icastle

[quote name='Cameronj279' timestamp='1430609508' post='2763107'] It must be pretty awful being a first time poster trying to sell something on here (anywhere online really). I understand why people tread with caution (I do as well) but for those I wonder how many genuine sellers have had to reduce their asking price just because of having no posts. [/quote] The one and only time I tried to buy something on eBay I was literally told to p*ss off by the seller as I hadn't got enough feedback points or whatever they're called. I got what I was looking for elsewhere, for less money, and have never used eBay since.

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1430609364' post='2763103'] I take it that posting in the marketplace is a bit like off topic, it doesn't show on the post count? [/quote] Yep. I was just looking at a 'zero post' account who has successfully been selling expensive basses on here since 2012 without any issues whatsoever.

[quote name='The Badderer' timestamp='1430609194' post='2763102'] i have to say i do find all those 1st time posters trying to flog a £3-5K bass from somewhere in Europe a bit depressingly funny, it's not like anyone is actually going to stupid enough to buy one, but my worry is that at some point some poor trusting sod is going to get done out of a ton of cash. [/quote] When a deal goes 'bad' I tend to get involved in looking at the technicalities of what has gone on. I can categorically say that the vast majority of those are UK based. Without wanting to sound like a spin doctor, BassChat is [b]the[/b] biggest bass website in Europe and it's where first time sellers are going to head if they've got something a little bit specialised to sell and are looking to advertise it to a wider audience. Speaking personally, I might advertise an item on a 'foreign' website and rely on Google translate to do a half decent job, but it'd be pretty impossible to interact on the rest of the site. It's hard enough doing that as a native in some threads. One thing that has changed the scene dramatically over the past few years is the chargeable adverts. Most opportunist ripoff merchants won't invest money for an advert and get caught at the first hurdle when they try to beat the payment gateway. When we introduced chargeable ads I was seeing about 6 attempts to do that each day, I don't see 6 a month now. Obviously, there are always going to be exceptions so if a deal looks too good to be true then it probably isn't.

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1430608577' post='2763098'] There's another thread that seems rather similar. http://basschat.co.uk/topic/261185-sadowsky-modern-5-25-nyc/ May well be genuine, but all the posts are from first time posters. [/quote] All good on that one.

Have no fear, it's already on the 'things to do' list.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1430580686' post='2762831'] Yes. I'd say this was definitely behind the beat, too: [/quote] I often am, but that's an age thing mostly...

Generally, playing 'before' or 'after' the beat is only a gap about the size of a gnats willy, but it does change the overall feel of the piece. It's one of those things that are incredibly frustrating to get to grips with initially, but are dead easy once you've got the hang of it.

The 'catch' is that general use multimeters measure DC resistance and speaker impedance is based on AC resistance, so there's no accurate way of measuring it without the proper equipment. But (), IME, if you're reading 6 ohms, it's actually an 8 ohm speaker.

[quote name='Old_Ben' timestamp='1430570752' post='2762722'] There are several of those threads popping up in the for sale section [/quote] Often there's nothing untoward going on, but sometimes there is. If you see something suspicious then let me know, hit the report button or just drop me a PM and I'll look into it. I'd rather look into a thousand false alarms than have a 'con' slip through the net.

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1430571332' post='2762724'] Maybe a mod with IP address skills (hello icastle!) could do a bit of digging? [/quote] Hello I have discovered a few unlikely coincidences in that thread that will need to be explained before it is unlocked again.

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1430500975' post='2762141'] That's interesting? (and confusing). [/quote] Not the first time I've been described like that. To get two speakers in parallel you can either join them together at the speaker end or the socket end. Joining them at the speaker end in a front loaded cab is more awkward than just gathering the two cables at the backplate and soldering them in one hit. It also means that you still have a connection to one speaker if one of the cables fails.

[quote name='FlatEric' timestamp='1430547965' post='2762436'] You are right about the attention to detail - if you did follow the link I put up, you can see the allen key that screws out of the body - The string retainer and bridge, seem to be custom made for this bass. The pick-ups (don't know what they are yet) have got custom wooden covers. [/quote] Digging into the back of my memory, and taking into account that you're talking to a man who can't remember what he had for dinner last night... I think the 'default' pickups on Reeves were DiMarzios. The choice of hardware back in the 80s was very limited compared to today, and there was no internet to track down awkward items, so a lot of it was produced 'in house'. The name 'Jez Reeves' keeps coming to mind, but there's no easy way of checking that as he died long before the internet got popular. A lot of the electronic parts would have come from Hobbs Components on King Street, but they've gone since the owner, Tom McDougal, died about 15 years ago.

Blimey, it was a long time ago but I lived in Luton back in the 80's. I worked in a music shop for while back then and can remember a Greek guy (Dimetrious?) who did some work with Santana having a Reeve guitar made. It was a Les Paul type body with the rounded top carved into a decorative swirl, all inlaid with mother of pearl, and the fretboard having a snake inlaid into it. It took about 4 months to make and, back then, cost somewhere in the region of £2000. To put that into proportion, a brand new Fender PB was about £800 back then. He used to use a Studiomaster combo, designed by John Gittins and manufactured in Chaul End (on the outskirts of Luton). I'd never seen or heard anything like that pairing and haven't since.

I remember them. They were very well known in the Luton music scene back in the 80's and had a workshop next to their house on Gooseberry Hill. Their attention to detail was truly astounding for the time and, as a fresh faced teen, owning a Reeve was high up on my list of 'must haves'. Sadly that never happened.

If we stick to facts and stay well away from hearsay and libel then there's not a problem.

One pair of cables for each speaker. They're wired in parallel at the socket end, presumably to make manufacture a bit quicker and easier.

Hartke had numerous problems with dry joints some time ago. I've found that the easiest way to track them down is to very carefully tap around the inside of the amp with something non conductive until the problem starts or stops and investigate from that point. Once you've found the specific area then just desolder and resolder everything around it - these boards are sent through a solder bath after assembly, so chances are that there'll be more than one crap joint there.

Well the serial number matches the description insofar as its a 97/98 California model. From what I can gather, the parts were US made whilst the assembly was done in Mexico on these.

I've always been quite lucky insofar as I've almost always been part of an 'incestuous' scene where auditions are for 'outsiders', which I'm generally not. Of the auditions I have been required to do, I simply ask if they rehearse in suits or jeans. It immediately gives the message that I'm comfortable in either, am looking to fit in from day one and, at worst, have a sense of humour.

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1430203969' post='2758783'] This for me would be the main thing as I suspect a lot of us work to a budget when GAS strikes. As we have the sale/trade value field that is set and (I think) cannot be changed, could this be used as some sort of filter? [/quote] Where we are at the moment, that'd work but it wouldn't be reliable. The catch would be that if someone reduced the price of an item and it then fell into a lower price bracket, the 'fixed' field wouldn't allow the sale to 'move' into the lower price search results. Over the last 12 months or so, we've kept notes of requests/bugs/ideas and a better search facility was one of the top requested items. We've been testing some new forum software so watch this space.

On a purely personal level, I pretty much detest half the material I end up playing and am ambivalent towards the other half. On a professional level, as long as the audience like it, then I'll play it without hesitation or complaint.

[quote name='bassface2k10' timestamp='1429963136' post='2756732'] A little bit of digging around threw up this extension http://community.invisionpower.com/files/file/4037-classifieds/?page=2 and this as an example of it in action, parts are ugley but not beyond some hacking of the CSS :-) https://www.pro-bike.ro/forums/classifieds/category/14-motocross-trial/?sort_key=price&sort_order=desc [/quote] If you stick to COTS packages you have a clear upgrade path for future releases. As soon as you go down the customisation path you are in for serious pain every time a minor upgrade is issued and that soon outweighs the, usually minor, benefits associated with that customisation. We're going through some minor 'decustomisation' here at the moment and it's erm... 'interesting'. ..

[quote name='3below' timestamp='1429737681' post='2754535'] Inserting jack plugs in and out a few times will fix that issue (if it is that issue), this will remove any oxide layer that has developed on the socket contacts. If you were keen you could put some contact cleaner (e.g. Servisol) on the jack plug before insertion. [/quote] +1 If it is the send/return loop and the above doesn't fix it, you have a couple of options. Either get the sockets replaced/resoldered or, as you don't use it anyway, just get a patch cable and leave it permanantly connected between the two sockets.