lemmywinks

If it has an E or W then it's most likely WMI who made superb budget instruments, either way if you like it and it's £250 then grab it.

You'll be able to tell where it came from be the serial number, a lot of Deans were made in the Unsung factory so it may start with US. In general for Korean basses an S denotes Samick, C would mean Cort, I or IS would be Saein (Shine) etc. Unsung made a lot of decent guitars, did quite a lot of Epiphones IIRC.

All these should have been recalled IMO, they cost far too much money to be looking like a ratty old rehearsal room cab after a short while. Some of them were an absolute state.

If you are happy without it then leave it bypassed, the Uni Pre is pretty transparent (think there's a jumper on the board which can change it to a pre shape so check this first) so it should be a very similar sound without cutting/boosting. With it engaged you can just do all your EQing on the bass itself which is my preference, the Uni Pre does have extra internal jog wheels so you can set the individual pickup gains, upper and lower bass frequencies and how high the treble frequency goes. Basically you can boost bass without adding boominess and boost treble without it sounding too thin. Once you have those set it's a very comprehensive preamp and offers some incredible sounds so definitely worth spending some time getting used to it.

https://www.thomann.co.uk/thon_rack_5he_eco_ii_compact.htm https://www.thomann.co.uk/flyht_pro_rack_5u_eco_ii_compact_23.htm If you need the moulded ABS styling then you might be out of luck.

Bargain that, well done!

You can usually pick up a TC BAM200, BQ250 or Warwick Gnome for sub £100 (and those TC heads are currently £120 on sale new) so there's just not much of a reason to spend a comparable amount on what is probably a considerably worse amp.

I use a Fishman Platinum Pro. Has a great DI, excellent one knob compressor, adjustable boost (triggered by footswitch), accurate tuner, mute function (on a footswitch) and a very nice EQ with HPF, plus some other useful features. There's one for sale here: The Platinum Stage is also excellent if you just need the eq, DI and boost features in a tiny package. There's tons of bass preamps available nowadays, not many have all the features I need but the Platinum Pro ticked all the boxes. Eliminated the need for a pedalboard with separate tuner and compression and I just take that one single box to gigs now. Bass Direct also have a used Genzler Magellan in at the moment: https://www.bassdirect.co.uk/product/genzler-magellan-preamp-di-pedal-pre-owned/?gQT=1

£20 here will sort you out: You'll need a headphone splitter (and a stereo to mono 6.35mm-3.5mm adapter if you don't already have one), if you have some sort of headphone amp (the P2 clones off AliExpress are good) then you could probably use the main out to get a seperate mix if you don't want the same levels, again with a few more adapters. In fact you could probably just pan everything over to one side and use a regular mono 6.35mm-3.5mm adapter.

Oh yes, morally wrong on every level.

Even though this is probably a Squier PJ from factory I'd always be wary of a PJ with the bridge cover on, that piece of metal could be hiding some hideous amateur routing.

My first thought was a Squier with a ebanol board Mighty Mite neck! https://www.guitarbitz.com/products/squier-affinity-precision-pj-bass-charcoal-frost-metallic Plastic nut on my Might Mite P neck though, you'd have to check the heel to know for sure.

I'm getting a £20 voucher offer with the YUKFSIGZMWVHZ87M code as well so £395 if anyone else wants to try it.

Right got these delivered today: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007364416737.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008878641286.html Just tested each for 10 minutes or so at a decent volume, both work just fine. You don't need the adapters on the selectable voltage one as the default barrel tip is 5.5mm x 2.1mm so fits the Double Four perfectly, will do some more rigorous testing over the weekend. Next step is waiting for some flat elastic bungee cords with hooks to arrive and getting them shortened at work so I can secure both my power bank and Fishman Platinum Stage to the side and have a completely cable free practice amp! Shame the new versions of these aren't DC powered as they make a super neat portable amp.

I ordered from them on the 6th (evening though) and it was despatched the next day, just been delivered about 1hr ago. So basically 5 working days which isn't too bad.

Also had a fretless (Warmoth Jazz) with Pau Ferro board and neck, great to play and very hard wearing. As a fingerboard wood it's like a halfway house between rosewood and ebony really, definitely didn't find it dry although I think my bass (I got it used) had an oiled finish. As a neck wood it felt nice and smooth, I never needed to adjust it (it did also have carbon rods IIRC) and great to play, again not dry at all. Liked it and would have another, in fact if I was to spec a custom bass I'd probably lean towards it as it was both practical and visually appealing. I wish I hadn't sold the bass tbh!

Bought a PJB Double Four from Ed, super quick delivery and well packaged, excellent amp as well!

Could 3D print a surround for it or something like that. I would be very reluctant to do irreversible work on a bass without knowing the results would be al least satisfactory beforehand. I'd probably put the money towards a fretless Rockbass Star, Skyline HB10 or something like that.

You could try a Lace USAB and blend it externally, can be stuck on with tape so no need to get the router out: https://www.thomann.co.uk/lace_pickups_ultra_slim_bass_pickup_usab.htm

Oh I didn't know that, now is the time to grab one then! Thomann are also knocking these out at £75 (with £10 shipping), not as much of a bargain but they do have the vintage one: https://www.thomann.co.uk/hugheskettner_spirit_of_vintage.htm

The Guykers are fine, just needed some to replace the plastic tat knobs on my Ibanez. RE The Uni Pre - I was looking to buy a new preamp for a bass with 6 existing holes (I have a 4k Uni pre in another bass and like it) but with the active/passive on a switch instead of push/pull. After gigging it a bit I quite like the stock Markbass preamp though so I'm just leaving it as it is at the moment.