Cat Burrito

I got up close and personal with some 09 Fender P USA basses today and they were great. Sorry to bring up older topics but it was just the cheeky price rise at the start of the credit crunch that I didn't like. Factories aside it's also down to stores to give the bass a tweak too so as it plays to it's fullest potential. The number of shops who don't do this is staggering (& I do appreciate we all have different tastes but you can tell when something has come out the box and just been put straight on the wall).

Please note there is a very impressive response from Andertons on page 2 of this thread posted by me but feel free to read on, the original point - I had to share this as I am still in disbelief. I've had a real bombshell of a week which has resulted in me having to have emergency surgery on Monday to remove a lump (fingers crossed etc)... Anyhow my wife has decided I could get a new instrument to help soften the blow. We went online and were looking at the Fender Jaguar Bass. Andertons had a good price and I liked the fact they were a family run business so we drove an hour plus to go and see them. I walked in and my initial impression was it was a packed out store with quite a decent selection of bass gear. Some guy was downstairs playing Muse on a bass. I saw the Jaguar bass & it looked good. Naively I thought I'd try it. I walked up the stairs to find two guys just sitting around in Andertons shirts. Now I would describe myself as looking like I have access to money i.e. I might not be rivalling Paul McCartney in the bank balance but I'm an adult who clearly has access to a credit card so purchasing is a serious option. Also I am polite and I like good manners. Hell, I'd even pass for a cash paying customer! I approached the two guys and said hello. Initially they responded but the moment I suggested I'd be keen to try a bass downstairs this immediately gained a look of horror - "But there is a guy downstairs playing!" said one. I was a bit surprised (waiting patiently is always an option in my book). However the guy got up behind the desk and said "You can play it unamplified". I was still a bit taken back as I'm sure Leo Fender designed his instruments to be played amplified but followed him back downstairs and he picked out the bass. It was pretty obvious to me the Muse fan wasn't a serious buyer from over 20yrs of going into guitar shops but I kept my thoughts to myself. However by luck the guy was finishing up so the assistant plugged the bass in for me and walked off. Within about 20 seconds of flipping the switches I noticed a pretty bad earthing problem. Not the end of the world but it was annoying. We then sat there for a good few minutes with nobody coming to help us. I left my hand off the strings so there was an almighty hum coming off the bass. Other than the earthing problem it was a great bass. A quick fix and I'd genuinely have bought it. Great neck, loads of tone and a nice weight with cool looks. However nobody wanted to come and speak with me. The hum was getting a couple of strange looks off of the non-bass playing Mums who were in the store. A shop assistant stuck his head around the corner eventually so I took my hand off the strings and said "Great bass but it clearly has an earthing problem". He agreed but looked keen to walk away. I explained I was in the market to buy today and liked the bass but clearly the earthing was an issue. He just didn't seem to be getting it. "Our technical guy is in on Monday and he could sort it for you then". I explained I was in hospital on Monday having an operation so Monday wasn't really a realistic prospect for me. This seemed to confuse him and he just repeated what he'd said. I did suggest that earthing wasn't a big fix and surely somebody from their many staff members may be able to help. He'd need to speak to his manager who was back Monday. I handed him the bass and walked out the shop. I can't think of a worse example of customer service from everyone I met and a better example of a store talking themselves out of a very easy sale. I've heard good things in the past about them but this is my first and last experience with them. Utterly pathetic. I haven't had service that bad since I was a teenager and that was a fair few years ago now. I wonder how far removed from the 1964 family business vision today's service was?

[quote name='Beedster' post='628427' date='Oct 16 2009, 11:59 PM']Damn, did I miss Magazine [/quote] Iplayer! and they'll be backaround in a moment

So we have a reformed Magazine with the white Jaguar bass, Paloma Faith's bass player sporting the P-bass and Wolfmother in the wings with the Jazz bass. 3 fine looking basses which collectively have 11 more strings than Seastick Steve is managing on right now!

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='628262' date='Oct 16 2009, 08:05 PM']I have a dislike for on stage sunglasses, that is all.[/quote] Acceptable only at outdoor shows when it is sunny!

Pictures now up & looks like a good deal

Go for what you like. Fender Rumble don't have the best reputation but if you like it, go for it. I think there are a lot of great products around that price range these days. Cheap combo wise I have an Ampeg that is pretty decent, the Ashdown stuff is fine - there really is a lot out there

You;ve done well. £15 for a bass and the knob will only cost a few quid even if the pot is snapped

I always say this but the MIM Classic Series is stunning. The VM Squiers are great and rival the MIM entry level basses IMHO but the Classic Series raises the bar again. The whole series seems to be up a grade and I've played several.

Gotta bump this old thread as Dennis Dunaway is the bomb! He was crucial to my early bass listening. AC's original band was awesome. DD had really good tone & some amazing groove going on

[quote name='MythSte' post='626417' date='Oct 14 2009, 09:22 PM'][url="http://old.artscouncil.org.uk/takeitaway/"]Take it Away Scheme[/url] I'm not sure you can just get an amp on this, but i found the music shop to be most accomodating for getting round little things like that when i sorted mine out![/quote] Beat me to it. I've used this 3 times - it doesn't get better than 0% finance & yes, you can get amps on this

The Jaguar is supposed to be excellent but the active circuitry is it's weakness. I spent some time yesterday searching old threads on the Jaguar. I do like the look of them and from what I've heard they sound excellent too - however if it's an active bass you are looking for it would seem this is unlikely to be first choice.

Back in the day I had a Peavey combo from the 70s that I picked up for £50 , gigged to death & sold on 15yrs later for £100. Then I bought a Laney that I never liked. I do have an Ampeg BA115U combo that I am yet to use but I've recently got a decent vintage vibe set up... Now courtesy of Basschat, I have a 1978 Fender Bassman 135 head running into an Ampeg SVT Classic 115E

[quote name='Rowbee' post='624632' date='Oct 13 2009, 12:39 AM']"I doubt you'll find many vintage guitars or basses in such good condition, grab this while you can." I'm always willing to give the benefit of the doubt but I honestly can't see how it could be a typo.[/quote] As per the 2 replies below. If Clarky's assessment is right he could have typed 40 instead of 30. That was all I meant.

It's an amazing collection & you clearly have more basses than the average music shop would normally stock at any one time! Purely as a point of interest I once sold my Jack Cassady bass to a guy on EBay who had 135 instruments. Funny thing, he was divorced. I really like the attention to detail. I only really know Fender basses as they are what I keep going back to (so can't comment on Pangbourn and the like) but you really do seem to have it all covered with an impressive range of Squiers and Fenders.

I play Fender Precisions but then I like to be different

In defence of the email, sometimes it is considered better to use this as opposed to when you are on rehearsal rates. I would hope it is followed by a call me or offer to remain mates. If he phones one of you the others are put out. It's never easy. My view is the initial chat was obviously that he was unhappy and he tried making a go of it. Yes it is sad and I wish you every success bouncing back but 5yrs is a pretty good run. People's priorities do change and at least you have a hard core unit of people who are similarly focussed. For the record I once did some gigs after the band had split and sometimes this is more effort then it's worth. It can be awkward and if the band is not your main source of income then this impacts on the fun factor - i.e. why we do this! Good luck finding a better replacement

An older thread revived... I discovered this book by accident on Amazon and it's great fun. What he don't know ain't worth knowing!

May just be a typo? He has the best rated feedback for a seller and he's not claiming it's 60s.

Interesting link - I suspect the prices are sky high & a lot of the instruments aren't exactly the classic instrument we associate with the artist. Very interesting though

I have a 16w Kustom practice amp that sound awesome but it isn't a 10" speaker. I was actually really impressed with the Ashdown Perfect 10 too. Some people here knock Ashdown but it sounded great to me, for what it was