skej21

The only shocking thing about this is that they’re the only company to be fined. Literally every company we dealt with when I worked in the shop sent reps round to check your pricing and threatened to pull dealerships if you didn’t “make it competitive for other stores” by having pricing the same. Most obvious examples are if you google a big brand (like a Taylor guitar) and hit ‘shopping’ and look at the long list of all the big name music retailers keeping exactly the same price. It’s not that Fender are an exception, it’s just common practice and it’ll not be long before they catch someone else.

Nope, nothing wrong with modding a sig bass IMO. I put '60s lollipop tuners, hum-cancelling Aguilar J pickups and stacked knob controls on my Geddy Lee Signature. Don't care what anyone else thinks

Just out of curiosity, which hipshot size replacements did you go for?

Well, I’ve already put flats on it and I’m not keen on the bridge saddles or the tuners so tempted to change those. Also, the more I play it, the more I’m realising that the pickups could be improved and at the same time, I might revert to VVT (as I’m mostly keeping the EQ flat and in passive mode and I use a preamp pedal all the time anyway).

A little bit later than anticipated but here's a NBD thread for my recently acquired Sire P7 5 String (V2) in black. I don't normally start these kind of threads but as I intend some modifications down the line and can't find many threads relating to mods on this bass, i thought it might be a good place to share! Initial impressions are that the bass is fantastic to play, but I bought this as a project, so changes are coming... (no offence meant to all the die-hard Sire fans!) ***Thread is worthless without pics!*** so here goes

Slap technique is to bass, what Slytherin is to the world of Harry Potter. It doesn't make you any less of a 'wizard' but making the choice to pursue that route immediately raises a number of serious concerns about you...

You’re right, I didn’t mean you. Your comment just voiced your opinion that it was not for you. Far more civilised and fair than some other people’s evaluations 🙂

Agreed, thanks for starting it. Looked pretty objective and positive for almost a page and a half (although it looks like some are trying to fish for the arguments you mentioned in your initial post by slagging off certain makers etc!).

If you're interested, this is quite informative He also mentions the "sticky" feel, which you see a lot on forums. People buying guitars with Nitro finishes without realising and then when going through the "sticky" phases, they end up taking sandpaper to it in an attempt to smooth things out again etc (not realising that it'll happen again eventually, as nitro takes a long time to cure)

For me (and as you say this always descends in to an argument so it’s hard to present an objective argument without people taking it personally etc) but I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that a large majority of bass players don’t really understand the specifications of a bass (and therefore the reasons wear that produces this type of finish happens at different rates). Nitro finishes are expensive. As such, earlier Fender copies (such as Arias etc) avoided using nitro to keep costs low. If you use a cheap alternative like gloss polyurethane, ‘natural wear’ from playing is more likely to be the odd chip out of the paint but the gradual erosion of the finish simply doesn’t happen at the same rate (maybe over a few hundred years rather than decades) or in the same way as softer nitro will (the look or a soft finish that has gradually worn down compared to a hard finish that’s been aggressively sanded back look very different!). So, in Fender’s current range a model like the American Original 60s Precision will wear and carry a more traditional worn look after 38 years of playing than a MIM Player series bass would (or your Aria). Also, nickel tarnishes and ages much quicker than chrome 🙂 Obviously that also means that relic techniques do not work in the same way for modern poly body/neck finishes and chrome hardware to produce a ‘relic’ finish on instruments using etc

This is stunning! Enjoy it

It’s the American Original ‘50s Precision in Aztec Gold 🙂