Annoying Twit

Happy NBD! How does it play?

Sold for £180. I didn't expect it to go that high!

I guessed what it was before I clicked on the link - and I was right.

Thanks for the feedback. If I did it, I'd want to make something 'inspired by' the solitaire, not an exact copy. Single string fretless, but perhaps no more similarity than that. In hindsight, I shouldn't have used the word 'clone' in my subject line. The phrase 'something like this' in my OP is closer to my intention. if this ever does happen, it won't be until after I get around to doing a kit build and finish. But, I like to think far ahead.

Thanks. I ask because I'm considering building a Harley Benton p-bass kit sometime this year. Looking at kits, there seems to be a big gap between the el cheapo kits and the high end (e.g. Carvin) kits, and not much in between. The Harley Benton kits received mixed, but sometimes good reviews. I was curious about what you found out about the PB shorty to find out about HB quality in feral. Thank you.

There are a lot of stunning looking basses there. Interesting that Ibanez reissues look more modern than a few very famous brand's newest instruments.

One string fretless bass. Not that I'm likely to do so, but how difficult would it be to make something like this? [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSw7B-ICd0M[/media]

Very interesting project. How good would you say the quality of the basic materials that the bass is made from are? The basic wood and fretwire?

I think that ESP guitars are making guitars where some of the work is done in China, and the final finishing etc. is done in Japan. This to me seems to be a good policy as provided quality control is done at later stages of the process, and the initial process is close enough, there should be a very good end product for less cost than a guitar made completely in Japan. For the Made in China Fenders, how much, if any, of the final refining or setup is done in countries outside of China?

[quote name='JazzyYama' timestamp='1422143102' post='2669281'] Thanks for the updates here, I chanced my arm with the nylon string - I was surprised to see it had a truss rod too. Has anyone found any of the decoration only items to be totally unplayable yet? [i]- I now see the comments about neck weirdness, oh well, lets see what happens[/i] [/quote] I'll be interested to hear what it sounds like. Particularly the DI sound. I'm not likely to buy one, but I must admit that my curiosity is raised. If you don't like it when it arrives, you can always return it under the terms of the Consumer Contract Regulations.

[quote name='SubsonicSimpleton' timestamp='1422129619' post='2669094'] Pretty sure I answered you exactly when I wrote [/quote] Ah, I see. I was confused by all the other information about ebonol, which I was trying to match to my question.

[quote name='SubsonicSimpleton' timestamp='1422124586' post='2669021'] The BZ6000 is almost the same price as the kit, can be returned after actually playing it, and seeing how the neck responds to the tension of the strings, and any adjustments to the trussrod, and general opinion of the current crop of Harley Benton offerings is very positive. The kits on the other hand are a completely unknown quantity, and even if you used only the stock hardware you will still incur extra expense finishing it and probably have a really difficult time returning it if it turns out that you got one with a defective trussrod or unstable neck timbers that result in the finished article being unplayable. Ebonol is a bit marmite for some people but there are budget fretless fours that use this material for the fingerboard, so it would be fairly easy to check out something like a Squier VM fretless at a local music store and workout whether you loved/hated it before comitting. There are quite a few offerings from Ibanez, ESP, Yamaha, Cort, Peavey etc that could also be defretted, and if you go the modding route you can get a really clear idea of whether the ergonomics of the bass will work for you before you commit. [/quote] Erm, thanks for that information. But my question was due to you choosing the BZ6000 (presumably over other basses) as a starting point for a project. As you were planning to defret the bass, I asked whether the ebonol fretboard which the BZ6000 has would be harder or easier to refret and then refinish than a standard wooden fretboard. You've given me a lot of general information about ebonol fretboards and what people think of them, but not addressed my actual question. [quote name='molan' timestamp='1422125159' post='2669035'] We sell kits from Carvin and/or individual parts. [/quote] Are the kits on your website? I had a look and I couldn't find anything. (I might have looked in the wrong place). Not that I'm likely to buy anything as up-market as a Carvin kit. But I'm curious to know what sort of high quality kits are around.

[quote name='SubsonicSimpleton' timestamp='1422120797' post='2668942'] No idea tbh, but on a kit instrument you would probably have to do some fine tuning to the fingerboard anyway, so if the prospect of doing that work is scary then don't even consider the DIY route. [/quote] I'm not quite sure I understand how your answer matches my question. I only asked because you said that if you were going to build a fretless you'd start with the BZ6000. It has an ebonol fretboard, and I wondered if that was a factor in your choice of that bass.

[quote name='SubsonicSimpleton' timestamp='1422117823' post='2668908'] If I wanted a 6 string fretless, I would certainly consider buying one of these [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_bz_6000_nt.htm"]http://www.thomann.d..._bz_6000_nt.htm[/url] on the basis that I could evaluate it properly and then either return it or use it as a platform for further modification(defretting, select hardware upgrades), I would also look round my local music shops and gumtree ads for potential secondhand instruments to use, as six strings don't hold their value well secondhand. [/quote] Is it easier or harder to defret and refinish an ebonol fretboard than a wooden one? (No, I'm not thinking of hacking away at my bz7000 ).

The Douglas six string basses are, I believe, rebadged Shine basses. Though, I haven't seen fretless versions on this side of the pond. The same basses could be bought rebadged as Harley Bentons. I can't remember who (sorry), but a well known member on here has one. I have the Shine myself, but IMHO my one is not the best example and I hacked it up a bit. I don't claim huge experience, but what I've seen suggests to me that one particular difference between cheap basses and better basses is how well the nut is cut. When I first started sawing away at nuts myself, I was very surprised how much the feel of the basses improved. It isn't that difficult to cut a nut. However, I personally believe that the quality of fretwire matters in terms of neck feel, and that is difficulty to fix. I'd be happy to be proved wrong on that one. The only neck through kit I've seen available in the UK is the Stellah neck through six string fretless: [url="http://www.amazon.com/Stellah-String-Fretless-Kit-Project/dp/B007OWQOIY"]http://www.amazon.co...t/dp/B007OWQOIY[/url] The same bass turns up under different names. The kits were about £200 when I first saw them, but I think I saw them being sold for a cheaper price somewhere. (searches). £172 delivered on ebay. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bass-6-String-Fretless-Style-with-Thru-Body-DIY-Project-Electric-Guitar-Kit-/390876329661?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item5b020b76bd"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item5b020b76bd[/url] I'd be curious to know where these £100 kits are from? Do they have to be ordered from China through alibaba or similar? Once duties and charges are paid, they could get quite a bit more expensive. If I bought a kit from alibaba, I'd be interested in this Gretsch Falcon kit: [url="http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/SNGK045-DIY-Unfinished-Bass-Guitar-Kit_60106486482/showimage.html"]http://www.alibaba.c.../showimage.html[/url] Though, I'd prefer gold hardware so that it could be finished in white. EDIT: EDIT: Still looking for a cheap fretted neck through bass kit, and haven't found one. This is somewhere i the ballpark, trough the price varies a lot and the minimum order is 50 units. http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Neck-Thru-style-DIY-bass-guitar_60139070261.html

A number of guitars up as of a few seconds ago. Nothing particularly notable, but I'll post as there are a number of them. Edit: This nylon string guitar seems to have a reasonable spec. Solid spruce top, Fishman pickup, tusque nut. [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_santos_series_c_40scedeko.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...c_40scedeko.htm[/url] Edit: All still there. That's a first.

Happy New Bass Day! Great to hear that you're happy with it.

£14 quid!!!! http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_cg_45_ns_deko.htm OK, so it's a low end acoustic guitar. But, ..., £14 quid! EDIT: Sorry to hear about the jazz bass neck weirdness. If I had one of the JB75 dekos and it had a bad neck, I'd be thinking very seriously about one of those fretless mighty mite necks that appear on ebay. Or, I'd return it under the Consumer Contracts Regulations.

Nice pics. They were worth waiting for.

In my mind's ear I'm hearing him play the baseline from the Hunters and Collectors song 'The Slab'. Or is it 'Come up to the lab, and see what's on the slab'.

Photos? Link? Joke?

I want a quality ukulele. I don't have particular GAS for any basses at the moment. I'd like to make better use (playing ability, setups, upgrades?) of what I have at the moment. I'm thinking it would be fun to make a kit bass, but am a bit frustrated at the low-end-ness of the bass kits available. I can't justify spending the money on Warmoth bits.

There's a standard series strat up now. I think I'm not going to notify the thread in future unless it's either a new bass guitar up, or something particularly interesting on the guitar or other instrument front. I'm not going to notify the thread for normal electrics and acoustics. Unless anyone requests that I do of course.

Happy NBD. Once you pop, you just can't stop.

These are quite common on ebay, but often have quite high starting bids or BIN prices. It'll be an interesting bit of price discovery to see what this goes for. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/bass-guitar-/291358745948?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item43d655a55c