EssentialTension

What abut the zither?

No.

Would that make violin and cello the same instrument too .... which I'd say they are not.

It depends on the use of the word 'play'. In my case it's probably somewhere between none and one. At a Christmas party some years ago, there was a piano. Several people got up and played mostly carols to which we all sang along. After my son got on the piano and played a few Christmas hits, e.g. Last Christmas, I said 'I didn't realise you could play the piano that well'. He replied 'I can't play the piano at all, but I understand how music works'. So, maybe there's a difference between actually knowing how to play an instrument and being able to get a tune out of it.

I would say yes they are good value and, as far as I was concerned, nothing was in desperate need of upgrade. I thought the pickups were great. The one issue I did have was that the fret ends were very slightly sharp/proud and needed sanding/filing but even that was not serious. Due to a health issue I am now only playing 30" scales, otherwise I would definitely have kept the Embassy.

Nice, mine was that colour.

Thought so, thanks.

Did Mr Serek used to work at Lakland?

Again as I recall, the body was thinner than a P bass but thicker than a Gibson EB. And without any forearm chamfer or belly-cut. But if you're worried about neck dive, then try before you buy, as they say.

I don't remember any 'neck heavy problem' with the one I had.

No comment.

As is usual.

Over close to fifty years of gigging, I have played probably thirty different basses at gigs. Even the cheap ones worked fine.

I used the Hal Leonard books many years ago and learned loads. The newer editions are updated by Ed Friedland whose other books I also found useful.

I had a cherryburst 4040 for which I paid £115 with a hard case in 1974. That would have been the best part of a month's wages.

And , let's face it, if you can stick to the octave and a sixth available across the first five frets and always sound good, then you're a badass.

Fret one M, fret two O, fret three N, fret four E, fret five Y - stick to that and you're hired. Fret six and above, noodling away, and you're fired.

Considering they are the devil's daughters, that was a bit of a how's your father.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_(luthier)

I've had three Indonesian instruments and all were very fine , expecially the Lakland. I've also had Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Mexican, German, Italian, and British instruments, as well as the USA ones. All were fine.

I was recently watching some old videos of gigs. Quite often I had no memory at all of playing the songs, never mind which notes I actually played.

Won't that make intonation difficult?