Annoying Twit

I'll be looking forward to you posting a fully detailed review once it has arrived.

Gear4Music sell some instruments on ebay in utterly appalling condition. So they could be knackered. But it could be that they just want to make sure that they don't have any legal obligations as to the item's fitness for purpose, and that they might be repairable. But, 'broken truss rod' does come to mind. At that price, you could buy two and hope that you can make a good bass while still having spare bits left over.

Thomann already sell some of their products as B stock, which I always guessed were online returns or demonstrators. But, they're now selling instruments as 'Decoarations'. I've seen this for their acoustic basses, but have now noticed it for solid body basses as well I wonder how much is wrong with them.

The one I saw today was black body/black pickguard like Mark's basses. Fit and finish on the body and its accessories looked excellent. The neck looked more like the basses price point would suggest, but I found it comfortable to play. While looking at a pickup is absolutely no way to evaluate it, I did think that the pickup looked as if it meant serious business.

Thanks. I'd like to buy a fretless at some time, but am not currently seriously in the market right now. But, if I see a £70 instrument in a window, it's worth checking out just in case.

Thanks. I found some reviews, and they were less than complimentary. The finish didn't look quite professional, neither did some of the accessories such as the nut. I would guess that the company/luthier from the website with the same name is unrelated, as their work looks pretty damn good to my eyes. It was an odd instrument. The body was really heavy, but with a skinny light neck sticking out of it. The only other headless I've played was a Hofner, and it seemed much more balanced.

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1390073014' post='2341224'] By the way - anyone here bid on this? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/34-Electric-Bass-Guitar-/201017111061"]http://www.ebay.co.u...r-/201017111061[/url] Interesting looking thing a few miles up the road from me - my satanic punt of £66.66 was beaten by £2 - anyone on here? If so, let's see some good pics when you get it! J. [/quote] What is it? The headstock looks vaguely similar to a roadstar bass, and 'Artist' has Ibanez connotations. It looks quite nice, a P J with a nice finish and some original (or copied from somewhere I'm not familiar with) touches.

I found a green headless fretless bass in a second hand (Cash Generator type) shop today. It's being sold for £70. I had a closer look at it, and it seemed to be an OK instrument from what I can tell. I thought I'd google the brand, and it seems that a company of the same name makes high quality period correct instruments. http://www.riversideguitars.net/for-sale The one I saw looked a bit more home made, or what I'd expect if someone made a bass from a kit. The logo was written on the green body with a white font. Anyone know what this instrument is? Or is the name being the same as the company shown in the link is just a coincidence and there's no connection.

I wonder what the story with the Jedson is. I would have thought that the Hagstrom Futuramas would have been OK. Sad in a way to hear that they weren't.

My only direct experience of the Westfield make has been a half sized guitar belonging to my son (and never used). Hence, I was interested by the recommendations I've seen on here concerning their P-bass copies. Today I spied a Westfield maple necked Musicman copy when I went past a second hand shop. I had a quick go on it unplugged. I was impressed. It seemed to me to play as well as the quality cheaper basses that I've played (e.g. VMJ, Classic Vibes), and seemed absolutely fine. Not as refined as a USA Fender, but of course that's not to be expected. Nice comfortable medium action, and seemingly a good setup. (Second hand - of course it may have been set up since new). The big surprise to me was how thick the neck was. I'm guessing this is what people mean when they refer to a 'cricket bat neck'. It felt nice to me, but very solid. Like, in a fire you could remove the neck and use it to break open the windows in order to escape. It felt like I was playing a five or six string rather than a four. Especially compared to my newly purchased Ibanez, which has a thin, narrow, heck, and feels like there's hardly any neck at all. Do real Musicmans have a fat neck, or is this particular to this Westfield? The body looked fabulous. I suspect that it had been polished, but all the body hardware looked really nice, and everything seemed to fit perfectly. The finish looked perfect. If this is what Westfield basses are like, then for the prices some of them go for on ebay, they seem very good value. Previously I thought that Vintage and Yamaha were the brands to go for in order to get basses for bargain second hand prices that are actually quite good. After today for me Westfield joins them.

I get the impression that Squier models, particularly the VMJ, are the direct inspiration for many of the copies around. Surely that Harley Benton is a deliberate copy of the VMJ. I wonder if we'll see a Harley Benton Classic Vibe series soon. Before I kiboshed my buying budget and was considering a fretless, I was looking at a Harley Benton fretless jazz bass. But, it wasn't this one. I think it had a sunburst finish. Then the link disappeared. Good to see that it's been replaced by something that looks even better.

Here's a Jedson. I thought that Jedson were down the cheaper and less fancied end of Japanese basses, and the earlier Jedsons were said to be poor. Didn't George Harrison have a Jedson guitar before he bought hsi Gretsch? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jedson-Jazz-Bass-vintage-70s-80s-made-in-Japan-fender-replica-/181303966868?hash=item2a368efc94"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item2a368efc94[/url] Edti: Or was it a Futurama that Harrison had? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Futurama-60s-Bass-Guitar-2nd-Hand-/370988751114?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item5660a7190a"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item5660a7190a[/url] It seems that it was a Futurama that Harrison had. The rather confident sellers of Japanese basses seem to be out in force today. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261365108973?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

This bass is now safely ensconced in my office at work ready for those occasional moments when nothing's happening.

Congratulations! May your household be full to the brim of luvvery MWAH

I think that's a single bass string he's playing. Very simple riff, but excellent (in my inexpert opinion) rhythm. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8H-67ILaqc

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1389606489' post='2335926'] Less would be nothing.... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxTn1om6sWE[/media] [/quote] Actually, there could easily be less. There are some tasteful little runs and grace notes, which make this a good example of what I was looking for.

Thanks. It appears to be a 2002/3 instrument. E.g. see here: [url="http://ibanez.com/parts/2003_PARTS/el_bass/spec/SR760JM.html"]http://ibanez.com/pa...ec/SR760JM.html[/url] There is discussion, not 100% conclusive, on how to read Ibanez serial numbers here: [url="http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/discus/messages/5751/8404.html"]http://www.ibanezcol.../5751/8404.html[/url] I've seen the currently listed Artist. But, I always seem to spend my budget for personal purchases before it builds up enough to get anywhere near 'my' year of Ibanez Artist, and I also would have preferred something in better cosmetic condition to the current one (unless those photos are considerably unflattering). I had been seriously tempted by this SR when it appeared on gumtree for £150. As it didn't sell then, I was expecting it to go for £130 or so as the 90s Bass Collections basses around here seem to do. From some other sales, e.g. a Westone Spectrum bass that only achieved £75 and a Nanyo Bass Collection that only made £115, it seems that the bass market around Leicester is not very strong.

No-one else except for me posted in this thread, and no-one else except for me bid on this bass. I wanted a cheap bass to keep at work now that I plan to put some specialist strings (flatwound or tapewound) on my Rockbass (which used to be at work) and I wanted the bass at work to be a four string. And I always wanted something made at the Fujigen factory having foolishly (in hindsight - couldn't have known at the time) sold off the 70s/80s Ibanez artist I had when a teenager. I hope Jon won't be along to tell me this isn't Fujigen. What I read online (and I just checked again) says that it is. I really didn't expect to win this. My "stuff" buying budget has been caned again. I'm going to half-recover my "stuff" budget by not buying some warm swimming gear I was planning to, and simply putting up with the cold when swimming (my other hobby) until the weather gets warmer again. But, if I actually now have a spare four string for work AND a Fujigen instrument, it's worth it

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1389780414' post='2337724'] What Hamfist says is right. I think if you're buying used you have to be prepared to go and be a "tyre-kicker". The seller won't like it but if its got things wrong or the wrong sound then you have to say "no thanks" and walk away. I think there are probably a % age of friday-night instruments that get moved on a lot. So you need to keep your eyes open. [/quote] I've had people asking me about buying their first instrument (in the land of the blind and all that). I usually advise them to take a bass playing friend with them to check out the instrument. Basschat might be a place to meet a bass playing friend if you don't already know one. I'm not sure that all the Harley Benton's are rebranded Shines. Some of the 'modern' ones, and the McCartney bass look very much like Shines. But, the new models and the J, P, basses don't match any Shines that I've seen. (Which doesn't mean that they aren't Shines). [quote]Note to self: The greatest teacher in the world and regular reading of Basschat is no substitute for practice.[/quote] My policy too. [quote name='madshadows' timestamp='1389776634' post='2337680'] Thanks for the replies, food for thought !, now undecided what road to go down [/quote] My theory is that beginners should get something that's playable, and not too expensive. Then, worry about getting the 'right' bass at some time in the future when they're more competent. It may be a chicken and the egg situation where you can't choose the right bass until you're more experienced, but you need a bass to get experienced on. What helped me a lot early on is that I was recommended to go to the Lakland site and listen to their bass demos. That showed me what basses of different types (p-bass, j-bass etc.) sounded like, which helped me narrow down the choice a bit. And I heard what good quality basses sounded like, so I could estimate how good sounding a cheaper version was in comparison. [url="http://www.lakland.com/audio.htm"]http://www.lakland.com/audio.htm[/url]

Least Fenderish thing I've ever seen. Surely this isn't a Fender. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Bass-Guitar-/281245601433?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item417b8b4e99

I have one 4 string bas, one 5 string, and one 6 string. They all have their pros and cons. I could imagine just having a four and a six, but I wouldn't want to have to have just one bass with one number of strings. Maybe I'll change my mind when I'm more skilled.

I'm curious about the J&Ds. But, if I was buying a cheap Jazz, I think I'd go for the Harley Benton bass that looks very similar to the J&Ds because it has Wilkinson pickups. But, it's not available in surf green or blue, so that makes it unsuitable for those who like the solid colour J&Ds.

That's very cheap postage then. The Vintage Modified jazzers seem to go for quite good prices, so with cheap postage the charity should get a good price for it.

Thanks all. Surely for a G below low E, he would have to use a high gauge string, or it would just flop around uselessly?

Someone may have missed out a digit, methinks. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Excellent-SQUIER-Jazz-Bass-Duncan-Designed-Soft-Maple-4-String-Guitar-ZZ-E22-/181301582998?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2a366a9c96