deathpanda

[quote name='redstriper' post='669623' date='Nov 29 2009, 11:23 PM']Before you do any of the above, contact the seller, tell him how you feel and ask for a refund. He may be happy to do that and it will save a lot of time and trouble. I have been dealing on ebay for nearly 10 years and seen a few disputes - all have been resolved successfully and correctly without any need for negative feedback or bad feeling. You have nothing to lose by following my advice.[/quote] Thanks for the lengthy post, very informative. However, I took the bass 'round a family friends house today to have a look. He says the serious damage is purely cosmetic and that he can fix everything else. I'm not sure how much he will ask, especially after finding the right screws for the saddle (he says I will probably have to buy a whole set) but I have sent a message to the seller just now, saying how I feel about it and if he thinks it's reasonable to give me the money for the repair. If he doesn't reply, I will have to go through PayPal, how you described. On an unrelated note, whilst I have a thread active I may as well ask; anyone know a good site to get a black Jazz bass scratchguard from, for a good price? All the sites I have found seem to be pretty steep, apart from ebay, which I don't even wanna look at right now. *edit* I should add, whilst I do care about the cosmetics, a few dents and a dip in the neck is something I can live with. In a few years, when I have accumulated a plethora of basses (I can see it now...), a few dents in some of them is going to remind me of the good and bad times, and give them character that will make them special, and only to me.

[quote name='SS73' post='669407' date='Nov 29 2009, 08:00 PM']I'm going to drive from Hereford to Brighton Gak to try and get the best Geddy I can find from the bunch they have, trying a bass first will give you an idea if you have picked up a piece of Bog oak and to avoid it.[/quote] Have you asked if they're in stock? I traveled there to buy a guitar advertised as in stock on their website, not knowing that the site is the shop's sister company... it was out of stock. Luckily I found a better guitar thanks to the help of the staff, and it still remains one of my best purchases ever.

Lesson learned. This is my first instrument I have bought without playing it first, I guess it was just an impulse buy. I gotta say though, I absolutely fu*king love the sound of the bass.

I know I should have said something as soon as it arrived. At first I was totally chuffed with the bass, it sounded awesome through my practice amp, and to me, it sounded amazing through an ampeg at a college gig. For some reason though, I don't know why, I didn't care about the action and A string, I got a Geddy Lee bass for £400... Now some of my friends have pointed out that I could have got a much better bass for the money, and the condition wasn't anywhere near good enough for what I paid. It's finally all kicked in and I just feel... 400 quid short...

[quote name='Moos3h' post='668922' date='Nov 29 2009, 09:34 AM']Deathpanda. Give Terry (TJC Guitars) a call: • Telephone: 01438 216342 • Fax: 01438 216342 • Email: [email protected] He's easily half the price of any other luthier around here, turns the work over quickly and won't give you any rubbish and sell you things you don't need. He'll sort it out, I think you'll be able to get somewhere with the ebayer for the cost of a setup. Cheers, James[/quote] Thanks for the info. I'm taking the bass to a close family friend today to have a look at it. He's pretty handy with repairs and stuff, but if he can't do it, I will give Terry a call. Again, cheers. [quote name='SS73' post='669007' date='Nov 29 2009, 11:39 AM']Unless the ebayer is reading this thread, if so, then you may need to go round his house.[/quote] If only!

Thanks for all the replies, I have taken something from all of them. I think I will ask for a small refund just to cover a professional setup, do you think that is reasonable? [quote name='LukeFRC' post='668237' date='Nov 28 2009, 01:24 PM']The E string would be quieter if the A was lower and you lowered that side of the pup to compensate?[/quote] I'm not sure at all to be honest, all the strings have full volume apart from the e. I don't wanna mess about with anything myself because I have no experience with repairing instruments. I can restring and do the intonation, I think that's all I'm comfortable with.

I've been exremely frustrated lately with a Geddy Lee signature jazz I ordered of ebay... the dude explained that there were a few dents and dips in the neck, and that it had been "well looked after", which I was completely fine with, looking at the pictures... The bass arrived a couple of weeks ago, and where do I begin? The intonation was screwed, I fixed it myself but it was insanely bad... The tiny "dents" in the neck were big enough to rest my thumb in (not cool, when you're sliding up and down the neck). There's some blue ink on the neck, near the neck pup, and blotches on the back of the body when you look in the light... There are dents and scratches all over the body... A screw on the saddle of the A string is missing, which means the A string is lower than the rest (I should also note the action is ridiculously high)... The cherry on top? The e string is considerably quieter than the other strings, so when I was half proud of my brand new bass and decided to gig with it, I ended up having to seriously thump the e string to be heard. Only recently have I noticed how poor the bass is overall. My question is this; have any of you experienced something like this on ebay and successfully been able to get a refund? Would you be able to explain the process of going about doing it? My guess that I can't get a refund, and that I've been completely ripped off (not my first time on ebay). I paid £400 for it, which is cheaper than it would have cost new, but I still find it very sick in the head that someone would sell it in this condition. Perhaps someone able to fix it here would like to take it off me or do a trade? Thanks in advanced for reading this, I will try to get some pictures up later if anyone's interested.

[quote name='Buzz' post='656893' date='Nov 17 2009, 12:39 PM']Chances are that no matter what you use to paint it with you'll need to finish it with it a number of clear coats (probably laquer) to make it a bit more permanent and durable, so you might as well do the design in acrylics. Drop WaynePunkDude an email, he paints all his pickguards as checkerboards, ask him what he's used and this methods for finishing.[/quote] Thanks, will do!

My friend wants me to paint a design I made for him on his white stra***ster pickuard. I would've posted this on a g**tar forum but the only one I visit is UG and I'm banned from there for something silly (the mods suck). So lets pretend I'm talking a nice white P-bass pickguard I designed a big wing that covers half of the pickguard and have the words "little wing" (kind of ironic, eh?) covering half of the right side. I was initially thinking of using acrylics, but it turns out the rabbit hole goes deeper. Any ideas, guys? It would be much appreciated. Here is a really rough drawing I did without the wing, to give you and idea:

[quote name='AndyTravis' post='653058' date='Nov 12 2009, 09:01 PM']i've got fresh saddles on the way from the US, when i get them i'll post you a couple of height screws for the cost of postage and a couple of quid.[/quote] Wow, that's pretty handy, cheers. Could you send me a PM when you get them? [quote name='~tl' post='653074' date='Nov 12 2009, 09:19 PM']If the string is sharp when fretted on the 12th, then you need to move the saddle back (away from the neck). I like to use a tuner and compare the open string with the fretted 12th fret. I generally tune up the string, fret the 12th, adjust the saddle if necessary and repeat the process until the open and 12th are both in tune on the tuner. Should only take a few minutes once you get the hang of it, and you should really do it every time you change strings or adjust the saddle heights.[/quote] Thanks for the reply, I'll give it a go tomorrow if I get a chance.

Hello all, I just got a Geddy Lee signature jazz through the post today, the intonation is fu*ked and the saddle on the A string is missing a screw, causing the A string to be lower that the rest, funnily enough that's the only string the intonation is right on. Just a few questions; is the saddle easy to fix? What screws can I get that will fit? And also, I have never changed intonation before. When I play the harmonic on the 12th fret the pitch is like a semitone lower than when it's fretted, does that mean I need to tighten or loosen the screw? I would try it myself, but I don't have access to any tools right now... With all that said, this bass sounds bloody brilliant... Trying to top this bass, as far as jazz basses and tone go, it's going to be difficult. *edit* picture, in case I worded it wrong.