brensabre79

What are you doing for pickups when you build your Sabre out of interest? Are you just going to use Stingray size ones?

Have a look at feedback history, most of the 'original' parts seem to have recently been purchased off eBay too... How that body is worth £600 can someone tell me?

FWIW All Fender nitro finishes from the 60s onwards are nitro over poly, they dip the bodies in something called Fullerplast (basically its plastic) before spraying on the nitro (even natural finish ones) and the necks too. So you should be ok with Nitro over Poly.

Yes I think so. I've also used Halfords clear car spray which turned out ok, doesn't pool as nicely as the Plastic-cote stuff though so you have to be a bit more careful with even coverage.

You can get poly in rattle cans, its a lot easier to put on than nitro. I'd give it a rub with 600 sandpaper first. Plastic-cote has worked for me in the past.

Could be stolen or something - the eBay username has clearly been set up solely for the purpose of selling the bass.

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1332770149' post='1592806'] Sorry but i have to pipe in for this one. I think you'll struggle to find a bass with an 'alber' body as this is very hard to come by in my experience. [/quote] You could make an Alba body from an old radio... ...I'll get my cloak

The Thomastiks are a nice string actually. Just a bit light for me. Don't forget to set up your intonation again with different guages

[quote name='CBbass' timestamp='1331842183' post='1579846'] I've actually had a WD music tort before, whilst it was very, very nice like the old Fender tort. The fit couldn't have been more off. I would order off them again though for a tort, however I'm going for mint green this time. It will be a fender made one for american standards. I've been told by warmoth the guard will fit no problem . I find the Warmoth mint green a little strong for my taste. [/quote] You do have to be careful which type you order from WD as there are a few versions to match the changes in spec over the years from Fender. And occasionally there is the odd hole missing (As I discovered), but they are pretty helpful if you contact them about it. Don't know if you'll have any better luck buyng a Fender one as its a Warmoth, but as they are licenced they should be a good fit - as long as you match the era...

As far as I know there are only two spacings. Original 60s spacing (1961 - 1971ish) pickups are 3.5" apart (poles to poles). Then 70s spacing (1972 - 1982ish) bridge pickup moved 1/2" nearer to the bridge so the pickups are 4" apart - resulting in a much more nasal BPU sound. Then in 1983ish Fender went back to the original 60s spacing and have been ever since (except on special editions like the Geddy...). The position of the neck pickup hasn't moved ever and neither has the position of the bridge. The Badass bridge is longer than the stock one so it appears like the pickup is nearer to the bridge (in fact its the other way around). Personally I prefer the 70s spacing, although you do lose quite a bit of low end on the BPU, but if you blend in a bit of the NPU you can get the 60s BPU sound anyway so I think it has a greater tonal range. Not sure why they went back though - it does mean that a 70s spacing Jazz Bass is harder to come by (ask me how I know!) I think the genuine Geddy Lee model IS 70s Spacing (as its based on a '72), the Fender 75 reissue IS, The Marcus Miller (based on 78/79) IS, The Squier VMs are NOT...

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1332839319' post='1593656'] Just found Ken Smith Balanced string sets on String Busters [url="http://www.stringbusters.com/Ko-Bespoke/productlist.asp?cat=1/BASS+STRINGS/BASS+STRINGS+KEN+SMITH"]http://www.stringbus...RINGS+KEN+SMITH[/url] [/quote] Yep, they are the ones. But nothing like the Circle K balanced sets according to their chart - however it has been mentioned this may be due to the different wrap wire so who knows...? [quote name='ead' timestamp='1332839525' post='1593662'] Thanks for that, just noticed your price is ex VAT mine was inc VAT (P&P was foc) so the same really [/quote] Yeah fair enough, get yourself VAT registered! Even with VAT though its still a lot cheaper than buying two sets and throwing away four perfectly good strings, or importing a set of the Circle K ones (over $50 in. p&p + whatever customs deem appropriate). However, as I said, Stringbusters said that bringing the Circle K strings to the UK is currently in the pipeline, so watch this space...

Our guitarist turned up to a gig on Saturday with a HUGE curly lead, it did make me chuckle after reading this post, it made me chuckle even more after what happened to him. So in the soundcheck he managed to clothesline a kid on a skateboard (don't ask) while walking out front to have a listen (to be fair he did get some way back and with a raised stage the cable was at perfect height). On his way back to the stage he wrapped the curly lead around a mic stand resulting in a Boss pedal being catapulted out front (missing kid on skateboard that time) when he unplugged the other side. Finally, in the last set (having untangled and recovered the pedal previously) he stood on the unstretched cable (banana skin style) and nearly fell on his backside. Brilliant. I think everyone should have one just for entertainment value alone. Needless to say he won't be using his again! Oh I forgot to mention, his guitar sounded really dull all night too.

So is the neck profile on the Geddy bass any different to the one on a standard 1972/3 Jazz Bass? I thought it was, but I have never played a Geddy bass, just a 1973 Jazz (Mine has black scratchplate too - I think this was standard in the 70s but I believe some came with an optional white one in the case!)

That should leave you enough to have it refinished in transparent red

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1332747303' post='1592304'] May I ask where you sourced them? The cheapest I've managed to find for the same strings came to £24.20 + P&P (stringsdirect website). [/quote] [url="http://stringbusters.com"]Stringbusters[/url], 19.90 (ex VAT) Also, it turns out Ken Smith strings do make what they call balanced tension sets, but the guages do not correspond to the chart from Circle K - this may be due to the different materials used and the mass of the strings. I might try them next though...

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1332750228' post='1592333'] Is it worth reopening the debate on tension vs compliance? [url="http://liutaiomottola.com/myth/perception.htm#mozTocId234250"]http://liutaiomottol...#mozTocId234250[/url] [/quote] No

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1332763374' post='1592648'] It's not even a solo, anyway, if you can only play it one time in ten - it's just musical alphabeti-spaghetti. Tosser. [/quote] Brilliant! I'll have to use this in future

SX are US only I think so you'd have to add shipping and taxes to that price! I'd rather go with a Squier VM any day though, its only a matter of time before Fender pull these and then stick a Fender badge on and charge £200 more...

Probably quite true, maybe they are rounded off to the nearest 5... Just spoke to Stringbusters and they are looking into bringing the Circle K strings to the UK, so "watch this space" as I was told...

Thomann also sell Ritter stuff. Personally I'd just get another Ritter, you know they do the job well... I'm very happy with my two Ritters, and if its just for walking the bass round to the local why spend a fortune on something else?

The man himself i believe just had an off the shelf 1972 Jazz bass and stuck a Badass bridge on it. So the Geddy Lee model is essentially just a 1972 reissue with a Badass bridge as far as I'm aware.

Yes I think same applies to flats, halfround etc. it's all about evening the tension between the strings. I've concocted a set from singles I've found available in the UK, just d'addario's 45-60-80-110 which is roughly tension balanced looking at the chart and under £20 for the set so I'll experiment with this for now and see what the difference is... Hopefully someone will start offering the circle K sets over here soon!

I don't think it makes a difference because the length that requires the tension is between the nut and bridge, so it doesn't matter how far away from the nut the tuner is, the working area of the string is the same. Same the other end for thru body / tailpiece strung. Also, 4 a side tuners generally have a string tree. The balanced tension strings make a whole lot of sense to me. I've always found my E and G a bit baggy in feel (insert your own innuendo here) compared to A and D, and I nearly always pop the G off its saddle at some point in a gig. Looking at the tension chart for a standard 45-105 set the A and D are under a lot more tension than the E and G. So for a consistent tension along the lines of a standard A and D I'd need to get 118 - 87 - 65 - 49! Quite a difference in tension, and not easy to go back once you've adjusted the nut and truss-rod. Does anybody sell them over here?

[quote name='sprocket123' timestamp='1332269402' post='1585894'] I wonder if a BadAss bridge would fit on a MIM J Bass [/quote] Yes it would. If you can find one.

Anybody selling them over here? The postage to the UK is more than a set of the strings!! Maybe we should do a joint order on here... and we can get some strings while we're at it