Paul S

I also just sold an EBMM SB-14 to Mike. I think he is going all out for a complete collection of colours. Simplest of transactions, a true Gent. Cheers Mike!

My, now sadly ex-, rock covers band did this set at one of our last gigs - a lot of overlap with others posted so far: Set 1. 1. We Belong to the Night. 2. Rocking in the Free World 3. Highway Star 4. Walking by myself 5. Paranoid. 6. Tobacco Road 7. Hysteria 8. Little wing 9. Running with the Devil 10. Eruption 11. You Really Got Me 12. Soap on a Rope 13. Lights Out Set 2. 1. Rebel Yell 2. Rock n Roll 3. Times Like These 4. Crazy Train 5. Ace of Spades 6. Waiting for an Alibi 7. Ain't no Love. 8. The Outsider. 9. Slither. 10. Ready and Willing. 11. Sweet Child of Mine. 12. Hallowed be thy Name Encore: Burn, Rosalie

I reckon as a 'get out of jail free card' the BDI-21 is really hard to beat. Amazon must actually have them in stock at £26 now, free postage - I ordered one months ago and it finally arrived a week or to back.

My holy grail at the moment = P-Style bass with narrow, shallow necks. I've tried lots, kept some, moved some on. Mid 80s MIJ Fender Jazz Bass Special, which is the bass that the Duff Mckagan sig. Discreet mentioned is based on, has a Jazz neck on P body, PJ pickups. Power Jazz Bass Special is the same but active. As Lozz said, Precision Lyte has an exceptionally slim neck, really narrow and shallow, more so than other Jazz basses apart from a Geddy Lee or Jaguar, but doesn't really sound like a Precision. I recently bought a Squier Silver Series Precision that has a 40mm wide neck, so nearly there. But, probably the thinnest and shallowest of all the Precision-style basses I have is a Peavey Fury. I have read these described as the best Precision bass that Fender didn't make. Not sure I'd go that far but it is nice - USA built, top gear, cheap to buy, too, if you can find one. For all that, my 'go to' is a MIJ Precision with a Mighty Mite jazz neck - it is so easily done and not expensive, so if you have a bass that ticks all the other boxes it is worth considering.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1377720011' post='2190921'] so is this a recommendation??? [/quote] More like random memories and observations. I moved it on some while back and have no inclination to get another. But, if you like cool-looking, heavy, wide-necked and well-made basses with a weedy tone then I guess it is a recommendation! One issue with mine and I think the model in general is that a good deal of the bridge is made from Perspex which became brittle with age. I managed to track down a NOS one but I believe there are none left now.

I had a Hayman 40/40 for a while. Weighed around 14stone without the strap and the neck was as wide as a Tudor oak floorboard. Weak sound, weedy tone. Nicely made, mind. Look cool as anything. [attachment=142587:me.jpg]

Absolutely one of the best. Pick up The Pieces would be in my top 5 of any genre of music, but a heck of a lot of their other stuff is up there, too. Hamish's falsetto has a quality about it that gives me goosebumps! And, on the occasions where he took over bass duties, it nailed a few misconceptions about funky bass playing and pick users being mutually exclusive, which is one of those old chestnuts that comes out every now and then. Check out the growly old Mustang on this corker! http://youtu.be/qSP5yiUbDLQ

[quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1377608480' post='2189319'] Personally I'm starting to feel a bit uncomfortable with the amount of slagging of that we give this bloke here. I'm not in anyway defending what he does, but some basschat members are starting to act like a flock of vultures fighting over a not yet dead carcass, or a gang of playground bullies, in their eagerness to get in and give the bloke kick when he's down. Not very edifying, and In my opinion this is not basschat at it's best. [/quote] I see a fairly simple solution - don't read about it or join in! A bit of harmless fun, plus of course the tool deserves it.

A couple of years back Waynepunkdude had a purple Perspex 5er that he lent out to all and sundry to try out a 5er if they wanted. I believe it travelled the length and breadth of the country. I had a bash on it - shame they are so heavy as they look really cool I think - often wondered what one would look like with an LED making the whole thing light up.

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1377463612' post='2187899'] This is the first song I heard him play on. The whole album is great, but this is a particular favourite. [/quote] Great link, Warren. I somehow occasionally manage to forget what a superlatively brilliant voice Peter Gabriel has got then thankfully, like this, he pops into my consciousness again. I was hoping to get some work done today but I guess it will have to wait until I have had my Spotify Genesis Fest.

[quote name='Les' timestamp='1377468887' post='2187992'] Any one fitted a push pull coil split to one of these ? [/quote] Not exactly what you mean but there is quite a nice vid here of a Dimarzio pup swap carried out on a Gibson and all the options available. I guess the differences in the coil tap would be the same for the Epiphone one. http://youtu.be/OFB9o9agOsA When I fitted mine I kept it simple and didn't go for the series/parallel switch.

I quite liked them all, in their own way, and wish I could play as well as any one of them. I really don't get the negativity going on, tbh - blame the guy doing the compiling, if anyone, not the players.

I bought one about a year ago and found much the same thing. I was surprised how playable it is - slim neck and *extremely* lightweight. Weighs less than my Hohner B2A! Being an inveterate fiddler I changed the bridge to a Hipshot, the pickup to a Dimarzio Model 1 and wiring loom to Ki0gon, all of which are improvements over stock and made it a better bass. Neck dive is helped by a wide, non-slippy strap - quite happy to gig/rehearse with it on bad back days when only the lightest of basses will do.

For my own preference, black scratch plate on a black bass always looks best - I personally can't stand tort ones whether on black or sunburst but that's just me! I'd reckon whatever *you* like the look of is the one to get. Once you decide which colour you like there is a supplier on eBay somewhere that will send you a template of his scratch plates before you order, so you know what you are getting. Quite cheap, as well. There again a lot of people here use a fellow Basschatter, The Bass Doc, sending him the old one so it fits exactly. I will be doing this shortly, myself.

I was always really happy with my old large Trace Elliot rig - loved it, in fact. I used to mix and match various cabs - 1x18, 1x15, 2x10 with two different heads. But a lower back problem forced me to change to lightweight gear. The 18" cab was nearly 50kg! I thought it would be a compromise borne of necessity but, in reality, nothing could be further from the truth. After trying a lot of different makes and set-ups I opted for a TC Electronic Classic 450 into Barefaced Compact + Midget. Awesome. Much greater clarity, much more definition of the sound than I used to get out the Trace Elliot. And the whole rig weighs as much as one of the TE heads! For rehearsals with a loud drummer in a classic heavy rock covers band I used to use just the Midget - largely out of convenience but it is absolutely fine. Lack of power has never been an issue. For gigs I use both cabs for the broader tone but either are great and loud enough on their own.

And another Might Mite neck endorsement. I like mine lots - maple Jazz fitted straight into onto a MIJ 90s P. Bass body.

I bought Jamie's Squier Silver Series Jazz bass in a totally pain-free transaction. Caught him at a terrible time personally but he still managed to sort it all out for me. Complete gent to deal with and I reckon he must have shares in bubblewrap as I have never seen so much. Oh, yes, the bass is fantastic, too.

To my ears the progression is 1, 3 then 2. 1 is more vintage thump, like the older Fender and the Wizard Trad. 3 more modern, a bit like a Wizard thumper. 2 was very middy and aggressive.

My late-band had a guitarist for a while who also plays in another high-ish profile local band - 2 guitars, drums, bass, singer. He said one day someone came up to him in the street and said - 'hey, don't you play in X?' Feeling pretty good he said, 'yes mate, I do'. Guy said 'your guitar player is the nuts, isn't he'...

I've modded a few of my basses and am generally pleased with the results. A Westone Thunder Jet bass - stock bass is very well put together thing with a gorgeous neck and light of body, unlike the Thunder and Thunder 1A basses, with a 'stealth' look of satin black finish and hardware. But it is passive bass and I found the sound from the stock pup was a little thin. I replaced the pup with a SDP-3, installed a J. East P-retro and a put on a Gotoh-a-like high mass bridge (because I find them more comfortable) and it is something of a beast now. Sounds and plays like something that is quite expensive. I have also made up my nigh-on perfect bass from various bits. I bought a 90s MIJ Precision bass - very lightweight - on here. Electrics were knackered but I have now fitted a J. East P-retro and Wizard Trad pup. I changed the BBOT to a Hipshot A style bridge. It came with a Mighty Mite Jazz neck finished in 'vintage tint' that I PXed on here for a natural maple neck. My favourite bass. Fender Precision Lyte that I bought unseen - hated the colour and the electrics didn't work. I stripped it, refinished it, changed the guts to a J retro. Lovely thing. I also bought an Epiphone EB0, changed the bridge to the Hipshot Supertone, the stock mudbucker to the Dimarzio model 1 replacement and new pots/loom from Ki0gon that actually does something. Sounds like a different bass now. But I enjoy fiddling with them. I don't do it to increase value, I am just curious about how the changes affect the basses.