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Great shots of Freddie and that good ole meat and potatoes tone... works with everything, every time. Brilliant.

That is a very insightful view Pete! Thank you for posting it… food for thought indeed. M

If the OP still wanted the bass and works completed, p*ssing off the “luthier” by making it public wouldn’t be a great start to working things out amicably.

I understand the whole country of manufacture and costing of instruments, but the scope of manufacturing within this business is unfathomable. I've said it for years that if Fender were a car maker, they'd have gone out of business decades ago. There's no real innovation; they're surviving off the back of under ten models, most of which have been in production for 60 years.

Does anyone get a bit sad when their own Wal turns up second hand. I commissioned this one from Pete the Fish: https://www.andybaxterbass.com/collections/bass-guitars/products/1993-wal-mk2-custom-shedua-facings I'm sort of happy because I have since acquired a slightly older one, in better nick (and at a lower cost)...but the Shedua on my old one is just gorgeous!

After much humming and haa’ing, I have taken the plunge and ordered a set of ACS Engage custom moulded IEM’s. Probably going to receive them after my last scheduled gig in 2025 so you might have to wait a while for a review.

I came across this by chance.......Wilton Felder on the trombone and Ready Freddy on the bass! If it's the same precision, he gets through scratch plates!

So I did a bit of rewiring, soldering a bunch of new earth wires to the pots. Also soldered the bridge pickup again. Got sound out of the bass. I've ordered a new cap for the tone control as that also doesn't seem to be 100%. If I do want to replace the pots is the standard : CTS 250K ?

@BigRedX Paddy didn't seem to have too much trouble nailing a great synth sound! Ok he's a fab bass player, but it's still clearly possible with this pedal!

Are they going to sort the frets and other issues too? Didn't look like the only problem was the finish but obvs its you call and bass/money.

Hi Mick. You have mentioned in the past that you want to start getting bigger and better gigs for your band. The thing is that to do this, things like having decent stage patter and getting a bit of a look together are non-negotiable! You have to be able to be able to do it. A few years ago, I did a few months of deps for a R&B type band with a decent following, while their bass player underwent treatment for cancer (thankfully, he's still playing and seems to be doing well). Now this band were not great, but they were all nice guys, had a good inter-band friendship and loved what they did. All of this came across to the audience and many loved them, far beyond their actual ability as a band. They also had a singer who was a good frontman, hardly Dave Lee Roth in looks or his stage act, but was funny and engaging with a crowd. They also had a lead guitar player who was sort of OK, but nothing special. However, they constantly namechecked him and talked him up as if he was Eric Clapton! A lot of punters bought into this and thought he was a great player, where other musos would just roll their eyes. I know for a fact that a number of promoters used to book them for festivals, despite not really wanting to, just because of the demand from the audience. These things just need sorting out if you want to play better gigs. It's not really that hard to do, but the whole band needs to buy into it. If they really don't want to, then perhaps you need to start thinking about playing with someone else.

Happy Jack made the very good point about the people who just mumble into the mic between songs - those cases may as well just be "dead air" between songs, for all the good they do! Whoever gets the job needs to lean into the role, become a bit of a circus ringmaster, if you like. Loud, clear voice, as if you're doing theatre (dahling!), and if you keep it short and punchy, you keep the audience engaged. Have some good lines planned ahead of time if it helps. If you can nail it, I can't imagine the band would sustain their objections. If you need inspiration, Pete Townshend did it very well around The Who's creative peak. Look up one of their (better) live recordings (Isle of Wight 1970 is a good starting place) and skip to the breaks between the songs. It's often daft, even a bit camp, but it helps to maintain the energy.

Not received 4 million different but the same answers and got the bass on its way back to the manufacturer on day one perhaps 😂

Agree. Although I`m a Fender fan-boi through & through to me I`d say at most three ranges, US, Mex for those unable to afford a US model or wanting a cheaper backup, and signature models.

Out of all curiosity what would you have done if there was no Basschat?

In fairness, the thread title is: "Disappointing new bass day...I would appreciate some opinions.". So, opinions you got! 🙂

look mum no strings....

I'd just get a refund. Work like that isn't what I'd want in a custom bass, and a luthier that sends you a bass like that isn't one I'd trust/want to refinish it. Best advice is get your money back and go elsewhere. I'll be honest and say I dont understand the reluctance to name the builder unless you're happy for others to be provided with shoddy work jist like you have? All you're doing is protecting someone that's not bothered to provide you with a decent quality of work and sounds like they've tried to shine you on too... Reputations are earned either way, you're allowing others to get burned by protecting this builders reputation despite their work standards and service and allowing others to perhaps assume its someone who it isn't and inadvertently tarnish someone else's reputation. Dem's my two cents, not that they were asked for!