Clarky

Thats standard - the non-aligned edge. My '72 Precision has that and is still the nicest bass I've ever played. Not an issue for me!

I've no idea whether right or wrong but I would say it sounds logical that greater headstock mass reduces dead spots. My logic is as follows: well known players like Leland Sklar (who knows a thing or two about bass) use the clamp thing on the headstock which adds mass and clearly believe in it, thus a headstock with more mass/weight will replicate this better than a downsized headstock, all else equal. Probably b*llocks but makes sense to me.

On p43 the G string looks too far from the edge of the board so my vote is that the string wasn't sat on the saddle properly and that BGM supplied the photo, from the set it took with the review. Still think its over-priced compared with a good UK luthier build (eg, Shuker) - and when have you seen BGM say a bass is poor/disappointing/overpriced? Their reviews always gild the lily IMHO but we've been down that route before in other threads

Me neither

Just bought a Markbass combo off Alan, our second trade. Combo was, as Alan said, in immaculate condition. As before, great transaction and I am very happy to recommend Alan to other BC'ers.

Funnily enough I've just been sorting out my bridge. The action on mine was way too high so I took a knife and sandpaper to it and lowered the height and cut deeper notches - yep, you guessed it, I cut too far on the A string so that it clicked against the fingerboard and buzzed like hell. In this case either you can raise the bridge by shimming some hardboard under the player-side foot (should really be glued) or do as I do which is to get hold of an adjustable bridge with wheels on it so raise and lower it. Just fitted the latter and I think I've just about got it right. If its the fingerboard that s the problem unfortunately that needs professional straightening (re-shooting). Maybe you could do a bodge job for now and put something in the A notch to raise the string slightly?

Can I just add, I am not Boris

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='974746' date='Oct 1 2010, 11:41 PM']Andy Fairweather-Lowe? He's class, and very stylish.[/quote] Trawls memory banks - wasn't he the guy that did Wide eyed and legless around 1979? Looked a bit different then, but didn't we all!

[quote name='Marvin' post='974747' date='Oct 1 2010, 11:42 PM']Stylish! Wearing that tie?[/quote] You can't see his dayglo orange Bermuda shoots and electric blue winkle-pickers from this photo, Marvin

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='974721' date='Oct 1 2010, 11:26 PM']Would it have [i]killed[/i] them to put black tuners on it? The black-on-black-on-black of the body makes the headstock look completely washed out.[/quote] Did a quick google - his most recent bass ( he seems to have had a number of black Ps including one with cream Dimarzios) has black body hardware but chrome tuners. So I guess they are trying to be faithful to the real McCoy. I won't be buying one mind.

Based on pricing I assume it's made in Japan or Mexico ( if that matters)

[quote name='Twigman' post='973869' date='Oct 1 2010, 01:00 PM']Most originals bands give up before they get the opportunity to experience this - I'd agree. .....but what if they hadn't given up?[/quote] We've been going for two years but we're a minority interest (originals punk) and we've never had a crowd bigger than 100 (of which perhaps 30-40 to see us, the remainder the other bands). Last year has been a disaster with crowd sizes falling sharply (recession, I'm sure, especially on weekday nights) and its been tough to get any joy out of it. We played a gig a few months back where we ended up as the entire crowd (the three of us and Mrs Clarky) for the headlining band, a reasonably well known punk act from the '70s. If you play to 1,000 diehard fans you are a lucky sod. Like WoT says, you are DEFINITELY in the minority

I have played for over 2 years in an originals punk band (the songs are very good IMHO). There's a limit, however, to the number of times you can play to a handful of people without thinking about the more instant gratification you get from seeing a crowd loving the music because they are familiar with it. If you're not doing it for a living its supposed to be about having fun isn't it? Playing late on a Monday night in a Camden bar to around 10 people (4 of whom are from the last band on the line-up) knowing your alarm goes off at 5.30am isn't always my idea of fun!

Not exactly funky either but I'm quite partial to Don't Take me Alive

Completely agree with the above but in my OP I was making the point that with my current rig I was getting feedback even with the gain almost completely off and the master very low - barely even loud enough to compete with an acoustic guitar, let alone a relatively gentle drummer! Hopefully the Fishman will sort this

[quote name='fatback' post='973648' date='Oct 1 2010, 10:07 AM']By Monday your BG is gonna feel like a ukelele [/quote] ... and as for your knob ... Sorry to lower the tone but its Friday (its 5 o'clock and its Crackerjack!)