dlloyd

Ooh! A Wish bass!

Here's some thoughts.... (kicks in around the two minute mark)

I had the OLP version of this, strung E to E and it was surprisingly good... and about a tenth of the price.

We were pretty much in the same boat... acoustic guitars and double bass, only moderately amplified, only percussion was the singer's shaky egg. The downside is when people sit at a table four foot from the middle of the "stage" with their backs to you. Might as well be a jukebox.

Well, they're having to adapt to the changing demographic and number of pub-goers. People go to the pub for different reasons. To meet up with friends, for conversation, to get out of the house, out of boredom, to be entertained, to get drunk, etc... Those that want to meet up with friends and chat in a neutral situation still tend to do that, although social media has undoubtedly had an effect on numbers going on the off-chance they will bump into friends. Those that went purely for entertainment/out of boredom are more likely to sit at home watching on demand TV, playing video games, going on the internet, drinking a bottle of wine in the comfort of their own home. Putting on bands mid-week used to be a sure-fire way of getting people into the pub on quiet days. Friday and Saturday nights were always busy but weekdays tended to be quiet. Bands would attract punters in the 18-30 group who didn't want to be bored at home but didn't necessarily feel any need to interact with others. Gigs in pubs, at least those that I went to, were never quiet, and the sound was never great but people still went to them. There was never any chance of conversation. Now, you're far less likely to be able to fill a pub with people who are just there to watch musicians play (regardless of sound quality) and have a pint by themselves. I'd say there's more demand for bands who are there as background music rather than the main event, and for that reason sound quality is more important than it used to be.

More and more pub gigs are going to disappear because fewer people are socialising in pubs. In the last 20 years, 17% of pubs have closed. Beer sales in pubs have dropped from 24 million barrels per year to 12 million barrels. It's not the fault of crappy sound for bands and it's not the fault of the smoking ban. 20 years ago the kids who were going to see bands in the middle of the week had a choice of four or five TV channels and had no internet. I probably wouldn't bother going to see bands nowadays either.

Ooooh!

They were much the same, but I have more naps now. And less shagging.

Could be worth a punt for someone... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-string-bass-guitar/153173217726?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20170920101022%26meid%3D106121ed3fbe4d4182d0bdcbb643beb3%26pid%3D100010%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D223137935870%26itm%3D153173217726&_trksid=p2047675.c100010.m2109

My old statistics teacher would have loved you. I've played a fair number of Stingrays, and they've largely been fantastic. My favourite was the 2002 one I owned and stupidly sold. The only ones I haven't got on with was an early 80s pre-EB model that just felt dead and an early three bolt Cutlass I (Stingray with graphite neck) that I could have fired arrows with.

I think they look great. Only tried one once and I didn't get on with it, but I was really after a P at the time. I wouldn't rule one out in the future.

If you're going to the effort of self building, another good investment would be to buy this book and learn how to do the tinkering yourself... I have an earlier edition and it has pretty much all the information you need to do a decent setup. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Make-Your-Electric-Guitar-Great/dp/0879309989

My list is fairly modest: Pre internet: Jim Deacon Strat copy * Yamaha FG something or other 12 string Westone Spectrum Bass Hohner Jack Custom Bass Epiphone Firebird Ibanez Musician bass Epiphone Chet Atkins SST Gibson Ripper bass Post internet: Danelectro U2 * Yamaha BBN4 Epiphone Broadway jazz guitar Musicman Stingray Musicman Axis SuperSport LeVoi gypsy jazz guitar Stentor double bass * Fluke Concert Uke * Fender Jazz * Kala KA SA B solid acacia baritone uke * Cigano CJ15 gypsy jazz guitar * Ibanez AF95 jazz guitar * Still have Edit: forgot about a couple.... OLP 6 string bass and a G&L tribute

£8 for full access to 3,300 different titles... some are in other languages though. Most are in English.

Then why did you put a fake decal on it?

Absolutely. Their income will be mainly from advertising. I subscribe to Readly which costs me something like £8 a month. It currently gives me BGM, Guitarist, Guitar Techniques, TGM, Total Guitar, Vintage Guitar and Future Music, all of which I have bought in print form now and then, but never all at the same time, with all issues going back to 2014 or so... plus a whole bunch of interesting and weird magazines (The Magic of Piers!) I would never have bought in the past.

Good... that'll mean that Bass Player is available on Readly

It doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad instrument, but it certainly isn't of the quality that the person who applied the decals wanted people to believe it was. To play devil's advocate, it has some value. It's probably an OLP MM2... some of those are okay basses. Worth maybe £100 to £130 in good nick... which this isn't. The pickup, if it's an original EMG, is worth something. I'm wondering if there's also a half-decent aftermarket preamp in there. You could maybe squeeze £50 from that, but the rest of the bass isn't worth much as parts. Yes... putting a fake decal on any bass will devalue it.

I wouldn't have that in my house.

Mine came without one, but it took a standard boss psu

I have very strange and vivid dreams. Had one the other night where Elon Musk and Vanilla Ice were hassling me for cigarettes while my cat was being chased by a herd of buffalo.

I'd be concerned about what the choices say about you. They're all great tunes, but the first two are kind of obvious, the sort of tune that you'd get on an introductory jazz compilation, the sort of tune that people who don't really like jazz could name. Not trying to sound harsh there. I like the idea of Misty. Something like Lullaby of Birdland would be fun. A rhythm changes tune and a blues would be good.

It's not just those that think they're for real... there will be a sizable proportion of the band's following who know they're a comedy band and know that the joke is about sexism but think the message is that sexism is funny.