Grangur

At that price it's Korean made, assembled in Britain at best. The body shape is interesting. I'm sure it would look better in natural colour wood but that veneer top looks ugly to me. I don't like the "thick marmalade" colour stain.

[quote name='lownote12' timestamp='1485627724' post='3225467'] No really they are... What's bottom end? Squier? Sire? What's top end, Fodera? Price wise that's a range between say 300 Trumps and 25000 Trumps. You won't get a custom Fodera for much less than 8000. Whereas a top end Zon is around 4-5000 and a bespoke Overwater can be had for less than 3000. When's that not midrange? lol [/quote] It has me totally confused when you hear/read of people talking about CAD/CAM mass produced basses sold for £/$1500 as top of the line, premium quality instruments. I recall an SBL Web conference event when we had a "lesson" with Anthony Wellington. Someone asked about his EQ settings. His response was "I never change it. It's totally flat. I don't pay $10,000 for a bass to spend time messing about with the EQ. There were a few folk rather stunned by that.

Its great that its a tight fit. I'm sure you'll find all the slots are too high. Remove the nut and sand the bottom to make the whole nut lower. You may find you don't need to file the slots much, if at all.

[quote name='lownote12' timestamp='1485615962' post='3225336'] I have been with SBL since it started six years ago, pretty much. Scott trickles out short lessons, a live show on Facebook and tasters from courses for nothing - or a sign up and no more, but all the serious stuff is behind the Academy wall. IMHO you won't find a more comprehensive learning resource on the planet than the Academy and for the money it is crazy value. Hours of expert video learning on every aspect of bass from beginner to grown-up, plus guest seminars and lessons from a growing faculty of other bass gods - even Gary Willis now! - plus you can send Scott a video of your stuff for him to evaluate. By comparison I have paid close to £100 for three hours of personal tutition from local tutors who taught me sweet fanny adams, frankly. But there are downsides to SBL:[list=1] [*]I have found a lot of great, even more useful material for free on other sites like Talking Bass.net. [*]Scott has taught himself to be a throughly professional and charismatic presenter but at times he tries too hard to appeal to all ages and his desperate attempts to dress, act and talk like an American 18 year old (when's he's actually nearly 40) do grate after a while. [*]The forum community (or Campus as its called) is mostly inhabited by people you'd go out of your way to avoid at the Bass Show, but if you like music oriented Boy Scouting it and its members can be very helpful, especially for beginners. It's heavily regulated by 'campus managers'; let's just leave it there in case I upset someone. Anyone who's been in a cult will find it easy going. [*]SBL is increasingly commercial. Scott has already made his first million and is clearly determined to make more and it won't be long before the upselling gets too much in your face. [/list] So, in a nutshell, my advice is if you're new to bass and seriously want to make a go of it, think of SBL as an online university of quality yet cheaper than any real uni by a factor of 100. But if you've already got your stuff together it's not worth joining, just watch out for his free stuff in case anything comes up. And if he's trailing a must-have course you can't miss, do the 14 day free trial and take copious notes over a wet weekend. [/quote] Nicely put. I don't think I'm too out of hand, but I got pulled in-line by one of Scott's friends who hangs off his shirt-tails, on more than one occasion. I was told something like "keep it nice for the children".

Victor Wootton? Okay, his style is a bit odd-ball. That's to say it's not exactly chart-topping now or anytime soon.

[quote name='prowla' timestamp='1485605520' post='3225241'] People who put Fender logos on non-Fenders like this are being dishonest. [/quote] I quite agree. But it's almost standard practice now. But he's done it that badly it's almost becoming honest.

[quote name='arthurhenry' timestamp='1485606234' post='3225248'] It was Duck Dunn that died, Duck Dunne may still be alive. [/quote] True, but when it came to bass does he know his onions?

Many thanks, guys, for a good laugh. Mrs G and I liked that.

I've never bought a [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Graphtech[/font][/color][sup]® one. Opps... look what happened there![/sup] I have bought a Warwick Brass Just-a-nut. They do make a difference, but you it's all down to personal budget, whether you play open strings much, and what the bass is worth. If the bass is a keeper, then go for it. After all, you have a nice bridge, so why not go for a nice nut? As for the lacquer, here's one I've used. Take the neck off, sand it with fine glasspaper, lay it on some old cardboard or news paper and go for it. You'll be fine http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400ml-AEROSOL-NITROCELLULOSE-CLEAR-LACQUER-SATIN-FINISH-CELLULOSE-FAN-SPRAY-/332029159877?hash=item4d4e7ae9c5:g:vGIAAOSwFqJWsv9u

Congrats on the new bass. It sounds like it's going to be some fun fixing it up. I like this ebay thread better than yours: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tip-Cleaner-Needle-file-set-Jet-cleaner-Nozzle-Cleaner-/151705426365?hash=item23525919bd:g:kt0AAOSw4GVYH5aN Those files are all a bit thin, but if you're patient and take your time you can get the result you're looking for using those. I've done it a few times. By the sounds of it, going for a new nut might not be a bad move. If you can get one for a few pounds it has to be a good move. You'd have to measure the neck t get the right size, but you can get one on EvilBay for under £5. In respect to the dings in the neck. I take it these are probably on the back? The trouble with sweating dings out of Fender necks is they lacquer them. It's not easy to sweat those. What I find works well, if it's only slight ones, is to sand down the back and lacquer it, sand and lacquer... this fills the dings and gets it smooth. It might not get perfect, but it's a good start.... .. until we see the pictures. As you know. If there's no pictures; it ain't real.

[quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1485593981' post='3225109'] As soon as I hear slap I go onto the next video if I'm trying to get an idea of the sound. I wonder what percentage of bass players actually slap live at gigs or on recordings - 5%? less? So to most bass players it's irrelevant. Same goes when I was trying to get an idea of the sound of a Hofner violin bass. Every Youtube video had the reviewer playing with a plectrum as that's what McCartney used. I play with my fingers so, again, the videos were useless to me. As for fretless, don't get me started. I don't want to sound or play like Jaco, I just want to hear what the bass sounds like. Yes you can slide about the place and use vibrato as that's what a fretless allows you to do but I'm not interested in most of the other stuff I'll never use. [/quote] +1 Nicely said Sir.

I've missed these threads for a few months now. Always got to find it too late to vote. The bar is really high on this month's entries. There's been some really good work done by you all.

Hi Bob, Welcome to Basschat. That's a serious cab you have there! Hope to meet up too at the Bass Bashir Richard

I got a set from Wickes. They've been used a fair bit and never rounded any off yet, although I have had this problem with hex keys from other places. http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Long-Pattern-Hexagon-Key-Set-of-30/p/167811 No cheap, but with cheap comes rounded ends.

[quote name='fftc' timestamp='1485363018' post='3223410'] Why does SBL charge in dollars? Isn't he from Leeds? [/quote] Most of the SBL students are in the USA. Also, most other people in the world will also know how their currency stacks against the US$ they won't so often know about the exchange rate with GBP.

I'm a dormant member at SBL. That's to say I was very involved and well into it, but got fed up of some aspects of it. The lessons are very good and represent amazing value compared to the cost of face-2-face lessons, which I've never really got on with. Joe Hubbard came on SBL as a live webcast thing. He presented a lesson or 2 and promoted his book. £40 struck me as a lot of dosh for a book in PDF format that you need to print yourself if you want it in paper version. But I'm tight, I guess. Byo, what are you wanting to work on? Maybe we can give more useful help if you tell us what you're aiming at? What I mean is, tell us what you're wanting to improve and we can tell you if Scott covers it in the paid-for lessons

Acrylic..... is that a tonewood? IBTL

I MUST be getting old. I'd prefer he didn't sign them.

[quote name='jimbartlett' timestamp='1485116274' post='3221288'] Thanks for taking the time out to write such a huge amount of information, very good stuff and making me want to try one even more now!!! [/quote] You're welcome. I've just found out something. All the time I was experimenting I was playing a Fender P. After finishing all the write up, I changed to a Warwick. The Warwicks don't sound anywhere near as good as the passive P through the amp. I tried 3 Warwicks all in active and passive mode; not good at all. Then I tried and Ibanez PJ passive; excellent tone again. This has been a real eye-opening experience. A good number of folk don't like Warwick basses. I'm sure this issue isn't solely Warwicks, but doesn't it just showanted how, when choosing a bass, the instrument is only a fraction of the picture.