40hz

19 minutes ago, DTB said:

Is the quality control automated or is it done by a human?

The basic finishing and set up will be human. The rest of the construction process, automated.

Let's not ignore the fact the Mexican factory has pumped out some stonkingly good quality basses and guitars for the best part of a decade now. So, imo, specifically being from Mexico has very little do with this.

22 minutes ago, DTB said:

I am assuming that these are made in Mexico?

when I was able I did a fair bit of motorcycle touring although I never ventured as far as Mexico I have seen areas in Spain and Portugal where the local towns are like a time warp. The residents are dressed in extremely faded old clothes, they have virtually nothing, the houses are extremely basic, built on dirt roads with dust all the time and they live on bread and tomatoes and other basic stuff they can cultivate themselves. They live with the oppressive heat most of the year and are always hiding from the sun. It is an existence that most of us never see or appreciate, I can imagine Mexico being very similar and then there’s the Fender Factory stuck there making the most of the cheap workforce. 
I might be wrong of course, but that’s how i see it. 
 

 

Not sure how all of this affects the CNC machines they use in the Fender factory in Mexico, as they use the same ones in the USA, China, Indonesia and Japan. Where people are from would make little to no difference to the end product given the high level of machine automation in a Fender product.

2 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

 

Performer series are £1.3k

 

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Fender-American-Performer-Jazz-Bass-RW-Arctic-White/2RA0?origin=product-ads&gclid=Cj0KCQiA54KfBhCKARIsAJzSrdq9e-EborJOds7z8gcOw__PMENHtGhdzwn8Wwz0xeryob2wX9oTbUkaAuyuEALw_wcB

https://www.andertons.co.uk/fender-american-performer-jazz-bass-rw-3tsb?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=surfaces&gclid=Cj0KCQiA54KfBhCKARIsAJzSrdphVxVW6nhts4WNaQWSufaD3xqhTZRMEzvFvhDPmNn2-RH7bMjR968aAgOMEALw_wcB

These were a smidge under £1000 less than 2 years ago. That's quite a hike.

How did these ever get signed off, QC-wise. Didn't someone at some point go " maybe we should recall all of these, to prevent reputational damage?"

Maybe they just don't/didn't care and assume/d people will buy them and not complain or notice? Pretty poor, either way you spin it, from Fender's point of view.

Damn it! I wish you would have waited a month to put this up for sale! , I'd had chewed your arm off. Alas, not quite there with the £££ yet. This is stunning!

19 hours ago, Aidan63 said:

fair price ? 99p start auction on Ebay and let it run and it sells for what the market will pay that day, occasionally someone gets a bargain, but mostly they sell for a fair and fairly consistent price; I think people are a bit optimistic about the worth of second hand instruments that have had a life and come with no return, no cooling off period, no warranty - and often they won't post; the online shops sell new, with shipping and warranty and return policies, and there are thousands of new instruments being sold every week in this country, and some of the new stuff is very good value for money.  There's usually 1000 used basses for sale on Ebay and Reverb platforms with some sort of consumer protection, plus many more for sale of FB etc...

The good stuff generally gets held onto and played, a lot of stuff just changes hands often on the basis of buying 2nd hand to try something different and 'you won't loose much' which is a mantra repeated on here a lot to newbies. The stuff that has sold of the 196 listed was almost I think without exception priced lower than most would ask for the same instruments, being sold to be played not to appreciate in value. 

I know shoot the heretic😵

I agree. While an instrument is only worth what someone will pay for it, I think we can all agree that most, if not all, instruments have a rough market value (you're not going to sell a Wal for £200, although I think some poor chaps probably did do that in the 90's).

You'd think given money is tighter for most, you'd see basses actually going for more competitive prices, as there's less willingness, perhaps, to part with large sums as people tighten their belts - but I don't see this at all ATM outside of Basschat. What I'm seeing a lot of late is a propensity to go well above that value on other selling sites, which is fine, if the market will bear it and people will buy at those prices, but they often don't, and you see the same instruments knocking around for ages, before they invariably accept an offer, or price it more in line with the rough market value.

Maybe Basschat tends to be better in that we're (mostly) well versed in buying and selling all sorts of stuff, and are quite exposed to what things will actually go for, etc.

I'd also add, that in my experience, the brand of bass goes a long way. Some brands just aren't that popular with the wider bass playing populace, regardless of how much it cost the original owner, your potential market to sell to is much smaller than Fender and the like, so you're going to take a hit, more often than not.

This really is the best place to buy and sell basses on the net. The pricing of instruments on here, seems to reflect the real market value a lot better (most of the time).

I've been looking for a particular type of bass recently, and have been scouring Reverb, eBay, FB Marketplace daily for it, and the prices are mental across the board - this is the only place where it seems to be *right*

That is probably the cleanest (literally) Streamer of its age, I think I've seen. What a stunner!

I was playing at a private party in which Jon Coughlan (he of 'Quo' dame) was attendance. Well, naturally, he was asked if he would get up and play a song. So I got to jam with him. Great drummer - surprisingly Jazzy. 

The best amp I've ever used/owned. Such a fat growl out of these things. In the words of Hagrid (sort of) "I should not have sold that!".

The J4 in Surf Green has tempted me a few times. I just can't get over the pickup routing. Circular ended pickups in square routes - leaving a lot of space. What is that about?

12 hours ago, IanA said:

This Dingwall must hold the record for heaviest bass ever produced 😂

Is it any good for metal though, if it's that heavy?  . . .  Oh wait it's a Dingwall - as you were!

Incredible bargain. I have the Tony Levin model and it's excellent (aside from the originally, bizarrely wired controls)

I'll keep mine short.

I'm 36 and I find modern chart music the absolute fecking pits. Identikit, simple, dance-hall, ragga type stuff, with a high pitched, autotuned vocal about being in a club. The sort of music you hear being played at full pelt on a mobile phone by the local scrotes.

That said, I don't think modern music, as a whole is worse. It's as good as it's probably ever been. The great stuff is still there if you scratch below the mainstream surface (my personal fave being Tom Misch).

However, I do agree that the general quality of what I'd call 'chart' music is at a nadir at the moment, and doesn't hold a candle to the chart music of the previous 4-5 decades.

Absolutely wonderous! The older Thumb shape is incredible - much nicer than the modern one.

6 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

 

This one also has it, looks like an '04 same year and model as the one in the OP:

 

Every other one I've seen (including my old single pickup 5er) had the regular Warwick style one with the access cover and model name.

I do apologise. I stand corrected. I've just gone to check mine and it is as this one.🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

6 hours ago, lemmywinks said:

Seller knows it's some sort of Rockbass.

 

Interstingly (actually not that interesting but whatever) some of the early Rockbass Streamers did come with that truss rod cover and were changed to the German style ones later so that's most likely not aftermarket.

Interesting stuff!

I have a September 2002 Rockbass Streamer 5 and it doesn't have that truss cover, so this one must be a very early one. I think they started selling Rockbasses early summer 2002?

As an aside - this bass needs burning. I wouldn't pay £50 for it!

It's like a 1970s Japanese, Reverend Mercalli, Warwick dolphin, Gibson Les Paul hybrid, made by a one-armed squid. 

It just needs killing with fire, quite frankly.

I've never been in a dictatorship band - I'm not sure I could be. I get the feeling that style is more likely to breed resentment and result (on the whole) in bands that have a lot of friction or don't stay together too long (unless paid/compensated well).

On 19/01/2023 at 12:11, Chienmortbb said:

Bill is right (I used Duck Duck Go but use Google if you must) However this has a lot to do with dispersion. Your 2x12 will be throwing plenty of volume and bandwidth out into the room, but you are probably standing in front of your cab with your head above some of the higher frequencies of your bass. This is why a proper mid/high frequency driver and crossover is required. Then you hear more of what the audience hears.

 

 

That 2x12 I no longer have!

With my current Trace 2x8 stack, it's tall enough to, more or less, be at ear level. I can hear a nice full range of sound apart from 'deep' bass. It is there - just not stood next to the cab. The crowd are getting it though. This was my original point to the OP who felt he needed more guts in his sound - he probably does have it!

KZ5 by a mile. I had the standard model with factory preamp and MTD P/Us.

If the quality of the B-string is your primary concern, the MTD is in another league to pretty much anything else - let alone your other choices. I found the standard Pre-amp nicely voiced - a lot of that biting MTD sound was present. I think people began this trend of swapping them out because it's the done thing to do with them, rather than just using their ears. The standard pickups I had (double coils though) were practically silent.

Good luck in your hunt!

8 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

You would buy into it too if your livelihood depended in large part on upcharging for exotic timbers.

Read the end of my comment. I did say that.

I'd hazard a bet and say you probably are getting the oomph you're after, but, you're not hearing it correctly, being so close to the cabinets. I recently thought my Trace Elliot 2x8 cabs were a bit low on the low end up close, so made my singer play the bass while I went out 15ft or so into the room, and they suddenly sounded HUGE. 

I used to suffer with this with my old Markbass 2x12, where I had a couple of people, at separate points, at the back of venues, actually come up to me and tell me the bass was overpowering at the back of the room. Which I found utterly inconceivable, as it sounded crap to me on stage!

1 hour ago, kodiakblair said:

Vested interests.

 

Nordstrand's bread & butter is pickups and preamps while the other lot use mystical 'TW' to partly justify  price tags.   

Don't get me wrong - I agree with you. I'm firmly on the concept of 'tone' wood is more or less complete nonsense on a solid-body electric instrument. Just an observation that they seem to vehemently buy into it, but then, they would, wouldn't they? They've got to make £££ and what better way to upcharge than the concept of exotic tone woods.

Just use the Trace. The differences in sound between amps, imo, are fairly minimal. Don't be guilty of imagining these chasm-esque differences in sound. They're really not there amongst amp brands! (In the past 40 years, anyway).