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Well, i've just done the same to him. Bought a 150 quid item, and marked it payment made, but didnt pay him. Lets see what the w@anker makes of that

Evening all, I had just wanted to write a quick piece on a new acquisition of mine, something that may be of interest to some of you because there isn't really a great deal about Manne basses on the internet, especially these older models. There is so little, in fact, that I don't even know what this model was called when it was first made, though I will probably write to the company to find out more about it. In any event, Manne are still around today and probably doing a better trade now than they ever have done. They remain very popular in their native Italy and have a very strong following there. Notably, the virtuoso Dominic Di Piazza used to play one of these. They've been in production since the late 80's with the original luthier still in charge today. I spotted this one for sale on Reverb at about 3AM on a night shift a couple of weeks ago and made contact with the owner, a nice Italian guy who was selling the instrument after owning it for 30 years! Yes, I was dealing with the original owner who remarked that it had cost him a 'fortune' when new and it had obviously been well looked after. After a few days of exchanging messages to work out the logistics of a sale, a deal was made and the bass was promptly shipped from Italy, flying out from Milan and making it's way to me in Northumberland, England. I've liked the look of Manne basses for years but I've never seen one in person, never mind held one. However, I am fairly adaptable and must say it is very comfortable to play. The body and neck are maple, with some sort of burled wood veneer on the headstock. The fretboard is unlined ebony with dot markers in line with where the fret would be. It's a substantial instrument, I have not weighed it but it feels about on par with an old maple Yamaha TRB. The neck is very fast and quite thick front-to-back. In comparison to my Pedulla Pentabuzz, which has a very flat neck which is thin front-to-back, the Manne is considerably heftier but no less comfortable for it. The electronics have been replaced with an EMG setup with active/passing switching. So far, I just run it flat choosing active or passive as I fancy it. The output must be buffered because there is no drop off in output between the two, though the tone in noticeably altered. I haven't yet restrung it with new strings, but I can say that present it has an insane amount of grunt and 'mwah'. The sound is full of body, rich and with a very tactile attack. It really responds to plucking hand placement and technique. The setup gives such low, clean action that makes notes 'bloom' and sustain for ages, just the ticket for carefully considered glissando and sliding a few cents up or down into a note. One thing that tech-heads will note is the tuning system, which is one of the smartest I have seen. The headstock has string-posts that the end of of the string is wound through. The post is controlled by a very small, smoothly geared knob mounted on the back of the headstock. The strings are threaded through the post and locked in at the headstock and then tuned from the bridge. Again, the tuning action is so smooth and accurate. I find this unique system to be rerally smartly made and it works perfectly. It seems that this tuning system faded out in the early 90's, I will try and find out why that was. I expect it was pretty expensive to make compared to off the shelf parts. In any event, this bass is a real find for me. I must thank the original owner for keeping it in such good condition. I am now going to woodshed some UZEB and Alain Caron material...

Rewired to series (Tom's preference) which has evened out the string differential nicely. As many of you know, I'm no bass player - but here's a clip:

Nothing too crazy, but I've got the necessities covered.

his voice is probably the most controlled silky smooth voice ive ever heard. Its just spellbinding power and control.

And...it's finished!!!! Here are some shots:

So when can I expect my item? I sent the payment straight away.

Hey folks, some beautiful basses in here! I took this for another thread but here's my 2014 Sterling HH in Trans Gold - Still as clean as the day I got it. Gotta admit I keep finding myself looking at Stingray Specials this past few days...

I'm starting the sponsorship with £25 to charity of your choice

Love this;

Crikey I did it! ....have another one ...a bit slower this time:-

The late great Robert Palmer.

Of course I do not know this, but I suspect this originated from a couple of comments by somebody, not a general feeling. Or maybe the landlady didn't like the competition My personal experience (no statistical significance implied, just what I personally have seen) is that having females in the band does not get in the way, if anything the opposite: the band looks friendlier when it's mixed. Frankly, if I hear a pub has a rule against bands with female singers, I doubt it would be the kind of bar I'd enjoy.

My band is still hanging in there. We're targeting larger unconventional venues for distancing. We're playing Washington County Fair Park on 12/4. It will be the first time in our 18 years of gigging where we will charge at the door. Blue

Speaking of white Spectors, I just had a great and fun rehearsal with my band for our gig on Friday using my Spector Euro 435 (35" Euro 4 LX with solid maple wings) This is my main live bass since last spring and although I prefer the NS-5XL for recording this is really kicking donkey for playing live. Since the G string is not a necessity for the gig it is tuned B(A)EAD and I can have the iconic white Spector PJ look onstage 🙂 This is such a great bass, I got rid of the Aguilar P/J that it came with in favor of a X series EMG PJ but kept the Aguilar OBP it came with. And in action! 🙂

Hello Everybody. Just joined and looking to have a good future being part of this site.

This woman's voice is just...

Welcome Andy Only thing that matters with bass amplification is the size of the boxes, the bigger the better, it's all about stage presence, making the guitarist's rig look pathetically small, and whenever possible, completely obscuring the drummist. Don't listen to anyone here who starts talking about 'tone' or 'frequency response' or 'dispersion' or any similar nonsense; only thing that matters biggest box that will fit in the van. If you find a box that's too big, get a bigger van

Absolutely, I've bought several basses from Mark over the years and they have all been 100% as advertised, delivered quickly, and really competitively priced, by which I mean Bass Direct often sell instruments at prices that aren't much higher than you'd find in a private sale, but of course you have a whole lot more peace of mind and protection

They do this to avoid unpaid items being logged against their account/feedback. They want you to cancel the sale, so it doesn't reflect on them. I don't send them to option to cancel. I let them stew. After a week or so, you can apply to eBay to have the sale cancelled due to non-payment (which logs an unpaid item on their account).

If you want to buy from a store, I see they have three currently at Bass Direct: https://bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Fender_Precision_CIJ_Black.html https://bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Fender_Precision_CIJ_CAR.html https://bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Fender_Precision_CIJ_2_TSB.html It will arrive within a couple of days, and if you change your mind for whatever reason you can send it back within seven days for a refund.

Assuming you're in London, I don't understand why you want to buy from Japan, it's expensive, very slow at the moment (Covid has slowed international deliveries to a snail's pace), and if there's an issue with the bass you will not be able to recover any of the VAT/import duty, at least not without a huge amount of hassle (and the fact that some of those sellers indicate no returns would make buying a complete no-no for me, plus the frets at 60-70% given seller hyperbole......?). There are always good Precisions for sale on this site, and none would - or at least should - come with any of those problems.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood: Superb album

Whitney Houston when there were no electronics to control her voice. She lets her gospel roots shine on this performance.

Bear in mind that VAT is charged on the total cost of importing the goods which includes the cost of the bass PLUS the cost of shipping PLUS the duty. If the package passes through Parcel Force for final delivery (as some shipping agents such as USPS do) they also add on a handling fee of £12.

Yeah, I wouldn't state the gender restriction on my ad, you never know (and I am very surprised at having such restriction to start with), same with age. Late last year I started a new project, 8 of us, all above 50 except one trumpet player who is 27. Then we needed a drummer. One guy that got in touch was 18. I was not really keen, I admit purely on prejudice... too young, likely flakey, likely no transport, etc etc... but I'm so glad we asked him to audition. Not only he's a really good drummer, he fits in personality-wise very well, and he's just a really decent, mature for his age, reliable and considerate human being. I feel terrible I considered not even giving him an audition based on his age.

Worth checking something like this: https://www.simplyduty.com/import-calculator/ I was looking at getting a neck from the US and it was 20% VAT + 3.5% import duty on shipping and item cost.

Another long overdue transcription which I wish I could have done decades ago! Geddy Lee's bass part to 'La Villa Strangiato' from the 1978 Rush album 'Hemispheres'. The 'Ghost of Aragon' section was the tricky bit. It is only really a pentatonic lick but a slippery little sucker nevertheless. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/la-villa-strangiato-rush/

How could I miss out this?

Take a cue from the Dusty Springfield post I'm partial to some Petula Clark's classics. She had a great voice which made some great songs into great pop classics. This one's really evocative On a similar 60s inner urban vibe check out the lead and harmony vocals on this gem. As with Downtown there's something about the production on these tunes which makes them sound superior to most songs.

Why not be subtle and advertise for 'Band member with member'? That should get around the regulations...

Couple more from me: First off, Bonnie Raitt. Bit of a personal favourite, this: Enya. I'm not really a fan of her style, but she can certainly sing. This was released as a single at about the same time as Bros did the most godawful tacky take on the song that you could ever wish to inflict on anybody:

In truth this is the isolated vocal tracks, rather than an actual acapella version per se. Not necessarily the greatest individual voices in the world, but the harmonies and arrangement are just gorgeous.

Reading this thread with interest. You all have perfectly sensible points. I am also surprised that those agents don't think the "tit factor" actually makes mixed bands easier to sell. However, there is also the possibility that clients may go "Oh, no, not another girly-fronted band singing about girly stuff, we want proper rock/indie/whatever for our do." Both the tit factor and not-another-girly concepts are obviously sexist crap, but we're talking business here, not writing a feminist essay. I'm baffled and intrigued.

This. I was in a 4 piece with 2 women, 2 men. Agent said he would expect to charge 20-30% more because of the (his words I hasten to add) "Tit factor" Funnily enough at the next gig the women wore decided to wear more revealing outfits. Made it quite difficult to concentrate for 2 reasons (not those 2) - Firstly they were both very attractive. Secondly the singer was married to the drummer and I was worried about getting a stick to the back of the head if I was caught looking at the singer's bum too often!

But then you going to need the toilets closer to the stage, and a shorter set list; that would be a 'selling' concern.

I don't have any advice, but I am stunned that a mixed gender band is regarded as a harder sell.

It’s great 😊 The fretwork and neck are perfect so I can get the action as low as my Vigier. It’s effortless to play as a result. The pre sounds great - I’m not sure what the internal dip switches do but currently it’s very spicy sounding and really lively. Slapped notes sound full and weighty right up to the G. The body is very tactile - a little bit smaller than a full sized J, and slimmer - it reminds me of a Smith in that regard. The neck joint is neater than your regular four bolt plate and very tidy. But yeah it sounds tremendous. The pickups soloed sound great too, which I have found isn’t always the case with jazzes. The smooth covered pickups are nice under the fingers - I’m used to using them like a ramp. I don’t know about the specs of them but they are super Hifi. Also I think they’re the first pickups I’ve had where they actually raise up when you loosen the screws! It came in a Hiscox style Celinder case which is in pretty good condition. The bass has obviously been played and has a few small marks and scratches but that’s good because I don’t want to have to baby it! The G tuner (Hipshot) is a little unresponsive to tuning down, it sort of needs going back to take up the ‘slack’ and back up to tune - maybe it needs oiling? Otherwise - perfect. Seriously love the shape and thin body. The bridge saddle grubs require a very odd sized Allen key - I have a set of every type, metric and imperial - none fit! Luckily the correct one was in the case. The truss rod needed a very slight loosen to compensate for my strings but that is a regular 5mm and was smooth as you like. The neck is a serious piece of work though - lovely bit of clank/buzz when you want it but clean when you attack slightly differently. No other neck has been this good for me and I’m really fussy with my almost dead straight neck and super low action (I normally find G saddles don’t go low enough and have to file the groove down) Compared to the Atelier? Hm. Too early to make a direct comparison but it is more Marcus Miller and enables me to set the action slightly more to my taste. It’s a close call. Both are just fantastic at what they do and have that organic grindy 70s slap sound. I’ll get some pics in the next few days maybe if the whole collection which has grown a fair bit lately. I quite like that this matches my P of choice (Black/Maple) Cheers to the Gallery for sorting a Saturday delivery, too. Cheers ped

Pic below - not a great one, but the bass is at my local guitar shop having a pickup/electrical glitch fixed so I can’t take a better one. Appreciate, there are alternative fret cleaning methods. And yes, said fretboard was lemon oiled with Dunlop 65. Made a huge difference too.