Paul S

Chris bought my surplus hipshot tuner - paid at speed of light, totally hassle-free. It has been a pleasure, sir. Glad it fits, too.....

It is more the look/vibe of the thing really. I'm no Jack Bruce or Andy Frazer, sadly, but both bands I am in have been known to dip into Cream/Free covers occasionally and it is a different looking bass that still fits in with the style. If I am honest I really don't need another bass but, well, you know how it is. As GAS goes this is pretty cheap stuff so i should get off lightly! I might even have a go at a doer-upper - try my hand at a re-fin or something - if the right one comes along. Need to try a shortscale first, though, and see how I get on. I get confused enough playing my headless B2A with more frets than I am used to!

Fantastic, just what I was looking to read. It seems the short scale bass would be the one I would be more interested in but, as I have never played on one, I need to try it out. Gotta love Basschat.

I can answer my own question here - I got a reply from Hipshot and, yes, a BT2.

I sort of fancy one of these and was wondering if it might be possible to do a kind of overview thread - there's lots of stuff dotted here and there about the different models and how they are similar/different, but it would be useful I think to have it all in one place? One thing I remember reading that struck me was that all they had in common was the same approximate body shape. But which ones have the short scale (just the EB0?) Which have through neck/bolt ons? Do any have 38mm neck or are they all precision width? Do they all suffer from neck dive? And what is their USP? What are the ones to look out for - I would guess there are one or two Japcrap gems to be found?

Having already got the wrong one(BT10 is too small!) I want to ask if anyone can confirm - Hipshot BT2 for a mid 80s MIJ Fender Power Jazz Special? Someone has said he thinks this is the one I need and it is the only other one I can see that mentions MIJ. Thanks.

Unsurprisingly there is a Shergold Discussion forum that has amongst it's members some exceptionally clever folks, including an old boy who used to make them and a chap who has recently made (from scratch - cast metal things and wound his own pickups) a bass/12 string/6 string interchangeable double neck Shergold replica! They would be able to help you with any issues that arose. [url="http://www.shergold.co.uk/forum/"]Forum here[/url]

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120665203094&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT"]Here is the listing[/url] Seems cheap for a MIJ Fender.

Been fairly obsessed recently with listening to Undertow, Mr Big. I've just got outline permission from the rest of the band to cover it, so yesterday I started to get the feel of it - I'll have a little bash later today bit probably won't touch the fills etc yet. For me this is a pretty busy bassline - I'll also be playing it with a pick, so it will sound different.

[quote name='Slipperydick' post='1069540' date='Dec 26 2010, 11:55 AM']Bit of Christmas for you...always liked this. Surprised me at the time. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGU63KqXuZk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGU63KqXuZk[/url] Cor blimey guv'nor ![/quote] I don't usually read the comments on Youtube clips but this made me smile: 'Clapton was thinking 'fnck me I wish I could play that fast'....and then he stopped watching Dave on the bass and watched Albert Lee!!!!'

When I first upgraded from my practice amp to something giggable I bought new. Then almost immediately I upgraded again and took a MASSIVE hit on the price I had paid. I was uncertain about buying secondhand but using the classifieds here on Basschat is really as safe as you can get IMO. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=115170"]This[/url] is what I would buy with your budget. Maybe not fashionable but Peavey kit is by reputation indestructable and reliable. You might just get an Ashdown combo too - there is or was an EBO 300W for sale in the Basschat classified for £200, which would be a steal.

I'd recommend a simple mod of one of these for getting it into and out of your car:

[quote name='BigAlonBass' post='1068398' date='Dec 24 2010, 12:03 AM']I honestly don't see what the problem is. I work regularly with three different Bands, two of whom de-tune all the strings on their instruments by a semitone, to allow the vocalists to hit some of the more difficult notes. We all de-tune, but fret the "normal" notes. I practise and learn any new songs by listening to C.D's at home, and have a POS old copy Bass that is tuned "normally" so I can play along with the songs I'm learning. When I go to the Rehearsal/Gig, I take the de-tuned Bass, and play the "normal" notes I have just learnt, which are the same notes as everyone else in the Band. It may sound like a G#, but we're all fretting the G. Not too annoying, unless you have Perfect Pitch! It's not a case of "Telling you what to do", it's just the Band being helpful so that you don't have to transpose every note in every song down half a step on the fly. [/quote] ^^^^^ This I play in two bands. For band A we all detune half a tone to help the singer, band B plays as is. I keep one bass detuned and use that for band A when we rehearse or gig, but learn and play along to the tracks in regular tuning. As I am a complete dunce, and learn simply by the relative positions of my fingers in relation to the little dot thingies, none of this complicated theory stuff gets in the way. I just pick up the instrument and make the same shapes.

I actually quite like the look of them and posted a while back about them but the lack of response made me think they weren't popular and probably not worth attention as a result.

Play with other people. You are good enough. I have only been playing bass for a short while, I am old (53), I don't know my arpeggios from my elbow, I play in two bands, we gig, and I have immense fun.

Steep learning curve for me. Played guitar as a yoof in the early-mid 70s then stopped. My first bass was a Pervey Millstone through a secondhand TKO 80. Played extensively in the spare room for about a month in 2005 and then abandoned. Picked it up again in 2007, practised like mad, bought a Hayman 4040, joined a band and bought an Ashdown MAG 300 rig. Changed the Hayman to a Fender Jaguar, changed the Ashdown to Trace Elliot with which I am more than happy. Joined a second band. Bought and sold several other basses in search of something special and currently have a Fender Power Jazz Special that I am bonding with majorly. But have also developed a casual affair on the side with JapCrap and in the new year will be pimping my Washburn Scavenger. That and the two Fenders should keep me quiet for a while. Good fun innit!

There are heavy basses and heavy basses - what is heavy to one person is light to another. But one thing is certain - if you have never had a back problem it is impossible to understand how it affects even the simplest of daily tasks. Before it happened to me I used to think that people used 'bad backs' as an excuse and had no conception of how totally helpless it can make you. When the lower back muscles go into spasm, putting on socks becomes an act of torture. Going for a crap - worse still the paperwork afterwards - is a nightmare. Difficult to get your wife to help with that - socks are just about acceptable My 'usual' bass is a Fender Jaguar, which is around 9lbs. My favourite bass is a Washburn Scavenger, which is heavier. usually no problem at all. BUT. I have a recurring problem with a sacroiliac joint - where pelvis meets spine. Since clearing snow a fortnight ago and royally buggering my back again I can't stand with anything heavier than my Hohner B2A for more than 20 minutes. It will get better, and I'll go back to the others, but when a back is bad it is BAD.

Red might be hot, but black is cool [attachment=66922:DSC_0003.JPG]

The danger is that the cash will burn a hole in your pocket and you'll just fritter it away on stuff you don't really need but buy on a whim. Just like I did - sold two basses and a guitar in the last couple of months. Do I have any cash left? Nope.