bassbloke

[quote name='Merton' post='292626' date='Sep 26 2008, 12:06 PM']I like that idea [/quote] My back is feeling decidedly healthy at the moment, so perhaps we could arrange a temporary swap - my tech 15 and head for your 4x8 combo. A couple of weeks of that should see me back at the chiropractor's in no time. P.S. Only joking - I've only just managed to get my mate's V-Type combo out of the house and back into storage. The wife would lynch me if another one appeared.

[quote name='cytania' post='291910' date='Sep 25 2008, 04:01 PM']Overall the guitar market is overheated. There are alot of brands with very similar offerings often owned by either the Fender or Gibson cartels. Logic dictates that some brands will be rested, many were only recently revived for retro appeal. Setting yourself up as a luthier seems to be almost a middle-class pose in the UK and there are some very marginal back of garage operations (often in solid body electric guitars). I just hope that any contraction will preserve the real craftsmen with a different take on building. However the cynic in me expects buyers to gravitate to the safety of Js and Ps. Am looking for bass2 myself at present, just haven't found that perfect combo of looks and sounds...[/quote] Not just the guitar market, but the market in after sales service. Some established luthiers, etc.. are charging silly money for setups, fret work, etc... Now, whilst I appreciate that you generally get what you pay for, I refuse to believe that one luthier is 2-3 times as good as another, which is what the different prices would have you think.

There will undoubtedly be plenty of people with reservations about the authenticity of this bass, so there's a god chance it won;t fetch us much as it would if the seller was completely upfront about some of the 'changes'. So, all the more opportunity for a bit of a bargain

Some people find the whole business of dealing in cash quite unpleasant. You have to stand there holding note after note up to the light to ensure the buyer isn't trying to pass you a couple of fakes. It's pretty much tantamount to accusing said buyer of trying to rip you off, but you never know, so you have to go through the whole rigmarole. Also, the seller knows you're genuine and not some tyre-kicker who's going to turn up, find a whole load of non existent faults and walk off without paying.

+1 for trades of relative value. My sister frequently goes into Primark or wherever, spunks a load of cash on clothes and then promptly returns it all for a refund. Her logic is that she has satisfied the part of a woman's brain that needs to spend money unneccesarily and can therefore return the goods. I was thinking that an idea along similar lines would be temporary swaps. For example, person A is GASsing for a P -bass whilst person B is gassing for, I don;t know, a lightweight combo. Said basschatters arrange a swap for a few weeks. In all likelihood, person A decides that actually he doesn;t really use a P bass, returns it to it's rightful owner collects lightweight rig and all is well, for a few weeks at least.

I'm noticing a trend with your list. If more people were willing to accept the clear distinction between great musician and great songwriter and that being one OR the other is still an achievement, we'd be spared an awful number of, well, awful solo albums

Make a point of saying if they're ever let down by a band last minute you'll try your hardest to help out. There's only one thing worse for a landlord that a band that pulls in no punters and that's no band at all. They can kiss the possiblity of any passign trade goodbye, the place will look miserable and he'll be paying a soundman to do nothing. I've gotten good gigs on the back of helping out a promoter at short notice. Doesn;t change the fact that I think they're all w*nkers though

Cheers Colin. As you can see from the review, I have one in each of my basses. They're fantastic preamps, great variety of sounds on offer although I only tend to use the mid and the tone control, but there's nothing like have that amount of flexibility.

I know a few people who swear by their P bass Lyte.

Also, the type of wood, neck joint, neck construction (laminate vs single piece), body construction (laminate vs single piece or two wings), bridge (brass, wood, top vs throigh body) will have far more of an effect on the sound that the few grams of wood removed for the control and maybe battery cavity.

The preamps are mounted inside the pickup housing in EMG pickups, so in terms of routing and cavities,you would just need a large enough cavity for the wiring for the volume pot(s), tone pot and battery. Not big at all. The EMG Bass/treble active circuit is mounted on the base of a single pot. Again, not large.

[quote name='ironside1966' post='274818' date='Sep 1 2008, 06:14 PM']Are the USA fenders worth the money, are the Jap ones just as good? I always wanted a USA fender Jazz but after seeing this post, Found an interesting 'finish' quirk on my jazz bass, [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=26434&st=0"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=26434&st=0[/url] this has really put me off fenders, such lazy workmanship in the routing send the wrong signals when they are selling a bass on American craftsmanship, so looking for other alternatives. I know you need to try a load of basses to find the right one this is just a hypothetical question at the moment Lakland skyline, G&L Tribute, Cort GB94 are they on par quality wise as a USA Fender? Also Geedy Lee jazz bass and other Jap fenders how do they compair with a USA Fender.[/quote] Depends what you pay for it. I got mine in the states for the equivalent of £660. It sh*ts over any bass I'd owned before and any bass since owned and, IMHO, sounds and plays better than any Musicman, G&L, Ibanez, ESP, Dean, Cort, Lakland that I've ever used. It pretty much cured my GAS for basses, apart from a few upgrades, such as a new onboard preamp.

Gripmasters and Power Balls and anything else designed to make you a better player without actually playing your bass.

[quote name='crez5150' post='272895' date='Aug 29 2008, 11:05 PM']That's still less than what you'd pay if you put it up for sale in a shop.... average is 10-15%. But I do agree the fee's are shocking but I think it's a good thing as it will help reduce the amount of online traders diminishing the value of music/Pro Audio products that the manufacturers work so hard to put in to this country! Rant over[/quote] I'm afraid the very opposite will be the case. Ebay's change in fee structure is geared towards higher volume, 'buy it now' style operators, so box shifters will win over smaller sellers of used equipment.