la bam

Im currently gigging with my vintage v4 reissue p bass and i genuinely think its as good in the mix as any high end fender p bass - no one would ever know it wasnt a high end p bass - and its cheaper than a squier. I can do everything on it i need - low end power and high end clarity, very easy to play too and finished beatifully. I could get a high end fender p but why would i? Id be paying £1000 for that headstock decal, not for anything else that would improve anything to my playing or band. Each to their own though.

Love my set up. Very very light and very powerful amp and cab. Contains full back up amp and total tone shaping too. All pre wired and set up in less than a minute.

ive just done this with a behringer bdi21. bass guitar - pedal bdi21 - return socket on back of amp (in this case an ashdown lg1000) - and it sounds absolutely fantastic. how to transform an amp for £30!!

Yes. Anyone who knows their stuff should be able to get a decent sound out of any bass. Squiers easily give a good sound.

I think this way of Sansamp into venue amps send and return (and bypassing the venue amps sound) is becoming the best way to do it.

If you can play those tupe of bands then youre more than capable of joining a band. Youll never feel ready to join a band, but as soon as you do join one, your playing will improve 10 times quicker than having lessons. Youll naturally push yourself harder, have to play songs you wouldnt neccessarily pick and learn to gel with other band members and what they play - all stuff that you cant get from having a lesson - and far more valuable.

The gold knobs turned up today. Now finished. Looks a lot better than i thought in real life (if a bit more gold than originally planned).

Yeh ive previously had tbe 'just plug your bass straight in here (di box)'. Thats lazy sound engineering. Try doing that with a guitarist and theyll start stropping!! All i was trying to work out is if i could send my amps sound to their di. Its not a special sound, its not a world changer, but its a nice sound, nice and even and nice and compressed. This was to make life easier for them. In usual sound checks where we bring the backline i havent had to spend more than 30 seconds on the sound check. Sound guys love it and cant believe how easy ive made it for them. Its like (plays 2 notes across all 4 strings) "oh, er yeh, thats perfect - next!" Interesting that the way im going to have to do this is a sansamp, flyrig or vtbass pedal, when my amp head is capable of doing the same thing.

The advise of roughing up the guard first and then doing a very light cover first worked a treat.

thats a good idea. im going to keep it black for now though, just so i dont mess it up and need to respray it again.

yes, whether its to do with design trademarks or what i dont know, but every precision type scratchplate will not fit every precision type bass. some wont fit over the control recess, some wont fit over the pick up spaces etc - and some will, but may need completely re screwing down as the screw holes are in the wrong place. i couldnt find a replacement for the v4 anywhere. i contacted the manufacturer in the end (jhs) but the one they suggested definitely looked like it wouldnt fit. it had screw holes in different places and the pick up space looked much closer to the edge of the scratchplate than the existing one i had. its definitely worth asking round round first if a replacement will fit your bass.

.......... and just looking at photos from 86 - where did i get the idea he had gold scratchplate screws from?! they look normal to me - but hey ho i like the gold now!! and it doesnt look as cluttered in real life.

ok, so notible differences: 1. its not got the Fender logo (because its not a Fender - theres no way i could experiment with £1500 worth of bass). I would have considered putting a decal on, but the finish on the V4 was that good and gloss varnish finished it would be a disaster to strip it all back. 2. the hardware isnt Fender and the bridge isnt a schaller 3d. Because im no expert i decided to get the V4 as it had good quality hardware as standard in chrome and had the exact same harware available in gold, so in theory it should be a straight swap over without having to re drill or glue any holes. 3. the scratchplate is 3 ply but it was impossible not to spray over the middle ply of white which would have given it that scratchplate outline. 4. just need the gold pot knobs and jack nut. 5. ive decided for the moment to leave the strap locks in chrome as i dont want to swap yet as in case they dont hold properly and i get a mid gig shock! 6. theres a slight rise at the bridge, and a small hum at high levels, but im going to get that looked at. 7. the string retainer needs either a longer screw or repositioning despite being a direct replacement, but should be a 2 minute job. All in all the bass plus parts, paint etc came to around £260 - which is fantastic value.

Just got to add the gold pot knobs and a few set up tweaks and then itll be time to give it a gig!

and finally re fitted with gold screws.