Paul S

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.

As you will have gathered, different pickups will have different tones. I tried loads in my P-bass until I got the sound I wanted (Wizard Trad did it for me). If all that fiddling doesn't appeal I'd recommend trying to identify the sound you want to get and then post an example of that here. You will probably have a particular record in mind when you think of your 'ideal P Bass tone' so stick a link to a YouTube and see what people think!

I don't know if it counts but I have a Westone Pantera Deluxe II X790. Flagship bass from Matsumoku in 1986. Not unique, but there aren't many about. I posted a thread about it when I first bought it last year http://basschat.co.uk/topic/172300-westone-pantera-deluxe-x790-now-here/page__p__1695145__hl__westone%20pantera__fromsearch__1#entry1695145

Ah!! I see. Humour.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1376832603' post='2179640'] There are quite a few of these if you look into it: Deep Purples "Speed King" was written about none other than banjolele toting B+W superstar George Formby. [/quote] How so? I'd never heard that before and can't find any reference to that at all. The only version I found was that Gillan took a load of 50s rock and roll lyrics and stuffed the all together in a song.

Can't speak of Schaller as I haven't used one but I have fitted Gotoh 201 and Badass bridges to Fenders. I have also fitted one you don't mention - the Hipshot A style Fender retro fit. I find all of them more comfortable as the end of the bridge is where I rest the heel of my hand and I find the BBOT is a little too sharp to rest on. I like the sturdiness of all of them. Whether or not there is a difference in sustain/tone is arguable, but that isn't my chief reason for fitting them. From an engineering point of view I'd say the Hipshot is head and shoulders above the other two and is by some way my favourite. Best value for money is the Gotoh 201. Actually, no, the best value for money was a generic Gotoh copy I bought on ebay for around £12. It did much the same job as all the others for what I required of it - not as well made but then it wasn't very expensive. But my best and favourite bass has the Hipshot fitted.