neepheid

Being a '76 and they didn't change to pickguard mounted pickups until '78 if memory serves, it should look like this under the hood as on this '75 model:

No problem with blue and orange - it's iconic!

Enjoying the Gulf colours, but that purple pickup top does detract somewhat, seems very incongrous to me. Ahh well, it's not my bass.

Having restored a Ripper from nothing but a starting point of the body and neck, I can confirm that it is a labour of love and in no way financially astute. The difference in my case is that I wasn't starting with a working bass.

Returning an otherwise fine instrument because its dirty is a total overreaction, and I advocated for making a complaint. I can't grip this concept any tighter!

Get a grip - it's dirty, not defective. A simple complaint will suffice.

That's sloppy as all feck from a private seller, never mind an established retailer. For shame.

An Epiphone Jack Casady signature with his name scraped off and mine in its place?

Perhaps whoever was in charge of levels gave them a default amount of bass and they nailed it? Trying to be positive here...

I don't get it, you "changed the setup and put everything through the pa" - did you set the levels? Didn't you just give them some bass anyway then (not in a narcissistic way, just as a start from here kind of thing)?

Damn, you missed me (and some quality bass face...)

Lack of hard case is a bargaining tool to put downward pressure on the price. Regarding storage, when I had my RD Artist, it fit into a Thunderbird bag. It is a less extreme, slightly more melty Thunderbird at the end of the day...

Was the G&L Tribute JB-2 ever on the radar? P body, JJ pickups, not a Fender...

Yup, that's an OG RD Standard. To the OP - perhaps I over-abberviated - does it come with the original hard case?

They're odd to place. Rarer than their more famous RD Artist brethren but with less features. Prices are all over the place right now. What are they asking for it? OHSC?

You do you - I'm of the opinion that the chances of buying a lemon are way smaller than "the Internet" and its campfire scary story approach to summarising relative quality control would have you believe. I've owned a Korean made JC and two Chinese made JCs and they've all been excellent. In the grand scheme of things, that data (much like the rest of the anecdotal pish that gets bandied about ad nauseum) means... very little.

HOW MUCH? Ha! What a waste of wood.

Finally! I had a right good moan about the protracted wait for this bass to arrive, but arrive it has. I haven't had a chance for war volume playing yet but from the time I've managed to spend with it I'm impressed. For those not familiar, this is Sire's take on the '51/'54 Precision. The horns are a little thinner/sharper than a regular '51/'54, kinda reminds me of a Cowpoke for some reason. Maybe a Cowpoke and a '51 Precision got up to no good... Really good fit and finish. Loves to be played with the thumb and palm muted - very responsive to that and there's a big difference in the sound versus fingerstyle. How wonderfully simple it is, just like a P should be. No noise whatsoever coming through either my USB interface or my Yamaha Sessioncake. The neck is lovely - the maple has been well roasted and doesn't even resemble maple any more. The front of the fingerboard is lacquered but the back of this neck feels almost unfinished and the rolled fingerboard edges feel very premium. Hardware is good - tuners turn smoothly and feel sturdy, the bridge is functional enough - it's a BBOT with brass saddles, what more can you say? Electronics seem fine, pots turn smoothly and the tone control sucks a good chunk of treble out at minimum. Bonus - setup was decent out of the box, intonation sounds like it's decent, if not perfect then certainly good enough. Weight - mine is 4.05kg - 8.9lbs. A good heft without feeling heavy, I'm happy with this. Balances no problem on the strap, no neck dive, for those who are annoyed by such things. It's just a simple, enjoyable, eminently playable bass. A successful modern twist on the OG Precision. I can see myself having a lot of fun with this one.

I get surprised every time I get referred to as a bass player...

I'll have the tempura squier, please...

Well, it has indeed arrived in one piece. No time to have a heap of time with it tonight but from the few minutes I've managed to spend with it I'm impressed. Really good fit and finish. Neck feels nice. Sounds good through headphones/USB interface. Loves to be played with the thumb and palm muted - big difference in the sound versus fingerstyle. Bonus - setup is decent out of the box, intonation sounds like it's decent, if not perfect then certainly good enough. I'll do a proper NBD thread, but it probably won't be until Friday - got another band rehearsal tomorrow night. But I can call this delivery saga finally complete, huzzah!

Well I'm afraid checking out the D5 will have to wait until later - got a band rehearsal tonight but before then Chico the cat needs meds administered and food doctored with other meds, plus reassurance/fusses afterwards. He's an old cat now and it looks like arthritis is setting in

Well I hope the outer packaging soaked up the worst of that! Find out later when I get home from work...

Curses, foiled!