mcnach

Well, that's just TERRIBLE customer service, how dare you???? 😋

That's a good point. The day we only have the Thomann, DV247, GAK and even the likes of Andertons who in my opinion are a bit higher than the others... it'll be a sad day. But I still cannot bring myself to give my money to someone who acts like they're doing you a favour by selling you something. That's just me. There is a shop in Edinburgh, Varsity Music I think it's called. The owner is (was? it's been a while) another one who missed his customer service classes. I was there back in 2003-4 wanting to try a very cool semi Yamaha guitar, f-foles, P90s... I loved the guitar, I hated the experience but I still walked out with the guitar. I distinctly remember a couple of times stopping myself thinking "I should just go"... but I really liked the guitar and even if it was cheaper online, THIS one was fantastic. I always felt a bit 'dirty' afterwards having given him my money and not telling him what he deserved to be told. I may have been traumatised by that experience

You may be confusing mob mentality with the fact that there's a few not-so-satisfied customers. If not, I'm really confused about the point you're trying to make. I haven't seen any personally insulting posts, only posts describing situations people have experienced. Some positive, some negative. Are we supposed to refrain from negatives?

Come on guys, 15 more subscribers and we'll find out!!! 😄

I was going to say I'd rather not have mine merged with the other... ah well

I think you're completely right. He's found that by doing many small scams he's too small fish to fry. The thing is, there's so many people involved (and growing) that it's only a matter of time until somebody lets their frustration take the better of them and does something more serious than reporting him.

If you're hiring a venue it's common to make some kind of payment beforehand, at least in my (limited) experience.

So whoever is there doesn't even sign with their own name?

I had a Peavey too with that very narrow spacing, can't recall which model, it was long ago. It was... challenging! I was also learning to slap at the time and my technique was quite poor, flapping my right hand all over the place... I could never hit the right string with an acceptable error rate

I don't find the nut width changes the spacing where I pluck significantly, that's why I care(d) mostly about the bridge spacing as that had a very clear effect on how my right hand felt.

Do you play 5-strings regularly? Because you're describing me... until very recently. The only thing that changed was that rather than playing 5-strings from time to time, I play 5 strings every day now.

No idea. The email just had an image for signature: Marcus Bell.

I hope that streak will continue for you! Clearly not all transactions are bad, and I had a few that went just fine myself, but the one interaction has not been great... and after reading the comments here I'm definitely not coming for seconds. There is nothing they have that I cannot get elsewhere.

Yeah but you're 6 feet 7, I'm a short derrière so I guess he's not intimidated by me

Well, it's not happening to me again, that's for sure. I don't mind so much the stock issues, it's a mild annoyance at best, but the attitude? That's a combo that doesn't make me want to give them my money. So I won't.

Are they always semi-rude? I placed an order earlier today. A while later I get an email from Paypal with a refund. No explanation. No notes. I email BD to ask why. I got a curt reply that included "like I said, it was not in stock". 1) so their in-stock/out-of-stock notes on the website are not up to date... nice, why do you even bother indicating stock? 2) what's with the attitude? I heard of that before but it's kind of ridiculous: are they ran by grumpy teenagers? There was a note, on my Paypal account, if I click on the transaction and scroll. Most definitely not on the email I received. Petty, perhaps, but it's not like there aren't alternatives so guess who's crossing BD off the list of shops to buy from. Order now placed with another shop.

I recently got a Ray35 bass. Two things surprised me a bit: 1) String spacing of 17.5mm does not bother me. 2) The G string does not feel like it's falling off the edge. The spacing was a surprise because I used to not get along with 5-string basses unless they were at least 18mm. Even the 17.5mm of a Stingray5 felt odd. But that was when I was not playing 5-strings much. For the past year and a half I've been playing 5-strings regularly and with that came the realisation that I don't care about the spacing as much as I used to. The 17.5mm spacing actually feels quite good and I might even prefer it to 19mm now, which is not where I was a few years ago. But the thing about teh G string... I remember trying Stingray5 basses a couple of times and feeling the G string was way too close to the edge of the fingerboard. I don't have any issues with the Ray35 (in that respect, it had *other* issues ). It doesn't *look* to me different from what I see on Stingray5 photographs, but it's not a good way to compare them. It's entirely possible that the neck profile/dimensions are not close to what EBMM uses for their Stingray5, of course... Does anybody know how the EBMM Stingray5 and the Ray35 compare with regards to the neck dimensions, and in particular the width of the fingerboard? Here's the Ray35, because why not

I have my preference with regards to string spacing on 4 string basses, but I'm generally happy enough with whatever. However, when it comes to 5 strings, I have/had a very strong preference for wider spacing. At least 18mm but ideally 19mm. Indeed, one of the things putting me off 5-string Stingrays was their narrower spacing (17.5mm). It doesn't sound like much but whenever I tried one I just didn't like it. However, I noticed this is changing and I realised that this is probably because for about 18 months now I've been playing 5 string basses regularly, while before I was just playing once in a while. The reason I started playing 5 strings is that I found one bass that just felt right, for some reason. I've owned all kinds: Squier, G&L, Lakland, Peavey, and a few others, but no, it was a cheap Harley Benton MB5 SBK ('stealth black' Stingray style) that did it. Not sure what it was, certainly not the spacing (16mm), but it sounded nice and it was comfortable... That led to me playing it more and more and I think today I'm equally comfortable on 4 or 5 strings although my muting can still improve a bit on 5 strings. Earlier this year I got a couple more Harley Benton 5 string basses because as I play 5-strings more and more I was starting to miss having a Jazz and Precision sounds available. So I got a JJ-55OP and a JP-55OP, which turned out to be fantastic. They have 18mm spacing, which is great. Then I thought... surely 17.5mm can't be all that different, but I remember not getting along with that, hmmm. I got a Ray35 last week, with the same 17.5mm spacing... and it feels just fine. In fact, I think I even prefer it to wider (19mm) and narrower (16mm), it feels like a 'goldilocks' spacing: wide enough that it doesn't feel too odd when switching from a 4-string, but without feeling cramped. So, it turns out that it wasn't so much that I had a strong preference for wider spacing on 5-string basses... it was just that I was not very comfortable with 5-string basses at all, so the less the geometry changed from what I was used to, the better. That old thread on TalkBass about Sterling Ball 'experiment' offering a 19mm spacing Stingray seems like a lot of nothing, really, from today's perspective. Anyone else found the same?

I don't play many 'solos', but once when I was asked I just stood there smiling, looking at the audience from side to side... then I struck one big fat note (whatever was the root at the time) and let it ring, trying to look very pleased with myself. People laughed (with me, I hope, not at me!) and we moved on.

Come on, only 18 more to go! scratch that, 17

Not sure which PJ are you are referring to, but if you mean the JP-55OP, those have a wider string spacing, yes. I'm the same as you with regards to the MB-5 SBK, it's narrower than I'd prefer. I got used to it (used it live at the weekend for the first time at last, no issues at all) but I feel more at home with a wider spacing. The neck is wide enough so I considered replacing the bridge with something a bit wider but I never did. It's a possibility, if spacing is uncomfortable.

That's the one! Tickled Trout not 'ticking'

No, it's the Ticking Trout now.

Hmmm... Try again

Exactly. It makes me a little sad when I see the comments "but is he in a band?", "technically brilliant but is he a musician?"... Yup, I'm sure he'd be completely lost playing Sex On Fire at the Red Lion on Saturday night... Come on guys...