Silvia Bluejay

Ha! I'll remember all this when I place my next order, and make sure to check. Thanks

January 2020

I see the prices in Sterling but I get charged in Euros!

I'm not sure I understand this discussion. What do you guys mean by searching for Thomann UK on Google and ending up on a different site? I use www.thomann.de/gb/. I still end up exactly on that url if I search for Thomann UK. Yet I've always been charged in Euros with added conversions, fees etc., even when I bought something recently. What's the url you guys are using to see/be charged prices in Sterling?

I'd say Repairs And Technical maybe? I'll move it there to start with.

This 'thing' I saw at Warwick's NAMM stand, and photographed in utter disbelief. 😱

WTF is that???? 😱 What have Fodera got against the low B string? 😮

My OCD has taken some serious battering in the last few threads I've been part of...

😛 😁😎

God I hadn't seen that! In addition to the sheer, utter ugliness of the layout, the string needs to be wound the wrong way! Now I can't unsee it ... 😮

We did, while grocery shopping in Pasadena! 😮 I don't think he's a member here. I think he's on Talkbass though, but I visit there very rarely, so I can't comment on that. Edit: THIS thread.

You pays your money and you gets better looking fingerboards with no ugly dots. Makes sense to me. 👍

Am I correct in thinking that r ramps are in many cases an afterthought, and many can be removed and replaced as needed? I certainly wouldn't want a fixed one on any bass, even if I slapped.

Dots on the fingerboard. 😉

Not a fan of Fender shapes - P bass, J bass (body and headstock). Yes some of them are nice to look at - especially those not made by Fender, e.g. Sadowsky, Sandberg et al. - but there's so much out there that looks better. I loathe pickguards, especially tort, especially on Fender-ish basses. I really don't like 'burst' colours, although I'm stuck with them on a few of my basses because there was no lefty alternative. I'm sure I'll think of something else!

I imagine that means someone must have noticed how horrid it looks otherwise, and taken action.

Incidentally, there's another thing my OCD really isn't happy about on that bass. Purely cosmetic, and thankfully I only notice it when I'm not playing, but... The dots appear to be centred on the fingerboard (in the case of the single ones) or at equal distance from the sides (in the case of the doubles), but the strings are, of course, of different thickness, so they're not perfectly centred, with the resulting "Aaargh!! feeling. I'm not sure if this is common, because this is the only 5-string bass guitar I have that has dots on the fretboard (totally pointless thing IMO). My NS NXT5 upright has dots, of course, but they're perfectly positioned, and in its case they're not pointless but essential! PS the marks on the fingerboard are just that, marks, not scratches or grooves. Aanyway, on we go... 😉😎

Mine definitely needed a truss rod tweak to start with, and the non-adjustable nut is the stupidest thing I've ever seen in my life, after owning so many excellent Warwicks. Warwick 1, Ibanez nil. I've installed a new set of Labella Low Tension flats, lowered or raised the saddles individually to my taste (higher on the low B to avoid that clank, pretty low on the G because it's easier to play, and everything in between), lowered the pickups and made sure they are nearly flush with the body on the treble side, and protrude a bit on the bass side. I have noticed a big difference between the sound when I play plugged into the PJB briefcase and when I use the PJB Bass Buddy with its headphones. The bass sounds majestic on the briefcase no matter how I tweak the knobs or the pickups, but the vast majority of my bass playing is along my MP3s with the headphones, so I have optimised it to sound good in that situation. The pickups output has been deliberately weakened by lowering them to avoid clipping, then I've rolled off almost all the lows on the appropriate knob, and tweaked the highs and mids so they sound good when I'm playing along music. I haven't noticed any clank or other string noises that I couldn't get rid of - however, I don't slap. This bass would probably need a ramp added if I did. The pickups seem wired correctly, and all the switches and knobs seem to do what they say on the tin. Yes it's as heavy as my Fortress 5, but so were most of the other 5-string basses I ever picked up at NAMM or the LBGS. The Mike Lulls of this world are exceptions, not the rule. The neck is an absolute dream, fast, smooth, thin and the perfect shape for my small hands. Unlike all the Warwicks I've ever owned, with old or new style bridge, the intonation of the low B was 1. achievable 2. a doddle 3. did not require getting rid of the saddle spring. In other words, the designers have had no trouble allowing for enough low B string length despite the body being small and cute and the scale being 34 inch. So it's Warwick 1, Ibanez 1 at full time, and I'm loving both and I don't have to choose one over the other.

And this looks like it might be useful to watch.

Well, it should be sitting in the groove in the endpin base, rather than on the endpin itself - that's for sure.

Looks like they were having a cab shootout!

None taken, it's not an offending photo or we would have pulled it. Just unnecessary.

Naked man holding dead animal... errrm... nah. 😮 Two wrongs don't make a right anyway... 😉😎

We could all have been spared that photo, and we would be happier. Here's one of a Marleaux Diva, sight for sore eyes.

Gratuitous, and not funny at all. The following is one of my own photos from NAMM 2020. Jens is king.