Jean-Luc Pickguard

Yep - thought so. Cheers for the replies chaps. I phoned the shop & will go up there to swap it out next Saturday. I also ordered one of the funky but expensive Markbass Bags for it which I'll pick up at the same time. I tried my NS CR5M through the LMII with my Schroeder 1212L today & it knocked my socks off. I don't think I've ever heard a bass sound coming from my fingers that I've loved so much! The VLE & VPF controls make it so easy to quicky dial in great sounds. Impressive!

I bought a Little Mark II today. One thing thats worrying me is that the ground lift switch at the back seems to be fitted to the chassis OK, but the actual rocker part of the switch does not click into either the on or off position - it just flaps about loosely as if there's supposed to be a spring to make it click into position which is either missing or broken. Does this sound like a faulty switch? surely its not supposed to be like that?

Then surely putting the GBP price there is misleading? I don't mind being charged in euros - I can find the rates and do the sums easily enough, but seeing a £s figure stated there many people will probably think that's what they'll be charged. Its also easy enough to find out how much extra your credit card issuing bank will charge as an additional exchange fee and I'm sure most people realise that exchange rates fluctuate, but by stating the GBP price surely Thomann should either accept payment in that currency at the £ price listed or state clearly that its only a rough guide and you may be charged a fair bit more?

Those Basschatters that have ordered stuff from thomann.de will know that the invoice is charged in euros and the credit card company will do the conversion and may charge a currency exchange fee in the form of adjusting the exchange rate in their favour by up to 5%. The only card I am aware of that doesn't do this and does the exchange at the basic rate shown on [url="http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_services/consumer_ex_rates.jsp"]visa.com[/url] is the nationwide visa card which saved me a packet when I bought my NS upright. However I have been looking at getting a Little Mark II to go with my Schroeder 1212L. Thomann appear to have it at a decent price, but not the cheapest I've seen however the £s price listed isn't what I'd be charged, I'd be charged the € price which will then be billed in £s on my card. The Little Mark II is listed on Thomann as €639EUR which they also show as £434.52GBP, however going to the visa link above, the rate is: 1 Euro = 0.70 British Pounds or 1 British Pound = 1.43 Euro so instead of £434.52 as shown on the Thomann site, I'd be paying £447.30 at today's exchange rate (plus a bit more if I used a card that levys an additional fee) Are they allowed to do this? They probably have a disclaimer somewhere saying the £ prices are not accurate, but I couldn't see it.

I thought you only widdled on a bass as part of the relicing process

So the youtube comment: "We sold it for TWICE what we paid for it after this relic'ing process. Relic guitars are worth MORE! Money. " Was NOT posted by one of the shop staff involved then? OK that clears up one mystery......

Sounds like a ticking off directed at people here If not why didn't you post it as a comment on the youtube page. I don't know (or care) if anyone posting here on BC posted those comments, but they have to expect trolls. Unfortunately thats the nature of youtube if you leave comments open.

[quote name='Cantdosleepy' post='64738' date='Sep 24 2007, 01:31 PM']you guys take yourselves and your opinions on kosher ways to treat a bass far too seriously. it's not your bass, not your request, not what you want, none of your business. maybe they're mates with the guy who's bass it is. maybe he's not bothered that that's not an authentic relicing. maybe they thought it would be fun. maybe they suggested a proper luthier, and the customer was like "well, I need it for a muso fancy dress party tonight", or "I've only got £15 - just have a crack at it". y'all need to be a little less judgemental.[/quote] Nope Very Big -1 for the reason stated by the funk above I don't need to be less judgemental. Others may from time to time prefer me to be, but it's not something I need.

[quote name='Wil' post='64707' date='Sep 24 2007, 12:40 PM']How do you know the customer wanted a Jaco Jazz?[/quote] Of course we don't know anything about what the customer wanted, but we can see that they are trying to emulate the wear pattern of a jaco jazz as they are referring to a picture of one onscreen.

[quote name='The Funk' post='64698' date='Sep 24 2007, 12:31 PM']I'm sure he had no idea what he was in for or what he was doing. You'd expect someone in a shop to say "we don't do that and we're not the people to ask". A helpful shop would then say "ask such and such".[/quote] In my experience a lot of shops charge for a simple set up when they really should refer the customer to someone better qualified. I've seen shop staff making the classic mistake of raising or lowering action using the truss rod without considering the amount of relief in the neck. I guess its like the floor staff in PC world thinking that a purple shirt, name badge and the ability to read the backs of boxes means they're qualified to give IT advice even when they don't really have the slightest idea of what they're talking about.

[quote name='Clive Thorne' post='64676' date='Sep 24 2007, 12:02 PM']... does at least involve some real abuse, so is possibly closer to the spirit of a genuine relic!. Clive[/quote] I beg to differ. A "relic" treatment simulates the natural playing wear & tear an instrument picks up from constant playing not mindless abuse/vandalism. A bass attacked with a file is never going to look remotely like one that has picked up wear/mojo naturally. If that is what the customer wanted then very well, but in my opinion that would make him a complete idiot.

[quote name='cheddatom' post='64659' date='Sep 24 2007, 11:12 AM']There is a definite difference in tone between playing hard, and playing medium, or soft. Plus, at gigs, we all get a bit carried away, surely? Maybe if I kept them cut I wouldn't break them, but then I wouldn't have such a mean tone for my pops![/quote] In that case the only option I can suggest is nail varnish

I keep my nails trimmed down as much as possible so they don't catch the string at all. I carry a little nail trimmer gadet with sissors & a file - its now one of my pre-rehearsal & pre-gig rituals. I started doing this when I noticed that alternate notes varied in brightness as my index finger nail was longer than the middle finger, so the notes played with the index finger were brighter which sounded odd. To improve your technique, economy of movement is your friend. You don't need to play hard to sound like you're playing agressively - its all in the timing, turning up the amp + using a limiter if necessary.

[quote name='Mike' post='64593' date='Sep 24 2007, 07:21 AM']I just love the look of the aged P.[/quote] Just a suggestion - have a look at a sunburst highway 1 Precision. It has a thin soft lacquer, you'll put your own playing wear into it after a while - obviously not as immediate as attacking it with tools, but with a bit of patience and a lot of playing it will show "honest" mojo a lot sooner than a poly finished instrument.

The musicman web ste is: [url="http://www.ernieball.com/mmonline/"]http://www.ernieball.com/mmonline/[/url] Not sure I would want to buy a bass from this man though: Sterling Ball President of Ernie Ball Musicman.

Difficult to diagnose sight unseen, but a few things to check off the top of my head: is it catching in the nut? - if so run a soft pencil in the nut slots to lubricate. Check the screws in the machinehead are tight - the one holding the main gear for fender-type open tuners or the one at the top of the button for Gotoh-type enclosed ones. These can possibly loosen with time, although this is rare in my experience. The A string wouldn't be going under a string tree, so it won't be that, but if it was a D or G string it could be. I'd also take the strings off and put them back on winding tidily onto the machinehead capstans, in case they was originally wound on haphazardly.

Looks like I will have to sell mine. I've used it for a few gigs and lots of rehearsals with an Ashdown MAG 210 deep, but now I have a 4 Ohm Schroeder 1212L and I'm selling my Ashdown stack the powerblock won't be much use as a spare...

[quote name='BassBunny' post='63877' date='Sep 21 2007, 11:32 PM']It looks like the wrong jack socket to mount on the control plate. When i got the EMG's for my Jazz they supplied a pre-wired stereo jack to power the pick-ups. Looks like this giuy lost his and used whatever he could lay his hands on. Weird.[/quote] The decal is fake. So the neck is unlikely to be Fender. I wonder if the body or anything else is genuine...

I'm sure the counter staff at Eric Lindsey Music in Catford will have a go if you really want it done... See this thread: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=6049"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=6049[/url]

Apart from the fact they have no idea how to do a convicing relic job, I bet the customer was ignorant of the MIM routes under the pickguard being so different to the jaco bass and will get a bit of a nasty surprise with the swimming pool round the neck pickup. The discuss covering over the wiring route with gaffa - Yeah that's going to look so cool . An MIM jazz really needs to keep its frock on.

Next time someone need a definition of the word dickhead, they should be referred to this video. It sounds like the customer wanted a jaco bass so they offered to relic a mex std, not having the slightest idea how to do it or the differences between lacquer and poly finishes.

I think the last set of strings I bought were about £40 for a 5 sting set of TI flats to replace the stock strings on a new £200 Peavey. The TIs will probably last about ten years, so I consider that a bargain. I used to use Rotosound flats, but I had three sets of crap ones turn up in one order once and haven't risked them since.

A japanese sting bass has the wrong type of paint to relic convincingly. Plus the fugly pearl signature marker will look even more wrong on a relic.

[quote name='Bass_Widow' post='63196' date='Sep 20 2007, 04:58 PM']He has a very garish purple signiture bass.... doesn't really fit anywhere in the house. [/quote] This One? Its lfalex innit?

No one really needs more than one bass and one guitar My missus started complaining when the total reached around seventeen basses & twelve geetars including the kids' instruments...