Dad3353

And the winner is... NickD..! Here, then, is your Winner's Certificate (download and save as pdf file, then proudly print and frame...) ... BC_Chal_Cert_2020_06.pdf ... which looks like this (but bigger, of course..!)…

Good evening, Sam, and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

Whatever. @Thundr: I was joking about the Ampeg stack etc; they're not essential for playing along to jazz, funk, salsa at home

The bloke's beginning on bass. I doubt he'll be playing Bootsie Collins licks, slapping and popping, or envelope following for the first year or so. The Hofner will do 'funk' darned well, with the right strings (helped by some mastery of the techniques by way of the fingers, naturally...). It's certainly not the 'one trick pony' you're suggesting. How would I know (I'm a drummer...). My principle bass is a vintage Verithin, strung with black nylon, and it sounds fine for the wide repertoire our group played, back in the day. The Ibanez would give a good account of itself, too. I don't understand this notion of any one make of bass for playing at home in different styles. Still, I'm not the OP; he'll decide for himself, maybe by acquiring an Ampeg stack, a p-bass and a Bass Balls pedal. I'll leave it there...

Such a shame, to see such sectorism on the Forum. There's nowt wrong with any of the basses the OP was inquiring about. One may play any of the styles, and more, with any of 'em. He did explain that the aesthetics of those basses pleased him, and that noodling 'unplugged' would be a 'plus'. I maintain that the Hofner and Ibanez are fine for his needs.

I got up early this morning, to taxi Our Daughter to the station. Upon return, I listened to Schubert's 9th, but nodded off after only a couple of minutes. When I awoke, I set it off again, so got to hear it all just the same. It was ending just as the post lady arrived. Happy daze.

Of those, I'd suggest that the Hofner (HTC500/7...) or the Ibanez would fit the bill. The Hofner has a centre block, and produces much less acoustic sound (but can be amplified to a higher volume without feedback...). The ibanez has a fully ajustable bridge, for setting up intonation. I play a vintage Hofner Verithin bass, and for home noodling, there are no intonation issues, but the set-up is a bit more primitive than the Ibanez. One enormous advantage with any of these basses is the light weight..! A boon for an old fogie such as myself. The Hofner is a 'normal' 4-string, the Ibanez a 5-string. I can't say if that's of any great value to you or not. Be prepared to invest in a decent case for any of these guitars, as they are more easily damaged than 'planks'. Some 'soft-hard' cases for acoustic guitars can be found to fit, but the dimensions would need checking. Hope this helps, if only slightly. Douglas

Good afternoon, James , and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

Me, playing the same Camco kit bought new in the early '70s...

This is undoubtedly true, but whether the 'difference' is better or not is debatable. What counts from a sonic perspective, in my view, is what the instrument sounds like. If it sounds good, then that's fine, I'd say. I can understand the visual aspect, although that's not something I suffer from. Pick-ups don't need visible pole-pieces at all, so buying pick-ups with covers, or even with 'bar' magnets, would solve that issue, if issue there is. Just sayin'; we're all different. ('Better or not' is equally debatable ...)

"...but we have aired on the edge of caution...'

Put a piece of black electrician's tape along the pick-up; you won't see the 'mis-alignment' then.

Good evening, Cédric , and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

Good evening, Mark, and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

So, who's the naughty boy voting for three, eh..? Eh..? So anxious to get the ball rolling he/she didn't read the small print, eh..? Eh..? Who's going on the naughty step, then, eh..? Eh..? Come on, own up, innit... ...

One tuner pedal, with a 'mute' facility. Job done.

So you don't need a five-string, you need a low 'B'. BEAD will work, no problem. The nut may (or may not...) need fettling, and maybe the truss-rod, but that's all. You'll have to adapt to the new tuning, of course, which may cause as many issues as having a five-string, but...

All private sales are, somewhere along the line, a matter of trust. There are so many ways some folks manage to get around the protections, either as Buyer or as Seller, so it really only comes down to: do you trust the transaction to go smoothly enough..? If yes, go ahead. If no, then desist. Not very helpful, maybe, but that's the nitty-gritty; the rest is unfortunately almost impossible to guarantee. Most sales go off well. Some don't. Some have recourse, others not. There's no perfect, 'cast in stone' solution, so the other party is trusted, or not. Personally, I've never had a deal go sour, but, then again, I do very, very few, and choose partners carefully, so...

Over many years I've sent and received many packages (hundreds...) through all sorts of systems, but mostly La Poste Colissimo, across many borders and continents, and have never had a parcel go astray, or the tracking not to have worked. Only anecdotal, of course, but there's nothing fundamentally wrong with their system in my experience.

I've looked for this tracking n° from here, in France, and it's not recognised. That doesn't help much, except to say that it's not in the pipeline for delivery, so I'd go through Paypal for an undelivered order payment reversal.

"Here to sweep the chimblee, are yer..? S'over there..."

Good morning, Ole, and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

Good morning, NS, and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.