Annoying Twit

Sold for £27.00 + £6 p&p = £33. The full new price is £99. £4 for the cheapest delivery option. Worth it? IMHO, hell no. This is actually quite cheap compared to other damaged items of theirs which I'm sure I've seen sell for over 50% new price.

Teisco like this one? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Teisco-Vintage-Short-Scale-Bass-Guitar-Made-in-Japan-/321204542576?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4ac9485c70

And .... back. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Blonde-1959-Gibson-EB2N-EB2-Electric-Bass-Guitar-/151118833919?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item232f6268ff (loads more from this artgardensculpture hacked user). [quote name='clashcityrocker' timestamp='1377943755' post='2193844'] I had this with a Guy selling a wood chipper [/quote] I hope this wasn't a case of an extreme case of struggling to overcome bass acquisition syndrome

Thanks. I didn't mean that this guy was German, but was making a comparison to another seller who is German, who in the past was frequently discussed in this forum. [quote name='Mudpup' timestamp='1378714587' post='2203426'] I personally think most vintage/classic/80's Jap guitars are overpriced/rated anyway. The number of '80's "classic" Hondos, Kays and Columbuses that pop up on ebay (and even here) at stupid prices with someone touting "classic and great player" is laughable - most were rubbish then and are just old rubbish now. The only real exception I can remember being half decent were 80's Westones and Squiers. I had a 66 Precision in the late 80's which I bought for £100 because it had no pickguard and was well 'roadworn'. It played like a tree trunk and sounded rubbish so I sprayed it Ford Gemini Blue with car paint and stuck a mirror guard on it and sold it for £200 a few months later. Its probably worth a few grand now to the right buyer but it was a piece of poo then. Spent the money on a Westone Thunder 1a which was a much better bass. [/quote] I have a Japanese Cimar bass in the shape of a well known American bass. I really like it, although I admit it has a couple of foibles (must fix the earth - presumably - goes hummy occasionally). But I think how it plays and the basic sound is nice. I tried some Vintage Modified/Classic Vibe basses and feel that I prefer the Cimar. In the six-string world, I have a Westone Thunder 2A guitar, and really like it. I feel that it's in no way overrated. I have been a bit suspicious about some instruments now being sold as classics - the Hondos, Kays, and Columbuses you mention, plus the Satellites which are coming up on ebay a lot now, and Grants. I certainly wouldn't want to buy one of those without having played it. And I wouldn't have high expectations of it being good.

How do I measure if the nut is too high? On a six-string non-bass guitar, I fret at the fourth fret and measure clearance with a feeler gauge. If I fret at the fourth fret on this Shine bass, I can see a fair gap between the strings and the first fret. Particularly the B string. I haven't yet filed a nut, but am interested in giving it a go. I was going to try filing the nut on my Yamaha Pacifica guitar, as some of the strings are noticeably high, and if I completely <something> it up, I can easily buy a pre-cut replacement nut which will likely get me back where I started. How difficult would it be to find a pre-cut nut for a six string bass? Would something like this Just-a-nut be likely to fit? [url="http://www.banzaimusic.com/Warwick-Nut-30246-TRH.html"]http://www.banzaimus...-30246-TRH.html[/url] Also, is it really imperative to buy really quality nut filing tools from Stewmac or similar, or will the cheaper ones which are re-purposed tools be reasonable. I see conflicting opinions on this. Buying nut filing tools from Stewmac will cost me much more than this whole bass cost. If my pickups have coil taps, I'd be interested in seeing whether I could add one or two coil tap switches. I don't remember seeing any extra wires when I've opened the control cavity. But of course they may not be fed through to the CC from the pickups even if they are there. Edit: This cheap plastic nut might be my 'get out of jail free' card. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6-string-bass-black-top-nut-54x9x6mm-/180954200697?pt=UK_Guitar_Accessories&hash=item2a21b5fa79"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item2a21b5fa79[/url] The measurements are about 1mm narrower. The existing nut is about 45mm between the centre of the top string to the centre of the bottom string. The nut on ebay is 44mm. Would that make a significant difference? Looking closely at the nut on the Shine, it seems that all of the strings are a bit high (I presume - how much clearance should there be?), except for one. So, filing the bottom of the nut to lower all the strings may give me buzz city on the D string. Though, that could be shimmed with superglue I suppose, if I could re-file it. The nut itself doesn't look well placed, it looks a bit wonky. It comes away from the fretboard a touch at the B string end. From other things I've seen, I think a previous owner tried to do things to this bass, and sold it off when they mucked it up. (I had to fix a number of strange setup things when I received it). Edit: Apologies for the stream of conciousness post. But, I just tried the action on the D string, which is the one that is lower at the nut. It feels much better than the other strings, and it isn't set lower at the bridge.

Is this another 'German Guy', who has some interesting stuff, but at very high prices? http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw=&item=390557026172&_osacat=3858&_ssn=newkingsrdvintageguitars&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR10.TRC0.A0.Xbass&_nkw=bass&_sacat=3858&_from=R40 I looked through for something that I'd know the value of, but didn't find anything. (Vintage Fenders etc are not my thing). But, that £795 for an Italian Eko violin bass looks, shall we say, just a touch high.

The negative he received also speaks volumes. He says that his buyer (who put in a claim for an item not received I would presume) 'declined' a certificate of posting. I would guess that when the buyer contacted the seller, the seller offered to send on the COP so that the buyer could claim from the Post Office. It's the seller's responsibility to do this. In those circumstances, I would decline the offer of the COP and assuming that the buyer then didn't start acting properly (which I would guess that he wouldn't have in this case) leave negative feedback. Following up negative feedback can be a two edged sword. Sometimes sellers can give their side of the case well making it seem likely that the buyer was at fault. Sometimes they just dig the hole deeper.

This claims to be a Japanese p-bass. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-japanese-electric-p-bass-guitar-ibanez-satellite-1970s-/121173014919?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item1c36797987"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item1c36797987[/url] "For parts or not working", but £70 + p&p. No name on headstock, but it might be an Ibanez it says. Or of course, it might not be.

I can imagine many people liking the sound because otherwise there wouldn't be many basses made that sound like this. But it's not my preferred sound. Too bridge-humbucker-y for me. I bought this one because it was cheap and I wanted to see what a six string is like. But if I'd been really after one, I think I would have gone for the version with two jazz pickups. I haven't experimented with applying some EQ and compression to see if I can get the sound more like I want it. The active EQ certainly seems powerful (I don't have much experience with active basses), though I'm not sure why I would need most of the range of sounds from the EQ. There's a big range of sound, but I can't ever imagine ever wanting to have the bass EQ set to cut. Maybe as a special effect or as a layer when using a looper (if I had one).

I've got a Shine six-string, which cost me £60. I bought it - just because really. Playing it now, there are some things I don't like about it. I'm considering using this bass as a guinea pig for experimenting with minor mods. The first issue is high action. I don't think I'm going to be able to solve it by adjusting the bridge and/or truss rods (the neck looks pretty straight right now, but I'm going to have to google to work out how to measure that). As well as it taking quite some force to fret notes with the high action, there's also an annoying 'clank' when I fret a note. I haven't noticed much in the way of rattles once I play a note. The strings seem to have quite a lot of tension in them, particularly the high C which seems really taught. It seems that experimenting with shimming the neck is a good place to start, as in this sticky thread. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/49897-how-to-shim-a-neck/page__st__60"]http://basschat.co.u...ck/page__st__60[/url] However, that's for basses with a Fender style bolt-on connection. The Shine has what I think of as a more modern bolt on joint. Is it going to be more difficulty to shim this neck joint, or is it going to be simply a matter of cutting a business card to a different size. Looking at the front, there's quite a bit of neck there past the joint. There are other things I might look at, but improving the action is probably the first step. As if it doesn't play all that well, there's not much point in making it sound or look better. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Edit: Perhaps there is too much neck relief. With a capo on the first fret, and fretting the 24th fret on the high C string, I can easily fit a 0.024" feeler gauge under the eighth fret.

Read the 'Questions and Answers' for this one. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/H-S-Sequoia-6-String-Fretless-Bass-150-Natural-finish-perfect-condition-/200961059353?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2eca366a19

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1378530043' post='2201480'] bottom end of the bottom end warwick made when they were churning out lots. Good price still [/quote] It's better than my Rockbass. Though, more expensive.

German made Warwick sold for £151. Really? Is there more to this than meets my eye? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151113512427?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1378389411' post='2199548'] Is the D string tuner meant to be like that?! [/quote] I'd guess not:

How can we complain when politicians, big business, and so on are all giving bad examples of just making sh*t up.

If I was offered that for free, I would refuse. However, it's got four days to go if I remember correctly, and I'm very interested to see what it sells for in the end. I've been very surprised in the past.

Gear4Music seem to sell a lot of factory damaged instruments. What shocks me is how much they go for. I'm sure I've seen damaged seconds go for half full RRP or so, which I consider too much for an instrument which being an el-cheapo, probably doesn't have much resale value anyhow. But surely this is in such bad condition that it will sell for next to nowt. Surely... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Round-Back-Electro-Acoustic-Bass-Guitar-by-Gear4music-Damaged-RRP-100-/300959825135?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item46129a7cef

[quote name='Joshua Higginson' timestamp='1378054723' post='2195197'] I own a left handed, fretless 4-string one of these- different brand name but identical otherwise. The build quality isn't great and it's as silent as any other unplugged electric bass, yet I've used it on a few acoustic recordings and sits nicely in a mix. I think I'd get a few looks if I rolled up to a gig with the badboy O.o [/quote] Unplugged electric basses do seem to vary a bit. My Rockbass is very quiet unplugged, and my Cimar is much louder. Still quiet overall, but there is a big difference between the two.

I had a quick look, but the item location isn't Chernobyl.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1378306378' post='2198409'] Just shows that a trip out to find cardboard and dropping it off at a collection point would have netted him another £50 at least. [/quote] My thoughts exactly. There are a lot of absolute bargains going which are collection only in obscure places. Your mention of 'finding cardboard' reminded me of when I received my Westone Thunder 2A (guitar, not bass, sorry everyone). It arrived as a 'thing' made from several cobbled together boxes, and a humongous amount of bubble wrap. even though it came in a hard case! My partner told me that something had come in the post that looks like a robot. This person is selling a bass with £12 p&p. That seems entirely reasonable. Is that going to be under cost? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Westfield-Musicman-bass-guitar-black-very-good-condition-/161100224809?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2582525929"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item2582525929[/url] Just out of curiosity, how many people are very highly influenced by the inclusion of a hard case with an instrument? I most certainly am, and will increase my max bid significantly.

This is an interesting looking instrument. I certainly don't feel tempted to buy it as due to its age, it's not from the classic Japanese instruments era (I would guess) and there appear to be structural problems. But it's the kind of thing that interesting to see. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Japan-MIJ-Shortscale-Archtop-Hollowbody-Twin-Pickup-Bass-1960s-70s-Electra-/300960007573?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item46129d4595"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item46129d4595[/url] Edit: The listing says that it's in good physical state. Does [url=http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages/showimage.aspx?gid=1613056&image=696115187&images=696115277,696113712,696113835,696114981,696115019,696113988,696113960,696114105,696115246,696115156,696115058,696115223,696115187,696115094,696114355,696115312,696114067,696114142,696114280,696114186,696113906,696113794&formats=0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0&format=0]this photo[/url] not show a physical split?

For this listing, I must admit that the case is a bigger tempter than the actual bass. (Too far for pickup though). http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Squire-Affinity-P-Bass-Guitar-/251330767135?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3a847b291f

I don't know how good they are, but that's a beautiful bass IMHO.

That's really moved a big step on from something that looked like a lot of bits of wood stuck together to a bass neck that looks like a single thing.

すごい！