anzoid

15 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Aha - so you totally loved the bass but didn't like the look. Would it be fair to say that you've only dated aspiring super models? 😂

Only if they're hot rod yellow or metallic blue

Sold a bunch of basses a while back to fund... something. Made a trip to Bass Direct and came home with a Dingwall and didn't really get on with it - pickup position was what did me in, fanned frets was easy... but the pickups got in the way for me (heresy, I know). Mark very kindly took it back and traded for a very nice EBMM Sterling that is gorgeous. The SR1400 was part of the original sale for the Dingwall (forgot to say that bit...)

Had an SR1400 for while, also with the Nord big singles - awesome tone, lightweight, slim neck and everything but in the end the reason I moved it on (apart from to get my hands on an EBMM Sterling) was that I just wasn't that keen on the look. Gold hardware and lots of wood... prefer solid colours - so an SR1400 in SR300 colours would be awesome for me  

Succumbed to GAS, not once but twice in quick succession...

First up - Washburn Status S1000 secondhand from Rich Tone Music. 9.5/10 condition for a 30(?) year old bass - couple of dings on the body and that's about it. Washburn wood and real Status hardware.
Phenolic fingerboard and overall sounds really good. Electronics are slightly weird. Neck pot is balance, middle pot is (notched) volume and bridge pot is active tone that appears to affect bass and treble (not spent much time looking up the details, but like what it does) Not the lightest - weighs in at 4.25kg (more than my EBMM Sterling which is only 4kg).

Second, brand new Steinberger Spirit XT-2 in Hot Rod Yellow. Anyone who has seen certain other of my questions knows I like yellow basses - add that to my love of cricket bat basses and this was a no-brainer. Been through a few Hohner B2A, B2s and the like as well as a couple of 2015/16 (I think) Spirit XTs. The Hohners are always good, but the last XT-2 I bought was a complete dog that went back to the shop the same day - bad frets, poorly shaped body with with very square shoulders and bad radiusing of the edges, bad finish and... yeah, was really disappointed. This one is a 2018 re-release from Gibson and it's actually pretty good. Shape is correct, edges are nicely radiused and fit and finish is way beyond the last one. Only minus is a dodgy bit of finish on the heel, but nothing to cry about. Setup though... needs some work - action is very high, fingerboard is also very dry and could use some lemon oil. Pups are a bit weak but that could be somewhat down to the action. My intention is drop an EMG 2-band EQ into it at some point (and probably also replace the pups with real EMGs), but overall, very happy.

(And edit to add in the Sterling which is relatively new to me and makes me happy as a clam... born 20th September 2013 (according to EBMM) - Pacific Blue Burst with the Maple neck.)

A search on "Fake Kubicki" rather than "Kubicki copy" turns up a bunch more stuff... still kinda want it

@AndyTravis yeah, kinda want it too, but just bought a Steinberger Spirit, literally today... hot rod yellow XT2 incoming tomorrow...

Just found this on a... ummm... differetn bass forum:

"According to pickups (K&M), stringholders, bridge and knobs in my opinion this is a Fixer without logo (the other logo that also appeared on these models was "Bass Collection"). It is a cheaper copy of the ExFactor made in Japan in the last 80's probably by Headway/Deviser, the same Factory that made Riverhead basses in the same years."

Just popped up on eBay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/bass-guitar/113318860989?hash=item1a625498bd:g:yPoAAOSwcWJbyYol

Apparently a Bass Collection... certainly not a real Kubicki Factor... but what the heck is it?

It's not a Kubicki Blaster (somewhat legally dubious Far Eastern sort-of licensed copy), and is more Steinberger than Kubicki in terms of tuning...

Any ideas?

Currently at £80... no doubt will climb higher. 

Current thinking having been through rather too many basses in the last five years (which perhaps coincides with finding Basschat... hmmm) is that my recently acquired EBMM Sterling in pacific burst with maple neck/fretboard is "the one". It just feels right - the neck is slimmer than a Stingray which I find more comfortable and the raw wood (or the seeming lack of any coating...) is magic. This particular one is relatively lightweight - a hair under 4kg, but the balance on the strap makes it feel like nothing at all. And it looks so good. Sounds alright as well  Plenty of growl and the three-way switch gives a bit of variety (not much, but a bit). At the moment I can't imagine moving it on... but have to admit I've said that before... 

I was a bit interested until I read "...the main thing to note on this bass is that the headstock has twisted slightly, see image". Yup... no thanks.

Also no particularly good pictures of the defret, though it looks like it wasn't done professionally - but if the price is right, and the twisted headstock isn't a deal killer , at that price a re-fret might be worth it. But then I never quite understand the "Bids + Make an Offer" thing - is the seller expecting offers below the minimum bid price, or higher? Cos in that case you might as well bid and hope you're the only one interested in a 1975 Grabber with a twisted headstock...

11 hours ago, cetera said:

MYOB 😂

 

😆 Fair enough

@cetera Just out of interest - in the condition it was in, how high might you have bid for it? (I'm not the seller or anything!) I find pricing stuff for eBay hard when condition is good (as that looks to be), but not amazing. Feel free to just to tell me to MYOB

I bid on this the second time it came round, but didn't go up to the reserve price (didn't think it was worth more than the sum of its parts...)... and then it came round again, also with a reserve (I think) so this may be the fourth time round - and he got less (though not much...) than I would have paid. 

I also didn't push up my bid because I did some reading up on installing Status necks and there are (apparently) risks of splitting the carbon fibre if you don't do it properly, and there weren't enough photos to verify that as far I was concerned - I could have asked I suppose, but I lost interest with the constant "Reserve not met" messages.

4 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

Not me....I have a few other cravings I need to deal with first.

Someone from here though, or a coincidence that it went today... hmmm... where's the Sherlock Holmes emoji when you need one??

Damn, that's killed the resale value on an amp I was about to sell

@TheGreek - guessing it's heading your way?

From the looks of it the second, lower coil switch has been swapped out for the small pot (hole widened perhaps...) and the other knobs are a bit of a mixture. Initially thought the plastic knobs might be EMG but on looking further... nah, they're not  And the metal ones (as you mentioned) don't look like the ones in your photo either... shame, could have been a nice bass for someone, but I guess at least half the appeal of a vintage Aria is that it's correct!! I suppose if you were happy with the mods, got a better price to reflect those mods... might be worth it.

Really interesting - I wondered about the model name when I googled it and Google asked "Do you mean SB-900". So it looks as though the seller doesn't really quite know what he's got...

I once managed to find and buy a strap hook as used on the Steinberger Synapse basses. Fitted it to a Spirit 4 (or 5) string that I subsequently sold. Was very effective, Wish I'd kept at least the hook

@MPU - these look pretty sweet. Can you mount it using the rear strap button hole or does it mean drilling new holes? Also, does it swivel like the originals - i.e. are there other parts required to make the hole thing pivot?

Not my cup of tea but I know there's some love for these around these parts. Is the price reasonable at £525... no idea myself

http://xelectrical.com/item/Aria-Pro-II-SR-900-10919

And should is be SB-900??

@blablas - did the jack socket that was in the bass work OK with the BTC system, or did you have to buy a new one? So, is it TRS or just TS for the jack? (And final question...) did you swap out the pups or leave in the Steinberger ones?

@MPU - interesting gadget - do you have more photos?

You guys are amazing!!! Thank you @Planemo and @blablas

16 hours ago, FinnDave said:

That one sold today. I know this for a fact as I was the buyer, and the bass is just a few feet away from me in my house as I type!

That one went quick!! When I looked it still had the price rather than the usual "SOLD" they stick up when something is... um... sold

Four strings is my absolute limit these days, but that was a sweet looking bass, and the John East preamp did seem like an interesting addition over the usual Ibanez preamps which, from my experience, can be a bit "meh" at times.

This has recently popped up at Bass Direct: http://bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Ibanez_SR1006_EFM.html at just under £600

This place is amazing - bass and plumbing advice in the same thread

We did try some Mr Muscle but without a lot of success  It just sat in the trap and came back up through the plughole. Weird thing was even before doing that the trap was clean and I had drained the pipe out and tried to snake it...
There's a plumber working at my parents-in-law's place today just down the road and he's hopefully going to come and have a look. I've written a list of all the things that I've tried to do, so hopefully he'll have an idea.

And on to basses... not seen that eBay thing before - for that money could be worth trying one of those bodies because if I mess it up totally then that's not too much money down the drain (pun mostly intended...)

I may well be asking a lot of questions... anyone know anything about plumbing (just as an aside...)?

Spent some time (between bursts of DIY) costing out my proposed bass... probably should have done that first  
Wondering whether the best thing might be to get hold of an already mostly functional jazz bass and mod the heck out of it. I could get 90% of the way to what I'm looking for based on a stock Fender MIM Jazz - and the last step could be sanding down the body and doing my own paint job. Or does that sound dumb?