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[quote name='bartelby' post='1314739' date='Jul 24 2011, 01:50 PM']I, too, am testing this theory. I collect a Stingray next weekend.[/quote] Sweet dude! wot did you go for? I ain't bin this excited since...the last time I was this excited.

[quote name='Musicman20' post='1314719' date='Jul 24 2011, 01:28 PM']I absolutely LOVE my SR5 HS, and the HH is also a brilliant beast![/quote] Well Mr Gareth I must admit it's partly your fault - wot with your gratuitous porno pictures of shiny new Sterlings etc! It's unfinished business for me too, I wanted one about ten years ago but got talked out of it. Now I'll have to shift the Lakland that I bought back then instead. And to think this time one of the dealers I mailed for prices tried to talk me out of it again (I won't name him!) - I think he was steering me towards something thru-neck and pointy too which ain't never gonna happen - not on my watch soldier!

[quote name='AREA' post='1314731' date='Jul 24 2011, 01:42 PM']Galeazzo Frudua is a, in Italy well known Bass and Guitar Luthier for more than 20 Years. In the Past he has buildt Custom High End Basses, but with the GFJ Basses he wants to bring an affordable Line, wich is buildt in Korea. That's what many Luthiers do... Such as - Lakland - Sadowsky - G&L - Ken Smith - Overwater ...tbc. That the Price stays in an affordable Range is about the Fact, that you can purchase these Basses only at Frudua direct and not in any Stores and (I'm sorry) the Fact that Gelazzo Frudua is not well known in GB means not much. Ask an Italian about Sei Basses. I bet it's the same Thing. Nontheless Sei Basses are great Instruments. I'm a Player, not a Collector and so the Name on the Headstock is more or less unimportant to me. I don't buy a Bass with its Resale Value in Mind. But like everytime. Everyone should do as he likes to.... [/quote] Yes - that is a fair point mr AREA. Thing is, the Fruduas are still the same price as the some of the far eastern offerings from those above (Skyline 44-01+55-01, Tribute L2000+2500, KSD Proto j, all the Overwater/Tanglewood Aspirations, not to mention Sterling by EBMM Rays too) despite all of this 'direct' spiel. And you then have an instrument that you have no 'local' back up for - although in my case I'm so far from a good dealer I might just as well be sending it back to Italy;) I don't think the Sadowsky Metros fit in the above list though- Japan is now at least as well regarded as a manufacturing nation as the US and Germany (and arguably more so than Italy) so a new factory-built Sadowsky Metro now costs a fair bit more than a factory-built US Fender, Musicman, G+L or a German built Sandberg. Btw in theory I LOVE Italian gear - I'm a Markbass convert.

Oh well, purely in the interests of research you understand, I'm about to find out if I agree! I expect delivery this week - 5HH in Honeyburst, Maple board and white pguard. Yup, I have finally ordered my Stingray (again bought blind due to my back-of-beyondness) having gone on about thinking about it for weeks. I was after an HS but wasn't entirely sure why, so when I found out the importer had a HH in stock - I went for that. I think it's the next stage in my oddyssey of Leo designs, having had a Js for years but then a recent P epiphany (as opposed to epiphone obv). I'll be due a G+L this time next month...

I had a look at the website for these a couple of months ago and after grabbing my attention early on I ended up filing them under the 'probabably too good to be true' category. It insinuates 'custom luthier' but doesn't seem to say categorically that they're BUILT in Italy, and if not the price falls into line with all the rest of the Korean/Indonesian/Chinese stuff. I'm not saying far eastern build is a bad thing, that stuff is often well put together, it's just that you may as well buy it from a name you recognise (with a reputation to uphold) and/or from a 'real' retailer where you can go have a fiddle with one. I'd have a very good rummage on here or Google 'em again to check for any real feedback before I put any cash into one. No offence to the talented Mr Marks (heaven forbid - I'll never forget his s.o.h failure letter in BGM when someone wrote in with a humourous sardonic retort to a jazz article he did - it had me grabbing my handbag with a pronounced 'ooooh'), but his endorsement isn't necessarily weighty enough to make me want to take a blind punt on something this mysterious. It'd need a glowing reference from Elvis himself, or perchance the Pope, to get my confidence.

Dude - there's a Tribute L2500 on here for sale at the mo - guess how much? £350! Buy it before I do ffs!

[quote name='Jigster' post='1269036' date='Jun 14 2011, 07:06 PM']EBMM all sounds a bit PRC/ GDR /USSR if you ask me.[/quote] It does but it's the unelpful proprietor thing that concerns me most. For all the personality-led businesses that you hear good customer service stories from (I'm thinking of the 'helpful company-owner replied personally' style stories I've heard about people like Dan Lakin/Rob Green/Chris May/Mark Gooday) you don't hear many on the flipside that are [i]so[/i] bad that the guy in charge pitches in with the abuse on the in-house forums !!! Whatever happened to 'customer's always right?' Any factory-style production facility can get things wrong but it's how they put it right after that's really important (excuse cliche). I hope you'll be kind enough to keep us informed on how you get on, I was seriously on the verge of buying a five string Stingray or Sterling but I'll hang back for a bit - this doesn't exactly inspire confidence! I'm off to research other QC complaints on here about EBMM.

[quote name='dc2009' post='1270556' date='Jun 15 2011, 07:52 PM']if someone handed you an ibanez at a gig, I don't think any player would struggle to get on with it or particularly dislike how it played or looked![/quote] I know this is drifting off topic, but I haven't seen an Ibanez I LIKED the look of apart from the one that looked like a p-bass in the 80s. Therefore never even picked one up to know how they play. Shallow I know. For that matter, same goes for Warwicks. So drifting back very nearly onto topic, I also remember reading an interview on Andrew Levy (who I always really liked) where he basically raved about his old Fenders but politely and briefly namechecked a Warwick 5-string he was offered an endorsement on - almost as if he didn't have the heart to turn it down. Judging by the ads overpopulated with 'b-list' names that Warwick used to plaster about the mags I wonder if they were just milking the 'likely to be grateful' brigade. Maybe that's harsh - I'm sure they're lovely instruments and everything... Come to think of it, that was around the time retro gear was coming back in so maybe they were already feeling unfashionable and were just trying too hard.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1269061' date='Jun 14 2011, 07:23 PM']err...yes they did! Dirk Lance of Incubus, P-Nut of 311, Sam Rivers of Limp Bizkit, Paul Gray of Slipknot etc etc. They had loads of exposure and not just the big names but loads of crap players from crap bands like Traa Daniels of...that band he used to play for. The name escapes me but they sucked.[/quote] Was it p.o.d? or p.o.a? I'd never have heard of them if it wasn't for the endless warwick ads in mags like bass player full of other endorsees I'd never heard of.

[quote name='farmer61' post='1268758' date='Jun 14 2011, 03:32 PM']No-one would take responsibility and I asked a genuine question (started off nice and polite) on the forum and got grief for it, even from a gent called Sterling....hence no MM products. The OP mentioned doing this in post #1, hence my reply.[/quote] This is all making the US MM owners' forum sound like a bit of a cult... and the aforementioned gent sound a total cult. Dammit, and I was teetering on the brink of buying one. Somebody talk me back into it quick!

[quote name='jonno1981' post='1268621' date='Jun 14 2011, 01:50 PM']That would be me! The shop went under sadly but we had made the decision to stop stocking Warwick's some time in the past. Whenever we would get inquiries from customers I would get to the meat of the conversation (price) and people were shocked with the prices we were quoting (and they were competitive!!!!). Put simply they priced themselves out of the market to customers. Every 6 months for 2 year period the cost price to dealers went up by 10-15% a time. As a dealer the commitment of goods you have to take on to be a Warwick Centre was prohibitive and unaffordable for us. To offer any German made Warwick's at all you had to have at least 12 in stock and a Hellborg system. Warwick offer no kind of credit account so you have to have the cash up front to pay for £20-30K of goods. The product is fantastic, the quality better than ever but at the prices they are now there isn't enough of a customer base to support sales at the prices they have set. £2.5k plus for neck through 5 string?? Double buck's with no options for over £1100?? That's why there isn't a UK dealer base anymore. Sad really coz the basses are great but at a time when the second hand value is so poor it's very hard to justify buying a new instrument. It was especially frustrating for us as we had always done well with the brand with many customers ordering custom shop instruments but we simply couldn't afford to keep stocking them. Oh and Sime I mentioned I had a white scratchplate for the DJ5 knocking around somewhere - I've found it. PM me if you want it and I'll drop it in the post.[/quote] What are the chances Jon! There goes the anonymity (hope the witness protection scheme has more success!) - In the post (I was typing as you were doing yours) I even tried to depict a huggy-bear figure in an attempt to muddy the trail.... By the shop went under I hope you don't you mean recently?! Bugger me - just been to look online and you DO mean recently! Really sorry to hear it dude, hope you got something else goin on. And I never did come back for that Tanglewater but then not back been to see me outlaws Reading since...

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' date='Jun 14 2011, 03:09 AM' post='1268148'] (I'm not sure if it's got to be the hellbord specifically, but definitely amps are involved). My 'source' named the Hellborg stuff specifically- just before he went back to his daily business of polishing shoes/pimping/selling class 'a's or whatever it is sources do these days.

Mr May sir - I feel really bad now ! Really, no criticism intended other than the respectful and constructive kind! It speaks volumes of you and your company that you've taken the time to post this response personally. Any of us who've seen the Aspirations in the flesh, played or bought them, must congratulate you guys for bringing us some great, affordable instruments that are still worthy of the brand- I'm not surprised they've flown off the shelves. I guess it's just a little frustrating (for me) that the Contemporary J [i]could [/i]be exactly what I'm looking for but isn't available in a finish that appeals to me. Hey ho - you can't please everyone. It's also a little frustrating that these days whilst we are overindulged by information on this interwebthingy, one occasionally still finds it hard to get recent info on gear you're either immediately interested in or aspire to. It's probably a symptom of your core business being as successful as it is (there's obviously little point in advertising the custom builds if you're already doing as many as you can handle!) but down at the 'consumer' factory-produced end we're all spoiled by a slick websites, lots of choice and lots of stock. Regretably, regardless of what new finishes it may bring, I'm afraid I might miss the boat on the 3rd run of Aspirations as I feel an imminent 5 string purchase coming on. I'm sure you know what us guys are like from doing custom builds - once you've set your heart on a certain look and colour...and in the 500 to 1500 squids price range there are plenty of good quality options about. It could well end up being 'my loss' though! PS - I hope this hasn't buggered my chances of coming to you for a custom p/j 5 string one day - which I fully intend to do when I can eventually afford one!

[quote name='mart' post='1267468' date='Jun 13 2011, 04:08 PM']I'd heard that Warwick were putting many more conditions on shops before allowing them to be Warwick dealers. As a result there are very few dealers in the UK at the moment. In fact, now that I look it up, according to the Warwick site there is only one "true" Warwick dealer in the UK: Bass Merchant. But there are many dealers for the Korean Pro series or the Chinese Rockbasses.[/quote] I had a chat about a month ago with a (ex Warwick) dealer - who will again remain nameless (lovely guy tho - actually bought his old dj5 off him as a private sale and still have it...anyway, i digress)... We started off talking about Lakland in the UK and how the exchange rate was killing it for the former importer but he went on to say that Warwick was another one that was once ubiquitous but is now hard to find new and basically for the reason Mart explained. He expanded further on this - one of the 'conditions' is that prospective dealers of Warwick basses are expected to [i]stock[/i] and push their Hellborg amps as well. Now I'm sure they're wonderful devices but they are incredibly expensive (imho) and aesthetically a bit 'individual' so dealers must be a tad cautious about that. Plus it seems they are pretty 'old school heavy' - at a time when a lot of us are discovering that with the new generation neo magnets and switching power amps, hernias no longer come as standard... I can therefore understand why dealers aren't keen. I've never owned (or wanted) a Warwick but to me they are a bit 'interchangeable' with Spectors, pointy Sandbergs, natural-finish Yammies and the like - so maybe dealers are also finding it easy to offer other brands that fit the bill. But then, wtf do I know? I'm one of those phillistines that only likes basses that look like Leo designed them

Lovin those - nice 'shopping skills sir! I wish Mr Sheldon would more styles (like the super-j - or one of these!) in the combustion range tho - there's some of us that have a hard time justifying £2k-plus price tags!!!

+1 for cv60 - I've had one for a week and I'm fast becoming a cv60 bore. t's a very cheap way of dipping a toe in 'p' waters without sacrificing on sound or kwalidee too much.

[quote name='Bassist677' post='1263406' date='Jun 9 2011, 10:52 PM']Ordered an Aspiration Elite 5 string from my local music shop but still waiting....and waiting. They have a range of 4 strings but no 5's as yet....Does anyone know if there any out there? And the limited editions....are they available yet....money's waiting! V frustrating. Cheers [/quote] Me too - I'd have bought a contemporary j5 months ago if there was more of a colour choice. I played one and I was impressed, but the blueburst (tho quite muted) doesn't really do it for me, 3tsb would have clinched it, and I'd have liked rosewood board too. I know that they're testing the water with these products first before complicating the build with too many options, but I think just a bit more choice would help clinch a few more sales. But I think the worst thing about Overwater is the terrible lack of info. These Aspiration basses themselves seemed to take months and months to get to market and there was only the odd titbit of info in the mags. Their website is never updated - I'm sure it's cos th team is busy crafting their gorgeous top end stuff by hand, but it can't cost that much to get a geek* in to update the website once a fortnight surely? *- no offence to geeks natch.

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='1260998' date='Jun 8 2011, 11:43 AM']Welcome to the CV club. After spending (and wasting) a good few £1000 over the past few years (including a lot on a DJ5 P/J conversion) i really wish i had got my CV P a lot earlier. Im still very tempted to get a P-Retro (that video has convinced me i will get one some day) but at the moment im still not 100% im keeping the CV P as i still dont love the colour. It wont stop me from using and loving the bass itself, but after seeing the White Matt Freeman P im convinced my CV P isnt going to make it till the end of the year.[/quote] S'funny - I would never have chosen this colour (partic. if sunburst had been an option) but it started growing on me (from the pics - never saw one in the flesh)- and when it arrived it's such a pleasant surprise that it's so nicely finished. I 'spose the tortoiseshell is a bit cheap close up but at gig-distance I think this bass looks the nuts - you didn't see many p basses in this combination either (until this model came out!).

That is gorgeous - I'm really starting to GAS for one of these (or a Stingray 5) and it would have to be exactly that colour choice, and pickup config. I think one of these could actually cure me of my long-clinged-to 35-inch 5 strings addiction... There's just such a cool aesthetic about Stingrays and Sterlings with that contouring etc - and they always seem so nicely put together and finished.

Hmm, I'm a passive kind of guy (generally) so dunno about the p-retro but I can see me doin pots and pickup eventually. Still lovin the new toy tho and spending an unhealthy amount of time in its company... the laquer on the neck and headstock is so thick it's practically frikkin edible I can understand Mr Wazoo's addiction ... mmmm CV 51 P with just that neck single coil.....