Lw.

I think the brand as a whole for bands is important but I've never really been won over by a band because they have a nice logo but I'll accept that it can be a good thing to have one.

Album artwork is quite important, or it at least needs to not be bad.

That Ashton stack on the first page is doing very strange things to me.

A valve amp is now top of the list for equipment I need - going to have to start searching for a bargain!

A lot of real estate given to pickups! Good looking set though - OW would be my fav out of the three.

I'm pretty sure I've seen their last ever performance twice before. Line up does look good though!

I've been happy with my simple Focusrite 2i2 - easy to set up with lots of support on their website, sound is good and feels relatively sturdy.

It might be useful if the Limelight owners in the room could upload some sound samples... One of the stumbling blocks when I was looking at buying one was that I didn't know how their pickups sounded or the tone in general (the other being the lack of 3TS). I'm sure some of the potentials buyers would love to hear them!

Worth thinking about what kind of sound/look you're after too - the Ibanez is a good modern styled bass. If you're going for classic styles I'd look at the Squire VM Jazz.

You can't really go wrong with the Squire's at that price point, though if you did a bit of reading around & searching you might be able to pick something a bit more fancy up in the classifieds on here...

Devils advocate; how do you know they were nice basses to start with? As far as I know you can't get a non-relic'd Limelight...

I think each to their own. I've never bought a relic'd instrument but I think these Limelight ones look great - esp as they don't all have the exact same relicing on every bass like other brands do.

I've horded quite a few bits of kit for years but last year decided on a change of approach; from now on i[size=4]f it’s not getting used it goes. [/size]Doesn't[size=4] have to be used regularly, but if it performs the same job as something else that I used more then I don’t see the point of keeping it, then the money can be put towards something that will be used more or performs a job that you can’t currently do (be that sound/style/range etc…).[/size]

That approach has helped me clear space in the house & gave the money to buy something nice, though obviously there’s nothing stopping you keeping all the basses & just getting more!

I've had a Korg GT-3 tuner since I very first started playing, used it in all situations from recording to live - have I been doing it wrong & playing out of tune all these years?

I have been tempted to upgrade to a nicer one, though for no reason other than to buy myself something nice while I'm waiting for a suitable Jazz to show up.

Two nice ones have gone through the classifieds recently - they do look really good. Taking the fender template & applying exotic woods seems to work really well!

I've been looking at Fenders too (still waiting for a suitable one to pop up in the classifieds) so understand your pain, although I've been looking at and playing LOADS of Jazzes I guess the same principals apply:

The American standards are lovely, incredibly well put together & sound very good. Whilst they do cost a fair bit, I think it is justifiable if you really want new. The other US models are also nice but as you go through the various next-step models the price rockets & I'm not sure if they're really worth it.

MIMs are quite good too - I think if I hadn't played the new American Standard I'd have been perfectly happy with the MIM standard, whilst they may lack a tiny bit of polish, it's not really a big thing. I also played a few of the other MIM models, some were very good but I was really disappointed with one (annoyingly it was the one I really wanted to like), but one bad one out of maybe 5 probably isn't too bad - just play before you buy.

Played a couple of new Squires and I have to say they've improved massively from their 90's/00's counterparts, but you can tell the difference (and not just the extra grand in your pocket). They're nice budget basses - I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to someone that's looking to learn the bass but I wouldn't say they're a realistic option if you're looking at the nicer basses.

Not played any of the licensed parts basses (warmoth etc..), but I should probably admit to having a dream at the moment of having a new spec American Standard body (with the custom shop pups) and putting a flash Warmoth neck on it...

Those are my opinions, others will obviously disagree with some of them.

You'll struggle to get the Fender Jazz tone out of a Warwick - I've found them to be completley opposite ends of the scale (which is why I'm after a Jazz for when the Warwick isn't appropriate). I don't know about the Rob Allen/acoustic sound.

I can't really think of many Jazz-y basses that come off-the-shelf in dark woods but someone on here was selling a [I think] Mahogany jazz they'd put together with parts from Warmoth which looked pretty nice. You could probably pick that up & put a fretless neck on it for less than your budget...

Hmm maybe I'll email him again - I like the look of his work & want an early looking jazz but it needs to be sunburst for me!

Nice looking bass - d[size=4]id you spec that out? [/size]

When I contacted them a while ago they couldn't do sunburst, do you know if this has changed?

I've never encountered a "pound per head" agreement before, that's crazy!

Maybe just live & learn from this one; you should definitely look at knocking up a basic 1 page contract for all your future gigs, just keep it simple; have blank spaces for the promoter name/address & payment amount (even if that is just expenses), keep a save of it then just fill in the details quickly for each gig. Both parties need to sign two copies then keep one each. It makes matters like this much easier to rectify.

Ibanez looks a bit like a peavey t40-alike?

I probably wouldn't sell my Warwick for one, maybe save up for a couple of months and buy a second hand one? Means you can give it a good go but not lose the safety of a good Warwick...

Bump - £130 ono.

Played in the Buttermarket cellars in Shrewsbury a few times - it's a decent size for DJs but doesn't work at all for bands as the columns holding the roof up arch & are everywhere so you're stuck in a damp corner stooping the whole time.

Other than that; various dingy pubs in the suburbs of Birmingham/Wolverhampton & all those towns that merge into one around there - can barely remember the towns, let alone the pub names - can just remember the feeling of relief after we got back on the motorway in one piece with all our stuff.

I voted American Standard as after months of deliberation that's what I'm in the market for at the moment - feels like I've tried a lot of the Fender range in the last couple of months!

Where are people buying these Jap re-issues? I've not seen any in the shops but people keep talking about how good they are...

Mex Fender jazz deluxe? Seems to fit the bill, one went on ebay the other day for about 400.

I'd be careful with Warwicks; they generally add a growl that makes them quite distinctive & not particularly like a jazz. And they have a different shape to the neck - off-set shape so it's wider/flatter behind the E/A string then curves round under the D/G. Or they did when I bought mine anyway, I think it's quite nice but it doesn't feel like a jazz.

Look at those tuners! Nice.

I know they're a bit obvious but Fender P's of the 70's seem incredibly cheap at the moment - even if you're not buying as an investment, they're only ever going to go up in value...

[quote name='machinehead' timestamp='1395781575' post='2406322']
For what it's worth my advice would be to buy a used post 2008 US jazz and be sorted with no faffing about.

No need to change anything, plus you get the superb SKB case.

And if you want to sell, you get your money back.

Frank.
[/quote]

Sounds like good advice - thanks! What changed in 2008? I know 12 was when they changed to custom shop 60s pickups, was 08 the last big change before then?

Played a couple of Squires & never really been blown away by the necks (they've been ok but I've got used to a REALLY nice feeling neck on the Warwick) though I do admit that you do have to try them first as they vary quite a bit.

We'll see, maybe something interesting (that matches my requirements) will pop up soon in the classifieds & that'll make the decision for me!