Paul S

I think it is worth doing. If you have a bass you like and are comfortable with then upgrading it can be fun and interesting. I did that with a Westone Thunder Jet - which is built incredibly well but sounded rather thin, cost me £77 on eBay. I put a high mass Gotoh-a-like bridge on it, hotter pup, J.East preamp (it was passive before) and it has opened up the range of sounds immensely. All of which cost considerably more than the bass! When I get fed up, as I inevitably will, I will put it back to stock for resale and sell off all the bits. I'll take a hit on those but not as much as selling the pimped bass complete. I accumulated most of the bits secondhand, so if you aren't in a hurry that is possibly a way forward?

That does look very nice. I'd say a bit on the high side, price-wise, but then again it is in great nick and a cool colour so possibly worth keeping an eye on. They are active with 2 band eq, skinny and shallow neck (really, really nice), P/J pups and EXTREMELY light - 7.5lbs or thereabouts. The body is more Strat than P-Bass. I bought one unseen last year other than a poor quality picture. When it arrived I could have cried - it had been badly refinished and there was a problem with one of the pots. So I can't speak too much about what the tones are like, stock, as mine wasn't working properly other than it was a bit thin and trebly but with hint of a growl in there to make it interesting. I decided to make it into a hobby, stripped and refinished it, kept the stock pups, replaced the pre-amp with a J. East one and it is now a regular gigging bass. Huge sound, really lightweight and comfortable - I love it to bits. Not much like a P-Bass, though.

How much are they? i didn't see a price.

Totally agree about looking after your core. I have always been fit, strong and active and never used to give a second thought about lifting, wearing heavy basses or anything physical - always a bit proud of my strength, to be honest. Carried a coupe of extra stones in weight, never a problem. Then my back went. A series of sacro-iliac problems and, last year, a prolapsed disc leading to sciatica. Everything changes. Everything - it impinges on ALL aspects of your life. From how you sit on the toilet to what shoes you wear. Core excercise is THE only way to manage it. Doesn't matter how fit you think you are, it is only when you target your TVA muscle that you realise it exists! Lightweight clobber is just one small piece of the complicated jig-saw of mobility.

They are saying lightweight and 38mm neck? And the 34CA in black? Oh dear.

Warren - you know better than most on here that you should make hay while the sun shines - if you can afford it, have the space, the necessary permissions and would enjoy them then there really is no question as far as I can see.

Another fan here - well, a fan of how they feel and how they sound. But, again as reported, aggressive pick use and they soon wear through. Can be touched in with permanent marker pen, though.

Even with just Windows Media Player you can alter the play speed. No loop, but useful enough.

Hohner B2A? Sounds as much like a P-Bass as any P-Bass I have owned or tried. So guess by definition, also the Hohner B-Bass and Hohner jack, which are pretty well the same beast dressed up differently.

Who the hell is Gary, anyway?

[emoticon]slaps head with palm[/emoticon] Sorry Keith. I had just recently woken up and not had my double espresso - am I excused?

Gary - this is the only thing I have ever read that makes me want to live in France! Just too much fun to ignore.

Smokers can''t see the fuss but they can't smell the smell. If you don't smoke it is very apparent. Like any smell - if you live with it you stop noticing it. A bit like dog owners don't smell their dogs but if you walk into a dog owners house it hits you right away. Cats, too, to a lesser extent. When I come back from holiday I walk into the utility room where the cats stuff is and notice the cat smell. A couple of days later it has 'gone' - it hasn't, I just stop noticing.

Thanks for that - but it is the X750, I'm after the X790! A rather special beast [url="http://www.westone.info/cats/86pantera/06.html"]http://www.westone.info/cats/86pantera/06.html[/url]

I found myself in a similar position. I bought an active bass (Precision Lyte) that had a great neck, decent pickups, faulty electrics and a god-awful finish on the body. First my choices were - move it on for a loss or use it as a project. I had never done anything beyond taking a bass to bits and cleaning it before, so was a bit apprehensive about tackling anything more involved. But in the end I decided to renovate it - I have the time and considered it a good way to learn about these things. Stripped it (including the painted headstock), refinished it, made a terrible job of that but learnt loads - I'll probably strip it again and do it properly at some point. I then put an expensive J. East pre-amp in it and am really pleased I did as it sounds and plays really nicely. As it cost me more than it was worth I will probably keep it forever but I also 'bonded' with it - having explored every mm I feel I know it quite well and it feels just right picking up and playing now. But one of the big spinoffs was that I have a much greater understanding of how a bass is put together and am no longer afraid of doing my own setups etc. So, nothing concrete, just some encouragement to have a go from a fellow technophobe numpty. If you have the time and don't need to recoup the cash I'd say go for it!

Possibly worth mentioning at this point that I am looking for a Westone Pantera Deluxe X790 bass. Just in case there actually is someone out there with one going spare who just so happens to be reading this...

John bought my Big Muff in one of the most straightforward transactions I have had on here. Good comms, friendly guy, a pleasure doing business!

I'm trying to pursuade one of my bands to cover 'Soap on a Rope' - great riff. Great band. Glad to hear Sammy H vocal was good as I've heard stuff live where he consistently sings flat. I saw Brian Setzer at Brixton recently and the sound was ok. I remember seeing Joe Bonamassa at the Albert Hall a couple of years back, where the sound is usually spot on, and the mix was absolutely terrible. Dire. Different engineers must have their own ideas, I suppose.