uk_lefty

The Sire will be excellent quality, they're just great instruments and not just "great for the price". Of course a Hofner would be nice to have and quite resonant if you can't be bothered amping up, then there are the "gold tone micro basses". Not sure if you can get them from a UK Supplier but they look lovely, short scale acoustic basses, I've seen more fretless than fretted, for a home noodle bass it would be excellent, though not cheap if you had to import from the US.

Well I have, with the help of some friends, once lifted up one of our group so he could scuff his feet along the ceiling of a small nightclub during that song. Needless to say it wasn't a great feeling for him, neither was it when the bouncers grabbed us all by the neck.

Haha well it was a hot day... I've played in shorts since but definitely not "action sandals". Lesson learned. The bass has since been sold but only because I couldn't get on with the string spacing.

I played a Hohner cricket bat bass at a very big gig (by the standards of my local covers band) and the negative comments were more about me wearing shorts and "action sandals" than playing the minimalist bass.

Don't know about you but I'm NOT too scared to mention the dandy highwayman, Adam Ant. There, I mentioned him.

And Radiohead did it even better than that, IMO 😜

I get it, have been trying to broaden my horizons with some classical music, though in my band I'm playing riffs and root note eighths most the time if I stick to the original bass line. It's just some (not all, but a vocal few) people on the forum use their "I don't play covers" mantra to beat down anybody else's opinion because they are just so far above anybody else because they play originals only.

Quite a tasty Sandberg on ebay at the moment too.

Eastwood did a lefty flying V bass for a while. I would LOVE one of those! But you're right, there's some weird stuff they pump out that must be for a very niche audience. Glad we are discussing this in the lefty section so we don't have 10 pages of "I hate fender clones" 'but Leo got it right it's what people buy..' "it's not original, I don't care about commerciality, I only play originals and I only play notes that haven't been on top 40 records" and so the snore fest goes..!

For many years my only bass was my five string fretless Kramer, metallic black paint, upside down banana headstock. I played it in an acoustic blues duo, with a female jazzy type singer, with a 90s indie type band, more appropriately with an 80s power ballad band... And in recent years with my covers band there is footage of me dressed as Lemmy (grew the handlebars and everything) rocking that fretless to Uptown Funk.

Ask how much it weighs. Anything under 20kg and there's nothing left inside the box!

Not anymore it's not...!

I tried an adjustable wrench this morning and it just wouldn't grip... Think I'll try a gentle level where the finish is already a bit cracked

Agreed. I think MIM basses had a bad reputation around the 90s but there were still some good ones and it seems now that all round quality is a lot higher, particularly in the last five years or so. If you're buying it to play rather than for resale value etc then MIM would be a good solid instrument.

If you're happy for people to collect them from your home of course. Anyhow, enough has been said and our opinions differ. As I said first off I completely understand it from the other perspective but for me the context of a premium product changes things. Anyhow I'd love to hear more about the US and MIM Fenders as I am seriously considering pushing the button this summer.

Indeed. Why buy a bass when there's trees all along my road? Charging for wood is a rip off.

Depends how the product is costed though doesn't it and what assumptions are made over how many want shipping vs how many don't. Maybe she loses out every time she ships? But you don't know that your default is to resort to talk of being ripped off without thinking.

I do understand where you're coming from, and if it was about the Squier range or MIM range I'd be agreeing because of the proportion of the total cost that the case would make up, it would be a big difference to add or remove it. I'm just saying it's a premium product so I'd personally expect it. But maybe if you didn't want it you could do a deal with the shop for them to sell it as separate and knock off some cash for you, or flog it on here or ebay. Luckily it's a decent quality case and not just a tatty gig bag. Anyway, Mex vs US? I'm considering a Player Jazz soon but would only be able to compare it to MIJ having never had the luxury of owning a US Fender and from what I'm reading here I think I'd save the 1000 myself.

The whole thing on cases is interesting to read this morning because I was discussing it yesterday with one of my wife's family! I think for the amount of money you're paying for a bass of the quality of a US Fender you absolutely should be getting a decent case, the tools and all the trimmings. If you don't want the case you could make 100 quid selling it I guess, but to me a premium product needs to come with all the stuff. I'd be peeved at that much money being handed over and then "what's that sir? A case sir? You expected a case did you sir? Well the sh!tty ships own ones are 30 quid but if you want one for that bass it's 200 quid, please". I get the point that you could trim some money off if the case didn't come as part of the bundle but then it all gets a bit Ryanair if the pricing is so transparent you're paying a tenner for your truss rod adjuster, etc. And you could get loads of punters asking "can't you just throw in a case/ new strings / a tuner". Also, with my Stingray I've kept everything together, makes it a bit more complete of I hand it on to my kids in future, more than just a well used bass it's a whole package with the case and all the case stuff, I just think it shows the off the quality a bit more. Just my opinion, and I fully understand why people disagree... How it came up in convo yesterday? My wife's relative makes luxury cat trees and was debating whether to include shipping in the price or charge extra... We agreed it was better to include it in the price.

And even massive gigs...

Thanks for the advice. I'll use the wrench but carefully. I don't think there's room to get a lever down there. I just took a punt on something on ebay and somehow managed to get a cost effective repair done by set up guy. I've been a bit lucky I think, but hoping that once the new pickup is in I've got something 80s-tastic. I always liked the look of these so hoping I can get it up and running in time for gigs to be legal again.

I seem to have developed a stutter too

They have a good range of left handed basses out there but need to know more as it's a crowded field for jazz and P basses below 1000 quid. While I want a PJ on a J body which isn't so easy to get hold of I'm reluctant to pre order before knowing more about them

OK so the neck is all sorted, we are ready to go except fitting the next pickup. Here's the latest issue, I can't get the b@stard old pickup out!! I can get it most of the way out by hand, see picture. Short of getting hold of it with an adjustable wrench what does everyone recommend? It just seems to be stuck in the middle somehow (it's not the wiring, that has plenty of wiggle room), either a tight fit to get it out of the body route or there's something underneath holding on to it. Don't want to risk further damage to the paintwork... Recommendations welcome! Thank you

Weird. Guitarguitar doesn't have it listed any more and on Epiphone's own website there is no mention of a lefty. And it's not because I can't spell I can't spell Casady.