mattpbass

Fair enough, if they said they’d check it cause they knew you were bothered about it then that’s a bit crap. But again, it’s not a fault, it’s within tolerances that the manufacturer considers acceptable. You don’t, and neither do I, but I’m just saying it’s not unusual for a delivered guitar to arrive looking nothing like the example picture, it’s no more reliable with Ibanez or Squire for example, could easily end up with one that looks like it’s come from two completely different trees!

I worked in instrument retail for years, so I have a bit more sympathy for the retailer, in the same way I have total sympathy for you. From the manufacturer’s POV there is nothing wrong with the bass. The retailer buys the bass and has no recourse on it, it is not faulty (per the manufacturer). It is very common on cheaper basses with visible grain finishes to have badly matched wood. I agree it looks crap, it would annoy me as a retailer, and as a potential buyer, but fundamentally no one has behaved badly in this situation, the call from others to slag them off all over the internet seems a bit off to me. Personally if I was buying anything with visible grain I’d want to see it before buying to avoid this exact situation.

At your own cost though. They’ve not refused a return unless I’ve misread?

If it helps I agree with you. Does it look a bit crap to me, yes, would I like to own it, no, but is it faulty? No it isn’t, so no retailer would have any come back with the manufacturer, so it’s up to the purchaser whether they want to buy it or not, but the retailer has done nothing wrong.

Being as they only announced it a couple of days ago it’s very unlikely anyone has used one. From their post it looks like they’ve just made it simpler to adjust, can’t imagine it sounds any different.

It really is, he comes across brilliantly.

Love it, The Don can do no wrong.

Luca Pisanu is indeed amazing but he’s not been on bass for them for a while, Gus Stirrat is the current bass player (who is of course also an insane player).

I'm not sure that the no space on stage argument holds up, I use a bass synth at every gig big or small, its stand goes above my pedal board so I don't require any more/less space either way. The set-up time and too much stuff to carry argument I can definitely get on board with though! 😅

I’m not saying there aren’t, I’m just countering Kev’s idea that using an actual synth is more the mindset of the bedroom player.

I’d say the absolute opposite, synth pedals are for bedroom players or as a compromised solution for gigging where you can’t / don’t want to use an actual synth. Look on pro stages, there’s a lot of synth bass, not many synth bass pedals.

Fantastic new track from The Don, from his upcoming bass-centric instrumental album Il Basso. The video is beautifully ridiculous as always. 😅

Just to play devil’s advocate, I read all this about replacement when I got my IEMs, which is now just over 4 years ago, can’t say mine feel any different today than they did when I got them, still fit perfectly.

Yeah absolutely, I worked in instrument retail for 10 years and prior to the current range Fender’s mainstream bass amps were not that well regarded. The V3 Rumbles changed that, not because they are absolutely incredible, but they hit a good sweet spot of looks, performance, weight and price.

Agreed that the Rumble range’s good reputation is based on the current versions, the older ones are not generally as well thought of. A 100 (or even the 40) is more than enough for home use.