prowla

And another thing: the 5-string basses with a 4+1 headstock - why do companies do that?

The Thunderbird is a cool bass. The EB ones were elevated because a couple of decent musicians had them. Did they do an Explorer bass, or was that only Hamer & suchlike? Grabbers, Rippers, etc. are not things I would aspire to. The LP is one of the world's defining guitars, but as a bass it just doesn't work. I'm sure they could come up with something decent if they wanted to, but the ones above look like their Asian suppliers got some of the parts mixed up and they had to assemble them anyway to meed a deadline.

[quote name='No lust in Jazz' timestamp='1487413878' post='3239577'] The whole thread saw we 90% though an electrical guitar order form earlier in the week. This didn't help.. [media]http://youtu.be/K6G_hugwG0E[/media] [/quote] God, she is an awful woman!

[quote name='Andytre' timestamp='1487268941' post='3238546'] Just finished one today, the body and neck are well made, and fit together nicely, the electronics are okay. Pickup sounds fine but the pots are cheap and a bit crackly. Tuners, bridge and and chrome parts are all cheap but for the price they do the job. Think the whole thing cost £80 including paint, so could of of just got a harley benton but i wouldnt of got to chose the colour or had the fun of building it! [/quote]Folks will be green with envy!

[quote name='radiophonic' timestamp='1487237788' post='3238211'] I see a couple of nice examples posted in the Shergold thread. Now [i]those [/i]were double necks... Best of all, one of these modular monsters: [url="http://www.shergold.co.uk/beat77.html"]http://www.shergold.co.uk/beat77.html[/url] [/quote] Those were two guitars which bolted together.

[quote name='EliasMooseblaster' timestamp='1487164061' post='3237669'] Better still, on the Brandoni P-bass kits, they come pre-wired with the pickup taped to the scratchplate! [/quote] Not quite DIY then though...

[quote name='police squad' timestamp='1487165625' post='3237689'] according to the status data bass, there's another series 2 with a 4XX and it says 1989 [/quote] That sounds about right, thanks!

I've never found the short-scale Mustangs very inspiring, I have to say.

[quote name='police squad' timestamp='1487161648' post='3237631'] what year is the headless? [/quote] Not sure; I've had it since the 90s; it's s/n is 4xx.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1487161296' post='3237621'] Pretty sure that was a Kramer. [/quote]Oh yeah' my bad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=024UcB1m7Do

[quote name='Rikki_Sixx' timestamp='1487155911' post='3237535'] I'd love to try a DIY kit (or just buy a ton of parts) sometime. I'm not too concerned about the woodworking aspect of it as most of the work is done (to varying degrees of QC!), but it's the electronics I'd be concerned about. I haven't used a soldering iron since high school, and I've forgotten what little I ever learned about circuitry! [/quote] The electrics in a plain P-bass are simple.

I think the Boomtown Rats' "Rat pack" was on a TB.

Wahaay I got a video of me noodling around on the 'faker; scuse the scrappiness and the fact I probably murdered a couple of decent tunes, but that's just the way I play and I had no idea what I was going to do when I pressed Record! [url="https://youtu.be/iQl9Ho-RUls"]https://youtu.be/iQl9Ho-RUls[/url]

I'm living in the Tri-Status area...

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1487103385' post='3237191'] That's much more like it - classy Faker, that one. [/quote] I've just recorded it - am attempting to upload to YouTube...

Not sure of your location, but as I mentioned there was one in a shop in London a while back.

On a more positive note, my Diamond 'faker is now a working bass. Still a couple of bits to do before it's complete.

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1487098948' post='3237110'] Radiophonic says: [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]The Nate Mendel seems particularly pointless - just an annoying amount of fake damage that you only notice if you look a bit? I'd still have one, but I'd want the body sprayed black! [/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]And thats what I have done. I was sick of the red colour, so I sprayed it satin black as I was looking for a black P bass. It sounds much better as well [/font][/color] [/quote] If you put stripes on it you'll be able to play faster.

(I don't think anybody's getting upset, are they?)

[quote name='Marc S' timestamp='1487075731' post='3236763'] My first bass was a Kay - rick-ish shaped, rather than Rick copy I'd say.... I think I paid about £25 for it back in the 80's..... and sold it for about the same It was truly, utterly dreadful. I'd say they aren't worth £50 even of Monopoly money Trust me, don't buy one - They'd be firewood but the paint is probably full of nasty toxins [/quote] Well, that's a glowing recommendation, isn't it!

It's highly likely that you are going slightly mad, but you're not alone in that! :~} ... Those Travis Beans are awesome machines. I think they're probably unplayable, will knacker your back, were prone to going out of tune due to metal expansion, can't be played if it's really cold (did you see the video of the bloke whose tongue got stuck to an ice-cold beer tap?) and may give weird (or no) feedback to your neck hand (Kramer derived ones added wood inserts to the neck to give them a bit of feel). So, based on that, I say go for it! (I've no idea as to price, though I did see one a few months back in a shop on Denmark Street and I remember thinking it wasn't cheap.)

[quote name='GuyR' timestamp='1487061755' post='3236565'] I don't like marmite, but I've never thought it worth starting a thread about. [/quote] Well, it would be a bit off topic for the bass forum. I have to say, I'm neutral on the marmite question, though I don't like twiglets. However, back on topic, I do like to keep an eye on instruments for sale at various sites and that prompted the discussion.

[quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1487056811' post='3236536'] The fortunate thing about the free market is if you don't like something you don't have to buy it. I'm not really sure what the point of this thread is, how can you be bored of something completely unrelated to you? Unless you mean you have one & don't like it any more? [/quote] I also have an opinion on antique painted MDF and shell suits, neither of which I own!

I've got a double-neck bass/guitar.

Will the current trend for taking mediocre instruments and relic-ing them ever end? I get the feeling that a few years down the road it'll be a bit like grown up folks wishing they'd never had that tattoo on their left butt cheek.