TRBboy

Thanks for all the advice guys, but I'm now leaning towards scrapping the project and just saving up/selling stuff to fund the bass my heart truly desires......

Don't currently any basses that have both options but have in the past. Like GW, I found that top loaded had better attack and I preferred the response of the string.

Very poor customer service from S&T by the sound of it! Be persistent. Keep your cool, don't lose your rag, but keep on at them. Ring and ask for updates as often as you feel is necessary. Be aware that they don't HAVE to replace that bass with a new one, if they are able to get that one up to the required standard (although it will probably be easier and better for customer relations to give you a new one!). If you feel that things are not going well and you wish to persue further action, I think there's some useful information about the Sale of Goods Act and the Consumer Protection Act at direct.gov.UK. It should give you some ideas about what to do if it all goes wrong.

Really sorry to hear about your troubles dude, it sucks! Especially after such a long wait! Hope you manage to get it sorted out. Just keep on at them and don't give up! It's a basic breach of the Sale of Goods Act; the goods that they've provided don't meet the expected quality standards. So you want a white bass with two MM 'buckers; do the right thing and buy a Sandberg Ken Taylor in white higloss (and save yourself a load of dosh!) If you don't like it, just give me a shout and I'll gladly take it off you for half of the new price!

As other people have said, I think it depends on your definition of "making it". If you want to earn a living from playing, I think that's achievable at pretty much any age. If you want to top the charts however, I think you need to be young and attractive. Despite the music industry trying to make us believe that everything's a lot more "real" now, I think the "pop" machine driven by the major record labels is just as contrived and pre-meditated as it's always been. I do believe though that you don't necessarily have to be young and attractive to earn a living in an originals band! Although I'm only 29, I have a wife, a son, and a mortgage which all need supporting so I need to be earning a regular wage. Thus I have a tedious day job that pays ok, and I get to rock out purely for fun (and a bit of beer money) on evenings and weekends, with no pressure other than satisfying myself and my audience, and I enjoy it immensely! Personally, I feel that if I had wanted a serious career as a musician, I should have made different decisions at the age of 16 - 18 and gone to music college! That said I have had professional, paid gigs in musical theatre despite not being able to read music! I've always felt that you need to really enjoy what you're doing musically, and everything else is secondary (eg getting paid for it!) Happy birthday to BigRedX too! EDIT: I really enjoy all the playing I do, I'm quite a well respected player locally (been gigging around town since I was 15/16), and I get asked to play in various different projects; I've played with lots of different bands and played at venues all over the country (in the past!); perhaps I have "made it" in some way!

I love it when you've got the perfect sound dialled in, the whole band is REALLY feeling the song and rocking out, and you're all TIGHT as fook!

[quote name='MikanHannille' timestamp='1317755708' post='1394265'] If the venue is somewhere around Worcester and Birmingham, then count me in. (As long as it's on weekends) [/quote] It looks like it's going to be in Birmingham, and probably on a Sunday afternoon as things stand at the moment.

Wow, suddenly it all seems to have come together! When do you think we're looking at?

[quote name='simon1964' timestamp='1317712518' post='1393461'] It depends what you mean by good value! The Seymour Duncan Ceramic is very nice, with a lively MM tone. If its within the budget, the Delano hybrids are fantastic. The active twin coil option gets very close to the classic MM tone, and the coil tap gives you the option of passive single coil Jazz type tone. I've got one in my Shuker IMO they are outstanding pickups. Not cheap though. [/quote] I'm looking for something that doesn't cost the earth but sounds good I suppose. Not sure whether to go for Dual MMs or MM/P on this project at the moment....

Opinions on Alnico vs Ceramic too please!

[quote name='Darkstrike' timestamp='1317683137' post='1393394'] I think the Hipshot bridges are worth it, severely adjustable, very comfy to palm mute off of, and with the quick loading option, which I utterly love.[/quote] Interesting, I've never tried a hipshot! What sort of price are they?

[quote name='Horizontalste' timestamp='1317678875' post='1393346']I'm in. Custard creams or Hob Nobs?[/quote] Awesome! Both.

[quote name='dr Szelma' timestamp='1317677722' post='1393333']you have to apolgize me, I'm from different country. That's the reason sometimes it can be difficult to understand what I mean, but I'm doing my best! In my first language we describe an instrument as a "deaf" if it's rubbish, well, it's very difficult to explain, but you should know what I mean, like saying "jazz bass neck is fast" is very hard to explain but people know what that means. Anyway, depends on West Midlands Bass Bash date I may pop in with my gear We can have a small chat as well We'll (hopefully) come to the UK within first week of November. I don't dis EMG - they're OK, but you have to be aware what are they made for and when you want to use them, I would say 8/10 I'd rather be using passive pickups on Alnico magnets. When EMGs are better than my favourites? For example 1) double thumbing - Victor Wooten style (because of the dimension where they work), 2) playing in places where you have bad electricity - they will be better, 3) another one is adding J EMG pickup to passive P pickup and mixing it - usually I CANNOT STAND mixing them together, my point of view is the only one in a time - but it sounds more less ok mixed passive P with active EMG J. But when they're rubbish? Answer is very easy - every studio situation.[/quote] Well, glad that's all cleared up now......

I'm looking for two good value MM pickups for a potential project, and just wondered if anyone had any suggestions? I've not really had any experience with MM pickups until I bought my Sandberg Basic earlier this year, so any input is appreciated! I don't want anything that sounds crap, but I don't want to spend too much either!

[quote name='wez' timestamp='1317594737' post='1392275']All sounds great guys. Only looked in on this part of the of the forum because i saw the west mids mentioned, but after looking at some of the other bashes i'm interested.[/quote] Cool, another person interested! Where's everyone else gone!? COME ON!!!

Congrats, what a lovely bass! Hope you enjoy it!

@ Dr Szelma: Personally, I disagree that a P bass is at all versatile. The fact is that it sounds familiar and therefore pleasing. Most of us have probably heard p basses on about 90% of the records we've ever listened to! They sound great and sit well in a band mix, but offer very little flexibility really. We're all here to voice our opinions and share our experiences, but I think that you need to voice your opinions without trying to force everyone to believe that your opinion is the only correct one. I think that some people are finding your approach quite abrasive. Just one more thing, you keep talking about "deaf" basses; as far as I'm aware, basses are unable to hear anyway! Do you mean duff?

[quote name='mentalextra' timestamp='1317671644' post='1393185']Could one of you great bass gods explain to a lowly member why, on this bass, and the "Pino Paladino signature precision", "Jaco Pastorious tribute" and "Reggie Hamilton signature" that Fender have chosen to select premium wood, upgraded electronics and pickups yet chosen to leave the bridge standard. Isnt this the one component that everyone changes. I cant believe that Pino's "exacting standards" never stretched to an upgraded bridge. Ok now beat me up! [/quote] I expect a Badass would take it over the £3k mark, and they want to keep it at a sensible price point I've tried quite a few different upgrade bridges and never noticed that much difference, especially for the price some of them are. In fact, one of the bridges I found most satisfying was a Wilkinson BBOT with brass saddles which cost £15! Whilst I can see what the advantages of fancy upgrade bridges should be, IMHO the benefits are not usually that noticeable, and these bridges are hugely overrated.

[quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1317644117' post='1392587']I'd add a Sandberg Ken Taylor to the list if I were you... just to confuse things further![/quote] +1000000! If we're looking outside of the three basses mentioned in the title, I would without a shadow of a doubt go for a Sandberg (personally). If I was in the market for a new 5, I would definitely go for a Sandberg! I did notice the other day that there was a black KT 5 in the FS forum for less than £600.......

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' timestamp='1317462551' post='1390891']They all handle and sound different, it's a matter of getting them in your hands! My vote is the TRB BUT thats me, and i've played all three and i don't rate the Spector sound and the MM is great but don't like the neck and the sound was exactly what i wanted! Just go travel to play them [/quote] +1 pretty much! I had quite a tight budget and I just don't think you can beat the TRB for VFM. A TRB1004 was my main bass for many years so I knew what I was getting. I hadn't owned a 5 string for years, but it became apparent to me when I started trying different basses that I needed a 35" scale. The B just felt flappy and not responsive enough for me on all the 34" basses I tried. The TRB just ticked all the boxes for me; feel, sound and price. I've found it useful in almost every style from metal to disco. The only other bass I really liked was the lakland skyline 55-01 but the TRB edged it for me.

Maple/Olympic White for me!

I think that all sounds great guys, but I agree with Machines that perhaps we should look a bit further north, especially if we're potentially going to merge with the Nottingham guys (although I've not heard anything back yet). I'm just itching to have a bash! And hopefully try one of your basses Dave.....