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I use these: http://www.designacable.com great service and for me the best part is they do different colours. I haven't had a black cable for over 10 years now and haven't lost any cables as no one ever has the excuse of "I thought it was mine". Highly recommend the neutrik silent jack on the guitar end too! That reminds me, I need to order a new one soon as a spare.

Oh god, thats going to be extremely dangerous for my bank balance! Hopefully I can put some money aside and pop down when these come in.

Wow thats fast work Yes I have had a good look and listen online to all of the smaller Basswitch pedals, all three look and sound interesting and I would love to try them and see if they will actually do what I want them to. I have about 50% of my set where I need more of an 'active' sound with different EQ. Its not easy going from Motown to super bright disco and slap sounds on my bass so it would be handy to have something to just click on to get that done without fiddling with the amp. I hadn't actually seen the Julian, it wasn't on the Basswitch site, it appears to be a 100% Lehle product whereas the Basswitch stuff seems to be a bit more of a partnership? or are Basswitch just using Lehle technology? Looks good though and will probably do what the boost pedals do I guess. Part of the reason I am so interested in them is the serious amount of pro's who are using the big version, it looks like a killer piece of kit but way more than I need at the moment. I look forward to hearing some reviews and thoughts when it arrives.

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1411034899' post='2555734'] They've come down in price a fair bit now. Were £200 when first released but down to about £170 now. We thought about ordering a couple to try out in the shop along with the new boost pedals that also came out this year. I actually forgot all about them with all the NAMM excitement! May have to get on the case today! [/quote] I noticed that Bass Gear have the big Basswitch, I would love to know what these smaller pedals are like especially as the big one is so highly regarded. Please do get on the case and see if you can test them out. I think they offer a good alternative to the current preamp pedals, I don't need a DI and all the other bits found on the Tonehammer, MicroBass, and sansamp. I like the idea of just a high quality preamp with good EQ to boost my passive basses a bit. I will have to make my way down to the shop if you get some in, nowhere else has them.

Has anyone got any experience of these pedals? I just stumbled across the Sonic Spark and think it could really help give my bass a bit more liveliness. I love my Roscoe Beck V playability wise but I do miss the modern style tones of my old active basses. This might be a good relatively cheap solution. http://youtu.be/TypW8Up7JjQ

I did a search and didn't see anything on here, but it seems Adam Clayton has a new signature Fender Jazz coming out. Guitar Guitar are already taking pre-orders and it seems to be US Standard price with some added extras. I like the lollipop tuners, always preferred these over standard tuners. I was secretly hoping it was P-bass width nut as he usually likes his precisions but it looks to be standard Jazz. Not a fan of Mr Clayton or his band particularly but this looks like a nice bass. Some nice pictures of it here: http://willcuttguitars.com/fender-basses/jazz-bass/fender-artist-series-adam-clayton-jazz-bass-sherwood-green-metallic-944 Also there seems to be a Dee Dee Ramone signature on its way as well. Mexican made by all accounts and looks just like the Matt Freeman Squier. Still its nice to have a maple necked white precision in the Mexican range, my favourite combo. [attachment=171303:US14070944-2up.jpg] [attachment=171304:10448907_375399752616233_45042228_n-2.jpg]

Oh that is a lovely looking thing! I have serious P-Bass GAS at the moment and this does not help. I am even considering going back to 4 strings and selling my main bass for a good vintage or CS fender P. I am sure you will have years of enjoyment.

Whoever is making the decisions in head office at HMV seems to be doing a good job. My local one has moved to a nicer, smaller store and most importantly the prices on anything I have looked for have been superb, not only competitive but in some cases better than Amazon. I like buying CD's, I love having a physical format and its nice to know there is still somewhere on the high-street to buy CD's that aren't just the top 40.

I played one of these in Cardiff recently and It was a really great bass. The pickups were installed badly but the finish was pretty good. I never expect a perfect finish on these kind of instruments, and to be honest I don't usually expect perfect finish with Fender and they are over 1k new. I was actually encouraged to buy it by my better half but for some stupid reason I decided against it, there was even a secondhand P retro unit for sale on here which would have been a great upgrade.

Look at Pino, hes 57 and I wish I was 1/10 as cool as him, he plays with John Mayer and Nine Inch Nails! [attachment=169534:19.jpg]

First and foremost, if you are a good decent human being and a decent musician it doesnt matter how old you are. I am 31 and play in two bands where everyone apart from the singer is over 60. They are good guys, good sense of humour and very immature, so it really isnt noticeable. If you dress sensibly and dont try and wear what 20 year olds wear and look smart then noone is going to think "grow up old man" or "your too old for that". My dad was a prime example, hes a keyboard player and is now 68. He never dressed like an old person but never tried to wear the latest trend. He just kept to a good pair of jeans smart pair of boots and a good t-shirt or shirt when he played and he never looked out of place with people 20 years younger than him. Basically dont act or dress like a 20 year old and likewise dont dress and act like your average 60 year old. Be friendly, approachable, have a good sense of humour and play well and it wont matter how old you are, you will still fit in and look ok on stage IMHO.

Very nice, I really like these in sunburst. I am on my second now and the current one isnt going anywhere soon, great versatility and very very playable with the 'proper' 19mm string spacing. I would suggest hanging onto the case even if you dont use it, as these rarely come up with the original cases. I dont use mine but its nice to know I have it and all of the original case candy if I decide to sell it. If you decide to change the pickguard and knobs I would be happy to make you an offer for them, I would love to try a tort on my teal green one and I have always loved the 'F' knobs on these, mine is a later model with chrome knobs as standard. If it is any help I went back and forth on 4 and 5 strings and gave up on 5's a couple of times. I combatted it in the end when I bought my first RBV. When it came it was the nicest bass I had played and I just sold everything else so I had no option to play a 5 string. It works and it took me about a week to start feeling comfortable. The big mistake I think a lot of people make, is thinking that now you have that extra string, you need to use it all the time. You dont need to stick a low B in every song and not every song needs you to go that low, and as soon as I accepted that it really grew on me. Use it to play across the neck instead of going down to the nut is always my advice.

When I was younger I absolutely adored Our Lady Peace, great live band and wrote some killer rock tunes, a bit dated now but still pretty good. http://youtu.be/8t0NILJQN-8

[i][b]Adventure. Excitement. Input into the bands direction. A Bass Player craves not these things.[/b][/i]

Everything I have seen so far has been total sh*te! Lily Allen's band were in time and in tune which is more than I can say for the rest of the bands I have seen. Admittedly I haven't seen every minute of coverage, but I am hoping at least Metallica will do something decent despite not being a huge fan.

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1403697247' post='2485376'] Seriously, I do own a relic instrument (a Fender '59 RI Strat), and I bought it becuse it sounds phenomenal and plays beautifully. Part of the comfort factor is the artificial wear to the neck. I wouldn't have gone out of my way for a relic instrument, but this one wa sput in my hands and it was brilliant. I do also understand the appeal of these instruments as eye-candy, but until my Strat moment, I never thought them worth the extra dosh. [/quote] I have had the pleasure of playing a couple of relic instruments and normal custom shop instruments, both were exceptional but the neck and feel of the relic's were out of this world good, simply the nicest playing necks I have come across (actually joint first with a very well played in GB Spitfire). If limelight can recreate the feel of a worn in vintage Fender or a CS Relic or even the roadwork series, then they are not a winner and I am certainly interested. I hated the idea of relics but have come around to it. I am very precious of instruments getting knocked about, if my bass is pristine I like to keep it that way and I always find the first few dents or chips painful. I also hate that a few marks or scuffs would de-value the instrument if I decided sell it. I would love a roadworn or CS Relic so that I wouldn't have to worry about it getting knocked or damaged. Some people would say, well just get an old bass, but I am inherently suspicious and would worry that a vintage instrument would have problems, so the answer for me is to get a new well built instrument that you know is reliable that has been knocked about for me so I don't have to worry. Regarding the Fender logo on limelight, well I can see why people want it, but I would be more impressed if he stopped writing it on the back of the headstock with a sharpie and instead created his own subtle decal for the front much like Nash have done. In fact I would probably be more interested in them if he did that.

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1403372118' post='2482227'] Sorry about the confusion - I hoped the 'Fender Style' bit would differentiate these from actual Fenders. I do actually have to place the next order for Fender CS soon and am alread planning to use the ideas here to help formulate what we ask for Unfortunately the CS instruments come in between £2K and £3K depending on spec I also saw the TalkBass stuff about D Lakin. One long thread that mostly said "these are Fender clones" with people either saying this was good or bad. Another one that ran to over 18 pages saying that the first bass shipped was badly packed! Whilst I totally agreed that it was indeed not acceptable packing, I did see that Dan Lakin immediately apologised and offered to replace it. Couldn't believe this warranted 18 pages of people saying the same thing over and over again - makes you realise how nice it is here on BC I also saw another review on TB where the owner was really happy. This one ran for a while one page, partly because it's newer but maybe also because there was nothing to moan about and they do like a good moan over on TB! [/quote] I didn't read carefully I should have noticed the fender style bit. I can't wait to see whatever custom shop Fenders you have coming in, fender CS stuff is causing huge amounts of GAS at the moment. I finally got to the end of that thread on talkbass, to be fair to Mr Lakin is was a huge fuss over nothing, god they do love a good old moan over there! I am sure they will be great basses, the headstock is an aquired taste but then again I always loved the Alleva headstock which most people seem to hate, so I have odd taste.

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1403257457' post='2481183'] Oh I see, are these not Fender basses...I misread it! [/quote] I got the wrong end of the stick too, I thought it was Fender Custom Shop basses and nearly exploded when I saw they were under £1000 [quote name='Prime_BASS' timestamp='1403269930' post='2481366'] I will hazard a guess at D Lakin? [/quote] I hope not, I was really interested in these but the D Lakin headstock is the ugliest thing I have ever seen. Also there seems to be a lot of moaning about them over TalkBass.

If you could get a copy of a Pino signature with a J pickup that would cure my GAS forever.

My two would be: J - 1.75" nut, dot (or dot and bound if possible) Candy Apple Red (mint guard?) P (with jazz pickup) - 1.75" nut, blocks and binding, Sonic Blue If you can get any type of Jazz with a 1.75" nut and slightly relic'd finish, let me know I will probably buy it!

A lot of friends of mine have done music courses so I can probably speak from their point of view. Firstly none of them have gone straight from school into music courses/degrees, partly because they were sensible and knew that there was little to no chance of making music as a career (two of them now do though) and mainly because their parents told them it was a stupid idea and they would need a proper jobs one day. This was the main reason I never went to college or University to do music. When they did eventually decide to do a music course they sought out the best/most well known places to go. I don't know your music school and I am sure the courses are of a good standard but friends of mine went to Berklee in Boston, Academy of Contemporary Music and The Royal Welsh College of music (although they don't do electric bass as far as I know). I think one other factor is that not many musicians want to actually go and really study their instrument, learn theory etc and really commit to lengthy courses. It is much more exciting to sling a guitar or bass on, join a band and think you will become a pro musician writing and recording your own material. I guess my point is, for the small amount of bass players that want to do music courses, my guess is it will be something they do after completing a 'normal/sensible' course, and when they do want to do a course and take it seriously, they will probably seek out the better known places to do those courses.

I was playing with a Dire Straits tribute act for a while and I took it on thinking that it would be the easiest gig of my life, I was very wrong! I quickly gained a HUGE amount of respect for what John Illsley did with the band. The lines are not super complicated but to get the feel and groove right on the songs is tricky sometimes, and it is so easy to overplay the songs and add more notes where there aren't any. He is a great player and really overlooked.