Sean

Not for me. I just don't get on with any jewelry. I love watches but can never keep one on for more than a few hours. I tried various rings over the years but am always too conscious of them. My dad will be celebrating 60 years of marriage this year and he hasn't worn the ring since the wedding day! He doesn't like the feeling. 

On 04/02/2026 at 14:55, Rollin Thunder said:

Ive had my eye on a Schecter hellraiser, but bit too much at moment specially for a brand with low resale value. 

Resale on them is alarming if selling one bought from new. If you're buying used they're one of the best bargains out there especially the neck through Korean ones. The quality of them is as a good as anything but the only way I'd be playing a new one is if I was on the artist roster, and I don't think that's going to happen any time soon. 

On 30/01/2026 at 18:02, NancyJohnson said:

 

This one and the XB Driver, I reckon.

 

Even tuning up is going to sound sweet with that combination. Great to know you're back on the horse. Have fun. 

If I had a bass-related business I wouldn't be posting rolling eye emojis on another bass-related business' post even if it's incorrect. That's just not good form. It says things about the business.

Mods, would this post be better off in Repairs & Technical? 

I'll respond to the post tomorrow. I've rescued 6 of these so can add a bit of value. 

13 minutes ago, itu said:

 

Yamaha isn't my favourite brand. 

I've got 4 Japanese Yamaha 😉 basses, I've always been a fan and have always fancied an NE2, they are so classy and beautifully made. I went to a Nathan East clinic years ago and fell in love with the BBNE2 then. Flagship Yamaha bass. 

39 minutes ago, itu said:

Do not. Do not de-fret it. Do not. 

 

Meet a luthier. Ask him/her to build you a fretless neck to the instrument. This will be a very good and valuable investment to the bass and to yourself. You shouldn't mess with a fine neck. You just need another. 

 

If you do (or do not) like the combination of the neck and the body, you can go back to the luthier and order a suitable body to the extra neck (be it fretted or fretless). 

I agree on not de-fretting. 

The BBNE2 is a neck-thru design, making a fretless neck for it isn't an option. It's also a high-end and quite sought after bass that could be difficult to resell if de-fretted and you'd have the cost of re-fretting if you wanted to reverse the job.

If money is no object and none of this matters, go ahead and defret. It's a different decision for different people.  

The EMGs are a lot of that sound. 

It's a Reverse P and a J. The placement of them is further "south" than many "conventional" basses. This means that because of the placement of the bass coil of the P, it is picking up the strings much further back than a non-reverse P in a conventional more "north" placement.  Then we have the preamp in that Spector, which is a vintage HAZ unit, that will be working with the EMGs in a way that gives the signature Spector sound. The HAZ sounds liked it's dimed on that isolated track. Dimed HAZ pre-amps have a sound that is specific to that circuit design, very distinctive and unique to that combination. 

It depends how far down the rabbit hole you want to go but even if you had Mike Starr's exact bass, rig and settings, you'd get close but you'd still sound like you playing it. When Mike Starr was recording that bass line, he was trying to get as good a sound as he could with the gear he had (on a decent record company budget) and he'd have been influenced by his favourite players, his band mates, the engineer etc. That iconic sound is the result of a lot of inputs from various people.

It's good to explore and dissect some of your favourite bass tones, we can learn a lot but we have to understand the constraints we have with the gear we've got. And, when we play as part of a band (whether live or recorded), the sound we get sits as part of a mix and a lot of the detail that us bassists obsess about can be lost, or just isn't important to the audience. 

I've seen many great/legend bass players playing their own iconic bass parts live on different basses through different rigs and getting a different tone and it's all good.

On the complete flip side of that, I take great pleasure in "Spectorising" bass parts in my covers band. Sometimes I think, "how can I make this sound as Spector as possible and get away with it?". 

I'd also say that if you get creative, an Ibanez GSR200 and a Zoom B1x together are capable of producing more good bass sounds than any normal person could use in a lifetime. So many bassists have had a career on one pickup bass with minimal effects. You've got a vast palette available. Go explore!

7 minutes ago, Kev said:

 

I can't say I've picked that vibe up from anyone in particular, but I'm glad and proud it was spotted, our emails appear to have had an impact and it looks to be heading towards a happy ending  

There's not one post here that was against a happy ending of the bass being reunited with the owner. I went back and reread them all. In fact, there's no negativity toward Mark or the buyer. 

What there was, was some healthy non-conflict comment and information about some of the legal aspects and what could happen in similar circumstances, and a few well-meant warnings about certain couriers and practices.  I think it's been a useful learning experience and it reflects well on the community that we can have these discussions. 

2 hours ago, SumOne said:

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Gazz wasn't a real person, just an AI bot prodding about to see what word combinations get interaction.....or perhaps is a real person doing similar.

I doubt BotGazz uses a phone keyboard with auto correct that changes a misspelling of "tube" to "time". 

24 minutes ago, Aidan63 said:

This happens all too often, the parcel companies dispose of goods through the auction houses instead of actually doing due diligence and tracing items back and cross referencing with the lost and missing reports because to do the job properly is time consuming, requires humans, though tbf AI might help, and does not benefit their bottom line. You can be absolutely sure the auction house is indemnified by the parcel company and won't be responsible for auctioning goods which rightfully do not belong to the parcel company. Its what happens when the parcel company is owned by an overseas billionaire instead of the people of this country. And the politicians care not a jig, all is fair in the pursuit of efficiency and revenue generation.

 

A friend of mine had 2 gearboxes disappear never to be found - doubtless disposed of via whichever auction house UPS Castle Donnington disposal passes through, and somebody got themselves 8 grands worth of very specialised transmissions/130kg scrap metal, doubtless for less than scrap price.

Business relies on the ignorance of the average punter. A classic case is Debt Collection Agencies. They don't buy debt from companies/councils etc at discount prices, that's BS, they buy data. They then pretend that the "debtor" owes them money, send threatening letters, knock on the door, "can't pay, take it away" etc and that's how they they make their money. What they don't have is a legally valid deed of assignment and without that they have no claim, they are nothing more than a 3rd party interloper that has processed personal data in breach of DPA 2018. They are all part of the system. It's all covered in case law, it's all out there in the open but there's an entire industry based on criminal offence that breaches tons of legislation and Martin Effin' Lewis doesn't tell us about it. This isn't conspiracy, it's how the system works. 

What parcel couriers and auction houses get up to is childsplay in comparison to councils, utility companies, banks etc

18 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

I might be simplifying it but as I see it, it is all about the disposal of stolen goods... or at least goods not owned by the seller; rather than counterfeit et al.

There's the added complication of the goods being (in the eyes of the law) counterfeit or bearing an unlicensed trademark. It's illegal to steal and/or sell counterfeit goods and if due process is followed by police in the case that they are involved, the recovered will be assessed, categorised and if the boxes are ticked, they will be disposed of to remove counterfeit goods from the marketplace. 

Whether or not this particular bass will flag up as counterfeit is anyone's guess. It could slip through the net, get to the buyer and we all learn a lesson about applying decals to headstocks. 

If it doesn't, I guess things would have to be more like Nash Guitars.

16 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

 

Good idea.  I've done likewise; they can't ignore multiple messages... hopefully.

 

It looks to be a real bottom-feeder amongst auction houses. Just read the way everything is worded on the website, it's all threatening and warning and fees and BS. 

11 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

I hope either Mark or Edlong21 call the police re this.

Basschat award for the detective work.  Brilliant.

Just be careful that plod doesn't follow the law and dispose of the goods. That would not be a happy ending to this story. 

Legally standing Wellers is currently selling stolen and counterfeit goods. 

4 minutes ago, EliasMooseblaster said:

(Well, that, and I still can't work out WTF he means by a "time amp"...)

A pound to a penny, it's autocorrect for "tube amp". 

Sadly not. There's at least a coach-load of us with older 4-string Spectors looking for these (in gold). Putting a GB7 on is about as close as you're going to get. I've got 2 of mine with "odd" Xtenders and no one, including me ever notices. I'd rather have a slightly odd one than not have one. 

4 hours ago, MipoKoco said:

Hello guys,
I’ve upgraded to a Fender Rumble 100 and added an Ampeg Opto Comp. Still using the same bass and the Zoom as well.
Thanks again for all the advice.
Any updated tips on settings or tricks with this kind of rig?

There are some excellent videos on YouTube that talk about how to get the best out of a compressor with bass. Understanding a compressor is a really useful skill as a bassist. 

Another thing to do is understand how changes in EQ affect the sound, not just solo but in a band context too.

6 hours ago, Jakester said:

Could do, but I think it’d be a bit dangly and still less than aesthetically pleasing. 

I've tried the solid connectors and they fall out quite easily. I was amazed. They also make the whole thing more cumbersome. 

For the majority of gigs I use the wireless just for soundcheck. However I'm going to get one of these Levy's pouches and make up a lead. 

The reason I bought the solid adaptors was to eliminate buzz rather than anything else. 

I think the Levy's one is meant to be used with a female to male extension lead. The bug plugs into the female jack and sits in that pouch then the lead plugs in as per usual. You just need to make sure the lead is the right length. 

The "Monty's basses" were all partscasters built in house to demo the pickups and were very impressive instruments. Unfortunately, they were "demonstration purposes only" and not for sale. I know that he could've sold a couple on the day, no problem. 

Did he not explain what a time amp is? If it's a device for making your day longer, I might be interested in one but I'd need to check in with Gazz to see if I should get one with valves and what modulation goes best with it. 

If you do see him, pass on my regards and tell him I said, "See you next Tuesday, Gazz." 

Nice to see a Spector on the front.  And it be a proper one with EMGs. 

13 minutes ago, police squad said:

Was that the pickup based on the early 70s. 

If so it is the best sounding p pick up Ive heard 

Yes, it was. I agree, it was rather special indeed. 

The Retro Wind P pickup sounded amazing to my ears in the room and also the pair of Retro Wind J were as good a pair of J pickups that I've ever heard.  If I end with a JJ configuration passive bass again, I'll need putting these in.  

Another great video from a BassBash hosted by @Mike Brooks.

There's currently a sale on bass pickups at Monty’s with 20% off using the code BIGBOTTOM at https://www.montysguitars.com/collections/everything-bass?omnisendContactID=683ad312daab087f10cdbde4

The code is active.