chris_b

I feel exactly the same, and D class amps and Neo cabs are sounding so good these days. IMO we're in a golden age of bass gear.

I wish they'd come up with an L series for bass (I know there is an L series for guitars) L series - lightweight; ie anything under 8lbs/3.6kg. They'd be tapping into a whole new, and very lucrative, marketplace.

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I don't care about the words, I always play happy bass lines.

Greg's just Greg. Guy King is always on the money. I like that bass players left hand technique, effective and economical. All the right notes in all the the right places and not an ounce of energy wasted.

I loved my 2 Lakland's but the weight finally got too much. I believe Mike Lull worked with Seymour Duncan to make a P pickup that sounded exactly like Mike's 62 Precision. I thought my bass sounded good from the start, but when I did a comparison with Happy Jack, I discovered his Lull sounded better than mine!! I finally tracked down the difference. . . . flatwound strings! I put flats on and my sound hit the jackpot.

I play a Mike Lull PJ5. It's a boutique bass in every sense. If I could find a P bass at half the price that played and sounded as good as my Lull I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Until then the Lull will have to do.

DR make strings specifically for down tuning. . . . https://www.drstrings.com/ddt-bass

Many years ago we did a gig for a corporate lawyer, his mansion in Stokenchurch actually had a ballroom! He showed us his collection, in the old stable block. It had been converted into a studio by a previous owner, Ian Anderson. He had about 50 guitars out on stands and twice that number in cases. He had several 1957 Strats and many other "collectable" guitars. How the other half lives!

I saw Knower at the Jazz cafe. Great gig and Sam Wilkes was amazing.

I think I covered the Chines ability in the Mars Rover comment. Why does Warwick feel the need to go to the expense of sending over a technician to monitor the production process of their basses?

Heresy!!!! The Chinese can put a rover on Mars, but it seems they can't make something as simple as a bass. The issue with the 1st generation Sadowsky basses was caused when Covid prevented the Warwick technicians from travelling to China to oversee production, and the Chinese carrying on making the original line of Sadowsky basses without supervision!!

Schallers are legendary for having issues. Dunlops are not.

Buy Dunlops.

He's definitely somewhere on the spectrum. I don't care for some of his music, but he's an interesting and multi talented musician. I wish I had 1% of Jacob's talent and energy.

As a general comment. . . . as my experience shows £1700 was the actual cost of a Precision bass in the late 60's. That was for sunburst, the colours cost even more, so the prices have remained pretty constant. If people think the price cuts caused by CNC's and Chinese labour costs equals the "right price" for a bass then fine. IME you get what you pay for and the more expensive "mass production" basses can bring more to the table. If you just want the sound of a bass on a rehearsal or night out gigging with your mates then what they bring won't matter, you're not going to hear, understand or much less care what the differences are. Again that's fine, but don't assume your preferences will be the same for everyone.

I have good taste. Ask Mrs B. She'll tell you.

When you buy a Barefaced 112 you get to find out how good (or not) your bass and amp really sounds. Fortunately I was using Aguilar amps and Lull and Sadowsky basses and they just found another gear when I bought my first SC and another gear altogether when I bought the second.

In March 1969 my Fender Precision cost me £120, nearly £1700 in today's money. That was the first "mass produced" bass I bought. It was a massive outlay for a young kid, but was definitely worth every penny. We don't know we're born today. CNC and Far East labour costs have given us playable basses for peanuts. Which is why so many can afford "collections". I have a cheap bass at home which feels good to play but you can hear where they made the savings. The pickups are OK but up against my Sadowsky they don't come close. IMO if you can hear the difference, more expensive basses are always worth it.

One beneficial feature of the D800+ is the HPF. If you're pushing a 210 hard and it is starting to sound bad, you can dial up the HPF and tame the damaging low notes. If you are doing that and are still not loud enough, get another BF 210. Personally I'd get 2 cabs straight off. They are light enough and 2 cabs are always better than 1.

Are you planting your thumb and stretching for the notes? My thumb is also going arthritic, but when I'm playing it's always moving around and most of the time I put very little pressure on it.

Why are you playing with more left hand pressure on a long scale bass than you do with a short scale bass? The scale shouldn't make any difference.

I got a swooshing noise out of my US Lakland when the battery was on the way out, also a nasty distortion from the Wal. My Sadowsky lasts a year, approx 80 gigs, between battery changes. I keep the old batteries to power my tuner.