Studio GC

Price drop to £775 shipped Mainland UK

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Fender American Performer Mustang bass (2018). Nice condition. No noticeable dings. Includes original gig bag/hang tags and tools. Currently sporting d'Addario Chrome medium scale strings.

£850 shipped.

Now on hold, pending sale.

1 hour ago, timmchale2009 said:

Would have prized this from you if I hadn't just bought exactly same bass from Bass Centre. Excellent price and excellent bass, some one is going to get a lot of bass! 

GLWTS

I purchased mine directly from the Bass Centre....since they're close. Barry was great to deal with. They have remnants of Who and Kinks flight cases everywhere. Cool stuff.

Ezbass....round head lock nuts. I always use them with strings that have long silks....to keep them off the saddles.

Sometimes the dog is for sale....but he's been a good boy today!

Oh, I love this bass. It feels like home, but my band is moving into the mod circuit (when things open up!) and I've had the good fortune to acquire a stonkin' Ric so sadly, Betsy and I must part ways.

It was my gigging bass until lock down, so it shows some wear and tear (see photos) but not too bad. It comes strung with Fender flats. Also includes the fantastic bass centre gig bag, which is one of the best standard gig bags I've used. Tools and hang tags too. Also included is a signed copy of Guy Pratt's book as well!

http://www.basscentre.com/british-bass-masters/bbm-betsy.html

£450 shipped mainland UK

I purchased this lovely P bass in the good ol' USA before the COVID hit. Was planning on using it for some gigs over the Pond, which didn't happen. So here she is back in the UK and needs a good home. I'm pretty happy with my Ric, so off this beauty goes.

The shape of the neck on the Am. Pro's is really comfy. They certainly nailed it with this shape and feel. I really like the taller frets too.

 I didn't totally dig the pick ups, hence I've put the very well regarded Lindy Fralin (standard wound) pick up which sounds super vintage and growly. A great fit for this bass.

It comes with a very nice soft case that slides into a SKB TSA approved Bass Case ,which is a  fantastic option for travelling with a hard case, but also having the option of a soft case. I don't have the original case, as it's back in the States....same with the original pick up.

The bass has a few swirl marks, but no dings and looks almost as new.

£1250 shipped mainland UK.

Come and check us out if you can! Something to look forward to this year....I hope!

Wow! Quick reply. Many thanks! I found a Vintera Mustang here in the States for cheap, but the fretboard doesn't do it for me. Needs to be darker to have that vintage vibe.

Haven't had the chance to A/B it with my American Performer Mustang, but it also cost half of the American model....maybe I'll learn to love the Vintera?

On 18/06/2020 at 14:48, foxyFuze said:

Good choice! Got my identical bass strung with flats and fretboard dyed a bit darker.

I found the truss rod needed tightening to get the action where I wanted it (now at 1.5mm) but if you've bought used, I imagine the previous owner has sorted it.

Fretboard looks great. What did you use to darken it?

Well, the Ric is pretty darn good!

On 04/12/2020 at 12:51, Skybone said:

Absolutely nothing wrong with a Faker, I've got a couple of Rockinbetter basses.

Got the first one after I had to sell my old 4003 because I needed the money. Bought a Jazz bass, had one previously, liked it, so got another. Hated it. Sold it on, searched t'interweb for a Rockinbetter, bought one. Great basses (but not light - though neither is a pukka 4003 to be fair).

Ya, the Chinese faker (walnut) had a great sound as stock.....amazing sound with real Ric controls and pick ups. Very well made....but very thick neck (funny...not uncomfortable for me), but the bass was HEAVY. 

I sold it when we finished our run of Beatles/Stones cover gigs and went with a deal from Bass Centre on one of their Guy Pratt Betsy basses. But, I really now want a USA quality instrument to gig.

I just ordered these as I'm very much a flatwound guy. I've always used Chromes, but they say the T-I's have less tension and better match the stick Ric strings size (and nut slot spacing).

4003s jetglo in the mail and inbound next week.

55 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

If you attached the headstock to a decent sized cart horse you could do Some ploughing and the pickup cover would be really good for turning stones out of the churned earth fromnthe ploughing .

 

And you could play it to scare away crows

I was hoping the thread would go in this direction!😂

3 hours ago, pbasspecial said:

What about a Jaguar bass? P and a J pick up and a funky shape too!

Had one! Too many darn switches, knobs and wizbangery going on....I got confused.

3 hours ago, Ricky 4000 said:

You probably know this, but UK customs are well practised in charging the duty on high value goods that are cheaper in the US.

Thirty years ago, they had at least one guitar expert at Heathrow who knew his onions, if you know what I mean.

Hummm, Was wondering that. What do gigging musicians do when travelling back from the States with their guitars? When I moved all of our stuff over from the States I had a USA jazz bass and '76 vintage bass, luckily no charges on those....but those were shipped in a container with our furniture.

4 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

I loved mine, I really did.  It was pretty much clank right out of the case.

If you want some convincing as to why you don't need one, I'd only cite that I gigged it twice and I was lucky enough to stop someone nicking it on both occassions.  They are too high-profile.  Interestingly, I now play a five string that cost me nearly six times as much as the 4003 in the photo below and nobody so much as bats an eyelid as they don't know what it is.

Yes, that does worry me that Ric's do seem to catch the eyes of thieves. I'll have to be careful on that front.

2 hours ago, binky_bass said:

Can't you take it home as hand luggage and avoid tax? Most airlines allow instruments in the cabin for no fee (BA do/did). I flew over to San Francisco some time ago to collect a bass and was able to take it in the aircraft as hand luggage. 

Didn't know that. I'll do some research....and see what United says🙄

18 minutes ago, Ricky 4000 said:

Looked you up on YT:

I'm impressed!

Thanks man! It's that chickenbacker bass I had in this clip that made me want to go to a real Ric. The Chinese one had a REALLY thick neck and weighed in at 6.5 kilos! A deal killer for 2 sets.

Please come check us out if we're near you in 2021!

5 minutes ago, Maude said:

Well that didn't take long. 😁

It was the last one in stock, needed to act fast at that price.

13 minutes ago, Skybone said:

I would advise that you try a few out before buying one. A lot of people really like the look of the 4001/4003, but just can't get on with the ergonomics of them, as they are so different from any F, or F inspired basses you may have played & loved in the past.

The "trick" is to adjust your style slightly. Most people will remove the bridge pickup cover. The bridge pickup bezel's are also well regarded by a lot of players, as are the No Mod thumb rests.

 

Here's the Ric copy when we played some theatres last year (pre COVID)....blasphemy I know to play a chickenbacker, but it really was a great bass and it lead to me trying the Ric shape and eventually lead to me getting the real deal. (I just pulled the trigger on the jetglo 4003s)

5 minutes ago, Jus Lukin said:

I'd have thought that it would have the case included- might be worth checking that with the shop.

I love my 4003, but do try one before you by. They aren't quite the usual ride, not that I have any issue with that personally!

Yep, has a Ric case (it's a new instrument), but I would worry checking the bass with the case provided. I would feel better with a flight case. Also, we do stack our equipment for travel and sometimes my bass gets stuck on the bottom of the pile in the van.