Steve Browning

Yeah., Exactly my position. I had thought of a Status fretless neck for the OLP but it's flogging a dead horse, in my hands.

Yonks ago I had an early Stingray (they hadn't been around long at the time, so it wasn't early then). Being a dyed-in-the-wool Pbass man I never really got on with it. I sort of liked the sound but didn't enjoy playing it - the ergonomics were all wrong for someone used to anchoring their thumb on a Pbass pickup. Anyway, time passed and I thought I'd dip my toes in again. I bought a Sterling SUB and an OLP. Both have ended up with Nordstrand MM4.2 pickups and Retrovibe Stinger pre-amps. They both play and sound great. Of course, the old niggle returns and so away they will go. I'm sure I'm not alone. Every so often I'll give something that didn't work, in the past, another go, only to find it still doesn't work. I will be getting back into supporting mode and moving them on. It's a pity as both are very nice basses. The OLP is really superb. Oh well ...

Unhappily, the guitarist in my first (college) band has recently joined the drummer in the great band in the sky. Both were my age (although the drummer had suffered with MND for many years). Someone has just posted some pictures from 1979 on Facebook. Here I am showing my earliest attempt at reproducing John Deacons rig. I have an 18 and two 4x12s (they're even Sound City). The bass was my first Precision - where are you now S749320? The perm earned me the nickname Phyllis.

I'm gigging with his cousin on Saturday. I will make enquiries.

Just bought a gig bag from Clarky. Kindly held on while I was soaking up the sun in Italy. Dispatched straight away upon my return. Completely faultless and well packaged, luckily as i9t transpires. Top chap. Steve

That's if you can find a left handed one.

I think it is Queen in Budapest, where FM writes the lines to a Hungarian song on his palm so he can remember them. You can easily see him referring to his prompt.

Wonderful. Thank you for the story.

Very envious. There was a third over on Brian May's side of the stage. How did you come by it, may I ask?

Agree entirely about Queen II. Probably the single most important album of all time in the context of my sound and my approach to bass.

That Acoustic and Hiwatt rig must have been amazing. I would die happy to play through that just once.

... and when you are 80 and can't wipe your own bum she'll remind you of that decision. 😄

Have to agree. I had one and used an Acoustic 220 (my immediately pre-Boogie rig). Low notes were great but the sound just disappeared further up the fingerboard.

It would be seriously helpful if you could jot down the salient points. What paperwork did you need/what checks were carried out/how long did it all take/what sort of cost. I expect many of us would be very grateful.

Clapton seems to respond to playing a Gibson far better (in my opinion, of course). As for the rest, well we all differ.

Mate. this is a thread asking for opinions. How about you respect mine, even though it differs to your own? There are times I wonder just how old you actually are.

A few: Eric Clapton should have never picked up a Strat. I Will Always Love You (Whitney Houston) is possibly the best female vocal ever recorded. Music college is pointless - if it's not intuitive, you can't do it. 100% agree re Jaco etc. Like most 'virtuosi' I can admire the technique, but the output is just horrible.

Have a look at this, maybe. https://www.bandname.com/why_register

It couldn't be more appreciated here, I can assure you.

If you are uncomfortable, for any reason at all, you should say no. Don't be swayed by anything we say here. If you're gut is 'no' then that's a perfectly reasonable answer.

My signature bass would be a sunburst Precision, 70's B profile neck. Tort guard and Lindy Fralin 5% overwound pickup, Gotoh 203 bridge. Also available in Mocha with a black scratchplate.

I certainly want to hear my usual sound on any stage. Sometimes that means moving to a particular area on a larger stage, somewhere where the amp sound is prevalent. It does depend on the size of the stage. A pa supported gig can still be influenced by the onstage volume so there's a balance to be struck but a pre-eq feed to the foh means you can tailor your onstage sound to be whatever you want it to be.

Gotoh Resolites for me.