neepheid

I should have been more clear - "Brand new giggable bass for £150" - second hand market off the table.

People who have the money and time to get into watch fancy don't really care what time it is...

I will, if the effer ever arrives - I've had it on back order since September last year!

Also, and sorry for the tangent, but I'm waiting for an £82 bass to arrive and I have set myself a "giggable bass for £150" challenge.

Dinna deal in absolutes. Sometimes there's no choice. I wanted a G&L L-1000. They don't do a Tribute L-1000, so I had to buy USA. Doesn't make me vain! If there had been a Tribute L-1000, you can bet I'd have bought that - I'm Scottish FFS!

Bent Bit Of Tin - the basic common or garden Fender bridge.

The last two bridges (BBOT compatible) I've bought is this Guyker thing for £19 - https://www.amazon.co.uk/String-High-Mass-Bass-Bridge/dp/B0B8VZGRP6/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3E9BX7WGFWP68

It has never been more important for retailer's websites to function efficiently and correctly. This kind of thing is the equivalent of making shoppers take their shoes off at the door, or demanding a returnable deposit just to browse. I mean, you just woudn't, would you? But enough of all this piffle - what bridge did you buy?

Could you share your findings with the rest of the class?

Doesn't make me a better bass player sticking my nose up or looking down my nose at what other people are buying/playing...

Ahh, it's the VAT 69 talking - say no more

There is no quandary - there is a posted list of exceptions, and the bargaining is half the fun. Compelling cases can add to the list of exceptions. I do not support a minimum price threshold. We define what constitutes gear, it's not difficult. Stop trying to push this narrative that it is. You know what gear is, you're not stupid.

£40 is a score! Great for your wallet, bad for your abstinence though...

How did you know?

You won't need to take a lot off, so (this is just a finger in the air guesstimate) maybe 240 or 280 grit to make the basic shaping, then if you want it shiny again, you're going to have to work up the grits to 400, 1000, 2000 etc. then polishing with some kind of compound. Or leave it dull if function is more important to you than form. Someone will probably be along shortly to say that 240/280 is way too coarse. Hey, at least I didn't say 80!

Pfft, if you see it, you'll want it too. I guess that would solve my problem from a gear abstinence point of view

Reverb listing says Toronto.

Just checking - obviously if you're using it in combo mode then you can only attach one additional 8 ohm cab because the internal speaker is already presenting an 8 ohm load to the amp. That will take you down to the 4 ohm minimum. If you're detaching the head then yes, you can use it with two 8 ohm cabs and it's up to you how you connect them - each cab separately to the two outputs on the amp, or daisychained off one output (using the parallel link on one of the cabs - assuming it is parallel, surely all cabs are but make damn sure) but pick one scheme or the other. I guess it depends what cables you have to hand.

Are we talking a Promethean head or a combo here?

Yes, it's rare. No, I'm not telling you what it is Import duties are a fact of life when buying oddball stuff, you have to factor them in before you buy (+25% back of a fag packet maths will do) and judge whether or not the whole escapade is acceptable to you or not. I imported a Yamaha BB1200 from Japan (Ishibashi) and maybe the yen was having a hard time but even with shipping and VAT/duties it still worked out cheaper than sourcing one locally, so it can work out sometimes. RE: Epiphone, I dunno what else to do, I've tried to do things the "right" way and have been frustrated at every turn. I'll probably sit and stew about it for a while longer and wait for any other pre-adjudications come in.

Epiphone don't like money it would seem. I tried to source the loom via a couple of dealers - one just said no, they aren't a parts dealer, so I aimed high and asked Andertons. Epiphone told them no, they can't procure it for me, it's for warranty repairs only. That's lovely - how do out of warranty repairs work then? Just chuck it in the bin and buy a new bass, yeah? Up yours, Epiphone! Anyway, I'm in bigger bother than that. Spied a bass I've always fancied, and the only thing that stopping me pulling the trigger is that it's in Canada and it's a bit overpriced. My powers of abstinence are weakening... if they drop the price (because it's been up on Reverb for 3 months) then I'm screwed.

Not really - I do try to make sure I rotate around all my basses. I am a lazy boi though, so sometimes at home I'll favour the Epiphone Jack Casady, because even unplugged, it's loud enough to hear over laptop speakers. For when I can't even be bothered finding a cable, let alone an amp

Regarding the Z3/Z7/SBMM Ray34 conundrum - I think all SBMM basses are horribly overpriced by the time they make it over here and I really don't see where the extra money went. Up to you if you think it's worth it. If you go Sire, whichever one you choose you're going to get an 18V preamp, well rolled fretboard edges, passive/active operation to name but three of the things a Ray34 won't have. Z3 or Z7? Well, depends what you want. The "advantages" of the Z7 are - a neck pickup, a preamp with more features (giving you a mid sweep and a passive tone control - the preamp in the Z3 is fixed frequency three band and the passive option is just a get-out-of-jail-free card - no tone shaping as far as I know) and stainless steel frets. If you can live without these things, get the Z3 and pocket the difference, happy days. Another thing to factor in is I think Sire have done a small redesign on the Z7 and the neck pickup has been improved, at least aesthetically with four fat pole pieces instead of the regular small 8 pole piece Jazz pickup in the current ones. So it might be worth holding off if you think that's important and you want a Z7. I would ignore all campfire stories about QC (and yes, IMO they are individual occurrences with no correlation between them - no-one here has the statistical overview to be able to make blanket statements about an entire manufacturer's or factory's output, it's utter tosh. Every factory makes the occasional "Friday afternoon special" - so what? Return it if you're not happy). For a contrary data point to any doom and gloom you might have heard, my Z7 arrived in perfect condition and my only beef with it were the knobs, which is a personal preference I was happy to correct on my own. I think I would have preferred the Z3's knobs to be honest with you. Hope that mini rant helped