EMG456

In In which case @Franticsmurf is correct in saying it's a Spirit bass although I think the official model number was XZ2, the Q designation being kept for the graphite necked Q4/ Q5 (version1) or XQ2/ XQ25 (Version 2) The spirits all had the version 2 body, in my opinion much nicer than the V1. Should be a nice bass.

Wooden neck or graphite neck?

Ikea Ivar. I've got two full walls of it in my room including space for cases, a couple of desktops, shelves, storage drawers. Been using it for decades now and it has all moved with me twice. Very sturdy, very flexible.

I've had a good laugh at this thread! On thinking back over an up and down music career spanning about 50 years, there are many Spinal Tap moments. Oddly enough the first three that came into my mind were all drummer related so these are the ones I will tell. First, back to the summer of 75 or 76. Band formed whilst still at school are playing an open air gig. The stage is about six feet off the ground and is set up in a field. There are a couple of bands and a DJ on. We are the first band. Our very cool drummer with the blue octagonal shades and the permed hair is set up at the back of the stage and it turns out his main drum stool foot is perilously "close to the edge". He counts us in with a vocal count and stick clicks - One, Two, Three, Arghh... And just like that, he's not there - nowhere to be seen. Found him slightly dazed and confused lying flat on his back in the grass with his stool on top of him. Number two - different band - different drummer. Social club gig. Second set. Playing away maybe two songs in, drummer is undoing the wing nut at the top of one of his cymbals in the middle of the song. He gets it off and throws it to the ground. Crash, indeed. We finish the song. "Bill, what are you doing? We've got half an hour still." "I don't like these" Counts the next song in and does the same thing with another cymbal. Crash again, not to mention the erratic parts and timing necessitated by this apparently urgent disassembly. "I hate cymbals" Starts muttering. Counts in the next song. Any further enquiries were met with "I can't hear you, I've got a fish in my ear" Last to go were the hi hats. did about the last four or five songs with just the drums and then packed out and left without exchanging a word with any of us. The next night's gig he didn't turn up at all and that was the last we saw of him. His wife contacted us and told us he was having issues and we shouldn't expect him back. I heard he worked his way through it all so I don't mind telling the tale. Number three same band but different drummer. Band has morphed into a seven piece cabaret/ dance band playing all the hits of the day and the day before. We're in a town hall type gig - big stage, slightly sloping forward, four foot drop onto the crowded dance floor. Flashy drummer has a big kit, roto toms, loads of cymbals and just to his right a massive gong hanging on a big tubular chrome stand. Now he's not daft - he doesn't use it all the time- no, no ,no - just for effect, you understand... Anyway towards the end of the night and at the end of some overblown song or another- can't remember which - he gives this thing an almighty wallop. It swings backwards with such gusto that something happens to sever it's connection with it's stand and it crashes literally onto the ground. But somehow it's not done yet. It has managed to land on it's edge and due to the slope is now making it's way forward. It comes off the drum riser in the gap between the kit and my big Acoustic 371 rig, knocks my spare bass off it's stand and keeps going, gaining speed all the time. It was one of those moments when time seems to have slowed down but you seem to be unable to do anything but watch it all unfold. When it reaches the front of the stage, it does a kind of ski jump off the foot of a mic stand and launches itself onto the floor and into the crowd who are now scattering in all directions from it's path which ends with the first table it hits, spilling all the drinks and generally ruining everyone's night. But the sound it made was amazing.

Please locate video.

Aye! Welcome to Basschat! My thoughts: #1 I would die of boredom if I had to play exactly what that guy played throughout the entire song. He's playing it like a midi sequencer backing track! To be fair, his transcription is the sort of part you might be given on a dep gig so it's a good starting point to go from. #2 It's her band and a vehicle for whatever she wants it to be so she calls the shots. I liked it and on the subject of funky spaces, note that she tones it down for the singing ( that might well be for "technical reasons") and she also has whole measures where the bass completely drops out. #3 Err... No. I liked the Bernie Marsden version - a few bits of four on the floor dropped in amongst the funk - very Climax Blues Band. Delbert McClinton- nice. The original Temptations version - now we are talking! He's *playing* it from the heart, not just reproducing a part and you can hear that in it. Also ironically, unless I'm very much mistaken, the first bass you hear in the track comes in at the end of the fourth bar just before the drums and is entirely a slap/pop part. The main foundation part also uses a pop on the Octave E hammer-on albeit the tone is much more Chuck Rainey than Marcus Miller. Baack to sleep now.

Normally if you work as an employee or sub contractor for any organisation where you will be creating a product that will have a value into the future - could be a bit of music, some graphics or video, a software application or even a small module in one, a paragraph of text even - there will be a clause in the contract that signs over the ownership of the intellectual property - that thing you have created- to the company. That's why you get no ongoing benefit from your work- you signed that away to them in return for some sort of reimbursement at the time. I don't have a spotify account either due to distaste of their questionable business activities. I do use streaming services for video but those are not things I feel strongly about ownership. Music is a different thing for me as indeed is stuff like subscription software. I don't agree with the model so I won't partake. I don't object to a music download that I own the right to use in perpetuity but I would never leave that and stream it from a cloud server- company goes down and your money has gone up in smoke. Have recently purchased a turntable again for the first time in about 40 years and am working my way through digitising our collection of three big boxes of albums many of which have never made it into our digital library- it's proving interesting.

Mingus is a great album. It's also the one that finally frightened off most of Joni's original west coast singer songwriter fans.

I don't think we're going to see that I'm afraid. The original Steinberger blend composite necks and neck/ bodies in the case of the L series were custom layups with the carbon fibres hand laid into the mould in particular orientations and patterns to give strength and rigidity with the desired characteristics. That is a very labour intensive method of production and would be extremely costly today. This limited edition looks like it uses the Carbon mat weave "exoskeleton" process similar to Status Graphite or Parker guitars did. Still nice but not exactly the same as the original Steinbergers. Ned has talked before about bringing out an updated range of instruments based on the aesthetic/ ergonomics of the original L series and indeed is pictured with a prototype on the cover of Jim Reilly's biography He talks about both wood and all composite versions so who knows but I suspect that a wood with carbon reinforcements version like the Radius instruments is the most likely to see the light of day.

Fortunately for me I have all the Steinbergers I need (want?) and I don't really get on with fan frets but it's good to see Ned playing around with all composite construction again. I wonder if the bridge pieces are individual versions of the cutting/ clamping bridge in the Radius basses?

Long term hero and influence for me. Here have some Brothers Johnson with magic Q dust sprinkled on!

Is it not maybe a Tune bass? Japanese manufacturer first seen in the 80s with the Tune BassManiac. I may be wrong cause the cut in the bottom of the body looks the wrong way round. Looks like a nicely made instrument.

Just watched some vids so that all seems rather fine. You seem calm and confident on the videos - maybe the "not so good" bands don't think you'd be interested? You're obviously not a flash, "pushing the envelope" type of player but in a lot of busy working bands, that fits the bill. Don't be afraid to go for any gig- the worst they can say would be no which lets face it is the answer to the majority of applicants to any sought after position. And remember the best player definitely doesn't always get the job- personality and work ethic often are more important traits. Unless finance dictates that you have to sell your gear, don't. It's enough justification that you like and enjoy it. You know what will happen- you'll get rid of it all and then almost immediately somebody will offer you a gig lol! Also maybe consider bands that are not *entirely* within your ideal genre- variety can be good fun also. Best of luck to you.