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Been very content with my Squier 40th anniversary P and Warwick Corvette for quite a long time but had a sudden hankering for a Stingray that I just couldn't shake. Never tried one before and just loved that sound. This Ray34 came up at a good price on Reverb, just a shade over £500 after some negotiation, and had to pull the trigger. The colour is unbelievable. I love that blue sparkle, and the roasted maple neck is really smooth. Not totally au fait with active basses but put it through my pedalboard with a Solidgold Beta V preamp and a Jam Pedals Rat and I'll need to do some serious tweaking, sounds wildly different to the setting I use for my P bass. Now the conundrum of trying to justify having 3 basses around the house...

Absolutely second those sentiments... DONT get Jon to build you a bass... get your money back. He is not a skilled luthier. The bass he made for me was unplayable. The intonation was WAY off and because he built it with a fix, wholly unadjustable Bridge, (not what I ordered) there was no way to remedy the intonation and it had to go back to him and when he sent it back (uninsured to save himself a few quid) it was damage in transit due to the poor way he'd packaged it. DO NOT GET JON TO BUILD YOU A BASS. Get you money back and put a deposit down on a trusted, skilled luthier such as ACG, Shuker, Overwater, Zoot etc.

Eddie, you're obviously a far more patient man than I (and I do mean that as a compliment). All I can say is that I hope it works out for you. Given what you've just said, my instinct would be to close the thread for now and await further developments -- as I said, it can always be reopened if you wish.

For the past couple of years, I'd been looking for a lightweight 5 string bass. My current 5 string is a little on the heavy side for 3 hour gigs where I often dance about like a prat. I've been mostly just sticking to my 4 string 'P', weighing in at 4kg and tuning down when required. Overwhelmed by internet research, I popped in to Guitar Guitar on Saturday to actually try some and get an idea what I wanted to buy. I was expecting to find something like a Spector to my liking, and to make the purchase down the line a little. I've got a steady enough income that I don't need to scrimp on something substandard, but dropping four figures on a bass isn't my top priority at the moment. I browsed the bass department - which was a little less well stocked than my last visit - and nothing jumped out at me. I was on my way to the exit, when a sales guy offered assistance. I explained what I was after, and he convinced me to try a £370 Ibanez SR305. I seen it when browsing, but didn't even consider it - a 5 string costing so little couldn't be up to the job. I immediately noticed it was very light, and I was blown away with the quality of it. Active preamp, nice sounding dual humbuckers with a coil tap - very versatile. A really slim neck with no high or sharp frets. Well set up too - intonation bang on, just enough neck relief and action only a tiny bit higher than I'd have liked. (In contrast to the Fender Vintera I bought a couple of years ago, which wasn't set up at all and had to spend hours on it) Anyway, I left the shop with the bass. I had it at a rehearsal last night, and I was very happy with it. I'll need to tweak the pickup height a little to balance the volume across the strings, and maybe tweak the action - but other than that it's good to go. I've not weighed it yet, but it's a similar weight to my Strat - around 3.6kg. I've learned a valuable lesson! George

Just a quick update. I put the side tape on today. Normally a Danelectro would be painted and the the white side tape applied, and it usually ends up shrinking and pulling away in valleys and edges. As I did on my Longhorn, I've used a wide centre tape with two thinner outer lines to look like a binding, the whole body including tape will now be clear coated which will seal everything in a help prevent any lifting of the edges. I really like the wood effect centre tape and I've gone for a very creamy 'binding' tape. It gives it a kind of hollow body vibe, which it is anyway. Just clear coat and a quick rebuild now.

Also available as audio only from the usual places. An interesting listen.

Hey folks. Just to keep everyone in the loop, Jon Letts emailed this morning and agreed to accept and adhere to a proposal for a bass. Not a demand for a Stradivarius or anything over what I'm owed, but not a cheap option to get him off the hook either. Now, I know that a lot of folk will be hanging their heads and saying "he's f**kin' mad" , and the Stockholm Syndrome comment did make me laugh!🤣 All I can say out in the open just now is even though it may not look like it, there's a definite method to this madness, having weighed all the factors both past and present and knowing exactly how this could have ended up. And when this finally has ended, I will break things down in detail on these boards. I've no doubt most of you will agree with this action once it is all done and dusted. Just stick with me and trust me here, guys. No matter what happens, it's going to be worth it.😉 And thanks to you all for the support, between here and TB, it really has lifted my state of mind very much. It's easy to get caught in a loop of expecting the bad and being surprised at the good.

If it was me I wouldn’t want a bass from him now, I’d just want my money back and move on to an alternative builder , if there’s something wrong with it you’re back to square one, I’d buy another bass

Two stories from the stables of AgedHorse come to mind that bury class distinction. When he was a more junior engineer he got fired for fooling all the audiophiles that they were blind auditioning a bunch of amps when it was the same amp the whole time. Later he was involved in developing the GenzBenz class D lined up to replace the class A/B. Iirc it was the same old preamp with both amp sections. Nobody could tell which was which no matter how hard they tried. Some amps have more heft than others but it's not the class of the amp doing the hefting.

21 basses and three amps in just over 1 square meter. It's all about height! They are normally in their cases, but still in the rack.

Played a 'blues and brews' night at the John Peel Centre in Stowmarket. Lovely venue - we've played there before - easy load in/out, big stage, lights, great sound system with a team of sound guys. 3 bands, we were on last or 'headlining' as like to call it, a selection of local beers on offer. I wasn't confident anyone would turn on a chilly thursday in February up but apparently 60 souls made it - far more than I imagined. Bands were Red Sky High, Jamie Williams and the Roots Collective - who were especially good, great set of originals delivered in some style. Their bass player had a bitsa short scale Bronco/Mustang/Jazz hybrid that sounded awesome. Good player, too. Having been nicely warmed up and lubricated the crowd appreciated us and we went down very well, despite some left of field errors on a few songs we have played faultlessly for months (why does that happen?). We played a longer set, just over an hour, and it was all round a damned fine evening. No traffic there or back, in bed by 1am. My gear was my SG > new Trace Elliot Transit B pedal > desk which sounded pretty fab from where I was standing. Guitarist Alan's pic, taken from the mezzanine 'green room' where the performers hang out - Jamie Williams et al on their last song.

I've just submitted video reviews for the V7 Vintage, V5-25, P5 and P5R (Bass Gear Magazine) and have already asked that Sire let me know when the new models hit these shores so I can review some of those too. So, keep an eye out for some decent in-depth footage!

One of each

100% this. I'd look for a way to move on. I struggled for about a year to recover a debt I was owed. Did everything I could, and in the end, it never came to anything. I've had to write the debt off and move on. I'm concerned, like the rest of the guys here, that you're exposing yourself to more heartbreak, upset, and disappointment. I think we all hope that isn't the case.

I'm in agreement with my esteemed colleagues. Once bitten twice shy and all that.... I can't help feeling you're setting yourself up for a long road of pain, frustration and anger. I appreciate everything you've done so far and I admire your doggedness and determination. I think you've conducted yourself admirably but please don't forget to look after your own sanity and mental health too.

Glutton for punishment springs to minds. The Ball has been in Jons court for 10 years and now you are prolonging your own agony. You seem to have ignored all that has been said here and on TB warning you away from Jon - not just as someone who is untrustworthy, but also someone who has questionable skills to build a fully functioning bass, nevermind what would happen if you need after sales support. As for following your specs, you have chastised Jon previously for his inability to follow your specs. Now you expect that to suddenly change? SMH

This is a lovely bass and I'm thrilled to own it 🙂 While nowhere near as pretty it's this £80 Harley Benton which gets played. The Benton neck is far more comfortable than the Fender's and it sounds better too, thanks to that brilliant (discontinued) Wilkinson single coil 🙂 Apart from changing the strings for TI flats this PB-50 remains as it was when Thomann shipped it, April 2014 😎

What a great place Basschat is. A goldmine of information, support, conversation and of course GAS. I’ve been on here a long time, like many of you have. Some of you may be new, if you are, you’re welcome. I’ve had a lot of help here, parts, advice, insights, opinions and all given with a real sense of a community, even if we don’t always agree with each other, which is often part of the fun, as long as it’s healthy disagreement and not nasty, which it rarely is here. There is no better resource on the internet for all things bass. Ask for help, you will get it, ask for advice, you will get it. No questions are stupid, all answers are welcomed. No opinions are ignored, all views are observed. Thanks to everyone who run the site, long may it continue.

here ya go....

I recently bought a Boss wireless and I needed a larger board so it doesn`t get damaged hanging off the small board so got this one off of Amazon for £36. The cool thing is it has a cover on the bottom to store the power supply. Exc value for the money. Anyway I usually use the Sadowsky plugged into the ART tube amp into my RCF, I had the space for the Sansamp so stuck it on there if I fancy a change. The Beringher was cheap as chips and I was gonna spend a few bob on a better one but it does the job and I might not notice the difference anyway! Sorry for the dust.

You might get a few volunteers to help store some bits for you...

My gigging bass for one of my bands is a G&L Tribute JB and I love it. I've replaced the pups with Fender Pure Vintage 74s and guts with a Ki0gon loom. Was it a good bass and entirely giggable before the mods? Yup. Did I do any sort of test before and after to hear the difference? Nope. Do I think it's a better bass now? Yup. Am I slightly deluding myself to justify tinkering? Probably 😂

RE: Snobs - ignore - they are annoyed because you are achieving with pennies what they shelled pounds out for and are looking for a way to make themselves feel better by trying to bring you down. Don't let them, pity them instead and the crushing insecurity they live with on a daily basis.

I was behind you all the way until I just read this. Are you mad? After all he’s put you through you’re going down the ‘finish the instrument’ route? Even if he does complete something similar to what you’ve specced, it won’t be 100% and it’ll just sit there as a reminder of all the crap you went through and that you still didn’t get what you want. Plus, you’ll never be able to sell if you need to. Might not even be able to give it away at this rate. I’d rather wave goodbye to the money forever.

It’s as if you want to keep it all going another 10 years?

Good luck with that

Home On The Range ～ Gene Autry

if I ever get better at playing than my Squiers are at being basses then I might consider something more expensive. 😁

Come on, we all know that the most important thing about a bass is the logo on the headstock.

All true. One of my favourite gigging bases is my Harley Benton short-scale P bass. £79, brand new. Any snide comments from band members about whether I could afford a ‘better’ instrument is met with “it would have been a waste of money playing with you.”

This is my 3rd music <ahem> related project. I've done a six string which is now professionally setup. The chap in the shop loved it, plugged into a large Marshall stack and proceeded to beat the hell out of the guitar. Big smiles all round and an awful lot of laughs. A few people came in and wanted to try it out. All had fun which is just how it should be. Sadly nobody offered my £5K for it The bass guitar will be based on the lessons learnt from the six string. Current aims are: Use a Fender MIM Jazz bass neck. A kind bass chatter let me have one for virtually nothing. I also got an Aria Pro neck from him as well. Use a similar type of construction to the six string. When I started the six string I used hexagons as the design pattern as I bolted pieces together as I didn't want to glue stuff. That was a mistake as the glue is easier and stronger. Now I will use the Voronoi patterns for the body of the guitar. Very organic, very fluid, quite Gaudi like. I'll try and use pickups that I make myself from the guitar pickup winder I'm making. It will not be headless. I have all the pieces for a headless bass but I am not chopping the head of a decent MIM Fender Jazz. I have an Ibanez neck for that, but thats for later in the year. Worries or things for me to think about Neck dive. The average MIM Jazz body appears to be circa 2.4Kg with no hardware. I have designed a prototype body based around a jazz design but using A Voronoi infill as opposed to hexagons. According to my slicer, if I printed this even at 40% infill which is waaaay too much it only weighs 1.5Kg. Now I need to add in the middle bits, including a plywood backbone so that will add more weight, but I'm going to struggle to get another 1Kg on this to get it balanced and avoid neck dive. I could fill one or two of the pockets with epxoy resin to make it a feature OR I could try and get some really lightweight tuners. Its a big thing to print. I may have to do it in 9 (?) sections as it's nearly 500mm wide and 300mm tall. I need to do the electrics. Less concerned about that, but it needs to be designed in. Not sure if I should use a preamp or not, probably not at the moment. Putting a switch top right on the six string created a lot of routing problems so this time all the electrics will be on the bottom section. I supposed if I concentrates them bottom left, then that will help balance things out. I want to put some body cuts in it to make it easier to play, that will reduce the weight even more Apart from that, its similar to the six string, I need to put brackets for straps, design a pick guard, make it all work, but learnt a lot from the last two I made. Rob

I have 2 Japanese UV70's (A Black and a Natural - both with maple necks) love them both so much I haven't played my 61P, 66J or my 84 WAL out since I got the first one 8 years ago...I much prefer the tone, playability and overall general feeling of these. If you get the chance to play/buy a UV70....don't hesitate - after a few days the penny will drop and you'll be saying to yourself, why didn't I pull the trigger years ago......after all, it's what all the modern Super Jazz's have been moddled on for years

Two notes, revolt or le bass, mid prices high quality and versatile multi channels, get what sound you want, great clean channel, bit of grit if you want all the way to higher gain if required.

I've never seen the appeal of Quarter Pounders myself; I assume people are of the belief that higher output is better somehow but they lack any subtlety or warmth imo. The reason the Matt Freeman I mentioned earlier in the thread cost me £200 was because it came with a QP fitted. I put the stock pickup back in and sold the QP (possibly on here) for 50 quid. The bass cost me £250 initially. It's part of the reason why I would only refer to 'modifications' rather than 'upgrades'; an upgrade is subjective and just because you spent an extra £100 on a new pickup, doesn't mean it better than what was there originally.

My wife would go nuclear....it's only hypothetical but I'm really already very scared

That's asking too much 😀

OK, restringing helped. Thanks a lot 👍

Cream does go nicely with a Mapel board... gives a 70's DiMarzio Vibe But would go much better with a new BWB Scratchplate... for less than a £tenner on Ali Express.

The NS Design Omni Bass can be played vertically and horizontally like a normal bass guitar, and has the same neck length. I don't know about the neck width though. If you prefer the longer double-bass length neck, the NS Double Bass might work?

Full refund plus interest on the money from date of payment. Nothing else. Even if he builds you a Fodera level instrument you will never be happy with it. You will always associate this drama with it. It will sour the entire experience when it should be a happy one. And you could never be confident about any aftercare you might need.

Cream it is then.

rockaway beach - the ramones

Yep, sounds cracking. At rehearsals Guitarists in band have mentioned it has better oomph and sounds better than my Genz Benz amp. That’s plugged in to effects return on provided amp.

i cant believe their are people actually defending letts on TB