meterman

It's a really good combination. Never tried it before, but it's great for me 👍

Update: my mate sold me a Squier Sonic Precision for £100, and I put the neck from my Squier Jazz on it, and it was a dead-on fit. Put a set of La Bella flats on, added a tugbar and a 3-ply pickguard, and it's just an amazing bass, I had no idea a Precision with a Jazz neck would be the perfect bass for me but I have a feeling that this is. Blown away at how great a bass can be for Harley Benton money. And, it's blue 👍

My mate sold me his Squier Sonic Precision in California Blue for £100. I put the neck from my Squier Jazz on it, and added a tugbar, and it's amazing, it weighs about 2kg, sounds better than a £100 bass has any right to, and it's California Blue. With La Bella flats on 👍

Harley Benton because it already has Aquila strings (so no need to upgrade) and it's from Thomann who are the easiest to deal with over here. €150 with a gigbag and free delivery? If it's okay I'll be chuffed. If it's not, I can always send it back and get a fretless acoustic bass instead and put nylon tapewounds on it. Will tell everyone what it's like and try and do a video or something. 👍

Not at all, but it's the talc that gets me all excited. Phwoar!

Couldn't find any online dealer that would ship a Batking fretless to France, and although I liked the look of the J&D, the only place I could get one from was Music Store in Germany, who I've had the crappiest customer service with whenever I've bought from them So, I've ordered a Harley Benton cheapie from Thomann. It has Aquila strings already and if it's not quite what I'm after then at least the returns process from here is pretty easy. Will do a review when I get it 👍

Yeah, that 'not quite' upright bass sound is what I'd like, ideally. My four or five years of fretless acoustic playing were absolute joy, I played all the time until the bass fell in on itself 😂 I rarely venture beyond the 7th or 8th fret on anything anyway so I might be alright with a fretless uke bass. I'll keep looking 👍 thank you 🙏

None yet, I’m still deciding what to buy. Can’t try any fretted or fretless ukes out as there’s no music stores anywhere near where I live. Will report back when I get something.

Good info thank you 🙏 Thomann are the easiest company for me to deal with so Harley Benton might get the nod 👍

That does sound really good, better than I expected. Her video was great too, no nonsense or paid product advertising, just good information. Another one for the shortlist, thank you 🙏

Yeah I've got Aquila strings on both my soprano ukuleles and once they stay in pitch they are rock solid. Harley Benton is one for the shortlist then. Thank you 🙏

Is the one! Doo itt!!!

Hiya folks. I used to have a 30" scale fretless no-name electro-acoustic bass that I loved playing and would frequently record with. Sadly, it's cheapness meant that it pretty much fell apart after 4 or 5 years - the top bellied up, the bridge lifted up, and then one day the neck cracked at the heel and shortly fell off. So, I've been thinking about getting a little fretless uke bass to replace it. But I've really no idea what to start looking at (except fretless uke basses, obviously)? I have no experience with them. I saw a Jack and Danny one online https://www.musicstore.com/fr_FR/EUR/J-D-UK-BM1R-FL-Fretless-Bass-Ukulele-Natural-/art-BAS0009799-000 which looked alright but I've no idea whether it'll be any good or just future firewood? Does anyone know if the Harley Bentons are any good? I live hours away from any music shops so I'd have to buy online. Any uke bass experts got any tips or recommendations? Mega thankyou's in advance 🙏 - Lee

Don't confuse them, Pike!

The New Fray Bentos Jazz Orchestra? The Smooth Jazz Riot Police? Onions? Cat Poo Jazz Bags? Smell My Jazz? Bifter, featuring Felicity Kendal? Grifter, featuring Geoff Capes? The Porcupine Jazz Quartet? Topol & The Jazz Roofers? Schnorbitz Jazz Club? Blimming heck, naming jazz outfits isn't easy is it? Can't you get a female lead singer in the band and call yourselves Heather Report? Or The Jacqui Pastorius Big Band or something?

Anything fan fretted. Never tried a Thunderbird or Flying V bass. Nothing ‘pointy’ or ‘metal’ 🤘 None of those coffee table single cut basses made from exotic tonewoods that look like vomit, and where the top of the body starts at the 5th fret. Yet. (I only play a Precision with flats now because Angela Rippon used one to redo all the parts on the first four Yes albums because Chris Squire was still primarily a tenor recorder player at the time and his bass parts weren’t up to par. She really was one of the great unsung British session players. Never got into Yes but I did try. Still want a 50” gong, a cape and a wind machine because of them though.)

£120 quid? Do it! Great bass for the money 👍

I've got 11 or 12 year old La Bella flats on my short scale Precision copy, they sound fine and play really nicely. On the first bass I bought in 1989 (a Shaftesbury Tele Bass copy) it had the original flat wounds on it and they must have been 20 years old already. I changed them for some Rotosounds one day at the behest of a band member but even he thought they sounded awful on that bass, so I swapped them back the next day. If your flats sound alright and play okay, leave them on until one breaks then get a new set 👍

Got my confirmation email this afternoon as well. I'll believe it actually exists when the theremin is in my studio and I'm actually making freaky noises with it. Then I'll put batteries in it and make it go "wheee-ooo-waouh-eee-ooh" etc...

The only music I have on Spotify or any of the streaming platforms has had about 80,000 streams from an album and a couple of EPs. And that was only because a couple of tunes got used in US tv programmes. The licensing payouts for the TV shows was thousands, whereas the payouts for the streams more or less paid for a pint and a packet of posh crisps. I have a non-streaming clause in anything I license out to labels now. It’s not worth me giving away my music for free, as it’s my only source of income so I’d rather take the actual record and CD sales, and the money from the licensing agreements. But I’m sure it works for others, just not me.

I just got a barely used Squier Sonic Precision in California Blue from a mate. I switched the neck for a Squier Jazz neck and the whole thing weighs about 2.9kg. It's probably made of balsa wood but for £100 I'm not complaining. Sounds ace as well. Can also recommend the Hofner violin bass, they're probably lighter than the gigbag that you'd put it in. Mine was possibly less than 2kg, but then again it's got a tiny body and it's hollow. Great for reggae and ska, as others have said 👍

Paid last night, finally, after getting the '504: page crashed' message over and over. Really looking forward to adding this to some recordings when it finally arrives. This will be the first Dubreq instrument I've ever owned. Unlike seemingly every other kid of my age, I never got a Rolf-endorsed Stylopedophone at Christmas in the 1970's. The inspiration for getting one was Via Mardot. I am not - and never will be - in her league, but I do love her compositions.

I swear, just replace Tyler and Perry with a younger, more capable pair for touring. Tyler's been half-àřśéd about it for years anyway. I doubt many folks would miss him like crazy. Like I said earlier, just get Brian Blessed in on lead vocals (he won't even need a mic, so money saved there) and get Jeremy Clarkson in on lead guitar (he'd look funny as fark with eye liner and leather trousers and tie-dye scarves and all that) - audiences would be too busy laughing at the state of Clarkson to pay any attention to the actual music. Then they could just phone it in and mime like Britney Spears. Job done 👍

Never been a fan of Aerosmith, except for the single they did with RUN DMC, but just because Steven Tyler’s voice is shot shouldn’t mean they have to pack up for good. They should get Brian Blessed in on lead vocals and continue touring and making albums. Then I might get into them. 👍