rushscored4

I very nearly ordered the Blackstar 500w combo but whilst looking on YouTube for reviews I noticed the new Fender Rumble Stage 800 which seems to offer more or less everything the Unity does but with the same modelling software as the Mustang GT guitar amps, more power, less weight and far less money if you also order the 250w powered extension cab!

47 minutes ago, peety said:

Yes that is mine I did think better of it even though I have a white one as well seriously good value for the money and the spec available 

Ah Steve, it was me who messaged you through FB the other night (Iain Crawford)... looking forward to seeing it in the flesh next week so to speak! 

5 hours ago, NJE said:

Have you had a look at Moollon? I have noticed a lot of players with them on the internet and all really positive reviews. A few guys say they are as good if not better than the Pino. The headstocks can be a bit ‘marmite’ though. Search for them on Instagram if you have it.

There is a trans white Lakland on here that I would seriously consider if I was looking for  P bass too, the USA basses are insanely good.

Missed this post yesterday. Doesn't Scott Devine have a nice Moollon? Never seen one advertised to be honest.

Also, like G&L, I'm not sure if I like the look of Lakland. A bit too nice if you know what I mean?!  I do love the Duck Dunn special they brought out a few years ago though... 

8 minutes ago, Old Horse Murphy said:

Thanks chaps. It’s a stunning bass, but I just prefer a slightly thicker neck

And yet the thinner neck's one of the things I like best about my NM signature!

13 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

I'm just amazed they're that much in the first place....

I think Fender price the American Vintage (now Original) series in between the American Professional and Elite series. You could easily argue they're all overpriced!

56 minutes ago, Bigwan said:

Pound for pound the best P I've played was my old Squier SQ! So I'd be adding SQ and JV Squiers to the list if it were me.

Hands down the best P I've played was my friend's refinished '64 Fender. Beautiful.

If I'd a grand to spend I'd be looking at a MIM RW P or a Limelight. If I'd a 2 grand to spend I'd be talking to Sander DeGier.

@Bigwan I mentioned earlier I've got a lovely MIM Nate Mendel anyway and the budget isn't really the main issue. It's whether less than a grand would buy me a really good value for money 8/10 bass (like the NM signature in my opinion) or whether it's worth spending £2.5k to get a great 9/10 Custom Shop bass or nearly £5k to get a 10/10 original vintage dream bass!

3 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

£1600 for a display model?

OMG. 

Looks immaculate to be fair apart from one small scratch on the back which wouldn't bother me to save £300 but I've decided not to buy either of the '63 AVRIs anyway!

9 minutes ago, artisan said:

Lol I don't have an LB100 actually but I'd happily sell a kidney to buy one 😁

I must admit the LB100 does seem to have everything I'm looking for but I just can't get my head around it's head, i.e. that wee bit of an edge that sticks out of the lower middle of the head! All about personal taste I suppose... 

1 hour ago, Lw. said:

Depends on your definition of pound for pound & what you're going to do with it. 

I think it's pretty clear from my post that I think the CS basses are the best. Are they 5/6x better than a Squier - for me yes. Twice as good as a Limelight - yes. Depends on your definition of "good". 

And it depends on if you're going to keep it - if you get a used Fender of any level then decided to sell it you're probably going to lose little to no money (I actually made a little bit selling a non-vintage jazz a few months ago). So the ownership is basically free, in which case pound for pound means nothing. Buying new would be another thing entirely, you're looking at losing ~25% of what you pay if you sell it so the Squiers are only costing you 100 (so marginal) whereas the CS's are going to lose you ~750, which I would be less keen on. Other brands would almost certainly lose you more.

All good points @Lw. None of the options I'm looking at are 'brand new' - the nearest to that description is the ex-demo 3TS AVRI for £1,567 at Fairdeal Music in Birmingham. As I prefer the roadworn / relic look anyway I can't see the point of buying a new bass then losing the VAT plus depreciation as soon as I leave the shop!

Thanks to everyone's contributions in this thread I've narrowed my choices down to a black Limelight for sale on here for £800, the black Maruszczyk I posted earlier in the thread for £675 or a 3TS Custom Shop on eBay for £2,495. Or all three for around £750 less than the price of the '66 vintage, which coincidentally is the price of my new Rumble Stage 800 combo! 

40 minutes ago, Lw. said:

You seem to have a large range in your budget; the difference between a 1k & 2k bass can be quite noticeable so not entirely fair as a comparison but for me the Fender CS P-basses are worth the spend. 

I don't disagree with that but the point of the thread was to ask which was the best pound for pound. In other words, is it worth spending an extra £1,000 for a Custom Shop compared to a recent American Vintage Reissue model which looks the part and has great reviews - or for that matter add another couple of grand for an original 1960s vintage model?

Obviously I appreciate it's all subjective and everybody will have their own opinions based on experience, taste, budget, etc. I'm in the fortunate position of being able to afford a £5k bass but I'm just not sure I could really justify paying that considering I want a working bass not a precious ornament hanging on the wall!

1 hour ago, Steve Browning said:

I have to say it's very generous to describe a 1963 AVRI as a YOB bass for a 1963 birth year.

Fair comment but you knew what I meant! The one on eBay for £1,150 is a 2013 I think which would make me 5 not 55 this year... 

2 minutes ago, Tweedledum said:

The current Mexican Fenders are good value for the money, too.

I really like this one:

 

They are but I've already got a great MIM Nate Mendel signature P bass so I just fancy something a little different. To be honest the Nate looks great, plays brilliant and sounds fantastic so I'm possibly setting my expectations too high but it's either spend my hard earned cash on more basses or blow it on women and wine!

3 minutes ago, Tweedledum said:

I'd say go for the '66. I'm a vintage Fender nut so I'm biased of course.  

It is a beautiful bass but it's the age old question... is it worth 4/5 times a newish '63 AVRI or a Limelight? Of course it's all subjective and depends on so many different factors such as whether you're looking at it as an investment too. However, I'm not too bothered about future values... I just hope when I pop my clogs that my missus doesn't sell my basses for what I told her I paid for them! 

8 minutes ago, ead said:

@Deedee The Sandberg "P" is called the VS.  I have one that gets a lot of use at gigs with my US Std P (I have one tuned to E_b and the other to E).  There used to be a passive VS in the original California series, this is a California II so slightly smaller body and thinner headstock.  It makes them very light, this one in particular is rather less than 8lbs.  I've changed the pickup to a Nordy NP4 and it passive mode it sounds great.  Active good too, fairly subtle but effective EQ.

Quick pic for you, note that this is a custom colour:

Looks lovely but a bit too nice and shiny for me!!

2 minutes ago, NJE said:

That’s the one! I couldn’t find it anywhere last night. Cool bass

Yeah I did a search for Maruszczyk on Facebook and it was the only one that came up but he was trying to sell it back in November then seemed to withdraw it for some reason. However he says it's still for sale and it seems a pretty good price at £675.

5 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

Re: the Fender RI's, I paid a grand for my Limelight. It's wonderful, and I got to spec it as I like.

I totally get the argument that resale will not be as strong as selling a used US RI. That can be negated by buying a used Limelight :-)

 

 

That's stunning mate, exactly what I'd like (the 60s look with clay dots and a tug bar) but in 3 Tone Sunburst, Olympic White or Fiesta Red (like the Pino) with a tort pickguard.

10 hours ago, rushscored4 said:

There was one like that on Facebook before Xmas for £675 from someone not too far from me in Wigan. Doesn't appear to have been sold and he posted a new profile pic a few weeks ago of him playing the bass so maybe he thought better of it!

I messaged the seller and the Maruszczyk is still for sale so I'm going to see it as soon as the bad weather clears up!

4 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

I`m not really that up on prices for CS models, though that`s around what the Pino Sig Precision goes for, and having played one of those, well def the best bass I`ve ever had the pleasure to play. Assume that the regular CS models will be equivalent.

Thanks Lozz. I love the Pino signature model but I've seen a few of them go for over £3k in the last year.

8 hours ago, Cat Burrito said:

The Ampeg Portaflex stuff is great. People still bring up the initial run of the PF500 heads going wrong (which was corrected years ago) but this was never even an issue with anything else from this range. I still have an old PF500 as my backup head. I'd looked at the PF800 as my upgrade but opted for the PF50T when that was released because 1) I liked the all tube nature of it and 2) the aesthetics of it appealed. To be fair most stuff these days is pretty good but if you like the Ampeg PF range, I kinda think your mind is made up.

I went with a PF50T too with a PF115HE cab but I find it a little underpowered for larger venues and use a PF350 as a backup as you can pick this entry level Portaflex model up new now for around £250. With hindsight however, as much as I love the vintage Ampeg fliptop styling,, the PF50T/115HE "rig" weighs a ton and only has a top handle to lug it around so when my new lightweight Fender Rumble 800 Stage Combo turns up I think it'll be going on FleaBay!

On 12 January 2018 at 11:49, Hobbayne said:

Brilliant basses these. My one has become my main gigging bass.

I love mine too. Better than the 2003 US Precision I used to own and even my rare 1980s MIJ PB-550 which has a killer tone!

1 hour ago, Deedee said:

Without wishing to hijack this thread, if you were wanting to try a Sandberg (a traditional P single pickup version) which model(s) would you go for?  The range seems pretty baffling to me but I would like to try one for myself.

Probably a hardcore aged California VM4 or a VT4 like this one:

https://goo.gl/images/q1YEJc

2 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Whilst they`re expensive, the Custom Shop instruments are pretty darn fine. The downside with a reular 60s/70s instrument is that at the time it was just part of the standard range, so it`s the age that is dictating the price, not so much the levels of quality. Whereas with the Custom Shops it`s the craftmanship and selected materials for construction, so with the money being spoken about I`d be looking at those CS ones.

Cheers Lozz, the sunburst '64 one on eBay for £2,495 is gorgeous. Does that seem like a decent price? It's not far from you in High Wycombe!

Strangely enough Chowny just started following me on Twitter today. Which is nice...

41 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

I’m in love!

 

I need to join an Earth Wind & Fire tribute band! 😂

37 minutes ago, TRBboy said:

As always, it all comes down to personal preference. For me, it would be a sandberg any day of the week. Not just because the build quality is excellent and they sound superb, but mainly because i know the neck profile and general 'feel ' of the bass will suit me perfectly. This is entirely personal. 

Fwiw, as great as they are, i think fender basses are grossly overpriced these days, especially the current range, when you look at what quality handbuilt instruments you can get for the same or often less money. 

My only concern about buying a VM4 is that it's a similar pickup configuration to my TM4 so will I just be buying it for the P bass look instead of a J bass? I also prefer the previous VM shape and style to the latest model but I'd rather buy second hand anyway as I'm sure I 'lost' around a third (about £700) as soon as I walked out of the door at PMT Manchester with mine...