silentbob

I'd love to see a "Mod Of The Month" feature where a reader could submit their own modified bass for review, along with a discription of the modding process. Could also add a small how-to guide each month showing how to carry out a different mod to your bass. This could be done by buying a cheap ass piece of crap bass, modding it over the course of twelve months, then giving it away to a reader in a comp. Also, can we have a "Skankdelvar's Thought Of The Month" feature. The guy's posts on here are brilliant!

Bought a bass from Dan. Everything went very smoothly and it was a real pleasure to deal with him.

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1340703305' post='1708211'] I'm spoiled for music shops Mansons in Exeter is only half an hour away and Axe Music in Axminster (great name for a guitar shop)is only minutes away. It is tiny and only stocks limited bass gear but keeps it interesting with some good used gear which rotates fairly frequently. It's the centre of the music scene down here. Andy has played in several of the local bands, mixed for others and helped out most of us at one time or another. He's great with kids coming in for a first instrument and advice is given freely even if no sale is in sight. What he does well is getting hold of the bits and pieces you need in a hurry that other places don't keep in stock. Saturday mornings the place is a bit of a social centre for musicians. We found our drummer through a small ad in the shop too. Al these shops struggle because of the restrictive practices of the manufacturers like Gibson and Fender who require shops to stock their whole range which means a £60,000 investment, way beyond the means of all but the big boys. Its as if they have decided for us we aren't going to be able to try before we buy or purchase from someone who can offer after sales service. Unless you live in a major city you have tho use the internet for a lot of gear. [/quote] Wasn't aware of Axe Music, will have to have a look see next time I'm passing through.

Anybody seen one of these in the flesh yet?

I honestly don't mind paying a bit over the top if it helps keep a decent shop going (never know when you might need a set of strings or a cable at short notice) but sometimes the savings are so massive by shopping online that you can't really ignore it. I do always phone the local shops first though to give them the chance to get my money, guess I'll just be phoning one less from now on.

Been thinking about getting hold of a Zoom B3 multi fx unit so had a phone around my local shops today (I like to spend my money locally if I can) to see what price they could do one for. First shop were very apologetic, "Sorry, we don't deal with Zoom, but feel free to bring in your bass and try the Floor Pod we have here." Which I thought was a decent enough attitude. Then I phoned shop number two. Me - Hi, do you stock Zoom pedals, I'm looking for a B3? Shop - Yes, we are authorised Zoom dealers, but have none of their gear in at the moment. Me - Ok, well what price could you do on a B3? Shop - Not sure, like I say, we don't have any here. Me - Well would you not be able to order one in? Shop - Not really, too much hassle to order a single unit and I don't really want to order in a load of their gear just now as it's probably a £500 minimum order. Me - Um, ok, I'll try somewhere else then. Thanks anyway. Shop - Click, beeeeeeeeeeeeeep (Hangs up without even a goodbye) Guess I won't be using them again.

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1340409581' post='1704290'] Heh - I'm painfully aware of that, believe me. I use skype-to-phone to call my parents in Italy, and Thomann at any available opportunity, and it's much cheaper than using a landline or a phonecard. [/quote] Maybe I should look into this Skype thing, don't really know much about it.

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1340405847' post='1704251'] I've said it before, I'll say it again - if you have a problem or a query, call them, don't email. They are incredibly efficient on the phone but very slack on the email. And yes, they do speak English, some even natively, as some of the operators tele-work from other European countries, including the UK. [/quote] To be honest, the reason I didn't phone was because I have no idea how much it costs to phone Germany and didn't fancy getting a big surprise phone bill. Anyway, it all got sorted in the end, and knowing what I know now, I'd probably still use them if the price was right, just be a little more prepared for any issues.

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1340398298' post='1704148'] Did you write them in German or did you assume they could all read English? [/quote] Yep, I assumed they could all read English, what with them having an English language version of their website.

[quote name='EdwardHimself' timestamp='1340397518' post='1704134'] I think it could be a lot worse to be fair; at least you get your delivery money back. [/quote] True, but it took nearly two weeks to send out the replacement (it took them one week from receiving the faulty unit to respond to any of my emails) which is a bit slack.

Bought a mini rig from them recently an the cab was faulty. Turned into a bit of a pain in the arse sorting the replacement but we got there in the end. Guess you have to weigh up whether the cheap prices are worth the hassle involved with sending something back to Germany (and the waiting time this involves) if you have a problem.

Hi, I use a pick with my hand resting on the bridge. Up till now the paint is showing no sign of coming off so I'd say go for it. What colour scheme are you going for?

Stef bought my Squier Jazz. Top fella to deal with, and great comms throughout the transaction. Would happily deal with him again.

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1339197029' post='1685380'] Punk is Precision, Jazz, Stingray or Ric. That includes modern punk. [/quote] Surely punk is playing whatever bass you want and not giving a f@#k if it's the right one.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1339013477' post='1682526'] If it's polyester you may as well leave it on - it's the best sealer there is and you won't have any paint sinking... [/quote] Ok, that sounds good, but how do i know if it's polyester, and if it is, would i need to give it a light sanding before spraying with primer?

I have this P body that I want to have a go at painting. It is from a natural ash bodied Encore and doesn't have any paint or laquer on it, but it does look like it has some kind of coating. It feels woodlike and satiny to the touch, but I'm a bit unsure when it comes to this type of stuff as to what type of prep I'd need to do. It also has a few small dings that I'd like to get rid of so what would be the best way of doing this? Paint wise, I'm thinking of going for a matt black, but can't seem to find any advice for painting this type of finish. Does anybody have any pointers on the best way to do this? Thanks Silentbob

Just checked the tracking details and they received the cab back on Wednesday, yet so far I've heard nothing. Seems like they charge return shipping if you are just returning an item, hopefully I will avoid this as I have asked for a replacement.

Have a look here, should be able to work out which model it is. http://www.spectorbass.com/about/model_years.html

I did request a courier pick up, but was just emailed the form. Never mind, it's already on it's way back to them. Just seems a pain in the arse that you should be expected to lug a speaker cabinet to the nearest post office. Don't know what I would have done if I'd had to return the head aswell. Don't like the idea of asking somebody to watch parcel A while I pop back to the car for parcel B. Guess I'm learning my Thomann lesson the hard way

So Thomann emailed me a postage label to send back the cab. Have to take it to a post office though which is a bit of a pain in the ass as it isn't always possible to park close to one of these. Thankfully the cab's a very lightweight 1x15", but still awkward to move when boxed (especialy as I can't let the magnet get too close to my pacemaker). Christ knows what I would have done if it were a 8x10" or bigger. Surely it would be easier to just get the courier to collect it when they drop the replacement.

Quick update, have sent a couple of emails back and forth. Thomann offered a discount on the amp bundle, but didn't say how much, so i wrote back saying that was fine as long as it was enough to to cover all costs of getting the unit repaired over here. They then e-mailed back to say all I would need is a tube of Loctite 243 screw lock to prevent the nut from coming undone, no mention about the fact that the nut will still be protruding from the cab by about 7mm. I have requested a replacement, let's wait to see what happens. Have to say, this is the first time I have ordered from Thomann, and only did so because of their reputation on here for good customer service, but so far I have been less than impressed. Hopefully they will redeem themselves by organizing a speedy pick-up and redelivery of the cab.