tauzero

Obviously Sire are to be applauded for bringing out some headless models. They have the same multiscale lengths as Ibanez EHB with no non-fan-fret option as yet. I'll be interested in playing one and seeing if the neck profile is different to the EHB.

You could use a wax repair stick to fill the multiple holes pretty much invisibly. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325271292000

Gary Willis? While it's just the one manufacturer AFAIK, there's a vast range of Gary Willis basses from them. Could I give an honourable mention to Brian May, who has a bass in his Brian May instruments range despite not exactly being renowned as a bassist.

It is easier to ask for forgiveness than to get permission.

Controls look a bit complicated.

That would make life simpler, but possibly less fun. Tier 1 would have to include major bitsa components to avoid sneaking in a bass in parts, but the issue then becomes which parts are major?

Chris Cross's gear went under the hammer a few months ago. Everything went at prices where you'd be happy to use them for gigs. These are never going to be useful instruments again. There's no way that a million pound Les Paul is going to get used at a gig. The estimates were already ridiculously inflated (maybe ten times the market price) because everything used to belong to Jeff Beck, but some of those instruments went for a thousand times market price.

I think the MK1s have nothing wrong with them - maybe their biggest problem is that they are clean and simply transmit the sound of the string rather than colouring it in some way. I wondered why the white side dots on mine felt as if they were slightly protruding, then realised that the DPO had put them on. A very sensible move - he hadn't done the top one or two and so I could see how invisible they were in their original state.

I can see I'll have to nip down to Warwick and find out if they're worth five times as much as a Sei.

Years ago, I got a bit hot under the collar about an offer, which on reflection I shouldn't have. Not a musical instrument - a motorcycle. Me, vaguely attracted to some other bright shiny thing in the shop: "How much would you give me for this?" Them: "We're not really interested in that" Me: "How much?" Them: "£1000" At which I took umbrage (scrap value of said bike was about £1500), but on reflection I was really ignoring what they kept telling me, that they didn't want it. It did take me many, many months to get to that point of reflection though. I think (going back an awfully long way to the OP) there is an awful lot to consider in terms of a "straight trade". The shop has bought in an item with a certain level of mark-up. There's VAT considerations on this as well. It becomes a lot more complex in terms of profit and loss than "you're selling A for £x, here's B that I'd like £x for". There's a few on here that have actually worked in shops who could give a more informed view than me.

Basses, Ibanezes, Roland synth guitars, red Strat - a little over twice the top estimate. Strats, Teles, Gibsons, Guilds, Jacksons - 20-50 times the top estimate.

And happened again a few minutes ago.

Simples. For the jazz-curious - turn all controls fully clockwise. For anyone using an active bass - there's a little clicky thing halfway round on all but the volume control [1]. Turn all controls with a clicky thing to the clicky thing, turn all other controls fully clockwise. No liability will be accepted by the author if anyone should mistakenly assume that tuners/machine heads are "controls" within the scope of this post. Should any string become unaccountably slack or break, the control being turned is not the correct one. [1] There are some exceptions to this. If there isn't a clicky thing, turn it fully clockwise.

I encountered it but it sorted itself out in a couple of minutes.

<George Takei> I've read books... </GT>

Do any of the string trees, er, "need replacing"?

Once upon a time, a "Loudness" button was a common sight on hi-fi amps. The idea of it was that it would reduce mids when at low volumes (or boost lows & highs, same difference really).

Do you ever post anything other than slagging off Bartolinis? Great pickups.

I managed to blow the speaker in my combo at one gig, I think due to some weird room resonance which I didn't try to sort out immediately (lesson learnt). I put the bass through the PA - Alto TS408s, which coped admirably well.

Bandwerkz. Integrates with Google Calendar too.

I haven't heard a 1265 with the original Bartolinis in the flesh - mine had them replaced with Aguilar DCBs and sounds great. I've heard the original 1265 pickups and the Nordstrand pickups in reviews, and the BH2s sounded slightly indistinct but the Nordstrands were very shouty - I thought they were rather too aggressive. And I hate trying to describe sound verbally.

I think there's 15 different models in the range now, and the 1265 has disappeared. The fact that there are so many models and they're increasing the range is a good sign. I'd like to see a fretless 5 in a natural finish.

Because the current owner has played it a bit more in the last 15 years, perhaps. Knowing as little as I do about vintage Fenders and finding the whole thing about refinishing a bass knocking enormous amounts off its value ludicrous, I would suggest that the checking showing up in the finish is the reason that it was "restored" rather than "refinished", so the majority of that checked finish could be kept and just the enormous graze on it be cleaned up a bit - scrub the wound out, slap a bit of emulsion on it, that'll sort it.

Well, you know it must be on a fretless instrument as you've got to play at fret 3.2 and fret 2.4. Some sort of microtonal experiment then.