tbonepete

[quote name='happynoj' timestamp='1423816355' post='2689256'] They're not, but there's bound to be a whole load of confusion because they keep using similar names for different products. Now, I think I've got this right but it's not easy: - The 2013 Pro Series was made in Korea. - The 2014 'Warwick German Pro Series' basses were routed in Germany and assembled/finished in China. - The new (2015) Pro Series are completely made in Germany, but some of the detail sanding and finishing is being shopped out to smaller workshops rather than the main Warwick factory. - Then there's the 90s Proline and Pro-M basses... [/quote] Hmmm, could I ask where you came by this information as I would have thought if it is the case then TB comments about China assembly should be updated by Warwick official who stated the China comment, this hasn't been corrected, and I'd have thought It was something to shout about . Interesting when adding this to Molans comment regarding the made in Germany bit in this thread. I'd like to think that German means German, but increasingly names become meaningless with regard to marketing and sales. Still, I'm sure they'll do whatever suits them to stay in the race. For me, I'm not interested in the pro series wherever it's made as the specs aren't what I'm looking for. some years ago a well known brand of hand and gardening tools were selling forks, and spades amongst other lines that were said to be made in the UK. It transpires that one part came from India, another came from China, and the parts were joined together and labelled over here thus doing just enough to qualify under the letter of the law to be considered a UK product. I've read the post and the link given below, and it still looks to me like that's what is going on. The word "made" as used in the link, and Manufacturers site, and the Talkbass thread do not categorically rule out China as the point of assembly, or indeed any other part of the process. I don't want to be bashing one brand specifically as this sort of cloudy boardroom marketing speak goes on all the time, and across all products and services too. I just want to know that I have all the information to hand in order to make an informed choice when parting (or not) with my money, which I have earned. As always this comes with the IMO, YMMV etc etc. And by way of completeness, I could well be wrong, and these Pro series basses are actually made in Gemany, in which case I'll be very happy for those who buy. Thanks for putting me right Cheers Pete

Just been over the "other"place, and it seems the new German pro series basses are put together in China......

[quote name='[email protected]' timestamp='1423749812' post='2688582'] [size=4]Are there any Ibanez owners, out there? What do you think of them? Ibanez have been recommended to me by a few musicians generally but I want other opinions, especially from bass players who own, or have owned them. I know there are many models so some advice as to what to look for would be useful. Advice on build quality, sound quality, and any known problems/faults etc would also be helpful. [/size] [size=4]I'm looking for a 4-string fretless, preferably active. For example is the SDGR 300DXF any good?[/size] [size=4]Cheers[/size] [size=4]S[/size] [/quote] Some ok, some good, some great. You pays your money, you takes your choice. Some of the bridges can be fragile so look carefully. There's two currently in the stock room at the local PMT suffering from the very same issue. Personally I've had three (currently still have one), two SRs and one BTB. The SRs were a 505, and a 1205, and as far as weight, and playability went they were great (the 1205 being especially nice re weight), but the sound just left me twiddling and fiddling all the time trying to get a sound I liked, and for me they both failed. Plenty of players out there liking the range though. Oops, I forgot, I also had a gsr 205 as a back up but never used it (no, really, I never even used it in the shop), and an ATK 305, really liked that, again the playability was great, but this time it had sounds I liked too, very nice basses (for me).! Cheers Pete

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1423767023' post='2688859'] Hey Pete, got an email early last week saying they had received it and will be starting the service process right away. I was told to wait 3-4 weeks so I've not heard any further as of yet. I'm Feeling much better about it all now that I have a "backup" 400w all tube head [/quote] Flippin' eck Chris, is that a new MB head? Can't say I've seen one, mind you I've largely stopped looking there. Good luck , Cheers Pete

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1422557187' post='2674121'] Posted the head back today, the wait begins! [/quote] Any news yet Chris? Cheers Pete

Hmmm, I'd really like a thumb5, and I'm not that fussy whether it's a bolt on, or neck thru, but the new pro series does nothing for me, and I can't see one in the custom series, and in any case I wouldn't be paying the £££ that are on the price list. It's a used German thumb for me as and when the time is right. To me a thumb is wenge neck, brass nut, bell brass frets, black hardware, bubinga body. These new "pro" series have none of these as far as I can see, and as one of (if not the first) the original Warwick models I hardly see this as a custom line bass (of course if you want different woods/elecs etc,then it would be a custom line). Looks just like the Korean bass so might as well keep production of the cheaper lines over there rather than invent a new name for the same thing. Fame probably does something in similar woods/elecs for way less.........

I've had two Ken Taylor 5ers, the first was a 2007, and the second is a newer anniversary model, also I briefly owned a California VM4 sca, and the bridge shape was identical on all of them, BUT, the bridge saddles were like those in the ABM bridge picture on the earlier Ken Taylor, and the newer VM4, and Anniversary model have the roll type saddles. For what it's worth I prefer the older type saddles, especially for intonation on the E, and B strings, and find them easier to adjust (YMMV, of course). Sandberg very kindly sourced a set of older style saddles (they no longer have any spares!) for me. First class service, and its good to know that the ABM saddles are of my preferred style should I need some more! Cheers Pete

Oh my goodness! That is absolutely stunning! Congratulations on your new bass

All valid points answering another question, and I'm not questioning the efficacy of either the badass, or fenders different replacement. I question whether it is right to still call the models using the fender bridge by the same names as ones that originally had badass bridges fitted to them as the artists had on their own basses. Does a Marcus Miller bass revert to a Jazz bass of whatever range, from whatever country of origin, or are the atrists now playing basses equipped with fender hi mass type bridge (and I mean playing, and not just standing for a photo shoot)? There will of course always be a number of people who swear by what they've got, and swear AT what they don't, so I'm not asking which is best, just merely is it still a Miller/Dirnt?Harris etc bass if it no longer fits the spec of the original model. Still seems like a lot of faff to go to to avoid making BA bridges for those models. For transparancy I've only owned one BA equipped bass, and that was a Godin PJ active 4 I had in the late 90s, and Bridges are bridges to me (as long as there is no lateral movement), so I don't care on that score,but if I wanted one of the above models I would want the correct parts on it,or it would not be that particular model. And again Imho

[quote name='Grissle' timestamp='1422402553' post='2672359'] I talked to an ex-Fender rep awhile back who told me after Leo Quan died production pretty much stopped. Fender bought up most of the remaing stock and the rights. Then they slightly Re-designed it to look a little more Fenderish. [/quote] Seems strange that they would go to the expense of buying an iconic product, then change it, thus making it no longer the iconic product, and incurring yet more expense along the way. Why not just make the bridge they've ended up with and not bother buying the rights to badass? They seem to be putting them on basses from the Chinese made modern player upwards, so it can't be that expensive a bridge either. And still it's not a badass that's on the models that had them on at the start, thus making them different models imo.

In the great scheme a few badass bridges don't amount to much. My point was however concerning particular models where the badass bridge was an intrinsic part of that model, and let's not forget that fender, had they bought badass could have sold them separately too. All the R&D and tooling had long since been done which must be more cost effective than developing and producing something which probably does no more than the badass that already exsisted on the models above. IMHO of course!

Not apparent on my laptop, but if I look on my ipad which has a much better screen resolution the words BADASS BASS II can be seen when zoomed in.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1422377429' post='2671883'] I'm sure if they could have, and it had been commercially viable, they would have. Having said that, they would probably have just done what they are doing now anyway, which is making their own version of it. Fender are very keen on buying up & then quickly eradicating anything it sees as opposition. [/quote] An interesting point, However, Quann bridges aren't really oppostion merely a supplier of a small range of parts popular with modders of all makes of bass, and more critically a supplier of parts that enable Fender to sell certain signature models. Unless Marcus,Mr Harris, and Mike Dirnt etc etc play basses with fender bridges on I'm not sure that they would be anything other than homage copies of the models they purport to represent. Interstingly also are the pictures on Fender's site of the Mike Dirnt roadworn bass, and new Steve Harris bass in that the specs state the fender bridge, and the pictures still show the Badass bridge on the basses. A touch of photoshopping going on me thinks. That the bridges are apparently no longer available is one thing, but continuing to sell the actual models that had them on as selling points ( and indeed because the basses which they mimicked) seems not quite right to me. Nailing my colours to the mast I'm not a fan of the looks of the new bridge, it looks cheap to me, but as I said earlier I don't have a horse in this race. If I were to buy a Marcus, Dirnt, Harris etc I would have to source a badass equipped one though, as that's the correct bridge for those models.

^^^^^^^ Ouch, I'm sorry Chris, I didn't realise that was your current situation. Even more so now, I hope you get a satisfactory outcome. Cheers Pete

Apologies if this question has been asked/answered before, If so mods please delete. As I understand it the Badass bridges are no longer available, and have been replaced by a fender hi mass style one. My question is why didn't Fender just buy the rights/tools etc for the badass bridges? I wouldn't have thought that it wasn't in the Quann's interest to have the bridges just disappear, and if they sold to Fender at least they'd get some loot, and the models (such as the Geddy Lee/Steve Harris, etc) that originally used the bridges could stay true to their original spec. I have no horse in this race, but as an interested bystander I'd only be interested in a bass that had the spec of the original model it represented, and not an alternative spec thus rendering it a different bass to the original. Fender have been known to buy a company or two in the past (lol!) with various results (lol!), so why not Badass? Cheers Pete

Best of luck Chris, That sucks,I hope you get sorted. As a matter of interest I had a similar experience but with a non musical item, and was told that I wasn't automatically entitled to a replacement due to the amount of time I'd had the product ( I think the cutoff period for automatic replacement was 30 days, after that its repair/replace discretion), and this was an item that I'd bought in the UK. I dont know if that's common, or indeed correct, but I suspect so . Anyhoo, best of luck, Cheers Pete

Any news from MB people yet Chris?

[quote name='patrikmarky' timestamp='1422219699' post='2670063'] Ibanez make a big statement with this bridge ?? [/quote] I briefly had an ATK 305 in natural, and it was a monster amount of fun! They really made something special with that range, and it's a shame the sales didn't warrant keeping the models they've discontinued. Get one, and play it, you won't regret it! (IMHO, of course!)

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1422049804' post='2668302'] Bollocks to it, I've sent Markbass a 6 paragraph email asking them to intervene [/quote] Don't forget the powers that be may be in the states right now, its NAMM time!

[quote name='carlsim' timestamp='1421926458' post='2666621'] I think you could be right Pete... maybe I have just got use to the mids a bit too much! Need to get used to the alternative sound of the jazz... the pre in the bass does have a variety of sounds, but maybe I need a 3 band eq rather then 2. Anyone have a 3 band eq in their Jazz? recommendations? [/quote] Hi Mate, I can't really recommend one over the other, as what I like may well be different to what you like, but you're welcome to come round and try my 5ers, all of which have 3 band eq, and the one I currently have up for sale/trade has a mid control with an additional 3 position switch which changes the frequency of the mid cut and boost. If you want to do that at the very least you can compare my three with yours, and see what if anything you like/dislike about the various basses. Give me a call if thats any help, and no doubt we'll bump into each other soon anyway. Cheers Pete