tredders

5 hours ago, Norris said:

That's what put my lad off getting one. It nearly doubles the price!

If I don’t get on with mine when it arrives (in November), I’ll bring it back to the UK with me and your son can have it at cost if he’s still interested then. 

One of the advantages of spending every other month in Dallas with work is that I have a US address.  Just ordered one for $425 (around £335).   Worth it for that price - as someone already said, there’s £45 worth of flatwounds on the bass already… 

Not sure I’d have ordered one if I had to factor in UK shipping though.  That puts it in a whole different price point. 

Where’s “plays like butter”? 😃

As I'm in the US every other month, I recently discovered the Musician's Friend website, and more specifically, their "Stupid deal of the Day".  

First day I subscribed, the daily deal was a brand new Sterling Ray 34, reduced from $899 to $450 for one day only.  I ordered, it was delivered a couple of days later (with a nice Ray gig bag), and I was surprised how well setup it was straight out of the box.  The roasted neck is especially nice.  I own a "real" Stingray at home, but this will definitely help with my US noodlings.  I was actually surprised how similar the Ray34 is compared to the Stingray, and it made me realise that after 35 years of playing, this was my very first brand new bass!

Not sure how useful this website info is to anyone outside of the US, but might provide a bargain or two for anyone stateside.

Ah that's very sad news.  I bought and sold and bought again with Nick, and he was always a lovely bloke to deal with.  Condolences to his family.

I bought Chris’s Yamaha BBPH recently, and it was immaculate - this is someone who really looks after their gear.   I remember seeing this one in the corner of his music room and thinking how cool it looked!

Horribly tempted by this myself…

8 hours ago, Kiwi said:

What is the most desirable seventies or eighties BB bass and what are they selling for?  I have access to Japanese imported BB1200s and 1100s plus later models.

I’d definitely be interested in a BB1200/S.  

I just bought BTS7’s Yamaha Peter Hook bass, and I couldn’t be happier.   Nice guy to deal with, the bass is immaculate, and a nice smooth sale. What more could you ask for?

Thanks Chris 👍

This thread might be useful:

I’ll take this please. I’ll drop you a PM now. 

PM sent with a couple of questions. 

What strings are on this Chris?

1 hour ago, tauzero said:

Solihull Man (although Solihull isn't in Birmingham and you'd get lynched for saying it is)

My home town.  I'm off to round up my lynch mob...

I'm pleased to say that this has now found a very deserving new home.  It'll be with the new owner next week when I'm back from my trip.  I know it'll be used and useful, which was my aim out of this.

Thanks to all those who showed interest.  I'll keep checking the garage and music room to see if there's anything else going spare...

I'm actually getting far more interest (and messages) than I anticipated on this.

Have to say though, without sounding like a d*ck, if someone already has 12 basses, and are actively buying more in the For Sale section, I'm not going to give this to them - they can afford to buy their own.  My idea was to help someone out who perhaps couldn't afford this, or to donate it to a music-related charity.   

As I mentioned in the (edited) post, I'll leave this to run until Sunday (I'm in the US with work at the moment, so 5 hours behind the UK) and then see what's what.

In case there are actually people on here who don't constantly scour the Basses for Sale section every available minute of the day (you strange people), I'm posting this here too.

TL;DR - I've got a fairly decent Tanglewood acoustic bass on offer.  Details in the link below.

A few years ago, I listed a Steinberger Spirit bass as a give away to someone who could use it (and not just sell it on).  It went to a musical therapy room being setup by one of the members here.

I've been having a recent clear out of my music room, and I've had this sitting in a rack for years, and I can count on the fingers of one hand how many times I've picked it up and played it.

It's actually really nice, and quite a high end Tanglewood acoustic bass.  I've plugged it in and everything works as it should, and it's pretty loud just played acoustically.  I just literally don't have a use for it.  I think I originally bought it when I thought I was going to make my fortune by performing hundreds of MTV Unplugged gigs, and of course none of those gigs happened 😀

Details of the bass here:

https://reverb.com/item/13494720-tanglewood-tw55a-natural-acoustic-bass-guitar-pre-owned

There's one on eBay for 890 Euros!!  Stock photo here:

Sounds good, has stayed in tune for years, and I can't see a mark on it.   I don't think I have a gig bag for it, so this will have to be an in-person handover.  I'm just off j12 M40 (South of Leamington).

As before, I'd like this to go to someone who could really use it - I'd be disappointed if it just instantly ended up on eBay.  Doesn't necessarily have to be a charity, but someone who's maybe wanted one for a while and doesn't have the spare cash to buy one.

Let me know if anyone is interested.  I'm away with work until Tuesday of next week (4th July) but I'm checking Basschat regularly (of course!)

A good home has now been found for this.  Thanks to all who showed interest.

I always like this Blur appearance.   Not great picture quality but the bass sounds ace!

Seems a bargain.  Wouldn’t Mark at Bass Direct give you more than this for it?

Wish I’d got a use for it - I’m just down the road from you. 

I bought a pair of Blackstar headphone amps this fine gent, and it was a very easy and smooth deal.  Kept in contact throughout and the Blackstars arrived quickly, were just as described and were posted very quickly.  Couldn't ask for a smoother transaction.  Highly recommended.

On 28/11/2022 at 09:06, Happy Jack said:

There are basically TWO types of Hofner Beatle bass ... the ones built in Germany (bloody expensive but the real deal) and the ones built under licence in China (relatively cheap and no real indicator of what Macca actually played).

 

Apart from the quality of the components and the different type of finish (you really want nitro) by far the most obvious difference is that cheap copies - including the made-under-licence versions - have a "central sustain block". Trans: Instead of being hollow-bodied and made using traditional violin-building techniques and bracing, they have a bloody great lump of 4x2 running down the middle onto which everything else is glued & screwed.

 

What this means is that the cheapo versions weigh substantially more, have a completely different balance to them, and because of the plasticky finish and cheap knobs have a completely different feel to them.

 

Does any of this matter? The Ignition and the Contemporary are both fine basses, play well and sound good. Yes, I've owned both. Above all, to the ignorant audience they LOOK like a Beatle bass. If I was asked to join a Beatles tribute, I would have no hesitation in buying one of these and doing the usual substitute-the-teacup-knobs thing.

 

But if what you want is to know how it felt for Macca to play this bass then you should avoid the cheapo jobbies like the plague. The instant you pick up a genuine German-made Hofner it's totally obvious that they're chalk & cheese. I've had several, including the 1963 RI, and I have a genuine 1964 hanging on the wall next to me as I write this. These are quality instruments and a piece of true craftsmanship, but that costs.

 

Just a follow up to this - just after writing this original thread, I dipped my toe in the Hofner 500/1 pond and bought an Ignition model, which had had a couple of upgrades done to it.  I found it a cracking little bass - fun to play (took some getting used to the scale!) and great sounding.  This lead me to start looking for a German made model, and I very recently tracked down a beautiful 2010 German Hofner 500/1 62 RI (known as the Mersey bass).  Everything Happy Jack said in his quoted post is absolutely spot on.  The German model weighs significantly less than the Ignition, balances better on a strap, is better made, and plays and sounds much better.   This doesn't make the Ignition rubbish - I loved mine and it gave me the appetite to want a more expensive model, but it's like comparing a £200 P bass copy with a Fender CS P bass.

Just sold my Hofner 500/1 to Quent and he was an absolute gent to deal with from start to finish.   Paid immediately, kept in contact throughout and sent a nice note when the bass arrived safely.  
 

I wouldn’t hesitate to deal with Quent again in the future - top man.  

Now sold

Now sold. 
 

Selling my Hofner Ignition Violin bass in excellent condition.   I bought it in Dec last year, when it was 6 months old, so it's still less than a year old now.  I bought this to see if I could get on with short scale, and see if I liked it.  As it turns out, I love it so much, I've just ordered a German 62-re-issue, which is arriving on Monday, so I'm looking to move this on to help towards the cost of that.

The previous owner had just put a set of LeBella Beatle Bass flats on it, along with upgraded machine heads, and traditional tea-cup knobs (both genuine Hofner, at a cost of £125, I believe).   He kindly included the original tuners, knobs and round wound strings, which will all be included in the sale.  The bass has also been professionally set-up and plays beautifully.  The action is low and intonation spot on up & down the neck.

I did a lot of reading up on the Hofner 500/1 range before buying this (there's a Basschat thread I started somewhere), as I wanted something close to the sound of the early Beatles, and this lead me to this model, which is hollow and without the centre block.  Even with my ham-fisted playing, it does a good approximation of that Beatles bass sound.

Looks like these are around £339 now, and the case is £89.  Add in the £125 upgrades and I think £300 including delivery is fair.   If you're around Warwickshire / Birmingham / Oxford etc, we could probably work out a meet-up.  If you can collect I'll knock the £25 delivery off, so it's £275 all in.

I've shamelessly stolen the original seller's photos (hope this is ok Pat?), as it's too dark outside now to take my own.  I'll replace with some new pics this weekend, but it's in identical condition as those below.  It's only been played at home, and all I've done is remove the pick guard (for that late-Macca look!), but this will obviously be included with the sale.  I'll even screw it back on if that's what the new buyer wants.

Trade wise, I really do need to stop spending on basses right now and put cash towards the incoming German Hofner, , but I'm weak-willed and I'm sure I could be tempted by something 4 string and passive.  I could also use a decent multi-fx (HX etc).  Truth is, I'll be tempted by most things bass-related, so try me with what you've got.   

Any questions, please ask.

2 hours ago, BigRedX said:

It's "Mojo"!

 

You're not supposed to clean it off.

Yeah, there's mojo and then there's 10 years of someone else's dead skin ingrained in the fretboard 😀