NJE

Amazing things, I love mine so much and such a breathe of fresh air after years of using Hiscox cases. Happy Birthday and enjoy your gig bag, I quickly moved on to the Mono straps and also looking at their messenger bags for work.

I think you are in an incredibly unique position (I am very jealous) not only owning two of these but also having one from each end of the production period. I owned an older model around 97 I think, and now have a newer 2005 and although I cant do direct comparison, my new one feels just the same as my older one, it was like coming home after a long period of other basses. I am sure there is someone else on here with two Roscoe Beck V's, maybe they will be able to help, I think it might have been silverfoxnik? I think Happy Jack has also had a couple of these (I traded my first one with him). If the older one is really not doing it for you and you decide to sell, please let me know

I am in exactly the same boat, I love active basses and multiple pickups so I have a huge range of tones at my disposal. I also love nice small clean amp heads and powerful clear cabs (I have EBS rig) and have always loved having a punchy modern tone. So I am a couple of months off turning 30, I have a mortgage, a dog, a sensible (but enjoyable) job, for some un-godly reason my body has decided to grow lenghty nose hair and now to top it all off now I want a relic Precision (preferably a Pino) and today I did something i never thought I would do.......I was looking at valve amps and specifically Ampeg and Orange. I think this its all linked, im getting to about vintage age (im sure someone said 30 year old basses are classed as vintage) and I have started to crave vintage gear. No offense to anyone who uses Precisions and valve amps, I just never thought I would want either and now I am really trying to hold bak on the credit card because they do sound so good.

I think its wicked and even better with the signature and all the pictures to back it up etc! I havent seen many Duff signatures up for sale so I have no idea on value but I am sure it would be snapped up. Lovely bass, I hav wanted one for ages but no spare dosh.

I would agree with this 99% the one 'freak' cheap 5 string bass that has truly stunned me is the Squier Deluxe 5 String. I bought one it was so good, really good B string and a lovely bass, but it has a MASSIVE neck, I love it and find it comfortable but its not for everyone. My Stingray 5 was amazing, but not very flexible in terms of sound, but it did the one sound incredibly well. My Warwick Streamer was brilliant (too tight string spacing for me) and now My Roscoe Beck V is very good and I am really happy with it. Its not a super expensive bass but to get one will cost you around £1300 if you can find one. Spend some money and get a good 5 string and you will never look back. [quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1352647612' post='1865534'] +1 on this . I have never played a cheaper 5 string that was really good , to be perfectly frank. I haven't played everything out there by any means , but the least expensive half- decent 5 string I have encountered is the Music Man Stingray 5 , but even that has one or two idiosyncrasies that mean that I wouldn't buy one myself. In my experience , really good 5 strings are few and far between at any price and I have played a few very expensive boutique ones that were quite frankly rubbish in my opinion , but the best ones tend to be pricey because the builder has taken the time and trouble to address the design issues arising from the sonic and ergonomic issues arising from the extra string . If you are looking for a decent reasonably affordable 5 string I would check out some of the Yamaha basses- they probably offer the most low B string bang for your buck. [/quote]

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.