Terry M.

You're killing me today 🤣🤣

If you bought it used then unfortunately you might have done. I've seen them on the used market for the same price as the "regular" Rays.

Which he may love even more? Only one way to find out.

It's taking hero-worship too far in my world. I met Pino briefly once and he's a really cool guy and a monster player but I find it hard to accept the £6k price-tag just because of his association. He's human like the rest of us. Reasonable is not how I would describe that figure but to each their own I guess 😊

You made me check them on Thomann out of curiosity. Yep indeed. Saw they have a short scale one for £85 made from it.

This right here. You saved me saying it. Somewhere in the chain there's at least one element that's not normal and driven by sheer profit and greed therefore distorting reality and sadly prices.

We don't have to agree that £3.4k for a US bass is normal. Something isn't normal just because it's become the norm. If consumers boycotted non-essential items like basses we don't actually need it would affect the market a great deal. Luckily for me I play 5s exclusively so even if these were at a price I liked I still wouldn't be interested.

In 2016 I paid £1,333 for a Fender American Standard Jazz V. The equivalent now is £2k so in less than 10 years it's jumped not too far off £700. That's quite a bit of change left over from an "equivalent" Sire that's more than capable of doing the same job. Just a thought.

Who's the American guy who looks just like Pino and happens to play like him also? 😄

I over-simplified things on purpose as I didn't want to delve too deep. It still amounts to over-priced products which is all my wallet cares about.

Yes I've seen this article before in a previous thread. It speaks the truth. Nothing aimed at @Bass Direct but it's capitalism and greed gone crazy. We're essentially talking about two pieces of wood bolted together with a few screws.

So does petrol but it's still overpriced 🤭

This all day every day.

Those are also over-priced 😄

I remember Bass Direct had some limited edition Stingrays some years back and they were priced lower than regular Stingrays. From memory it was because they only came in red or blue (possibly black also),had a gig-bag rather than the usual hardcase, had a 2-band eq and...was poplar-bodied! I have no personal issue with poplar but find it interesting it was used on a cut-price Stingray and now on this Pino re-issue. I wonder if his original was made of it. I've owned poplar basses and it's never bothered me tonally I might add. Ok Google just helped me out,the Stingrays I mentioned were known as "Limited Edition 133" . Bass Direct had a couple back in roughly 2014 and they well under a grand,about £850 or so.

Love his work with the Mizell Brothers production duo. In particular the Gears album by Johnny Hammond from 1975.

You may already know that Chuck Rainey was asked by Steely Dan NOT to slap on "Peg" so during recording he turned his back and did it anyway. They ended up loving it 😊

What are your thoughts with regards to the Sadowsky outboard preamp pedal? It keeps things real simple. Edit: you said you don't want to fiddle with pedals so ignore.

Another vote for the Sadowsky outboard premp pedal. You have the bonus of the bass's tone control in both active and passive a la VTC and you don't have to perform any surgery on the bass should you desire to move it on as-is. It will sell as it left the factory no problem as a lot of users want them all-passive. Then sell the pedal on also if needed.

To be fair he didn't specifically say he loves the sound. But I'm sure he does 😊

Maybe it is maybe it isn't. You're using a subjective term though when you say better.Play a bunch of USA basses and Squier ones and you'll know for definite. The ultimate test would be a blindfold one. We go to Sainsbury's and see McVities Digestive Biscuits and we see the Sainsbury's own brand version. Guess which one most people will assume is superior before even sampling either packet? Well McVities make both despite the lower price of Sainsbury's "version". Leo used ash and alder based on cheapness and availability. It was not a tonewood choice in the beginning. There's no magic there so if a Squier is poplar bodied for example there is no inherent disadvantage other than what the user places on it based on preconceptions and prior association.

I've owned American Fenders and I've owned Squiers and I've enjoyed both to some degree but can't see any "magic" with the USA made stuff,but you mustn't interpret this as "they're crap" They're not crap. CNC machines work indiscriminately regardless of where they're plugged in. In this day and age I find it hard to believe there's a magic formula to bolting together two pieces of wood with just 4 screws and a thin metal neckplate is all I'm saying. The marketing machine would have us believe otherwise but really?

But someone with double the hearing acuteness you have can still prefer the sound of a Squier over your American Fenders. Aren't we talking about personal taste here? "Good" sound is subjective. How many of us has spent quite a bit on "upgrading" pickups only to either not hear the difference or prefer the originals?

If it's made well it makes no difference where it was assembled.

I paid for a brand new American Fender once and within weeks the paint started to peel. Fender replaced it through the retailer Guitar Guitar but I've never had a Squier do that.