Grangur

It sounds like you paid, what is for you at least, a good bit of cash for this. My gut feeling is send it back. Even if it COULD be considered in excellent condition, I wouldn't be keen to keep it. After all, you can get an acoustic Harley Benton for not much money that would appear to be better built than that is. Good luck.

Totally confused - never see them like that. Pleased it worked out ok though; that's what matters.

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1468594835' post='3092043'] As Grangur says tap the dowel in from the rear of the headstock [/quote] Exactly. Don't go digging under the rim of the ferrule - you;ll wreck the surface of the wood. Take the tuner off, turn the neck over and the ferrule will be deep in the hole. Simply slide the knocking device into the hole - it should be about 19mm diameter. it will then sit on top of the back of the ferrule. Then tap the knocking stick. There's a lot of things that will work. I've even done it with the blade of a large screwdriver - not ideal as it might damage the top of the edge.

[quote name='Bobthedog' timestamp='1468623209' post='3092289'] I need some help with some theory for my next Rockschool grade please. Is anyone with good theory prepared to give me an hour of their time to run through the two apparently simple questions I am struggling with? I have a tutor but do not really understand his explanations, from a practical angle he is great. I would prefer to drive over to you (max an hour from Buckingham) for face time. Happy to pay for your time if that helps the interest. [/quote] Hey Bob, what are you struggling with? Maybe we can help you online. Other than that I can help on Google Hangouts if you'd prefer.

[quote name='tess' timestamp='1468618182' post='3092256'] Hi All Well it just goes to show if you ask questions you will get the answer,& guess what, it was the "ear" of the G machine head, its loose Thank you to all Tess [/quote] Send me a pic of the tuner and the measurements between the fixing holes. I still have the old set of tuners I had. Mine was a Squier too. If your luck is in, mine might be the same.

Pleased to hear it's on the way to a good fix now. Anyone know how to suck PVA out of a neck?

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1468615733' post='3092235'] I spent ages trying to cure the rattle in one of my trussrods. Then just before I sold it I found out it was the machinehead! [/quote] I spent ages trying to find out what was buzzing when I played the A string. It turned out to be the G-string tuning head. What often happens with Fender-type heads, is the big clover-leaf gets lose in the rod.

This sounds odd to me. If it's under tension I doubt it would buzz. Are you sure it's the truss rod? Surely if it's set solid in PVA, can you still adjust it?

I might have some at home will measure it later. Do you have a metric measurement? Reading the OP again, you're after ones for enclosed back tuners. The ones I have are from open back ones.

I find a 20mm socket fits neatly in the hole from the other side. A couple of taps with the palm of the hand and the ferule drops out.

[quote name='Horizontalste' timestamp='1468508913' post='3091453'] Another way of looking at it is, your relationship with the thing. For example, if you're a player that just feels that instruments are just tools for hammering out Mustang Sally in the local then anything is capable of that with a decent setup. However, if you're the type of player that looks at an instrument as an old friend or a partner for creativity then you are going to have the one that you connect with regardless of cost. I went through the buy & try phase & I have settled on a mid priced bass that comes from California & wears an impressive humbucker :-) & I fully intend to play the paint off it over the next thirty years & I hope one of my sons will see the appeal of it & continue to use it after I'm gone. Different strokes for different folks. [/quote] Man I hate those basses... I saw one in Ebay. A Westone Jet. I only bought it because the pics were cr@p and I thought, "I can sell that for more". The colour's not my scene, but it's only to sell it, right? It arrived. I learned it was a bass from the sellers Dad. He loved it. I re-strung it. Cleaned it up from years of dust and stuff... The electrics are the originals and they work like new. Then, the big mistake; I played it. It's still here now!! I it's nothing special, but it's infectious. I doubt It'll be on the market place any time soon.

Come on... no excuses..

Isn't this all subjective? If you're a student, then a Squier / HarleyB / OLP etc will do the job. There's nothing wrong with them. Many folk will be more wealthy than a student and still carry on with these. If you're a millionaire then it's very possible you may instinctively home to the more selective and of the rack of basses in the shop. Speaking personally, I've never bought new for more than £150, but by buying used I've been able to get my hands on some really good instruments. Would I pay the RRP for those same basses? No, probably not. I couldn't justify it on my salary. The down-side of buying used is that at all the instruments you buy are those that someone, at some stage has rejected it. So, they are all, to some degree, someone else's mistake. Al lot of us do OK with those though.

[quote name='petetexas' timestamp='1468501593' post='3091375'] Looking on ebay , the " average price " is about £59 , he is [b][u]slightly[/u][/b] overpriced ( and he`s charging postage ! ) [/quote] Well, with all this Brexit going on an changes in the cabinet, the inflation in Exeter is out of this world.

He clearly sells a lot of them. I know this because if you go to ask a question you get this message: [color=#333333]"We're sorry we couldn't find an answer for you. Unfortunately, due to the high number of emails this seller receives, they aren't able to respond to your specific question right now. We suggest [/color][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=142053845929"]reviewing the item[/url][color=#333333] again to see if your answer is in the seller's listing."[/color] [color=#333333]Nice work if you can get it.[/color]

What the OP really needs is a good Wick Thumb.

Just come to the thread. The first strings to go dead are the E and A. So it sounds like it's nee strings you need. But we all panic don't we. I had a right go at a mate once for playing his guitar through my amp when I thought his treble overdrive had wrecked it. I was wrong.

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1468488029' post='3091221'] Consider a banana which costs double what another banana costs - does the more expensive banana taste twice as good? [/quote] In my Tesco it does. Brown and bruised Vs Nice and Yellow - no contest. Sorry, I'm not helping am I?

[quote name='Trueno' timestamp='1468487786' post='3091217'] No [/quote] There's your answer. There is a difference, but it's not massive. If you don't play a lot of open stings then the difference isn't £50 massive. I have a fretless Streamer. It has a plastic JaN3. I also have a brass one in the draw ready to go on it. The plastic one isn't broken, so I've not rushed to change it yet. My other 3 Wicks have brass ones, because the nuts were broken.

Also, surely if your pub-band also demands "simply" pumping out 8ths through an overdrive pedal this also reduces the need for subtle improvements in tone. So then it all comes down to comfort and the look.