LeftyJ

Can confirm, I've owned an RS924 and three MC924's and they were all incredibly solid - and heavy! I have since sold most of them and only kept the lightest of the MC's (a 1983 with PJ pickups, the others were 1981's with a thicker and wider neck, different body contours and two soapbars). Especially the Roadster was a true workhorse that I enjoyed a lot. The Musicians can be prohibitively expensive these days, but Roadsters and Roadstars are still affordable and great basses.

I don't think Ibanez ever made a Roadster (RS) with anything other than maple boards, but there are MANY models op Roadstar (RB) out there with both maple and rosewood boards. And don't forget about the Blazer basses, they're the closest thing to a traditional P Ibanez made in the 1980s. Are you looking for a specific model?

That pickguard looks so out of place on that body shape... I really can't look past it. Ruins it for me.

Mr Bassman "No Sweat" by Siggi Jäger of Human Base. Mr Bassman was a bass store in Hamburg, Germany (I think) that had a few German luthiers craft basses for them under their shop's name. Some were made by Human Base and some by Clover (based on the Slapper, with a graphite neck). I wasn't ready to appreciate this bass when I had it some 15-20 years ago. It was beautifully made and had some interesting tones, but it was too hifi for me at the time and I found the 2-band EQ limiting. I would love to have it back but I have no idea where it is or who I sold it to.

G&L under BBE management has been messy at times, and when BBE as a brand went down in popularity G&L became their milk cow. There has been a lot of cost cutting in various departments, there was a time when Tributes had USA hardware and pickups but aside from the MFD pickups it's now the USA models that have Tribute hardware and pickups. But I thought the current USA models were pretty solid again. This is very disappointing to read! I hope you can get it sorted or get the bass replaced or refunded.

ETS will happily make you one of these with 5 saddles:

Dear lord. Warrior could have at least tried to find a proper 15-string bridge. I'll bet this thing is a b*tch to intonate properly. With the saddle at that angle, the octave strings aren't even the same length! Terrible design!

Incidentally, at last Saturday's gig it occurred to me that I couldn't see the actual frets on my Status S2 Classic. I could see the side dots just fine, but on a darkened stage all of the neck is just BLACK and the fret tangs are lacquered over. Never bothered me before, but somehow it did now!

That EHB5MSBSP though, with the blue hardware and pickups They introduced an RG guitar in that same livery too, but it's not on this page because the USA are not getting that model. I'm mostly interested in the lefty version of the SRMS805! They already had a lefty EHB1005MS but I'm not thrilled by the design. The fanning is a bit more subtle on the SRMS (the G is 33" on the EHB and 34" on the SR, and the B is 35" on the EHB and 35.5" on the SR). Thomann already has it listed for €1249, which doesn't sound too bad. The EHB1005MSL is priced similarly at €1319.

Well what are you waiting for?

In terms of value for money I think Squier are doing a hell of a job in recent years. When I started playing guitar in 1999 there were just the Affinity Series and Standard Series which were very decent but nothing special, and the plywood Bullet Strat which was... meh? But with the introduction of the Vintage Modified series and especially the Classic Vibe they really made a huge leap. I'm not too familiar with their current bass offerings, but I would happily play one of the Classic Vibe Jazzmasters or Telecasters, especially that Andertons limited edition in Danish Pete Purple! Lush My number 1 guitar is a 1980s MIJ Squier E-series Strat and I wouldn't trade it for anything. But I guess I fell for it and now I'm feeding the troll. Sorry!

For me as a lefty music stores are usually a huge disappointment, so I buy most of my basses unseen through the internet (mostly used). I've taken my fair share of gambles over the years, even buying basses well outside my comfort zone just out of curiosity. Because they're used the financial risk was low, because I would always be able to resell at the same price I paid. I've been lucky enough that none of them really disappointed! I, too, bought a Rickenbacker (at the end of 2008, when the British pound dropped below the Euro) brand new, and although I didn't get on with the ergonomics of the bass, I loved the tone and those iconic looks! My biggest gambles I probably took when I bought my first Status Graphite S2 Classic based purely on looks alone, and when I traded my 1981 Ibanez MC924 for an Atelier Z Baby Z-4J with a guy in the US by mail. With those two I really didn't know what to expect: I had never played a graphite neck before, I had never played a headless, I didn't know what to expect tonewise. Ditto with the Baby Z: I didn't have much experience with shortscales, I didn't know what kind of tones to expect, and I didn't know if I would get on with the narrower string spacing - plus I traded a rare vintage lefty bass from my collection for it, with less than 250 made. But it turned out great, I love them!

LOL, that modern Schaller 2000 bridge looks really out of place on it. But if it looks stupid but it works, I guess it ain't stupid

Yep. It's not uncommon for lefty Fenders from that era to have just the brand name in the headstock, but just the model name? Very unlikely.

I'm not into the relic thing, especially on basses that haven't been on the market long enough to gather more than some minor playwear or bumps, but I have to admit: the Hammerhead has a really cool modern classic thing going on, and they made it work! Best of luck with the final bit of waiting!

Shame it took a bloody righty flipping his bass to finally get a lefty Explorer bass gigbag on the market

Ozzy Osbourne at the Fields of Rock festival in 2007. His band were fine, but Ozzy was already well past his due date and his mind seemed to be gone. He sang poorly, and his interaction with the audience was limited to the same "I can't f***ing hear you" in a drunk old man voice AFTER. EVERY. BLOODY. SONG. He was a total caricature of himself.

Neither of us carry spares to gigs. We play downtuned doom metal (with one 7-string in A, one Jazzmaster in D and my headless 5-string in A). The 7-string has a floating trem so a broken string would be a disaster as it would affect the tuning of the other 6 strings and the guitarist simply wouldn't be able to finish the song - plus a string change takes some time and tools and isn't easy on a darkened stage. But the guitarist only has one 7-string... We used to have a second 7-string guitarist who did bring a spare to gigs that could be used by both of them in case of emergency, but he was sacked last year The Jazzmaster trem is also set up to float so it will also detune in case of a broken string, but it has the trem lock feature (thanks Leo) that enables the user to move it to a fixed position and disable the tremolo altogether. The guitarist has a Jaguar too, but it's too twangy and the 24" scale is not very suitable for our low tuning with standard gauge strings. So no backup there either. My bass is a headless with double ball strings, so string change is a breeze. I always carry spare strings and batteries to gigs and always keep them close at hand, but have never needed them during a gig. That said, I am aware I'm taking a bit of a risk here.

Actually the G&L is an odd one, it's more of a passive bass with an active boost. The pickups and the tone controls (cut only) are fully passive, but there's a little boost circuit with two settings (one with an added treble boost) in there.

I have a whole load of instruments I couldn't part with, even if I sometimes rarely use them. It's definitely a lefty-issue for me, since many lefty guitars and basses are just so rare to come by, let alone to retrace once seller's remorse hits. I've very much regretted selling two guitars over the years, a G&L ASAT Special and an Ernie Ball Music Man Silhouette Special, both of which aren't exactly common in a lefty version. The G&L is still owned by the buyer I sold it to over 10 years ago and he is very unlikely to let it go. The MM I lost track of, all I know is it went to Finland. It took me over 10 years to replace them both! So my list of guitars and basses I'll never sell is quite substantial - Ernie Ball Music Man Silhouette Special; - G&L ASAT Special; - Squier MIJ E-series Strat, my main axe for many years, which I even favoured over my previous MM Silhouette Special but in the end it couldn't keep the seller's remorse at bay; - Ibanez MC924 (my year-of-birth bass, 1983); - Warwick Streamer LX5 - because it was my go-to bass in my previous band, and many good memories cling to it; - Ellio Martina Forza 5, the bass I've had the longest and which was my go-to for everything before the Warwick. It's just special. And sadly the luthier who built it passed away last month; - Status Graphite S2 Classic 5-string, my current main axe; - Fender MIJ '75 Jazz Bass reissue. I rarely play it, but when I do it just always puts a smile on my face. It's had a lot of mods since I bought it to make it even more "mine". Strong connection with this one ; - Atelier Z Baby Z-4J, just silly amounts of fun to play! None of my basses are easier to move around on, it's a shortscale but decidedly modern in every way and not your thumpy vintage sounding little bass. The others are interchangeable, but the list above is pretty sacred to me.

If you're as left-handed as your username suggests I bid you luck, as I can't think of any lefty shortscale 5-strings. If you play right-handed however, there are several options out there. As mentioned above, the Ibanez TMB35 is a great and affordable option, as is their even shorter GSRM25 (but maybe not ideal with its 28.6" scale, I would sooner pick that one for using it with a high C rather than a low B). Ibanez also build a nice medium scale (32") 5-string in their Mezzo series SRMD205. Ibanez also did some semi-hollow 5-strings with a 30.3" scale (AGB205 / AGBV205A) but they're rare to come by and if you struggle with a heavy bass they're probably not ideal. More expensive options could include the Atelier Z ZPO-5 (not in production anymore, but pops up used once in a while) or its successor the Baby Z-5J. They're high quality Japanese basses with familiar Fendery looks but with modern build and electronics. And further up still would be something like a Serek

I remember seeing that one a few times before on Marktplaats! Very cool, and looks very versatile. I also remember you being very fond of Andre's work. Great score!

Wow, that looks impressive! The Schecters I've tried (C7 Hellraiser, C7 Blackjack) weren't for me because of their quite hefty neck profile, but they were quality guitars and looked great. I'm a big fan of that carved top Superstrat look, I had an ESP Horizon bolt-on with a very similar shape in solid black with natural ash faux bindings, and I loved how elegant it looked and how sleek it was, with a lovely, fairly Fenderish neck profile but a pretty flat fingerboard radius. Very comfortable shape.

When you speak of a semi-acoustic, do you mean a (semi-)hollow electric bass or an acoustic bass with an undersaddle pickup system?

Best: - Sandberg California VS Lionel (shortscale). - LaBella Deep Talking Flats for said Sandberg. I've always preferred the zing of new roundwounds, but on the Sandberg they just made sense and I enjoy them a lot! Worst: - Sadowsky MetroExpress Hybrid 5 fretless. It's a fun bass, but has some annoying QC issues. I still haven't decided if it's a keeper after two weeks of owning it. I haven't had much time to play it yet as I need to learn some new songs for my band which require the use of a downtuned fretted 5. - Line6 HX Stomp XL. Great piece of kit, but a bit of an impulse buy that I really didn't need. I've probably used it only three times since acquiring it in May. - Nordstrand Nordymute (x2). Another impulse buy, even when I already knew they're wildly overpriced for a piece of scrap wood with some foam glued to the bottom.