Annoying Twit

The Farida looks very nice, but it doesn't sound very powerful played fingerstyle @5:30. That may be playing or how he has the EQ/Amp settings. It sounds like he has it set up for slap, and plays fingerstyle because he has to. (I think I noticed his hand in 'slap shape' just before he starts the fingerstyle. To me it sounds like a Jazz, but not as powerful as some. Really enjoyed his playing in the 'Jaco' section, and the last bit though. But when the tone rolls off, it does sound a bit ... subtle. (I'm listening on AKG K-240 headphones). Edit: Ah, I remember, he's a forum member

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/214045-nbd-yamaha-trbx504/"]You need to speak to Hamfist[/url]

I would be interested in having a try on the bass. But, I feel that don't want it shipped to me. Firstly because the chance that I will actually ever shell out for an instrument of this class is small, and I'd feel that I was taking advantage of CHRISDABASS's generosity in hogging the bass for a while before sending it on. But mostly because of what happened to me on the Harmony Central Effects thread. The box of effects that was being passed around was sent to me, but I never received it. I wasn't blamed for it or accused of stealing the effects, but that was personally a horrible experience, and I swore to NEVER EVER get involved in a gear relay again. But, if there is someone east midlandy who will be involved in the relay, then I'd like to try the bass if possible/appropriate.

@York5Stringer - any chance that you can record something DI'd tone wide open from the HB? I'd really like to hear the tone. EDIT: Or, you could tell me if this youtube video matches the sound of yours. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fV_iSITTPUk Particularly the neck pickup and both pickups on this sounds good to me. Perhaps the B string could be a touch louder though. @Kev - which wooden neck Status do you mean? I remember in the ebay forum we had a discussion where a Status bass was on for what seemed to be a very cheap price to me. People pointed out that it was wooden necked, and not as fancied (and if I recall correctly, not as good) as the carbon necked Statuses. @momats - I haven't played a TRBX just yet. One of my local shops has one on the wall, but I haven't tried it out yet. The SGC Nanyo basses seem to go for bargain prices. There was a SB310 that went for about £115 near to me. And it might have gone for less if I hadn't bid on it as I was the second highest bidder. Here's a [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SGC-Nanyo-Bass-Collection-4-String-Active-/291070446248?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item43c5268aa8"]SGC Nanyo BC[/url], said to be in excellent condition, that went for £99. Bet the buyer was pleased. Seller, probably not so much. Off to find the Alpher on tour thread.

[quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1392843066' post='2373487'] They're not missing any, that's the point. For me the Fender design (either P or J for the sake of this) is the basic/standard bass, they do everything that's needed & have done it very well for the last 60 years or so. Over those years other brands have taken that design and added bits (as have Fender) be that different designs for bridges or tuners to through-necks & active circuitry etc... The far eastern copies (J&D/HB etc..) do currently look ok for the money & at only £100 it's not even a gamble, they don't miss any features the standard fenders have, but I think it's fair to say that they're not as good in fit/finish/sound/looks (nothing to be ashamed of, they're 10% of the price of US Fenders) & they offer nothing above the basics so I don't see how they can possibly be "a lot of bass", when they're really a standard amount of bass. Again, not picking on them or being snobby - I think they fit well into the good for a beginner/modder category for not much money, just voicing my opinion. [/quote] I would say that the 'lot of bass' comes from the details. Playability and sound. There are some (e.g.) Jazz basses with great playability and sound, and some basses with pretty much the same design and specs, but where the playability and sound is pants. If I am buying a bass, then I'd be prepared to pay more for greatly improved playability and sound, but not so much for fancier woods and extra electronics if playability and sound aren't any better. Note: that's just my opinion, I'm not claiming it's objective fact. I'd never heard of Alpher instruments before. Are there any pictures online? I searched (and went to their website) but couldn't find any. Only pictures of the Mako Elite range, where there is some serious spalting going on.

Some very interesting comments here. Personally I think that something is 'a lot of bass' if it plays and sounds good. I wouldn't personally put too much importance on fancy woods and accessories. Not that I'm saying that others shouldn't, that's just my personal way of looking at things. Hence, if I found a basic jazz bass made from maple and alder or whatever, with simple passive electronics, but an excellent neck and fretwork and which sounded like the dog's gonads, I'll feel that would be a lot of bass. Fancy woods etc. would be a bonus, all else being equal, but a basic bass can be a 'lot' for me. I think this is a Vintage V1004: [url=http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Fretless-Bass-Guitar-/261397106659?ViewItem=&ssPageName=ADME%3AB%3AWNA%3AGB%3A3160&item=261397106659]ebay link[/url] It sold for just over 2/3s of its new price, which isn't bad, but a fair number of Vintage basses sell for a fraction of their new price. The V1004 looks like a very fancy bass to me, but I've never played one and hence can't evaluate them. If they play and sound great, that would be a real bargain. I've heard a lot of good things about G&L basses, but have never played one. I must do so one day. Cort basses - I'm not sure about. I played a number of Corts from entry level to A5. All of them had high action, and while they felt OK, the action got in the way for me. I don't understand why shops put basses up on the wall for hundreds of pounds and won't adjust the action.

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1391863411' post='2362097'] Toby Pro basses (with the wenge laminate necks) are very good value used and, with a change of electronics, transform a good instrument into almost a pro level. [/quote] Are these the Korean made ones? I played one of those in a shop, and thought it was very nice indeed. The one I played looked like this: [url="http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/5206/p1010012ps8.jpg"]Tobias Toby Pro[/url] other than being a four string.

[quote name='goingdownslow' timestamp='1392818227' post='2373042'] Not for playing, for decoration only... [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_jb_20_sb_standard_seri_deko.htm"]A Jazz Bass for £31.34[/url] Edit - Now sold out. Not surprised at that price, must have been worth it for the parts alone. [/quote] They have lots of 'decoration only' basses (and I'd guess other instruments as well) for sale. A while ago one of the 1975 Jazz basses came up, which of course has Wilkinson hardware as in the bass which is the topic of this thread. I could imagine someone who owns a Squier Affinity bass buying that and making a single bass out of the two.

There seem to be a number of basses that are considered 'a lot of bass for the money'. E.g. we have threads on J&D and Harley Benton new basses. There are the Westone, Bass Collection, and other Japanese made basses. People mention American made Peavey's (not so much the T40 as those go for higher prices, but other models) as being little known classics and undervalued. We've had discussions of Westfield basses being a lot of bass for the money, and available for peanuts second hand. There are good value for money Yamaha brands, I've seen the Ibanez SR300 described as a lot of bass for the money. The Classic Vibe/Vintage Modified Squiers are also often described as a real bargain for what you get. I've seen the Aria STB bass range (basic P and J basses) described as a bargain, and they sometimes go for extremely low sums on ebay. Vintage (the brand) also, but I'm not sure which are the really good models, and which aren't so good. What other bass brands/models are a huge bargain for the money that you pay for them? Either new models or second hand.

Over on the J&D Jazz Bass thread, people are mentioning swapping out the pickguards to get something better looking. The HB's seem to come with impressive looking pickguards already. It's a bit annoying that the fretless model has pretty much the same finish, but no pickguard. I know that gives it the 'Jaco' vibe (if not make it an absolute copy), but even so it's a bit disappointing. [quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1392808071' post='2372899'] Well I seem to have stirred up a hornets nest re the strap buttons...here they are: On reflection they are not as bad as I thought but I prefer these, as they are more a traditional shape and to my eye suit it better: When it's all said and done, this is a £90 Bass and I may be being a little CDO about it...... [/quote] I see what you mean by the round shape. I'm tempted to put better strap buttons or locks on my hack bass. But, that's a topic for repairs/technical, not here.

I don't want to derail the thread, but there are many and varied straplocks. E.g. http://www.bandshop.co.uk/Ernie-Ball-Straplock-Chrome-p/BS-EB4600.htm?gclid=CMO8363417wCFRDLtAodVywAgA I would assume that some of these unscrew and re-screw to attach the strap. But, for the Harley Benton, you mention 'thin ones' What are these like? Could you post a picture of your Harley Benton's straplocks? My Rockbass has strap buttons that look like the ones in the photo above, and I thought it had the same hardware as the Warwick Streamers. Are your Warwick's strap locks/buttons significantly different?

By inverted cone straplocks, do you mean something like this: I was quite surprised to see you mention 'inverted cone straplocks' as all my basses have more or less the same design and I was quite surprised to find that there were many and varied different designs when I did [url=http://img1.buyincoins.com/gallery/guitar-bass-strap-lock-02-01.jpg]a quick google image search on strap locks[/url]. What type do you recommend?

There seem to be absolutely loads of these coming up. It seems that those adverts with the masked lady were really successful. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Violin-bass-/141196150183?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item20dff245a7

It looks beautiful. Is that the original pickguard?

I don't want to give the link, but I found a youtube video of someone playing a Ric., and in my opinion their playing and tone was ... substandard. There have been other videos I've seen where the instrument has sounded really different from other videos of the same instrument - clearly something is going on there. It's a pity, IMHO, that more people don't record their instruments DI'd into a computer with EQ flat. Then listeners could put their computer output signal through their own processing/amp simulation or even better real amps, and see what the instrument will sound like to them.

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1392491308' post='2369436'] Is it worse than this? [url="http://vaginaguitars.com"]http://vaginaguitars.com[/url] [/quote] That website is full of guitars, with no sign that I saw of a finished guitar. The image that popped into my mind was off some luthiers who may have imbibed a bit too much marijuana back in the 70s.

After going out today and trying yet another cheap bass (£85 S/H Vietnamese Peavey - seemed fine though if it was mine I would try shimming the neck as the action was a bit high up the neck, though the relief was almost zero), I had a look at the Thomann site to see what interesting cheapness might be there. They're selling an [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_r_458_bk_rock_series.htm"]eight string guitar for £118[/url], which seems pretty cheap. The reviews on Thomann are very good, but some people on sevenstring.org had variable results when they bought one. OK, so why am I posting this in Bass Guitars, not in Guitarchat? I've had a look over at sevenstring.org, and found [url="http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/extended-range-guitars/223665-ncgd-review-warning-lots-huge-pictures-c-isnt-custom.html"]this NcGD post[/url]. The poster made a lot of changes to the instrument, including replacing the original near unusable pickups with EMGs. He also restrung it as E-B-E-A-D-G-B-E, which he says gives him the full bass range and a full guitar range. He recorded a version of Dire Straits' "Sultans of Swing" using the Harley Benton for all bass and guitar parts. Listening to [url="https://soundcloud.com/robrechtv/sultans-of-8-string-swing"]his version[/url], the bass sound is a bit run of the mill, but it sounds reasonably clear and perhaps would improve greatly with more bass friendly processing. The guitar has two truss rods. I wonder whether the neck would be strong enough to handle the tension of being strung up as an eight string bass from a low B. There would be the issue of it being very shortscale for a bass, but would it technically work? Or, if the instrument was strung E-A-D-G-C-F-Bb-Eb to be more basslike? This is bass consumer mental masturbation for me. Unless my tapping skills continue improving for a considerable long time, it wouldn't make sense for me to consider doing this. But, I'd be grateful to hear other people's opinions.

Yeah, it makes more sense if "Ton" in German = "Tone" in English. It was a little bit of a moment when I saw it though.

Voldemort would be an excellent model name for a heavy metal bass, IMHO.

Who thought that 'Golden Ton' was a good brand name for a guitar? http://www.thomann.de/gb/golden_ton_lp_model_cognac_sunburst.htm

[quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1392410888' post='2368558'] It was one of these [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbt16sb.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...ton_hbt16sb.htm[/url] [/quote] Interesting. When a family member was interested in a guitar, I looked at some HB reviews. On a youtube video someone pointed out that the HB telecaster they bought had poor fit around the neck. From your review and the reviews on Thomann's site, it looks as if the youtube reviewer bought an instrument at the lower end of the variable quality you'd expect from a £54 guitar. One of the reviews on Thomann describes upgrading this tele with Irongear pickups, a new nut, etc. With an estimate of $150 (? - which currency) for an upgraded version with decent hardware. Though, buying one of the slightly higher grade models (as with madshadows' 1975 bass) which already has better hardware is possibly a better long term bet. But, as with the thomann reviews of the telecaster, for someone who just wants to try out guitar playing, the basic instrument seems good enough that it shouldn't put anyone off. And cheap enough so that even if the hardware gets upgraded, the overall price still is very reasonable. How good is the fretwork on your son's guitar? Edit: The first tele model that seems to me to be significantly above yours in terms of spec is the [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbt1952.htm"]TE-52[/url]. (The TE-30 has an ash body, but I'm not convinced that basswood is that bad a body material). Wilkinson pickups, American ash body, etc. But at £100, that's about twice what your son's guitar cost, which is a big margin. Edit2: Oh, there are TE-40, and TE-80 models as well. For the TE-80, I'm not sure that a flamed maple top and walnut strip look quite right on a telecaster, but I appreciate that they're offering people a wide range of options. I'm interested in hearing more about the HB models. I'm not going to be buying a HB fretted bass, but the [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_jb_40fl_sb.htm"]fretless Jazz[/url] is a possibility for the future. As I guess that I will [b]eventually[/b] get around to getting a fretless.

I would feel more inclined to defend R owners against 'attack' if there weren't some R owners who could perhaps be more accepting of those of us who play R copies. Mine lost the pickup cover before it ever got to me. I don't mind the gap.

This thread is much better: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/nbd-fauxdera-content-981940/ It includes someone buying a Chinese Fodera fake, and then taking it to the Fodera workshop, and one of the managers (owners?) of Fodera posting about the instrument.

I'm interested in hearing about Tom1946's new bass. [quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1392409772' post='2368534'] I dont think you will be unhappy with it I have bought a few bits of Harley Benton stuff in the past and have always found it good value and quality and I got my son one of those silly guitars with 6 strings for Christmas and it is a great bit of kit punches well above its price for both quality and performance [/quote] Do you mind if I ask which model guitar you bought? +

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1392319429' post='2367398'] Pretty sure you've met before: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/227071-fender/"]http://basschat.co.u.../227071-fender/[/url] I guess the Crack Converters web gonk must've had a reading lesson. Jon [/quote] Aha! I'd completely forgotten about that one. So many basses, so few memory cells.