lemmywinks

Get a headless and leave your string ends like this

If you want a regular scale bass in its lightest possible form the Sinsonido is probably the one to go for, still feels like a full size bass but is made of helium.

As well as overall weight there's neck dive to consider, a lot of lighter basses will pull on your shoulder as most of the weight is reduced at the body end. This is no good if you have back or shoulder issues. As mentioned previously the Ibanez EHB are headless (no dive!) and chambered, mine is 7lb/3.3kg. Get the one with Nordstrands in it, will be paying around £700-£800 used or about £1.3k new, they also do a short scale option.

Lets not descend into the frothing gammon bait nonsense of "going to prison for Facebook posts", obviously you can't incite violence, murder, call for a building with people in it to be set ablaze etc on any platform. This has been law in this country for a long time so the "these days" stuff doesn't work either. Although our police are an absolute joke and are unwilling to pursue anything that will take them longer than half an hour (unless it's a personal vendetta, in which case they'll direct all public resources to it) the other issue here is that Facebook refuse to work with the police in most cases. A friend of mine I was in a band with (he's on here) with was ripped off by Mick, our guitarist at the time was a DI (now retired) and he said unless it's a public post FB won't co-operate at all, so screenshotting FB messages is going to give the police the out they need when it comes to doing a bit of work. The worst thing about all of this is that Mick isn't even a good scammer, he's just repeating the most basic routine every time and getting away with it. The best thing to do is just compile all the evidence of scams and forward it to every venue he gigs at, every company he works with and everyone commenting on his posts. Maybe set up a "Ripped off by Mick Mason" FB group and target him on the same platform he uses to target others, cut him off at the source.

I think quite a few shops go by that "we haven't sold it so it's still new, right?" mantra tbh!

Yeah that first one (and the third one when it worked) was exactly what I expected these to sound like, they're incredible instruments. I didn't notice any tint on the pickguard, just looked clear to me. I'd be careful with taking the pickguard off though as those tops are quite soft and are prone to dings. The MB preamp (while decent enough and better than the old Bart Mk) is the weak link IMO and isn't quite up the standard of the rest of the bass, switch it into passive mode and it sounds just as good with the same output, Big Singles are just immense. Quite liked the bass control on the preamp (think it's around 80hz from memory) but wasn't keen on the mid and treble, on my Uni Pre I like to boost quite a wide range of treble then tame the excessive highs with the passive tone control but on this one it's like an ice pick to the ears whatever I did so I just cut a fair bit. I also like to boost a tiny bit of lower mids which the MB doesn't do so just left that centred. I just asked for a refund tbh as that seems to be their policy, tbh I would have probably taken a discount and used the bass in passive mode if offered but in the end I thought it best to just get a full refund and wait for a used one. I don't need another bass and just bought it because I wanted one! I did get an email from them assuring me these are all new basses but I'm not so sure really, that second one had definitely been around the block.

I think Cort might be a bit concerned tbh as it's their own brand, something they've always struggled with in terms of getting that upper mid tier recognition. I've always recommended them to others thinking they'll get a great bass for the money but now I'm sat here 0/3, 100% failure rate and that's due to a shop selling dodgy goods as new, so now I can't tell people that a Cort is a good bass anymore. A shame really as these are beautiful basses which sound killer.

Had a quick look earlier (was the first thing I checked as it's an easy fix) and there's nothing shorting, possibly an issue on the board.

I'm probably just going to contact Cort about it tbh. I've had a ton of Cort branded (and Cort built) basses over the years going back to the Korean factory and always had confidence in them due to consistent quality, my current main gigging bass and my fretless are both made by them. This is just poor though and has made me wary of the brand. Seeing as Spacecowboy has also sent his A5 back I think their sale is just customer returns, at least at this stage when stocks are low. I still want one as they sound brilliant, at some point I'll score a good one and stick a Uni Pre in it!

So just gone to play this bass now and the new battery is dead, same low output in active mode so it looks like it's draining the battery when not in use. I think these basses at GuitarGuitar are all customer returns with issues. If anybody has a fully functional GB5 Modern in either colour for sale let me know please!

Just Google "USA Musicman Sterling". The actual Sterling model is discontinued now, that "new ones coming soon" thing has been there a couple of years IIRC. I think they still take one off orders, not that there's much point when they've hiked their prices into oblivion and you can get a used one for a little over £1k.

Played it for about 40 minutes and not had that issue again so hopefully all is well, I'll most likely be playing it a fair bit over the weekend as I'm struggling to put it down at the moment! Btw @PinkMohawk if they have the 2nd bass I received when you go to demo yours hold it up to your ear and see if you can hear the pickup rattling! I have no idea if that one even works as it just went straight back in the box.

Just got home and plugged it in, active levels were very quiet (passive fine) so guessed the battery was dead and changed it for a new one. Played through a few songs with it and a couple of times the sound from the preamp went quiet for a second then came back up to full volume. After engaging/disengaging the push/pull pot a few times it seemed ok. Will give it a bit more time later to see if the issue repeats itself and it isnt just a bit of flux or coating somewhere, the passive option works fine and output is about the same.

In the pictures I thought the other finish had the slight edge but in person they both look equally beautiful I think. Now I have a suitable lightweight alternative to my blue EHB I'm considering sanding that bass back to a natural finish, just need to pluck up the courage!

When I used to use a full pedalboard I loved the EBS Multicomp as the internal jog wheels facilitate tackling the high and low end comp separately. They should stick those controls on the front really.

Yay, I got a good one! Cosmetically looks great, the best top out of all three and also the lightest being 8.2lb/3.7kg. A little bit too much relief for me at the moment but that's easily sorted.

What's the actual cavity size? Looks like there's some wiggle room there so 5 string Bart M5 (114mm x 37mm) with blade magnets might be a better choice. Could spec a 5 string Singularity in M5 size for example. The Bartolini site has a handy feature on the right where you can determine what size you need: https://bartolini.net/product-category/bass-pickups/bass-soapbars/

No refund, they've only had it back since last Thursday but given I've had to return two basses over the course of a fortnight I would have appreciated an update RE a replacement.

They do mention the binding but don't show it, instead the only pic is of a small ding (may just be a natural depression in the top and not damage) which is weird. Their customer services is excellent but they do need a bit of a prod, the 2nd bass arrived back with them last week and if I hadn't reminded them today I'd still be waiting!

Ah was it the last one? Hopefully their last remaining stock isn't all customer returns, I think our DPD guy is getting sick of bass shaped boxes! There's the one with the binding issue (but otherwise new) for £30 off here: https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/230420404130008-15927925--cort-gb-modern-5-open-pore-vintage-natural-ex-demo-ie2 And the one which looks fairly well used for £709: https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/230420404130008-16020257--cort-gb-modern-5-open-pore-vintage-natural-ex-demo-ie2 Not exactly masive discounts really, if they'd have offered me £50+ off that first one I'd have probably just kept it tbh as it played well and sounded great. The other one needs new strings so isn't worth buying unless they've stuck some on, it's basically a second hand instrument so £650 ish from a shop or £550-£600 on here. The pictures also aren't showing the issues on either bass, I think there's a bit of a communication issue between their customer services and the shop floor guys.

Just messaged GuitarGuitar today to check if there was any update, unfortunately there's no stock for a replacement and the next shipment is due at the end of january 2025 which is a bummer. So I've asked if they can send the charcoal grey colour instead and this should be with me tomorrow.

There's a Might Mite Precision neck here for a great price:

MEC do a MM pickup in all chrome or gold, looks fancy

Always take a backup bass and my spare cables, power supply and preamp are in the front pocket of its gigbag so it's a single item that has all my spares in it. I've needed a spare bass twice in 25 years of gigging, once because of a dodgy volume pot on my Warwick and the other time when the jack socket on my Sire spontaneously decided to become temperamental. Both times I could just pick up my spare and carry on.