Paul S

I've been on BC since 2008 and only ever felt moved to use the 'ignore' feature on here once. I had 2 x BF cabs (Supercompacts or Two10s, can't remember now) for sale for a competitive price, discounted for both, at a time when they moved fairly quickly but it was collection only as I didn't have boxes. Some chap seemed to think he was doing me a massive favour by offering 2/3 of my discounted asking price and to include postage in that. Quite reasonably, I thought, I filled my reply with laughing enojis then finished with the word 'no'. That prompted a deluge of vaguely unpleasant PMs, hence the ignore.

I had a similar heel on the MIJ P Bass Lyte.

Bought an Epiphone T Bird case from Louie in the most straightforward of deals. Met approx half way to pick up, courtesy of Louie's Dad. A pleasure doing business!

I don't know about keeping basses in a conservatory but I know about keeping plants in a conservatory and I think there are parallels. I'd say it depends upon the aspect - if it is on the north side of the house, out of direct sun and with heating for winter then the temperature swings won't be massive so it might be OK (although humidity might be an issue). If it gets any direct sun then forget it.

I had one of those a while back. Lovely thing. Sold it to @casapete of this parish.

You mean it isn't just there to make up the scale length?

What are you doing all the way up there, anyway?

Mine must have been a Friday afternoon one. Started going wrong expensively at around 40,000 miles when one of the front suspension coils snapped overnight, shearing the tyre. Lucky that didn't happen on a motorway.

AC/DC for me. No idea how or why but the early Bonn Scott era material completely passed me by apart from Highway to Hell. When they finally came into my consciousness it was with Brian Johnson at the helm and I never cared much for his voice. It was only a few years ago when I auditioned for an AC/DC tribute band (and passed it over, in hindsight I could have stuck with it but such is life ) that I had a proper listen to their early stuff and realised what I'd missed.

I had a Citroen Berlingo for a while. One of those big square jobs that looked like an ice cream van. In fact Mrs S and I used to call it the ICV in the days when SUVs were becoming all the rage You could fit a ton of gear in it - I once took me, guitarist and drummer to a gig with all our kit in plus some of the pa. Trouble was the rest of the time you were left driving a Citroen Berlingo. Luckily it self-destructed at around 60,000 miles.

Nice. @Bassassin would be your man here. I bought a mid 70s Antoria P bass copy last year that someone, at some point, had fitted with a '75 Fender pickup. It is fabulous. The neck is incredible.

My blues/rock trio are playing said establishment, kickoff at 9ish. If you like blues rock and guitar solos you'll like us @Al Krow and @bassfan will be coming along, apparently... but don't let that put you off

My opinion - I think it entirely depends upon your aim. If you like the idea of putting together a kit and learning from the experience of how a bass fits together and sets up then, yeah, why not. If you are simply looking at the end result and getting a half decent bass for £205 to then use as a modding platform, for that money you could buy a Harley Benton (or substitute your favoured budget brand) bass that would almost certainly be a step or two better than this, already made, no need to mod.

Yes, I was one of those 'rock dinosaurs' too - really didn't like punk at the time, couldn't rationalise it as a 'proper' thing. Now I totally see the value of it and enjoy listening to lots. It's like music needs a sharp kick in the sweetmeats every now and then - Hendrix, Punk, Grunge. Spice Girls.

[Random memory] I was studying* at Chelsea College in 1976 and kind of in the middle of the whole birth of punk. At the time I didn't care for it but an older me does. I saw the Clash at Imperial College (I think late 76 but maybe early 77 - no way to ground it) and Strummer pronounced early on in the set that 'all students were fascist pigs with rich Daddies' and it didn't go so well after that. Simonon took his bass off and was wielding it like a club. A bunch of the 'fascist pigs' that were part of the Imperial College rugby squad explained their point of view afterwards, so I understand. [/random memory] *studying is perhaps not the best word as i didn't do a great deal of studying, really.

I've never spent massive amounts on basses but, even so, seem to be slowly but surely decreasing the amount I spend. Time was I'd spend £1K +/- but nowdays I tend to cap at around £400. The most I paid for a bass was £1500 4 years ago for a custom spec lightweight Maruszyzck Jake 5. Same spec now would be £2000. I sold it once my need for a good 5er had passed. Of those I still own the next most expensive outlay was £780 on a Gibson LP Jnr DC soon after they came out. My most valuable bass is a Squier JV Precision, worth around £800 in the unlikely event I sell it. One day, I guess. Other than that, all sub-£400 and down to £70 I paid for a new HB PB Shorty. I enjoy and play them all and honestly can't see me paying much more in future. Unless the sub 8lb Rickenbacker 4001 comes along, anyway

A sub-8lb Rickenbacker 4001 in Jetglo.

IIRC the bass player with the Bootleg Beatles was a righty who learnt lefty for the part.

Back in the day there used to be a female detective at Basildon who used to do this exact thing when sufficiently inebriated. Or sober, tbf.

My reasons initially were to lose the brittle high end that I am not keen on and also lose the rough feel of rounds. But key to my total immersion in flats was finding the right ones for me. Not all flats are created equal. My epiphany was trying TI Flats which, for me, have it all. They are bright but not brittle, smooth but not glassy and I love the low tension.

I like what a J pickup adds to a P but miss what it takes away even more so, generally, if I encounter a J bridge pickup on a P-type bass I'll ignore it. I actually removed one from one of my Yamaha BBs to the consternation of one or two BB fans here I do have 2 basses at the moment with twin pickups, albeit not P/Js, where I actually prefer the bended tone. I have a Retrovibe Renegade faker with Rick-style pickups. For me and that particular bass the sound I like is everything full on and the pickup selector centred. It isn't as clanky as a proper Rick but, actually, I think that is in its favour as I prefer the mellow tone more. But it still has that odd hollow Rick thing going on. Also I recently acquired an Epiphone Thunderbird IV Classic Pro - the one with a through neck and Gibson pickups, on which the controls are VVT. With that I stick everything on full then just back off the neck pickup V a touch - there shortly comes a point when there is a sudden sweet spot, almost a boost. That is the where the money is for me. Haven't used it in a band context yet (Friday, can't wait ) but feel it will claim it's place just nicely. As an aside - having owned, sold and missed a Gibson TBird I thought I'd take a chance on the Classic Pro, believing it would somehow be a lesser thing but sufficiently TBirdy to scratch the itch without spending Gibson money. But you know what? - I can't actually tell the difference in how this Epi plays or sounds compared to the Gibson. I am sure there must have been corners cut with hardware and electrics but clearly not where it matters. If I were to stick a Gibson truss rod cover on it (which I won't) I bet no-one would be able to tell the difference. Quite an astonsihing bass, all things considered - especially the price But nowt to do with PJs, so apologies for the ramble.

I like to think of him as an early, but discarded, prototype of Rodin's 'The Thinker'

Or a nearby weighbridge, perhaps?

Probably an idea to mention it, though. It is kind of what the feedback system is for. If there are folks out there who are not prepared to take any responsibility once a bass has left thier possession the rest of us would like to know.