neepheid

As with most things, it depends. Normally I would agree with OP, but a counter example would be if I ever sold my G4M "rat" bass. I mean I'm keeping the Lace Aluma P, but I'm going to leave the Grover tuners I put on it. Not only was that a genuine upgrade versus the stock tuners but the stock tuners were so bad that I chucked them in the bin so that no other bass player ever has to encounter them again. I think I did the ecosystem a favour, personally

How "opposite" is opposite? I'm at a pretty opposite end of the UK by any measure...

I ignore any part of a review which refers to setup out of the box - it's utterly irrelevant. If you go through life expecting every bass you receive to be set up to your exact liking, especially at the price points being discussed here, you're going to be disappointed - a lot. Either learn how to set up your instruments, or stop being a cheapskate and operate within the price points where you would expect this kind of service/attention to detail. I suspect it's used in reviews as a cheap shot just so they can have something negative to say about otherwise perfectly serviceable instruments.

Dealing on here, feedback is the main driver. I'll happily deal in bank transfer with a BCer who has a long and distinguished feedback thread, and being a long time and active contributor is also in their favour. But you're right, there's zero protection, it's all on trust. So if anything feels wrong, insist on something with a degree of protection - Paypal (regular, not Friends and Family) for example. I can only speak for myself, but I have gone to great lengths to be a seller of good standing on here, even if I'm not super prolific. It's not rocket science - take good photos, write accurate descriptions, package items well, and keep the buyer informed as things progress. That's the way to get good feedback.

With respect, I don't care about guitar stuff, and while Glenn is fun, Glenn is Glenn-ing all the way to the bank. I do so enjoy his videos where he rips into the stupid comments he receives, but he also kinda has to make the comments happen, for the videos to happen? LEL is quite the modder herself, if anything she's inspired me down the path of considered modding. I mean there's no point if it doesn't bring anything new to the table, but I'm in the "it does, if you choose the right pickup" camp. However, I rewatched the section about pickup swapping in the video we are discussing and I'm even more convinced that it was a myopic, awful example which has been spun out to mean all "swapping pickups BAD/POINTLESS", mostly because it was covering a quite complicated subject in a few minutes. You make a fair point that we're all looking for different things, but how do you find out what you want? Learn by doing, I say. There's more to it than than just the pickup itself anyway - what if you swap from a 2 wire humbucker to a 4 wire humbucker to open up the possibilities of switching between parallel and series (or single coil)? Is anyone going to seriously tell me that switching from series to parallel won't be detected by even the most uneducated of ears? It'll even look different in the waveform. Say what you want about that not strictly speaking the pickup per se, but you would have had to swap the pickup to open up these possibilities (or do some horrible, ill-advised surgery on the pickup you have). The pickup swaps I've done which have made the most difference (while keeping within their criteria of the same form factor): Epi Les Paul bass: stock pickups > EMG-HB > DiMarzio X2N-B G4M "rat" bass: stock pickup > Lace Aluma P Squier Jaguar H: stock pickup > Ibanez CAP quad coil double humbucker (as found in the ATK810 etc.) Most disappointing swap ever has to be in my Sire D5 - I got the opportunity to try a Herrick multicoil pickup. I was so disappointed - I had high hopes for this radically different pickup (one coil per string in a single coil P pickup package) and never mind the reduction in output (that's what the gain knob on your amp is for) it was so anonymous and flat sounding that it just made me miss the stock pickup in the D5 (which is mid focused to all hell and back, but at least it has character!) And yes, live in a mix, bass be bassy, yo. But I want my basses to have a punchy, thick sound, defined but loud bottom end, yet able to tease out highs when necessary. EQ can only take you so far. TL:DR - I still think that portion of the video is lightweight in the extreme and sends a frankly incorrect, oversimplified message. However, I do think that beginners shouldn't even be considering swapping pickups until they get good, because swapping a pickup isn't going to improve your playing one jot. The bitter voice of experience talking here. If that was the point of the video, then that's fair enough, but it could have been explained better.

It's experience which tells me whether or not a pickup will make a significant difference or not. I just didn't appreciate the use of a pretty boring, edge example then just extrapolate that out to "all pickup swaps do eff all" type conclusion. Absolute tosh. But yes, your wallet will thank you for keeping out of it

Thorsten bought a G&L Tribute LB-100 from me. Sound as a pound - respectful in the negotiations, prompt payment and communicative throughout. Deal with confidence.

Well indeed, the little so-and-so will be off ordering cabs and basses as soon as you turn your back.

Except for the fact that the Daily Fail is to news reporting what Evri is to delivering packages...

Are you looking at the same product as me?

I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about...

That probably would have increased the value - flatwound players are a weird bunch...

You could have sold those!

Yes! Why ask?

Goddamnit, jinxed it. Can's been kicked down the road another couple of weeks

Returns can take time, but they do eventually get there. If you're worried, give them a prod.

Changed to a new game - Groundhog Day - been "Fast delivery within approx. 4 business days" for about the past 4 days now. TBF, the last email I got about a time change said the ETA was "week 8 2025" and we've just begun week 8, so hopefully it'll be soon...

I don't have any experience with the Spark, but as a former owner of the Mojomojo, I say it's a great OD pedal, very useable on bass despite its billing as a "guitar" pedal. I had it as my main OD for years and only changed because of pedalboard consolidation (got a Joyo Monomyth which combines OD, EQ and DI in one package).

I never said you were, that's why I said "if" and "someone" - it's hypothetical. I'm not accusing you of anything.

I would say that is quite the unusual occurrence, so while I congratulate you on your good fortune, it would tick me off if someone used that example to try and lean on me in a haggle.

I would just like to report that I received a PM this afternoon but got no email.

Eh, just a suggestion. Ruin some poor sod of a brand that you've acquired with your fever dream instruments without derailing the gravy train...

That's why they own the likes of Charvel/Jackson etc.? No?