Grangur

Yes, disappointing isn't it when you're expecting a nice piece of alder, or swamp ash and you get this lump of ply. But hey, what do you expect for £23? But you knew this. 1)The foam is there to give springiness to the pups, so the screws push against the foam and you have the pups stable at a given height. If your foam looks knacked you can replace this with a strip cut from an old foam mouse mat. 2) No, you won't get wires with the pots. You MIGHT get a capacitor with them. I did when I bought Fender pots, but normally the pot itself is what you get. I normally replace the wires. You can buy a meter or 2 from Maplin. For the jack, I was advised to get a stereo one. You don't need the middle terminal, but it gives better stability, so I was told.

[quote name='Jono Bolton' timestamp='1375185662' post='2157735'] But is it actually neccessary? Or is it just to make a few extra quid? The reason I ask is because you said the shop had told you that a set up would be a waste of time without them. Is there a justification for it? I would have thought that a set up would be better with old strings on the basis that new strings will stretch and settle in, so a set up that suits a new set might not be right for the strings a month or two later. [/quote] It's making the shop being opportunistic if you ask me. If The Bass Gallery are happy to sell me a bass and unexpectedly throw in a free set-up without needing new strings, then I don't see why any other shop can't set up a bass without re-stringing. The standards at the Gallery are pretty high, so if it were needed they'd have said - not getting at any specific shop here. I'm talking generally.

[size=4][quote name='Jono Bolton' timestamp='1375182951' post='2157654'][/size] [font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif][size=3][color=#000000]Is it normal to be told you [/color][/size][i][size=2]have[/size][/i][size=3][color=#000000] to buy new strings when getting a set up? This was the last couple of times I had a bass set up, even though I told the tech that I didn't want them, and that I preferred my fat, old strings. This was in more than one shop, so I assumed it was standard practice, if a bit unusual because I always believed the bass should be set up to the owner's requirements. That's why I do my own set ups now, although I might have to get someone else to take a look at the truss on my P Bass.[/color][/size][/font] [/quote] [size=3]Yes, it's funny how when I want my old bass from home to have a set-up it's imperative for it to have new strings. Yet if I buy a bass from the shop and they do a set-up for me when I buy it, the old strings are perfectly good for a few more months. Funny that...[/size]

[quote name='hollywoodrox' timestamp='1375130984' post='2157140'] major scale Carolkaye.com studybass.com [/quote] Here's another great place too - [url="http://four-strings-basslessons.blogspot.de/"]http://four-strings-basslessons.blogspot.de/[/url]

Maybe some charge less where the tech is stationed IN a shop and a bargain basic-set-up is a carrot to get punters to come to the shop. There must be loads of bass players who buy books and stuff online and if they're happy with their gear, why go to a shop?

Hey! Welcome.

Thanks for posting. This is really good.

Thanks guys. There's some really useful advice here. Especially about the Zoom B3. I'll look into that. Xgsjx has to be right too though I guess; if you want a 5 series BWM, then buying a 3 series gets you further away, not closer.

Just another hello here! Welcome buddy!

I'd use a blow-lamp or heat lamp. Nitromores is messy and stings like hell if you get it in the wrong place and don't wash it off well. (Blow-lamps sting too though I guess)

Hi All, It's a pain that it's not easy to go to a local shop and try all the different amps on the market. Right now I've got a Roland 100w cube. When I play my P-bass through it the sound is loud and punchy and, to me, metalic. I take it to my lessons and play through a Mark Bass and WOW it's darker, grittier and really cool. Too loud for home, but cool. I Want some of that Mark Bass sound, but I don't have Mark Bass money just yet. Well, not until the royalty cheques start clearing (LOL) Can anyone recommend an amp I should be looking at? I play blues, some classical, and general light stuff. Not into effects etc yet. Won't be going into metal any time soon. Thanks for reading Rich

My Roland amp has a "TE" setting. This is a Trace Elliott emulator. This setting is bassey, thick sound output.

[quote name='jamie_k11' timestamp='1374928135' post='2154862'] Hi Richard, Thank you for the full explanation. Next time your passing call in, I'd love to meet you and hope De Rosa Music becomes the store that would would chose to use on a regular basis. Have a nice weekend. Many thanks, Jamie [/quote] Thank you Jamie for a professional response. Terry, regretfully seems un-aware of the old saying, "you won't ever win an argument with a customer". With his responses I guess he's your tech. I'm in the market for 2 new sets of strings and an Ashdown amp. Yet with Terry's responses do you think I'll be back? Sorry guys, but "when in a hole; stop digging". Hey Dingus!! +1

[quote name='nosbig' timestamp='1374936508' post='2154973'] Well, to be fair, a lot of new guitars frets do need sorting so what you say isnt really valid? [/quote] Maybe, but I'm not talking about a lot of instruments. I'm talking about this one. [quote name='nosbig' timestamp='1374936606' post='2154976'] Ps didnt K11 say it was a Full set up you had? [/quote] This one may have been taken in to do "the full works" but it didn't need it. So the one that got "taken in" was me. And it doesn't matter what you can try to score points over. This set up was a mess and it's THIS set up we're discussing.

Yes, what was ordered was a really basic set up and they messed even that up. I didn't ask them to level frets etc, it didn't need it the bass was hardly used. To answer your other questions, I'd set the relief to .35 on a 7.25 neck. I wouldn't file the nut slots. On a bass if they're uneven i'd probably change the nut.. If you're looking to sort out uneven frets. I'd recommend you take it to the Bass Gallery. Martin's a great guy. He'll give you good service from my experience.

BTW... Good luck with [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]De Rosa Music.[/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] [/font][/color]

Hi Jamie and all readers, As Jamie has raised this issue I feel it's probably not right to simply describe the set-up as "crap". So here's some more information to be fair to the shop. [font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][color=#282828]The bass was an Ibanez EBS600, No real problems but a slight buzz at the 9th fret on the E string. I was a noob and didn't know what the problem was. So I took it into the Bishops Stortford shop and was simply told, it needs a setup, £75 please. I agreed and left it there. I got a phone call later suggesting a new set of strings; £25 more or the set up would be a waste of time.[/color][/font] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]2 weeks later it was ready for collection. I got it home and found [/font][/color][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][color=#282828]the intonation was out and there were far more buzzes on all strings, right up to the 5th fret. Nice low action but not good. I took it back and was told to take it to their Ware shop to discuss it. I went to Ware, 10 miles away. They agreed it was unusually poor set up, but their guy is amazing so this was a freak situation.[/color][/font] [font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][color=#282828]After another 2 weeks it was ready, but again I should go to Ware to collect it. It was ok-ish, but the action was amazingly high. Being a vertigo sufferer, I then took to watching vids on you tube I did a better job myself. I now build basses for myself and do my own set ups and re-build the electrics, so I wont have a problem now. [/color][/font] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]If I can help further do let me know. [/font][/color] Kind offer Jamie, but if you're a separate business now, I don't expect you at [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]De Rosa Music to fork out a refund. At the time Playsomething in Ware just told me I was too fussy and to go away.[/font][/color] [font="helvetica, arial, sans-serif"][color="#282828"]With respect to only using qualified engineers; That's nice. But a qualified slap-dash guy is worse than a good enthusiastic amateur.[/color][/font] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I now [/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]go to Gig Gear in Harlow for all my needs and can't speak highly enough of their service.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Cheers[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Richard[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]PS if anyone in the area wants a set up I do a great job! [/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Edit: yes June 2011 is about right. But memories of bad service are long.[/font][/color]

It looks good to me. The neck has some wear on the back from use, but that shows someone loved playing it. Also, I don't recon I've seen a cheap neck thats as fancy as that one. So I'd expect its good provided all IS what it appears to be.

I've been thinking about doing this too. I can see a possible disadvantage of the set up as I think in series mode you'd lose the ability to have both pots on full volume. Yet it would be interesting to try. [size=4]I can see how I would do it. I'd also wire it with a push/pull switch for the [/size][size=4]for the series-parallel on the [/size][size=4]tone pot . This would leave a neat configuration of the pots where you only have the blend and the tone/parallel-series-switch pots. [/size] Yes I can do it. I live north of London, but I will be coming near Redhill on 6th August as I'm going to be going to Southampton.

I've seen the Bass Gallery charge someone £30. So it's not "London Weighting" all over London. Playsomething in Bishops Stortford do it for a bargain sum of £100 with strings thrown in! Bargain! By the way, their guy is crap too.

I had this happen to mine. It was dust in the speaker. I took the small nozzle of the hoover and hovered the cone and all round the speaker. Just be careful not to poke too hard and damage any delicate parts.

Do you suppose "The Who" (such as they are now) would do a night without playing "My Generation"?