asingardenof

Guineas? Great Scott!

That's good to hear, because I'd quite like one of the new ME basses but I agree the headstock decal looks awful. I mean I'd love to get the one new Japanese ME that's still listed on one of the main online retailer sites (not saying which one because I'd still like it to be there when I have the money for it) but in the event that it's been bought by then I'll hang on until the Chinese MEs have the proper Sadowsky logo on them.

Sister Sledge - We Are Family

I'll be honest, as I approach 50 getting a "proper" Fender becomes more appealing, and the Ultra range is definitely on the list.

It grows on you. Honestly I don't even think anything about the headstock on mine 2 years after getting it. I've seen fuglier ones as well.

Mine was love at first sight, and I still love it 24 years later. It has one quirk in that the fretboard profile is elliptical, almost as if it's been squashed, with the outer radius at 9½" and the central radius at 16".

I bought my Korean Squier by Fender P-bass in 1998 for £230 (well, it was £180 after a part-exchange of my first bass, a Hohner Rockwood Pro), which according to that website is £398 in today's money. The non-Affinity and non-anniversary Squier P-basses listed on Fender's website are all around £400, so it would seem that they have been keeping up with inflation.

Can we add Este Haim into the mix?

Elton John - Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting

She's filling in on bass for Mercyful Fate on their North American tour too!

Which is a fair point, but will they be bringing out vintage basses from the 90s onwards at any point (if it's over 25 years it's vintage, and all that) or do we think the "vintage" era as far as Fender is concerned stopped in 1979.

Damn, I want the V5R now

It's an extra strap button that were on Fender basses in the 60s I think. Here's Elvis using the strap button in this location:

Also check out Alissia Benviniste:

Definitely add Tal Wilkenfeld to this list, and have a listen to her most recent album which is tremendous. I'd suggest Kinga Głyk as well, well worth checking out on YouTube.

I suspect it's only a matter of time before we see an Acoustasonic range of basses.

While I'm sure they're great basses I can't help but wonder how often Fender can keep harking back to the past to dictate their product lines. How many variations on these particular themes can there before they admit they've effectively run out of ideas?

This was one of the reasons I went for these as I'm forever losing black picks on my black desk at home!

I have the Behringer Bass BDI21, which is essentially a cheap SansAmp clone, and it does very nicely for the £20-odd I bought it for.

Ooh, potentially