Mornats

To reiterate what Roger said, a good setup can make a huge difference to a bass. They cost £30-50 depending on where you go and turn an average cheap bass into something that feels as nice as a premium one. I've got a Squier VM Jazz that cost me £246 from my local PMT. It played great and felt right and sounded good. Not quite as nice and refined as a USA jazz sound-wise. I upgraded the pickups and electronics and it sounds utterly amazing now. I tested the Squier against the American Jazz and both played well, and in fact I preferred the feel of the Squier. When I got it home I gave it a good setup, including filing the frets down so they were all even. It made a huge difference although it's not something people like jumping into! It will cost around £80-100 for a pro to do that for you. Luckily I went on a basschat-organised training course with Crimson Guitars in Dorset and was taught how to do it. I bought their fret levelling kit too. This is something you tend to not need to do on a more expensive bass (although there are quite too many expensive ones that do need it). However, if you get no fret buzz from a one you try and find it easy to play then you'll probably not need to do this. Anyway, as most have said, try out a load of basses to find one that feels right to you. Buying second hand is good as you get much more bass for your money and can sell it on without much, if any, loss of cash if you decide to upgrade later - or just fancy something different. Take a bass-playing friend with you too so they can give you their opinion. They can also play whilst you focus on listening to how it sounds too. That's very useful if you're starting out and don't feel like you can get the best sound out of it yourself yet. Where are you based? Perhaps a fellow basschatter can come with you. There are plenty of people on here who would be happy to do that for you. Basschat is a fantastic place for that sort of spirit. There may also be some basschatters near you who may have a bass for sale and would be happy for you to try it out without and obligation to buy. Or they may even just let you play a few of theirs to get a feel for different neck profiles. Take along some cookies or biscuits and most of us will be kept happy by that Some good cheap basses are: Squier, Yamaha, Ibanez and the new Sire Marcus Miller Jazz basses (the £300 or so ones from Thomann, not the Fender Marcus Miller signature ones - not that they're bad basses, they're just more expensive). Second hand SGC Nanyo Bass Collection basses go for £200 or so and are brilliant to play and sound great.

I bought Harley Benton "deko" ukulele bass that came with a truss rod that doesn't do anything. The neck has a back bow too so I get an awful lot of fret buzz. So I'm looking for ideas on what to do with it. First of all, I did buy this as a "deko" which is described as "not for playing" so I knew it could well be a bass that I wouldn't be able to play. I decided not to return it and to use it as a project to see if I can fix it. So here's what's up with it. The truss rod turns both ways so it's not maxed out. When I turn it, I can sometimes hear the crunching sound you get from cheap wood compressing. No idea what's causing that or what effect it's having on the insides. The saddle leans forward a bit which means it's not sitting on the piezo pickup fully which is causing the E and A strings to be much quieter than the D and G strings. I've levelled the frets as best I can but only took a tiny amount off as I didn't want to cause any problems if I managed to straighten the neck up. The strings are Aquila Thunderguts (that's what most people say are fitted to the Harley Bentons). So, options and questions: Could I simply replace the strings with higher tension ones to pull the neck forward? If so, would flatwounds have a higher tension than the Thunderguts? Any suggestions on strings that may do the job? If I corrected the saddle that's leaning towards the neck would this raise the height of the strings enough? Maybe raising the saddle could help a bit? Although the neck does lean back somewhat so perhaps not. Could I fix the trussrod somehow? Could I force the neck forward by other means? By using clamps or some other woodworking magic? Or should I put the whole thing down to bad luck and see if I can sell the components (clearly stating the issue with the neck and trussrod of course). This is the (non-deko) uke bass: http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_kahuna_clu_bass.htm If any pics of mine would help I'll be happy to post them. Cheers!

This was all pretty inspirational stuff! I was watching a video from Crimson Guitars yesterday which is the start of a series where they take a kit guitar (cheapo £80 kit) and start turning into an instrument a custom builder would be proud of. I think they only have the intro up so far but I'll be following it closely to see if it's something I could try: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJzvQFWwO9w[/media]

I've not experienced the Tanglewood one myself but I've played a few of these ukulele/travel basses and I love them. They're a nice little handy thing to have around for practice but you could take one of these to a folk night and play it without issue. The Kala, Harley Benton and Ashbury ones I've played have all sounded much much better than the video. As Discreet says, the recording levels are way into the red and it's distorting badly.

[quote name='Phil Adams' timestamp='1431069071' post='2767427'] I had one in the late 80's in black with the red flash. Had a rosewood board though and no micro tuning. Seem to remember it weighed a ton! [/quote] Ditto here, it was my very first bass. Weighed more than me at the time!

Oh I didn't see the TE-90. It's the TE-30 I'm after. Just need to sell my Ibanez GRX70 first. It's still a bargain at £64 though.

Dang! That's the tele I'm after!

I'm loving this, it sounds fantastic. Oh, and +1 for the nice studio!

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1430510785' post='2762263'] I remember your bass uke, and can't remember anyone else getting a worse item. I know that some people don't think it's reasonable to buy a deko and then return it under the consumer contracts regulations, but I would have done so in your case. On the other hand, as a cheap thing you can practice doing stuff to it. That's why I bought my Deko PJ. [/quote] I'm outside of the time you have to return an item under the distance selling regs and I decided to take it on as a project anyway. I'm tweaking it, and may be able to raise the saddle height which may help. But yeah, you're spot on, I have something fun to have a play with and practice on which was one of the reasons I got it.

I think came off the worst with a Deko (although the "hit" rate seems to be fairly high overall). My bass uke came with a back bow in the neck and the truss rod seems to be doing nothing at all. I get massive amounts of buzzing when I play as the strings are hitting the frets. It was a risk to buy one so fair play really. I have some options though. First off, maybe the truss rod has been inserted the wrong way and I need to turn it right to loosen it. Worth a try anyway although I'm not sure if it's possible to fit one the wrong way. I could also try putting on some higher tension strings to try and pull the neck forward - any ideas on what would be higher tension than the thunderguts that came with it? Another option would be to defret it to see if that helps. Otherwise, I could dismantle it and sell the component (other than the neck and body most likely) as spares and recoup some of the money. Or is there a way to force the neck forward? I fear it would break with too much force though. I still mess round with it as it's kinda fun still but I couldn't record it or play it live at all which is a shame. I may buy an Ashbury Bass Uke as I played on in Hobgoblin and it was great (this one, http://www.hobgoblin.com/local/products/GR35060/ashbury-bass-ukulele/ not the Fender-made one).

The MarkBass Super Booster looks nice: http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Mark_Bass_Pedals.html - around halfway down, £149 new so not bad. It has the VLE and VPF filters on - same as my combo. So if you want to try those out, bring your stuff round (or I'll pop over one night with the combo) and you can see what they sound like.

I went for some velcro cable ties in the end. I didn't fancy having to go through disposable tape all the time (think of the environment!) and they work a treat. Got some cables hanging from my keyboard stand which makes them easily accessible and nice and neat. I'd have thought someone would have come up with with a multi-divider cable bag by now though. Think laptop bag type thing with 5-6 compartments (similar to the sleeve bit you'd put your laptop into) with a velcro strap at the top of each divider for keeping the cable together.

Some contact cleaner might although WD-40 is the wonder cure-all...

Well, NOW I have GAS lol. My black Overwater Contemporary jazz (that I sold) has the heaviest at over 11.5lbs but had a lot of sustain so I think they're related somewhat. I was looking at the M3 basses too as I imagine they're lighter with their body shape and mahogany bodies but then I realised I have a Yamaha TRBX which is very comparable..

I've got a Squier VM jazz that I've pimped out a bit and absolutely love it. It plays amazingly well and whilst did level the frets, there wasn't really a problem with them, but it's close to perfect for me now. So I'm a huge fan of budget, yet brilliant basses. I love the sounds of the Marcus Miller bass - Discreet, that's a nice demo you did - and I love the look of it, especially the headstock. The only thing saving me from my GAS are the comments about the weight and size. My two Tanglewater basses played beautifully, sounded amazing but were 10.5 and 11.5lbs each and were longer than a standard Fender/Squier. I couldn't hack the weight (I have the figure of a ukulele player, not a bass player) and the length made it uncomfortable to play down the nut-end. So, any idea if there's some variation in weight/size of these things? Something around 8-9lbs and Fendery length would send me straight to Thomann without a second thought!

[quote name='RickyV' timestamp='1427642966' post='2732608'] Well, the silent jazz bass is no longer silent! New wiring harness and a set of Entwistle pups and it sounds great. Such a nice guitar to play as well and all, eventually, for about £80 including the original purchase price of £27. Really can't grumble at that [/quote] Is that a KiOgon wiring harness and Entwistle JBXN pickups? If so that's the same setup that I've got in my Squier VM jazz and it sounds awesome.

'tis a good a community and a great bunch of people

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1427531571' post='2731427'] Looking at this thread, people have been receiving instruments with nothing wrong with them. [/quote] Nah, I got a dud. A deko bass ukulele with a back bow in the neck and a truss rod that does nothing. Was still worth a punt though.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1427461371' post='2730653'] They only need you and 100 others checking 4 times a day to get a nice bump up in the Google ranking. [/quote] Only if they came via a Google search and not a direct link (Google has no view of the direct link). Google's search results are highly personalised now so I'm not sure just how much it would affect global rankings. Anyway, in all the SEO I've worked on in the last 15 years, this technique would never be recommended highly, there are just so many other things that give more bang per buck. I think it's more likely that it's a classic loss-leader. They get us in on a £30 bass, we hum and har over the ten euro postage and chuck in a few more items. Before we know it, we've added enough to hit the 200 euro threshold for free postage! (Or is it just me who does that?)

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1427376798' post='2729571'] I'm in Leicester. [/quote] If you were closer I was gonna say you could pop down and have a go using my tools. Have a crack anyway, Ben's videos are really good and it's nowhere near as terrifying as it sounds

[quote name='alyctes' timestamp='1426941831' post='2723711'] Okay, thank you. I stand corrected. [/quote] It's a very complicated area! I hope I didn't come across as a know-it-all Not my intention at all

I've not read the link Dad posted but I suspect it's bang on the money. Anyway, this bit of what you said caught my attention: [quote name='alyctes' timestamp='1426891795' post='2723290'] ...without prior copyright. [/quote] Copyright is automatic. As soon as you create something original (photograph, painting, song) you own the copyright to it. I believe the tricky part comes with trying to prove that you own that copyright if contested. Back to the topic though, I'd have thought that yes, the BBC would indeed need to seek permission before using someone's original work. I'd look into it if I were him as there may be some compensation due perhaps? Worth reading up on at least just in case!

[quote name='alyctes' timestamp='1426888433' post='2723266'] I'm pretty sure that if you post some original thing on YouTube, YouTube owns the rights to it. [/quote] Might be more complex than that, otherwise YouTube would own the rights to most of the music in the world.

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1426775721' post='2721812'] [url="http://www.theblackandblue.com/2011/06/20/wrap-cable-over-under/"]http://www.theblacka...ble-over-under/[/url] [/quote] Often overlooked but should be standard practice for anyone using cables!