dois Partir - Fairport Convention

Yamaha Sessioncake. Plug your bass, headphones and audio source into it (iPad or whatever) and you’re good to go, no effects though.

Just single action AFAIK, but I could be wrong. My 2 never seem to need any more than an eighth turn to compensate for any fluctuations.

Yes it is, been there, done that.

My biggest improvements always seem to come from having to learn a new bunch of songs, either for a dep or when joining a new band. It’s not the playing with new folk, although that helps too, it’s the sitting there with a new set list, learning the tunes and then getting them up to a standard I’m happy with. Ultimately, just time spent with my hands on the instrument helps, but the new songs prevent me just going through the motions with stuff I already know (although I still like to play along with my fave tunes).

I did exactly that too. Result!

I’ve had a full fat US Stingray, a US SUB and a Ray34 in the past (plus a Ray5 but I’ll leave that out of this post, for the most part). My favourite, both tonally and playability wise, was the SUB, it was a doddle to play and had a warm tone, although definitely a Ray (2 band EQ). The full on, US Ray, was beautifully made, although I found the all maple neck quite chunky, the 3 band EQ was a bit more aggressive and not as, let’s say vintage, as the SUB. Again, quite definitely a Ray. The Ray34 was reasonably well put together, but had a raised fret that needed reseating. It felt OK, played fine, but it wasn’t quite the real deal, although most definitely a Ray and I found the EQ quite brittle, I didn’t keep it for long. In short, there was definitely a difference between the offshore and US models, but given the price difference, I’d expect there to be. Things may have changed, but assuming they haven’t, a Ray34 will give that Ray experience, right down to the considerable weight they all seem to have, but it will probably lack that attention to detail sheen that more expensive models have. This could all probably be addressed with electronic upgrades and set up fettling as and when you feel it is required. In conclusion, the nicest Ray I owned was the 5 string. It was an old one that wasn’t too heavy, was easy to play and had an old warm, worn pickup (alnico I think) and preamp that wasn’t too in your face. It is one of the very few instruments that I wish I still had.

Bought a Blu-ray player from Brian. Super smooth transaction and lightning fast delivery. Highly recommended.