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[quote name='spacey' timestamp='1411067566' post='2556227'] What happens is dust gets in if they are vented drivers, this finds the gap and then you get a crackle and farting speaker. On Black Widows you can unbolt them, clean the gap and away they go again. [/quote] Thanks spacey - I have a cab loaded with Black Widows that I was debating scrapping / selling as spares or repair because of crackle after a period of no use, but I'm going to try this now. You could have just saved me from doing something daft!

Think I agree with most of what has been said here. I play various secondhand basses, and my current fave is a Vintage V4 I got secondhand from the forums here. To my mind if it plays and sounds the way I want it to, and can hold onto the tuning for more than one song, then it's good enough. That said, if someone put a stack of cash in my hand I have no doubt I would go and buy a pile of expensive 'dream' instruments on a whim, and then probably not play most of them...

I know them guys (Past The Fall) - haven't seen them in a while though. Guitarist Tom used to teach me six-string, though he is probably trying to forget... Hope they are doing alright. In fact, I wore their band shirt at a gig last week...

Just bought a lightly modified Vintage V4 from Paul. Really nice bass and he was a pleasure to deal with and went out of his way for me which I really appreciate. Top bloke - thanks very much!

I did something similar to this recently on a no-name bass that had a truly nasty 'sunburst' thing going on. The main thing I discovered is that for success you need to have an appropriate surface for the new paint to key into. Not being an expert, I would assume that the exact nature of that surface will be determined by the paint that you plan to use? I just went to a local hardware shop and asked their advice on paint, which they were happy to provide - I had tried to get some paint option input from a well-known DIY chain, but they kind of looked at me blankly, since I wasn't painting a wall. Unfortunately I don't recall exactly what paint I used and have disposed of the evidence, but both undercoat and top coat were from the same manufacturer and it was straight out of an aerosol. Don’t know if that helps? The other worthwhile bit of experience to pass on would be that this will take time and patience. I spent a weeks’ worth of evenings on the preparation (rubbing down etc. with increasingly fine sandpaper) and probably another week, half an hour or so per day, applying coats of paint so as to allow for drying time. I also stripped the bass down completely at the start to avoid doing complex masking i.e. all hardware out and neck off, which was a pain but worth it in the end IMO. Good luck though – it is satisfying when done

[quote name='Immo' timestamp='1406558751' post='2512421'] I wholeheartedly prefer to scratch, ding and blemish my basses by myself, thank you, sir. [/quote] What he said, although having said that I only ever buy secondhand stuff, apart from strings and cables - so most of my basses and pedals and cabs etc etc already have a certain amount of previous abuse to report anyway.

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1401970063' post='2468762'] I guess it depends on whether you naturally use the top (high) or bottom string to orient yourself, I do the former so was able to instantly play a 5 when I first got one (played it at rehearsal that same night). Id be royally stuffed playing a 6 though. [/quote] Absolutely - the first time I ever picked up a 5 I realised that my 'mental map' - which sounds better than it is - was completely based around the fattest string being tuned to E... Everything changes when that changes, especially because for me at least my right hand wants to work around that string and forcing it to do everything from the second string gets confusing very quickly. Now if anyone made a 3 string...

The basses I have now (an old Warwick, a new MM and a bitsa I built 20 years ago) all seem to be determined to stay in tune, no matter how hard I hit the strings... same thing with the non-trem guitars I own. Worst instrument I ever owned for stability was a Strat copy... just look at it sideways and it needed tuning twice. Actually play it and you were in 'alternative' tuning territory almost immediately. Don't miss that piece of firewood :-)

Bought a pair of 1x12 project (homemade) cabs from Mark. They are great, and he was a pleasure to deal with - made plenty of time for me and let me try them out. Really pleased with them. Cheers, Paul