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Latest from Alan, final checks and set-up shipping next week...!!

It was for sale, and I just bought it! It only turned up today, so I haven't had a chance to get pictures yet, so here is one of its sale ones:

Oh look at this, Time for me to (re)join the group!

Fantastic gig on Saturday night at our favourite venue, Coda in Colchester. This bar is owned by two youngish blokes who run it purely as a live music venue and they’re doing well with it. They have jam and open mic nights every week and acoustic sets weekend afternoons. Well worth a look in if you’re ever in Colchester. we had a busy night but finally getting back into our stride after the lockdown took its toll. a compilation from Saturday

Saturday afternoon private party in a social club. Weird time to play, caused allsorts of issues with my wife having to have the kids all day with me hardly around having other commitments in the morning too. Getting more confident with the set list though, so much so that there's now joking about between us all on the stage.

Just snagged an excellent condition 1993 vintage no fan AH250SMX. Replaced the original insanely microphonic TE branded ECC83 with a new JJ and all is working perfectly.

To be honest - he says grabbing his coat and making for the door - the misaligned headstock decal, poor spray job, and wonky fretboard markers, surely make it a genuine Fender? 😆

Plenty of juicy tube goodness in this set up with power and punch to spare A passive MM cutlass with Ti flats and it’s sublime.

I did a thing

Juliet, as in all the best forums things start to teeter on the out of control. When I was in my early days all talk of preamps and notch filters would scare the hell out of me. So here’s some simple advice. Use your existing amp and plug your mic in. That will probably be ok for starters but if you can get a bridge wing pickup that will probably work better. Then see how you get on with that. In time you will feel that there’s something lacking in your sound, and so there will be. But you will have a reference on which to build. The advantage in playing outdoors is that you won’t get the room acoustics that can spoil the amplified bass sound. As NickA posted, you will be most unlikely to suffer with feedback outdoors. But at least make sure that everything works before you leave home.

After a good deal of EQ faffage, I settled on John East's EQ offerings a long time ago, and now they're in almost all my basses (as much for consistency as whether the basses were drastically in need of it) I have (including my Dingwall, my bitsa Shukerbird, and my main Shukers) and have improved everything they've gone in. Mostly U-Retros, of various vintages... They're a very 'musical' control, but the mid-sweep is the key for me...

Think am going to be in a minority of 1 here but as far as selling goes I've never managed to sell anything on Basschat. Love this forum and spend way too much time lurking in the background. I have bought a lot of basses, amps, strings, pickups and pedals here and everyone has been a pleasure to deal with. Unfortunately I've not managed to sell 1 of about 12 basses I've moved on over the years. The best I've managed was a trade swap deal that went very smoothly. Everything I've sold has been through Facebook marketplace or one of the many bass for sale groups. I've dealt with some really great people who have been a pleasure to deal with. Also had a few potential scammers and low ball offers but I just consider it all part of the process. I always reply in a timely and friendly manner to all offers and inquiries, even if its just to say "sorry, afraid I can't go that low Unfortunately" or "sorry I can only ship within the UK but thanks for your interest". I don't mind the low ball offers and chances, just say no and wait for the right offer. Recently had 3 Yamaha BB bases for sale on here. Got plenty of likes and some nice comments. Even after offering postage or a meet up and eventually a price Drop or trade options I never got one solid offer here. They all sold through Facebook Basses for sale Groups and the people who bought them where a pleasure to deal with. One guy got a coach from London to Liverpool to buy my BB424X. We met up in the city center, bought him a coffee and a sandwich. Did the deal and he then jumped back on the coach to London. Not trying to put the Basschat Marketplace down at all but just pointing out that there are plenty of great people who buy and sell there basses on other platforms

Your confusing marketing with common sense. Do I I purchase a bass because MrX uses it no. Do I buy a can of coke over Brand X because Michael Jackson dances around with it no. But those brands are seared into my subconscious by decades of association and subliminal messages from every form of media. It works. Every endorser keeps that brand at the forefront of each generations association with what rock or pop stars play. Every concert footage, photo op, tv appearance they are waving the brand about to millions of viewers. So yes Flea and Adam Clayton and Nate Mendel help shift Fenders. They play to huge audiences and get the Fender name on every form of media channel out there from the David Letterman show to YouTube to the BBC to Rolling Stone magazine etc etc Edit: I doubt if Fender even particularly care how many Flea basses they sell. As long as Flea is holding a bass that has Fender written on it on David Letterman or glossy mag photo shoot or the BBC during Coachella or whatever that is advertising worth a huge amount of money. More than the sale of a specific run of basses. They will already be working on the contract for the next Flea (whoever that may be) endorsement deal as I type to continue the market saturation.

🤔 @Wotcher Take It To The Limit ～ The Eagles

I keep seeing the title of this thread and thinking to myself that Chancers And Beggars would be a good name for a band. Or a disco. ( Do they have discos anymore? Probably not. I don't get out much nowadays). I have always found prospective buyers on Basschat to be very fair and quite knowledgeable. However,back in the days before the internet when I used to advertise items in Bassist magazine I remember some right "characters" getting in touch by phone, quite often at very odd hours. "I really want to buy the bass but I can't afford that price because my wife has just had a baby." If your wife has just had a baby and you have more urgent financial priorities why are you phoning a complete stranger at half past ten at night to talk about a bass you can't justify buying? Just to let me know how you are fixed at the moment in case I was wondering perhaps? It can be hard to be polite sometimes.

There are plenty of timewasters but also ... We were moving house, downsizing, and we had a very nice oak desk that had to be got rid of. We had failed to sell it at a fair price, so it went on Facebook for £25 if 'you take it away before the weekened'. A woman arranged for husband to collect in his van. Guy turns up, in the dark, and gets desk in van. He gives me thirty quid and says 'keep the change, very nice desk'. Half an hour later woman rings up and says, 'that desk is worth way more than £30, I'd like to give you some more money?' After a brief chat Mrs ET and the woman agree a further £75 to a homeless charity. I don'y actually know for sure that the £75 was paid to charity but i'd like to believe it was.

I'm afraid mine is rather simple but I think it's now right how I want it Harley Benton power supply Boss TU3 tuner Origin Effects Cali76 compressor Darkglass vintage microtubes overdrive Two Notes LeBass preamp. The Le Bass has a beautiful creamy clean channel and the dirty channel just adds a nice, light valve overdrive. The vintage microtubes is set to give a really nice dirty tone when combined with the Le Bass clean channel. The compressor is just always on. It's all a bit monochrome looking but gives the sounds I want. I am very tempted to replace the Le Bass with a Origin Effects bassrig super vintage.

You shouldn't have to force the trussrod nut, you'll end up rounding out the hex hole or worse snapping something. It's worth giving the neck a little physical help when tightening a stiff trussrod. Place the bass (string side) against a sofa or something, brace with your lower leg and gently, I said gently 😉, prise the neck backwards, then turn the trussrod to hold it in this position. It takes the stress off the threads while adjusting Was about to say nut slots should be slanted but @PaulThePlughas just covered it. I'll leave Paul to talk you through everything as it'll just get confusing with too many chipping in. 🙂👍

That's impressive. I've got a Sunbeam Alpine and have on occasion taken it to rehearsals with a 2 x 10 cab, 2U amp rack and bass (albeit with the roof down). I'm in awe of anyone who could fit a drum kit into it, even though the boot is bigger than you'd expect. My first thought when seeing the title of this thread was that the best car for carrying "gear" would be something fast with plenty of cubby holes that could be easily overlooked in the event of being searched by the police, but having read some of the replies I think it's possible I got the wrong end of the stick.

For testing purpose raising the strings will give you the same test without routing the body. Be a pig to play but hopefully tell you if you do need to rout lower…

Its hard to capture its greenness really - in the sun it really glows Finally getting a chance to play it, it seems rather good!

The drummer, in my new band, is a big Richie Kotzen fan, so he's suggested some of his songs for the set. The only problem is that he plays both guitar and bass on the recordings and he does insist on doubling the lead guitar with the bass. The basslines he plays are difficult enough to play on guitar and are almost impossible for me to play on bass (if the guitar bends a note the bass does as well). I've told the drummer he's banned from suggesting songs, in future, unless they're Status Quo.

🤦

I've got a couple TE's non fan version, and I prefer them, they're quieter and lighter, (possibly because they're lower wattage), and like you say don't get full of sucked in gunk, never had any overheating issues with them

my little home set up. predominantly a bass player but i've been dabbling on the dark side.

Android is terrible for music apps as the OS doesn't give MIDI/audio data the priority it requires and there may well be noticeable latency. If you decide to use the Windows laptop, don't use it with a DAW unless you also require the audio and/or MIDI playback facilities. Instead have a look at Cantabile along with whichever virtual instruments you decide to use. You may however also need to invest in an audio interface rather than rely on the laptops built-in sound card.

What is missing from the sound when you bypass the EQ? That is basically what you're trying to get the EQ to compensate for. If the pickup isn't even getting you close, then I'd start with the pickup before going anywhere near the preamp, personally. My own rule-of-thumb is that if I can't get a tone I like with the EQ flat, including on the amp, it gets moved on quickly. It's too easy to spend money chasing a tone you like without ever getting there.

Particularly like this Bjork one... Proper Big Groove!

I love the carelessness you can have with a road worn - especially when gigging out on stage. Having said that, I have, after many basses and much neurosis about dinging my basses, decided I am taking my EBMM Stingrays out to rehearsal stage and wherever - I'm pretty careful with my things, and I'm tired of having top end basses as case queens (the reason why I went for cheaper basses and relic's)... ... I just told my wife I can't let go of my Stingrays - but I did say so about the Limelights (I still don't want to but have to for budget), so, to answer the question, I can never say never - although the closes thing to 'never' is my Charcoal Sparkle SR4 Special - favourite bass to date, I can say that. Ander.

There may be some expectation of haggling….

My favourite era for vintage Fenders is the early CBS years. For a start, the pre-CBS P Basses are too wide at the nut for me. I much prefer the A and B profile necks Fender introduced in the late 1960s. I think a good example from the early CBS years compares perfectly well to the pre-CBS basses in every way. They certainly sound just as good to me. It was later in the Seventies that things started to go awry to some extent, but a good bass is a good bass. There's good ones from the late 1970s and I have played some very poor pre-CBS examples. That's part of the beauty of old Fenders, sifting through a few and finding a good one for your own tastes.

Your very welcome Andy, it makes it all worth while when you do a favour that has a happy ending...😉

I agree, tone monster..that would be something if thats your original bass, come home to roost

The strangest example of this was when I moved from a rental property to a new house. A lot of the stuff in the rental wouldn’t fit in the new house and I had been gifted some items from downsizing relatives. There was enough stuff to pretty much furnish a small flat. Since I had been gifted some pretty nice stuff and had a lot of stuff to shift I advertised it all on Freecyle for nothing. Just turn up and collect. The number of time wasters was unbelievable including one where I left work early to meet someone and help them load it into a van. They didn’t bother to turn up but that evening I got a text from his wife saying he was busy and would I mind delivering it all to them. The mind boggles. Eventually the 3rd on the list (of people that actually arranged to collect) did turn up. A lovely polish lady who couldn’t have been nicer. Bought me a bottle of wine and tried to insist on paying for the items.

Don't get emotional, it's a business transaction. Keep it friendly and answer the questions. Avoid sarcasm or whit as that will go missing in written communication. If the buyer can't string a sentence together then they're hardly likely to have been able to read the original advert. Sometimes English is not their first language, again, a lot of nuance can be missing or missed in written communication. Answer questions politely and don't get drawn into conversation that's not directly related to the object being bought/sold. Don't reply to anything that's not a direct question. It may be frustrating but if you want to sell something that's just what you have to cut through.

On one of Twisted Sister's albums, in the blurb where the band list their equipment it said 'Dee Snider uses Vidal Sassoon protein hair remoisturiser, are you listening Vidal?'. On the following album it said 'Dee Snider no longer uses Vidal Sassoon protein hair remoisturiser, looks like you blew it Vidal!'.

My 2017 4003CB Waltnutglo, limited run of 20 by CME.

All body and neck sculpting done, needs final sanding and finishing and then hardware, really happy with how this is turning out.