Hellzero

Put some cotton gloves on.

I started my first course yesterday evening, the only one about fretless, and went to the third of it. Being a fretless bass player for over 30 years and devoted to 6 strings basses, I knew everything Steve LAWSON was talking about, but merely put it into practice. Then after that I started to use what I've seen with my bass and ended up playing around an hour or more (after having closed my practice log) using all my right hand fingers, which I never did before and it became clear and easy to me. Funny, no ? That said, being hyper structured, I hated the old web site which was a total mess. The new one is way much... structured. And being a self taught player myself, what I like is the fact that I can learn my way, so attending an entire course step-by-step and repeating the hard places by simply pressing pause, go back to the difficult point, and start over and over if necessary and still having the same quality level of teaching because it's recorded. Try this with a teacher, he'll certainly loose patience and will not have the same approach when starting back where you stopped, if he even remembers what you were doing... So I like it and the next step will be learning back some theory, which I certainly already know, but as I said in my SBL introduction, I need to sum up all my knowledge. And it seems to work.

I've just subscribed, even if I went into the 14 days trial last year and stopped after a few days because of the mess on the web site. Looks way far better now. Anyway, I have 30 days to decide...

Indeed, tiny but powerful and impressive with the battery pack. I think I'll buy the complement speaker for portability and power...

If you want, I can translate in French anything you want to write to the seller. if this helps, don't hesitate.

Here are some pictures with my Leduc MP 628 SF, which has a "normal" body size : Funny yellowish light we have over here.

PayPal will never refund a Friends and Family transaction. Period. It's up to the seller to do it. Period. Sorry to be harsh, but the thread is derailing, again.

Sorry, but it's paranoia if you are thinking of fake ID and all the fakes possible. I've said what I had, so have nothing to add based on common sense. I hate cash transactions even if I own that money checker detector pen.

Got the battery pack yesterday and, as I thought (because of the instant access to electric power), the sound is really better with faster transients, faster attack and longer decay, way far better low end and absolutely no mains noise. This battery pack is a big investment money wise as it's more than half the price of the combo, but it's really worth it. I'm totally delighted by this pocket combo and can't wait for a real live test.

Ok, guys, so a legal invoice signed by both parts with correct addresses (verified via ID cards), dates and description with serial number is no more a real proof. Come on, we are in Europe not in the USA and the eBay/PayPal policy may be written, but is not legal over here. That's the problem with policies : they must be legal. Ask a lawyer, and he will be delighted to explain you how to easily win a trial. That said, cash on collection is dangerous too, never heard of false money, money laundering or much more simpler basic scam : the buyer goes afterwards to the police and claims that you took his money without giving him what he paid for : how will you manage that ? And this can happen with "normal" payments and shippings fully insured and trackable. You want an answer : stop being paranoid, these problems show on only once in a while. I've done at least 2000 (yes two thousands transactions) and only had one real problem for a stupidly low priced item sold through eBay and paid through PayPal : the guy pretended he never got it and I made the mistake to ship it without tracking number and even if his feedback was full of negative comments for the same reason, I had to refund him. That was the price to pay, since then I learnt the lesson and he has been banned.

And in the case of the OP, PayPal F&F is absolutely not the problem. The problem is the lack of insurance by the seller, who must refund you as the contract (buying anything is a contract even if it is not signed, according to the law) as not been fulfilled. I always include insurance in what I'm selling except if the buyer accepts to take the risk. And even though, I prefer to loose a bit of money on a cheap insurance, than all the money of the sale. Think about it.

Easy to prove he collected the goods if you make an invoice with names, addresses, price, date, signature, description and in two exemplars : that's what I always do. So PayPal or cash or Western Union or whatever, it doesn't make a difference, you will be protected.

I had a Shuker 6 strings bass and as I liked to say, it's a typical British design, sober is the word, then play it and you'll understand the craftsmanship behind the instrument : it's close to perfection. Go on, you certainly won't be disappointed.

Where do you live ? How did you pay ? In any case, it's the seller fault not to have fully insured the parcel and you could have lodge a complaint after 30 calendar days.

He is maybe buying his stuff himself as he seems to be a serious lunatic, who knows ?

Same guy again. "He who shall not be named" must have been sniffing too much glue.

There has always been such glue, named fish glue and modern version called aliphatic glue. Those glues transmit the vibration, when classical white carpenter glue or other ones just absorb the vibration, so can't be decently used for instruments.

This Vigier Arpège Delta metal fretless is a terrific instrument too, and very very rare. Ask @ped what he is thinking about these Delta metal basses : https://www.zikinf.com/annonces/dispannonce.php?annonce=1500967

Being a fretless player, I would recommend you to try a Leduc, especially the U-Basse model or a Masterpiece. This one was ordered new by a friend of mine who sold it only because he moved to 6 strings fretless (the actual owner bought it to that very friend) : https://www.zikinf.com/annonces/dispannonce.php?annonce=1562755

Ok, after a few days here are my impressions, tried at home for the moment in a 40 square meters room. Let's start with what it's been designed for in first place, double bass : With my short scale (34" or 1/8) Berne Harpobasse (Savarez Corelli 350 C Medium 1/8 Tungsten) and a Schertler Basik Reso (harp table on this strange instrument) coupled to a Schertler Stat Pre, the sound is powerful (mid volume and flat EQ), very respectful of the way you play and the Schertler system which has a tendency to boom the bass. By adjusting the mix between acoustic and amplified sound, you can counterpart the lack of very low end of this instrument and get a kind of Ron Carter sound. With a very good quality massive woods Chinese 3/4 double bass (D'Addario HH610-3/4M Helicore Bass 3/4) equiped with a David Gage Realist piezo pickup and no preamp, you clearly hear the pickup weakness and its tendency to be harsh, way far better with the Schertler Stat Pre, again with that boominess, so very transparent, and that Ron Carter sound. With my Leduc Contr-U-Basse 6 L-009 (D'Addario NSFW610 Electric Contemporary 6 strings set), beware not to go any higher than mid volume or you'll destroy the PHL Audio 6,5 inches single speaker especially when hitting the low B, and again very transparent and respectful of the EMG magnetic pickups in the end of the fretboard or the RMC piezos in the bridge. Powerfull EUB here, which can sound like a double bass when cutting the mids and lowering the bass a bit. With my Leduc MP 628 SF 6 strings fretless (Fodera nickel strings), I'm in heaven at 3/4th of the volume, which is the maximum, and flat EQ, but I would say that the volume won't be enough for a gig without having a PA. With my fretted basses, again that transparency is there (no slap as I hate this, but tapping is great fun) so I'm very happy. Now this combo has only 100 Watts RMS power and a 6,5 inches speaker, so the laws of physics are applicable. At low to moderate volume, it's really transparent giving you what the instrument you plugged in is really capable of without cheating. If you want more power, just add another speaker to the other channel and you'll get 200 Watts RMS which will be more than enough according to what I've heard so far with half the power and speakers. Compared to my AER BassCube v1, it's quite similar sonically, but the 400 Watts RMS of the AER makes the difference in terms of headroom and low B power of my EUB or other basses. The AER is also more versatile especially on the first channel which can accomodate all kinds of signals including low level piezos as there is a dedicated input for that. I've ordered the battery pack for the GSS, so it will be the perfect small amp for practising, rehearsing and small pub gigs. I'll come back later when rehearsed with guitar and vocals and even later after a small pub gig. This is this combo : http://www.guitarsoundsystems.com/gss-06b400-mini-bass-amp-c2x15043753