fretmeister

I think it depends on the situation. Sometimes my other half is really my conscience keeping me in check so I don't spend money that I can't afford to spend. It's an early warning system of what her reaction will be when she sees another bass or cab arrive. It's a deterrent. Other times it really is her saying no. In the past I have been under pressure to sell a bass or 2 to free up funds for other non-bass things. If I see that coming I speak very highly of the instrument and its value and when I finally agree to put it up for sale I will put it up high. Then when I get entirely reasonable offers in, she doesn't allow me to accept the offer because in her mind the bass is worth much more, it's just that no-one has any money at the moment. It appears to work nicely!

[quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1382182085' post='2248970'] My answer to the original question is US Fenders. How they can justify such a comparatively high price for a factory mass produced instrument is beyond me. [/quote] +1 I have a CIJ that I bought in from Japan for about £450 including shipping and taxes and it's by far the nicest Fender Precision I've ever played. I feel zero improvement when moving from that to a US Standard model.

Last time I spoke to a shop about it I was informed that even on many high end basses they are shipped with posh gig bags like Mono ones. Certainly my Mono Vertigo seems to offer better protection than most cheap hardcases. Loads of hardcases seem to be easy to deform in the middle putting pressure on the bass itself.

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1381965854' post='2246300'] My brain went straight to Chic and Edwards, mind [/quote] Is there anywhere else to go? I might want a ray now! But the chances of finding one at 8.5lb or so seems slim.

How does a different ligature change the sound? I assumed all they did was hold the reed in place!

[quote name='cd_david' timestamp='1364567530' post='2028276'] My latest: Unknown alder body, Status unlined graphite neck 70s vintage fender tuners, fender high mass bridge and EMG pickups. Truly the best Fretless I've ever heard or played, it's got mmmwwwaaaah but a huge bottom end and super clear. Excuse the phone pics. [/quote] Wow! Is that a J or P shape neck? Whichever it is, is the profile of it like an original? Or does it have square-ish shoulders like current Status models do?

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1381941804' post='2245836'] I thought the classic Stingray sound was flats, anyway? [/quote] Is it? I didn't know that. I only had a 'Ray for 5 mins as it was way to heavy for me.

[quote name='bakerster135' timestamp='1381932656' post='2245680'] Arrgh, I wish they would stop releasing such lovely stuff! The "Duality" idea sounds great, I look forward to hearing audio examples of the variation it provides. BassEFX are currently doing pre-orders for $249.00 USD. [/quote] So with the usual UK stitch up - about £250 then.

Any idea on price?

Only used them once, for a Wampler pedal that can't be bought anywhere else. Went fine for me, but the option to pay vat up front wasn't there at that time.

I've got Chromes on my active Marleaux at the moment. It was a bit of luck actually, the old strings were awful and I only had a set of chromes about. I was totally blown away - it has that super deep thick chewy Kyle Eastwood sound that I was after.

Ah - that Yamaha YCL26 seems to be like one she's been offered by another player who is moving up to a better instrument ahead of his Grade 6. I shall investigate that further - he plays in the same school group my daughter does and it sounds great in his hands.

My daughter plays clarinet and at the moment she is using a school loan / cheap rent instrument. It appears to be made up of parts of a variety of different makes, but amazingly it plays in tune and sounds ok. She's been working hard and the school loan instrument time comes to an end shortly which means either we have to rent one at a commercial rate or buy one. If we buy one, does anyone have any ideas about good beginner models and their prices? Yamaha are an obvious choice and seem to be about £300, or about £150 used, but are there other makes worth looking at? I'm completely in the dark here! I don't even know what strings to put on it!

I really fancy one of the super light weight Mike Lull models. A nice passive PJ would be ace. And for the first time for years I'd like a fretless jazz again. Definitely with lines though!!

I see East have a flat response version of the 5 knob. Seems to be quite new. Anyone tried one?

Just had a look at the East 5 knob U-Retro. That's a monster bit of kit! Not cheap though. I might have to raid the pedal trunk to see what I can do without!

I have a lovely Marleaux Consat that has a (I think) Glockenclang 3 band EQ, vol, pan and an active / passive switch. It sounds awesome in active and passive modes, but what it doesn't have is a passive tone control. When the preamp is off, the EQ does nothing (obviously) and the only tone variance is from using the pickup pan. I would like to have the option of a passive bass sound with the tone down. I used to have a Sandberg that when in passive mode the Treble knob would act like a passive tone control, but I have no idea what make that preamp was or whether a 3 band is available. I also don't want to change the other sounds available to me already, so a replacement preamp would need to be as clear as the existing one I would prefer not to have any extra holes cut in the bass so can anyone recommend a suitable preamp that would do this? Or any other idea? ta

Another vote for Genz. I have a Shuttle 9.2 and a Streamliner 900. they are quite different but they sound ace.

Well, after all this I'm probably going to buy...... a couple of Berg CN112! I shall now run to the hills having caused this thread!

[quote name='operative451' timestamp='1375615217' post='2163412'] A 'mahalo' off eBay... 20 quid including postage... it's fun actually! worked out some chords and have been playing judas priest on it. [/quote] My daughter has one of them! Great fun. Have you seen the Uke version of Shaft? [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlMT-oEIQuo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlMT-oEIQuo[/url] Awesome!

I'm a huge fan of the quarter pounder. It tames the mid heavy element of the average P bass and gives a bit more clarity in the low end. Best of all - it reacts really well to the tone control. Nice and bright when it's full up and deep and thuddy when it's all the way down.

MXR do an Eddie Van Halen wah now. He never used a wah either. Not that I can remember. I have the EBS Stanley one. It's ok but the RRP is stupid. I don't use it at all these days. Not much call for it with orchestra use!

http://ebssweden.wordpress.com/tag/fuzz/ Looks interesting! I sold my Sheehan drive as it wasn't quite dirty enough for me, but this might do the trick!