Paul S

Thank you!

Nope, maple as Nature intended Especially when it is old and caramel coloured.

Black bass, maple neck and fingerboard. Yum.

Played an open air gig on Saturday at The Pickerel Inn, Stowmarket. They had done what they could - we had a barn to play in, loads of space. There were picnic bench tables set out with a reasonable distance between them for folks to sit. Not that many there - maybe 20-25 - but it was great to play. First outing for my Harley Benton Shorty which performed admirably. Sounded exactly like a Precision in the mix. Here 'Hideaway'

I'll default to PM, Nick.

Nick, when is the recording taking place? I have one of the really good 70s copies that you are most welcome to borrow but, Sod's Law, it is going in today for a little fettling. Should be back in a week or so.

Well, in the case of the HB Shorty P bass, it means that people would take a look at the HB headstock logo, take a look at the £80 price tag, and decide it wasn't any good without actually listening to one.

Slimmest necks I have owned include a Peavey Fury (the narrowest), CIJ Fender Jaguar, Fender Precision Lyte. A Squier VM Mustang came close. These were not only narrow but also shallow. I believe my current Gibson T-Bird has a particularly narrow neck, too. I've not owned one but the Fender Geddy Lee sig Jazz also has a super slim neck.

Well, for absolute certainty, if I wanted the Precision bass sound for minimal cash outlay I would consider buying the Harley Benton Shorty Precision. A staggeringly low £80+/- new. It sounds exactly like a Precision, it is short scale, lightweight with a slim neck. Because the body is scaled down it doesn't quite look like a Precision, more like a Strat with fat strings. It is a decent bass at any price point up to £500 IMO, the fact that it costs £80 I still find unbelievable. One of the very nicest Precision basses I have owned is my JV Squier, which I would value at £800. Is the HB as good as the JV? No. Is the JV 10 x better than the HB? Absolutely not. This weekend is my first gig since buying the HB and I am going to use it. I would guarantee in the band context no-one at all will notice the difference between the HB and the JV. If you tried and didn't like you could move it on for, say, £60! The depreciation for such a cheap bass is practically nothing.

As it happens, I have the Harley Benton Shorty and it actually does sound exactly like a Precision.

At the top end of the year I moved from amp + cab to FRFR + pedal and I am delighted to report it has removed a whole layer of GAS from my life. Added another, of course - but changing pedals is (can be?) cheaper than constantly changing amps. But, now I have it, I am fairly sure that the Spectrodrive does everything I want. Doesn't stop me looking at amps and cabs, mind. There is room in my life for a BF One10, for example.... 😁

Doesn't that hurt your head after a bit? I quite like it when the pointy end gets worn - I'll often use one corner of the fat end for its softer attack.

What he said. Sounds amazing. Nicely played, too.

As a young man, thick and stiff was the order of the day - used vigorously - but, as I've got older, I tend to use a thin floppy one more often. Sorry. Thought I'd join in. Another Dunlop 1mm tortex fan. But it is a bit like finding the most comfortable underpants, all very subjective and personal.

My strings of choice are TI flats and the ones they sell as 'short scale' actually have 32" of winding so, inevitably, you end up having some winding on the post. I have them on 3 SS basses at the moment and have had them on numerous others over the years and never had an issue with it. So, moving down a couple of inches, if you had a string with 30" of winding on a 'less than' 30" scale bass I think it would be ok. To my mind the problems would start if you cut the string at the winding rather than just bend it.

hah! I've got all your passwords now!

That's annoying. It's on facebook. I think sometimes there are problems with seeing these remotely? Not sure why, mind you.

My blues band playing a cover of Tobacco Road. First time we'd tried it! We were doing some video for a promotional thing and decided to give this a blast when the guy filming was off doing something else. Recorded on an iPad.

Ideal travel bass! Er, except you need and amp and cab to hear it. Oh, and an octaver so it plays in bass register. Not exactly travelling light.