Grangur

[quote name='40hz' timestamp='1487838434' post='3243329'] I noticed that. An astronomical price for an LX. I sold a near mint 2009 model with the nicer neck profile for a smidge over £500! [/quote] You sold it very cheap. I've seen other LX basses sell for £1000

This is probably the best guide i've seen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te44eWXd9pc&list=PL1Ok9_VCe0qdYo4MhAE8ecP3gzyysiiMr

Al Krow, I don't know what experience you have of "that Warwick sound" in other Warwicks, but if you'd like to try some out I'm not far from East London.

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1494251795' post='3294332'] Joking aside, a humid bathroom is not going to do anything beneficial to your bass. More likely the opposite [/quote] This /\ There's an almost certainty of damaging the finish. And a high risk of warping the wood. I used to work with solid oak furniture. Wood will move and bend in damp surroundings, but never in a predictable way. You could even find the frets pop up more. The process of seasoning wood before it's used in manufacturing, is the removal of the moisture from the wood. If the wood has dried out further after the manufacturing. Over the years, I have seen a lot of furniture warped after it was manufactured. The usual reason is dampness or it being left in a conservatory in hot weather. The answer for your bass could be to get a soft headded hammer and tap the fret back down. If this doesn't work, then the fret will need to be removed, the slot cleaned out and replaced. Before doing this a good luthiers would check the neck to see if it's twisted and if it's worth doing the neck work at all. It is possible that the problem could be more significant than you think.

True, I was actually thinking of comparing a German Corvette compared to a Rockbass. I was also forgetting you have a 5. My bad. Thinking about this... I've had 2 passive Warwicks. Both with MEC pups. One was a German Corvette. I wasn't impressed and sold it. The other was a Rockbass with humbucker looking pups. The output was very poor. I fitted a Rockbass preamp i had. It improved a bit, but i still didn't get much out of it. I sold that too.

[quote name='Al Krow' timestamp='1494257167' post='3294408'] Cheers both. I presume if I go for 500k that will be better than 250k in terms of greater output? Is it worth also thinking about replacing the MEC vintage PUPS with e.g. Seymour Duncans (or Delano or ANother PUP?)...my only concern is that would they fit in the space provided and not look out of place? [/quote] In most cases using a 500k pot rather than 250k makes the bass sound more clanging, and boosts the treble. Others here will be able to explain the reasons. As for "would I be better to change the pups?" That all depends on the bass you have and what you want to achieve. I have 4 Warwick. All have standard pups and electronics, and love them as they are, but I'm not you. If your Rockbass has the humbuckers, then I did have a bass with these. I have to say I wasn't over impressed. I would buy a German Warwick every time over a Rockbass. They are far better and IMHO the price of Rockbasses are stupidly high compared to the German ones: it makes no sense.

[quote name='thebassist' timestamp='1494252033' post='3294336'] I always used Fender Jazz Basses and have had loads and loads and loads of them over years. I had 9 of them at one point. But after meeting Ambient and reflecting on it for a good year, I started down the extended range root. Now I only have one 6-string bass! It's a beauty and I'm not finding it boring or monotonous... not yet anyway. [/quote] I too have 1 5-string bass and thinking of going for a 6-string. Actually, what I was really trying to ask/consider is; if you're a bass player who plays in a band and never picks up a bass from one Saturday night gig to the next, then only having a single bass is no problem. If you play every night, the idea of being happy with a single 4 string bass could be a little more challenging? With more strings comes a greater challenge and probably the variety of the places one can play on the neck make it more varied?

[quote name='markdavid' timestamp='1494184848' post='3293897'] Thanks for the suggestions, the Chowny chb1 is a good suggestion but i am wondering how much of the growl from tree strings it will keep, for that reason i am edging towards the Chowny swb1 which has j pickups [/quote] My first thought was the Swb. That would be my first choice.

I too am down to single figures, and I play them all regularly. I like the idea of having that one, single bass that does everything. The problem I have is finding a fretted bass with frets that drop to make it fretless. Please, will someone PM me when you see one. Question to those who have 1 bass: do you practice every night? Do you play solo, or just in a band? I ask because if you play solo every night/day, I think you too would find one bass a bit monotonous.

[quote name='Al Krow' timestamp='1494178185' post='3293823'] +1 ! Her rockabilly albums were fresh, had a ton of energy (you only have to listen to Mayhem...) and brought back interest in the genre when it was pretty much otherwise being ignored. Yes she is definitely developing as an artist, which is great to see, but by building on her rockabilly roots with this latest album which, for sure, is her best yet. [/quote] That's interesting to hear. At the Cambridge show they played mostly tracks from the new album, but the story didn't come across. The impression I got is the the crowd were a bit nonplussed at the rock tracks, but then a number of the audience came along in rockabilly gear. So rock wasn't really what they were expecting. I enjoyed it, although Imelda seemed to find it frustrating that the audience didn't get as excited as she'd have hoped. As for Imelda; she's certainly human. Mrs G can vouch for this as she bumped into her in "the Ladies". The sound quality was good. The bass was there in the mix, which is just as well; it's pretty important in most of her music. I recon I'll be buying the new album and giving it a good listen.

MDF is surprisingly heavy. If you're going to be lifting the cab a lot, then you might well regret using it.

Doesn't Danish oil seal the wood? If so, humidity wouldn't penetrate. In any case, humidity isn't going to be helpful. I think you need someone to look at the frets. You might simply need them tapped down into their slots.

There's a nice 4 string fretless Fender in the marketplace here for £310. It's not my bass. I've no tried it. I don't know the seller. But it looks a good deal to me.

It does depend on the tone you like. IMHO both a MM and an Ibanez have a tone that's too clanging and aggressive. So, for my liking, both would be a mistake. While we still have them, you should go down to your local shop and try some basses. Or meet with local BCers and try some out.

Seeing her in Cambridge tomorrow night. I'm sure we'll get to hear from the new album.

[quote name='T-Bay' timestamp='1493840911' post='3291229'] I am in Tamworth and reasonably handy across a range of skills but never done fretwork. I have a wide array of tools and kit to problem solve if needed as well. [/quote] Hey, many thanks T-Bay

I've owned/bought loads of basses, including some great instruments. Never bought a new one that I've been happy with; I've always ended up sending them back. A new one is on it's way now from Thomann. Almost expecting already that it'll end up going back.

Ivjust looked at the site. Initially it was in English. Then it all turned to Spannish. Not easy to use at all. The crazy thing is, many companies pay a fortune to get customer feedback, while he goes outvof his way to avoid it. Find another builder.

If you buy a used bass you can get an MIM for less than £400. Does it need to be new?

I also do fret levelling and dressing and the £30 is about right. That said, Gary Mac and I don't have commercial workshops to pay for. So a luthiers with a pro workshop and VAT might charge more.

Here's another thread about another great fretless: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/262540-wishbass-makeover/page__p__2779898__hl__wishbass__fromsearch__1#entry2779898

A mate, who's a pro sprayer, quoted me £100 to spray a body. That was "mates rates". So you can look at double that as normal for a proper spray job. I've sprayed a few myself and I'm getting to be quite good with rattle-cans, but TBH, it costs about £50 in cans. Add to that the hours of rubbing down, priming and rubbing again, the sandpaper and your time.... aaand add to that, the fact that it doesn't look totally "pro" when I'm done. I'd get my mate to do it for next time. I hope this might help a bit.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1493652692' post='3289728'] I've seen a few I quite liked but wouldn't buy one. Reputation for poor build quality precedes them... [/quote] They're sold with the admission that work is needed to sand the neck flat and smooth and shape the body etc, to get it to be what you want. They're not for the buyer who's looking for a ready finished bass. Mine had a Kent Armstrong humbucker and a great growl tone. It was good fun working on it, cutting a new nut and bridge from ebony and getting it working well. No sure as I want to do it again, but it was good while I was doing it. The question you need to ask is, "does this bass have the look I'm after for a classic blues band?"