FDC484950

Where do you store all these basses?? I have 5 in total - one lovely mid 90’s Jap P in sunburst that sounds and plays better than any US new or vintage P I’ve tried - and have no room for any more (thank goodness).

Charlie Chandler in Hampton Wick might be closer for you. He’s excellent for both guitars and basses and has done fretwork, electronics and troubleshooting. Very reasonable prices too.

Yes indeed - this is the whole point of a tapered string. The smaller diameter sitting on the saddle is intended to produce a tighter, more defined sound with what is otherwise a very thick string. If I’m not mistaken this was borrowed from grand piano design, which has a similar concept. In the context of this thread I’ve highlighted that the Warwick Black Label has a tapered .135 B and it looks identical to the one in the OP’s pics. My experience with them has been very hit and miss - on a jazz 5 deluxe through the bridge the B sounded unfocused and dull compared to the other strings, and it wasn’t twisted, but I’ve had this on other basses so potentially dead strings. With a set of DR Lo-Riders through the body the difference is like night and day. Ditto Ernie Ball Slinkies on a Sterling 5. It’s a bit counter-intuitive but a tapered B doesn’t always sound better.

According to their website, bass Direct has one in stock. http://bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Yamaha_BB_NE_II_WHite.html

It is a shame as I had number 9 made in 1990 (or was it 91) - like this, a bit battered, no truss rod, but with a zebrano top, sounded fabulous. I still have some studio recordings and it really cut through. If I could collect I might give it a punt but I suspect 3 hours into the train ride I’d get message saying it’s no longer for sale!

Yuck! How disappointing. @Silvia Bluejay - if you think Warwick strings are bad, take a look at La Bella Super Steps! I had them once - all sorts of weird overtones when playing because just the core goes over the saddle. And they broke at the bridge (I hardly ever slap and play light fingerstyle). Apparently Anthony Jackson’s sig Fodera string set are the same.

Nothing wrong with Warwick B strings - they’re .135 and the taper is only stepped down, not at the core. The problem is they seem to be susceptible to twisting and I’ve had one or two dead strings in the sets I’ve bought. Id definitely be asking for a new set of strings as supplying a mixed set on a new bass isn’t really good enough - especially at Warwick prices

... and that low B looks identical to a Warwick Black label B (same colour ball end, same two steps up to the main string). Is this how it came from Warwick? How odd...

The only issues I’ve had are a total lack of interest. I’ve sold 3 basses via other means at or above the price listed for sale here, and I had not the slightest interest here. I guess it’s a sign to stop selling stuff!

Black labels have brass ball ends. AFAIK Warwick has never used coloured ball ends. As suggested they look like D’addario.

IMHO Hipshot Ultralites come into their own as a replacement for classic elephant ear tuners. A set on my Jap P-bass took 360g off the headstock and made a slightly neck heavy bass into one that balances perfectly and now only weighs 3.6Kg. I have a Sterling 5 with the old style MM tuners and a set on here only removed about 200g, but still enough to make a bass with terrible headstock dive tolerable (and you can’t tell from the front). I find it odd that they quote basically the same weight for the Y key as they do for the elephant ear - surely there must be quite a bit more metal in the elephant ear key?

Is it seated properly in the tailpiece and have you pressed the string down just past the saddle to ensure a proper break angle? I can’t see that on the B - looks like it just rides over the saddle. I’ve moved away from Black Labels as they seem to very sensitive to twisting on the low B and have had a dead string in almost every other set. I stick with Ernie Ball Slinky (.130 non taper wound B sounds just great) and DR Lo-Riders (like night and day on a jazz V strung through the bridge - Black Labels sounded terrible).

Did you bend the string 90then cut it? They’re round core so the outer winding can begin to unravel if just cut straight and then they’ll slip on the tuner. Ask me how I know ☹️

Yes but that has very little to do with frets on a bass. We are not talking about tolerances of 0.000025mm, but to a usable level on a consistent basis every time. We are also not talking about flat surfaces per se but curved ones (yes I know they will be flat at a microscopic level) - and at a tolerance of 0.01mm it is more than sufficient to satisfy the requirement to get the best possible action. What if the “skilled luthier” has an off day? I’ve had work done by respected luthiers that has needed rework because it wasn’t done properly.

It’s an expensive machine designed for a specific purpose. The important point is the very small calculations it makes both under tension and with no tension. A person doing the job by hand is relying on sight and feel. Now a very experienced luthier/repair person may have this down to a fine art but they’re still to an extent guessing. The fret is also not shaped flat but domed to provide more consistent intonation. On what do you base “hand scaping” being superior? The only reason it’s use is not more widespread is that due to expense. I’ve had many instruments serviced over the years and the two basses I’ve had Plek’ed were/are the best playing with the lowest action. It’s also worth mentioning that having it Plek’ed does not mean the entire process is computerised - the fret ends are dressed by hand and polishing/final checks are done both in the machine and visually.

Have you ever had a bass Plek’ed? I had a Warwick whose neck had significant relief in the first three frets, which meant that I couldn’t get an action below 3mm at the top C/4mm low B. In the end Charlie Chandler had to remove the first 3 frets and shave about 2mm off the fingerboard in that area before Plek’ing - end result was a bass with 1mm action on the C string and 1.5mm on the B with no clank. Basically are the frets level, and if so, does the neck have any bumps, twists etc? If so. I amount of truss rod/action tweaking will get a low, stable playing action.

Neck construction a bit of a dark art at times. Good instruments made with a stable, probably dried neck tend to require a lot less adjustment - hence WOT’s assertion that little if any tweaks are required. Then again some bass necks move around and can be straight one day and like a banana the next. IMHO this is due to the source wood not having a consistent moisture content, not being dried evenly and correctly (there’s a reason why many custom builders have rooms full of wood several years old in various stages of drying), and can also be poor quality or poorly cut so that warps/twists can develop - which was the original reason for laminated necks, to counteract one piece of wood’s desire to move in a particular direction. Even Fender have placed carbon fibre rods in the neck to assist with neck stability (although the true effect on both stability and tone are uncertain). I like to get the best setup I can - if the fret are all levelled and the neck is correctly adjusted then setup becomes very straightforward. Personally I don’t dig in much but also prefer a medium action as I find that it feels better - too low and has others have said, you have to be really careful to to fret accidentally.

Me too. I bought something else whilst watching this so don’t have any interest now. If you can’t do cash on collection I would avoid.

No not to anyone in general. Of course if the neck doesn’t move there’s no need to tweak it. It’s just an observation that it’s there for a reason. Over the last 25 years or so I’ve rarely come across a bass that never needed a tweak. Sometimes it’s subtle and only needs a quarter turn but it can make all the difference. YMMV as always.

Just because you don’t/can’t be bothered to adjust the truss rod, doesn’t mean it doesn’t need adjustment. Manufacturers supply an adjustable truss rod for a reason. IMHO every player should know how to set up an instrument - and that is nut height and slot profile, truss rod, action and intonation. Why pay someone else to do this - it’s not exactly difficult, is it? Fret levelling is a bit more work but doesn’t need doing that often unless you are grinding the hell out of the frets. pVery stable wood moves less, but all wood moves over time and especially with changes in humidity/temperature. Even changing strings can do this (different gauge putting less/more tension on the neck).

It looks Japanese to me. After the 4 the first character looks like the Katakana “e” followed by “ri-i” (long I sound) but hard to tell what the remainder is... maybe “sa” and then “ba” or “pa”. I recognise the writing but don’t read/write much in Japanese.

Note that he may be offering you postage, however there is no case, so it’s highly likely not to be covered if damaged/lost in transit. EBay may side with you, but it’ll be a faff. Personally it’s just not worth the risk, some of his feedback states no response after payment. The whole ad rings alarm bells to me!

He has a load of negative feedback saying the same thing. I think he’s a budding scammer.