Mokl

Geoff, you make a good point. I always try to convince my customers that they need to take the time to learn the basic skills to achieve their ideal guitar set up. A good set-up is a great help, but you need to learn how to make the guitar respond and play as you want.

Thank you mate. I guess I shouldn't have taken it so personally. Your pops sounds very wise!

Hi mate. Beware! The finish on one of my basses was ruined last winter as we had some problems with insulation and central heating (ie cold) in a house that we we were living in at the time. I think the main thing to avoid is going from extremes ie very cold to very warm (like from the van into a warm hall). Give the instrument time to warm up in its case if you can and you should be okay. Nitro finishes are very prone to checking as a result of temp change, so watch that vintage P....(shouldn't really be leaving it in the van anyway!) lol

Apologies if this is in the wrong section. I pondered as to whether it should go in "technical/repair" or even "off-topic", but in the end I decided it should go here... I shall begin by telling you that I work in a small, independent music shop, and have done for nearly 10 years. The pay isn't very good, but I feel lucky to work with some great people and have the opportunity to indulge my passion and make a living from it. I have been a loyal disciple of the bass guitar since my floppy-haired mate sold me his Westone Thunder 18 years ago, and barely a day goes by when I don't pick up the old boom stick for a tinkle. I have, as many of you, worked my way through a huge number of wonderful instruments over these last years - Wals, Jaydees, F Bass, Fodera, Lakland, Zon, Goodfellow, Vintage and modern Fenders, Sei, Rickenbacker, Bacchus, Modulus and more .... Every bass that I've picked up that has inspired me I have endeavoured to own, and have managed it (before marriage + kid mind you ). I have been very lucky to have owned some wonderful basses. In my youth I would often forego (rather foolishly) a decent square meal in lieu of the bass or amp I lusted after. I started getting into set ups when I was 16 as I was always disappointed by the service I got from guitar-techs in shops. Nobody ever seemed to listen to what I wanted or understand the way that I played, so I did it for myself and found that, after much practise, I had a certain flare for it. Roll on 10 years and that self-learned skill helped me land the somewhat humble job I occupy now. I have set up hundreds, if not thousands of guitars, and a notably smaller number (but not insignificant) of basses. I'll be honest, I'm no Martin Petersen (sp?), but I believe that I know a good instrument from a bad one, and that I am experienced enough to help the customer get what they want from an instrument. So, this guy brings in one of those Mexican 70`s Classic Jazz Basses. I always enjoy getting to work on a bass as most of my work is guitars, plus this was the first one of these I had gotten my mitts on. He wanted a set up on it, fair enough. I asked him what he wanted, low-ish action was the response, "it's a new Fender".... well, I've seen lots of those. Usually a fiddle with the truss rod and drop of the saddles will get you somewhere reasonable with the modern Fender stuff, but this was something else. I took it out of the gig bag to find the most skewed adjustements I'd ever witnessed - D string bottoming out on the end of the neck, massive relief in the neck, absurd fret buzz etc etc. Okay, he'd had a crack himself and lost the plot somewhere along the line - no problem for me to rectify though - I love to play a well set up Fender and thought this would be straightforward. A light fret dress and some proper adjustments should have this playing lovely and smooth. Roll on 24 hours later... It becomes apparent to me that this bass is not right (bear in mind that it's brand new). It's not even close to being right. Attempts to tighten the truss rod meet with extreme resistance - it's already maxxed out. I wondered if it might be a bit stiff so slackened it right off, lubed the threads and tried again whilst applying some backwards force to the neck. Small improvement but still not satisfactory. Taking a straight edge to the neck I notice extremely uneven fret work and dreaded "ski slope" bend in the neck from around the 14th fret. Sighting it I spot a very ropey fret job with noticeable increase in fret height above the 12th. I had a tinker to see what sort of action it would accept as it was, and predicatably this was very poor - choking above the 12th even with high action - which was what I expected. It's at this point I decide that the customer should probably refer back to point of purchase rather than pay me an increasingly large sum of money for what is, frankly, going to need a lot of work to become a playable bass. I call him and tactfully point out the problems that I have experienced, and suggest that he really shouldn't have to pay for this instrument to be brought to a playable level and that I'm sure that if he takes it back to where he purchased it they would either replace the guitar for him or at least cover the costs of the work themselves (in my opinion shimmed truss rod, good fret dress, neck shim and set-up). In my shop we don't often have the time to set up every instrument out of the box, but we do check them and offer a personal set-up for every customer free of charge. I did not charge this customer a single penny for my time or advice. Now we get to today. The customer has taken his bass away and travelled to the shop which he bought it from (I won't name it but it's about 40 min down the motorway from me and a well-known music shop). The customer walks in, confronts me and asks "how thick-skinned are you?". "Not very", was my answer, which was as honest as the advice I had given to him about his bass ( I am quite sensitive, if you hadn't noticed). He proceeded to tell me how "they say you don't know what you're talking about", and that "these 70`s models aren't designed to take a low action". Really? That was news to me. In my experience anything can be made to play well and with a good action if set up properly, and, of course, of sufficient quality. It sounded like the bloke in the shop bad-mouthed me, raised the bridge saddles and sent this hapless punter packing. "It took him 15 minutes"..... The worst part is that this customer now believes that I don't know what I'm talking about and felt it necessary to come in to the shop to tell me to my face. You know, I thought I was doing the bloke a favour. I always try to do the decent thing and treat my customers as I always wished I'd been treated myself when I was in their shoes all those years back. It isn't my business, and I have nothing to gain from giving honest advice. I don't care where he bought it, in fact I have made a decent sum of money from people who have bought guitars online, or elsewhere only to find them unplayable when they were experienced enough to realise. Well, it seems that not everyone shares my sense of fair-play and honesty, and not everyone gives a damn about what their customers are buying and playing, even if they are too dim to realise they're playing a lemon. I'll get back to my exquisitely set-up basses now, and I'll try not to think about that guy struggling to press down the E staring at the 7th fret - all the while thinking that he was a mug for taking his bass down to his small, local guitar shop. If you happen to be reading this, you will know who you are, I would still like the chance to put your bass right, and if you don't trust me I would welcome it if you were to have a play of one of my own instruments and see how it compares with your own. You're going to have to pay me though. Sorry, rant over!

It might just be that because you know the instrument so well you can easily get good tones out of it?

I have an awesome Westone Quantum which is about as 80`s as it gets. It has the original rifle case and has been a very convenient back up as it takes no room in the car. I might sell it but would be looking for £200. Here's a pic I found online - mine is identical to this

To be fair to the drummer, I often wonder how I would feel having to turn up at gigs and let other people I don't know bash the beejezus out of my kit for an hour or two before I got to play it. One of my friends has had some really grim experiences with people using his kit and showing it no respect at all. I know I wouldn't like it if I was expected to turn up at a gig and be forced to let the bass players from the other bands use my bass and amp. I have had bad experiences with amp sharing before and refuse to do it (and thankfully don't have to) these days! I know that with drums, sharing the headline bands kit is pretty much a standard arrangement, but I've never felt it was very fair for the poor drummer! Hope you sort it out anyway.

I seem to remember that's how the Mex Jazzes were when they first hit the scene back in the 90`s. Don't think it's a limited edition - I tried a few just like it in Gamlin's in Cardiff back in the day. I might be wrong though.

Picked up a Goodfellow (Lowden era) 5 string for £160 with and SKB flight case at Crack Converters. It cleaned up a treat and was a lovely bass... Also picked up an early 70`s Acoustic 136 combo for £50. More than anything I have picked up a couple of bargain bicycles from CC, but I must admit you have to wonder about their origin.

This is my favourite Fatback Track [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoCl3UkF_Kg"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoCl3UkF_Kg[/url] Some of this stuff is pure gold!

Not as pretty as mine, IMO

Could the OP advise whether there were 2 female singers? I might have an inkling who it was if so....

I was busy being sick in my car, so it wasn't me.

A lot of people say that it's in the context of a band mix that a Sadowsky really shines, but sadly I don't have one so I can't confirm that! Lots of folks love them, so perhaps the tone just isn't for you... I have regular bouts of Sadowsky GAS

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdQtYfURhTM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdQtYfURhTM[/url] I absolutely love Muzz Skilling's tone on all the early Living Color stuff! Hard to pick a favourite but I love his tone in this juicy slap groove. Even if the song is sounding a little dated now, the guys sound like they're playing out of their skin... phenomenal playing. Takes me back...

I like this guys playing, and I really like his nice mid-rangey tone here. Most of the slap stuff I've seen him do leaves me rather cold tbh, but he is a heck of a fingerstyle player too, and it's that element of his playing that I like the most.

One thing worth noting is that I don't think that page of the website has been changed or updated for as long as I can remember so I expect prices have gone up. I am also considering using them for some fretwork that needs doing on one of my basses and it would be useful to have a realistic price guide. I imagine that on the whole they tend to quote when people walk in with instruments, or over the phone (as they did with you). Once they have more specific details I guess they can more easily give an accurate price.

Did you ever sort this out? The JZ3 paired with the Duncans in my Bacchus sounds superb, so I wonder if you have a dodgy one?

Sorry to derail slightly, but is this a Walkabout combo perched on top? I was wondering whether to try running my Walkabout head at 2 Ohms, but wasn't sure if it would hold up. Have you really pushed this yet, and how has it coped? Bet it sounds great with the Celinder.

[quote name='flip' post='559243' date='Aug 3 2009, 02:27 PM']I started playing bass because I was obsessed with Fugazi records, so I'd naturally give Joe Lally a higher score than Mark King.[/quote] I would as well, but that's because I do actually prefer Joe Lally's playing!

I would try a little WD40 sprayed onto a cloth. That stuff can do wonders IME.

I must say that having worked in music retail for far too long now, this thread comes as a breath of fresh air. We have continual problems with people displaying a complete lack of respect for our instruments and stock, thinking it's okay to abuse them as their own and then leave, never having had any intention of making a puchase. We always stress the need for our customers to try out the gear properly and do our best to make sure that they are happy with their purchase, and we are usually more than happy to allow anybody to try anything they want. A polite "would it be okay to try this?" before ripping that Rickenbacker from the display goes a long way! The one observation I would make is that I would not necessarily single out a particular age group as being more guilty of poor manners or disrespectful behaviour. In fact, in my experience it is often the older guys who come in (guys who really should know better), who will start yanking acoustics off the wall and in the process bouncing them off the Clavinova's. As a small, independent shop, you would really not believe how much this can cost us. Irritatingly we often only pick up dings and small areas of damage at the time of sale, which inevitably involves us having to throw in free stuff or reduce the price. Anwyay, let's not give the kids too hard a time. More recently I find that the younger guys and gals that frequent our shop are often very appreciative of our time and attention.

Here's my Sonus. Great little bass.