NJE

I played 4 string for about 4 years before I got tempted by 5 string. I bought a cheap 'starter' 5 string and hated it, didnt get it, it sounded awful and I sold it and went back to 4 string. About 5 years ago I finally decided to give 5 strings another go and bought a very nice Warwick. It made all the difference and I stuck with it and quickly sold my 4 strings and never looked back. I find 5's much more comfortable to play as I have big hands and I actually get cramp and pains in my hand when I play 4's for a long period. I bought a Squier CV Precision about a year ago as a bit of a novalty for teh Soul band I was in, its a brilliant bass but its effectively a toy, and 5 strings are now my 'proper' basses. No need to ever go back to 4 full time or play them regulalry but it doesnt stop my GAS for a 1983 Stingray.

[sup]I cant believe this is happening, I never thought EB would do a vintage reissue let alone a Sabre. Will be really interesting to see options, price and just a better picture. I have serious Classic Singray GAS at the moment, might have to wait and see the new Sabre. [/sup][sup]The thing is, if they are Classic prices surely you can still pick up originals for about the same price or less??[/sup]

Well I wasnt a massive fan of Muse but I really like Madness and Panic Station from the new album, perhaps because it doesnt sound like 'typical' Muse? I dont know but they are cool tunes and I have to say the two songs that Chris Wolstenholm wrote and sang on the album are great too, I think hes got a superb voice and wouldnt mind hearing more from him.

I can honestly say I dont think you will regret your decision. I can highly recommend the Squier Classic Vibe range, I have the Precision and its a lovely instrument, even has a lovely bit of flame/birdseye on the neck but thats just luck. I have played the classic vibe jazz and that is a great bass too and I have played a few now and the consistency is great, all well made. If you look secondhand and have the cash the Mexican classic basses are well worth a look and superb basses for the money. Saw one go for about £360 on ebay the other day.

NICE! I used to hate the idea of artificially relic'd instruments but I really have come around to the idea and this looks great. A nice vintage tint to the neck and I Iove the 70's Fender logo, just a cool bass. At the end of the day, it is just another Fender Precision but its a nice colour and a good spec with the SD quarter punder and the badass. I presume its mexican made like the Road Worn stuff? if so I think they will be fantastic and a nicer neck profile for those that cant get on with the huge 50's precisions they currently make. I would still like to see them do something a bit more radical though.....

Really interesting topic this but a subject matter that will go around and around for ever more I feel. My dad was a teenager when pop and rock really kicked off and remembers seeing some of the first Fender instruments brought into this country. He remebers them very well (owned a couple) and compared to what was available on the market they were in another league in terms of quality and playability. He said they were like something from the future. They were well engineered instruments and incredibly well made and when I asked him he said they were no worse than a lot of Gibsons that had higher price tags. I am sure some slipped through the net and there were bad instruments but I have played a 59 strat and it was a great instrument and better made than my old 2011 USA Jazz so Leo and his team must have been doing soemthing right. I have a huge love/hate relationship with Fender, I have owned a few and played so many. Its already been said that they are mass produced and as such quality issues slip under the radar in mass production. Equally you will get some exceptional instruments where everything comes together and just works so well for some reason. There must be a reason why so many incredible musicians buy and use these old vintage instruments. When clapton went out and bought those old strats they weren't vintage and there was probably no romance linked with them, he probably just thought they were better quality instruments and thats why he used them. I saw a video of John Mayers bass player who bought a 60's Precision when he was 15, it was probably nothing special to have a 60's P back then but in all his years playing with bands and doing sessions its the best sound ing bass he has ever used. Maybe the people who own play and love their vintage fenders have searched low and high to find 'the one' guitar or bass for them or maybe they got lucky and just found one of those massed produced instruments where everything just came together. Maybe the quality of the batch of wood was better that day, maybe the chap on the router was having a good day back in 63, the pickups were wound well etc....but there must be something to it. I think we can probably just all agree that Fender make some bloody awful instruments, always have and always will, but sometimes produce absolute diamonds. I have had 2 jazzes that were crap, awful basses but I have a Roscoe Beck now which I believe is as good if not better than my old hand made Overwater, its just sublime. In terms of the original point of this thread, I dont believe that vintage Fenders will make great investment opportunities, but I can think of worse things to put your money in and I dont think the prices will go down. I have seen the prices of 80's Fenders go crazy recently, and I remeber in 2001 I missed teh opportunity to buy 2 70's Fenders in amazing condition for less than £800 so the 30+ year old basses are going up in value no doubt. Search for a great old Fender that is just out of this world, enjoy it, gig it, love it and look after it and it will probably reward you in more ways than an increase in value over the years you have it.

So I have managed to blag a free trip to Paris early next year and my immediate thought was "ooh....foreign bass shops". So after some searching I came accross Bass Maniac who only seem to have a facebook page but some incredible looking Fender CS basses. Anyway have a look at a couple of samples of their stock, I cant wait now, lets hope the Euro is weak and I have some more money by the time I go. [attachment=118729:215861_219462814735367_6552496_n.jpg] [attachment=118730:72762_171699836178332_7791898_n.jpg] [attachment=118731:384307_333446593336988_1971420246_n.jpg] [attachment=118732:387265_333447216670259_1298048818_n.jpg]

+1 for Sennheiser Mic's, I have been using a e855 for years and it is so much better than my old SM58. All of my band are die-hard SM58 fans, they think they are the best money can buy and although they are good, they are nowhere near the best mic's on the market. Well worth looking at the e845 or the e865 if you can stretch, they are very solid and will last.

Cheers for the comments and thoughts, I had thought about black and pearl but I think I quite like the colour clash for some reason. I may get a few and start with the tort. Just need to make sure there is some money free first.

I'm thinking about a tort guard for my Roscoe beck but no matter how long I look at a picture of one with a tort guard I cant make up my mind if it works or not. What do you think, add a new pickguard or keep the white one? [attachment=116674:image-532856926.png] [attachment=116675:post-10844-0-99697600-1343396035.jpg]

Well I can give the EBS Reidmar a huge endorsement and the Classicline 110 cab. I have used the Reidmar for a while now and it is nothing short of astounding (in my opinion) It is the best sound I have ever had after years or Trace Elliot, Ashdown, MarkBass, and even my Epifani. The Classicline is also superb, powerful big sound and just the sweetest little cab I have ever seen. I dont use the Classicline for a full band situation and havent tried it to be honest, but I think I would want two of the 1x12 cabs for gigging. I know its always good to try before you buy but its not always possible. I would say that you wouldn't be dissapointed with the EBS stuff if you just bought it unseen, worth looking at Thomann as well as when I bought my EBS cab they were a good few quid cheaper than Mark at Bass Direct and they were fantastic, really quick delivery. Saying that Mark is a top chap and no doubt he would price match or at least try to.

I just bought an M80 and its superb, it also functions just like the Vertigo does, I unzip a little bit of the bag and pull the bass out of the top. As has already been said, its not really solving a problem that actually exists, however, I really like the rubber sole idea, looks a lot better than the simple grips on the bottom of the M80. Big rubber sole on the M80 job done!!

Can anyone explain to me what the real advatages of these strings are supposed to be? I looked on the ernieball site and it doesnt seem to explain. Are they supposed to last longer than normal strings because of the new material or is it just a tone thing? Unfortunately I eat through normal strings incredibly quickly and they go dull really fast. I have been using Elixirs which are superb for me, if not a little lacking in mids straight out of the packet when I had my Stingray 5. I have been looking for alternatives and if these have longer life than 'normal' ernieballs then I might hop on the bandwagon.

I just bought a Mono M80 gig bag and I was very sceptical about how good it was going to be for the money. Its amazing, my favourite bit of kit/gear and I have only had it a day. I took it to practice last night and have the same issue as you, I didnt want to have too much poking out the top of my head. the straps are super comfy and pretty long. The head does poke out a bit but on the whole its very good and I dont have the strap fully extended yet. It sits nicely on the side of the body and feels quite compact considdering how padded and secure it is. Definately one to look at IMO.

[quote name='pobrien_ie' timestamp='1345213095' post='1775078'] Thanks! I'm with you on the Fiesta Red look I'm undecided on which pickguard I like more, so will hold on to both and change occasionally This is where I bought the tort one.... [url="http://www.ebay.ie/itm/New-Genuine-FENDER-62-reissue-Tortoise-P-Bass-Pickguard-/290669563704?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item43ad418f38"]http://www.ebay.ie/i...=item43ad418f38[/url] I'm not sure if that's a good price or not, but a bought a few bits from this place so I got some good shipping discounts! I seem to remember finding it hard to get one with the extra holes as well. [/quote] Cheers for that, did a ebay search and didnt find anything. Brilliant might be worth a go.

This looks amazing!!! as far as I am concerned Fiesta Red is THE colour for P basses (closely followed by a nice aged white). I notice you havent got the tort guard loaded on the bass, let me know if youwould be interestd in selling it. I have a Squier Fiesta Red Precision and it superb but the tort guard isnt that great and I would like the guide holes to put the Chrome cover on as well.

The NXT is amazing, absolutely love it and I am trying to start up a kind of acoustic duo thing with my best friend on acoustic so I have an excuse to play it. Its so much fun to play. [quote name='EddieG' timestamp='1344933092' post='1771145'] That Roscoe Beck looks nice... [/quote] yeah its not too shabby in all seriousness, I cant believe how stupid I was to sell the first one, it is the best 5 string I have ever had or played for that matter.

I think there are a couple too many Talkbass club style MusicMan/Sadowsky/Wal etc. porn threads on here, so I thought I would use this opportunity to post a pretty poor picture of my new toys in a good old fashioned 'look at my gear post'. Everything in the pic except the Squier Jazz V is less than a year old, the newest additions being the Roscoe Beck about a week ago, the EBS Classic 110 two weeks ago and the NS NXT about a month ago, EBS Reidmar about 4 months ago, and the Squier CV Precision about 10 months ago. The picture is missing my 'proper' cab which is my EBS Neo 410 This is the happiest I have probably ever been with my setup, the Roscoe Beck is amazing, my biggest regret was selling one years ago to BC member, I swore I would buy one again. [attachment=115469:DSC_0514.JPG]

Sounds amazing, I think it will be a great tool for smaller studios and musicians/composers, who want a great bass sound without having to bring in a bass player. A very close friend of mine is a composer/jingle writer/arranger and I imagine this would be of great interest to him. He is a good bass player but not capable of getting some of the slap sounds and never really hires musicians because of the margins he makes on work, so this would be ideal. It would probably leave him with a cleaner tighter sounding product and enable him to work faster because getting a decent bass sound recorded is not easy and can take a long time.