molan

Elderly friends of mine were on holiday in the US and heading down from their room in the lift. The doors open and a large man stepped in - "Hi, I'm meatloaf" he proclaimed. My friends tried to get as far away as possible from him as is possible in the confined lift and reported him to reception as quickly as possible because they thought he was clearly insane. . .

I spent a fair bit of time swapping the principal pre-amp valve around in my Demeter M800 head. When James Demeter sent it over he'd temporarily run out of stock of his regular valve so he let me have a Sylvania NOS 1960's one he had. The Sylvania was worth a lot more but James wanted to get it over as quickly as possible. Because he's such a pro he then sent a free valve of the regular type just so I could be sure I had the one installed that I preferred. By chance I had a couple of cheaper valves kicking around so was able to test three different set ups. The 'stock' valve appeared to have the most gain and was the 'purest' sounding. The cheaper pair sounded a shade warmer but maybe a bit more 'brittle' - tough to explain but it was the least attractive to me. The Sylvania was both warmer and richer sounding. Because the Demeter is a very clean amp to start with I decided to choose the Sylvania because it game me a few more options. The amp has normal, bright and dark options and the bright is a bit too crisp for me (great for people who like a 'hifi' tone). By adding the slightly warmer valve I feel the bright was more useable for my basses. Anyway - summary is that different valves do sound different but the change can be subtle. The Watford valves guys are absolutely the best people to help, especially if you're looking for valves that will break up and generate pre-amp distortion

[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1473422160' post='3130073'] Interesting angle. I don't think its fair to say Dingwall hide it in the smallprint, the combustion basses are half the price of the next range and its in the specs. They are all set up professionally in Canada as well bear in mind. I find that in China you get exactly what you pay for. A £1.3K bass built in China is a £1.3k bass, as opposed to basses built in the UK/US/Germany/Canada, where value for money varies wildly! [/quote] I wasn't suggesting that they 'hide' it - it's just at the bottom of the list of specs rather than the top. From a marketing angle this is entirely understandable. if you compare the spec list to a Canadian bass you can see the difference: [list] [*] [font=Helvetica-Light, Helvetica][size=3] Dingwall made in Canada FD3N pickups x 3 - £200 option[/size][/font] [*] [font=Helvetica-Light, Helvetica][size=3] Dingwall passive controls, volume (p/p, a/p), pickup selector, passive tone[/size][/font] [*] [font=Helvetica-Light, Helvetica][size=3] 3 x series/parallel switches - £110 option[/size][/font] [*] [font=Helvetica-Light, Helvetica][size=3] Dingwall USA strings[/size][/font] [*] [font=Helvetica-Light, Helvetica][size=3] Two piece Alder body*[/size][/font] [*] [font=Helvetica-Light, Helvetica][size=3] Ferrari Yellow[/size][/font] [*] [font=Helvetica-Light, Helvetica][size=3] Wenge neck - £165 option[/size][/font] [*] [font=Helvetica-Light, Helvetica][size=3] Wenge fingerboard - satin finish, 34 - 37", Ivoroid side dots[/size][/font] [*] [font=Helvetica-Light, Helvetica][size=3] Speedo lines on fingerboard - £200 option[/size][/font] [*] [font=Helvetica-Light, Helvetica][size=3] Banjo frets[/size][/font] [*] [font=Helvetica-Light, Helvetica][size=3] Novax® Fanned -Fret System™[/size][/font] [*] [font=Helvetica-Light, Helvetica][size=3] 5 piece Maple neck[/size][/font] [*] [font=Helvetica-Light, Helvetica][size=3] Hipshot ultralight tuners (black)[/size][/font] [*] [font=Helvetica-Light, Helvetica][size=3] Extra strap lock on rear of bass [/size][/font] [*] [font=Helvetica-Light, Helvetica][size=3] Custom Dingwall Bridge (Black finish)[/size][/font] [*] [font=Helvetica-Light, Helvetica][size=3] Weight - 7lb 14oz/3.3kg[/size][/font] [*] [font=Helvetica-Light, Helvetica][size=3] Manufactured in Canada[/size][/font] [/list][font=Helvetica-Light, Helvetica][size=3] On this bass the Made in Canada is right at the top of the list - and then again at the bottom just to stress it.[/size][/font][font=Helvetica-Light, Helvetica][size=3] If I were marketing a Chinese bass I wouldn't put it first on the list of specs either [/size][/font] [font=Helvetica-Light, Helvetica][size=3] I don't really understand the 'get what you pay for' comment?[/size][/font][font=Helvetica-Light, Helvetica][size=3] Chinese prices are all over the place as well?[/size][/font]

I used to play a lot of 'tough' pubs in north London, you'd not get out after the gig (or even during) with a bass that had a Hammers logo on it!

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1473418239' post='3130004'] Is that where they are made?!?!?!? China make fantastic instruments, in fact they make a lot of fantastic products, but something doesn't sit right with those prices. [/quote] It's in the small print: SPECIFICATIONS: •Dingwall made in Canada FD3n pickups* •Darkglass 3-band pre-amp, active/passive switch •Rotary 4 way pickup selector bridge, both parallel, both series, neck) •Dingwall USA strings - buy HERE •Alder body - Black Finish •Maple Fingerboard - 37 - 34" scale •Black dots •Carbon Fibre pickguard •Banjo frets •NOVAX® FANNED-FRET SYSTEM™ (see below) •Five piece maple neck •Black nickel hardware •Hipshot licensed tuners •Manufactured in China •Final set up at Dingwall Shop in Canada Manufactured in China but finished in Canada. I agree that it's possible to get quality stuff from China but they tend to be cheaper than Korea and Indonesia simply because labour costs are dirt cheap.

If the choice is between the two P's you've mentioned then the price differential is a pretty big factor. Any new bass is going to depreciate rapidly as soon as it leaves the store. Fenders hold value better than most and seem to have a slightly different depreciation cycle than some other brands. Very loosely you tend to find that a new one won't drop too far in the first couple of years so long as it's kept in near perfect condition. Then it'll go a bit further until it's about 5-6 years old when it'll take a real dip. Once it's got over that it'll sit at the same value for a long time. Reason for saying this isn't that you'd be looking at your 'investment' value, lol. It's just meant to be a bit of a guide on pricing. The older one ought to have reached the point where it'll hold value well. That means you could keep it for a decent amount of time and shouldn't lose money if it doesn't work out. The new one is likely to be an all round better bass (a lot of current new US Fenders really are great instruments) but you will certainly lose money on it if you decide it's not a long term keeper. Slight Edit - the lefty market is a bit tougher to judge. Generally a decent used lefty will command a premium over a righty simply because of supply/demand. However, sometimes they are just impossible to sell so you can pick up the odd bargain. This tends to be on new basses and/or more 'esoteric' or custom basses than a good old Fender P or J though.

I love it - I'd happily gig one of those! I've always found the NG series a bit expensive for a made in China instrument though.

I'm about 45-50 minutes each way for rehearsals and gigs are usually about an hour, sometimes 75 mins. Doesn't bother me at all. Get in the car, put some music on, spend an evening with good friends doing something I really enjoy

Fender's CS are a bit of a maverick bunch when it comes to releasing specific age models but for quite a while the main way of ordering a full custom build was to start with a Time Machine base model and then add options. The only basses on this were: 1955 P 1959 P 1964 J That means a lot of instruments on the pre-owned market are going to be derivatives of these three. Other options were always available but price went through the roof - I once asked for a dot & bound 66J with lollipops an was quoted nearly £5K vs a nice 64J at under £3K. Part of this price is that if you went 'off ratecard' then your build immediately became a 'masterbuilt' rather than a batch build (one guy on bodies, another on necks etc). There have been artist models based on 60's, most notably the Pino and limited run like the '64 heavy relic from 2014 etc. Overall this means you're far more likely to see a CS P bass with a 5 in front of it than a 6

The Jule Moniqe has just 4 knobs (although two have boost-type options if you pull them out). http://www.juleamps.com/shop/viewitem.php?productid=8 It's a pre-amp only but adding a power amp shoul only be one extra knob There are also integrated rack and standalone versions with a power amp pre-installed. Monique was designed, to a degree, to deliver a classic Ampeg type tone but to be married with a lightweight power amp. The two Demeter heads are also worth a look for classic clean valve tones but low weight because of the class D power amp. I have the 800w version but I'm particularly into the 'baby' 400w at the moment. It's bloody loud for 400w! http://www.demeteramps.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=98 Monique and Demeter both made in California though but by very nice small independent companies and all hand wired stuff

I use the Poly white one as well. Best one for reading notes accurately and quickly that I've found so far.

Are they ok for bass? I've tried a couple of cheap tuners that really struggled with E and B strings Edit - actually, I guess for £2 it doesn't really matter, lol

[quote name='Musashimonkey' timestamp='1473288931' post='3128838'] Some great bargains if you're quick! [/quote] I went over to help today as well - had to be extra-nice to the courier to send him away for an hour so I could finish packing stuff with Phil, lol

[quote name='anzoid' timestamp='1473261044' post='3128452'] So, on thinking for a few more seconds - you might be better off with the Traveler 121 Ninja - [url="http://markbass.it/product_detail.php?id=256"]http://markbass.it/p...tail.php?id=256[/url] - which has 800W handling. [/quote] The Ninja is a much higher spec all round than the NY121. Bigger, goes louder, more low end, higher handling capability and much better tweeter. You can pick them up for £475 if you search around too

As a dealer I must have ordered about 25 or so I know exactly how the system works so happy to help. The only real things to watch out for are that certain options don't go with others. Their option list is so vast that you can, in theory only, have 96,000 different options!! The trick is to use their bass builder and work through methodically adding things as you go. It should generally start removing options based on your choices as you move through the builder. Lots of little things tend to be dirt cheap so don't be afraid to add them and ask for a pricer per option to see what is affordable. From memory a simple example is a birdseye maple board is about £25 more than plain maple. You won't get the super highly decorative birdseye at this price but little things like this can make a real difference to how you feel about the bass when it arrives. The other thing is that there are no returns - if you specify a 'custom' bass (even if it's all CNC) then it falls outside of general return policies if you don't like it. Obviously if there's a flaw then that's a warranty job.

Bloody mail response server still down - apparently it's "only affecting users in the UK". . . Here's a [url="http://tinyurl.com/zj5rdru"]web link[/url] to the email where the links appear to be, mostly, working OK (one has an incorrect re-direct to basses and not cabs): Hope this isn't breaking any forum rules - just trying to supply some info that I think people are looking for.

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1473188200' post='3127871'] Spent a few bob in there myself in recent years I've had the email but the links don't seem to work. EDIT: Can still get on the site the usual way. [/quote] Looks like the external mail server went down somewhere after 18:00 - maybe we crashed it with all the responses Apparently it's now on 'priority' to be fixed. Site should be fine though and the discount stuff is pretty much across the whole store not just clearance

I must admit that I was really sceptical about these when they first came out but they've really grown on me. Fun to play and a good range of tonal options. I think the 5 is prettier than the 4 but the 4 is amazing value given the build quality. If you shop around you can get one for under £700 now.

Rehearsed with mine tonight. It sounded great at volume. Took a new MarkBass Alain Caron combo along (a new 'toy' for me) and they worked very well together. Interestingly the band didn't really notice the bass at all. When I took my '63 they showed some interest and the knackered looking '68 got loads of interest. The Flea got nothing, literally not a single comment

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1473093534' post='3126867'] This is pretty common here in the Warwick/Leamington area... Been locking up for years without any issues [/quote] Same with me, I've done this loads of times. Always made sense to me because otherwise the poor key holder would be sitting around for hours listening to bands rehearsing and, as I'm sure we all know, that's a very dull thing indeed 😂

My old, 13 piece, soul band played a few of the big Park Lane hotels. They have capacities of between 1,000 & 2,000. My favourite was Price Waterhouse Cooper's summer ball at the Natural History museum. Pretty big venue and we even got our own chef and barman in the backstage area

[quote name='MacDaddy' timestamp='1473072618' post='3126514'] Build quality, QC? [/quote] Can't fault my one