solo4652

Recently, I bought a new, made in Japan Tokai Hardpuncher P-bass. Fantastic quality. Bob (surname?) at Tokai UK was very helpful with technical specifications, and suggestions of which shops stocked which guitars. I have his email address - PM me if you'd like it (I don't want to post it on a public forum). Steve

Hi, I started to play bass 6 months ago. I've practised a lot by downloading stuff from Youtube and jamming along in the bedroom. I think I'm ready to play with other people now. I'm playing Blondie, Corrs, Coldplay, Semisonic, a bit of Ska, blues... I don't fancy an open-mike jam session in front of an audience yet. I'm looking for drummer, guitarist, singer who also feel ready to play with people, and see what happens. My aim is to be playing in a pub rock/covers band in a few months time. I live in Stockport. All ideas gratefully received Steve

[quote name='phil_the_bassist' post='276319' date='Sep 3 2008, 03:18 PM']not much info on the gauges, but for £8, (plus free pick!) it could be worth a pop! Personally, you can get Hartke strings, 3 x 5string sets for £20 (aka EVEN CHEAPER!! and I've been told that they're as good as EB slinkys ) and they're a more recognised brand. There's a thread I posted in Ebay Links with 'em, if you wanna check 'em out?[/quote] This looks like a really good deal. I'm a bit more comfortable with a known brand name - will probably go with the Hartke's. Thanks for pointing these out.

Hi, Anybody have any experience of these strings, please? Seem suspiciously cheap... [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Titanium-Alloy-Electric-Bass-Guitar-Strings-RRP-23-99_W0QQitemZ280260732748QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item280260732748&_trkparms=72%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Titanium-Alloy-Elect...id=p3286.c0.m14[/url] Steve

If you like your Tokai J Bass, how about looking for a Tokai P Bass? I've just bought a Tokai Hardpuncher and it has exactly the P-bass rumble that perhaps you're after. Great quality. Shame about the gold hardware, however.

[quote name='Monz' post='257756' date='Aug 8 2008, 07:40 AM']Hello Antonio I was in a similar position to you not too long ago and a freind of mine sugested I try going to a jam / open mike night to get used to playing with other musicians... I can safely say it was the best thing I ever did and funnily enough it was near you too. (White Swan on Stand Street in Radcliffe) Learning to jam really brought my playing on leaps and bounds and has made learning new songs a lot easier for me, plus there are always lots of musicians there to help you out. Most of the jam there is based around blues but there are a few people that like to do covers too. Get yourself along on a Tuesday night and have a go... relaxed atmosphere and good fun[/quote] Can you tell us a bit more about how this works, please? I might be interested in a visit to the White Swan. Do you need to take your own amp? What about taking music - would that be frowned upon? How does it actually work - do you walk in and say that you'd like to play bass to, say, Morcheeba "The Sea", and hope that other people can join in straight away!? I'm "playing" stuff like Coldplay "Yellow", Selecter "On my Radio", Walter Trout "Go the Distance", REM "Losing My Religion" - what would the reaction be? It would be the first time I'd played along with a group - very scary prospect! Steve

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='255323' date='Aug 5 2008, 12:53 PM']Ah! You did get it, then! I hope you like it! The thumbrest below the strings is a vaguely "retro" affectation upon which one rests their index/middle fingers and plucks the strings with a slightly hooked thumb. Fine if you play like this, but few do these days! Equally fine for the retro vibe! Fender moved the bar to above the strings, at which point it became a thumbrest between pickups and back edge of the the neck. This is an equally legitimate position for it, and it's arguably more appropriate to the majority of players! You haven't missed anything!![/quote] Yes - I talked myself into buying it - and I'm really pleased. Compared to my Yamaha, the neck is wider (good for me), yet not as thick. Left hand is thus easier. Very smooth neck finish - lovely tactile feel to it. It's fairly heavy, and a little prone to some neckdive. However, an extra-wide padded strap has just about sorted this out. Rear pup was too uncomfortable as a thumbrest, and the side of the neck was too far forward, and too close to the strings - hence my need for a thumbrest. I was able to remove the screw in the mid-top of the scratch plate and use the hole for a single-hole thumbrest. I don't do drilling... Overall tone is warm and round. Top end lacks a little brightness, but I'm fine with that. New strings will probably help. It all feels very solid and heavy. I'm now struggling to play the narrower-necked Yamaha, but the Yamaha is a little better for funk grooves. I'll keep them both for now. Steve

[quote name='Shockwave' post='7402' date='May 27 2007, 12:14 AM']haha thats the exact same as mine! My pickguard needed an extra few holes because its a 50's style reissue one. However i reckon a normal replacement should have the correct hole placement no problem. Though i pimped mine out with more gold hardware. I bought mine for £360 brand new. Heres the original post about pimping mine up. Hey guys. As in previous threads, I told the story of getting my beloved P bass back from a freind of mine and wanting to kit it out for 70's 80's Funk. Before picture., So i went about purchasing. A set of EMG's. £30 A gold Anodized scratchplate £15 Gold Pickup and bridge covers (The pickup one had to be gold plated as no one has ever manufactured them) £40 Gold plated thumbrest £12 Optima 24KT strings £32 The Emgs were awkward to get in and i had to rout out the wood to get the battery to fit. Plus i had to replace all the pots that came with it due to the originals being absoloutly terrible. Too bad my camera doesant pick up gold too well but here she is! The Emgs really give the P some treble bite which i love, Though due to the maple FB it gives a clanky bass, even more clank! Usually i would love it because of that but i wanted a Funk bass , I will get it sorted eventually! I do love the sound seriously Just need to fiddle with the action. I'll try and post better pics at somepoint. What do you think ? PS i know the Jack socket is chrome, trying to find a Gold one, But hell this bass is finished practically:P[/quote] Hi - I bought a new Hardpuncher just like yours for £300 last week. Great neck, and full, mellow sound. I was struggling a bit with my right hand positioning, so I put on a thumrest. Looking at your photos, I'm completely confused, because I've installed my thumbrest on the other side of (ie above ) the strings! Try as I might, I'm struggling to see why yours appears to be underneath the strings. I've probably missed something completely obvious here, but please will you help me to be less confused!? Steve

Update: I didn'y buy a Standard MIJ Fender Precision - I was a bit suspicious of the spec. of the Standard range. I didn'y buy a Fender from Ishibashi. I e-mailed them, and they have now stopped exporting basses. I didn't buy a Highway One. I didn't buy a Fender MIM Precision. But... I [i]did[/i] buy a Tokai Hardpuncher, new for £300. Get it in a couple of days time. Many thanks to all of you who have given me loads of advice over the past few weeks - I very much appreciate this. Steve

[quote name='Clarky' post='243020' date='Jul 18 2008, 08:05 PM']Its even cheaper here - £319 [url="http://www.donmack.com/Detail.asp?ProductID=32705"]http://www.donmack.com/Detail.asp?ProductID=32705[/url][/quote] Thank you! I'll drop them an e-mail Steve

Curioser and curioser... I spoke to the shop. Chap there thought they were made in China. He suggested I look at a Fender MIM, inferring that the Tokai wasn't any good at all. I e-mailed Tokai UK. Helpful chap there reckoned these basses are made in Japan with Alder bodies, Maple necks and Gotoh hardware. If that's right, it looks like a bargain at £335, wouldn't you say? I've asked the shop to check on all this and let me know. Steve

Hi, I've just come across this: [url="http://www.reidys.com/index.pl?submit=View_PLU&PLU=1812"]http://www.reidys.com/index.pl?submit=View_PLU&PLU=1812[/url] But I can't find out any more about the bass. Looks like a P-Bass copy. Where are they made? What are they made of? I've already e-mailed Tokai UK requesting information - no response as yet. Steve

[quote name='Clarky' post='242228' date='Jul 17 2008, 10:25 PM']I bought a 1957 RI P bass from Guitaremporium (now sold to noirbass). I have never owned a MIA Precision to compare but I can say that the quality of the bass was extremely high. Only sold as I wanted a more punk-looking bass (got a CIJ Sid/Ramones-alike P from eBay) which I know is very superficial ... Every review I have ever read of Japanese Fenders suggests that they have very stringent quality control and, in many people's views, much better QC than Fender USA. As the owner now of the aforementioned CIJ P bass (see my avatar) I can say that both Japanese Fenders I have owned were absolutely top notch products. You could get the bass a bit cheaper by going to the Fender Ishibashi website but then you have the complications of communicating your order, dealing in Yen and paying the customs charges (c.20%) yourself. Far simpler to pay slightly more and let Guitaremporium deal with all that. One thing I will add is that MIA fenders are made of a wood (Alder) that is generally preferred to the basswood which Fender Japan use in their standard models. However I have also read that basswood varies immensely and that Fender Japan tend to use a high quality densely-grained basswood that has excellent tonal properties. Can't say that I ever noticed any tonal shortcomings with either of my CIJ Fender P's.[/quote] Has anybody out there dealt directly with Ishibashi recently? How do the customs charges get paid - by Ishibashi, or me? How does this work?

Hi, I'm seriously interested in a Japan Standard P-Bass from Guitaremporium.co.uk See: [url="http://www.guitaremporium.co.uk/index.php?f=data_fender_japan_new_guitars&a=3"]http://www.guitaremporium.co.uk/index.php?...guitars&a=3[/url] How does the quality of these basses compare to MIM or MIA Precisions? Has anybody bought from Guitaremporium online? Any comments, please? Steve

As Bassbomber says "You live and learn..." I'll certainly keep the SWR as my practice amp. When I'm jamming with my drummer mate, we might be able to use the line-out to boost the output (he says - he's got some sort of plan involving a second amp, I think - don't ask me, I just pluck strings semi-randomly) If I ever get involved in band beyond this hobby level, I'll need to buy something else. We'll cross that bridge... Steve

A quick update. Today was the first time I've ever played with a drummer - that's why I bought the SWR LA15, rated aT 100W. It's not really loud enough, sadly. Both volumes on the guitar set to max, with the volume on the amp likewise. Still got a nice clean undistorted sound. But I couldn't hear myself over the drummer, and he was trying to play softly. Looks like the SWR LA15 is a nice bedroomp-practice amp, but runs out of puff for anything else.

Marvellous! This interweb thingy is really quite good isn't? Thanks for all these website suggestions. I've looked at them and they're just what I needed.

Just bought a new set of strings for my Yamaha BB404, and didn't fancy paying £40 to have them fitted. Is there a recommended procedure for fitting a new set of strings? Take off all the old ones and then fit the new ones? In any particular order? Or replace the strings one at a time to keep some tension on the neck at all times? What do you have to do to "check the intonation" (?) after fitting the new strings? All advice gratefully accepted. Please remember I'm new to all this, and also I'm not an especially practical person ("DIY" = "Destroy It Yourself" as far as I'm concerned...)

Well, that's interesting. Seems like the consistent advice here is to not upgrade the Yamaha, because it's pretty decent already. I rather like the advice to "buy a new guitar"... But I only have about £200. Anybody got a half-decent mexican precision??