Grangur

Maybe you could use a stacked vol/vol control. That way you get the function without having to drill a new hole.

You don't want any pup selection or blend or anything?

String-though body too! Impressive on a budget bass. Not sure that it adds anything to the sound, but it's a feature if you like that sort of thing.

Great to hear it's all gone well and good to see the pics too. Looking at the "relic" job I'd give it a refin too. But it's your bass. Good luck with it.

So really, a Fender Pawn Shop bass is the requirement. Buy one and do it yourself. That way you can get the sound and playing method etc, you want. There's little point in trying to recruit a puppet bass player.

Just a few thoughts: As an alternative to playing with a pick you could find finger picking down over the bridge and using muting to clip the note short could have a similar sound-feel to that you're looking for. Something you could also consider is fretless. It could suit your sound well on some tracks. 6-string bass players are thin on the ground. A 6 string neck is very wide and will only give you 12 more notes than a 4-string. The advantage it gives is it stops the player having to move up and down the neck as much. 5-string players are more common. It sounds like you're quite definite in what you want played. I guess you'd be looking for someone who's a reader as well? If I may be critical. The tracks all sound very similar. Maybe that's because the bass is missing and they're still in development. Maybe it's me. I'm local to you, but I don't play pick or chords and I don't think I'm at your level. Good luck.

Just took delivery of some straplock parts. Great service. Nice person to do business with. Many thanks Martyn.

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1483715820' post='3209501'] Under the Consumer Rights Act (and the Sale of Goods Act that preceded it), your contract is with the retailer who sold you the goods. Whilst you might be sympathetic to a retailer who has problems with its suppliers, that is not and should not be your problem as the end consumer and you should not lose out over it. Your contract is with the retailer and it is up to them to reimburse you, not the supplier. If they wish to secure recompense from their supplier, that's up to them. However, it shouldn't affect what happens to you. [/quote] That's all great in theory, and I appreciate you are correct. But we're not talking about taking it to court. We're talking about the facts that can lie under the surface that can be the reason for bad service. After all, would you take a seller to court, possibly costing £x,000 for a £200 bass? Yes, you might get your costs back. But there is the risk that you won't. You might also go to a lot of cost in the preparation only to have the seller post you a cheque or issue a basic refund on the cost price. That said, making reference to the law when talking to them usually gets them thinking.

Help yourself to any of the tunes in this thread. Actually, it's about time I revisited it and added some more. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/215336-learning-to-read-the-dots-sheet-music-to-learn-with/page__fromsearch__1"]http://basschat.co.u...__fromsearch__1[/url] [url="http://www.studybass.com"]http://www.Studybass.com[/url] has all the basic information there too. For books on reading Stuart Clayton has a series of books at [url="https://www.basslinepublishing.com/"]basslinepublishing.com[/url] For the complete info on theory for bass, you would do well to get [b] [size=3][url="https://wordery.com/music-theory-for-the-bass-player-ariane-cap-9780996727600?currency=GBP&gtrck=bEFnd0ozQU51WTVKVGxSYmZ6d2xHNnRFRGtDcXVxSzVrb0k1bXJjSmlsZ1F5RlVLYUFqVXFmbVR5TVF4ZGFPUEtFeTNadGtxUFpkT2xIQXArNUtaeWc9PQ&gclid=CNjltZb9rdECFWYq0wodwm8H_w"][b]Music Theory for the Bass Player[/b][/url]: A Comprehensive and Hands-On Guide to Playing with More Confidence and Freedom[/size][/b] [font=OpenSans, Arial,] [size=3]A [color=#1C7E8C !important]Paperback[/color] edition by [url="https://wordery.com/ariane-cap-author"]Ariane Cap[/url][/size][/font] Here's another thread too. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/71857-the-majors-bass-boot-camp-session-1/page__p__2845811__hl__boot__fromsearch__1#entry2845811"]http://basschat.co.u..._1#entry2845811[/url]

Here's the working version of the link: [url="https://soundcloud.com/fakeempires/sets/working-demos-unfinished"]https://soundcloud.c...emos-unfinished[/url] Welcome Roo, you missed out the colon in the url. It sounds really good. I'm working right now, but I'll be interesting to have a full listen later. Good luck

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1483709998' post='3209426'] Utter junk with twisted unstable necks [/quote] And with Fenders Leo was simply practicing before he went on to work on Rays. So, what are they like?

[quote name='markdavid' timestamp='1483697166' post='3209288'] Wow £10-15 !!!! is at least £40 plus strings (if needed) where I am , I think I paid around £70 for my last setup [/quote] I thought I was alone. I paid that to a shop that sent it to a guy in Stevenage. It took 3 weeks and cost £100 inc strings (don't know what strings - shop was unable to tell me) It was the worst setup I have ever seen - fret buzz all down the neck. That gave me the prompt to learn to do my own. Well, I could do no worse!

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1483692953' post='3209259'] oooh, I don't know. Have you got access to an MRI machine? [/quote] Easy I know of one near here. Mind you, have you seen the queue in A&E lately?!

[quote name='kendall' timestamp='1483692790' post='3209253'] My main concern is their lack of customer service. They refuse to own and resolve problems. The amount of wasted phone calls, promises of call backs etc. is what really annoyed me. As for their suppliers, that is their problem and not mine, they are happy to take my money but unable to deliver on their promise of "Excellent Service" when things go wrong. I accept that problems can and do occur, the measure of a company is how they resolve these problems and keep customers coming back. [/quote] Agreed; they should keep their promises. There's no excuse for them giving bad service in that respect. To avoid that; always take the name of the customer service person. If he lets you down, then call and talk to the Sales Manager and report the name of the person who didn't call you back. After all it's not Gear4Music that's giving bad service it's the Customer Service person. As someone who's worked in sales for many years, I believe that honesty with the customer is always best. If you get poor support from a supplier - tell the customer. Tell them the procedure that needs to be followed to get the best response from the supplier.

Looking at that makes my eyes go funny. Let's see what happens. After all, it's not my bass

You could find the problem actually lies in how Gear4Music are treated by their suppliers. If the supplier gives Gear4Music a rough service, questioning every report of a fault and reluctant to support, then Gear4Music has no option but to protect themselves from being stuck with dead, failed stock.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1483624770' post='3208767'] You'd be surprised... even Warwick used them As for it being a bodge... we'll have to disagree. It may not seem that elegant at first sight, but it's highly effective with no drawbacks. Yes, you may argue that theoretically the contact neck/body is reduced etc etc. But I'm only interested in what works or doesn't work *in use*. And shims work. No question about it. edit: but then I also liked the micro-tilt mechanism on 3-bolt fenders (and some 4-bolt too, as my old Strat has that). It gave me all the adjustability I wanted and I never saw any problem -as long as the neck pocket is tight. [/quote] Those of my Warwick basses that I've taken apart can be lifted up by the neck and the body stays connected without the neck bolts in place. So the pockets on mine are tight. Surely if the neck pocket is that tight, adding a shim would cause strain between the neck and the sides of the pocket as the neck is no longer laying square in the socket? I know I'm talking a small degree of twist, but it is a twist all the same. Sorry if I caused any offence with the word "bodge". Maybe "work-around" would be better, but a spade is still a spade.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1483623289' post='3208741'] If it's new from a shop, I'd get them to fix it. Unless I really liked the bass. All it likely needs is a tiny tiny shim. I notice some here think that's a problem, but I disagree. It's a very effective and common way to fine tune the neck angle on mass-produced bolt-on neck instruments. Many include a shim from factory, which you only find out when you remove the neck, and I'm not talking about budget instruments exactly. So... if that were my bass and all I didn't like was that, I'd keep it and address it myself. You can get the shop to take care of it but either you'll have to wait, or you'll have to wait AND receive a new instrument which you may like more or less than this one you have in your hands: so if I really like it, I'd keep it... and depending on how impatient I feel I'd either do it myself or talk the shop into sorting it out. [/quote] The point against a shim is that it's simply a bodge to make up for poor manufacturing standards. If you pay for good standards you should get good standards. Other makers manage to do it.

[quote name='tom1946' timestamp='1483609934' post='3208589'] Didn't Jimi Hendrix use lighter fluid on his strat? [/quote] Exactly. So, what could be better?

The only solution I can think of is shim the neck or rout a cavity for the bridge. I don't like either of these solutions. If the ever want to change the bridge the rout will be the wrong shape and, as the OP says, it's wrong having a shim in a bass of this value. I'd return it to them.