BreadBin

I just purchased a Hohner B-bass from Andy. It was exactly as described and really well packaged. Despite the best efforts of the morons in the post office it got here safe and sound. I would happily deal with Andy again

I haven't noticed any change in the sound, they use Monel alloy which is properly expensive, very hard-wearing and resistant to acid and salt corrosion. Ideal for strings if you ask me

I did, I think they're great!

Derp! I was expecting one of these.. http://www.psaudio.com/article/the-mother-of-all-speakers-moas/

Indeed, if one was that concerned a semi-tone detune would probably balance it out!

Good news about the replacement, a loose jack socket can often be cured by simply bending the tip contact towards the centre.

I just bought a pocket operator from George, it arrived quickly and well packaged. Very happy thanks!

Vintage look like very good vfm

I am never sure if it's Hartkey or Hartkuh, my feeling is the latter but most go for the former.

I'm working on it - number 17 should be leaving Manchester today!

16 in this photo..

Happy to help Marc!

My favourite Stones tune by far

Crikey, that redefines optimistic!

This was quite cheap, but could have needed a new neck so had to be!

@Jimothey I think that's what the white paint was trying to achieve, my goal was to try and keep it relatively original. @kevin_lindsay I am reminded of the Disaster Area sun dive ship from Hitchhikers guide. The satin finish really let's the fingers slip off! It looks a lot less uneven in reality - the camera hasn't done it any favours. @dood yes they really are good, the fact that this has survived such abuse is a testament to the quality imo

I have a set of Roto Monel 77s on my cheapest 5er, a fretless Harley Benton -the B is a bit flat but they feel amazing. Going to fit a set of Elite Detroit flats to one of my four fake Fenders next as I picked a set up recently.

I don't plan to but will keep you in mind!

Thanks chaps! It's taken quite a lot of elbow grease but it was worth it. I may yet replace the toggle switch as it's full of white paint but it still works and is original. It's either that or break out the fine pick again, which will take ages...

Tonight I finally put it back together with the arrival of the only part I had to replace. I purchased a Graph-tech top nut as the original had been filed down to try and drop the string height - right into the fingerboard! It plays fantastic, with great action and it sounds amazing. I am really chuffed as it was a bit of a gamble taking it on. It'll never win any beauty contests but I like the fact that it has a story to tell.

Next, the neck. And this was the part I was most worried about. I had two goes at reversing the bow - the first time I wasn't brave enough but the second time worked a treat. Tightening up the g-clamp was really nerve-wracking but I screwed up my face and carried on! It ended up with a bit of back bend unstrung which has left it pretty much perfect. 12th fret measures just over 3mm on the E string - nice!

First job was to remove the excess paint from the body, I removed the neck and hardware and then painstakingly removed the paint with a plastic scraper. Unfortunately the finish underneath was pretty bad, lots of scratches and dents plus some wierd reactions going on. I did consider the road-worn look but there are plenty of them around so instead I went for a fine sand all over followed by Scotchbrite to give it a satin finish, which feels amazing! The bridge and neckplate were cleaned with Nitromors and came up really well. The knobs I had to carefully clean with a fine pick, and were then given a coat of satin black along with the wiring cover.

I purchased this from Gumtree a few months ago - it was in a pretty sorry state with thick white emulsion paint all over the body and hardware and some red gloss in the mix too. Stickers slapped on top of the paint and getting on for 8mm string height at the 12th fret. Crucially however it had all the original parts including the unique to this model control knobs which are virtually impossible to replace (albeit covered in both red and white paint!)

I knew I wasn't mental!