Chiliwailer

Another smooth and friendly deal, cheers Ian 👍

9 hours ago, MM Stingray 62 said:

Just fitted a celluloid pick guard on my 

p bass. Here’s a before and after photo 

 

Very nice, where’s it from? 

This bass was a real saviour during a period when I couldn’t play a long scale, but was playing a lot. 
 

1971 Musicmaster, cost me £250 in 2004. When I got it the pickup, pickguard and bridge were changed and it had a natural varnish finish. I soon after added a Jazz pup, and Mustang tuners. 
 

Later it had a new bridge, pickguard and sunburst respray shortly before I sold it to a guy who also bought my ‘78/9 Sabre that I always wanted back…
 

Sold this Musicmaster when I was able to use a P Bass again and needed some cash. Great bass, really loved it, ideally would have kept it for nostalgia and odd times of playing it. The neck was divine 🤤

1 hour ago, Agent 00Soul said:

Do most of you live in private houses?  I've only ever lived in flats as an adult and I've found that the lack of space (as well as being left-handed) is a great check on either GAS or accumulation.  

In my 20s I was playing a lot and living in single room bedsits and moving often, I always had at least 4 basses/guitars with me and could move all my belongings in a small hatchback (this was the late 90s when there were pretty small). Guess it’s about priorities 🎸🎸🎸🎸😂

39 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

*Laughs in EMG*

 

(Sorry. Had to do it!)

 

 

Harsh, but very fair 😊

7 hours ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

I used to be plagued with miscellaneous hum when recording bass or guitar until I discovered the benefits of shielding with anti-slug copper tape. I think I have shielded most/all of my basses now and seen massive improvements in bringing down the ambient noise levels. I believe this really should be a process carried out in the factory — particularly with something expensive like the Ric 4003 which was very succeptible to hum before shielding.

This is what was doing my nut in - the bass is shielded really well, and for a while my thoughts run away with me.
 

Someone had added a series/parallel switch to the bass, and I never use it, so I put it back to stock just in case there was an issue with how it was done, even though it looked fine… but no, noise still there. 
 

Then my brain kicked in, and when checking the chain I used the blend knob on my compressor, and yep, no naughty noise when the blend was dry (or when taking it out the chain), but it came in when going wet. I guess the comp was amplifying the fact the pups are single coil, and picking up interference from the room’s electrics perhaps.
 

Recorded the part where the noise was previously an issue, and the bass sounded fine (until I decided my Stingray was actually better for the track after all 😂). 

1 hour ago, Mrbigstuff said:

Different basses hum worse than others. I had an 80’s Tokai which had it really bad even when going straight into a DI.

Really glad that it’s not the bass after all, I was already stumped with what to replace it with while I was in Basil mode… 

1 hour ago, Lozz196 said:

I’ve told you once, now you’re going to get a thrashing!

 

Classic Fawlty moment, certainly had my fair share of them.

Yep, classic Fawlty with a mix of classic Homer afterwards, a nice big doh! 

13 minutes ago, Mrbigstuff said:

Bad sound or playing?

Sorry, I should elaborate - I was getting a terrible hum, really standing out on a quiet part of the track. But wasn’t get it so much on my Ray, I put it down to single coil issues and home electrics,  but then realised the culprit was in the chain and the different setting I use for each bass didn’t come into my mind at the time, doh 🙄

Ended up using the Ray anyway, but good to know as it’s been nearly a year since I gave my Jazz a good work out. 

Almost had a Basil Fawlty type moment while recording, though just about spared beating my Jazz Bass...

Best not take it out on the bass when other factors are at play too, just took me a bit to realise 😂

Just got it, thanks for the heads up 👍

Gets a bit confusing with Ray 5 pups. Up to 1991ish they we alnico, then switched to ceramic until 2008ish, and back to alnico until the bass was discontinued. 
Ray Specials are Neodymium as standard. 
Nice bass 👌

Good condition, home use only, with unused strap. 
 

Just now, Beedster said:

 

At 3-4k luck should not come into it though. I know that if I buy a mid-top range Warmoth neck and body, a Lindy Fralin PUP, a @KiOgon circuit, Gotoh hardware and spend some time on setup - £1000 in total including import duty - I'll get a great Precision bass 95% of the time. Frankly I find it f***ing amazing that with Fender costing 3-4x more it's still a 50% chance at best.... 

Spot on bro. I can live with a ‘very good’ Warmoth for that money, but I want ‘outstanding’ for Lull & CS money. My mate has a CS that’s a belter, mine is very sweet too, but it does feel like a lottery… Glad I’m sorted! 

1 minute ago, Beedster said:

 

I've never played a Lull so can't comment, but point taken Dan 👍

Man, they feel so comfy 👌

16 minutes ago, Beedster said:

 

I've owned several Fender Custom Shop basses that weren't very good but were in the same price range Dan. They looked great for sure, but they just didn't have that combination of playability, responsiveness, and core tone that says 'great bass' 

But yeah, totally agree how some CS disappoint as an overall package. Some feel spot on and like a vintage bass and sound great, others just feel so odd to me and come across quite soulless. I got lucky with my CS Jazz, genuinely reminds me of my old original. 

7 minutes ago, Beedster said:

 

I've owned several Fender Custom Shop basses that weren't very good but were in the same price range Dan. They looked great for sure, but they just didn't have that combination of playability, responsiveness, and core tone that says 'great bass' 

Again, hand on heart, my Fender Std Jazz from 2015 sounded fuller than my M4V I had for all of about a week. Didn’t feel anywhere near as nice tough! 

2 minutes ago, Beedster said:

 

I've owned several Fender Custom Shop basses that weren't very good but were in the same price range Dan. They looked great for sure, but they just didn't have that combination of playability, responsiveness, and core tone that says 'great bass' 

Yeah, I’ve had many a CS, but can hand in heart say that the CS basses were more consistently better in tone. I went to Bass Direct for an M4V and came home empty handed. Honestly, only one was a stunner tonally, but Lull’s do feel great and have a cool neck profile. I put the ‘good but not outstanding’ tone down to the chambered bodies, just as a best guess. 

And I did wonder if the Lull M4V is the Warmoth smaller Jazz body, but couldn’t be arsed to look and compare. 
 

Anyways, we met Mike and he was cool, and his basses feel amazing, so just saying. 

28 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

 

A few years back I had a short conversation with a guy that was close to Mike Lull; he mentioned that a lot of the work behind creating their basses was outsourced to external businesses and the magic only happened when the parts went back to Lull for assembly/set up.  I'll admit (despite owning a pair of Lull basses) this didn't sit so well with me, but hey-ho, they're great instruments and needs must, I suppose.

Funny you say that; when I was looking at Warmoth I noticed their P Bass easy access neck heals looked liked a Lull, plus the 21 fret ramp is the same, and they are pretty close geographically, so wondered if they did parts for him… 🤔

I’ve had 4 Lull basses, 1 was exceptional but the other 3 just very good, which is a concern now they are £3-4K

…

Aw thanks @lurksalot - good to know it wasn’t my Mum’s vote 😊

I’d kind of be interested. Recently I was looking at a Warmoth Fender build - funnily enough in Sherwood Green like @Beedster 👌

I know their wood is high quality and I like the options. But they have reputation, and for any new-starter, or unknown-to me-business  I wouldn’t be sure if it’s same quality, so that’d bother me. 
 

But it depends on the price you’re looking at I suppose. Moreover - I’d want to know exactly where the wood came from, but that’s just me. 
 

Looks like Limelight do well with the same model (generic parts) and I’ve always guessed that the ‘relic only’ offering was down to less work making sure the nitro finish is polished up and spot on! 

45 minutes ago, upside downer said:

Bravo, @Chiliwailer, you're getting good at this 😁

Cheers pal, no doubts the luck'll run out soon  

8 hours ago, monad said:

Yeah, you might be right, how do I edit it and what's the real value? I was sure it's made in USA and it doesn't show up on the database because it's from the 80s.

To edit, look for the the 3 dots on the top right of your first post, then select edit. You can change the title and post, but not the price. 
 

I won’t give my opinion on the price as it can be subjective on some basses and I don’t  want to bias your advert. You may want to try the what’s it worth thread as you’re a paid up member here. But I’d suggest you look at sites like BassBros and do a Stingray EX search, then maybe deduct a bit of dealer tax but definitely consider the cosmetic differences. 
 

BTW - if the neck was USA, it’d be 1990 or after, the truss rod wheel, non-skunk stripe, and oil finish are quick signs - but the lack of a ‘Made in…’ decal suggests it’s an EX.