mcnach

I 'discovered' this a few days ago and I'm loving it: [media]http://youtu.be/eVBubpQbkg8[/media]

Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you guys, but I don't think this is going to happen. The seller has not got back to me about the last enquiry, other than a "ok, I'll check". It's been about 10 days now. I'm not feeling inclined to pursue this if they can't be bothered as it wasn't anything I was desperate about and it's not like I'm short of ideas as to where I could spend money instead So unless I receive an email by the weekend, that will be it. I had a quick go with a Yamaha TRBX 505... it is not a maple fingerboard and I'm not in love with the pickup configuration, but that thing felt really nice and sounded very good with the band (mostly reggae), and it's only about £300 in the second hand market. So the experiment idea is looking less interesting right now. edit 17/1/17: they stalled at the last minute, and I don't want the bass THAT bad to want to be chasing them after I made clear that my credit card was out of my wallet ready to be used. So I'm keeping my money and I will not proceed with this.

[quote name='prowla' timestamp='1483906063' post='3211050'] North of £400 for a Squier doesn't make sense to me. [/quote] Why not? I remember paying £325 or so for a Squier CV60s in fiesta red. At the time I was "uf, over £300 for a Squier seems a bit pricey" when I started looking at these basses, but the minute I got my hands in one, it made sense. They did not feel like the budget bass the Squiers I had tried before did. £300-400 for a 'Classic Vibe' Precision (or the similar quality Matt Freeman, Roger Waters etc) doesn't seem extraordinary when you think a Fender MIM will be around £600 and a MIA around £1000. There are cheaper Squier Precisions, around £180-200, and they're ok, but the CV series is a substantial step up in quality.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1483974328' post='3211569'] Well, it looked good. [/quote] to be fair, it would cost you only pennies and 10 minutes to replace them with something of the right size... I just don't care enough

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1483788878' post='3210088'] String-though body too! Impressive on a budget bass. Not sure that it adds anything to the sound, but it's a feature if you like that sort of thing. [/quote] The thing is... the ferrules were too narrow for the string ends, which didn't fit inside the recess, so you'd have the string ends protruding at the back So I never used the string-through method.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1483736189' post='3209780'] Currently £55 - went through a phase of being consider great VFM here - issues with soft frets? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/old-riyder-rp-1-bass-guitar-in-nice-condition-/122294712433?hash=item1c79553871:g:Ts0AAOSwa~BYaYB7"]http://www.ebay.co.u...s0AAOSwa~BYaYB7[/url] [/quote] Well, when they were trying to get rid off the whole line, they sold for £60... and although they were not amazing basses, they were fully functional instruments, so not bad at all! I owned three One was white/white/rosewood. I put a black pickguard on it and a Wizard Thumper. That was pretty nice. The neck was on the chunky side for a Precision, but I like that. I used it live a handful of times. Eventually I sold it, as I have better Precisions. Then I got a translucent blue/white/maple and another white/white/rosewood. I put the maple neck on the white one, and defretted it, added a black pickguard and a Model P pickup. I still have that one. The blue one I stripped and was going to build a new bass with a MM pickup etc... but got bored and sold it as a back of parts to someone willing to finish it. Soft frets? I can't say I noticed anything like that. It's not like I used them for years, however, and on the fretless -the only one I have used regularly for a few years- I use nylon tapewound strings. Frankly, if you want a cheap Precision I'd rather get a Westfield. Those are great value. Both Precisions and Jazz basses are pretty good, if a bit heavy.

[quote name='Bearfist' timestamp='1483876792' post='3210736'] These are pretty good aren't they! Received my 32" Scale Jake on Friday. Had a couple of days to get to know her and yeah they have nailed it, exactly the bass i was hoping for. [attachment=235490:IMG_3157.JPG][attachment=235488:IMG_3155.JPG][attachment=235489:IMG_3156.JPG] So impressed I've been talking to Adrian all morning and i'm just about to order a second one, another Jake similar to this one, black and maple but 33" scale this time, still tuned BEAD, thinking 3+1 non matching headstock, different bridge maybe. Thinking about maybe having the board and neck with a slight vintage tint this time but a little worried it might be a little to yellow or dark for my taste, anyone got one of Adrian's basses with a vintage tint maple neck? I'd love to see some, particularly with a black body? [/quote] Not a black body, but this is mine with the yellowish tint: I think it would look great on a black bass!

[quote name='Musashimonkey' timestamp='1483775097' post='3209968'] Thanks guys, the support is really appreciated. Definitely increased my understanding of shims. Schaller 3D is probably my favourite bridge too, takes care of your every wish for adjustments. Just wanted to say that Sandberg customer service have been great, quick communications, very polite, and putting a luthier in contact immediately. So too has the UK shop, lots of support and understanding all round. Thank you. [/quote] glad to hear that. A good company demonstrates its greatness on how they deal with problems. I hope you get the bass you were wanting soon

[quote name='Rexel Matador' timestamp='1483737926' post='3209799'] This is all very interesting and is pretty much the reason I asked. It seems like the love for Matt Freeman's signature bass only slightly crosses over with the love for the man himself and his ouevre. It's just a consistently great and affordable precision bass, hence why I'm mystified that it's no longer available. So good that it's a threat to the Mexican standard? And I remember reading another thread (possibly here, or possibly over on Talkbass) when it first came out. Someone questioned what was even so "signature" about it. It's just a p bass, isn't it? (For the record I think he's wonderful. Rancid are hit and miss but Freeman always brings it.) [/quote] Yeah, I don't think it's more signature than the fiesta red was a 'Palladino' signature (they didn't sell it as a signature, but it could have been just like the Freeman was only about it being cream/black/maple.) They also discontinued the CV sonic blue... and brought in the red one... then that one was discontinued. I think they just like to change the finishes, I don't know.

[quote name='thegummy' timestamp='1483715991' post='3209503'] Do people actually buy signature basses/guitars because they like the artist? [/quote] I guess some do. I have two (three?) signature instruments... but I didn't choose them because of the link to the artist: 1) Fender Stratocaster Richie Sambora - well, I wanted a Stratocaster with a Floyd Rose and a proper humbucker at the bridge... it was the only Stratocaster I could find like that at the time! I do like Richie Sambora but it played no part on my decision. I don't play any Bon Jovi on guitar. 2) Squier Mike Dirnt Precision - I had no idea he was the guy from Green Day. I just liked the bass, like a 51 Precision but with a split coil pickup. It was very light, comfortable and sounded good. 3) Squier Matt Freeman Precision - not a great fan of Rancid although I like some of their stuff... but it is a gorgeous Precision with that cream body and lacquered dark maple neck...

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1483723851' post='3209628'] A bit tricky... ...but doable. Anybody have a bandsaw i can borrow? [/quote] !!!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1483710804' post='3209444'] That's fair enough for something made in the days when pin routers were the height of wood-working sophistication, but it's no longer the 1950s and these days pretty much everything that isn't individually crafted by a master luthier is produced on a CNC machine where it is simple to get the angles required. Add this to the fact that there's a surprisingly large amount of vertical adjustment available in even the BBT bridge and there is no reason why modern bolt-on guitars and basses can't be made with either the pocket or the heel machined to the correct angle instead of messing about with shims. [/quote] of course they could be made... but the question is, if you are a large scale manufacturer... why should you? Would that result in significantly better sales? I bet they thought not, which is why they do what they do. Some of you imply a shim makes a bass defective or something. I don't think so. It seems most people don't know or don't care... so why would they change something that works? Until they find a good reason, they won't.

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1483658406' post='3209176'] my word! How do I check?? [/quote] oooh, I don't know. Have you got access to an MRI machine?

[quote name='threedaymonk' timestamp='1483659250' post='3209184'] It's really to change the pitch of the neck, which can't be affected by a manufacturing process based on cutting flat shapes with a router. If everything else were flat, the trigonometry would be straightforward and this wouldn't be an issue, but neck relief pushes the nut end higher. You could compensate for this by lowering the bridge, but the exact amount depends on the setup, and there are mechanical limits to how thin the bridge can be. The other solution is to change the pitch of the neck. This could be done by routing the neck pocket at a slight angle, but it's simpler, easier and more flexible to use a shim at this point. The ability to finely adjust neck pitch so that the bridge saddles are all at a happy level given individual preferences of neck relief and action is a convenient feature of bolt-on necks. It's much harder to get things right on a through-neck, as you can read about [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/295059-bc-rich-mockingbird-tweaks/"]on this Mockingbird repair thread[/url]. [/quote] very well explained, nice post.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1483647967' post='3209046'] Afaik all Ernie ball basses come with a factory shim. [/quote] But MusicMan basses are crap, right? They don't age well at all

[quote name='Manton Customs' timestamp='1483627985' post='3208801'] Bodge might be a strong term, but nobody builds a bass from the ground up to incorporate a shim. If you find a shim in pocket straight from the factory, it's simply because they make mistakes too. It obviously makes sense from a manufacturing point of view to simply add a shim when the alternatives would be hard work. There's nothing wrong with a shim if necessary on a used bass which has been around the block, but on a new bass I'd find it unacceptable. [/quote] Rightly or wrongly, I don't think mass produced instruments are made to very strict tolerances, which is why many end up with shims as it's an easy thing to do when assembling and checking over an instrument, as you indicate. They could work to tighter tolerances and put the price up, but I suppose they figured out using shims when required is a better proposition. I don't care much whether it's a new or old instrument *if I like it enough*. Obviously I'd rather not have one, but it has never bothered me or any of my instruments that had one. Granted I have not owned any for 100 years but it's always been a set-and-forget matter. Except when the truss rod adjustment is at the body end and you meed to loosen up the neck to adjust. That's a royal pain in the arse when the shim moves. Other than that... I'd never know it's there. Anyway, I made my point. Anything else would be repeating myself and bore everybody to death. edit: on the OP's bass... I agree a return/replacement is probably the best option. No point having the neck plek'd if you are going to alter the neck angle afterwards, that's true, the set up will be wrong. It may not be very wrong, or it may be very noticeable... either way, not cool after spending £2000.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1483624042' post='3208752'] The point against a shim is that it's simply a bodge to make up for poor manufacturing standards. If you pay for good standards you should get good standards. Other makers manage to do it. [/quote] You'd be surprised... even Warwick used them As for it being a bodge... we'll have to disagree. It may not seem that elegant at first sight, but it's highly effective with no drawbacks. Yes, you may argue that theoretically the contact neck/body is reduced etc etc. But I'm only interested in what works or doesn't work *in use*. And shims work. No question about it. edit: but then I also liked the micro-tilt mechanism on 3-bolt fenders (and some 4-bolt too, as my old Strat has that). It gave me all the adjustability I wanted and I never saw any problem -as long as the neck pocket is tight.

[quote name='oggiesnr' timestamp='1483557714' post='3208261'] My 5-string currently has a low B. It's going in for some work and a set up so this would be the opportunity to swtich to high C. What do other five-stringers do and any thoughts on the pro's and cons of the two options? Cheers Steve [/quote] I guess it depends on whether you will use more the higher or the lower range. I would not really use the extra higher notes, and I use more the lower range than the higher, so I'd find more useful the ability to move horizontally towards the low end (B string) than towards the high (C string). So that means BEADG for me. If you do a lot of melodic soloing etc you might prefer the C. If you're unsure as to which one... maybe you need a 6 string?

If it's new from a shop, I'd get them to fix it. Unless I really liked the bass. All it likely needs is a tiny tiny shim. I notice some here think that's a problem, but I disagree. It's a very effective and common way to fine tune the neck angle on mass-produced bolt-on neck instruments. Many include a shim from factory, which you only find out when you remove the neck, and I'm not talking about budget instruments exactly. So... if that were my bass and all I didn't like was that, I'd keep it and address it myself. You can get the shop to take care of it but either you'll have to wait, or you'll have to wait AND receive a new instrument which you may like more or less than this one you have in your hands: so if I really like it, I'd keep it... and depending on how impatient I feel I'd either do it myself or talk the shop into sorting it out.

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1483620538' post='3208710'] I was looking at these and contacted one of the shops. The say the supply came from Fender. Here's a pic of the s/n that they sent me: [attachment=235307:$_12.jpg] The prefix and everything looks right, but I can't find a reliable source to say whether the first two digits refer to the yob as the shop is saying it's 2015 (which I thought was after they were discontinued). Can anybody shed any further light? [/quote] The first two numbers indicate the year indeed. That's a 2011. edit: I found I had a picture of my 2014 Matt Freeman made in the same factory, as an example:

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1483537780' post='3208009'] You meantion a blend control... in the middle position is it both pickups at 50% or both pickups at 100% (mn type I think it's called) that will make a difference to the sound of it [/quote] I have noooo idea. Chris McIntyre did the initial conversion for me and when he asked "hey, how about a blend rather than VVT configuration?" I said "hmmm, sure!". That's as far as that conversation went and I have no idea what kind of pot was used. I didn't even know there were different kinds! I do like the result now, 'though.

as the original poster, I thought I'd add that... I got tired of them Nice feel and sound, but... I missed my usual stainless steel roundwound sound. So after I sold the ATK300 I haven't bothered buying those strings again. They do have their uses and I'll keep them in mind, but I personally prefer the good old roundwound stainless steel string after they lose their initial OTT brightness.

[quote name='krispn' timestamp='1483509985' post='3207713'] Surely this bass should be renamed the Hack Freeman JJ [/quote] ha! I had thought of Huge Hackman JJ as it's been hacked at so much