skej21

Looks like the gear you've got is decent enough to get you going and the bass will last forever (as StingrayPete says) if you need it to. Aside from that, try not to spend too much time on bass forums. They're full of temptation and opinions, both of which should be avoided as often as possible as they are determental to actually learning to play! Spend your money on lessons and your time on the bass :-)

[quote name='strtdv' timestamp='1415427967' post='2600190'] Generally speaking neck profiles are a bit different, USA will have a 3 piece body compared to a 5-6 piece body on the MIM. Pickups are considerably different, I don't know what they are now but MIM's used to have ceramic bar magnets glued to the bottom of the polepieces. Finish is the other big area of difference, with Mexican ones having a thick polyester finish on the body, while American ones have a thinner polyurethane finish Hardware is nicer on the American one too. The Mexican ones are IMO great workhorse instruments after a pickup upgrade and can be bought pretty cheaply second hand. New prices on the American standards are a bit silly, I feel you'd do much better with with an used American deluxe or an American vintage reissue depending on what you want. [/quote] Not exactly true. In the Mexican factory, they are not limited to 5-6 bits of body wood. They have ZERO wood wastage in the Mexican factory, so they use as many bits as they have to in order to not waste the wood. You could end up with loads of smaller bits glued together and sprayed over.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1415207464' post='2597917'] Tommy's just posted this pic on Facebook... mine are ordered :-) [/quote] I'll be getting one for my S112!!

This for me: http://youtu.be/6-W_f6KWHWA

If you think about the maths, the question is surely 'are companies other than Fodera charging enough?' If you think that a custom Overwater is between £2500-3500, probably £1000 of that will be costs of materials. That leaves about £2500 of profit and wages for the guy making the bass. Say the entire £2500 goes to the builder for wages, they would need to produce 5 basses a year just to make the £12k minimum wage. Now I doubt that a full £2500 from a build would go to the builder as profits would need to be taken too. So if the builder takes £1000 with £1500 staying as profit/rent/general business running costs, the builder would need to produce 12 basses a year to pick up a minimum wage salary. Now these builds have an average 6 month completion which means they would need to construct 6 basses simultaneously twice a year to get that minimum wage salary. For someone with such craftsmanship and skill who you are expecting to dedicate all of their time, service and skill to producing the bass that you've paid a lot of money for, you'd hope they'd pick up a better wage for their hard work than £12k. If they do, they either have to produce a lot more (which means either more builders/wages or that builder producing more basses - potentially compromising quality over speed of production!). The only other option is to increase the price of the instrument so that you can produce less at a higher quality with more time and focus for each instrument. That's the only way I can work it out.

[quote name='40hz' timestamp='1415218088' post='2598084'] I moved the rod counter clockwise, so to the right. Am I missing something here or just being unbelievably dumb? [/quote] Counter clockwise (12, 11, 10, 9 around the clock) is to the left, not the right.

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1407946162' post='2525628'] OK, I get your point ... although I'm not sure I am convinced that it's the string tension that's breaking (for example) Gibson headstocks. My son broke the headstock on his Epiphone Casino by falling over drunk on the way home from a gig. I don't think loosening the strings would have made any difference. Anyway, it's stronger now that it has been fixed. [/quote] I must have seen well over 2500 Gibson and/or Epiphones that have been shipped in either a hardcase, gigbag or just a cardboard box and not one of them has turned up with the strings loosened right off or with any damage to the headstock. I'm pretty sure if there were any proven benefits to loosening the strings off completely for transit, all of the big instrument manufacturers (Fender, Gibson, Martin, Taylor etc) would do it as standard practice but not one of them does IME... Seems like a worse idea to take the balancing tension of the strings out of the equation if you expect an impact of force. It'd be like removing the seatbelt from your car to stop it counteracting the movement of your body if you're expecting to crash!

Used Fender CS black tweed for a while but now use Planet Waves American Stage cables that I got for free! Bloody incredible and I'm never going back!!

This - http://www.cooperstand.com/buyecco-g.html

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1415130335' post='2597094'] I like the attention, you know even at the bar level, people love approaching musicians for a chat.You have all heard this one; [i]" I use to play in a band"[/i]. You know what I say about fun; [i]I have fun while playing, however I don't play for for fun. I play for money.[/i] You really have to understand that very few people get paid to do something they truly like doing. I remember some guy that worked in a retail store was telling me he loved his job. My response; [i]No You Don't[/i]. Blue . [/quote] My dad always used to tell me 'there are aspects of every job that you'll hate. That's why they pay you to do it!' I might dislike some of the dives I play etc but I understand that not many people get to do something even CLOSE to what they enjoy. I know im lucky so I just get on with it and count myself lucky that I don't earn money by doing something further removed from what I love.

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1414947040' post='2594935'] I paid £9.99 to have a delivery today (Sunday) and have checked the tracking number and they reckon they attempted to deliver it about 3pm but there was no answer and they left a card. Well I have been in all day and there was no knock on the door or card! Fume!! [/quote] If it makes you feel any better, I imagine the staff at guitar guitar will be feeling as frustrated, disappointed and annoyed as you that the courier has let you both down! There's nothing worse than delivering a high standard of customer service and care with the right product that meets the customers need and then have a third party (outside of your control), leave a poor lasting impression of the transaction with such poor service.

[quote name='tks.se' timestamp='1414773837' post='2593203'] Work on your cabinet has already started! It will probably be sent together with a few other cabinets to Bass Gear, so when the orders for those come in will affect waiting time. You'll probably see a picture of your cabinet on the Facebook page in about two weeks or so. [/quote] Thanks Tommy. I have other cabs I'll be using until my S112 arrives so no huge rush

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1414870144' post='2594254'] No food on the table = lose weight, plus you keep basses. Win/win situation? I reckon if you want a Precision because of the classic tone, keep the one that gives you a classic tone and sell the other one. [/quote] Also, if a bass 'plays like butter' then keep it and spread it on your toast in the morning ;-)

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1414767805' post='2593138'] Good ones [/quote] But are the handles good... for metal? :-P

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1414615434' post='2591484'] Scrap that - found it. Cool! [/quote] Yeah! I showed her indoors and she really liked the brown 7W pattern on the cab pictures on the TKS custom gallery but when I suggested it in black, she said its look daft unless I was in a country band :-) she then talked me into going for something a bit more classic. Excited!!

[quote name='M@23' timestamp='1414585165' post='2590931'] [/quote] I'm looking forward to it landing! Tommy informs me it'll be the first TKS in the UK that's landed through Bassgear too :-) Having nearly gone for the flashy option and chosen the black '7W' vinyl that is on the TKS site, her indoors convinced me to go for something more classic. Can't wait to see it in the flesh as I've only ever seen these cabs a couple of times in the flesh and not in the combo I went for. The countdown begins!!

Gave myself a black eye by attempting to headbang and nutted the microphone that was in front of me on the stand instead!

Just been on the phone to Bassgear and ordered myself an S112. Whilst I can't comment on the cab itself just yet, the dealings I've had with Bassgear and Tommy at TKS (who even replied to my messages promptly whilst he is supposed to be out of office!) have been truly first class. More info and a review when it arrives :-)

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1414575066' post='2590746'] http://www.thebassgallery.com/product_details.cfm?ID=2344&type=Bass%20Guitar [/quote] It is nice but do you not think its a little too... Erm... What's the word?... Flamboyant for the local WMC bingo bookend gigs? :-P

[quote name='madshadows' timestamp='1414573411' post='2590723'] Welcome to Basschat, god's country is London, it's just capital John [/quote] Classic bloody Londoner. Always rushing about so quickly that you misread 'county' as 'country'... :-P Welcome to Basschat Steve, from a fellow Northern basschatter. Welcome to the land of dogs on a string, flat caps and venues where the quality of musicianship is more important at a gig than how much of a pretentious little sod you can be before you've even set foot on stage! :-)

[quote name='4000' timestamp='1414500824' post='2589839'] A year or so ago I bought a Korean P off ebay (refinished in Surf - or possibly Seafoam - Green) for festivals and "dodgy" gigs so that I didn't have to use my vintage Rics. It sounded poor with the strings it came with but I restrung it with my preferred Rotos, 40-95, and was really surprised; it sounded great. In fact I use it an awful lot now and used it for all but 2 festival gigs this year. I replaced the loom with a KiOgon, tried a 70s DiMarzio but found it too ballsy (I can see the puzzled looks from here!) so put the original pickup back in, and got a BassDoc minty plate. I really like the neck and sound and it looks tremendous; the only downside is the truss rod is maxed. I've tried it against various other Ps from various eras and places of manufacture and so far the only ones I liked better were a '65 (lovely) and a '73 m/n (ditto), both in excess of 2 grand. Still, GAS is GAS and I've started thinking that I'd like a "better" P. Due to a current absence of funds anything true vintage is out; I initially started thinking of a Classic Vibe 60s (heard good reports of those) but was concerned it wouldn't be much different, or a Nate Mendel (probably used), but then also started to think about Limelight, although that's at the top end funds-wise. The thing is I don't know if I'll prefer any of them to my bass, and I really don't need 2 P Basses. The last thing I want to do is spend money I don't need to, and I really do like mine, although the truss rod could do with sorting for the future. So, CV, Nate Mendel, Limelight, or stick with the Korean? The only one I can really get to play is the CV. FWIW I prefer a vintage, tinted gloss neck (or worn version of same), my preferred profile seems to be early 70s-ish - not too wide - and I seem to prefer medium/jumbo frets, although that isnt hard and fast. Oh, and it has to be light. Beyond that, it's all good(ish). Although not keen on the normal Mex or US ones, for some reason, they just don't do it for me. [/quote] I have a Nate Mendel and Limelight Precision and I love them both. Both offer great quality, playability and spec for the money but if I had to spend the same again Id get another limelight, simply because you get to spec it yourself!

It's offical. Not a hoax. http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-29772926