Paolo85

Never had two identical basses except for maple/rosewood. I have however obsessively swapped pickups for a period among 3 P basses all with different body material. Never gone the full "randomised trial" approach, with same pickup, same string, all broken in exactly the same. I have not done it because what I heard was enough to convince me that, if there are differences, they are so small that I don't care. Especially as differences from changing pickups and strings are huuuuge. That experience was enough to spare me the neck wood rabbit hole. So far I don't care. But who knows what boredom and obsessive personality can lead to in the future.. EDIT: I find that body wood does make however a difference acoustically, and in how the vibration moves from the bass to the belly. Which makes a difference even to someone like me when playing with headphones/amp at low volumes at home

Btw, I don't find Hi Beams to be properly "low tension", although I am not aware of any other bright stainless strings with lower tension/stiffness (but I don't know many). If you were happy to try darker nickel strings you have plenty of options (Dr Sunbeams, D'Addario NYXL, or even TI rounds, which are quite extreme)

I have a set of DR Hi Beams 45-100 on a bass and I had them on two basses at once for a bit. I was under the impression that the newer set was significantly stiffer than the older one. Might have been a wrong impression, they were on very different basses (but the one with older strings had higher action and bigger neck..). Maybe you can try waiting? Also, maybe the action was even lower when you had it last time? Any chance you can lower further?

I would look for one that is comfortable to play, which would mean just trying out those that are available. On paper I would prefer a Squier P or J, but especially in that price range there is no knowing in advance if the fretwork is bumpy (in the case of Squier Affinity, it was, both times I bough one) and no time to file frets. If I had to buy blind then probably something with good reputation in terms of QC. Maybe a Yamaha TRBX174 or an Ibanez

Right, I have just sold my fourth bass in about a year with the Gallery. A few considerations: -They take 15% commission but they sell at good prices and/or very quickly (depending how "good" the prices are). This I imagine is also a factor in the fact that they do a setup and give a three month guarantee for repairs, which makes it a win-win in many situations -I can only go there on Saturdays when they are understaffed and there's a lot of people coming in. It can take a while for the paperwork and combined with the fact that going there is two hours return and some, depending on the circumstances and the bass sold, it may not save much hassle all considered -Clearly they are very busy...On the website they say that after selling, they'll wait a week in case the buyer has issues and then they pay you. That's not exactly my experience. It's more me checking their website, emailing them: "I see my bass was marked as sold two weeks ago, is this correct?" ..and then wait. I imagine they would be quicker if I was selling Alembics but still.. as I write I am still waiting for the money from a Classic Vibe sold in March. Four emails to remind them have not helped so far (the last one Monday night did not get a reply, I am sure there are good reasons). I am 100% confident I will get the money - maybe this Friday, I think they pay Fridays - so all good. Overall in my experience the Gallery is a great resource to get a bass out of the house and forget about it, as long as one has patience

Yes, Amazon everything!

It was Amazon itself

I tried it in shops a few times, including one well setup at the Yamaha store in London. Seems like a very well made bass for the money. Nice neck. Not too heavy for being an Alder made bass with that shaoe. But there's something about the sound that does not feel right to me. I attribute it to the neck pickup position which I am told is a bit closer to the neck compared to a P

Thanks both. I have returned them as defective so all good this time. I wonder though if signs of use had been less obvious and I wasn't at all familiar with those strings... would I have just gone "uhm, I don't like DR Sunbeams!"

Question: is the neck fairly chunky for being a J? I remember in my JB75 it was rather chunky. I am trying to figure out if neck dive would go away with better tuners or wether it may be "structural"

Right, so I have received today a set of DR Sunbeams 45-100 from Amazon. Seller Amazon. There are a few things that baffled me: - They looked a very different colour than the oldish DR Sunbeams 45-105 I had already on the bass. They did not have that shiny, almost white/orange taint that I normally notice on nickel strings - there are some quite dark shades/marks on them. Very very hard to photograph but looks a bit like what you would get on very old strings - they have black silks. Don't Sunbeams come without silks? - the silks were wrapped around the string. It did not look as messy as when I take strings off and wrap them together, but still, when I unravelled the strings the silks were curly, and bent at the edge! I am the least visual person i the world so I do not remember but. Is this normal? Wouldn't the silks on new strings look straight? -I moved from DR sunbeams 45-105 to these 45-100 and I swear I had to tighten the truss rod a bit. Still, they do not feel high tension so maybe my truss rod went mad, or I am going mad -All that being said, compared to my old DR 45-105 they sund brighter and more snappy, which could make sense in terms of a new set strings. I feel they lack "body", don't dig them so far. But that could be the gauge or just that they need to break in ...still, I can't help but feeling that maybe Amazon sold me an old set of random strings in a DR Sunbeam box... What do you think?

I think the Enhanced in general has a reputation for being heavy, so regardless of what specific instruments turn out to be, that's a risk to consider with that one

No that's not how I do it actually. I do not have Apple phones or computers. I use old school iTunes on Windows. I download each song for something in the region of 99p. Because I do not have an iPhone, I can only uploade to Moises from my laptop (although once imported into Moises I can access it from the Moises app). It is a bit annoying. Part because I already pay for spotify, part because I have to go though the laptop. At the same time, I learn only so many songs, so not a huge problem for me

My experience is that Moises did allow links from YT. Then YT blocked it, some copyright issue. So now any time I want to use it I download the songs from iTunes. So I am interesred in alternatives as well. Although I imagine it's not that straightforward (Moised otself does not always get it right)

I would ask for a small discount. Bax gave ne a voucher in a similar situation which was ok for me. I am not bothered by cosmetic issues either but they affect resale value as for some reason people care about this stuff although roadworn basses seem to be quite popular 🤔

Right now the only bass-related thing I would buy is a set of Hipshot Licensed ultralight for my Squier J. For the rest, I have enough and need to free up space. However, pretending space was not an issue and I could splash it all in gear, I would buy various bits: Nux MLD preamp-DI Hipshot Licensed Ultralight for my Squier J Retrovibe preamp+Aguilar AGM4+soldering iron for my Cort GB54 Harley Benton JB62 OR a used Squier CV 60s J +GHS Precision Flats+another set of hipshots A cheap P bass body for a project to rescue a troubled P neck Another three-bass rack A good strap

Under Californian law, anything that contains nickel (in the case of a bass, most likely frets, tuners, strings) is deemed to pose cancer and reproductive risks. To expand on what I said above, 2 out of 2 of the modern-production Squier Affinity PJs I jad had truss rod issues. One I returned it, the other I could not return. It proved to be a good mod platform in the sense that now it is a lightweight bitsa with Fender neck. But at the end of the day I spent 180 pounds for a poplar body so not necessarilly a bargain.. Still, I am sure I was unlucky. Orders from shops with good return policies should be ok

Looks like a great bass. Hipshot licensed ultralight are almost always a good idea, at least for fender-shaped objects!