Delberthot

The packaging looks real from what I can see. As long as when you do open them the ball ends are the correct colours then you will, or should know, for definite then. In fact it shows the correct colours on the bag that holds the strings

Just be careful to use the correct allen key as they can round very easily

I've always preferred the '51 single coil ones. I've had two Fenders and 2 Warmoths. To me they have a more rough edge to them than the single coil and can be a bit gnarly. I also prefer the headstock on these ones but prefer the '54 onwards body with the contours rather than the slab

That looks a hell of a lot like my old Warmoth '54 Precision but I didn't have a Fender decal on mine. right down to the tweed case with red fur. I'll need to check out my pictures when I get home

Where could I get my hands on some of that "devil's advocaat"? It sounds nice and used to be favourite Christmas tipple 😀

This is the fellow right here

You're all smoking crack; there's nothing that could hold a candle to the Tony Goggle signature model, based on Tony's original Gaylord that he used extensively both live, in the studio and also live. Automatic gearbox, including two reverse modes plus with the "bassface" mod there's nothing that could touch this Anything else is just firewood AFAIC

I don't follow trends in any area of my life. I buy what is the best fit for me whether it be a roll of tape, a new car, caviar, 4 star daydream, think I'll buy me a football team. If the perfect bass for me was called the Shitenbacker Bananaboat Gaylord III then I would still play it as long as it played well and looked good ( I may cover the name up though ) I'm not about to play something because someone says it's cool and trendy

I honestly don't know what the string spacing, neck dimensions or weight is of my bass but it's right for me and that's all that matters. The thing that is most likely to affect my playing is where my right hand sits on the bass. This could be the pickup cover on a Rick or old Fender, the $$ pickups on a Warwick ( I always found that my thumb tried to get in between the two pickups), or if the poles on a pickup are straight cut like older Musicman basses and so on. Possibly the most challenging basses I have owned have been my Yamaha TRB6 II fretless with a neck that also doubled as an ironing board. The other being the 12 string basses I owned as I always play with my fingers so the act of fretting 3 strings at once and playing 3 strings at once was pretty tricky to get used to

Can't believe that I've never heard of LTD before. I'm off to have a good listen now

most guitarists I know don't even use a stand

If I remember correctly the 1020 series has the same spline jointed 3 piece body, nickel silver nut and pickups of the 2020 series. In fact I think my reasoning for getting the BB1025 that I had was that it had almost everything that the BB2025 had but was a fraction of the price.

I too used Chromes for a number of years until I got my Sterling and they sounded pants compared to every other bass they've been on. I had a good look round but went with D'addario EXL165 nickel plated rounds with the consensus being they were one of, if not the smoothest, roundwound string you can buy. Handy really as I really like the tension and feel of D'addario strings

I do addition calculations from left to right instead of starting with the numbers on the right hand side like normal people do eg 13465 + 12354 I would start by adding the 1s on the left hand followed by 3+2 side rather than adding the 5 + 4 then working along to 6 + 5

I'm with Vinny on this one. After years of turning the strap the wrong way I just unclip the strap lock at the bridge end of the body and let it unfankle itself then clip it back on. Saves getting annoyed at an inanimate object when it doesn't do what you want it to 😀

Myself, our guitarist and singer are all left handed. According to the web 10% of people are left handed but as a band we're 60% left handed. Incidentally both myself and guitarist play right handed. I did try left handed like fleabag said above, it felt like I was using someone else's hands it was just so alien

So to summarise - the golden era was somewhere between 1976 and today 🤔 I think that as with most basses it's the luck of the draw. Someone could pick up a bass and it it becomes the best bass they've ever played yet could be a complete POS to someone else. I love Stingrays but the only Musicman basses I've ever got on with have been SR5s from the ceramic pickup era and my current Sterling

We do Voulez Vous and the more I listen to it, the more I'm convinced that it's a synth playing the bass. Unless the synth is doubling the bass line?

This pretty much sums it up - look at your main bass (or basses) was it once all shiny and new but now either you or your band mates have added all sorts of chips, dings, dongs and scratches to it? If the answer is yes then you'd be safer going for the steel grill, if it still looks relatively new then go for whatever you find the most attractive I am careful with my gear and my band mates are the same so I went for the , IMHO, cooler looking cloth grill

The ban thing just doesn't work. It's like any addiction, you have to actually want to stop doing something or have some sort of epiphany before you can actually truthfully say to yourself that that's it, I'm finished. It is an addiction whether it be cigarettes, alcohol, driving fast cars too fast, coffee or basses and these 5 all applied to me at one point or another. You get a buzz from it, the elevated heart rate at the end of an Ebay auction wondering if you will be the highest bidder or manically trying to type in a higher price at the last moment.

After 140 odd basses, 70+ cabs and 30+ amps I am completely GAS free and enjoying it. No more chasing the dragon as it were to get the next new thing that will be better than what I already have. The reason being that I am perfectly happy with what I already have. If I buy another bass then I need to go on the strings roundabout to get the best feeling brand, then the best gauge, then nickel/flatwound/stainless steel/etc. Then there's adjusting the strap to the correct length, adjusting the action. In fact I liken it to getting a new car: you spend ages faffing around with the seat, steering wheel angle and distance, wing mirror adjustment etc etc but when you get it just how you like it then you don't touch it again and travel in comfort with everything adjusted perfectly well to your liking. As soon as you step into another car then you have to start again. So for me the perfect combination is: Musicman Sterling with D'addario EXL165 strings but using a 110 gauge E string so I can drop the E to B, Hipshot Ultralites with the Drop tuner on the E, Schaller straplocks and Line6 wireless straight into my QSC K12.2