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Hi all, I'm pretty new here, and new basses do not come around too often for me, so I'm excited to share this - a new Made in Japan Hard Puncher TPB97. But first - what a lovely, respectful community you have here; I've thoroughly enjoyed stumbling upon this website, and the couple of dealings I've had with people on the marketplace have been first class. I love Ps, and have only gigged on two basses prior to this - a second-hand Godin PJ that lasted me 15 years before age-induced niggles made it worth upgrading, and an American Fender pro ii precision, which I owned for a year, but never really gelled with (and a number of little quality control issues were enough to put me off - although that's a story for another day). Since summer, I've been getting around the country, visiting shops, and generally playing as many Ps as I could get my hands on. It's been great fun, making a day of it with friends on a number of occasions. This Tokai was one of the first I played, and for me, none of the subsequent Ps I played felt or sounded as right to me. It also has a feel of sturdiness and quality to it, that many of the basses I played did not. The fit and finish are genuinely first class, and it has a hand-wound pickup apparently, which has a really resonant, piano-like vibe. It cost just north of a grand, so not exactly cheap, but it is lovely. Apparently, Tokai do a factory setup, and then export models get a second set-up at the closest distribution centre to the shop, so it has a nice action out of the case. It was very hard to find anything at all about newer Tokai basses online, or on English speaking forums, so hopefully this will be useful to someone who is curious about their quality. I also played some of the cheaper new Made in China Tokais, which were not nearly as nice. I've had it for a week, and I'm not gigging until NYE now, but can't wait! All in all, just a very well made P Bass, but for those who like some specs: U-shaped neck, but it measures 22mm at the first fret, so not too chunky. It suits me just right. 42mm nut. Rosewood fretboard. It comes with Gotoh hardware, GHS boomers on it, and has a compound radius (7.25 - 10). The only downside so far is that the tweed case it comes with looks lovely, but there is a bit of play in the sides, and I wonder how sturdy it will be long term.

I find a simple "sod off, I'm on holiday" normally does the trick.

I have no idea if this is the best place to post this... This year I did possibly the worst internet trade deal I've done, on another forum with a guy who sat on my money for a long time and couldn't decide what he was going to do, or if he knew how the postal system worked... anyway by the end it turned out ok and I got a pedalboard that he had managed to thread a screw holding a Cioks DC7 on. I removed the screw - with a little scratching of the DC7 The DC7 is a wonderful unit, with lots of power options, could power my HX stomp, and a power hungry valve preamp I had build with ease. But... a fault, it didn't turn on if it was cold. Which was odd. And a bit odd, getting your gig bag out of the car, into the venue and then hugging your power supply to heat it up.... So I had a half broken second-hand power supply, the guy who purchased it originally not replying to me (and being an idiot when he did) and no hope. Sad times. I asked Cioks, explained the situation and the response was "that doesn't sound right, send it back to us In Poland and we will repair it". Which they did. That in my book is phenomenal service - taking care of a product, even to secondhand users and so quickly and efficiently. So recommended. Here's a stock image for those of you who are visual readers!

Complete! Wiring done and pleasantly suprised when plugged in and it sounds like a decent P Bass, controls working as they should, grounding all good etc. and the neck/frets/action are all good. Quite lightweight at 3.7kg. And I guess lightweight tuners could get it down to less than 3.5kg. I'd say it is somewhere between Squier and Player series quality, and it cost about £350 in parts so not too bad value for money (if you don't consider time as a cost!). Possibly will get some volume and tone knobs but I quite like it as it is. And might go for the 3+1 headstock reshape if I get bored/brave. And I might get ultralight tuners, hipshot xtender and a fancy bridge if I feel flash with the cash at some point. But for the time being - job done!

This thread will tell you everything you need to know... or will it? Where's @Bean9seventy when you need him?

It's actually a 'much' nicer colour in the flesh, a proper green around the edges Roquefort cheese colour. I don't think the seller pushed the weight thing as much as he could, it weighs less than 7lb and yes it is a solid wood body. I'm not sure how I'm going o get on with the pan / tone controls(ie no volume) but I rarely use volume in a live situation. The rear DiMarzio may end up getting an electrician's tape modification as the pole pieces are intrusive.

These two are becoming my go-to.. they cover pretty much everything and couldn't be less alike! Celinder J-Update Fender Thunderstangbacker

Here you go, sorry it's not that good but gives you an idea of what it might sound like with someone skilled playing it!

So... some of you fine folk may remember how some 2 months ago I went on a rampage to sell my stingrays - simply too much money on gear when I had to recover from windows we replaced at home, and a bathroom renovation...! ... Resolved to sell the 'rays with pain in my heart, replaced by American Original series Fenders, P and J - how great are these basses? I was thoroughly impressed and managed to cash in a grand to ease things on the bank account. Being back in this forum (9 months hiatus to stop selling and buying!) I let my hair off and replaced my rig without much investment... Ashdown ABM 600 head and a mighty Barefaced Six10 - from an Eich T900 and a Big Baby 2. Fast forward the bathroom is done, the windows are paid and I had sold a couple watches so I had more than I needed and then I saw this Ray Special... In the Cruz Teal that only came out on the first series and that I so dearly love...! Out of what I wanted to spend, but received an offer on eBay and then I started to consider... I messaged the owner and he was happy to let it go at the last offer minus fees, pretty much the same price as you see on the regular MM Stingrays these days so I had to pull the trigger. Some crazy 6-7 hours to remind me why I hate driving to Manchester and 320 miles later I got home, set him up, waxed the neck, hydrated the board... et voila... Very, very ambivalent collection right here, Jesus even if it's only been a couple months I missed the stingray tone! Don't get me wrong, the passive Fenders are just brilliant and plan to keep using it... but there you go, a story that started sour selling my most beloved basses managed to come back even better than it started - to happy endings! Ander.

Downtown (Incidentally, in regards to "ghetto" - did you know that if you want to say Spice Girls in a Glaswegian accent, simply try saying "space ghettos" in an American accent!!!!)

I was the weak one!

You make some good points, yes we do stand on the shoulders of those earlier designers but while we are doing so, most of us are careful (respectful) not to stomp on their heads. I have talked with other designers (including one who was responsible for some of the Peavey class D designs) about the ethics of (and the differences between) learning from other designers and simply copying. Most designers have surprisingly high morals and take pride in developing new approaches while refining long standing circuits to improve performance and reliability. There's general agreement among designers that the customer will accept a "cheap copy" if the price is low enough. The pedal world is a good example of blatant copying (including PCBs). If there's enough of this, it will affect those companies that are currently bringing new approaches and new ideas to the players, ultimately the investment required to develop innovative new products will dry up and many new ideas simply won't make it to market.

Mods - I should say I have already posted this in the 'Share Your Music' sub-sub board of the Recording sub-board, where unfortunately no-one much goes or seems interested - so if this post qualifies as spam, please delete the earlier one! This represents my first go at a 'proper' music vid - I've done lyric videos and slideshow-y montages before, but this is the first time I've used green screen, recorded performance & outdoor footage/still images & tried to make something coherent out of it. Disclaimer - the drone footage isn't mine (free-to use stock from the excellent pexels.com site) so any occasional illusion of professionalism would be that of the talented videographers whose work it is, not me! Video was recorded using my little Canon SX720 compact on its HD setting, all the bits & pieces were bunged together with Shotcut, which (as someone whose previous video editing experience was limited to Windows Movie Maker) was easy to get started with & pretty intuitive to work with, and let me do pretty much anything my limited imagination came up with. Anyway - I think I'm pleased with the result, given the obstacles of poor equipment, dubious aesthetic sensibilities and general ineptitude I have tried to overcome. It was fun & stressful in equal measure and I'm not even too horrified at my own ugly mug gurning away while I pretend to play bass! A bit about the song. This is a bit of a musical departure for us, and despite playing/programming the instruments on the song I consider myself a distant second-fiddle as far as writing it is concerned. Basically my partner-in-crimes against music sang it to me, & said "can you make the guitars sound like Stuart Adamson?" Doing so was an absolute pleasure as Stuart was a huge influence when I was learning guitar & starting to write songs back in the early 80s. For that reason the Yamaha SG and the Strat in the video are what I used in the song - however the bass you hear is an Ibanez RS924 Roadster, not the silly thing I'm waving around on screen! I also used a Riverhead Unicorn headless (with flats) for the chordal intro. Song was recorded using Reaper & mainly Reaper plugins, guitar sounds courtesy of ToneLib GFX, bass through a Behringer Bass V-Amp Pro, & drums are the MT Power Drumkit plugin. Hope you like it!

I just put together an EMG based P bass with a roasted maple neck and, I think, a Meranti body from Gear4Music. So far so fun! The body is very light and resonant, the EMG's clear, authoritative and very unforgiving of bad technique (uh oh!). I was really inspired by ead's limelight build: Though I'm not there yet I do have 2 EMG p pickups, so this is step one of getting somewhere close. I think I'll need an alder body with the double reverse P routed in. Or maybe a body blank as I found the drilling of the bridge and neck pocket much less difficult than I thought. Anyway, some pictures (I know it's not exactly a looker...):

I will continue to monitor retailers and alert you all as and when

A bit battered and dusty but I love the setup. The guitar however does get a clean from time to time.

Band I've done a lot of work with this year had two basses in an Enki double and it's been rock solid. Much prefer them to the Scott Dixon's. I've yet to see a well-toured one that isn't bashed in and struggling to fit together.

He's been known to do a bit of Class D now and again... I'll get me coat😉

Here's Mark pretending he didn't have a habit.

Got mine today, seems pretty solid and appears to work ok. Don't get clicking on the compressor, or scratching on the volume.

I had a very similar issue with my 1971 Precision, one side of the pickup died during lockdown, just randomly (as they do): I considered replacing the pickup and leaving the original.....well..."original". But I came to the conclusion of 'why leave something original if it's ultimately useless'. So I had Aaron Armstrong rewind it to vintage spec, cost was around half of a new pickup (as only one side needed doing), if the other coil also needs rewinding, you're looking at a similar cost to a new pickup. I would highly highly recommend Aaron Armstrong. Si

That's a poultry excuse, frankly.

I have a new one I'd sell for £318... 😉

Hopefully she's sat at home safe and warm and wood-shedding whilst we're left wasting time on here!

As someone who has built solid electric instruments (in the late 70s and from scratch when there was virtually no information available on the subject) I would offer the following observations: If you are intending to use it as a first step in a bass building "career" then then I think it makes an interesting and useful starting point. However from my experience of building and modifying instruments it seems to me that thesis are kits very much of two parts. The basic assembly appears to offer no more challenge than assembling a simple piece of Ikea flat-pack furniture. (I know people joke about how hard that is, but in reality it's easy if you work carefully and follow the instructions, and if that is beyond your capabilities then I despair.) You don't even need to be able to solder, as the main wiring loom is pre-assembled and the pickup has a plug-in connection. However if you want to do something interesting with the paddle-shaped headstock, you will need the appropriate tools, some degree of skill in using them and somewhere appropriate to do it. It's going to be the same with the finishing of the neck and body if you want to do anything more ambitious than a simple oil finish. I know from personal experience that even a simple solid colour finish requires significant expertise and skill to even get close to the standard of a budget Chinese instrument, as well as a well ventilated and temperature controllable space to do it in. And I also know from my experience that anything less than near perfection is going to seriously bug you. Also as other have said it appears that most of the hardware is pretty poor, and if you do end up making a decent job of the build, you'll most likely want to look at replacing all of it. So you may well be better off just buying a basic neck and body and sourcing decent hardware yourself. Overall this would be a more challenging experience and you'll learn a lot more about building instruments in the process and you can create something to your own spec. On the other hand if you just want a cheap bass, there are plenty of ready made ones to chose from.

I wouldn't want to dissapoint you 😁 I had an Epiphone EB3 that was very neck heavy!

They are out there. My Steven Hart built 5 ff headless. He even makes some limited stock to keep busy. This was one he had in stock when I came across him.

Ah thank you @Ralf1e! I thought I’d never rejoin again with a Cruz Teal… and we’ll my rig is admittedly more varied than with an SR Special 4 & 5…! Entertaining tunings now haha could keep the jazz on standard, standard with detuner to drop D on the p bass, D standard with detuner to Drop C for the Stingray… that’d cover both my project with two basses each and leave me room to pretend to play metal if need be 🤣, or have ‘almost a 5er’ when doing Drop C… … so much room for activities! 😂

Been There Done That ～ NOTD

Don't chuck the old pickups. If you ever sell the instrument, it will be worth more if you have the originals to go with it. If you're getting drop in replacements, I wouldn't even get them re-wound. Just keep them as is

Epiphone guitars are pretty decent, I bought my God-Daughter one of the SG Specials and it was a really nice guitar.

Sew What ～ Miles Davis

Some of the vids are up online of the tunes they played. Mmmmmm… Niiice! Great!

Always support new players!

That's me! I"m not trying to hijack the thread to sell stuff (honest), but I also have an Epiphone Les Paul Special ii which has been set up and plays great (and is even cheaper!). As it's for a starter, I've probably got loads of stuff I can send along for nowt as I'd be happy for it to go to a good home and not being sat unused in my music room/office. Talking a stand, little tuner, slide, leads, few books etc.

Cheesy Guitars is what you are looking for

I dreamed a ream - Su Bo

Played a private party. Singer created some novel song arrangements. Did more bvs than usual, discovered I can play merry Christmas everybody and sing it, (at the same time) which is s major personal achievement!

Finally got round to doing a video of this bass, apologies for sloppy playing etc but I really wanted to show some of the sounds!

I'm going to play devil's advocate for Bugera/Behringer/Music tribe here. I'm pretty sure the amplifier section of the Bugera is 'borrowed' from Behringer's class D PA amps, specifically the iNuke. I've got both here so I ought to take a look There was a lot of online 'debate' between Uli Behringer and the designers of the Peavey IPR series PA amps about copyright so it is a moot point about how original their design is but I think they will have simply stuck a bass pre-amp onto their existing power amp to create the Bugera. Behringer have form in recycling their own designs and I've come across their 300W class D/100W A/B combination in a range of different PA speakers and monitors. Again to be fair this is common across many manufacturers who use essentially the same power amp across a whole range of active speakers throttled back to match the drive units. I've also recently acquired a SansAmp to go alongside my Behringer BD121, there is a generic similarity in the sound but it just isn't the same. It's way easier to dial up a pleasing sound with the Behringer which also doesn't have the same range of adjustment the SansAmp has. I wouldn't say either is 'better' and one is definitely a tribute act to the other but it isn't a straight copy. Any commercial designer would be a fool not to look at what their competitors are doing. It would be a real arrogance not to monitor the world around them. The boutique speaker makers have stimulated the big makers to look at making their own lightweight speaker cabs and if GRBass start to take significant market share then expect a rash of 'me-too' plastic bass cabs. If I were chief designer for Behringer/Music Tribe I'd be pretty much doing the same thing, reverse engineering everything I could find, taking the best bits from everywhere then bringing them together in a design I'd hope to have maximum appeal to everyone. I'd imagine all the big manufacturers have had a look at the insides of all their competitors products and keeping a wary eye on what the market is doing. (OK maybe not Gibson ) Ultimately if we see further it is because we stand on the shoulders of giants and we all benefit from the copying of good ideas and the dropping of poor ones. There's a problem in plagiarism if it starves the means to continue to innovate but IP is a double edged sword if it retards the spread of good ideas. Where would all us covers bands would be if Mick Jagger had never heard the Beatles and thought 'I want a slice of that'

Holy Trinity all in one bass...

Having a run on Adam and the Ants right now.

So on my discovery of great Jazz albums, I've been listening to the following over the last few days, John Coltrane - Giant Steps Art Pepper - Meets The Rhythm Section Hank Mobley - Soul Station Oliver Nelson - The Blues and the Abstract Truth Thelonious Monk - Brilliant Corners Charlie Mingus - Mingus Ah Um Bill Evans - Everybody Digs Bill Evans

Totally forgot to mention, but we did quite the sizeable festival gig in summer with our Faithless Tribute ….. The Faithless. Bass is my own Infinite Custom MS5 build with Flatwounds and EMG DC pickups. Lots of OC and Future Impact of course….