CookPassBabtridge

Nate usually makes anything sound great but he’s met his match here…it does not sound good at all. As an experiment, fine. But in terms of practical use, no thanks. 

Super basic question - is the advantage of these over ‘regular’ cabs that if I’m using a floor/pedal preamp, I no longer have to use a head to power the speaker? But if I just use an on board preamp or a passive bass, I’d still need a pedal preamp to use the active cab? 

This is a really interesting question. I am currently testing my threshold having obtained a quote for what would be one of my dream basses. It was just south of £8k - nearly fell off my chair when I first heard it. With it being a 2 year wait I am in a fortunate enough position to be able to save up the requisite funds in that timeframe. But it would mean not spending anything on other ‘nice’ things in the meantime. Is the pleasure it would give me worth the cost? Would the anxiety of what else I could have used the money for constantly bother me? I just don’t know. Another option would be to reduce the spec to something more reasonable, but would I regret that too? Prices are only likely to go up as well, so I’m pretty sure it will become unobtainable before too long, do I strike now while I can? GAS can be a terrible thing! 

Loving the pickguard, think it really suits the body shape. Bass looks in great nick for a series 1 too.

Likewise…I’ve sold stuff to NI recently and had no additional forms to fill in, sounds like an odd situation here.

Thought it’d be worth sharing my recent experience of trying to get a Fender Custom Shop quote, which is in-line with the title of this thread!

I’ve always loved sunburst jazz bodies without pickguards. I’m also a bit obsessed with one being authentically Fender, so wasn’t interested in buying a third party body and bolting a Fender neck to it. Official Fender bodies are routed horribly under the pickguard section so one of those wasn’t an option either. I liked the idea of a finely crafted custom bass as well, so off to the Custom Shop I went.

There were a couple of extra things I was interested in to make the build a little more personal - namely an anodised gold control plate and the truss rod adjustment wheel that the Elite series had. Nope, sorry I was told…that sort of thing pushes it into Masterbuild territory. The gold control plate was a weird one seeing as you can buy them from the likes of Tiny Tone for about £30. 
 

Anyway, the apparent lack of flexibility for something called a ‘custom shop’ build irked me somewhat. In all honesty the experience has made me draw the conclusion that non-masterbuilt custom shop basses are essentially just instruments bolted together from stock US parts by one of their top 50 luthiers. Each to their own, but for the prices they charge I’d want something far more bespoke. These days I think the mod shop is a more reasonable option if you’re not after anything too weird and wonderful and just want a specific colour, neck or pickup choice. 
 

Bit disappointed by my experience but it’s OK, I’ll either just save the money or look at a classic Roscoe instead 😏

34 minutes ago, Danny P said:

Good luck with yours! Which one did you go for? 

Cheers! I’ve gone for a purple SKB 4 string. Spanish cedar, quilt maple top. Ebony fretboard. I follow Keith on Instagram and saw a purple quilt maple body pop up on his feed the other day - for a second I got excited and thought it was mine as it’s quite a specific spec but alas, no 😂

Love me a Roscoe, I do. In fact I’ve got one on order that should be here in the next few months, super excited! This looks like a great bass, GLWTS. 

I’ve lived and gigged in and around London all my life and can say you’ll be fine. As others have mentioned, just be vigilant and stick to public transport where you can. And avoid taking out anything of huge value with you to be on the safe side. I’d guess watches, phones and the like are more appealing to thieves than bulky basses. Two thugs on a scooter seem to be the MO of choice these days, and they won’t be able to manoeuvre in a hurry with a massive guitar and/or amp loaded up. 
 

It’s like any big city, there are good bits and bad bits. Don’t let it scare you off visiting. Just be sensible and try not to make yourself a target. 

John Taylor from Duran Duran also plays a Dingwall these days…in fact I think he’s got a signature model coming out. So I suspect you’d be fine for non-metal. Also, don’t forget their J and P models, which of course could be used for pretty much anything. 

7 hours ago, Supernaut said:

Refinished by black marker?!

It’s a Jaco sig as well - that’s £2.5k of bass refinished by black marker! 🫣

Alan bought my Vigier Passion bass and was a breeze to deal with. Paid promptly and and was polite and friendly at all points in the process.
 

His appreciation and enthusiasm for the bass put a smile on my face and I am convinced it has gone to a good home. If this gent buys from you, you can look forward to a smooth and hassle-free transaction 👍

Wow what a collection! She looks right at home 😊 Agree with everything you’ve said, I’d recommended these basses to anyone without hesitation, just a joy to play. 
 

Now I think you just need to find a series 1 to complete the set! 😉

12 hours ago, Rich said:

 

Oh good lord. 💜

 

 

Oof, incredible. I remember seeing a performance of her playing a crazy solo with a sunburst jazz bass with Prince. Just spent the the last 20 mins unsuccessfully trying to find it 😂 If I manage to track it down will share here. 

Was mentioned earlier but Rhonda Smith is one of my faves, played for Prince and her tone was amazing. She was always right in the pocket. In fact, this discussion has prompted me to go and listen to her again! 

There are more bad nu-metal bands than good ones for sure. And I certainly agree with the view that Staind were not very good. But Limp Bizkit’s Significant Other is still an album I listen to, as is Papa Roach’s debut, alongside anything SOAD (I’m shoehorning them here somewhat), Slipknot and Linkin Park. Most other bands probably had one or two good tracks at a push. I still have fond nostalgic memories of the time nu-metal exploded though, because as I and others have said, it acted as a bit of a gateway into alternative music for me. 

1 hour ago, Doctor J said:

The amount of bands referred to as "Thrash" who don't, and never have, played thrash, would make even Jonathan Davis wallow in an unending realm of self-pity. For real.

This is so true, and one of my pet peeves! I wonder why thrash is the genre of choice for loads of mislabelling. Maybe because the term is one of the more ‘aggressive’ sounding metal monikers and people (lazy journalists?) like how it exaggerates how heavy a band is. 

31 minutes ago, SteveXFR said:

Limp Bizkit ended up sounding like a parody of nu metal and now Fred Durst looks like this. He looks like his own grandfather 

I think that was a costume he wore for a new track called ‘Dad Rock’ or something. But yeah, the song wasn’t great. 

3 hours ago, BenTunnicliffe said:

Saucy bugger. I made a new topic with pics over here!

That is indeed a very lovely bass. I have a similar roadworn P but it’s not quite as nice as yours.

17 hours ago, BenTunnicliffe said:

Hello everyone,

Following from the great advice on here IE that there are plenty of great modern Fenders out there but that it can be tiresome buying blind I did have a proper hunt around the country to try some out.

My local shops were completely empty handed, the large chains could only pool their P Basses from across the country if I put a deposit on each individual bass so I was eventually left in a situation where I was trying to find a shop in the UK that had a measly 2 or more P's that were in the Player series or above. I eventually spoke to the folks at Andertons in Guildford who coincidentally had the cab I was after in stock second hand (bargain!) so I went to them to try out what they had in stock.

 

I am now the proud owner of an American Original 50s P in two tone sunburst with a maple neck and it's already served me really well through Summer's second half. 

 

Thanks for the input, we did it!

Pics?? 😉

Nu-metal was a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine, and still is to be honest. Part of it is to do with fond memories as I was very young when it took off, and it acted as a gateway to other genres for me. I can understand why it’s not other people’s cup of tea though. System of a Down are one of my favourite bands and they were (are?) part of part of the nu-metal ‘scene’.

1 hour ago, rhysyjob said:

Whoever you are…. Wherever you may be?! 
 

You just bought a blindingly good bass! 
 

😁👍

Almost! Is now available again so hopefully someone will buy themselves a blindingly good bass soon 😉

Now £2000! This really is a last and final price drop. Ridiculous bargain given the quality, condition and rarity of these. If no-one bites she stays with me. 

7 minutes ago, rhysyjob said:

This is nuts! I wouldn’t even think about selling it for less than this price. 
 

I have exactly the same bass with a very near number and it’s a beast. Rock/Metal/Pop it’s all here! And the string spacing means it’s super quick.

 

I’m now thinking of selling two trusty (non- Vigier) basses to fund this one! 
 

Don’t fall into the Pedulla trap, get a pristine one while you can! 

Cheers! Yeah they’re rare enough with Patrice still making them, let alone when he closes the shop for good. Super comfortable and versatile as you say. If you do end up in a position to grab this one hit me up 🤙 

Jeez. I mean they could have at least sanded the headstock a bit if they were going to the lengths of applying a new transfer!