hooky_lowdown

Maybe a Kramer?

Really? The Fender is more punchy and warm I thought. The Sire looks cool, although not sure why they put black dot inlays on a dark roasted neck, can barely see them. The Squier really lacked presence, definitely the worst, HB more than holds its own.

Nice comparison of a Fender, Sire, Squier and Harley Benton's take on the '54 P...

With rattles it could be a slightly loose tuner head which vibrates at certain frequences, try holding the each tuner head (in turn) still and pluck a string or two. If it is a tuner head, there is a simple super glue trick to help. Could also be a badly seated string, try loosening a string if the rattling happens on that one strings, turn the brass ball at the end of the string and re-tune. Generally, if its a truss rod which is damaged it'll rattle, try tapping the back of the neck with the heel of your hand, if it rattles, then you may have a damaged or broken truss rod, if it doesn't it may be one of the two things above. Also, the nut could be cut too wide, so the string rattles in the nut.

Take a look at the sold prices on here and eBay, you'll get the best idea. Just use the search function. 😃

To muddy the waters, there were others brands from Italy making very similar telecaster basses around the same time, like Shaftesbury.

Fender sell the JMJ Mustang with fender flats as standard. Think that tells you all. Fender flats are high tension on full scale, however on short scale they're more like medium tension, and sound fantastic. Pop on a set of fender flats, they're reasonably priced compared to other flatwound brands too.

This may help... http://flatericbassandguitar.blogspot.com/2010/11/columbus-telecaster-bass.html?m=1

Looks like an Antoria Tele bass, short scale. They're usually off white, but looks stripped and (poorly) varnished.

If you've never played a Dano, you'll find them to have some of the best necks to play, uber fun and super fast. Yes, they are light 6-7lbs range.

Hi Ross. If you've already used YouTube, I'd suggest keep using YouTube, search for your favourite bands/songs and include the words "bass tab" in the search box, you may find people have uploaded videos with tabs, which you can play along with, which will be the quickest, easiest and fun way to learn and develop. You may find you learn scales, pentatonics etc without actually knowing it. Thats the best way to learn imho.