FDC484950

I’ve played a few and come close to buying a couple of times. Very solid and high quality manufacture. Tim Landers was hardly a shabby player so not bad as a signature model and pretty subtle  (no massive logo all over the headstock). They go pretty cheaply nowadays in spite of being rare. I would snap one up if I see one - remind me a bit of first edition Yamaha TRBs, minus the piezo. I believe this was the precursor to the Cirrus line?

It didn’t on the 3 or 4 I’ve tried and it looks awful IMHO

On 16/12/2022 at 11:13, T-Bay said:

They certainly haven’t dropped in price since then, so how has anything changed for the better?

I had a look at the Fender site just today and an American Pro II P bass 5 is £1819 - not long ago it was £1999. Could be improving exchange rates I suppose? Given few US Fenders are making it to these shores at the moment, it’s odd it went down instead of up (and 3 of 4 colours are in stock apparently). 

I’d very much doubt the track has any playing on it at all, let alone bass guitar. Each section with bass, drums and keys is identical. Could be an audio loop but it all sounds “perfect”. No pitchforks here but IMHO it sounds like the backing track for an TV advert or could be played in a lift or a restaurant and I’d barely notice it.

2 hours ago, Quent said:

This is really useful thanks.

1. FDC. Did you book the £2700 bass for £60 insured going through UPS directly on their own site?

If not, which site did you use please? This sounds very promising !

 

2. Re Parcelforce claims. I had to return a G&L M2000 GTB ( the white one with black binding )

to Thomann who sent it. No case, just inner box/ outer box. It was rammed so hard at the butt end that

the strap button was halfway lodged into the body. Anyway, Thomann happy for return refund but the

Parcelforce paperwork for them to verify the damage was in transit went on for ever and they weren’t

enthusiastic at all. Presumably Thomann had to then take it up with Parcelchuck

 Quent

Yes, go direct. If you go through a third party then you’ve got a 3-way problem if anyone goes wrong. As mentioned I’ve never had to claim - not sure whether that’s a good thing or not

I’ve sent and received over 40 basses over the last few years (including 10 this year) via UPS. They insure up to 5K and insure musical instruments so long as they’re boxed and cased. Apart from some redirection issues earlier this year resulting in a 2-day delivery, and one parcel that the driver marked as delivered because he broke down and they didn’t want to pay out for a late delivery (I got it a couple of hours after the “delivered” message), they’ve been great - no parcel damage and no other delivery problems. They’re also quite reasonable - I sent a £2700 bass recently and it was about £60 fully insured. Of course I’ve never had to test the insurance and when posting I’ve made sure the packing was solid, but they’ve done better than any courier I’ve used before. As always, your experience may vary etc.

What strings does it have? Not so easy to find tapered B and E sets nowadays.

No, every Fender I've played has been a massive disappointment, including some choice vintage models and the ones I've owned haven't stayed long. The one I kept the longest was a Dimension, which isn't that well regarded anyway. I like the sound of a classic P or J but these can be had from other instruments that produce a wider variety of tones - or the thousands of copies that look and sound virtually identical. One of my Dingwalls on the neck pickup in series is as good a P in terms of tone of any bass I've played. Still, I don't object at all to anyone (or everyone) else thinking you have to have one!

I bought a BB435 new from red dog music for £319 3-4 years ago. It’s mad how prices have shot up…

I agree - I would expect these to have been CNC routed so therefore identical in every bass. Perhaps the neck was a touch longer, maybe it was a batch of out of tolerance basses due to a faulty template. I remember trying both tapered and full core strings, checked both the strings and the break angle were OK. In my case however it was a limit of backward movement on the low B - IIRC, where the monorail units are placed there’s more forward than backward adjustment available. It’s odd at it’s not really something I’ve ever noticed on the hundreds of 5 and 6 strings I’ve previously owned and played - maybe a Fender 5 string through the bridge comes close as there’s less range available, but nothing else.

6 minutes ago, Paulhauser said:

This is strange as I own the exact same two basses, the 3006E for a good 14 years and the 5006 for 8 years and never had this issue at all. 
Just to be sure I've just checked both of them and the intonation is spot on on the B with a usable measure of range left to the neck-end of the monorails. - on both models.

I use .130 and a very very low action so the string hasn't have to travel a lot to reach the frets so the pitch does not alter significantly between the harmonic over the 12th fret and the actual fretted note at the 12th.  

…and they were a problem on both of my basses, suggesting the bridge units were misplaced. Remember that your experience may be different from others.

I’ve had the same exact issue on two basses - an SR3006E from the early 2000s and an SR5006 from just over 10 years ago. I thought it was something stupid I was doing, like the string not having the correct beak angle, or a twist, and checked a few times but there wasn’t enough room. Both basses had monorail bridge units, and although a different design, neither had much adjustment range. I’ve never encountered it on any other basses I’ve owned.

45 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

 not quite correct...

Sadowsky Japan had two original ranges - the higher end Japan only Sadowsky TYO and the Sadowsky Metro which were available over here. I think they were manufactured by ESP.

At some point the line that were Sadowsky Metro with "Sadowsky Guitars" on the headstock became known and labelled as Sadowsky Metroline with I don't think any differences other than ones that affected all sadowskys- I can't remember anyone saying anything negative about them (other than the price went up, but it was the post Brexit pound devaluation that caused that).

Roger then wanted to make a cheaper line again - which was the Japanese Sadowsky Metro Express which were built by a Japanese factory for him that wasn't the same dedicated workshop as was doing the construction of the original Japanese Sadowsky. I'm not entirely sure what happened, whether there were too many QC issues being caught or they just couldn't make enough of them fast enough but they didn't last long.

Then our friend Mr Wilfer got involved and everything changes, all the hardware is different and presumably made to different price points for different ranges - so you no have the odd Sadowsky NYC from Roger's workshop and then the German made Sadowsky Custom Shop, Sadowsky Masterbuilt and Sadowsky Metroline, and the much cheaper Sadowsky Metro Express made in China. 

 

Both of my German Metroline basses had the usual Sadowsky bridge and Sadowsky branded Hipshot ultralites, as well as the same knobs (and the same bourns pots) as come on all Sadowsky basses. IIRC the only difference is the addition of a Warwick just a nut, redesigned for a more traditional look (and very well it works, too). 
 

Regarding VTC it is essential as there’s quite a bit of sizzle on the Sadowsky circuit and it’s boost only so having a tone control on both active and passive is very useful.

Was originally a 5 string set but the B string was used on another bass, so here I have a 4-string set of cobalt slinkies - 45/65/80/100 - uncut and unused, kept in an airtight plastic bag. £15 posted to mainland UK

I’ve had both and there’s not much at all to choose between them. However I’d compare the proper Japanese Metro basses, not the Metro Express models that were made towards the end of Sadowsky’s Japanese ventures. - they’re OK but somewhat workmanlike and the one I tried had a number of faults. The main difference is that obviously over time the prices have crept up, and they’re now around the £2,500 mark. One notable difference is the lack of an ultra vintage option with block inlays and binding - Sadowsky/Warwick doesn’t currently offer this with the Metroline series. One negative I had with both ranges was poor balance on the jazz 5 - mainly because the weight savings only applied to the body, but also the nature of the jazz body is that balance tends to suffer, especially sitting down. To me the best model is the hybrid PJ - great P bass neck tone and the signature jazz at the bridge. Very good B string on all models. Overall I’d say that theGerman Metrolines are a little better on fit and finish - both basses I owned were superb, the paint job was like glass and the fret ends are hidden from the edge of the board - but pick one up used as IMHO £2.5K for a super PJ/Jazz with limited specs is a bit steep…

The bodies look like Serek copies to me. No thanks…

They seem to think that people will pay silly money for the most prosaic of basses, let alone anything vaguely “vintage”. Looks like firewood to me.

Thanks! Now I have to clean up this pool of sick to add to my woes 🤢

1 minute ago, Daz39 said:

I mean the colour scheme is a little indiscrete for sure - but that pickup/preamp combo and that neck, 'Cor Matron...' And it's not even as much as I was expecting for a US-made signature (it's bad that I was expecting it to be £2k+).

It’s Mexican according to the product pics so a bit steep but I suppose it is an sig model and slightly different spec. However if you’re right handed surely it should be a left handed model you flip upside down?

1) Listen to music you like to that’s already been worked out for you - where you have the chords already. Even better if the specific part is written down in something like Musescore where you can play it back. It helps you to relate what you’re hearing with what you’re seeing. 
2) Learn the common patterns of chord progressions. So many songs have at least in part elements that follow the cycle of 4ths (for example D min to G to C), or a 12-bar blues. Once you get used to hearing the pattern you will start to recognise it in music you don’t know. Do the same with individual chords - the simpler it sounds the simpler it is. More complex or unstable sounds point to more complex chords. This is an important skill because good chordal players will mess around with the voicing (order of notes low to high) to make the music sound better and your ear can sometimes play tricks on you.

3) Put the radio on a favourite channel (or another source of relatively random music in a style you like) and just jam. It’s painful at first but like any skill you get better

4) My experience of learning to hear harmony over just under 40 years is that I tend to hear the top and bottom - so the bass note and the top note in the harmony. This is liked decoding a problem - there are only so many combinations in between and if you follow steps 1 and 2 you should start to be able to decide them, for example a tritone has a very specific sound and often points to some kind of dominant chord, suspended chords are well named as they usually sound neither major nor minor.
5) This is the big one: anyone can get better ears. I used to teach pupils with learning difficulties and one student in particular has what could be termed “cloth ears”. It took quite a while but doing all of the above he got pretty good at 4-note and some 5-note chords. Yes, some may have a gift with good ears but never let anyone tell you can’t get better. It’s simply not true.

EDIT: or TLDR; read the post above!

I played one fairly recently. It wasn’t massively heavy but definitely solid. Beautifully finished but it is covered in a thick gloss finish, which together with the ebony board tends to give it a pingy sound, a bit like a Ken Smith. Neck felt OK but not particularly sleek or fast. The bridge pickup and blended it sounded great but the neck pickup solo’ed was a bit disappointing. Fit and finish was perfect but not something I’d want to drop £3.5K on - for that money in the Yamaha range I’d much prefer the TRB-PII series, which is also a gloss coffee table finish but more characterful and versatile.

18 minutes ago, MacDaddy said:

 

 

 

 

 

That’s hilarious, I think I’ve had that “feedback” (usually unsolicited) in almost those exact words, from someone half cut, or at least they sounded half cut

I’m sure our regulars that hate jazz will be along shortly… 🤪 

16 hours ago, Doctor J said:

Factory setups are a waste of time. The temperature and humidity of wherever it was made and setup is likely entirely different from where you are, meaning it will go all out of shape by the time it gets to you. I'm guessing it was out of tune, too? Learn how to do a setup. It's very, very easy. There are countless resources on youtube which show how easy it is. If you can change a lightbulb, you can set up a bass. The neck will usually need a gentle tweak twice a year, anyway. Save yourself time and money for the rest of your life and do it yourself.

How does temperature and humidity affect nut height, action and intonation of a factory set up? The neck relief may change and if the manufacturer publishes the factory relief it’s the work of a moment to bring it back into line. Then a bit of experience (where “your” setup is relatively speaking) and you get to where you need to be quickly enough. And if there are wider issues - a hump in the fingerboard or high frets, for example, having a factory spec setup tells you something else is wrong.

I also didn’t detect any particular lack of setup knowledge from the OP, and even is there was, your mildly condescending reply didn’t really offer any help, did it?

I guess they can’t offer more than alternative colours, body wood and neck wood because it would steal sales at a much lower price than their silly money custom shop. On the flip side, at least you get the opportunity to pick from 43 colours instead of the usual 3-5. However, you won’t be able to return it if it’s a dog

Sold pending the usual.