Paul S

That's reassuring to know, thanks.

Are there any complications with returns with Thomann now or are they are simple as before? Anyone had to send anything back?

If you have a ki0gon loom with its screw terminal connectors you can use the bass as a test bed really easily for different types of pickups. It takes just a few minutes to do this. You can pick them up secondhand cheaply, usually, and this gives you the opportunity to try the various ones until you find what you like. Those you don't care for can be moved on for very little/no loss. By way of a starter maybe find a song that has the type of P bass tone you like and ask on here which pickup is likely to give you that tone.

Pickguard is smoky but clear perspex so that is the body of the screw going through it, I reckon. I had one, my first 'proper' bass. At the time I preferred skinnier neck, plus it was a boat anchor, so I moved it on.

I'd add Hamish Stuart to the list - he used to play bass occasionally, Still does, in fact. Martin Turner, also.

Yup, that's me.

+1 for compression gloves. I bought some as I am getting a spot of arthritis in my fingers and it really does help that. Keeping hands warm is a bonus side issue 😊

I have had it explained to me as 'brain boredom'. If you keep busy and keep your brain occupied it doesn't manage to make the noise 'cos it is doing something more important. To a large extent this has worked for me. Another thing that helped, which was more of a cloud bearing a silver lining, was when I had hearing aids fitted. All the extra sounds I can now hear need to be dealt with and the ringing/whooshing etc only really distracts me at night when I am trying to get to sleep (having taken out the hearing aids, obvs).

The headstock is a great job. Looks really nice like that to my eyes - I don't think all basses suit a matching headstock but that is brill. Did you stain the fingerboard black, too, or is it just the way the pic came out?

That black one is gorgeous. What model is it?

I think how much an instrument costs and ability to play it is a non-issue. 'Cost' is a relative thing anyway. The price of a Fodera would be off the scale for some of us, for others just loose change. When it comes to buying anything at all my mantra is if I can afford it, will enjoy it and want it I will buy it and I see it as no-one's business other than my own. Well, apart from my wife

That's a good way to regard it, I think. My desert island bass would be a Precision. Doesn't stop me enjoying (and hankering after) a whole lot more, though.

I really dislike overplaying. I once shared a gig with a soul band and the bass player overplayed his way through the entire set. Huge player and technically miles better than I could ever hope to be but, for me, his eagerness to show off his chops ruined the gig. My own playing is rather 'agricultural'. I don't understand very much music theory, can just about read tab and, as an absolute last resort (and given enough time) could eventually decipher some dots. Nor do I have too many chops to show off - I play well with a pick but my fingerstyle is ragged beyond 8th notes - anything else just forget it. But I've learnt that these deficiences can actually work in my favour. Generally speaking I have always played covers and so I learn the bass lines I need to. I always play for the song because the song is all I know and, as a general rule, the people I play with like that. Within my limitations I've a decent enough touch, even if technically incompetent If I need to come up with an original line I just think back to other runs etc I have used in similar music that work well then cut and paste them all together. A kind of Blue Peter approach. I keep thinking that one day someone will find me out

Well done Lozz. Genuinely heart warming story from a genuinely nice guy.

I know exactly what you mean. I do find the 3 point clunky but, then again, can live with it. The Vintage pro/Embassy one looks like a more efficient solution even if it isn't quite as appealing. Also I rest my hand on the bridge when I palm mute and it looks like it would be more comfy than the 3 point. At the end of the day I think it will boil down to weight. As soon as either a Classic or Vintage turns up that is under 8.5lbs that will chest the tape.

Probably looks and tone equally. Something about the look of a Thunderbird that I find appealing. And, try as I might, I don't get the same thrill looking at an Embassy. From what I have read both the Classic Pro and Vintage Pro sound and feel authentic: the Classic being darker and more like the modern Gibsons, the Vintage having a brighter sound more in line with the first 60s models. That plus the bridge being the main differences. I am hoping that weight might also be a thing.

Just to revisit this for a bit, how does the Classic Pro compare with the Vintage Pro in terms of weight - anyone know?

Lucifer's Friend. Somehow they passed me by at the time but I'm enjoying catching up. First album, anyway - they seemed to change direction a bit after that.

If you are set on buying new I would also take a peep at the Retrovibe website - David's basses are exceptionally good vfm. But, really, buying secondhand will get you so much more bass for your dollar. And if you are buying blind you can't go wrong with a Yamaha BB424 which leaves you some change.

Indeed, I have them on all my basses other than an Antoria EB-3 copy that I feel needs the extra zing. The first thing I do when I get a new bass is stick a set of TI Flats on it. Anyone who likes the feel of flats but not the 'dull thud' should give them a go, because 'dull thud' they most certainly are not.

I read it as drums/bass locking together rather than a chops showcase. Could be wrong. How about Radar Love, if a bit a Dad rock is acceptable?

A band I was in for a few years used to do a lot of this kind of thing. Couple more Psycho Killer, Talking Heads Is She Really Going Out With Him, Joe Jackson American Girl, Tom Petty

'Maneater' by Hall and Oates - great song to lock drums and bass.

Sadly for me 8.5lbs is bang on heavy as it is at the very edge of what I can use. I'm on a crash course for 65 so maybe should think twice My Gibson 'bird was 8lbs and I really shouldn't have sold it - maybe I could have that inscribed on my headstone . Trouble is I go through phases of thinking they are a young, slim person's bass, not a thick-waisted old man. Then occasionally I think I don't actually care and and the GAS starts all over again.

Thanks Ben, might just do that. I read The Apparation Phase and enjoyed it, btw I'm currently ploughing my way through a boxed set of old 30s and 40s horror that I think you'd enjoy.