 Trombonist exploring an old yen...
Much less hassle in middle age (you know you've been there a while when you can actually bear to write it down) than a red sportscar, I think...
I've played trombone (non-pro but pretty consistently) for 38 years or so. I thought about but never seriously pursued bass in high school (a long time ago now) and recently succumbed to a TNT130 (the combo-amp most former owners evidently love to hate, upon further reading) on CL for $85 - now I need to find a bass. (no, I'm not asking for advice about that in this forum - I've been reading other people's advice to yet other people in the basses forum long before I joined up, and see little new to ask after doing that for a while - it's well-trodden territory.)
I'm not really looking to replicate anyone's sound - there's plenty of bass I enjoy, but I don't really track down who's doing it or what they are doing it with. Tapewounds seem like where I want to head string-wise from what I have read. I'm leaning to a P/J pickup from other things I've read.
As a trombonist, I'm thinking of starting fretless since I suspect I'd end up there, but that will depend on what I can find used that I can expect to unload without much loss if this turns out to be more of a winter-doldrums-delusion than something I stick with. I'll worry about a nicer one when and if I deserve to. I could also defret one if I played it enough with frets to justify going there, but it's likely easier to sell it on and upgrade if it still has frets.
I do woodworking and electronics in various forms, and while I'd not describe myself a luthier or try to do so for others at my present level of guitar-specific-expertise, I'd be thrilled if I could find a trashed-body project with hardware and a neck, since refinishing or making a body for an electric should be within my skills (at least to suit my personal standards), but I guess the neck is the more commonly broken part...In any case, there are plenty of options that way that exceed the present budget, but we'll see what CL & *b*y throw up, as well as the classifieds here, now that I'm actually a signed-up member so I can respond to ads there. | 
