Philip_

the wood grain certainly isn't unspectacular. nice bass.

strap locks have always seemed like a woefully overpriced product to me. some of them are 30 quid which is ridiculous.

how is the neck? can't remember the name for the way the frets are arranged but it always struck me as interesting...easier or just different?

i'd donate but i badly need strings! likewise when i saw a "bike for progress" charity i said the same, i can't buy you a bike when i need one myself. the thing about being skint is that you still feel bad that other people are poorer but you can't do much about it personally.

i remember when vintage were the only brand doing anything decent for under 200 quid. glad to hear they're still at it.

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1398113080' post='2430643'] I've not bought from Thomann before but I've never heard a bad review. GAK and Andertons I've had excellent experiences with though [/quote] Gak's online dealings have always been good for me - i'd love to visit their shop but it's far too far away from me to even consider. they made a whole terrace of shops into their place and it looks jam-packed with cool gear. now THIS is a music shop if i've ever seen one... andertons were particularly easy to deal with when my amp arrived broken. i know a lot of companies do the "no questions asked" returns thing, but they were chill on the phone and we had a bit of a laugh about it. i'd give either of those companies my money again.

thomann are a good company no doubt about it. andertons and GAK are also reliable and both do bass demos on youtube which i appreciate.

[quote name='Russ' timestamp='1396521122' post='2414543'] It's Wal syndrome. Builder shuts down, snob value of instruments goes up, especially when name players use them (Flea's apparently gone back to his Moduli). The Flea Basses are bloody good instruments though. Tried a 5-string with MM/J pickups a couple of years back and it was spectacular. [/quote] no, it's business. supply disappears so all the people who would otherwise buy new are forced to compete for existing instruments.

there's one decent shop here, guy knows his stuff and has worked with some names, but even his stock of instruments is limited and woefully overpriced. the other ones scrape by selling "squier + amp" packs and PA equipment, i don't know how they survive. you'd need to travel 1 hour on the train and then walk to the other end of town to find a place with the same choice as any average internet company. trying before you buy can be a tricky thing.

P bass is the thing, you get the classic tone they used back in the '60s - cuts through but not too harshly.

i've got the junior jet as well, the single pickup version. i replaced the bridge for a gotoh and it's a mean little player, no doubt about it. you can get some really classic tones out of them and the neck is extremely fast due to the size, but still nice and chunky. i'm thinking about fitting a thundertron pickup from tvjones in a few months. i'd love to try the painfully-expensive thunderjet model to see how nice they can go.

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1397904084' post='2428412'] Plus 1. Poor execution of what could have been great. [/quote] to be fair, it's a new thing, i'm sure they will add more options in the future.

i'm determined to own a roadstar or a blazer from the 80's. they're so scarce at times and then 5 come along at once. how much should i be thinking if i'm after one in reasonable condition and i'm not too picky about the model or series?

rat in mi kitchen by ub40. [media]http://youtu.be/xkz71zy8T8s[/media] the second half is a damn good instrumental version. if anyone knows who did the artwork for this record i would love to find out.