Jonesy

It'd be cool if they made a 70s P bass in the Vintera range.

According to internet folk lore the early Korean ones all contained some of Jack's DNA in the paintwork, so were naturally more resonant and sounded a lot better....... I had a Korean one and it was great. Since selling it I've had hankerings for another JC and all of the Chinese ones I've played in shops sound and feel just as good to me. Appreciate that's not an extensive test in laboratory conditions, but I hope it helps 😃 The JC is the top of the line when it comes to Epiphone basses. When they're contracting out the build they're going to set a certain quality level with it, no matter who builds it or where they're situated, so they're going to be fairly evenly matched.

I love this range of MIJ basses, they're among the best I've played - particularly the US versions. The necks, frets and pups are just great! As others have said, the larger tuners point to this being a US model. The other tell tale sign is the bridge - the US versions have spiral saddles like yours whereas the export models have barrels. If those pups are original then they'll be US too and there should be a stamp on the neck/body that confirms this. As well as Fender catalogues, this site is pretty handy.... https://japanfender.wordpress.com/products/about/precision/

Don't know how accurate this is......... https://equipboard.com/pros/georgia-south?gear=effects-pedals

I was looking at them when upgrading the pups in my G&L Tribute J and came to the same conclusion as @Baloney Balderdash after checking out loads of vids on YouTube. By all rights they're a great pickup, but they're not quite as snappy as regular J pups and lean more toward P bass territory to my ears. It's still a pup right up against the bridge, so there'll be some of that J bite there, but not as much as a regular single coil. Personally, I bought a J because I wanted it to sound like a J and have that bite, so I went with another pup. In the end I chose the Fender Pure Vintage 74 set because I thought they were the most middy and aggy sounding. I paired them with a @KiOgon loom that has a tone bypass push/pull and also a series/parallel push/pull. I'd defo recommend one of those, whacking it in series mode gives you a lot more grunt and gets you in the P bass ballpark.

Ah, will have to catch up on their set. Saw them support Skunk Anasie last year and was really impressed! I caught Shame's set earlier and really liked that too. Nice to see a bit of post punk. Has anyone seen The Hives set this year? Can't find it on iPlayer, but it was supposed to be good.

Nice! I had mates go see them in Margate the other day and said the same. Really want to see them in London, but hate the o2, so will see what happens. I love the gear Homme and Van Leeuwen use, most of its pretty cool and obscure looking. Shuman's basses have all sounded great too.

QOTSA on the other stage are worth a watch. They're flinging out great tunes, sound massive and seem to be in great form from all of the live footage I've seen from this tour. Love em!

You have to love the bassdirect website. When you click on one of the images of the Pro Go (or Progo), it takes you to the Andertons website 😂

The thomnan t'bird bag is 127cm, but you'll then likely have a gap where the wings would normally be. I have their fender shaped equivalent and it's served me well for 5+ years. Zips still work, handles aren't frayed and my bass is still in one piece. Having said that, I'd say it was just an ok gig bag and not exactly super padded. Does the job for the price though. https://www.thomann.de/gb/thomann_gigbag1_bass_heavy.htm I'd say the protection racket gear would be better. Our drummer swears by their stuff and he's put it through their paces. From what I've seen it's all good quality and would imagine their gig bags are just as good.

How about a thunderbird gig bag? That'd probably be long enough, just not so sure on the rest of the shape.

If you're looking at the lower end of the market then it's hard to beat Harley Benton in terms of quality and bang for your buck. I've had a 70s jazz bass that was pretty heavy and their 51 Pass that was average. If you had a bit more to spend then this is a lot of bass for the money too..... https://www.andertons.co.uk/brands/gl-guitars/sb-series-basses/g-l-tribute-sb-2-bass-surf-green-maple-fretboard It has the same pickups and bridge as the made in USA version and is essentially an angry precision. If you don't want to use the J pickup then just turn it down. Mine balances perfectly and is fairly light.

That looks great, really pleased for you!! I think the black scratch plate really suits that green better than the tort does on the P5. Maybe it's the rosewood board too.

Andertons online presence is great. Site navigation, range of stock and prices are spot on, their YouTube channel is one of the best of any e-commerce business around imo.

So, it'll be a medium relic P with a J neck - shell pink over white, tort guard, cream pup covers with a 70s overspray headstock. I love the evil dead so I'm thinking of having 'Boom Stick' with a decal of Ash rather than 'Precision Bass'...…. Mark is also installing and relicing a Jag mute for me. Fender make a shell pink case that I really want, but I don't know if A) it's worth it seeing as I generally prefer gig bags and B) it'll just scream 'nick me!' Fingers crossed it'll be with me mid August.

Ta for the info! I got in touch with Mark and he said that all of his necks were glossed, maybe he does something to them afterwards to take some of the sheen off? Anyway, after chatting to him and reading about how highly rated they are in here, I placed an order and should have something to contribute to this thread in the next month or so. The wait is killing me!!!!

Mark is great, all of his lessons are really clear and well put together. I can't help thinking if this sketch whenever I watch one of his vids though 😂 https://youtu.be/bwAioN2mtsA

Some great advice already and there isn't really anything better than going to a shop to try a few to see what you like, especially seeing as your new to it all and still figuring stuff out. As well as the brands already mentioned, I'd suggest looking at the G&L Tribute range. They're cracking basses and most of them have the same bridge and pickups as the full fat made in USA line. The SB2 is their PJ and sounds like a P on steroids, with the J pup adding some extra bite. The L2000 is worth checking out too, it's armed with a pair of mighty humbuckers and all sorts of tone shaping possibilities. It might help if you chuck us a couple of examples of other bassists tone you like, or take a look at what your favourite bassists play if your after their tone.

I played one of their 2nd gen J basses (can't remember which. Sunburst, maple neck with blocks. Maybe a V7?) and was really impressed with it. The neck was very slim front to back and felt great. I'm not usually a fan of active basses, but that preamp was pretty great too. Congrats on your new bass, I'm sure it'll be great. Just hope the wait doesn't kill you, not too long to go now!

Just want to chip in and say I bought a MIJ Hama Okamoto P bass from @fenderfever and the service was great. The bass is probably the one I play most and it I can't fault anything with the transaction, really happy with the whole process and I'd happily buy from there again. I played a few basses when down there and they were all really great, very nicely setup. In fact, I'd say the bass I bought was probably one of the best setup basses I've ever played and a couple of mates who have played it were really impressed with it 👍

I've never had a bass fail on me or broken a string (at a gig or otherwise) and have never seen that happen to anyone else, but if I was getting paid to do a longer set then I'd be a spare just in case. The closest I've ever come to something going wrong was at my last gig. I was playing along and digging in quite hard as usual when all of a sudden I just stopped hearing my bass. I had a couple of seconds of panicking and wondering what was causing the problem then noticed a screw in my bridge pickup had sprung, causing the pickup to make contact with the strings and deadening the notes. Had to play the rest of the song pushing the pickup down with my little finger so the strings could vibrate properly. Luckily I was playing with a metal pick and the tip had been fairly worn in, so I used it as a screwdriver and got the pup back in place.

Just the one, but I mostly play originals to an empty room. If I was getting paid to do a set of covers in a pub or something then I'd take 2 so I have a backup just in case. I saw a Pearl Jam tribute band a couple of years ago and they were great. The bassist must have played at least 5 different basses over the 1hr30m set. Jeff Ament played quite a wide range of basses over the course of their career so far and I really rated the bass player for going the extra mile to get it as spot on as possible. I was probably the only person in the venue who appreciated it though 😃

Andertons have them as arriving on July 4th........I'm looking forward to the NBD posts already 😃