Skybone

Thought they used different colours for different types of strings. Could well be 7150's.

I think that they're Fender 7350m's, which are unfortunately no longer available. Fabulous strings. They were 45-105 Stainless Rounds. G is Sea Foam Green D is Nickel Silver A is Candy Apple Red E is Bronze (Gold) The colour coding matches up (referring to a partially used pack I have lying about). You have a few different choices, depending on your budget. Warwick Red Label 42200's are a great choice, reasonably priced too (about £9.00 a set). I was a long time fan of the Fender 7350m's, but as you can no longer get them, I went to Dunlop DBS45105 Stainless. You can get them on eBay for about £17.50.

That's what I was quoted when I made enquiries into having something built. They said that they were cutting down on the tech side of the business on other makes (setups & repairs), to concentrate on just JayDee in order to cut the waiting time down. I believe that John still gets involved in the builds, but there are also his sons working alongside him.

I was looking at JayDee's a while back, very tempting, and excellent VFM for a hand built bass.

Again, a few months ago, someone was selling one on here for £550. It took ages to sell. Must admit, I was tempted, but I was waiting on the wad of walnut wonderfulness in my avatar. 😉😀

The Helix LT, pre COVID, was selling for around £750, now it's around £850-900. Definitely won't be buying one anytime soon then...

Cutting the outline is pretty easy if you have a jigsaw, however, I always found doing the pickup hole to be fraught with wonky lines if you use a Dremel. A big hole away from the lines to get a jigsaw in, then take your time with a file & sandpaper.

Sad news for all fans of browsing music shops in London... Macari's are closing down their Charing Cross Road shop, and relocating to Sussex. http://www.macaris.co.uk/

You still need some sort of amp on stage, whether you go for a "traditional" amp, or whether you go for an FRFR rig. A lot of venues still have PA's that don't have enough monitors, or an inept sound engineer, so having some sort of way to amplify your own noises is essential (as well as being able to hear the noises made by everyone else on stage). Whether those sounds come from a purely analogue source, via a solid state amp, or via a digital interface, they still need to be heard via some sort of amplification. Although I use a digital interface as a pre-amp, I still lug around a bass amp.

I like the black pearl, but the white pearl block markers, the white pearl scratchplate would be the best match.

Before I got the HD, I was using an XT Live (same size as the X3, HD500x, Helix LT), and from the research I did before I got the HD, the X3 still used the XT amp/cab/effects models. It was the "next step" for the POD family, because it integrated the guitar, bass, acoustic and vocal effects to be an "all in one" solution. Maybe they used a different chipset, more memory etc., etc., but the actual modelling software was still from the XT. The HD was the development of the POD, where they not only upgraded the chipset, but also developed new amp/cab/effect models in Higher Definition. When I got mine, I still had the XT Live, so after installing the HD Bass pack, I did a "back to back" test of the two, in order to work out which one stayed, which one went. The HD won hands down, it was audibly far better than the XT. Although it has fewer bass amp/cab models, the sound quality was far better, plus it still has all of the connectivity that you'd ever need (including Variax). When I was looking, I looked into other modellers as well, like the Boss GT10B, but I was underwhelmed by the choices, unless I went for the full fat Helix, which was about 5 times my budget at the time. The HD is well worth a try if you know someone who has one, and who's willing to let you have a shot on it.

The HD's not Bluetooth, still relies on the good old USB cable into a computer, and then an app there for editing. However, the screen on the HD is bigger, and you can edit patches there, though some things are easier to do on the computer. Alternatively, get a HX Stomp, all the latest amp/cab & effects models, updated regularly. Still not Bluetooth though. You could use either a Windows tablet or iPad to edit the patches, but they'll still need the wired connection.

Better off with a HD500x, with the HD Bass pack. Fabulous bit of kit, and very underrated. Been running one for years. Expect to pay between £200 & £250 for a good one.

Which of your current basses do you play the most, the 4 string, or the 5 string? If the 4 strings get played the most, then get a 4 string. If the 5 strings get played the most, then get a 5 string.

If you aren't using it, and you've never really "gelled" with it, then time to sell it on.

If only more people on Facebook would adhere to that philosophy... 😑 😀

Warwick Star Bass Chowny CHB1 or CHB2

Isn't Happy Jack still trying to sell his Dean 8 string?

Not forgetting all the ambiguities that surrounded the CITES regulations, and obviously carrier's reluctance to transport items which could potentially be against the reg's, not to mention any fines that they'd incur and insurance claims they'd face. I believe that these are now lifted for musical instruments, but I suspect that there's still a fair deal of ambiguity from the couriers.

If you just want the Effects and not the Amp/Cab modelling, the the HX FX is the one you want. If you want the Amp/Cab modelling as well, then the HX Stomp/Helix/Helix LT would fit the bill. Pretty sure that Line6 are updating the HX FX alongside the other Helix models.

Not as decorative as some of the others on here, but it's mine.

That's aged nicely.

I torte that's what you said... Unless you're talking about Tort's.

The Live DVD isn't.

But surely, that IS the point! 😁