anzoid

Another thought - if you like the Spector body shape, you could consider a Warwick Streamer... there are certain, shall we say, similarities.

One thing to consider - how thick do you like your necks - the Warwick Corvette 4-string (guessing you're looking at the Rockbass line if the Spector is a Legend) will have a 38mm nut and fairly slim neck. The Legend will be closer to 40mm, maybe more and chunkier. If you buy a secondhand Corvette neck thickness will vary, but should still have the 38mm nut width.

Personally I'm team Warwick, and think even the Rockbasses do a very good job of the Warwick sound - I like MEC pickups. I prefer the active MECs with active circuit (Gold writing on pickup), the passive pickups with active circuit are good too, but less so. And I've never really liked the all passive Corvettes that I've tried, a bit lifeless in my experience.

If you're buying new, Gear4Music has a sale on Warwicks at the moment.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Custom-bass-guitar/124303322143

Um, well, yes...

Jazz bass with a bad back

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-1980-IBANEZ-Roadster-4-4-Size-4-String-Fretless-Bass-Guitar-SPARES-T22/392910788912

Maybe of interest to those looking for a project starting from what looks like a fairly decent starting point. Low starting price too...

Squier are due to release a graffiti yellow version of the Affinity Jazz sometime in August. It's a colour I love, slightly less interested in the "Affinity" part as they're the bottom of the Squier budget line.

Anyone got any thougts on the modding potential in terms of buying parts - i.e. can I drop in a standard Jazz size scratchplate, and pickups, replace the bridge with an off-the-shelf bridge, or even replace the neck with any old Fender fit neck etc. or are Affinity basses... different?

In terms of expected quality of the body and neck (so, just the wooden bits) are these even worth bothering with? I realise that modding a cheapy bass can be a waste of time, but if the basic body/neck are generally decent I'm not too worried - but if the body is rubbish wood, poorly finished, or the neck is untameable with lousy frets... then maybe not.

I'm not worried about cost, recouping my expenses or whether it's a sound economic idea (I know it's not ). This would be purely for pratting around with and having a bit of fun with a yellow bass...

Saw this in the other thread about Warwicks (and Mayones??) and thought - I wonder if he'll ever sell the Corvette on the right, pretty much my dream Warwick... and here we are and me with no money at the moment... such is life. GLWTS but I hope it doesn't sell till I've saved up... can you wait a year or two?!?

At the end of the day, PayPal only has to abide by their terms and conditions - all of the ideas for photos, receipts and signing are nicely thought through and would give a certain sense of piece of mind - but mean nothing to a faceless corporate entity that really doesn't give a monkeys about you. They just point at the T&Cs and say "sorry, you're out of luck". This is what you agree to when you're a seller using PayPal:

"For tangible items, post the item to the shipping address on the “Transaction Details” page. If the item is delivered in person or if the payment recipient posts the item to a different address (for example, if the buyer asks that you send to another address on the basis that it is a “work address” or a “gift” address) then you will not be eligible for re-imbursement under the terms of the programme." (https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/ua/seller-protection)

That's it - don't abide by that and you get nothing... And there's more detail there about what constitutes Proof of Postage, Proof of Delivery, etc.

From the body side of the nut, to the neck side of the pickup is 658mm. From the end of the neck to the neck side of the pickup is 100mm and the pickup is 50mm wide.

Happy to do any other measurements that would be of use

3 hours ago, BassApprentice said:

Could @anzoid or @scrumpymike please measure the pickup location?

Planning a BroncoRay build and need to know if this is a viable idea 😉

From which end? End of neck to top (neck side) of pickup, plus size of pick-up, or distance from nut?? Or something else. Sorry to be so dumb...

Without being able to see the serial number, and what the neck pocket looks like, I'm not prepared to make a bid on this one.

I went short-scale because of a damaged shoulder that just ain't going to get better. It has, basically, meant I can keep on playing. If I had a choice... I would play long-scale basses simply because there's way more choice (and I'd be able to play Warwick Thumb...), but I'm very happy with the short-scales I do have. 6'0", long arms, big hands and don't feel particularly cramped.

2 hours ago, barrycreed said:

Wonder how it would sound with flatwounds? Something you've tried by any chance?

Any love for the Epi rumblekat or Gretsch Junior Jet II ?

Afraid not tried it with rounds, but can imagine it would sound nice - tempting.

I've tried a Gretsch Junior Jet II in a local shop - it was before I'd got my Cort and wasn't ready to drop over £300 on a short-scale, but it is on my GAS list. From what I remember of it... feels slightly longer than typical shortscale (like the Chowny) because of the body and lack of top horn. Quality controls, and a good sound (2 pup version), bridge was a bit basic, prefer chunky... Neck was good though, not too thin, but not "baseball bat".

I guess I'd say, if you want to dip a toe in short-scale waters - try out a Cort Action Jr because for the money they're nicely put together basses, got good upgrade potential and are a fine example of the breed.

12 hours ago, ClassicVibes said:

How much easier to play are 30" scale basses compared to 34" scale? Is the neck and body smaller? Are they more lightweight?

My short scale experience is very limited. 

Good question, but from my experience answer is... it depends. I currently have five short-scales - so a comment on each:

Cort Action Jr - very light (basswood I think), smaller body than the regular Action series basses. Thin neck and overall the bass feels quite small both sitting down and on a strap. Quality is very good though I did upgrade tuners and bridge just because I could. Hipshot Kickass bridge and ultralite tuners were drop in replacements. Good sound too from the single humbucker.

Chowny SWB-1 Standard - body is wide but the short horns means it's pretty compact. Horns also mean on a strap ot sits more like a regular long-scale, but sitting down everything feels, well, shortscale. Slightly chunkier neck but 38mm nut. Strings are a bit close to the edge of the fingerboard, I presume because of the spacing at the bridge. It's pretty heavy - 9lbs or so. Tone is more agressive than the Cort, similar to a Warwick Thumb in some ways.

Chowny SWB-1 Pro Fretless - slightly weird one as it's a Pro body (and guts) with a Standard neck. Fretless neck is gorgeous, rest of it is Chowny's usual high standards, but we've not got on so well - don't really know why, maybe I'm just crap at fretless and had two many years fretless long-scale to switch. (Muscle memory has not been a problem on the fretted basses though...)

Warwick Corvette Short-scale - regular size Corvette body, stumpy neck. Looks slightly off somehow if you're used to the original But very nice bass, slim neck, 38mm nut. Active pickups and pretty much has the Warwick sound. Lighter than the Chownys at around 8lbs. On a strap sits slightly further out than I waas expecting, mainly because the top horn is quite far from the centre line compared to the others.

SBMM Stingray Short-scale - has *that* sound, about same weight as the Warwick and the shortest reach of all five on a strap and sitting down. And the sound... did I mention it sounds awesome? Detuned to D it growls. Of the five it feels the most compact overall.

The Chowny Standard tends to be the one I grab when I just want to play something, I love the neck on it (despite the tendancy of the top string to slip off the edge...). It just has the sound for a bass that I've had in my head for the last 30 years. The SBMM is great for recording, just can't get a bad sound out of it. And the Warwick... I just love Warwicks... being the newest acquisition it's not really found it's place yet.

I guess they'll survive if we all buy more basses. #whatyagonnado?

For £70 it's hard to go wrong - even if you use it to practice modding on you can't really go too far wrong. Look forward to the NBD thread and your impressions once it arrives!

And just found this post from 2018:

Just after reading your post, was looking on Amazon and a 4-string Quincy bass showed up... ash body apparently. They're distributors of copy guitars who seem to only sell through Amazon and eBay, and this looks like a poor imitation of a Warwick Corvette (that top horn is really bad...). The 4-string on Amazon is £200 - and that's pretty over-priced...

From your photos, if it's a one piece ash body it might be quite nice. Doubt the pickups and controls will be more than functional. Chromed parts looks to be cheap generic stuff. It's not going to be high quality, but for £70 might be playable, doubt it'll sound particularly Warwick like.

Their domain http://quincymusic.co.uk is still registered but nothing on the site, only anything at https://quincymusic.wordpress.com/ but that hasn't seen any activity since 2016... Most stuff about them I kind find seems to be "Anyone know who these guys are??"

8 hours ago, scrumpymike said:

Thanks for confirming you're still on the OE strings.  Re Bantam, it's an exceptionally nice bass but the neck and fretboard were a bit too wide and flat for me.  Also worth mentioning that the EMGs won't suit everybody although I know some players love them.

I generally like EMGs, but flat and wide doesn't really work for me Went hunting last night and the width at the nut appears to 1.65" (42mm??) which is beyond my confort zone...

7 hours ago, TheMaartian said:

I currently have 34" (Fender Jazz), 32" (Ibanez Mezzo) and 30" (Gibson SG) basses. It's OK to call me confused. 😉

I'm seriously thinking of picking up a Supro Huntington shortie with my "it ain't stimulatin' me" check. Decided to check this thread out and was surprised not to see the Huntington included. Would love your thoughts!

https://suprousa.com/guitars/huntington-bass/

I have to admit those have rather passed under my radar When I did the first verison of the picture it was really only of the basses I was interested in trying/buying... and then I added more. When I get time over the weekend I'll add in a Supro - looks rather nice.

On 12/05/2020 at 08:18, Bafflegab said:

Oh man that just makes the GAS worse haha

You know you want one...

On 12/05/2020 at 14:25, scrumpymike said:

What strings are you using?

Just the stock ones that came with it - I think they're EB Slinkies though not 100% sure. They're what I tended to use on my longscale basses way back when and work nicely on the shortscale. Can't remember what's on the other ones...

Intrigued as to your thoughts on the Spector Bantam you moved on Mike. I've never owned a Spector though have played someone else's 5-string Legend type thing. I love the looks of the Bantam, but overall have never been drawn to the longscale 4-string Spectors because of the (for me) wide necks.

14 minutes ago, CamdenRob said:

It’s impressive in a solo context but if your doing all that in a band then the actual function of a bass instrument (bottom end - tying everything together) isn’t there, so either another instrument has to do it (in which case I’d rather be playing that instrument), or its missing and the music sounds like your listening to it on a phone speaker...

Wasn't that Level 42's dirty little secret - Mark King's slap basslines often had to be doubled up using a synth or suchlike in order to bring back the missing bottom end?

Personally, quite like slap in the right place, but can't play slap to save my life - slow synapses or something. And get fed up with it being over-used in every single bass demo video ever...

Oh, and the Stingray tuned down to D on the E string is absolutely killer

12 hours ago, Bafflegab said:

I’m liking that the Warwick SS and the SS Stingray line up almost exactly the same in each pic.  I have the wick, and was thinking about adding the ray... 

I'm in the very fortunate position of having both the Warwick (in natural) and the Stingray (in daphne blue). Sitting down they line up pretty well, the nut of the Warwick sits about half an inch further to the left than the Stingray. On a strap it feels further but still close - could be down to the fact that on the Warwick the distance from the top horn strap button to the centre of the neck is about 14.5cm and on the Stingray only just over 9cm. I'm not big on geometry, but I guess that makes a slight difference, and isn't something I included on the original images.