lemmywinks

Got round to doing a bit of work on mine tonight. Shimmed the neck as it had an upward lean from new and fitted a new set of (cheapy) strings as the ones it came with were beginning to sound truly awful. They weren't so bad at first but i couldn't bare it any longer. Had a quick tweak of the intonation and lowered the saddles a touch and it's playing really nice. Getting sick of the white scratchplate (they look awful on pretty much everything i think) so am going to buy some sticky backed plastic to cover it with, black and maybe dark blue. I don't see the point in spending any more tbh and if i can do a neat job it will do. The only other thing i'm gonna do is maybe swap the pickup. I have an EMG select and a no-name jobby lying around so am leaning towards the Select. Never used either before - i got them for 2 projects i still haven't finished as i need good weather and time, not something i got last year when my girlfriend gave birth during summer just after we moved house! Anybody used the EMG Select P pickup before? I'll need to swap the pup cover at least as it'll look horrible in white! Also has anybody else's pup got raised poles? The ones on mine are really high and i wondered if they can be tapped down.

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' post='1134674' date='Feb 20 2011, 07:09 PM']Can we put this thread to sleep? Why are you all bickering, I don't understand.[/quote] Well not really, it's handy to have it open so people can post pics of their modded basses and mention any issues they may have or reccommend which parts work well with the basses. If someone comes on the thread to troll then that's their perogative, but not really what the thread is about.

[quote name='mcnach' post='1134596' date='Feb 20 2011, 06:12 PM']Do it, and I will buy the Overwater for £60, so I can make judgements from first hand experience [/quote] Why bother, just google a picture of one and read an internet thread, that will tell you all you need to know! Actually having experience of something before having an opinion really isn't required. They're sh1t basses mate, i would steer well clear if i were you. I saw a pic of one once and could tell immediately that it wasn't up to the job. There's no way a bass could be playable if it was made to those prices. By "playable" i mean having an action of 3mm or under as it's impossible to play a bass with it any higher unless you're some sort of clueless thicko. Which as you're contemplating buying one of these i can immediately tell you are. Have to cut this post short as i have some new imaginary opinions to think up about some other instruments i have never played and have absolutely no knowledge of. Toodle pip!

[quote name='JTUK' post='1133492' date='Feb 19 2011, 03:43 PM']Yep, just read through the entire thread. I know all I need to know now.[/quote] [b] Without actually ever playing one[/b]

[quote name='JTUK' post='1133434' date='Feb 19 2011, 02:59 PM']Bitter, that I don't have one..?? ok.. I agree that I am lumping them in with a lot of other basses that would just not be worth even looking at either. What makes these so special..the £60:00 price tag..? The pics aren't bad but if I see one on a gig..I promise I will give it a good going over and report back. Very much doubt they'll see the light of day there though. Tell you what, I have a friend who has a car for sale...it has 4 wheels and goes, it is yours for £150..you like a bargain, don't you?[/quote] No, just bitter. Dunno why! It's like the fact that people are enjoying and appreciating a bass that cost them a relatively small amount somehow tears the fabric of the universe or something. Nobody said they were special, a price tag doesn't make something special or particularly good anyway although you seem to think differently. Cost isn't proportionate to quality. What most people are saying is that they are playable, decent, quite well built basses despite their price tag. You are saying that they are nasty and unplayable because of their price tag. [b]You haven't even played one.[/b]

Tbh when these were £120 i didn't give them a second look. When it was brought down to £90 i did the same thing. When they came down to £60 i still held off from buying one, i know i can get a better bass used for the same money. Nobody is saying these are the greatest basses on the planet, or that the vast majority of them are anything close to Cort factory standards. What we are refuting is JTUK's claims that they aren't playable, decent basses. Indeed he thinks that no bass manufactured to a £120 price point can be a worthy bass and that the word "cheap" is always followed by the word "nasty". For somebody to have such a strong opinion of a product despite [b]never actually touching one[/b] (it's in bold again JTUK, you keep missing that point) and despite having pretty much no knowledge of manufacturing economics is the epitome of arrogance. Tbh it gets very annoying very quickly, whilst i think all the bigging up of these basses got way out of hand i also think those who are down on them end up sounding very bitter.

Check this seller out: [url="http://musical-instruments.shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=warwick&_sacat=4713&_ssn=mauery21804&_odkw=&_osacat=4713&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313"]http://musical-instruments.shop.ebay.co.uk...6.c0.m270.l1313[/url] In the USA so you'll have to factor in extra costs but these are the new line of Rockbasses with the 2 piece bridges and look like proper Warwicks. They've even got rid of the cheesy logo too! If the price ends up around £300 you may as well stump up the extra for a used German one though. Thomann were also flogging the last of their old-style Rockbasses for decent prices, most of the right hand models are gone now though. Might be worth checking around to see if somewhere can do you a good deal on their old stock Rockbasses before the new ones arrive. Also worth keeping an eye out for the old Streamer Standard bolt-on, they go for £200+

I don't honestly know where all these negative comments are coming from. I'll repeat again: [b] [size=6]You have never played one![/size][/b]

[quote name='JTUK' post='1133060' date='Feb 19 2011, 08:45 AM']Look, they are cheap and nasty. there is no doubt about it, just as they would be if they charged full price in the Hi St. You can go to any shop that sells this type of budget gear like Encore and the like and find this type of bass. They are terrible basses..and I have seen plenty of them...most music shops would be trying to sell them. I'm sorry if I am telling you this and you don't like it but there is no way they are not cheap and nasty The plating will be poor, the paint poor, the wood poor, etc etc ... if may well be true that these issues apply to basses that cost much much more but it doesn't make any odds. The only way they are not cheap and poor is if your definitions differ widely from mine. but there is widely and widely. They might be worth the money to you and you might enjoy them for whatever reasons and that is fine..but some things cost nothing for a reason. I've seen enough of these things to define them as cheap and nasty, I don't need to view every single one and I'd be quite happy if you'd actually got a decent-ish playable one by a stroke of good fortune but these aren't designed as decent instruments, they are designed to be knocked out and fill a void. We don't need to go around in circles again..some of you are entirely happy with your purchase, that is ok.[/quote] So you still haven't played one then?

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1132892' date='Feb 18 2011, 11:09 PM']Bloody tempted to up the budget and get this, it's 10 mins from me. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270705421922#ht_1018wt_1139"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...#ht_1018wt_1139[/url][/quote] That looks tidy. Do it!

[quote name='JTUK' post='1132914' date='Feb 18 2011, 11:32 PM']For sure, buy one for your kids if you aren't sure they will stay interested, buy one to mod the hell out and get the practise, buy one as that is all you have spare at the moment..buy one for charity but don't buy one expecting it to be any good. There are plenty of basses 10 times the price - and some, that are good only for firewood... This will be a cheap and nasty bass. But if it serves your purpose, enjoy.[/quote] So i take it you have played a SR bass this evening then? Or are you still saying they're cr@p without ever actually touching one?

[quote name='MB1' post='1132549' date='Feb 18 2011, 06:23 PM']MB1. NOTHING EVER SELLS ON HERE ANYWAY! TIM[/quote]

[quote name='Muzz' post='1132319' date='Feb 18 2011, 03:07 PM']Very, very bored with the minority of people on here insisting over and over they can't be any good, they're not as good as XYZ, we should leave them for 'the kids', oooh, there'll be loads for sale in a bit when we all see sense. Ok, they're no good, we've all bought the wrong thing, no-one's happy with them, and you were right all along. Move on. Happy now? [/quote] Damn right, as soon as i finish work i'm going to storm straight to the SR shop to challenge the old dear who sold me the bass, i'm gonna kick her in the t1ts and demand she rectifies the unplayable piece of junk she sold me. There's no possible way it can ever be a good bass because she had the cheek to sell it to me for £60. I know this because somebody who has never played one told me so. FACT.

I think i know the thread you mean. Not a very polite way of doing business on here and probably not very conductive to getting a sale either. I'm happy to answer any questions people have, it's what the PM system is there for! The FS section isn't just a free ads forum, it's part of the whole site which is generally really friendly and helpful.

[quote name='mart' post='1132211' date='Feb 18 2011, 01:50 PM']On all the Warwicks I've played I've only liked the middle position - both PUs on full. But that all changed when I got a $$, which has loads of usable sounds.[/quote] That's my favourite setting too, on both the Corvette and Fortress.

[quote name='JTUK' post='1132184' date='Feb 18 2011, 01:28 PM']I just can't for the life of me see this as being anywhere near playable...[/quote] Well they are!

Yeah i wouldn't put it in the same category as an SX or Squier, they necks aren't a long term prospect for a start. Mine isn't as well built as the other cheapies i own/used to own, namely Aria, Vintage and Westfield all bought for £50 or under and built to last. It does have a decent fret job though, better than on the Westfield, which is good for the price. I've played much more expensive basses with fretboards not half as tidy as the Ryder one. It's a decent enough instrument which sounds good, but a Squier CV/VM for £60 it aint. I think some of the hype is a bit OTT and some people will have bought these blind thinking they're getting an amazing instrument which will floor a USA P Bass. It pays to be realistic, i'm very happy with mine but also aware of it's shortcomings, more importantly i have a use for it so it will fill a niche and earn it's keep.

Well it's a decent enough bass for £60, there's loads of uses for it. It's always handy to have a cheap bass knocking about. Yeah, everybody buying one is a bit of a fad and there are better basses for similar money floating about on eBay, but i guess we all have disposable income and it is going to a charity. Not the best basses in the world, or even at that price range, but fun and i can think of worse ways to spend £60. I just have to resist the cream strat they have in my local branch, it looks lovely!

Mine is 3 pieces but the grain is quite plain, similar to the photos above, so any joins aren't immediately visible. Hmmm. Looking at those photos is making me want to refinish mine in natural. I have loads of Danish Oil here too...

Gibson bought the name back when they went on a spending spree, that's why you used to see Tobias, Kramer and Steinberger all in the same advert in guitar mags a few years back, have no idea if they still own the brand but it'll have no relation to the old USA Kramers. I think they are made in both China and Korea still. A mate of mine got given an old Pacer geetar, proper USA one that needed the pups sorted, not bad for free!

I've experienced problems with every Behringer item i've used so i don't use em, i'm aware of people on here who've been gigging with their stuff for years though so YMMV. Our old guitarist bought a few of their pedals they failed one by one, you could pretty much guarantee that there'd be a problem with one at every gig until he ditched them deeming them not gig-worthy. Similarly we had 2 of their desks which both developed faults, didn't go near the brand again but i understand some of their higher end desks are excellent. It's cheap so there will be good and bad batches, i may have been very unlucky. Keep your receipt and you should be ok! As far as cables go i use obbm and homemade ones. Neutrik jacks/speakons and Van Damme (instrument) and Klotz (speaker) cables are all you'll need. There's loads of posh cables costing the earth but you really don't need to spend more than what obbm charges unless psychoacoustics are really important to you! If you can solder then it's very cheap to make pro quality leads, to the extent that some of the prices you see look farcical. If you can't then obbm will sort you out.

[quote name='Bassassin' post='1129140' date='Feb 16 2011, 01:22 AM']Looking forward to having it explained to me how he identifies this body as an "Ibanez" Two days ago he didn't seem to have a scooby what it was. [/quote] One thing that bothered me it that he seems to be saying that BC members identified it as a genuine Ibanez: "After much deliberation and many comments and internet searching, I have finally ascertained the brand of this body. It's a mid 70's Ibanez P Bass. Thanks to Bass Chat members... Are all you Bass Heads this clued up?" So now it's a Basschat verified item? He's now also invented a mysterious friend who owned the bass since the early 80s and has suddenly remembered it's gigging history - amazing!

It's a trend, happens with every hobby/profession. There's always people who have to have the latest toy that comes out when the one they already have does the job just fine. My old fella works in a fishing shop and it's the same there - people sell all their year-old kit which is good as new for the "improved" model which is pretty much the same, just because it's new and they have to have it. Works out fine for the rest of us as the influx of gear on the used market means we have loads of second hand gear to choose from and prices are forced down. When i bought my LMII used there was one or two on here every week, i literally decided i wanted one and browsed the FS section for 2 minutes, a few days later i had a nearly new amp for a fraction of the new price.