hubrad

I just saw their photo of this bass. It looks awesome, and speaking as a big fan of Overwater I'd say it'll sound it too!

My eyes are going out of kilter! At least on the photo, so it might be down to the angle of the shot, it looks like a 34" neck in a shorter scale body.. it's noticeably shorter from bridge to 12th fret than 12th to nut.

OMFG.. do not start that particular ball rolling!

As one who mostly plays fretless, I'm always going to suggest taking that leap! If you already have a nice fretted 5 string then a fretless 4 string means lots of bases covered, and a budget as you mention means you should be able to find a good one. Basses For Sale is well worth a look from time to time. You might find something local or within easy distance, to boot. I'm on the mobile so can't see where you are. Good luck in your quest!

When I was looking for something to fit this very bill, I.e. something like my 250W SMX TE but more headroom, the "amp specialist" at Bass Gear (sadly, I believe this chap died a couple of years ago now) got me to try the 500+50W Gallien Krueger Fusion 550 with valve pre. I went for the heavier option, I.e. not class D, but corking tone and just what I was after. Still use the TE as well, mind! Iirc you'll be looking for lighter weight, Fretmeister, so possibly worth looking at the 500 or 800 Fusion heads or the new models if they're here yet.

EMG do VVTT as standard, but they do an active blend control which gets round the loss in middle position if you want to stay with passive tone controls. I prefer the whole system with Vol, Blend and active 2 band. Really versatile!

My tupporth.. if the pot threads are stripping, I'd be more inclined to replace the pots on the existing preamp. Obviously you have to find the right values, and if they're soldered straight into the pcb you need the right pin spacing. Once that's sorted the soldering is pretty easy as long as you or someone you know can solder! If you get a replacement from Sire the same thing will probably happen again. Alternatively, get a better pre (Marketplace on here produces some results from time to time!) with the right number of pots/switches. You'll most likely find an improvement in tone this way.

What speaker cab(s) are you going into? I'm just thinking back to a borrowed 50W valve head into a 4x12 ages ago, which was both thunderous and tone rich. Possibly the CTM30 into the right cabs will do the trick.

A friend of mine has a passive 🇺🇸 SUB.. the tone controls are some kind of resistor-capacitor setup. Can't remember which knob did what, but it's a great sounding and playing bass.

Even that looks fishy.. listing says sold for £199 plus postage, where feedback says sold for £179.95 and *glowing* feedback!

Motorhead were already well established by 1979, and "the" lineup came about with Fast Eddie joining in 76. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motörhead#Formation_and_early_years,_1975–1977

When I worked in a music shop, up to late 2016, we did alot with k&m. In those days the vast majority of the range was still made in Germany, which probably accounts for higher prices than most of the Chinese made gear, and the quality was excellent. Still have a couple of their stands, including the model the OP went for but in green.

Actual value of the bass notwithstanding, am I the only one to think "cash on collection" is a bit of a steep ask?

I have both 14.4V and 18V Bosch battery ones.. the smaller one is great for smaller work like pickup screws. Make sure you've plenty of drill bit length to go through the hole in the pickup and deep enough into the wood for the length of the screw.

"If you show up to an audition with this bass, they will remember you. " Uh-huh.

Just bought a used strap from Dan.. easy to deal with by message and the strap is exactly as per description and pics. Many thanks!

Popped down the M1 to buy a bass from Paul. Excellent bass, exactly as per description and photos. Really nice fellow to deal with; I could have done with allowing more time for a longer chat. Heartily recommended!

Motorhead, preferably Fast Eddie era. I like some of the modern bands' offerings, but generally I find things really rather over theatrical nowadays. Each to their own, mind

Ibanez BTB.. iirc the 2xx and 3xx 4 stringers are 34" but up from there are 35".

I've got a 13430 .130 which is a couple of mm over 92cm ball to taper, and a 13435 .135 at the same. Elixir call these Long Scale. The 134xx appears to change to 154xx as a single rather than as part of a set. Hope this is useful.