Paul S

Never said they did. Just quoting someone who actually knows what they are talking about.

It could just be coincidence. My wife knows someone who worked in the sector that covered keeping the electricity sub-stations operative. In her opinion they were mostly not fit for purpose, in some cases with an infrastructure dating back to the 1950s, and given to spontaneously combusting. She always maintained that there was no way the network could sustain everyone driving electric cars, for example.

I once owned at the same time a Hofner Ignition Club and a Danelectro '56 SS single cut, which is chambered, The Dano blew the Hofner out of the water in every way so maybe consider adding one of those to your shortlist?

They are, aren't they - ventriloquist dummies. Well, maybe not so much Orville or Lamb Chop but the dolls. Did you ever see the film 1978 film 'Magic'? Anthony Hopkins cutting his creepy teeth.

Get that gridge grounded!

I believe @Happy Jack has or had one of these, maybe he can flesh it out a bit.

Tonebubbles, the new argument! Big bubbles vs small bubbles?

Maybe its my eyes but the bodies seem to be made of bubblewrap. Looking for positives, are they less likely to be damaged in transit?

I am surprised that the 'weight deniers' haven't jumped in to disdainfully suggest you simply grow a pair, eat more red meat and go to the gym. 😂 Weight is a big issue for me, as it is for many of us. A wide padded strap makes some difference but, as has been said, at the end of it all a heavy bass is a heavy bass. I recently bought a Yamaha SB-35 - a quality, rare bass which has zero re-sale value. Mainly because nobody has heard of them. Very much a heart over head purchase as I had one before and think they are brilliant. Anyway, it weighed 4.1kg - not massively heavy but a bit too much for me to comfortably wear for any length of time. I handed it over to my usual tech guy who (gasps from the back) routed out a cavity beneath the pickguard - reducing the weight by 400g, which was around 10% and has made a difference to how it feels on the strap. I believe his next move would have been using a biscuit router to delve even further into the body from the same outline but that hasn't proved necessary. Lightweight tuners can also usually save 200-300g in overall weight. There are lightweight bridges available. It all starts to add up. Or subtract down, if you prefer. I had a '79 Fender Musicmaster for a while and found both a Squier Vista Series Musicmaster and VM Mustang were more to my liking. But that's me. Bottom line - it is your bass and you know how much it makes you happy - if you really like it and are not bothered by taking a hit on the resale value - which to be fair is the bottom end of the old Fender market anyway - then it is worth investigating. You won't be destroying a priceless artifact.

Saw them around about then. Totally fab. Always thought they needed to put a more more effort in though

I only play short or medium scale these days but I used to be a huge fan of the Fury, had three at various points, including one from Davie @kodiakblair and one from Eric @FlatEric. Think P bass with very hot pickup and really slim, shallow neck - similar in feel to the Geddy Lee Jazz.

You can get some off the peg - Hofner Shorty springs to mind. They do different styles - the violin shaped one looks pretty cute to me.

It happened to the same band I was in twice. We started off as a general rock covers band and came up with the name Waywood Sons. After a while it became apparent that there was another higher profile band using this name, albeit after us. We ended up morphing into a Bon Jovi tribute band calling ourselves 'Just Jovi' - and then discovered there was another one in the USA and, closer to home, Scotland. In fact the Scottish band asked our singer Noel if he could dep one time

My choice of shoes, primarily. Leather soles every time. I find anything with a foam midsole decouples too much - and don't get me started on Airwair. With cotton socks, obvs. 🤨

Can only agree. I bought a Harley Benton Shorty which, at the time, cost around £70. Straight out of the box it went on my gigging bass rotation - it sounds just like a P bass should and it is easy to play. I changed the pickup after a bit, not because the stock one was bad (it wasn't) but because I wanted something more aggressive. And I changed the pickguard because I have an irrational dislike of white pickguards on black basses. The tuners aren't the best but I have basses with worse.

I can't honestly remember the last time I tried something before I bought it*. I rarely buy new - these days my bass requirements are quite specific such that I need to cast my net wide and buy from sellers from far afield. Looking at my rack of basses, in fact, two were bought new (but not tried beforehand) the other 8 are 'pre-loved'. *Actually, I just have. It was early January 2020 - I tried out the RCF EVOX 8 pa in the Southend PMT along with my mate and local legend Noel Ashton (who understands pas). Although I ended up buying Thomann B stock at a decent discount on new.

The nearest I got to anything like this was a few years ago with the Bon Jovi tribute band I was in. We accepted a gig in Skegness, best part of a 4 hr drive away, mainly because it paid well. The main employer locally was putting on a big family day with fairground rides, food and all day entertainment in the middle of a field right by the sea. We were due to play 90 minutes to round off the night. We got there to be greeted with gusty winds and horizontal rain - possibly just a couple of hundred people rather than the thousand-odd that were expected. The tent with the stage was being buffeted around and the set up beset with technical issues. First up was a local Little Mix tribute, who started 45 mins late. Next up was a local covers band who, from the hostility radiating from them, clearly considered they should have been headlining the event and were obstructive the entire time. Rather than cut short their set, as asked by the organisers, they ploughed through their full set plus a couple of encores, including a lengthy drum solo - playing for over an hour. The drummer had one of the biggest kits I have seen for a pub band - double kick, 4 floor toms and a huge array of rack-mounted clear acrylic toms ranging from something the size of a tin of beans to snare-sized. All of which were laid out across the stage at break down time whilst he carefully, and incredibly slowly, packed each one away. That left us to play for 20 minutes. The organisers couldn't apologise enough, thanking us for not making a fuss. Then 4hrs home. We got paid but it wasn't a great experience.

Ditto all the above, plus Isle of Wight postcards! Thanks Micky!

Indeed. There is music I like and music I don't like. Don't care who it is by or what genre it is.

Totally agree. Faith no More were a revelation to me. Never been a fan, not really taken any notice of them. But what a performance! Edgy, tight - as good as a live band could be IMO.

I was 40 in '97 so had better keep out of it. I saw them at Hyde Park in 2015, sans Bill Ward, and it was a phenomenal day. Ozzy seemed in good health and was, comically, doing press-ups on stage from time to time. Saw them again in 2017 at the O2 for 'The End' and it was like they were a different band - I guess they were at the tail end of a huge tour and it had taken its toll. Not sure about this one - almost like going to the funeral of old friends that haven't actually died.