danhkr

Give me a great band over the pomp and production any day, but took the missus to the Manchester show and for what it was, it was great. It's not everyone's thing and I imagine it wouldn't appeal to most on BC, but I'd rather see this sort of gig than some crooners like westlife sat on stools singing ballads all night. [u]In their field[/u] Take That are certainly the best. As for the actual 'band', it's funny that for 99% of the punters they probably went completely unnoticed, yet it's the type of gig where the pressure to perform absolutely perfectly must be so high.

Yeah, decent enough guitars, but more-or-less identical to MIM standards of the time and probably not as good as more recent ones.

Yes, c'mon we need pics! Actually don't bother, I'd love a white EBMM with matching headstock and this might just tip me over the edge.

[quote name='Davout' timestamp='1323853470' post='1467681'] It seems Fender are messing about with the logos. These are [b]'Made in China'[/b] just like the SQUIER Classic Vibe range ! I guess it is a marketing ploy to get the impression that you are getting maybe a higher quality instrument for more money. So maybe they are of Classic Vibe quality, but having the big 'F' logo, they can charge an extra £100 ? Don't get me wrong, I love the CV range, & have three of them already, but at around £300 each, whereas the RRP price for these 'Modern Players' is £526. Check out the reviews in 'Guitarist' mag for Jan 2012. Tony. [/quote] My modern player jag bass was £369, the CV Jazz was £349.

[quote name='cytania' timestamp='1323723917' post='1466343'] When I started this thread I picked Ashdown sort of at random, well it had to be a curent cheap bass head - could have been the Hartke 2500 but ooh, is there a lack of love in the room for Ashdown. Think I'll give them a wide berth... [/quote] Well, slightly OT, but to offer an alternative, nearly 2 years ago I replaced an 18 month old SWR WP400 with an Ashdown ABM500 and along with the Ashdown tone being infinitely better (IMO of course), I've not had a single issue with it. The SWR on the other hand was returned twice under warranty. Granted, I'm not a huge fan of the SWR tone, but I wouldn't let one bad experience with one amp put me off a brand for life like many seem to. Search long enough on this forum and you'll find equal measures of pro's and con's for most companies; I've always found its best to find these things out for yourself.

[quote name='Slipperydick' timestamp='1322825511' post='1456249'] I didnt really take offense. Yeah, you can get better strings by paying more, but a lot more. But expensive aint always the best value, depends what your after. Pay a couple of grand for a Bass and it will, I hope, be better than a Squier, but whether its a couple of grands worth better depends what you want and how deep your pockets are, plus of course how sure you are that your not just buying for the brand name. For some reason Rotos are not as good as they used to be - unless of course theres a factory in China somewhere thats selling counterfiet ones, and thats what I've been getting - Last 3 sets I bought went dead in a month or so, where they usually lasted a lot longer. I agree, most cheap strings are what you expect, and often vary from set to set as well. The ones in the O.P are, in my opinion anyway, good for the price. I got 2 different guage sets on different Basses and they both seem to be lasting well. [/quote] Oh I totally agree about paying for brands etc. For example the Picatos and particularly the new Fenders I mentioned are as good in my opinion as Slinkys and D'Addarios, yet half the price. In fact the only set I'd pay more for are probably the most expensive ie. Elixir, and that's because they genuinely are the very best I've tried.

Just to echo what most people are saying here, special limited 'Anniversary' editions and models could possibly go up in value, but standard stuff that just happened to be released in an anniversary year won't. The neck plate is a nice touch, but claiming it will increase in value is just salesman BS I'm afraid. Good basses though.

[url="http://www.fender.com/en-GB/products/modernplayer/models.php?prodNo=0241702"]http://www.fender.co...?prodNo=0241702[/url] Lovely bass, and not a fortune either.

[quote name='Slipperydick' timestamp='1322766474' post='1455686'] [color=#0000cd][i][b]"I've never seen a set of strings that come individually wrapped in those plastic wrappers that are any good. I'm sure [u]they all come from the same factory and they've all been equally bad[/u]". [/b][/i][/color] Aaww C'mon. I'm not the kind to take the moral highground. I just didnt like the way you appeared to rubbish what I said about these strings without actually trying them. [/quote] No offence intended and I wasn't trying to rubbish what you said about these strings, I was just been honest; I really have never seen a decent set at that price (Alice included) and they all tend to be packaged like that. That puts me off; 'once bitten...' and all that. It was more a comment on dirt cheap strings in general rather than this particular set. I'll be honest, I probably won't try them. For the reason above and also because I know that for that much again I could get some Picatos or Fenders which I know are great. If you say these are different and they work for you at a fiver, you've unearthed a bargain. I'd never criticise you for using them or anyone else for trying them, it's just in my experience there's usually a reason that very cheap strings are very cheap.

[quote name='Slipperydick' timestamp='1322345835' post='1449850'] Seem to be a lot of people on here with a bit of a blinkered view. I dont like all cheap strings, but I like the ones in my first post, and one or two other cheap brands are Ok as well. Its down to personal taste I know, but comments like 'Strings in plastic wrappers are usually no good'..... aww c'mon. I can remember when there wasnt so much choice, so I used Rotos or Fenders for years, even Picato were good at one time then Elites or Warwicks, I dont like Hartkes, or Slinkys. and Rotos dont seem so good anymore to me for some reason. Not ALL cheap strings are crap, Same as not ALL expensive ones are great. But in the spirit of the forum, if I, or anyone else finds something thats good AND cheap, then I reckon Its kind of a duty to passs the info on. [/quote] I must have tried half a dozen different 'brands' of dirt cheap strings in the past and they've all been rough and clanky before going dead pretty quickly. The fact that nearly all of them have been packaged internally like the ones you've shown is purely an observation. In the spirit of the forum, Im simply offering an opinion based on my experience. I never said 'all' cheap strings are crap, in fact I suggested some great strings that aren't exactly a fortune. I have no issue with anyone recommending anything, but please don't ask a question and take the moral high ground when you get an answer.

I've never seen a set of strings that come individually wrapped in those plastic wrappers that are any good. I'm sure they all come from the same factory and they've all been equally bad. You can get some great strings for not a fortune (the new Fenders for example at around £13 a set are excellent) but I like Elixir, they easily last me a year of gigging and rehearsing in two bands. Although expensive the outlay is less often, as is the ball-ache of changing strings.

Was sceptical about yet another series of odd instruments from Fender (I wholeheartedly agree they make far too much now) but picked up the Jaguar bass from this series yesterday and it's really, really good. As others have said they're Chinese and bare more than a passing resemblance to the excellent Squier Classic Vibe series. Similar (maybe even a slightly better) standard of finishing, same gloss neck tint and the fairly chunky bridge they use on the CVs. The neck profile is great and the P/J pickups are more than adequate. The Jazz and Tele basses are a bit more expensive, but this was around the same price as the Squier CV's with the added kudos of the Fender brand and offering the P/J pickup option. Also at half the price of the MIJ Jag and with very little in it between the two, a really superb guitar for the money.

....yes it was

Ady sold me an Ashdown ABM head at a great price and although wanted collection, agreed to pack and ship it which was really good of him. Top Basschatter! Thanks again!

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1319283330' post='1412198'] I'd like to know how involved the BM are in this, especially as the original order was place with them. In my experience that's the first, and should be the only point of contact, [/quote] Absolutely, a customer should not have to go to the wholesaler, they should simply register their complaint with the dealer and the dealer should sort the issue out with the wholesaler. Seems absolutely bizarre that the only 'party' working to sort this out is actually the customer. MM20, it's not your responsibility to chase S&T up, it should be BM because that is who you have bought the item from.

I suspect if anyone finds a good EBMM unusable, it says more about them than it does the guitar. In all fairness though, it's a good thing when companies come along and try to be innovative - certainly beats the crap out of wading through hundreds of fender clones - but the vast majority of great bass players and bass lines were around long before the 'fanned fret' system. To me it's an interesting alternative rather than an improvement. As for the OP, really disappointing to hear EBMM have let a duffer slip through the net. Always a risk buying unseen, but you expect top notch build quality to be a given with them. Hope you get sorted out and they make some sort of an effort to make up for it.

I use Elixir 50-105, but that is as heavy as they go and most shops don't stock them. I wouldn't recommend using any other 'coated' string as (IME) Elixirs are the only ones that really 'work' well enough to be worth the extra expenditure, but there's plenty of other good uncoated strings that go heavier. EB Power Slinkys lasted me quite a while and they are 55-110, and I think DR do some drop tuning sets which may be worth you looking into. Also it's well worth improving the life of your strings by getting into the habit of cleaning them after use (takes less than a minute to give them a rub down with fast fret).