mcnach

A used Jazz bass or a used Stingray. Both within budget and would resell well should you choose to (shudder) not carry on.

MusicMan Stingray... the bass that will allow you to just plug in and play and always sound good

Rotosound Tru-bass black nylon flatwounds arrived this morning:







Very UB-like indeed, as others said (I had never tried these strings before).
The nut slots are a bit small so the strings are a tiny bit higher than they should and overall the action has gone from perfectly low and smooth to slightly high, but I'm not changing anything yet as I'm waiting for a maple board neck a fellow BCer removed from his Ryder, and I will decide then which neck stays.

[quote name='geoffbyrne' post='1116292' date='Feb 5 2011, 10:32 AM']I have a cream pearloid pickguard courtesy of Old Horse Murphy (Thank You Sir, donation to Basschat will be done this weekend) and an MM-style pickup courtesy of Moos3h to go on. Plus a set of flats if I can find a set in The Pile, otherwise it's used Black Beauties.[/quote]

that sounds interesting! pictures, pictures!

Right... so I spent a bit more time with it... and like it even more!

Aesthetics: my neck is not as pretty as others posted here, but the rosewood has very closed grain and it feels and looks great. Slim for a p-bass, I think. The pickguard has some rough edges where it meets the neck, and on the "R", but it's minor. Body is perfect.

Bridge alignment is a *tiny* bit off. I've seen worse in Fenders! The string-through holes were drilled in theright place but the bridge was mounted ever-so-slightly towards one side. It has no effect on the stringing and the strings pass over the polepieces *roughly* ok. Again, I've seen much worse in other more expensive brands, and it does not affect the sound.

Nut is slightly angled too, but not enough for concern.

Everything works well: tuners, pickups, controls... The pickup needs some minor adjustment to balance strings, but I will wait till I get a new set. Intonation is close enough, but again I'll wait to set it until I get new strings.

Action... all I did was lower the saddles a bit. It was ok, but slightly high. I lowered them a fraction, and I had to do nothing else. Lowish action, no unwanted buzzes, comfortable... I expected more work! I haven't found any problems with uneven frets or anything. Nice surprise.

Yes the strings are truly dreadful and uninspiring. But even then, the noises are promising. I've been playing mostly fingerstyle, and it sounds quite deep. The E-string is particularly bad on this set 'though, I can't wait to restring it. But despite the bad strings, I could get some good sounds. The slap tone was also quite good. Slapping the E was rubbish, but the A string sounded great. And pops on the G string sound powerful, with lots of body and not harsh even with the tone control fully open. I went through a whole lot of RHCP stuff with it and I really liked it, especially "Tell me baby" and "Can't stop".

I still like my Stingray a lot more, no doubt but these P-basses are pretty decent, definitely.

Oh, and the best of all???
It colour-coordinates with my new wah pedal!

[quote name='setekh' post='1115583' date='Feb 4 2011, 04:53 PM']Because I just don't get that attached to instruments. They're tools, as far as I'm concerned. As so, it will problably see a new owner if (when?) I decide I want something different, and I am not looking forward to having the value of the components depreciate that much (I have seen a few basses here shift for about a third of the street price of the individual components, which is something that puzzles me).

Besides, I try to spend as little as possible doing what are, in the grand scheme of things, small changes.[/quote]


ah, gotcha!

so you're already thinking of the day you'll let it go, eh? hmmm... what colour is yours?

I had a wee play on mine when I got home, and now I'm torn... I meant to put flats on it... but now I like the sound of roundwounds too... surely I need 2. Or three, and make one a fretless!

(no, let's be sane, I don't even like P-basses... although I'm starting to wonder now...)

[quote name='setekh' post='1115372' date='Feb 4 2011, 02:45 PM']I see we thought of the same thing Mine's on the way, too (though it's a Highway1 pup, which I'm not sure is exactly the same as the am standard).

EDIT: And I definitely didn't pay more than the bass for it. That's something I couldn't make sense of.[/quote]


why not?

it's the *total* that matters surely.
If the total cost results in a good instrument for teh money invested... why not?

I paid £40 for a used Westfield Jazz that felt and sounded great. I was amazed by how good it was. I eventually spent £135 on a used J-Retro01 preamp for it... and it's a killer bass. £175 sounds like a bargain for the amount of bass I got in teh end. No?

[quote name='ras52' post='1115265' date='Feb 4 2011, 01:46 PM']"Damn you Basschatters!" Or, "I've just made a charitable donation".

The website only had Navy Blue ones left, so that made the choice easier! However it's being delivered to my home address, so it'll probably languish in a delivery depot for quite some time before I get my hands on it.

The masterplan is to put flats and foam on it. I've got TI Jazz Flats on my fretless, but they cost more that 1/2 the price of the bass![/quote]


Mine was left at my local Post Office rather than an out of town depot... you may be lucky too

well, I got my bass this morning:





and look at that, there's a bag too, cool:





I like the handle. I'm unlikely to use this bag, but I'm touched by the fact someone thought of making the handle comfortable:





Another useless accessory: cable and strap included. The keys would be handy, although I have I don't know how many sets by now.





And here's the baby. Plastic sheet still on. The finsih is pretty good. Not as creamy as I thought, definitely white. Very white. Pickguard has a slight blue tinge. Less than this picture suggests, but it's there.





Full body. I think it's pretty. I enjoy the headstock shape and the logo, actually.





I tuned it up and had a quick try. I like it.
It has a good sound overall, although I have to adjust the pickups. The neck is slimmer than I expected, really smooth, no sharp fret ends or anything. The rosewood has a close grain and it's beautiful. I will have to set it up properly but first impressions are really very good. I would not be surprised to get this for £199... so I'm happy (so far) for £60.

The only negative point I found so far is the nut. It's been inadvertently "buzzfeitenised":



But hey, £60.

I actually *liked* playing this. More than any P-bass I've tried. Played it with my thumb whilst palm muting and that was a righteous deep thud I was getting.

The strings are way too thin 'though. And a bit rubbish.

This weekend is going to be an interesting one. Watch this space

[quote name='allighatt0r' post='1114980' date='Feb 4 2011, 09:49 AM']I can't get my E and A strings to intonate. The open string will be perfectly in tune, I'll then fret the 12th fret and it's far too high. Not sure how much further back i can move the saddles back so this could be a problem! [/quote]


try new strings, seriously.

[quote name='simon1964' post='1115004' date='Feb 4 2011, 10:18 AM']Or back again - we cover By The Way in my covers band, which is drop D, and I always forget to retune until I'm a couple of bars into the next song. With the Hipshot, one flick of the lever, and I'm back in E before the guitarist has noticed [/quote]


and THAT is the song I bought my first one for
We start our RHCP set with that, and at the end of the song, the little bit without bass I'd be retuning quickly... but sometimes I'd forget. Hipshot to the rescue!
Since then I had so many other ocassions to enjoy it.

[quote name='GreeneKing' post='1114538' date='Feb 3 2011, 09:15 PM']Guys

The strings are totally awful. Change the strings and it will make a HUGE difference believe me.

With respect to the action. I had real problems with a neck that had no stability and a trussrod that rather than reduce the relief to address the action issue actually started to come out of the back of the neck

Maybe I was unlucky (try applying pressure to the headstock and see how much the strings move away from the fretboard) but personally I found the neck to be the weak point of the bass and then again anyone can make a body and fit bits to it but making a decent neck takes a lot more skill.

Hence:



Peter[/quote]


yum!

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1114741' date='Feb 3 2011, 11:56 PM']Less than 40 quid [b]delivered[/b] from the states. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Hipshot-BT-1-Bass-Xtender-Key-CHROME-fender-MM-BT1-/270653540406?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item3f04354836"]link[/url][/quote]


THAT is the very seller I got mine from! They're even cheaper than what I remember! And they arrived quickly too.

[quote name='chilievans' post='1114299' date='Feb 3 2011, 06:42 PM']Hello all.

I'm thinking about buying a hipshot bass xtender but don't really know much about them in terms of performance and reliability? Are they worth the money and which one do I need? I'm also having trouble finding a black one

Thanks again[/quote]


I have them on several basses and love them. They work well, easily fitted and adjusted... If you want to easily change the tuning of your bottom string... this is a great tool.

What bass is it for? There are many models, in various finishes.
I bought my last two on eBay, from a US seller actually. It worked out at around £40-45, new, including delivery.

[quote name='pikeman' post='1113734' date='Feb 3 2011, 12:26 PM']My navy blue (Dark Ryder) just arrived. Came with decent gig bag, strap, lead and Allen keys.
I was surprised to find it had a maple fb as I hadn't given a preference and was expecting rosewood , which I prefer.
Both pots work well and it sounds ok-ish with the supplied strings.
The neck is nice and straight and I was amazed to find the intonation only needs a little adjustment.
The neck is a little chunky for my taste, I plan to fit a JV Squier fretless neck, let's hope it fits.
All in all, for the price of a couple of sets of strings, this really is a no brainer.
Almost forgot, the dark see-through navy gloss stain looks amazing, you can just about see the wood grain through it.
Worth the money for the body alone.

Steve.[/quote]

I'll get your maple neck off you!!!!!!!!!! pleeeease

[quote name='Bankai' post='1113733' date='Feb 3 2011, 12:25 PM']Nothing amazing, but based on what others had said I was expecting something usable.[/quote]

I am sure it will be usable.
Even if the fretwire is not the best, it will be usable. I think sometimes people look for exquisit details when it's a little out of place.
The day back in '95 when I bought my 7 year old Fiat Uno I bought a perfectly useable and nice car, it served me well. But it didn't have ABS. The gearbox was clunky. The wheel rims were not fantastic. There were vibrations/noises in the car... It was a cheap car and I loved it


That's what I was referring to.

Of course I expect something that *works*. It's sold as a guitar, not decoration. But we can't expect £600-worth quality in £60, that's all

[quote name='Bankai' post='1113573' date='Feb 3 2011, 10:28 AM']This upsets me. Generally the feedback has been good with only a couple of people reporting bad experiences.

I was planning on a tele but I'm now worried it'll not be worth the £59, what to do...[/quote]


what do you expect for £60???

Of course it's going to be a gamble. If it works well stock... bonus! If not, for those of us who like tinkering, it's another excuse to indulge.
As long as structurally is alright... I think it's worth it as a semi-blank canvas. But if I want a trouble free guaranteed good instrument, I'd be looking at a Squier or some other ceap but decent brand (Westfields are great value as far as I can tell, among others)

[quote name='Bankai' post='1113298' date='Feb 3 2011, 12:09 AM']What's the big fuss over Maple?

Surely they'll just be the same but a different colour![/quote]


maple is the new rosewood, didn't you know?

thank you for all the replies, I think I am going to give them a try!

[quote name='silentbob' post='1111898' date='Feb 2 2011, 01:08 AM']Does anybody have any experience of these bodies? Just wondeering what the quality is like.[/quote]

erm... no idea... but you ask about bodies and I get distracted by your avatar... I can't function...

Arrived home to find a note from Parcel Force. The bass is here!

Amazingly, rather than taking it back to their depot they took it to my local post office
Unlikely I'll have time tomorrow to get it... but Friday at the latest it'll be in my hands. Time to buy strings yet!

Not looking good for the maple brigade anymore:

[quote]Thank you for your message. I have been told by the warehouse that we do not have any bass guitars left with maple fingerboards.
Regards
Ilga[/quote]

I'm waiting for one of these Sue Ryder basses (and I don't even like P-basses!)
The idea for me is to put flats and possibly a foam mute at the bridge. On teh Sue Ryder trhead I saw I wasn't the only one thinking along those lines (oh, how original am I! ) and several mentioned the Rotosound black nylons. I have never tried these strings and look interesting... I was just wondering if anybody knows what length works when fitting from teh top of the bridge, as opposed as stringthrough (if it matters, I suspect it will, for the E and teh G strings).
And also about the gauge... I see the standard is 65-115, which sounds quite heavy... yet teh blurb talks about "low tension".
So what gauges do people favour here?
I tend to use 45-100/105 roundwounds on my 4-string basses.

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='1110331' date='Jan 31 2011, 10:41 PM']I can honestly say that in 30 yrs of playing in bands, the last thought on my mind when selecting a bass is, 'active/passive'! Is it playable, is it comfortable, does it sound good/bad (regardless of whether it has a battery), does it look good (honest ) ad infinitum; they all come WAY before I consider if it is 'active/passive'.[/quote]

+1000

[quote name='lettsguitars' post='1110239' date='Jan 31 2011, 09:49 PM']never needed active electronics, never will. it's just a loudness contest. used for boosting bright pickups which have less output.[/quote]


how much more misled can you get?

if you truly think it's about loudness I recommend you get out and try some active basses. They may not be for you, fine, but you'll then realise it's *not* a loudness issue.

[quote name='drewm' post='1111040' date='Feb 1 2011, 02:22 PM']Mine's white and the rosewood board looks good![/quote]


white (especially that creamy white, not snow-white) and rosewood does look great, my stratocaster is like that... but I *love* maple boards.

I asked whether they expect to have some on maple in teh future... if this bass is any good, and they get maple ones... I'm getting another one. I wanted a cheap bass to leave at my parents' place for when I visit, in Spain, and this would be perfect.



edit: got the reply. The answer is no. They are just wanting to get rid off those guitars hence the sale. Tempted to buy anotehr in any colour with maple neck just to swap... if they're any good.