anzoid

The SBMM short scale arrived yesterday from Bass Direct. Here's a pic with my Chowny SWB-1 (sorry, just a camera phone...): First impressions: It's a Stingray... but shorter. Sounds mostly like one. Tone pot (nearest the jack socket) does the usual. Middle knob selects between three wirings - parallel, true single-coil and series, not sure which is which - the sound gets fatter... Volume knob has a push-push switch that, when out, turns on the passive boost... which I guess means that "normal" has some kind of built in attentuation. The "boost" isn't huge, but it'll happily overdrive the input on my Elf unless I back off the gain quite a bit. Not sure which of the three settings gives the most classic Stingray sound... they're all pretty good. Build quality is superb. Flawless finish, not fret sprout or rough edges. Bass arrived in tune and with a rather nice padded gigbag. Only slight minus is the nut is a bit rough, but nothing that really needs sorting out, just looks like it was slightly chewed by a dog... Comparing with the Chowny which comes in in a similar price range - not much to say about difference in quality. I'd say they're about the same - which is testament to the quality of what @Chownybass is turning out as they're competing in an increasingly crowded short-scale market - and still are tops, the SWB-1 isn't going anywhere anytime soon! They're both 38mm at the nut and spacing at the bridge looks about the same - 18-19mm. Necks are also similar - both slim front to back - maybe the SBMM is slightly thicker. Biggest difference is my SWB-1 has a gloss finish neck, and the SBMM is satin. Personally I prefer gloss, but the satin isn't bad. (I think the 2020 SWB-1s will have satin finished necks anyway...) Sound wise, couldn't choose which I prefer - they both have their place. The Chowny does a passable imitation of a Warwick Thumb (as well as its own thing) which is why I love it to bits. The SBMM does a good Stingray. The SBMM is a fraction lighter than the Chowny, but not by much. Bass Direst looks to have the white with rosewood board in stock, but mine in Daphne Blue might be the only one around for the moment. Overall - if you want a Stingray sounds, and want short scale - this is very good.

Elf into a couple of Ampeg SVT-210AV cabs sounds pretty good.

The Cort Action Jr has a single humbucker and is a surprisingly good short-scale for the money. On mine I upgraded the tuners and bridge to Hipshot products and it is a very nice sounding bass - the upgrade to a KickAss bridge was definitely worthwhile, made the sound much more focused.

Bass Direct is going to be doing them at £650. I've just put down a deposit on one in Daphne Blue. NBD to follow sometime towards the end of March if all goes well.

To buy your Chowny SWB-1 Fretless?? Say it ain't so

I am so very very tempted by this even though I just bought a Chowny SWB-1 Pro Fretless from @vinorange about a week ago...

Unashamed Level 42 fan - absolutely brilliant. Um... your voice suits the songs perfectly. Obviously not Mr King, but right for the songs... given you sometimes hear covers where the singer is almost a complete mimic and others where they're just, you know, wrong - your voice is different and fits the songs really well. Shame you're the wrong end of the country from where I live as I'd come to a gig or ten and hang out at the merch table. When's the CD coming out?

Just bought Vin's Chowny SWB-1 Pro Fretless. Brilliant from start to finish. Vin's a gentleman who knows what he's doing, is honest, packages stuff up really well, sends promptly, replies to dumb questions and is a pleasure to deal with! Thank you!

Switched to Schaller S locks recently on two different basses (and will be adding them to the one due in soon :D) and the thick locking nut/washer that goes on the strap also has a grub screw so you can tighten it up against the thread. Hasn't budged so far. There's also a hole across one edge of the washer that you can poke the allen key through to use as leverage to really tighten things up. Overall, quite impressed. Slightly less impressed by the bit that goes on the bass which is all in one with the thread attached to the button and an allen key shaped hole for installing. Feels a bit pointless and like a potential weak point, however, ordinary Schaller strap buttons would work anyway, so you can mix 'n' match. Overall - a worthy upgrade for the strap bit, less so for the bass bit.

EMG 40TWX Pickup with all the accessories - £85 including shipping. Bought but never installed and now surplus to requirements. All details for this pickup can be found here: https://www.emgpickups.com/40twx.html Summary: two pickups in one - single coil and humbucker. Comes with volume pull/push pot and active tone control. All wires and fixings included. Uses a 102mm wide housing. Will happily work on a four or five string bass as the pickups has rails rather than individual pole pieces. Was intended for a four string Cort and would have been a drop-in replacement.

I had a Warwick Korean Pro Series Thumb fretless that I bought at the beginning of the year and it was an awesome bass (same guts as the German Thumbs, but maple neck). And I fell in love with the sound but not the weight and the reach required when on a strap. (I was and hade been having shoulder problems...). I tried a fretless Chowny at a bass bash and was amazingly impressed. Set up with @Chownybass to reserve a pair (fretted and fretless) of SWB-1s when the next batch came in, but had to pull out as shoulder problems and some other stuff led to me downing bass for quite a while. He was very gracious. I finally pulled things together recently and saw Andertons had a white SWB-1 in stock (the last one), so pulled the trigger and now have a bass to love that has the character of the Warwick - most definitely the growl, but probably not going to be mistaken for a "real" Thumb as the sound also is kind of rounder - being short scale and all. I love it to bits. And want a fretless SWB-1 now :D

Two shortscales: a Cort Action Junior and an active Chowny SWB-1. The Cort is a lovely bit of kit though the hardware was a bit lacking - swapped out the tuners and bridge for Hipshot products, and got an EMG 40TWX waiting to drop in though the stock pickup is pretty meaty. The Chowny is just totally awesome - I love everything about it, quality is exceptional for the money, and it plays beautifully with a sound (for me...) that is close to the growl of a Warwick Thumb - exactly what I wanted. Not going to abstain in 2020 because I really would like to get my hands on a fretless SWB-1...

Had a bass body resprayed by Jack's Instrument Services in Manchester (http://www.jacksinstrumentservices.com/). I had already stripped the old finish but they'll do it for you (and they had to do a bit of work on the body I sent... ahem). Was very pleased with the result. Turn around time was quite long - early November 2014 to beginning of February 2015 (just checked the emails) but that was because it was a really cold winter and the nitro took ages to dry - Jack kept me well informed of progress - never had to bug him. Finish was gloss nitro and it was smooth and very nicely polished up. Other's will be along with other recommendations but I'm very happy to recommend Jack (with the slight caveat that this was nearly five years ago...) Edit: Oh yeah, price was around £200 which I thought was very good for what I ended up with. (Prices may have risen... yeah, £280, but I think that includes stripping the original finish...)