Kev

Hard to tell, but the battery looks in awful shape, has it leaked? Bizarre that shops are sending out basses like this (still can't get over the Cort/GuitatGuitar thread), but Id assume with this one it just a matter of wiping the contacts clean and sticking two new batteries in and it should all work fine, probably not a returns issue unless anything else is wrong with it. I'd moan like hell though.

How the other half live! 😅 I can't imagine having the disposable income to afford new strings every other week. Oldest strings for me will be 2 years on a set of flats on my Jazz bass. The NYXL worn-in sound lasts me a long while to be honest, at least 6 months with gigging and longer without, but then a zingy tone is not something I go for, even if Metal would be the genre for it!

Thank the lord we don't have to listen to sound engineers and band members 💤

I love this ending! 😁

Innovation Never Rests. You have to applaud the rage-baiting, which I think is what the kids call it these days.

Probably just the same as what they do now. If you haven't sold in a while, or if you've recently had a dispute with a buyer , they withhold any money from a sale until tracking confirms delivery, or even until positive feedback is received. As I say, its the biased against sellers attitude that makes me never want to sell there anymore, and now that they aren't getting fees from sellers, its only going to get worse I imagine! Just as an example, if a buyer files a Not as Described return request on a non-return item, there is absolutely nothing a seller can do to prevent a return going through, they will ALWAYS side with the buyer, without even considering any evidence you may provide to counter their claims. Not a big deal on little things, but if you sell a bass on there and the buyer uses this knowledge to return it if they don't like it, you're down two hefty postal charges, as of course they make you refund shipping and pay for the return label. I've had this multiple times, and reported the buyer each time for fraudulent use of the system, as their support will quite happily tell you that they will punish the buyer and give you your postage money back, but I've never received anything.

Its an interesting move. I won't use eBay because of their buyer-biased policies making it mostly impossible to list with confidence anything that isn't As New, but this does at least make it somewhat viable to sell more expensive stuff on there.

Is it me, or are the knobs either side of the EQ not in line with each other? Its been bugging me on every picture i've seen and I can't tell in the video...

Problem is, Guitar Guitar are not doing their job, and for me they're the worse of the two parties here. Cort pump out instruments in silly numbers and there's bound to be issues with a fewnat the price point, and it looks like you may have been experiencing the bottom of the barrel. If they are customer returns, that only really makes it worse for the shop, as SURELY they should be checking returned basses over very carefully, even if the returners didn't give any reason for the return. I'm not sure Cort will even listen to a complaint from you as you have returned them all? 🤷‍♂️ Hope you manage to grab one either way 👍🏻

Tell you what, I wouldn't stop at a refund with GuitatGuitar, put a formal complaint in and target compensation for all this ridiculous messing around!

Effectively, if you are playing a gig for free, or if the total cost of petrol etc for all band members isn't covered by the fee, then you're paying to play. I imagine most have done this at least once during their playing life! Its just about weighing up what the gig is worth to you. I would never pay a fee to play any venue/festival. In originals band, depending on the gig, I'd accept a loss after costs, price you have to pay before you're successful enough to demand more. Tribute/function band, the only time I'd ever play a gig where costs are not covered is if there is a well paid one right alongside it that pays enough to cover both. At the end of the day, I just want to get out there and play music and making money is never an aim, but if I'm playing gigs where the venue is making a tidy profit on the night, I'm not accepting a loss.

Me too.

That's odd, I always thought the Sterling had a slimmer/narrower neck, or is that just the 4's?

Amazed at how many of you think a random person on the street would know McCartney is a bass player, before we even consider anyone knowing who Jaco and Victor Wooten are! 😅 It's not even a slight against bass players. At a real stretch, people may know some singers as well as band names, but that's it.

Just out of interest, are they holding your money or have they refunded you? As it sounds like they had information to give but didn't bother reaching out to tell you about it...

Not if you're one of my 4 strings 😉

Thankfully, I have never had the misfortune of a bass going wrong during a gig. I have in rehearsal though. Broken string (not since I stopped using DR!), failed strap button and failed jack. I also had an odd situation with silence from a preamp once that never recurred. I use pretty decent gear and baby it, but these things can still happen. I'd never take that risk during a live performance of any kind, and given both my current live projects are played to a strict set time with backing tracks, I wouldn't have time to change a string or diagnose mid set, however easy it may be to resolve in rehearsal. Quickly switching basses keeps the show running and the professional image intact 👍🏻

So just to be clear, if you didn't take a backup bass, your bass went "wrong" during the first track and you had to sit out the rest of the gig (or the band had to stop performing), you would expect to get the full fee? And you wouldn't worry about any damage to your reputation?

A bass is the easiest thing to bring a backup of and remains fully in your control. Any other failure, amp/cab/pedals etc, it's more than plausible that the sound tech can cover you for that, even if it's just straight DI to FoH, depending on the type of gig. If it's a gig where you are running everything, then yes a backup line needs to be drawn somewhere, but ultimately if something in your control fails, I assume you would not charge for the gig. Re the PA example, obviously any equipment that isn't yours is beyond your control and responsibility, so doesn't really enter into it.

By important gigs, do you mean paid gigs or just gigs you consider bigger/better? What I mean to say is, if you're playing a paid gig that isn't that important to you and something goes wrong rendering your bass unplayable, you're comfortable just sitting out the rest of the job? And would you still expect to be paid the full fee?

Fair enough, it just sounded like a retort rather than agreement with my opinion on it, apologies it seems for misunderstanding you 😅 but yes, me too, and I'm sure a hell of a lot of players will! Good business for Fender from what I can see.

I think the you may have missed the tone of my post

But surely no-one is buying it, who IS she?!!!!!

Ah, this old chestnut. Yes, always take a backup if you can. Too many individual things can go wrong with a bass, however unlikely, and its the easiest thing to swap quickly if it happens, so why risk it? To make load in/out fractionally easier?