Mokl

Having a hard time reducing my bass count at the moment, which really needs to happen. One has been sitting in a case unplayed since I moved house 18 months ago. Got it out to restring, clean and check over before definitely putting it up for sale but made the mistake of sitting down to play it. I'd forgotten how good it sounds - fat yet clear with perfectly weighted mid range. I don't think I can let it go now

Thanks all, looking forward to being more forum active

Thanks Dad!

Hello all, Very long time member here and even longer time lurker I've had a couple of years hiatus from bass but finding the urge to play has returned. Luckily I still have all my gear, so gas, for the moment, has been kept at bay. Rediscovering my basses has been great so far and there's a feeling of newness combined with old familiarity which I'm finding very satisfying. Anyway, I probably won't say much (as you'll generally find if you meet me in person!) but I'll be about the place. It's certainly changed from the bassworld.co.uk days but i recognise a few user names. Thanks for listening, Matt.

If you switched gauge it might have messed up your setup a bit making the bass feel harder to play. I wouldn't write off ss strings altogether (from someone that enjoys both nickel and ss).

If that sounds as good as it looks, it'll be fantastic!

When I owned one I felt sure that I got better sustain and a slight but noticeable drop in perceived tension when I strung my Lakland through the bridge. I possibly completely imagined it though!

Thanks, useful reading :0)

Without gigging how do you get any attention from the opposite sex?

I used to be incredibly fussy about strings and found DR roundwounds good in all flavours, but not all of them worked so well on every bass. I find D'addarios a great balance between price, feel, sound and quality. I tend to run the Nickel XLs on my 70`s Jazz (as it is very bright sounding anyway) but also really like the Pro Steels. They also seem to sound good when well played in. I try to mazimise my gig earning potential by not changing my bass strings any more regularly than really necessary, and I've been surprised how long I've been able to get away with them still sounding good.

I don't know about the standard series basses, but the satin type finish achieved is done by taking back the gloss finish by hand (I think with something mildly abrasive like wire wool), and if you hold it into the light, you will see the swirls where it was done. As a result points of contact start to polish up after time - at least they have on my Monarch. If you contact Fodera they'll almost certainly be pleased to advise you what can be done to restore it ( I expect just take it back again with wire wool). FWIW I wouldn't bother as it'll eventually polish up again if you play it much. I rang with some queries about my bass a few years ago and on the first occasion spoke to Joey, and then to Vinnie himself. They are entirely fabulous to deal with.

Sounds like Hell in an exhibition hall to me! I imagine it to be a bit like the world's biggest music store on the busiest Saturday ever known with everyone wanting to try basses at the same time. Hopefully I'm wrong and it will be enjoyable for those attending! I must add I am still in recovery from my music shop days.

Having read this inspired me to play the Quantum for a bit this afternoon. It really is an easy playing and great sounding bass, as was my Thunder. It's pretty impossible to play it without a strap though. I have tried a Rail but not for some years; it certainly was different in terms of looks etc but I must say I found that the moving pickup didn't affect the sound as much as I was expecting it to. Still, if you manage to find one at the right price you are unlikely to lose money on it if you don't get on with it and decide to sell it on. Good luck in your search for one :-)

My first bass was a Thunder I - wish I still had it as it was a great bass. If you're interested at some point in a Quantum feel free to send me a message. I've got one sat in its case that comes to and from gigs with me but never gets played. Anyway, enjoy your Thunder!

I don't think it'd suit me, but that really looks great!

Incredible bass player.

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1390158223' post='2342126'] Personally I think that companies like Gibson, Fender etc should offer all offer a demo instrument of their choice to each retailer (cost to be split between retailer cost and manufacturers 'marketing'). If they insist on having stocking requirements and buy-ins and laying down rules to keep dealerships, they should also offer a demo instrument so that shops can have them hung up with a 'WANNA PLAY A *insert brand name* TODAY?! JUST ASK A MEMBER IF STAFF TO TRY ME!' sign. That means anyone fancying a quick ten mins jam on a guitar to fulfil their playing Tourette's/attention seeking tendency can do without damaging shop stock, the manufacturers get more people playing their instruments and it means the actual stock is less likely to be damaged prior to purchase by a genuine buyer. [/quote] That's a really good idea - signs tend not to work though, but it wouldn't matter if the manufacturers were prepared to offer a demo model. Roland actually used to offer a discount to us on the digital drums so that the first kit could be discounted to a realistic price after a while on display. This was the right idea, although we still couldn't compete on price (and we're talking miles out), compared to the online specialists. As a result we stopped selling them as we couldn't afford to lose money on them, and that meant the good people of our town had nowhere local to see or try the product.

Thank God I don't work in a music shop any longer. Regrettably the number of people who weren't prepared to show a little respect to the instruments was very high. Pulling at expensive guitars hanging on the wall without realising the headstock was secured in place by the hanger, dinging the acoustics as they pull them out of the display then getting shirty when you go to assist to try and avoid further damage being caused. I even encountered customers who didn't even pretend that they had any intention of buying from you and would say 'I've seen this on GAK but just wanted to check how it sounded" for example, although this after quizzing you for 5 minutes on the features and requesting your opinion then playing it through an amp for half an hour. All of the above could be very soul-destroying when you work as a very small team at an independent shop, and at times I did wonder how an adult (because they were almost always worse than the kids) could have graduated from childhood with such a lack of basic manners or respect. Of course there were plenty of people, and to be fair probably more than 50%, who had the manners to check it was okay if they wanted to try something or take something down from display; and we always made a point of approaching customers to greet them and to 'please let us know if there's anything you want to try'. But back to the topic, I can't see any way that charging people to try a guitar would work, although I completely empathise with where you are coming from.

I was just thinking today how annoying the "club" thing on talkbass was lol. Each to their own though, just not my cup of tea...yes, it seems a bit twee. I can see your point though about a thread to glean useful information from other users with the same or similar gear. I have done this in the past with Wal bass forums when the company was in the wilderness. As someone else mentioned though, once you start going down that road, where does it end? Would you end up with the "Tortex 73mm plectrum club" - some of the TB ones aren't far off this imo.