HeadlessBassist

I recently bought a TC Electronic Plethora pedal, which covers me for everything I need. I just download the Tone Print of the pedal/effect I want, and have six presets available. It was only £150 as well.

I've been using Gumtree for years now. Agreed, it used to be full of scammers, but these days it's very quiet, as if they made a real effort to get rid of them. As a result, I've sold many instruments on Gumtree and have always been happy with the results.

Yes, I'm afraid that level of finishing looks like the day before plant shutdown at Corona, but worse. I would definitely not accept that level of damage or sloppy workmanship for that kind of money. Get it sent back and rectified. As others have said, it's the luthier's name and reputation at stake here.

Nah, you only knock that end bit on mic stands and walls. Better without it! 🤣

I was idly perusing the Gear pages of 'No Treble' yesterday morning and stumbled on this very different creation by Chris Seldon, a Toronto-based Luthier. What caught my eye was the Scout 434's absolutely mahoosive Gordo Single Coil pickup, which he says produces a either a clean bell-like tone if played subtly, or an 'aggressive grind' when digging in, rather like a Rickenbacker. As for looks, I like instruments that deliberately look a little different, and the seemingly cut-off headstock just says, "we're not Fender, okay?!" to me. I have made contact with Chris to see what one of these would potentially set me back. (Prepared for a large Canadian Dollar number in response...) https://www.chrisseldon.com

Ditto. if it keeps it cheap for the herd, then so be it. Herd. Aurok. See what I did there..?

@Misdee is absolutely correct. It's a late 80's Overwater Artisan, a slightly downsized, single pickup version of the Overwater Original. Here're the specs from a 1987 review... OVERWATER ARTISAN BASS PRICE£599 BODYmahogany NECKmahogany FINGERBOARDrosewood PICKUPone humbucker CONTROLSvolume and tone; coil tap switch COLOURSblack/red/blue/sunburst

Of course, the 2007 onwards graphite neck model Status T-Bass is even nicer There are a couple for sale on eBay at the moment if you have a look - both look to the USA-based, though.

The original T-Basses are still sought after by some. It's one of those cases of if you know, you know. They were built by Status-Graphite and designed by Mark Gooday & Rob Green, so the quality is always bang on, as every bass originally went through the hands of one man. As for some sounding better than others, like all Status basses (and most others), they're sensitive to having clean strings and a good setup. If you find one that seems to be low on output, there's a "trim pot" on the preamp under the rear cover which should be turned to about half way, or just a little higher, but not turned up to the point of distorting the sound. Pickup height should be around 3-4mm at the bridge and 6-7mm at the neck. A very nice T-Bass 5-string I checked out earlier this year for an Irish BC Member fetched well over £1500. Relative scarcity keeps values pretty high.

That looks fantastic, Delbert - I'm quite looking forward to my build coming together with silky999's hand carved from one piece of Walnut body and one of Kiwi's first run of graphite Jazz necks.

I've never seen the attraction, personally. Played a couple and wasn't particularly impressed. And now at £8k? Nah. The rich collectors are welcome to them.

Meta Guitars' Pragma Bass - lovely build materials and no doubt excellent quality, but a €5000 starting price and is anyone else reminded of a contemporary executioner's Axe..? It's lightweight too, at 6.6lbs.

Glad you got it sorted in the end, Rob. Typically, I sold my last Cort Space 4 to a pupil and now have another Space 5. Hope you're enjoying the EHB!

I'll second that, Lozz.

I'm a late-comer to the GB family, but had a long term loan of one of the early Goodfellow Standards back in the early 90's while my Status neck was being repaired. Acquired this early model 1988 Spitfire a couple of weeks ago in a trade at Bass Bros. I think I got the better end of the deal. The tonal punch is anvil-like and it's such a lovely thing to play and hear. Definitely my kind of bass.

I regularly use bank transfers on here, but I often travel the country and deliver basses, or at least meet half way. I only accept payment when the purchaser is happy with the goods. I never post instruments, because that's where I've been bitten in the past, where one instrument was damaged beyond repair by UPS. It's nice meeting new people and putting faces to names, too.

My third foray into the Cort Space Bass world was guaranteed to happen. These compact basses punch well above their diminutive weight and I never sold one because I didn't like it - more because pupils always seem to want to buy them from me! So to get this nearly new model for a bargain price was too good to turn down. Back to the 5-string this time, I've added my usual Elixir 40-125 set and it plays really slickly. Perfect for teaching duties, or as that spare bass that you keep in the car boot, it can always hold it's own with it's clean, hifi sound. What's not to like..?

Congrats Pow - I remember talking to you in the status updates a few days ago re this bass. It really is lovely. Hope you're settling in well with it. You mentioned one thing that really is important when getting a new instrument. Always swap it to your usual favourite strings asap, as that always gives you a proper impression of how it plays and sounds. As I told you, I've been hanging my nose over Rickenbackers for a while now...

I usually go in with a passive Jazz and something active, usually either my Jazz Elite or a Status. It really depends on who is engineering. Some want to bury the bass in the mix, and others want it prominent, equal with the other instruments. I always ask the producer & artist(s) what kind of sound they're aiming for beforehand and I've never been asked to 'bring a Precision'. I've often found that the best way forwards is to keep your playing relatively on-point and simple, and to add tasteful fills at key points. But saying that, some producers don't even want any fills - just the bare baseline. It really depends on the tastes of who you're working for at the time.

I tend to be pretty pragmatic when it comes to instruments. I try [really, I do] to only keep basses that are earning their keep and actually earn me money. I currently have nine, which seems to be the level I always return to these days. I have the Jazzes for anything vintage, like the live tribute shows, and all of my active basses for the more technical trio stuff and duo work. Any sessions I do these days have several bassy options, depending on what kind of sound the folks want. I like to think I have most bases [basses!] covered.

They're looking great, Kiwi. It's hard to tell whether or not it's the camera artifacting and making certain areas up, but are the graphite weaves all even to the naked eye? For a prototype batch, they seem to have all come out pretty well. I'll have to send you some more money soon!

I see what you're saying here, and yes, in some ways you're absolutely right. A lot of the premium 'Super Fenders' by the likes of Sadowsky and Mike Lull, and even the German and newer Polish contenders can seem a little sterile for their comparatively huge price tags. Most don't even sound like a good example of a Fender. The answer continues to be, if you want a really good Fender sound, go out and play Fenders until you find a good one. I've only played one Sadowsky I ever loved the sound of, and that was a Japanese 2 band Will Lee Signature. The rest sound bland and sterile to my ears. I tend to like the Mike Lull instruments better, but they still don't have 'that' Fender sound. For me, Bernie Goodfellow got it absolutely right with the Spitfire. It has the Jazz ergonomics and playability, but plays and sounds like a totally different kind of bass, much more premium and hand crafted and it doesn't try to sound like a Fender. It's truly a bass from the top tier of makers that can out punch a Stingray with it's metallic anvil-like attack, and has a sweet tone to boot. I've been sorry to hear what's happened with G&L, but at the end of the day, they seemed to stop innovating in terms of the bass range some years ago. They certainly have their fans and I know @Mike Brooks really likes his newly acquired American L2000 CLF. Maybe they will re-emerge as a Fender sub-brand (particularly the excellent value Tribute models)?