Paul S

I have an EBMM Sterling 5 and had it converted to passive, much prefer it now. Plus it is lighter with the guts out, too

I have just this morning acquired an Elf to pair with my BF One10 for home practice/quiet rehearsals/acoustic gigs. Only had the briefest of noodles whilst Mrs S was out but I am seriously impressed. 'LOVE' the gain and what you can do with it and the two together seem perfectly matched.

Bought Martyn's TE Elf in the most straightforward of transactions. Good comms, speedily dispatched. Can't ask for more! Cheers Martyn

From the ridiculous (Christopher Cross, see above) to the sublime. Saw Rival Sons at Brixton Academy last night and this morning I am still smiling. Proper rock band. Saw them supporting Black Sabbath a couple of years back, even better to see a whole set. Good original songs powerfully delivered. Jay Buchanan has a remarkable set of pipes! Anyone wanting pre-gig food could do worse than visit 500 Degrees, a pizza place with a wood-fired pizza oven, that is just a few mins walk away. Cheap by London standards, too.

I have the Squier VM Mustang. A previous owner had replaced the pup with a Nordstrand NM4 and put a cheeky Fender decal on the headstock and I honestly think you'd struggle to tell the difference.

I went to see Christopher Cross at the Cliff's Pavilion in Southend last night. I had only ever heard 3 of his tunes before - hated Arthur's theme, quite liked 'Sailing' and really liked 'Ride Like The Wind'. I thought - he was a massive star back in the day so it must be good. Nope. Left at half time. His voice, never strong, was a flat, lifeless squeak that didn't ever quite make it to the pitch of the note. He had the stage presence and charisma of a discarded toenail. His songs were soul-less dirges. The sound was not very well balanced, drums were massively loud (although it did go some way to drowning out Mr Cross's voice), could barely hear the bass. The swirly keys and stupid little sax thingy just made my gorge rise, trying to emulate that huge 80s production sound live just didn't work. His flashy guitar licks were ott and out of context. Easily the worst gig I have seen for a couple of years. Hey ho. Had a nice meal out anyway.

I've just turned 62 and have done the best I can with lightweight gear so the load in/out is as easy as it can be. Doesn't stop me helping the other guys in with their heavy stuff, mind. Will I ever learn? One of the things that isn't so easy any more is getting down on one knee and back up again - it's a long way up! I always ache next day but the worst thing is entirely of my own making. My neck is always really stiff - because I nod my head furiously when I play. Not the cool, downwards, heavy rock style nod but a kind of weird looking upward flick of my head. I can't help it, it just happens naturally. I sometimes think I must look like I have suddenly been plugged into the mains the way my head moves about. 😅

Just put the finishing touches on this and I am pretty chuffed with it! Gotta love a short scale double cutaway! Changed the electrics and hardware, now sports Entwistle pup, Ki0gon loom, Wilkinson bridge (had to shim the neck to use the full saddle adjustment) and tuners. Dyed the neck black. TI flats. Weighs 3kg on the nose. Plays and sounds like a bass that cost a damned site more than £175 it cost me in total (excl strings) Teeny bit neck heavy, rests just above horizontal but nothing like the Epiphone EB0 I had. Got a bit of a bark to it, which is nice. The main thing was I enjoyed doing it

Just thought of another lightweight - the Fender MB4 and the Squier equivalent. I had the 5 string version, the Fender MB-5, and that weighed 7lb on the nose so the 4 string will be lighter. The Fender ones, at least, are pretty good basses - MIJ, very Jazz like.

Bought a set of Hipshot tuners from Phil in the simplest of transactions - thanks Phil!

At 22 I was 5'11, at 62 I am 5'9. I still have the same amount of me, just arranged differently

I can just imagine it! Great left of field song choice. My recently defunct covers band played a vaguely rock-a-billy version of 'Walk Like An Egyptian' that never failed to get people, er, dancing like an Egyptian. We played it straight after a decent, if I may so so, cover of 'Shine On You crazy Diamond' and the contrast was marked.

At that price point the best 5ers I have owned are a Yamaha BB425 and a Peavey Foundation 5.

I had something like this. For those Essex folk who know the area, my ex-band Illegal Tender had a gig in Earls Colne. Drummer and I lift share as we live in Pitsea and Benfleet. On the way home we made our way down towards the A12 at Coggeshall but the slip entry onto the A12 south was shut. So we had to turn along the A12 north to Colchester, then turn around and get diverted up towards the A120 at Braintree. And when we got there it was shut westbound due to an accident. Not being very familiar with the roads round there we just followed our noses and seemed to drive through tiny country lanes for about an hour until we found the A12 again. What should have been under an hour took us 2.5hrs, and I didn't get home until after 3. And all that after playing to one man and his dog.

Looks rather jerry built to me.

TI flats for me, too - I have them on everything. They cut through just nicely with a bit of drive as shown on this vid.

I believe that if you play them all in rotation then the muscle memory kicks in quickly and, eventually, becomes an automatic thing. I have played a Uke bass, 30", 32", 34" - fretted and fretless - and EUB over the last few years and nowdays don't have much problem switching between them. So that's the kiss of death, just there. Next time I pick up a 34" fretless I'll be all over the place

Bought another one of John's finest looms. Got in just in time before he poisoned himself with foraged mushrooms. Thanks again!

Cheese puns? No whey!

I had an issue when I bought an amp, it arrived and was clearly B stock with signs of wear and use. I was keen to keep the amp but wanted a partial refund to reflect the condition and it was a real struggle. Had I just returned it everything would have been fine, so that is what I learnt after that instance - don't try to chase a solution that is outside of their standard procedures.

Zombie thread. On a complete impulse I bought what was listed as an Encore bass, made in Korea in 1978. It is black, double cut-away with a split humbucker a la Precision, short scale. Body is fairly thin, made of ply, black finish. Headstock inlay looks nice, I'd guess mother-of-toilet seat, same as the fret marker dots. Looks exactly like this, in fact (but not mine): When it arrived I was pleasantly surprised as it seems solidly put together and the neck isn't half bad. And featherlite at around 3kg. There are a number of issues with the electrics but it was my intention to do an electrics transplant anyway which would give me a cheap back-up for my Gibson LP Jnr DC but with a slightly Fender flavour, perhaps. Anyway, does anyone know anything about these particular models? Made in Korea in 1978 seems randomly specific and rather old - is that likely? Not that it matters, just curious.

Excellent. Thank you - I'll give it a go.

Zombie thread resurrection @NancyJohnsonHow did this last? I have a little project and this looks perfect!