Ou7shined

[quote name='dirtylittleherbert' post='597148' date='Sep 13 2009, 10:58 AM']Cheers for ya help man, are fake MM's a common thing then? Or can I be relatively confident about buying one from ebay? Little bit worrying that this one was only bought 10 weeks ago and now he wants rid of.[/quote] One of the first things to look out for is that the bridge is stamped "MusicMan". MM bridges tend to last the lifetime of the bass and are seldom swapped out so 2nd hand ones are rare. If someone has re-badged an OLP for example it stands out a mile if the bridge (and tuners) aren't embossed. Stingrays are a bit "Marmite". I believe mainly because they can sound a little "pinched" when played in a bedroom situation. I find it entirely possible that the guy got it home and found the sound wasn't for him. Maybe he didn't get a chance to put it in a live band situation or record with it because that where they really excel to the max. It's a shame really as he paid £850 for it himself and he's gonna take a quite a hit if this sells. Have you see [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=58553&hl"]this[/url]? It's not a 100% pure blood but £500 posted is pretty feckin' good.

MM prices go up and down like a $2 whore at the fairground. If you hold back long enough you'll bag a beauty for 600. At the moment 650-750 is about right.

Looks good to me. The starting price is a bit mean though - MMs will generally sell at market value even with a start of 99p. 725 + p&p is approaching top dollar.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='596971' date='Sep 13 2009, 12:29 AM']I tuned ADGC, mostly used those lows for loads of bottom, if I was ever actually [color="#FF0000"][b]playing notey stuff[/b], [/color]I'd be playing in standard bass range. In all the pics you can see me fretting around the 7th fret. Big giant custom tapered newtone strings and lots of speakers.[/quote] Finally, someone talking in a language I can understand.

ARIA PRO II 2 MAB-20/5 MAGNA SERIES 5 STRING - looks like it might go for less than it aught to. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ARIA-PRO-II-2-MAB-20-5-MAGNA-SERIES-5-STRING-BASS_W0QQitemZ130328550674QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item1e582fdd12&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]linky[/url] 1 hour remaining!

I agree with the OP. I suspect that there is a curved graph that represents the advancements and desirability against the value of a bass (or any object for that matter). It would start out very steep then gradually curve over until it is perfectly flat - at which point no matter how much money you throw at it the bass can't be improved at all. We all find our respective places along the curve governed by 2 factors (I haven't thought this through so there might be more). I have a couple of mid to good basses which are at my limit budget wise and I suppose they'd sit highish up on the steep part of the graph. However, I once played this one particular bass and I instantly felt at one with it. It just felt right. I suppose it would sit somewhere where the line starts to curve around. I'll never be able to afford that bass. It's exclusivity commands a price that I'd personally find hard to justify paying. Lastly, I think we'd all love to have a perfect sounding bass but something I've noticed is (and this excludes vintage priced basses) as the value increases the craftsmanship and sound quality of a bass increases too but as the clarity of sound is achieved the less you can get away with regarding sloppy technique. As your technique improves you reach a point where your playing allows you to go to the next level of instrument - because that instrument allows you to be more expressive. So again you gravitate to your desired point along the curve, this time governed by skill level rather than the thickness of your wallet. Although there is the school of thought that says that if you play instruments that are beyond your ability then it forces you to get better so as not to sound like a twat. Isn't there some sort of business idiom that states that when people get promoted they are always promoted to one position above their ability but one day you stop getting promoted - at which point everything is run by incompetents. I'm rambling now - I'm too tired to edit out the waffle - I hope I made my point. Peace out. edit : corrected the spelling but left the waffle in.

Orion has been one of my favs since I was a wee bairn.

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='596208' date='Sep 12 2009, 12:37 AM']Although I may be wildly mistaken, it seems to me that many general interest guitar forums are wildly uninformative and full of crazed illiterates flaming each other about their musical tastes (kinda like BC Off-Topic after the pubs chuck out). TDPRI is truly excellent for Teles.... ....As with many such forums, the membership tends to be more USA-based - and the depth of knowledge is outstanding.[/quote] +1 to guitar forums +1 to TDPRI too. They're actually quite partial to a tele bass (or a '51 P) now and then too.

I'm normally tuned C#G#C#F#.... you tell me

I grew up listening to drummers who play musically and with set phrases, likes of Bill Ward, Nick Mason etc. so I have a penchant for fluid drum lines. When watching bands (as no one is interested in hearing what you have to say about the bass) I feel more inclined to praise drum technique, sound or lack thereof and don't pay much attention to guitars or vox. Basically I find interesting drumming interesting.

Well, if your passing through Aberdeen give us a shout and we can go for a pint and chat bass - specifically 50's P's. Come to think of it, I'll be down your neck of the woods (ish) at the end of Oct for the Moffat bass bash.

[quote name='Delberthot' post='595158' date='Sep 10 2009, 09:52 PM']If I hadn't already taken delivery of a V-type combo and just bought a 2103H tonight I would be all over this one. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Trace-Elliot-Bass-stack-300W-Pre-Gibson-Solid-Loud_W0QQitemZ140345244025QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL?hash=item20ad3a7979&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Trace-Elliot-Bass-st...id=p3286.c0.m14[/url] almost exactly what I used to use - I had a vinyl covered 7210H & 1048H setup[/quote] Humph! That's practically England. Not that I'd be interested in TE anyway. Good price though.

[quote name='Clarky' post='594923' date='Sep 10 2009, 05:18 PM']I can partly answer 1 and 3 I use Stringsdirect for my TI Flats - always deliver fast I have used TI Flats on 2009 Fender Am Std Precisions (which have string through bodies) with no problems[/quote]Cheers bro. You could quickly tune your bass as above and go for the grand slam. :brow: Do you use standard length?

First off, best place/price for LaBella (snigger - sorry that sounds plain rude to me :blush: ) and Thomastik flats online? I checked out Stringbusters but they are out of TI's Secondly, this bass is usually tuned a semitone lower and D tuned (E down to C#) would this be too much for Ti's tension-wise. Lastly, anyone using string through body have problems with string length with any of the above brands? Cheers. Rich.

I'll say. Also it's good to see a Seafoam Green not wrongly described as Surf Green for a change.