MartyBRebelMC

Well i can tell where one is right now (but better not mention the shop by name here - PM me if interested) - white USA Fender Precision - neck relief fine but action way too high...no problem just adjust the saddles...oh hang on the saddles are already wound down to the bridge plate...solution remove and shim neck to make playable. On a new bass costing more than a grand that's a serious flaw in my book. But on the whole it's oversize neck pockets and poorly aligned bridges. oops the quote didnt come in ...re post13 But of course it doesn't mean to say that you wont be lucky and find a perfect one in which case they are lovely basses... just far too many dodgy ones out there.

Levinson blade - if you can find a Japanese one. I haven't tried one for ages but i remember them being very well made. And a definite +1 for a Nordy (2nd hand)...only ever tried one once but it was stunning. I think you are right about Fender though £1100 is way too much and given the fact you have to go through every bass in the shop in the hope of finding one that isn't seriously flawed it's becoming a joke.

I'll be interested to hear what you think - I'm still breaking mine in, sadly the number of gigs i've had this summer has been fewer than expected so i'm still experimenting to some degree but I am very impressed with the Compact so far and it will handle a lot of power.

[quote name='Moos3h' post='1310191' date='Jul 20 2011, 12:15 PM']My local shop has three Affinitys - all of which are total garbage. I'm not saying they ALL are, but you have a higher than average chance of getting a total snotter so I would never buy blind.[/quote] Sadly true at any price point in the Fender range in my experience. I have to say though that I've not come across a really bad Squire but have seen some unplayable MIM and unacceptable USA basses for sale in music stores. As with all the range though when you find a good one they are things of beauty.

I used to own a Mark Bass 121P - I always used it with a New york 121 matching cab as a lightweight 500w rig and that was loud enough for anything but on it's own I would say you were on the cusp if playing with a loud drummer if you want to be heard with more than just midrangefrequencies. It's perfect for quieter setups but in a loud rock band I personally think you would need the extension cab and that makes it a very expensive rig. I now use a Mark Bass head with a Barefaced Compact as this is in fact a lighter rig but just as loud - I also have back problems so nothing can be too heavy in my setup.

Yep Re the serial number - E9 puts it at 1990 but it should have 5 digits following not 4 according to the Fender site - plus I've not heard of Fender doing a lacquered rosewood neck so must assume thats a mod. No doubt one of the many Fender experts will be along in a minute to sort this out.

I recently put a set of DR lo riders on my Status as i wasn't keen on the low tension of the Status Hotwires (especially on the high C) and I have to say to my ears the DR's are superb - but at twice the price of Hotwires you'd hope so wouldn't you!

The driver cost around £40 with postage and the wood and most of the fittings i had around from other projects but i suspect if you added it all up it would come to around another £40 so say £80ish for the total build. And that's often the problem with DIY projects they end up costing more than you think - and for another £90 you could have that rather nice Eden 1X10 cab which has a much higher power handling and probably isn't much bigger. It was fun to have a bash at building it but thinking about it probably a secondhand Epifani, SWR or EBS 1x10 is the best bet and although a lot more expensive can be sold on for what you payed for them whereas a homebuild is really only worth what someone will give you for the driver secondhand.

yes another one for OBBM - instrument cables, speaker cable and even my wireless transmitter lead!

[attachment=82858:P1020244.jpg][attachment=82862:P1020246.jpg][attachment=82861:P1020245.jpg][attach ment=82860:P1020242.jpg] pics as promised.. its a bit rough and ready but it does the job

I'll try to take some pics tonight

Hi Connor I built the cab from 12mm ply - given that it was going to be small in size, weight wasn't going to be a problem and i could just butt and screw the panels together. I'm not a great woodworker but am reasonably able and have a good supply of power tools. I knocked it up in a morning and covered it in self adhesive carpet. The dimensions were a bit of quess work - I had the spec for the driver and used the volume given by the manufacturer for use as a bass driver in a ported cabinet. I used a tube port from Maplins, screwed a handle on it and Bob's your mother's brother! Now, given the somewhat unscientific way i went about this it may be pure luck that it sounds as good as it does but i also suspect that unless you need to go very loud most haphazard designs with a decent driver will sound fine for low level practice. In a small room the bass extension is fine and will rattle the crockery nicely. I built it primarily so I would have a tiny rig i could use my gigging amp head with when practicing at home. I'll post some pics if anyones interested. Martin

Out of interest - how did you blow the speaker? I used to have a MB 121p and ran it at very high levels without any stress - just wondering if it was in fact a fauly driver.

I built my own small ported cab with an Eminence 8" driver in it and it works fine for home practice and acoustic instrument levels. Also looks cool with my MB SD1200 driving it - rather like putting a V12 engine on a scooter.

Nice! I've just recently taken delivery of one of these too - they are superb cabs