Jono Bolton

Here's a Seafoam Green Telecaster Bass to throw in the mix

Replacement from guitarguitar arrived at the weekend. This one is spot on. The neck and pickup on these really are great. I quite fancy getting one in vintage white now!

David Wilson has sprayed both of my P Basses, including one in the same shell pink. He does wonderful work

My first bass purchase was solely what was available at the time. Living on an island in the days before internet shopping and next day delivery (still not an option there) meant that pickings were slim. A boy a few years above me in school had a Peavey Foundation that he wasn't using, and a conversation between our dads in the pub meant I got it for the 14th birthday for the princely sum of £50. I should probably have looked after it better and held onto it longer in hindsight.

I sold a few bits and pieces with a view to getting another bass but after struggling with decision paralysis for a couple of weeks, I eventually went ahead and bought a Vintera Telecaster Bass in Seafoam Green.

The weight is good, the fit and finish seems spot on, the neck is a dream - fat front-to-back but not as wide at the nut as my Classic 50s P Bass neck - but the pickup is the real winner. The sound is great. I tried it out through my Ashdown ABM combo (the final boss of woolly bass tone; a mudbucker and an Ashdown) and the clean tone was nice but it really came alive when I engaged the valve drive. I often wondered if that button actually did anything as it didn't make much of a difference with either of my P Basses, but with the Telecaster it sounded very gritty indeed. And if you want a picture of it, @Linus27 has already taken care of that for me:

On 29/10/2023 at 14:03, Linus27 said:

 

 

 

Update: it's going back unfortunately. There's a dent on the top edge of it under the clear coat. I spoke to Andertons about it but I wasn't happy with the partial refund they offered. It's A) the first brand new bass I've bought in years and B) it was a lot of money for me, so I don't want to have live with something that I'm not 100% happy with.

Bodies with transparent finishes and very badly matched pieces. I've been looking at quite a few sunburst basses recently with very obvious joins

I still fancy a Telecaster Bass but I'll wait until either the price comes down or one comes up second hand 

22 hours ago, AndyTravis said:

Maple fingerboards with body colour matching headstocks…

 

No idea why.

 

but a 70’s Gibson with a maple board and black headstock (ripper/RD) is fine.

 

no idea.

 

oh, and the early MTD kingstons - don’t mind them having the MHS/Maple combo.

 

really an odd “nah, won’t buy that” thing.

This is absolutely accurate 

Is it a gloss or satin finish on the back of the neck?

Most headstocks on P or J copies don't look right. The only ones I've seen that I like are the Yamaha Pulser and the later version of the Ibanez Blazer. 

Is it fiesta red? It looks quite orange in the pictures.

Staytrem 10mm tremolo arm and collet with ivory tip, suitable for the Squier Bass VI and other brands that use imperial measurements. I've had this on two Squier Jazzmasters and a Bass VI and it still works perfectly.

It's a massive improvement on the stock trem arm; just unscrew the stock collet from the trem plate and screw the new one in. Once the trem is back in place just give the arm a good push and the arm won't come out unless you want it to. The movement is much smoother than the stock one and there's no risk of it coming loose. 

A great upgrade to your Bass VI (or even your guitar 😱) without the 8 week wait when ordering from Staytrem.

Staytrem wide bridge for Bass VI. The saddles are set at a 9.5" radius to match the fretboard, and the spacing is set at 52mm so your E strings aren't too close to the edge of the fretboard. A great bit of kit and makes the Bass VI a good deal more usable as the stock bridge isn't wide enough to get accurate intonation in most cases. In very good condition overall, but does have some track marks from the saddles on the plate. 

I've priced this at £100 which is what a new one would cost, however Staytrem items are made to order and have a lead time of around 8 weeks at the minute. They generally go for more on the likes of eBay and Reverb as people will pay a premium to avoid the wait. Comes with the original Allen key to adjust the saddles. 

La Bella 767-6F Flatwound Strings for Bass VI. Gauges are 0.026, 0.035, 0.044, 0.056, 0.075, 0.095. Lightly used and have plenty of life left. Silks are frayed slightly but have about 3-4 winds on a vintage-style guitar tuner post. Price is £20 plus postage (cost £60 from Thomann last year).

Any questions, just let me know.

Does anyone know where I can get a replacement blanking cap? My combo was missing one when I bought it and Ashdown don't stock replacements for this model (ABM EVO II). 

56 minutes ago, oldslapper said:

That’s great with the matching headstock! Nice job.

Thanks, though I can't take any credit for the execution, I just stumped up the cash 😄

Squier Classic Vibe Bass VI in black with a custom matching headstock, professionally resprayed by David Wilson with black poly to match the body, and a custom order 'Squier VI' decal. 

Near-mint condition, there's one small dent in the back of the body that hasn't gone through to the wood and is barely noticeable.

When I ordered this from Anderton's I asked if they could send me the one with the darkest fretboard as Laurel can be quite light and they didn't disappoint. It's strung with a set of roundwound Newtone strings with a .100 bottom E as the stock Fender ones were way too light. I also have a set of La Bella flats that can be included for a negotiable fee. It plays nicely and the pickups in it are great with a really nice, clear tone.

Collection from the Baillieston/Uddingston area of Glasgow I don't have a case for it unfortunately but I might still have the box for it, though I moved house a couple of months ago and can't guarantee that it didn't get included in one of my many trips to the tip. If I can find it the postage will be an option.

On 03/07/2023 at 13:21, pilotbicycles said:

I'm not totally sure to be honest - just discolouration really.

No impact on the playability of the instrument at all.

Could be from the original lining of the case; it was apparently quite common for the case to react with the finish on the bass/guitar, and would also explain why the original lining was ripped out.

I collected the head last night and it's a big unit, much bigger than I envisioned. It's a wide version of the ABM EVO III 500 head, but the seller told me that the sleeve had been damaged so he contacted Ashdown who said they no longer made replacements for this particular model, so it's housed in an ABM EVO IV 900 sleeve instead, hence the sizeable gap at the bottom. It doesn't bother me, certainly not for £170; it all works fine and sounds good and is in excellent nick. ABM EVO II 300 C110 for scale:

4 minutes ago, BassAdder60 said:

I don’t think Ashdown come on here these days !  
 

Im fairly sure if it’s wider then it would have been an amp pulled out of a combo. 
 

 

Fair enough, I didn't think to check, I just knew they had a login for here. I assumed they were taken out of combos but even if they were short on heads I would've thought it would be a pain in the backside for Ashdown to have to create chassis to put them in to sell as heads.

8 minutes ago, alexa3020 said:

Interesting a quick search online only shows me non wide evo 3 heads. Perhaps it is a repurposed combo head - they were wide with extra vents

The post I originally quoted above shows a wide version, same as the one I'm off to collect later. I'll maybe drop Ashdown an email about it just to satisfy my own curiosity. Unless @Ashdown Engineering can elaborate?

20 minutes ago, alexa3020 said:

With the Evo iv range the wide heads are 1200w (2x600w power sections). Not sure about Evo 3

The EVO III I'm looking at is 500W. I remember seeing wide versions of the EVO II 500 as well.

On 16/11/2021 at 03:53, DGBass said:

I've used various ABM's for five or six years now and recently had a bit of a clear out as my old Trace Elliot stuff has been creeping back into action. My favourite ABM was an old mosfet ABM 500 EVO. My last remaining ABM is a big box ABM 500 EVOIII bought as a spares/repair project and its now fully rebuilt/restored with an EVO IV pre-amp shoe-horned into it. It was originally a 2010 model and now sounds like brand new and is immensely powerful.  Currently used with either a 1980 Musicman RH115 or a 1990 TE 1518T both with Faital Pro 15-PR400's. I can't recall ever using anything else that can move so much air.     

What's the story with the wide ABM heads? Are they combo units that Ashdown repurposed into heads? I'm only asking as I'm going to pick up an EVO III head tonight and it's the wide, vented version rather than the standard one.

22 hours ago, 2pods said:

I loved mine and would love to find the pre amp version

 

GLWTS

There's someone selling one on Gumtree near me, a GP12 SMC Bass Pre-Amp

This has been sitting in my parts box for well over a decade. Unbranded as far as I can see, approx 8m in length, a straight jack at either end. Yours for the cost of postage; I don't need it and just want shot of it as I'm struggling to get the parts box closed these days.