Sean

And now I have another reply my friend got from a different member of Ishibashi's staff:- "Thank you for your e-mail. This is Tomonori from Ishibashi WEB SHOP. I am taking to you on behalf of Koichi. I am afraid to say that we can not sell Fender Japan products for overseas right now. we received this notification from Fender Japan. We are very sorry for inconvenience. Your full understanding of this matter would be greatly appreciated. If you have a question,please let me know. Thank you very much. Best regards," It looks like it's all over! Oh well, I'm off to find a used Lakland Skyline Bob Glaub and some sushi instead. Saying that though, surely Ishi aren't the only source for these?

There are loads of threads here about Laklands and how good they are. I used to have USA Fenders and made the switch to Lakland Skylines over time just because they are so good and IMO better than the Fenders I had. There are some great Fenders out there but the quality of Laklands tends to be more consistent and their design takes a classic idea forward rather than just replicating it. I have no experience of Sandberg but as far as Laklands go, and I think there are a few people on this forum that would agree with me, I would order a Lakland unseen whereas I would always insist on having a go on a US Fender before ordering. Another alternative is a Japanese Fender and there are a couple of active threads on MIJ/CIJ Fenders on this part of Basschat at the moment that are very informative. Fender is a huge brand and is the default and original bass for millions but there are alternatives out there that are too good to overlook. What I will say about Lakland and Sandberg is that they have so much of their own personality and feel that they aren't "copies" at all.

It's fab. Managed to buy a copy for £6 somewhere - bargain of the year. I grew up loving The Police and Stew is my absolute fave drummer no question.

I'm getting a friend of mine to email and see if he gets a different response. Maybe certain staff overlook such things where others reinforce the rule - who knows? Really gutted now and my bonus is burning a hole...

[quote name='Chopthebass' post='123254' date='Jan 19 2008, 08:48 AM']I've just emailed Jeff at Ishi and he has given me a price inc shipping to UK. So, they are selling to UK[/quote] I just had a reply from Ishi: Dear Sean, ******************************** Thank you for your inquiry. We are very sorry to say, we do not ship any new Fender Japan product internationally. Sales of new Fender Japan merchandise outside of Japan are restricted. We appreciate your understanding. Best regards,************************ International Sales Manager Any ideas?

PB70-93US is a stunner. Might just have to...

This is great... [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Japan"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Japan[/url] You can also see if you go to... [url="http://www.excite.co.jp/world/english/web/?wb_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ishibashi.co.jp%2Fwebshop%2Fguitar%2Findex.htm&wb_lp=JAEN&wb_dis=2"]http://www.excite.co.jp/world/english/web/...EN&wb_dis=2[/url] and have a browse through the different models that there are two distinctly different logos, one red and the other brown and curvy. These different logos correspond to the two different distributors.

Try this iste, they'll do a custom pick guard for you.

You'll be able to pick these up for peanuts in ten years time. I reckon they'll date horrendously. Saying that though, I really like them and it's good to see something really new out there.

[quote name='Chopthebass' post='123254' date='Jan 19 2008, 08:48 AM']I've just emailed Jeff at Ishi and he has given me a price inc shipping to UK. So, they are selling to UK[/quote] Oh, that's good news. How do they take your card details now? When I bought a Fender Telecaster from them about five years ago they made me send a load of separate emails with the 16 digit number on it.

It says here... [url="http://www.excite.co.jp/world/english/web/?wb_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ishibashi.co.jp%2Fwebshop%2Fguitar%2Findex.htm&wb_lp=JAEN&wb_dis=2"]http://www.excite.co.jp/world/english/web/...EN&wb_dis=2[/url] that they will limit sales of the fender Japan commodity only to Japan. Does that mean they won't sell one to me? Or is it just a statement with no substance?

For me Sting's Spector sounded more like a proper P than his signature does. Check out the videos on you tube from policetour07

How does the Fender Sting signature bass compare to a traditional precision? I know it has a single coil and different shaped headstock but does it compare more to a Jazz with the neck pup on full or to a standard P? And... When did he drop the Ibanez Musician that we all knew and loved him for? I also remember he used to play a white Spector and a "proper" natural precison so where did that Telecaster type bass come from?

If you could have an hour jamming with any drummer alive or dead who would it be? Stewart Copeland for me but I'm sure he get bored of me staring mouth wide open after a while! I was mezmerised by his drumming from the first time I heard message in a bottle when it was first released in 1979 and I think it was his drumming that first made me aware of bass playing which in turn made me aware of what the guitar did. Then in 1981 there was this documentary on TV about The Police in Montserrat and that was the moment that I decided I want to play an instrument. I was never going to be able to play the drums, I still just can't physically get it and so I bought a bass... If he didn't wanna play I'd have to go for Neil Peart - but only as long as he let me wear his hat.

If you wanted to stand that headless on its end it would rest against the tuners! And I don't like that brass strap attachment and there seems to be too much paraphernalia for pick players to catch their sleeves on and and and and Steinberger got it right and that bass is just a mess.

Can you get a CIJ Alder bodied, Jazz necked, P bass from Ishibashi? If so I would be most grateful for a link. Thnaks Sean.

[quote name='darwin' post='120069' date='Jan 14 2008, 01:32 PM'] Nice one, super glue is high risk at the best of times but applying to fingers at a gig... [/quote] Superglue gets me through those long weekends when I play three gigs in a row. It gives a nice clicky sound tooo which is midway between a pick and fingers. Anyway, Played a gig one Sunday afternoon and the drummer was running around asking if any of us had his cymbals. Eventually he realised that they'd been left at the previous night's venue He had a chat with the landlord of the venue we were playing and off he went. He came back two and half hours later and we started the gig two hours late! Moral: Always do a last sweep of the venue for your gear before you leave or in our case let someone who is not a stoner and who is sober do the sweep before leaving. I can still hear the drummer saying to me from teh previous night that he'd checked everything and that there was nothing left in the venue that was ours.

Please leave your feedback here... Happy to reciprocate but I might need a reminder 😉

Hmm, I think you guys are right. I checked his other items and found this... [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/STATUS-CUSTOM-BUILT-BASS-GUITAR_W0QQitemZ250205658644QQihZ015QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/STATUS-CUSTOM-BUILT-...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url]

Just look at that headstock, it doesn't look right to me... [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FENDER-JAZZ-BASS-JAP-62-RE-ISSUE_W0QQitemZ250205642242QQihZ015QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FENDER-JAZZ-BASS-JAP...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url]

I get annoyed and stressed out if I can't read my sheet music because either it's too dark on stage or the coloured lights reflect off the plastic wallets... Someone told me that ultraviolet was the way to overcome these problems but can't find anything other than this lot [post="0"]here[/post] Can anyone recommend a product or some way of overcoming the problem? Thanks Sean

And that fretboard is filthy!

He's very tasteful and very much the ensemble player at the moment. I wouldn't for a minute agree his sound was thin though especially with that P and the Ampeg rig.

[quote name='TheBigBeefChief' post='117114' date='Jan 9 2008, 04:28 PM']I think women appreciate a bit of honesty. If I met her I'd tell her that if she jumps in the shower and puts a comb through her hair I might give her one. She'd be all over me.[/quote] I took this as sarcastic and ironic, self-deprecatory wit. We should realise by now that The BBC struggles with getting the quotes to work and doesn't know how to get the emoticons up so I self-edit the comments. It makes me shudder to think that anyone actually took this seriously. Though it does reinforce what I've said before about the importance of emoticons when communicating on line. I really hope The BBC comes along to the next bash so that people can get a handle on it all. I whole heartdly agree with Jamie though when he says that people ought to think before they post. In work I continually have to listen to piss-takes because I am Welsh. I know these people are not racist and they would never say the same things about black people or Muslim Pakistanis or the like but I know it's all good natured. If it wasn't they'd get some serious flak. Lighten up and see this monkey's humour for what it is. PS - BBC, I think you're a t****r!