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Thanks for the information - it makes sense. I didn't know that the pickups in those early copies were so variable. I am aware of the following that vintage Japanese instruments from factories like Matsumoku attract, so this could be cool for someone with the knowledge/skill to bring it back to something like original (or just more normal) condition. Aside from the missing tone knob and broken nut (and original pickups!) it looks complete, and there are no obvious major cracks, but we do know the wiring must also have been messed with... There is no comment in the listing about the changes that this bass has gone through, or how it now sounds, so possibly the seller isn't aware that this is both quite old and modified? The description of that and the other two instruments he is selling don't sound like a bass players words i.e. he gives the overall length of the instrument rather than the scale length - so I'd be wanting to see it before bidding in case the neck is a ski-ramp etc. I'm still curious as to how a split pickup would sound across the strings when it's been split by that amount? Might be OK, but I suspect less than ideal... Still - this is the eBay wierd and wonderful section 🙂

A Jazz bass copy - normal enough... but something was bothering me about it! It took a moment or two (OK, quite a few moments...) to register what was going on here... it's certainly a different approach. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-string-bass-guitar-sunburst-body-rosewood-fretboard-mother-of-pearl-inlay/392324405931 Could this actually work? I don't want to be the person who pointed and laughed at the next revolution in bass guitar design... In case anyone else looks at this and can't see the unique design feature (small type in case this is insulting anyone's intelligence) it appears that a precision pickup has been split across both the jazz pickup routings... _shrug_ ?

Maybe it would be more accurate to say high-price... since any bass over about £500 is an expensive one to me! I would still consider a 'correct' vintage Fender or ealrly Warwick etc. to be extremely desirable though - in fact I'd take them over most of the high-end basses by your definition, although it's all academic - I was only window shopping 😉

Not sure what's going on, but I went to the 'Basses for Sale' forum to do some Friday afternoon window shopping (always a mistake) and after monkey-button clicking the first few posts realsied that the whole top of the list was super high-end stuff... well over £20k of bass in the first 8 listings. Do these people know something that is causing mass disposal of quality basses? I'm used to seeing some lovely instruments (that I can't afford)... but not normally Every Single One. I need a lie down... and a better paying job!

If you can't tell from looking, you can confirm it's a ground with a continuity tester (usually there is one on a basic multimeter). Attach the leads of the tester to the stray wire and the ground part of the socket and they will be connected if the wire is a ground. If you can't tell which part of the socket is ground, stick a patch cable in the socket and touch to the barrel of the exposed plug (which is ground). If you haven't got a multimeter, a battery and a torch bulb will do the same job at a pinch. Good luck!

Makes sense to me. Even if a bass is relatively lightweight I still am more aware of the weight if it is also unbalanced on the strap. I don't have a bad back, but after a few hours of standing to play I can feel the fatigue in my lower back is worse when I'm playing certain basses, so I have sympathy for anyone who suffers from back pain.

Thanks for those replies Cuzzie and BigRedX - I hadn't considered the larger variety of darker woods, or the fact that darker wood is often uncoated in this application. It makes more sense now, especially in mass produced instruments.

There was a thread on here earlier this week that I nearly commented on regarding choice of wood for neck and fretboard etc. but I didn’t want to derail that discussion with something that might attract ‘opinions’ that were irrelevant to the point… Given the interesting comments in this thread on how the choice of wood affects the tone (or not), this might be a better place to ask my question? Which is: It is my perception that there are more rosewood/dark fretboard-ed basses than maple/light coloured ones in general. But is that really true, or am I being fooled because I usually look for a maple fretboard? And if it is true, why? Both maple and rosewood are offered by many manufacturers, so for whatever reason, there must be healthy demand for both. I’ve been playing long enough to know what I like, which is all I care about when it comes to ‘this one is better than that one’ arguments, but is there a cost or ease-of-manufacture thing going on here, or just market forces, or something else? I happen to like a maple fretboard, simply because I seem able to ‘navigate’ it better, especially in bad light, but when bass-shopping a lot of instruments that I might look at more closely get passed over because they have a RW board… which I know I’ll get tired of. And in relation to the OP – a lot of this video makes perfect sense to me too, especially the stuff like vintage isn’t always best, just because it’s old or from the golden era. There is plenty of junk out there from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, just like there is plenty of junk with the cellophane still on. The value of something new or old to any individual is subjective, but the prices are often ludicrous (imo)… Apologies for the long post btw...

It's well outside the price range, and therefore not the solution being looked for, but there is a guitar maker in Cambridge with a lightweight (6.5lb) Precision-esque model on his website - so it is possible to get a good sounding (sic) 34" scale length bass very close to the target weight - http://www.rees-electric-guitars.com/F-Light2016.html It looks like the body is small with the bridge right up by the rear strap button, but it isn't quite 'travel guitar' small and definitely not a toy. I do have one of those Anygig https://www.anygigguitar.com/model/anygig/anygig-agb.html basses which is ~3.5lbs but it's practically unusable. Having no bodywork at all presents all kinds of ergonomic problems, and the sound from the piezo pickup is (to me at least) unacceptable for anything beyond practicing at home.

I went to school with Guthrie - albeit a year or two below him. He was insanely talented as a youngster and seemingly has just kept on studying and getting better. He won a competition in Guitarist magazine as a teenager, and at some point afterwards was given a job there. Love his videos as well - a completely natural teacher.

My immediate reaction was ‘no’, but having gone back for a second look it is veering towards a ‘maybe’… which is strange, because for years I’ve preferred maple necks – or more correctly, maple fretboards. Maybe it’s because of how it goes with the body colour?

Good quality rack cases/sleeves etc. are always more than you think they are going to be - even shelves and blanking panels etc. seem pricey... I guess they don't do enough volume to be able to make them cheaper? To solve the problem on the cheap you could try and find a secondhand tolex covered 2u case, and use it without the lids, or maybe locate a beyond-repair amp already in a suitable sleeve that you could re-use (like a Trace Elliot) ? Other than that, recovering something like the fuzzy wotsits you've already seen is probably the only way to do it for less than £50... unless someone knows different, in which case I'd be grateful to hear about it as well!

Agree - you can't please everyone, but there was a lot in there and the style/production etc. were very watchable and informative. What little theory I do know has all been hard won, so I do watch videos like this in order to hopefully learn something... which I did! Good work I say :-)

I've always wanted to try one of these, just because, but £180 + courier from County Down is a bit steep for what is likely to be a curiosity - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trace-Elliott-Bass-Bright-Box-Very-Rare/153513479686 Still, they don't come up very often any more and for Trace addicts with deeper pockets than me it might be worth a look...

Clip-on tuners are ok - although I've only tried one type: https://www.korg.com/uk/products/tuners/pitchcrow_g/ A few things I have found are that it is sensitive to where on the headstock you place it, and it doesn't work too well if there is a lot of noise (as in, I get a few moments rest mid-song but everyone else is playing, it can be hard to get a clear reading)... Lastly, compared to something in the signal chain it seems more sensitive to interference from sympathtic vibrations from other strings - so I find best results from positively muting all other strings, which you should probably do anyway, but I'm somehow more aware of it with that tuner. None of these stop me from using it though. Very useful for cramped venues or tuning before plugging in etc. I did a straight comparison with my pitchblack pedal when I forst got it, and would say it's equally as accurate but takes slightly longer to settle to a steady indication of sharp/flat/in tune. Battery life is long though, and it's never fallen/flown off. For what they cost I wouldn't be without one in my gig-bag! Just don't forget it's there when you put your bass away - our guitarist has managed break/lose a couple of them that way.

... noun: stage presence the ability to command the attention of a theatre audience by the impressiveness of one's manner or appearance. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Monster-Warwick-Hellborg-Bass-Amp-Rig-Stadium-Size/323771309719 I'm sure it sounds like nothing else, but you might need some help shifting it!

Another Smooth Hound user here. It works for me, and I've never experienced any drop outs or interference. I don't think I've used a cable (on all but one bass that has a sloppy worn out socket) since getting it, even practicing at home. The iffy bass is OK if you wrap the cable around the strap button but obviously that isn't an option with the SH transmitter. I can understand why the Smooth Hound isn't for everybody, but the smallness and lightness are exactly why I like it.

I think those switches can be replaced with something similar/functional but not identical easily enough... I'm sure I read something about that on here? Like you mention, a two button footswitch wired to a stereo 1/4 jack plug can also change the settings if you need it to (I can't remember if you need latched or unlatched though). Looking at my collection of TE gear I could probably fully equip two heads with all buttons, slider caps and the little red and green convers for the preamp and output knobs... but the rest would then be naked... it's all good really considering the age of some of this kit - if I'm still around in 30-odd years time I wonder how much of today's gear will still be delivering the goods? Not that I'm running modern lightweight stuff down... I've got a class D micro head etc. as well.

What's going on here? That's against the rules... UV off < UV on... fact!

I've got the 250 version - never needed more yet! In fact I often use an AH150 for pub gigs it doesn't even break a sweat. I use very similar settings to the OP with a P-bass and it always makes me smile. I can't believe that no one has 3d printed a bunch of these slider caps yet - you could sell them at a profit and still undercut the import price.

If you had the cabs and a big enough room it would be fun to find out...

I'm fairly certain that there are 2 separate amps in there, each rated at 250 watts @ 4 ohms... so you could connect 4 cabs @ 8 ohms each. Bearing in mind that these are TE watts, you could probably demolish buildings with this - nice 🙂

I didn't know until I saw this post that you could get them as a separate unit: https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/26162-trace-elliot-porn-thread/page/18/?tab=comments#comment-3681806 Now I want one, or two (at least) to go with my non-UV Trace heads.