Soledad

I'd say yes, pretty much. Most of the woods and processes I have come across seem to emanate from the U.S. (not all, most) and they tend to talk about 'heat-treated' or 'thermally modified' - the latter if you are a lumber merchant as it helps justify the high prices Jabba - i will do some pics of the poplar I have - colour is quite a shock if you are familiar with unprocessed poplar (or tulipwood). Pleased I asked this - some very fine examples of applications here. Could be some really nice alternatives to bubinga to be had. I don't like bubinga - it stinks when you work it (like zebrano) - it's the wood's way of telling you it was happier where it was, in the forest. And it appears several species are protected now anyway. Very nice indeed - the ash takes on a very attractive honey tone - love both of those. The ash neck on the Marco is very distinctive, not the application I was expecting!

Warwick Reds - I checked G4M and Amazon, why don't they make scale length clear on packaging or in listing (unless I missed it). I've used D'addario for years but mayb try these, and investigate the Fenders mentioned. And I resiously dislike silk wraps - they look naff and don't seem to serve a useful purpose. The colours clash with my headstock and that hurts

Hi, any buiders using or investigating the relatively new thermally modified hardwoods at all? I'm no luthier but build furniture and through that have come across TM (or heat treated) ash, maple and poplar - TM maple being used now by Veritas on their premium chisels for example. I've just collected a load of TM poplar (tulipwood) for a couple of things (some cabinet doors and a table top). I'm interested because the TM maple and ash could be interesting body woods (though might be over-bright) and colours are quite something. here's a pic of the Veritas chisel just for info- I doubt the poplar would be useful for instruments, but it comes out close to euro walnut and is consistent through a 2" board. Interesting stuff anyway. (I'll get some pics of the poplar once it's sized / planed).

please can you tell me the wood used on the first pics here - some nice interlocked grain in there. And I'm guessing the second one is ash?

OK, that's quite solid then. I'll have to up my guess a bit. I know a bloke, I'll get him to weigh his. Weird they don't put weight on the spec sheet. I do think some mass is a good thing tonally - all else equal it should aid sustain and help the mid-lower frequencies I believe. As for the active/passive switch adding weight, so does going from 40-100s to 45-105s

anyone know the weight on a V7, can't even find it on the U.S. Sire site. I'll punt a guess: 8lb 6 oz / 3.8Kg. That's an alder/rosewood guess btw. Someone just chuck a V7/4 on thee scales please.

My first fretless was a BC from The Bass Centre Wapping, around '93 I think. Very good indeed, would happily go for another. Traded it about 2 years later for a Thumb NT fretless but that BC was very nice. I really like the understated finishes too. If I ever saw a 5 fretless I'd be on it. Mine was light, v well balanced, excellent fingerboard (rosewood I think but very dark) - it looked a bit fragile after my Precision, but was well up to it. In the price range now (2nd hand) I'd recommend a look and play. BTW - there's a 4 fretless on FB at the mo - £270 >

It's the superficial appeal of the deep cutaways that does it.

That looks good, better already. If you're fussy you'd need to match the finish though - any ideas? Reminds me the number of makers that have tried to design a head shape so they didn't just copy Fender, or whoever. There aren't any good ideas left. I recall seeing an early Wal - boy was that an ugly headstock (IMHO).

yep, I'm thinking late 64. I'd say any serious buyer would want the neck and plate off anyway. 54 years and no P/U or pot swaps? Handy link that ! Just dated my earlier one (S/N 42423) to 60 - 61 - all those years I'd never known.

This is about serial numbers. There's a Precision on FB at the mo - claimed '63 and looks right (those mucky dot markers, the yellowing s'plate etc). But the SN is L20608. I know there would be a date on neck but he's not showing. Thing is I owned L16277 for years (also a Precision) and that was dated FEB '64 (on neck). Anyone got a similar vintage Precision? I think this one is genuine but may be rather later, say late 64 or early '65. Is there anything odd about S/N sequences on Fenders of this period. Oh, and it's 5.5k asking

I think the prices are high (and will only get higher) for a few reasons: - players form strong emotional bonds with an instrument, so it's not an entirely rational purchase - the original Fender designs define 'the electric bass'. There aren't 2 classic cars that define 'classic cars' - those early basses are strongly associated with near mythical players - go back to the formative years of pop, rock, country, whatever. Fender bass is in every groove. - the buyers were kids then and have big cash now (same reason '60s classic cars fetch so much) - scarcity value The shame is that few of the 60s Fenders get played anymore, surely not in anger anyway. I think the early Fenders deserve to be many thousands, they have earned that right... bless them and move on.

thanks for all your help. Got a pair of those Sony phones on way - s/h on the bay, £12.50 re passive, there is some risk of a Fender Jazz in there soon (MIJ '65 reissue maybe). Also have to dig out the 6.3 - 3.5 phone jack adapter - in a box somewhere very close now, report back soon as poss.

JJ was my first inspiration, but I want to offer up the late Alan Spenner, starting with Delta Lady (Joe Cocker). These guys are exactly why I went Precision and stayed there. Please let me just slip the 'r' back in: Jamerson. That's it for me, prob took me years to get it. What you give to the track is THE point - the great bass players are generous to their fellow musicians - use of space, the value of silence (rests), subtle trading... I like some of the Nashville session guys for that too.

excellent, thanks both. More news as it 'breaks'...

Question please Moose - so my Xenyx 802 arrived today, 30-odd quid and utterly amazing lot of gear and knobs for little money. Solid and good I think. Thanks for the tip! So, the whole Xenyx looks quite stereo, and my basses are mono obv. I need to read the manual but is there a simple thing to do here? I mean get my bass into L&R in the mixer?

Found this thread by accident, but I need to talk about my EB3 (a late '60s, cherry). Jack Bruce was playing one, Glenn Cornick (Jethro Tull), the guy in Colliseum, Andy Frazer (Free), some good players. All I could ever get from it was a woolly soft bass, or a truly ugly mid-range grunt - think toilet sounds. Bridge was a joke. Balance was also sh*t, v head heavy. I think Gibson did more than anyone else to kill off short scale for a decade or so, by making basses that sounded so bad. Why is it Gibson just never ever got how to make a good bass? (Never tried a Thunderbird mind - looks stupid but Entwhistle played one so can't be so bad?). The mad thing is I recently happened to play one of those short scale P copies off eBay (£70 new) - it sounds proper good and totally blows an EB3 out the water. So EB3 is the bass I most hated (by a good distance). Ricky 4001 is the one I wanted to love but it wouldn't let me. And we need to talk about Dan Armstrong.

Excellent piece Christine - a subject that causes more arguments on woodie forums than any other, so good stuff. I have used 'Scarysharp' quite a bit - you can skip quite a few grades so it's faster than it may sound. What's good is it's low cost to get going - it's easy to spend loads on sharpening gear but the 3M film (aka Scarysharp) is a really affordable way into great edges. I mount it onto glass sheets I got from the local glazier dirt cheap, cut to size - I made the edges safe but they'll do that for you. Or find the local stone worktop place and ask to raid their skip - what those guys call offcuts... ! And the quarz stuff is mirror flat - that'll surely do. If interested check Workshop Heaven, Matthew does a good sample set for a tenner. https://www.workshopheaven.com/3m-sharpening-film-sample-pack.html Interested to see your Record wetstone Christine - I gave a Tormek away a few years ago (bit silly) but had been seriously considering a 10" Record - are you happy with it? btw - not a luthier, but lifelong furniture/cabinet maker and big handtool user

mine was a 4 NT - good to know the B is that good, I think the low B is a real test. I'm definitely keeping Warwick on the list. Hard though, trying as many as possible when I need one NOW...

Good grief - big applause to Martin for that one... stunning !! Absolutely my view, plus there's the gamble of putting certain woods together in a certain way and not knowing for sure what the result will be. It's a high risk / high reward game I think. But that Sei... so smart the way the pickups feather into the neck line. He's a bit of an artist.

Big thanks Helzero - would never have knoiwn how to access these. I need to admit I go for extremely understated, you know: stand at the back, head down, try not to get noticed. So I do prefer subtle quiet finishes etc, and quite minimal designs. So the translucent blue might be a bit much for me, fine bass no doubt.THe MTD is probably my favourite. I plan to actually get my hands on a few: Spectorcore (hopefully), Warwick I kind of know and I'm drifting away from Warwick fretless as it is a bit hard (we all know the sound); MTD should be on the list. I was interested in a Mayones BE4 but have no idea of sound, what to expect . I think I'm heading towards 5 string also. I appreciate all help and experienced input. I'm going to try not to be impulsive - did you spot that TheGreek...

Liking that Spectorcore - watched the vid. 2 things for sound: semi-hollow body and piezo plus the EMG - both good / interesting. Try and get a play on one then. About the Pedulla (Andruca) - beyond what I'd want to spend really. When I said Warwick I'm thinking a Pro or there are German ones around well under the grand. 2K is a bit over for me.