Marvin

Black is cool, the coolest That aside, they've certainly sold quickly.

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1267293324' post='759287'] A very short list. Westone Spectrum II. - truly awful, the mate I sold it to is still trying to get me to by it back after over 10 years. Hohner B2A. - defretted. Really good bass, didn't realise it at the time and sold it for way too little Ibanez SR300 - my weapon now. Brilliant. [/quote] Update. Warwick Rockbass Corvette - sold it as I didn't like the neck at all. Squier P Bass (1991 Korean) - sold on. Nice bass, good tone. Yamaha TRBX504 - very well made, very easy to play, It's currently my back up bass. Sire Marcus Miller V7 Jazz - stunning bass, I love it.

They'd make a freezer look on with envy.

[quote name='stu_g' timestamp='1428072188' post='2737788'] i caved an ordered a v7 do you think if you really wanted to string thru body on the 4 string, a set of more traditional sized saddles would make this possible? [/quote] I'd say yes. To my mind it's a case of the saddles being very deep on the 4 string version that makes through body stringing difficult (not impossible though).

I did a fair bit of research before I ordered the Sire. A few days before ordering it I took a trip to several guitar shops specifically to check out the Squiers and Fenders available. The Squiers were good, however, the VM I saw in one shop, the finish although not bad wasn't very impressive...and I was comparing that to my Ibanez SR300 and Yamaha TRBX. The Squier was ok. There was a very nice Mexican Fender Jazz in another shop, however, I couldn't see why it was over £200 more than the Squier. I was very happy when I received the Sire that I hadn't bought any of the basses I'd seen in the stores a few days previous. It's a marked step up. As for the length, I think this is only a problem for some gigbags, it fits perfectly in my hard case. It was intended to be shipped with its own gigbag but it was Thomann's decision not to supply it with one ( I seem to remember it making the increased price unattractive for a new kid on the block). I personally don't think the holes for the through stringing are in the wrong place. Looking at the 5 and 4 string bridges it seems to me that the saddles are much deeper on the 4, even then through body stringing is tight but not impossible. The headstock didn't do much for me initially, but then if you look at some premium Fender clones their headstocks are a bit meh! as well. Overall, this bass is a winner for me. At this price it really must make other manufacturers sit up. Either Sire make a loss on each one or others are making massive margins

They're ok for a few songs, after that my attention drifts. They have some good, catchy songs however, they don't bowl me over. A drummer the other night was surprised I wasn't a huge fan of them the other night. "...but it's just a bass player and a drummer!" I had noticed

I listened to the track, Stricken by Disturbed. I agree with iCastle, the bass is buried in the mix. It's near impossible to hear the bass as it's drowned out by the guitar. I'd follow the the guitar and use an octave fuzz effect but then I'm lazy

Charlie Watts lives about 20mins down the road from where I live, my mate washes his windows. Very nice gent.

A band needs to connect with an audience, and that is as important as anything else.

Hot coffee tones...

Yes they do. I got a €10 voucher recently for reviewing a bass I bought.

The neck may be glossed but I don't find it at all sticky, I actually like it, it's veeeerrrry smoooooooooooth.

EHX switchblade plus? I've got one for sale

Connecting with the audience and 'performing' is a very important element, which in this case you seem to have done and done well. I'd echo what BRX and Bilbo have said also.

Sounds like a recipe for a dull live music scene if you're going to limit who gets to play to a clique.

OutToPlayJazz and his review on TalkBass is to blame for all of this silliness.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1427876753' post='2735225'] At the risk of coming across as unsympathetic, think if you live somewhere "off the beaten track" then you really can't expect to be well served by live music and especially so if your tastes run mainly to bands from the US. I know because I spent a year living somewhere like that in the late 70s. During that time there were a grand total of 8 gigs locally by known touring bands of which only 1 was a band that I really wanted to see. Most tours didn't come any further west than Cardiff which meant either getting the train (expensive and you ended up spending the night on the station platform as there were no trains back after the gig finished) or hitching (no one I knew had a car back then). Fed up with all of this I moved to Nottingham, was going out to gigs at least once a week and all by bands that I actually wanted to see (and that was before Rock City had been built!) And who actually GOES to see covers bands? From my own experience my covers band audience were either friends of the band members or people who would have been in the pub anyway. When I've been in the audience at a covers band gig it's either because I know someone in the band or because I'm there to check out the venue on a gig night. I can't help but think that the majority of the audience would be better served by a well-stocked juke box hooked up to a decent sound system. [/quote] I wouldn't argue with you at all. The location and demographics of where I am tend to work against me. Small example, I went to Wolverhampton last year to watch a band I desperately wanted to see...by the time I got back in the early hours of the morning I had 2 hours of sleep before having to be at work. If I was in my 20's it wouldn't have been an issue and although I'm not old, it still takes several days to get over doing something like that.

The height of the tone and volume controls isn't really an issue. It's not something that shouts out when you're playing the bass. (yeah! I didn't use the word knob...damn, I just did...stupid brain)

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1427832432' post='2734885'] Oh God, really? Well I sincerely hope you like it! [/quote] Ha ha now you know how I felt

From a punter's perspective, I'd say live music is struggling to appeal to me. I don't go and watch covers bands or tributes generally and the original bands on offer just aren't doing it for me. Most of the artists and bands I'm listening to are usually from the US and don't gig over here...even if they did they don't gig within an 8 hour round trip to see them.

[quote name='lojo' timestamp='1427825213' post='2734770'] I guess you could take each song requested and apply one of the following if you cant do it correctly straight away .... 1. If it can be simplified without ruining the song (I often here bands omit bass parts in songs like Rio, Town called malice etc. It gives me the hump, but not sure many other people care or notice). Then do it 2. If you think you need time, say OK I can nail this, but I need time before trying it out with the band 3. If you think its something you cant do in the near future then reject it, saying you cant do it justice right now, its good to try hard, but you must have standards for gigs [/quote] I'd go with this. Lots of people simplify parts and most if not all of the rest of your band won't know how the bass line is supposed to be played anyway. There's stuff I've said no to because I can't play it. It's too fast usually. Sometimes other band members get a bee in their undercrackers because it's a personal favourite and they really want to do it but... TOUGH!!!

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1427827175' post='2734813'] Er... Bay. [/quote] Is that when one cautiously bids for an item on a well known...um...auction site?

I'm ambivalent about it all...as would be expected.

It's going to be a mammoth task to wade through all the puns to make a column, regardless of anything else