booboo

So long as you bear in mind they will have a preset break angle at the bridge end and where the first coil goes into the peg and stick with that to avoid breaks or twists it should be fine.

I think PC & RC reached the point where fingers/ears/theory all gell and work together. I'm still trying to get there (like a moth trying to fly into a light bulb!), but sometimes it happens for a few bars on a good day and I think I'm getting there. Sadly it seems there is no substitute for time, hard work, and tallent but if there are some tablets I can take instead please let me know!

Used one of these for a few years now. I like the MB sound and generally run eveything flat unless it's a boomy room and I just take the bass back to about 10 o'clock and bump the low mids up about as much. Never struggle to get a sound I can work with. It can lose definition at very high levels, but tbh I'm talking about the sort of levels you would use a PA for anyway. The tilt is great for use as a monitor, or simply to hear yourself better on a loud gig. I've not used it with an extension so can't comment. Hope this helps, but it's occured to me that most of what I've just written probably applies to any decent combo - the most useful thing I can say is probably that I've abused my 102 for about 6 years and its not stopped working!

At the risk of appearing racist I don't think you can beat Japanese production values, consistency, and quality control when it comes to mass production. Mexicans appear historically to be less consistent - even if they are working in Corona/Fullerton in the US

Dissapointed It looked like £20 each n the thread title!

MIJ Fender (I think they do a '75). It'll probably be alighter version of your 78 - add a KiOgon loom and decent pickups and it might just take over as your No.1. I have a similar issue with loving the sound of my p and the skinny fast neck of my jazz - I've reached the conclusion that I'll just have to keep moving between the two, but this should be enough of a distraction to stop me blowing cash on anything else!

[quote name='Mr Bassman' timestamp='1431261034' post='2769313'] I tried TI flats on my fretless Wal, they felt nice but killed the sound. It's come alive again with GHS Pressurewounds [/quote] Have you tried the TI jazz rounds - similar low tension (even lower?) but with RW sound. I get about a year out of a set, but I do like the sound of broken in / dead rounds. When they are new I roll off the treble for a few weeks, then after that they mellow out but there is still plenty of growl left if you dig in or bump the mids.

Top bloke - I sent John what can only be described as a bag of bits and within hours of it landing through his letterbox he sent me pics of a fully restored p-pickup along with a lovely new loom to replace the cheapo bits in my MIJ P-bass. It would have been back with me the next day exept I specced some different knobs which John had to order. I also ordered a Jazz wiring kit with the concentric CTS pots and an S1 switch (do try this with your passive jazz folks - I'm glad I did) and he was good enough to combine the postage and it all arrived safe and well packed via Royal Mail the next day. Great product / components / service, and a seemingly inexhaustable supply of patience with my daft questions about pickups and wires! The kits arrived with idiot proof instructions and even the correct screwdrivers for installation. I fitted the jazz loom in less time than it takes to change strings, and didn't even have to do battle with a soldering iron!

[quote name='ianrendall' timestamp='1431113291' post='2768006'] Oh balls. I've just realised - don't we both use music stands? We'd better hide [/quote] This might be a BC hanging offence but I always take 2 stands to a big band gig. There are always a couple of 7 page long nightmare charts with no bars rest or convenient page turns!

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1421685219' post='2663942'] Got to have a bit of a re-think with my settings! Thought I had it right - took it to a gig yesterday....and unplugged it after the first track! All the mids were sucked out, making the bass virtually inaudible.....a P bass! Will try again, maybe at next rehearsal. I think it sounds best to lower the blend as mine was full on. Things can only get better.....! [/quote] They have an inherent mid-scoop. Try cutting the bass/treble. Other than that stick it on the market place here or the bay and buy yourself a DHA VT1 BD EQ. Thats what I did and no regrets so far.

If it's a fender you'll find their 'standard' measurements for string height, relief, and so on on their set up guide are pretty high - certainly not what anyone I know thinks of as a low action although it's fine for many. This allows them to claim that virtually any neck is functioning normally. There also seems to be a tacit agreement within the bass community to accept that neck pocket shims and washers added to the truss are perfectly normal to acheive a good set up. Shims even seem to be factory fitted at times. Apologies if I'm barking up the wrong tree and it's not a Fender BTW.

I've had Fenders that have needed the usual washer fix for a maxed/nearly maxed truss rod and it's worked well, but sometimes the truss nut does sit proud of the recess afterwards. Just to be clear, I'm talking about the vintage style necks with the truss nut at the heel. I'm a bit of a Fender fanboy, but frankly I'm sick of expensive supposedly top of the range US built instruments needing the washer/shim fix to get a low action when any mex / mij instruments I've owned have all been fine. I now only own one US fender (which is fine actually) and it's mij for me all the way now.

If you want to get a handle on playing behind the beat play with a drummer that rushes all the time or speeds up when they do a fill - there's quite a few of the ***** about!

I've just imported an Ishibashi pb62-US. P*sses on my AVRI 62 in terms of playability/set up out of the box and is about half the price (doesn't smell as nice as it's a poly finish though). Over your budget once import duty ect is added, but there are plenty of good P basses on there used and new from around 45000 yen upwards. If you are thinking of buying unseen off the net then unless there is a bargain going on here you could do a lot worse.

[quote name='deepbass5' timestamp='1430049644' post='2757400'] You could of course buy my Line 6 24 basses in there [/quote] These sound great, but I would also worry that if anything went wrong with the fancy electronics you would have 24 broken basses instead of just the one! I'm pretty confident of handling a running repair on most basses, but with the variax I'd imagine anything beyond a loose jack socket is beyond DIY?

I reckon about one more page until this morphs into a P vs J/ Flats v rounds / maple v rosewood debate!

[quote name='essexbasscat' timestamp='1429811695' post='2755267'] Pretty much all the LP's are great fun to jam along with from start to finish [/quote] LP's? - I take it you binned your 78's and the gramophone then? It may be worth explaining to younger Bc-ers that Lp's were spinny black plastic things that music came out of back in the day!

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1429800296' post='2755095'] I think about soloing a lot, not because I am egotistical but because I am not very good at playing the double bass!! As an electric player, I can play bebop lines and some other very interesting things when soloing, some quite creative and rarely used with electric bass. When I play double bass (which is almost always now), I cannot execute complex, fast runs in thumb position and have had to find a way to get [i]deeper[/i] into the bass. Occasionally, if the thing feels right, I jsut do what is called a 'walking solo' in which I play some really radical bass lines that are basically straight quarter-notes. What works well is doing that but instead of sticking in extra grace notes, I just leave notes out i.e. straight quarter note walking lines with gaps in. What can happen then is that the 'cliche' lines can become really interesting because you have effectively moved things one notch to the left. Other things I try include the occasional use of, say, the G on the D string followed by the G on the G string, using the subtle difference in intonation to create a interesting tension. In short, it's all Charlie Haden and Jimmy Garrison instead of NHOP and Paul Chambers. I am all rhythm and gaps now, not lightening speed!! That slowing down has allowed me to find depth in my soloing. I did a recent trio gig with a pianist and guitarist which opened my eyes to the potential of working with a more intimate ensemble - think Jimmy Guiffre's Trios. I trio gig with Phil Robson and Christine Tobin was another eye opener. Lots of space without a loss in impetus. It always has the potential to be better (a LOT better ) but I like the direction of travel at the moment. It feels like something is happening. [/quote] Has it changed the way you solo when you go back to the electric now? Interested because I'm headed down a similar road myself - althogh I suspect a long way behind where you are. As for your original point, I think everyone dropping out for the bass solo is just an outdated convention from the days of gut strings, and no amps. It can be useful though in that it gives you a little more *ahem* 'freedom' solong as long as you know (roughly) how far through the changes you are and what key the final turnaround is in!

He's from Egremont - don't leave any cash, valubles, or spare keys lying around.

I'm sure if fender have found a cheaper alternative to licensing / manufacturing basses in Japan they will happily compromise on quality. I'm sure the MIJ/CIJ stuff has put a lot of MIM/US production to shame for a couple of decades - particularly the base/standard models.

About £300 - £600 depending on which on you go for - you can then factor in another %20-25 once shipping/insurance/import duty are tagged on. There used to be quite a few one man operations importing the MIJ stuff and I think one or two are still going. I'm not sure how the economics of importing work out but I'm sure someone on here will have done it. I'd imagine the exchange rate between the pound and yen will throw in yet another variable to consider. It would be good to hear from experienced importers if it's worth doing.

This stinks, but just to play devils advocate for a second - you might need to swallow the chance that the guy is telling the truth and put it behind you. I tend to 'go with my gut' on issues such as this but every so often the gut feeling can be wrong - not often though.

There are 3 'levels' of 62 RI from Japan - I've heard good things about them all. The basic 62 RI - Basswood bodies, non vintage correct hardware, poly finish 62 RI-US Alder bodies 62 RI-VPS- just the same as AVRI with the reverse tuners, vintage style/voiced (US?) pickups. Essentially a AVRI 62P at 2/3 of the price with more reliable build quality. I'd be interested to hear other BC'rs comments about the actual difference in quality between them.

What do you start with?