Rikki_Sixx

Has anyone managed to grab anything other than the 5-string fan-fret as deco lately? Every few days I see a bunch of stuff come up, but by the time I click through to the product it's out of stock! People must have cottoned on to how good these are - or someone is buying them all up to eBay.

That's a lovely bit of timber, so sans-pickguard definitely seems the way to go. That grain needs to be seen! Looks like it would be lovely in that black finish you posted a picture of.

It's a bit different to OP's example, but I was once selling a guitar for £100. A friend was interested, so I sold it to him at "mate's rates" of about £75.

Days later, he'd sold it on for £100. He'd never had any intention of learning to play, just fancied himself a David Dickenson type. I did feel a bit offended at that one...

Hi Mark, and welcome! I'm not sure about books but there are some great online resources, particularly on YouTube, for getting started. Scotts Bass Lessons has tons of free content to get you started, and there are plenty of other similarly popular channels.

I wanted to buy my first bike since I was a kid recently and someone told me that if I bought the first cheap bike I spotted on Gumtree that I'd give up within a week. I'd say the same can apply to any instrument - you can still get great instruments on a budget but often the marketplace is flooded with crappy Argos kit. The Peavey could be good, or check out Squier and Yamaha gear. If you can, buy used; this site has a great section for that and everyone I've dealt with has been amazing!

Good luck, let us know what you get with plenty of pictures!
Rik

Love the look of these G4M tweed cases. Do you know if a 4 string Jazz would fit comfortably in this? I've had issues with a few hard cases!

I'm in Yorkshire too so I'd be keen to hear if you find anywhere selling suitable timber!

These guys sell reject / b-stock bodies for pretty good prices on eBay, could be worth a look: http://m.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?sid=boobooguitarsuk

Bought a Gotoh bridge from Alain a few weeks ago, was an absolute gent throughout. Helpful, friendly and sent the bridge really quickly and well packaged. Top notch!

That's stunning, I'll be round in 10 minutes for a go!

I think I might have seen a few in-progress shots of this, but the finished article is lovely. Those Aguilar 70's Jazz pickups sound amazing too.

I can't ever argue with a maple board, especially with that gorgeous vintage tint on your new Strat! She's a beaut, love the colour

How was it resolved? Did you manage to get a direct replacement? I've been following the thread but didn't see an answer, sorry if I missed it!

[quote name='Bassman Rich' timestamp='1489139000' post='3254613']He has repaired many of mine and my friends guitars over the years, and is a lovely guy (as his his wife, who kept us all very well fed during my course too)
[/quote]

He really is a nice guy! A friend got in touch with him about buying some fret-wire and Martin invited us over. Invited us in, offered us a cuppa, refused to take any money for what was a fair sized roll of fret-wire and gave us advice on how to use it. I tried to go to him for a set-up but think he was stacked out with other (probably better paying) stuff!

Edit: By the way that bass is stunning, it must be ace to see that and know you made it! Congrats!

I love their videos, both guitar and bass focused, but I wish they'd do more bass stuff in their 'Sound Like..." series. The only time I've seen bass considered (and I haven't watched them all) was during the "Sound like Green Day..." video, and it just appeared in the room with them for a 30 second demo. No looking at options on the shop floor or talking about effects like they do with the rest of the gear. I always comment asking for more bass content in that series as it's the only way it'll happen.

They have a great set of faces in their video content, really engaging and great players. Is Nathan from a well known band? He looks familiar.

I should really buy from them as I love their content and the prices seem reasonable, but when it comes to a big purchase I'd rather buy in person and Andertons is way far away!

I've never really done a proper set-up on any of my basses (in fact years ago before I understood what I was doing I managed to introduce fret-buzz on every string), but my action is probably about 4mm around the 12th fret. I'm swapping my new bridge in this week and hoping to get that action way down to make things a little easier on myself! Good to hear what everyone else has theirs set to.

That sounds amazing Norris, I wish that was closer to me! I did a similar course last year on woodworking / furniture building, still a bargain at £100-ish for a 12 week term of 3 hour sessions. I'd love to do more, but sadly the company running the workshop went under. The course at Rawlins College sounds brilliant!

There's a guy called Martin Dixon in Otley near Leeds who does things like this (or used to, I'm not sure). I've read about folks going to stay with him for a week and building a guitar/bass together, very hands-on. I don't think he has a website, but he's a lovely bloke and the stuff he produces is fantastic.

Someone from this very parish has done similar and posted some contact details, worth a read if you're interested! [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/206258-build-a-bass/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/206258-build-a-bass/[/url]

Like a few others in this thread I've never really been sold on most kind of 'burst finishes, but that's absolutely stunning!

I'm taking my bass in for a set-up this week and as I was packing everything up I noticed some of my hardware (which I think is chrome - the main culprit is a Gotoh 201 bridge) has little green spots on. Would this be some sort of oxidisation? What's the best way to remove this without causing any damage?

Without pictures, we have to assume this is a "fake news"!

[quote name='Naetharu' timestamp='1488284706' post='3247491']
Finally, I would say that when it comes to scales, starting with the major is the right way to go. Basically all scales are just modifications of the major scale. However, I would advise that you think about it in terms of intervals rather than fret-board patterns. This was a tip Mark gave me when I was just starting out and it opened up the fret board for me over night. It'll also pay massive dividends when you come to thinking about different keys, scales and chord tones.
[/quote]
[quote name='Naetharu' timestamp='1488286897' post='3247519']
[...] by intervals I mean the pitch-differences between notes of the scale. So for the major scale, it goes tone, tone, semi-tone, tone, tone, tone, semi-tone. No matter where you start, if you play notes up in that order you'll produce a major scale. Later on you'll start looking at minor scales and modes, which really are just the same pattern, but starting from a different place. Try playing the major scale in all the different ways you can all the way up and down the strings. All one one string, two notes on each, etc. That will serve you a lot better than learning a 'scale position'.
[/quote]

I'm so glad I spotted this. I've been wanting to learn scales etc. but I struggle with knowing where to begin sometimes. A lot of usually helpful YouTube channels seem to have 'beginner' scales videos that are still throwing technical terms around. This kind of thought process would really open things up!

[quote name='owen' timestamp='1488120286' post='3245991']
Twin strap buttons on the bottom. Some day all basses will be like this (apart from offset ones, obvioulsy).
[/quote]
First time I've ever seen twin strap buttons. Is that to prevent forward "lean"? (can't think of a better word for it!)

Do most people just give it a wipe (ooh err)? I used to spray on the stuff my mum used to dust the TV but a guitarist friend bollocked me for that! 😆

When I was in college most players I knew were playing entry level Squiers which were as wonky and cheap-feeling as any Argos special. I came to associate the brand with cheapness for the next few years.

When I was looking for new gear two years ago I spent ages reading up on what I could get in my budget and trying things in person. Being from Yorkshire, I research any purchase over £10 for months before committing to buying, and everything kept bringing me back to Squier - particularly the Vintage Modified range. I was blown away; great equipment, well built with good materials at affordable prices. Nothing I found in my budget came close to the Squier VM Jazz 77 that I finally took home. So far I haven't had to modify anything or even give it a thorough set-up. It came ready to go, with a neck better than anything I ever thought I'd play.

If the CV P you tried felt as good as you say, give it a go! The only thing I regret are not buying my Squier sooner. You could easily sell it for a good price if you come to regret it in 6 months, but I'd put money on you wanting to keep it!

Oh man, I'm gutted for you. Glad that you're able to get a full refund though.

I know what you mean about not having that "spark" with the guitar though; it may be just an instrument but often you can tell right away if you'll get on with something. Luckily I've never bought a guitar/bass where I felt like that, but I've played ones in shops that I just could see myself buying for no tangible reason, even if it was perfectly playable!

Got your eye on something else or will you be sticking with your Les Paul's? Epiphone LPs are the absolute business!

[quote name='ricksterphil' timestamp='1487336572' post='3239085']
Just bought one.....couldn't help it
[/quote]

I bought one too! Had a few emails back & forth with Spamp Man himself and he ran a few tests for me. I have to admit I didn't understand the results, but so far I love it!

Around the lower notes on the E string I think it hits a bit of a limit but otherwise it's brilliant. Great for practising in the spare room without waking the neighbours! Sounds great clean and the fuzz is fantastic. I'll put together something more in depth when I've used it a bit more.

Edit: Found the Smokey Amp I mentioned in my original post too, so my mate at work put that through it's paces for a bit as well.

Thanks for posting this Anzoid - and to everyone else for the advice - as I've been thinking about this myself for when I eventually upgrade my bridge! I convinced myself it's a massive undertaking and my bass will be only good for firewood if I don't shim it right, so I'm glad I spotted this thread!