ash

I've been in touch about the neck condition on this but no answer yet, going to have a bid as it looks decent enough.

"I was looking at compare the market.com and I've found this 0% balance transfer it will save us money and increase our credit rating anyway I thought I may as well max out our credit card to get the best value from the deal - and look I got you this cute meerkat toy as part of the introductory offer......"

I believe many people buy (and in some cases sell) these things in good faith when they may be getting a 'bitsa' or out and out fake. It is hard to tell so I think its best to post on here to get a few opinions.

The decal looks too fine, the nut is black - though of course could be a replacement. There appears to be trussrod access at the headstock end ( look at the pic of the headstock to see this ) and the wood grain looks rather flawed for a modern US Fender.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FENDER-PRECISION-BASS-GUITAR-SEYMOUR-DUNCAN-BASSLINES-LEO-FENDER-/151113714765?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item232f144c4d Something not quite right here methinks

[quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1378157642' post='2196524'] I nearly had one myself I played it and loved it but the guy who I was going to get it from messed me about so it did not happen but yeah there nice basses and I think you will like it ash [/quote] As feared I don't get on with the skimpy neck although I love the sound and versatility of the extra boost on the tone control. I've put it on the for sale section as a feeler. My other option is to put on an old JV Precision neck I have - if it fits!

Note that they are 'preorder' - apparently there have been delays in getting the new stock into UK stores according to a thread about these basses elsewhere on the forum. I did try emailing them and haven't heard back yet, I rang another shop and they said they weren't expecting in until October! By the way if you Google them most are priced at around £276ish.

Gibson Grabber!

Well I have really enjoyed playing this bass the few days I've owned it. The construction is excellent, it balances perfectly and is nice and light. Sound wise it is just like any good jazz bass but the addition of the mid push/pull boost on the tone pot gives a lot of more modern tonal options. The neck is thin and I've read that these are very similar to the fabled preCBS Jazz necks, dunno about that but it does feel very comfy to play. I'm yet to gig it and will use it this weekend, I'm a little worried that the neck maybe too slender as I am used to playing my '70s P basses and my old double bass.....this feels like a toy in comparison! If you are a Jazz bass fan though I'd certainly recommend this version.

There is a small access hole in the back plate to adjust a screw presumably for the preamp.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1377763465' post='2191371'] I could have sworn he was using an SD Curlee when I saw them live in 1980. [/quote] There's an article and picture about Philip Moxham here - looks like he'd chopped the top horn off the 40/40 to get rid of some of the weight! He uses other basses these days but all the early eps are on the Hayman - http://www.youngmarblegiants.com/livebbc.html

If you listen to The Young Marble Giants you can hear a Hayman 40/40 as this was the only bass used on the early stuff there's even a track named in homage to the instrument.

I've been in touch as Im a bit of a Shergold/Hayman fan - I was offered one recently but it had been messed about with and defretted. These are nice instruments.

If you can't find anything UK made Schaller are the obvious European choice

Here's my Custom Masquerader with string trees as a comparison, mine's pretty beaten up but still plays and sounds well.....for a guitar that is!

I just bought one of these for less than a secondhand MIM Jazz has anyone any thoughts about them? I know they are designed by Gary Levinson but are a cheaper version of his Jazz model.

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1377386859' post='2187066'] I can't believe there were only 4 made. I had one and Andy Pask from Landscape reviewed one in Musicians Only Mag (I think..) back in the day. I converted mine to long scale and added a Gotoh soapbar humbucker at the bridge. Sold it to guy who came up from Bristol. Quite a sweet sounding bass. [/quote] The information came from the original owner who had it from new and the Shergold forum. There was a thread about the numbers of production model Shergold Marathon 6 strings made and co founder Norman Houlder reckoned around 100. The fretless version was made as a very small run and few have survived in their original fretless form. I can see why they were converted to fretted instruments as intonation is very difficult on a shortscale fretless instrument when playing chords! There are quite a few post production basses made up from 'new old' factory stock in existence. In all honesty I was going to have mine converted to a fretted but was dissuaded as it is such a rare thing. There is a scan of the Andy Pask review on the Shergold site here - http://www.shergold.co.uk/archive.html#2d25ff7705f2ae29a3018064a9f6e4ca

This is my Shergold fretless 6 String Marathon apparently one of only four ever made two of which are now fretted!

I decided to give this a good clean and set up - I took the neck off and found the original matching serial sticker in the neck pocket. Amongst the usual Fender stamps I also found this signature on the neck heel in marker pen......