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At age 14 I was playing Bass and Sax when these were (along with columbus, kay and other stuff I have forgotten) a starter bass. Usually from a catalogue. One of my mates had one. Seem to remember the neck was OK apart from being a very short scale. The machine heads I clearly remember being absolute crap. No loss by replacing them. Be interesting to hear clips through a good (or even OK) modern bass amp & cab. I remember two colours, sunburst and a solid cream colour, rather like my 1980s USA Telecaster. Also think the pickups may be very noisy at volume - sensitive to taps / hand noise / plectrum etc on body. Might be worth isolating pickups from body e.g. squashy plastic tubing rather than springs on the pickup screws - Fender again. You may even need to wax pot the pickups to prevent squeal. I was glad at 15 to buy a 58 Gibson EB2. A world apart from a Columbus at that time. Paid for from gigs, not rich parents. Sounds as if I am old enough to be your dad. Enjoy the project.

Trouble is second hand wifebeater is not as good as new, luckily with gear the situation is better.

[quote]What ya got? smile.gif[/quote] Apologies - SB1, sunburst, maple neck, black crinkle metal scratchplate, black crinkle bridge, MFD pickup, chipped and slightly beat up finish (not me). TI flats & I love it. just like this [url="http://forum.warwick.de/24-basses/7488-g-l-sb-1-20-years-old-next-month.html"]this one[/url] (not mine) other than mine has black plastic vintage radio style knobs and the gold sticker on my neckplate is wider with more patent numbers (obsessive or what) and the finish on this one is in far better condition. Then again I didn't have to pay for relicing, it came with it.

It's going to be tough, My wife's business had 10% price rises from several suppliers before the VAT rise. Now just add fuel price rises in and it gets even better. We will try and absorb some of this but she has to make a living - I can't keep her - I'm on a 2 year pay freeze unlike bankers. Currency does not help either - our answer is import more from the far east and India (nobody makes our products in UK unless it is serious money designer stuff). Add to this how many of us are awaiting redundancy/modernisation and have stopped spending. I am not defending excessive price rises / profiteering, but it's going to be a tough year to be in business. Second hand is the way to go, and through basschat, we must have enough kit between us to just keep recirculating it.

[quote]Ps. I'm glad so few people realise how good g&l are. There arent enough USA g&l around in UK for all of us.[/quote] Fully agree, but, as with all these things its subjective - My 85 G&L (with the by Leo Fender label and non pointy headstock) was way cheaper than Fender P or J at the time. Its like a P bass on steroids, stays in tune and for me does it all. Had this one for 20 out of 38 years bass playing, its staying with me until I play my last note. Would like to find another one.

Watch out for Post Office handling charges if you import from USA, not to mentions import duty & VAT. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you get unlucky on this one. Last time stung for £8 handling because of £1 customs charges. Might be cheaper to buy another BW fitted bass cab - they appear often enough on *bay. Use the spare wood to keep warm, though MDF is a b* to burn. Refitting the new basket is not as easy as it sounds - I dismantled my BW to identify the problem. The speaker coil never went back in correctly despite care. Result was distorted grinding sounds. It is possible to get them reconed in the UK, but my conclusion is that the Eminence Kappalite 3015 is the way ahead. Later when you get bored with the weight of the Peavey MDF cab you can self build a lightweight 15" cab e.g. BFM Jack 15 or clone something else. I have used Peavey kit for over 32 years - currently Tour 700, and 2 valve guitar combos. Previously 2 bass combos & Firebass 700. Failures - one only, the BW speaker glue gave up after 28 years. Bomb proof & reliable. The only downer (at my age) is the weight of some kit. The 1x12 BW guitar combo is a beast, weighs far more than the Barefaced Big One, is heavier than the 2x12 Duece combo. MDF vs plywood as they are both 120W valve chassis.

Went through the same issues when my 15" BW gave up about 2 years ago - the glue on the cone gave up - it was new in 1985 so I had my £s worth. FWIW an Eminence Kappalite 3015 would make a premium lightweight replacement and is better value than a replacement basket/cone. Kappalite 3015 as used in Barefaced Compact. Measure the internal volume of the Peavey cab, then look at the Eminence website designs for 3015. If the Peavey cab is in volume (cm3) range go ahead. Also note the port sizes and resize the Peavey cab ports. It won't be exact but near enough should be OK. With my Peavey I did not worry about the specs, I bought a Fender (Eminence) 15" used 4 Ohm off the forum and fitted it. Worked a treat, maybe I got lucky! I was moving it on & just wanted it to work whilst getting some £ back after 28 years use. Do you want a 4 Ohm 15" BW with duff voice coil, free on pick up. edited for sense

Or if it is not the neck alignment, try some of these grooved saddles - cheap & cheerful. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SPIRAL-SADDLES-FENDER-BASSES-/320639962920?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item4aa7a18f28"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SPIRAL-SADDLES-FENDE...=item4aa7a18f28[/url]

Just a quick check - are you sure it is a misaligned bridge. My 77 precision appeared to have this problem from new. I wrote (the old days) and complained to Fender UK about this (and the lack of screening) and got a letter & service booklet back. The cure was; loosen strings, loosen neck screws and tap headstock the appropriate way with palm (probably upwards towards upper body horn). Retighten neck screws, retune & it was sorted. Might or might not be the case with your bass, if it is the case, it is a cheap fix My early 90s strat has the misaligned neck pickup polepiece problem, as do all the others of that era, Fender changed the bridge to 2 post with wider saddles,with cost cutting by not changing pickup polepiece position and covers Shame, it irritated me beyond belief on what is an otherwise well built guitar - now sorted with new pickups - at my expense. edited for spelling & improved explanation

Most of my wishes covered so far, would like two channels. footswitchable. These should cover the whole range from grind/overdrive (mild) through to hi fi type bass. Get this right and the six stringed bretheren might be interested as well, thus increasing market share. Why not be radical and try torroidal output transformers to reduce weight - big EI is not the only way forward. Even more radical, switch mode psu? (Peavey?). The marketing problem is that quality used valve kit is available at good prices, e.g. the VBA 400 I bought and then moved on due to back problems.

Morgan +8 as per every year for the last 32, I have suggested to SWMBO that this is a suitable Christmas (or birthday present). As I understand it, this request has failed again. Can't complain on the gear front however, I have survived purchasing another bass - the Kramer DMZ4001 that was on here recently. It's absolutely super, and I had wanted one since seeing them in the late 70s (unable to afford as a student having bought a Precision in 77/78).

Effects - what are they, no not at all, not ever. As with some others, bass, cable, amp, cab and playing technique. Trying to use an effects pedal would make me even more likely to forget the chord sequences, and I have enough difficulty remembering them as it is.

Many years ago aged 15 I made myself a tele bass body to use with a Columbus bass neck. Looked the part. Neck heavy and dive were undersatements. Some lead or depleted uranium at the body strap end would help the balance. Depends if you like your basses heavy or slightly radioactive. also DU is hard to obtain.

Perceptions, perceptions, I once lent my G&L SB1 (before tribute era) to another player (only for an hour..) to have the comment "why do you have a copy bass". Enough said, he was quite happy with his Squire Jazz, me with with my G&L. Nowadays I do not bother about the labels, I just play them, does it sound good, will it fall apart is my test. There are some beautiful basses about (I always wanted a Wal, alembic, EB3, jayDee...), I would be heartbroken if I had one and it was damaged / stolen at a gig or otherwise. Currently we are spolt with Yamaha, Ibanez, vantage. Vintage, G&L tribute etc, etc.... quality at knock down prices. Can I replace my 85 G&L SB1 - unlikely, can I replace the aforementioned - easily. Play it, if it feels good and sounds good ignore the label, more so if it's dirt cheap. 21 years with the G&l and having done 58 EB2, 77 Precision, 81 John Birch and 78 Ric bass for me its the keeper. It was also the second cheapest (EB2 was only £85 or so in 1975)