SJA

I'm pretty sure it's 34in scale. there was one in the Bass Centre in old wapping days, which I had a look at. I was surprised that it balanced alright despite the huge headstock and 5 full-size machineheads, but that's probably because the body is massive. I've got an old issue of Guitarist with an "Oldies" special on it, that confusingly says "short-scale neck" but they probably mean short (15 fret) neck- the body's just bigger to compensate. the Bass Book says 34in scale.

someone playing a candy apple red one- [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpLoEcVULvI"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpLoEcVULvI[/url]

*remembers he's playing a cricket bat in his avatar*

a couple of years back there was an amazing looking Fender V going on ebay- sea-foam green (w. matching headstock) with a maple fingerboard, block pearl inlays. must have been a custom order back in the 60's- I've never seen another Fender Bass V that wasn't sunburst + rosewood board.

I say that because on a 5 the neck's wider (and thus a bit stiffer) and there's more mass at the headstock, so the neck should be less free to vibrate and sap the sustain at its resonant frequency. I've tried a few Fender US precision deluxe 4's and while there was the usual deadspot on the G at C#/D, the D string was clean throughout, and on the precision deluxe 5 I tried the G deadspot was less noticeable. same thing on korean + czech Spectors (through-neck)- mild deadspot on the 4string G C#/D area, D string clean, 5 string, barely noticeable deadspot on the G.

[quote name='bassmanady' post='229119' date='Jun 29 2008, 05:37 PM']and it had the same dead spot notes on the D and G strings so you could not play around that[/quote] it's surprising that a through-neck 5 string bass would have a deadspot on the D string - was the neck particularly slim? and what was the make?

machineheads and pickups (larger mounting ears) look like the ones on the '91 Korean squier I started on. only 9 screws in the pickguard? note that the Fender neckplate he's put on has a hole for microtilt adjust.

the main limiting factor is the string's vibration cycle being upset when it bangs against the neck- at some point the string will start contacting the frets/fingerboard. you could raise the action up very high to get more space for the string to vibrate, but that'll be at the expense of playability on the left hand.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Dean-bright-pink-bass-guitar_W0QQitemZ220249710198QQ"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Dean-bright-pink-bas...Z220249710198QQ[/url] "bearly" used- the glare off the bass probably messed up his typing.

I recall the name in connection with Hohner as well.

I think even on passive basses the level of the actual note played is limited somewhat as your plucking/picking attack gets harder- you get more percussive sound of the string hitting the frets, but beyond a point the actual fundamental won't get louder, and may actually get choked. when recording last year, using my passive Warmoth P, watching the signal Leds on the desk fade out on the last note on songs, I found that the note sustained longer when I played fingerstyle compared with when I played hard with a pick. I read on Soundonsound an interview with the guy who produced the Jam, who said that Weller & Foxton played very hard, and sometimes he got Foxton to overdub individual notes in places to get more of the fundamental.

"none could be even remotely described as “copies”" [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Alden-Club-Bass-Flamed-Maple_W0QQitemZ180257587188QQihZ008QQcategoryZ4713QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Alden-Club-Bass-Flam...3QQcmdZViewItem[/url] Hofner club? and they did a copy of the Vox teardrop bass, which looks pretty good for the money. [url="http://www.cranesmusicstore.com/aldenvxtroubadourteardropbasswhite-p-29.html"]http://www.cranesmusicstore.com/aldenvxtro...white-p-29.html[/url] (no doubt it balances like a lead balloon though....)

Status do monorail headless tuner units, that you'd be able to space as you wish, and presumably are lighter than most one-piece bridges- [url="http://www.status-graphite.com"]http://www.status-graphite.com[/url] ...they're "temporarily unavailable" though.

wonder if he's planning to move to london, for the lovely weather, fantastic cheap housing and relaxed low-cost city lifestyle.

the scratchplates on the Epi non-reverses look horrible- that extended bit towards the controls is pointless- as if it was meant to complement a humbucker.

[quote name='tauzero' post='226651' date='Jun 25 2008, 01:07 PM']Indeed, [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vester_Guitars"]surely no big company would sue a small one on such a tenuous basis, would they?[/url][/quote] the irony is that most of Vester's basses were rip-off's of Warwick, Ibanez and Tune- only a couple were Fender style. I've got an old Vester catalogue. I remember there was also a brand "Fenix" that made strat/tele/p-bass/j-bass copies. wonder how long that lasted?

having the jack socket mounted on the plastic scratchplate means that Jazz owners too can experience Precision scratchplate-bendy-itis.

sounds like the control cavity and pickup routs need screening. use aluminium or brass foil, or screening paint and connect it to ground.

unusual- I didn't know they did one-piece pickguard jazzes again since the 80's.

the Bass Centre, when the shop was still going, that is, used to have lots of no-name P and J types going for £120 or thereabouts, alongside Jim Deacon-branded basses that looked identical- same colours- Jim Deacon = the UK importer of SX - it looks like the whole lot are coming out of the same factory.

I've seen that trussrod adjuster design somewhere else- it works using a worm gear (that you insert the allen key in) to turn a geared nut on the end of the trussrod. (in effect like how a machinehead works) "low hiss"- why should there be any hiss on a passive bass?

the middle bit of Muse's starlight with the annoying wibbly arpeggiated synth.

korean squier precision, £179 by mail order for my 18th birthday. horrible bass- plywood body, muted tone, no sustain, frets wore out quickly, and I smashed it 6 years on out of all the frustration it had caused me, once I'd seen how much better newer squiers were. still, it got me started, and I appreciated decent basses more because of it.

"low action * sounds & plays great !" how can he tell with no strings on it?

I've got a Boss CEB3 - like the CEB2, but with a variable low filter. the chorus on my Zoom 708II and 506 are quite good too- fine for Peter Hook impressions.