neepheid

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1363781127' post='2017426'] This. I know you mentioned Fender in particular, but there are plenty of other brands that people want, but you said you aren't in any shops target market, which lead me to think that you want something that isn't particularly common, like those weirdly shaped boutique bases. [/quote] Perhaps I was over-dramatising the situation but I was merely referring back to the aforementioned "wall of Fenders" approach that I see in most shops that I've visited. If I don't care for or aspire to own a Fender then I guess I'm SOL. I therefore feel that I am outside your average shop's target market - i.e. anyone who likes Fenders and is wowed by a wall of them (and furthermore, that's perfectly fine and I'm not taking the mick. In fact, in a way you're kinda lucky if this is your taste in bass). Maybe you've got sigs switched off, but there's nothing boutique in my collection. My tastes are Gibson (and certain Epiphones), G&L (Tributes are fine) and selected Yamahas (mostly BBs). Hardly what I'd call "boutique", but we're not exactly swimming in them, certainly up my way.

[quote name='TurnItUp' timestamp='1363777757' post='2017332'] So do fully paid up members who love to support BC's work have to pay the marketplace subscription as well? [/quote] What is a "fully paid up" member? Do you mean past donations?

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1363776700' post='2017300'] Sorry, but i was getting that impression from your previous posts. [/quote] On what did you base this impression? I'm genuinely interested.

Get a cheap, but good bass and don't spend anything on it? I picked up a slightly ratty Yamaha BB300 for about £100 just for the purpose of playing a festival, because of some of the concerns you highlight. It was great without having to spend anything on it. And I've replaced that with a Yamaha BB450 which I rescued from a maxed out truss rod and some other issues for less than £100. Both fantastic basses which I would gig with no hesitation, but if they came to grief it wouldn't be a disaster. The trouble with modding is that you get a bit personally involved with it and then it's more of a ballache if it gets nicked, quite apart from the fact that you'll never get your money back on the mods if it came to selling.

The Schaller 3D is pretty low profile and gives you side to side string spacing adjustment with the wee rollers. Thanks to those ever so precise and efficient Germans, here is all the skinny: http://guitar-machine-heads.com/download/C1ffcfe16X12a3cdeff9eX1d97/BassSteg_3D_4.pdf

I have a Zoot 4x10 and I can sprint up stairs with it. I can skip as I carry it to the car. I haven't lifted a Purple Chili one, but I guess they're made the same way with the same drivers, they're just a bit more purple and a bit less fluffy.

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1363774746' post='2017251'] And they can't give a crap without stocking high end boutique bass guitars? [/quote] You show me where I said that's what I wanted. Stop putting words in my mouth, it's not cool and you're out of order. All I crave is a bit of variety of any kind.

I can't imagine a Cort Curbow weighs too much, having a tiny luthite body. Also +1 on Danelectros being very light indeed. Beware of neck dive though!

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1363771912' post='2017191'] If there's no demand for it, where's the sense in it? [/quote] Halo effect. I would visit a shop more often if I felt they gave a crap, that I wasn't being a burden and distracting them from precious guitar sales and were sensitive to a bass player's needs. If I visit more, then there's more chance that I'll buy something.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1363708642' post='2016300'] But they're not black - they are black and maple a completely different category. [/quote] I would guess that when most people refer to the colour of a bass and only mention a single colour, they are talking about the body colour. So you're telling me a red bass isn't a red bass unless it's got a red fingerboard? I think you're just being a wee bit argumentative for the sake of it.

Play in nicer places, to nicer people?

Thinking about it, black has been the most common colour of all the basses I have owned. Here are all the ones I can recall (and have photos of): Gibson G-3 Epiphone Les Paul (not so) Standard Yamaha BB300 and BB614 Yamaha BB350F Gibson SG-Z G&L El Toro That's it, I think. Still got the Yamaha BB350F and the G&L El Toro. Miss the Epi a bit.

I think black is the most frequent (body) colour in all the basses I have owned. It's currently the most common headstock colour for some obscure reason

As far as I'm concerned, the different woods thing is so insignificant in real world applications that I really don't give a monkey's about it. Until one can measure it in a repeatable experiment then it's a waste of time to even debate it. There are no hard facts in this, you can't even say that two pieces of wood from the same tree, never mind the same species or locality will be even similar, never mind identical. Composition of the sound emanating from an electric bass in order of priority: Pickups (and that's probably something like three quarters of it), electronics, strings, then a heap of ill-defined other stuff like wood types, bridge mass, type of neck join, top loading or through body stringing (all of which I'd estimate contribute no more than 10% of the final sound). It's sound, even if you can hear a difference, it's impossible to measure or place a meaningful quantity of change on, so all we're left with is a heap of ill-defined statements like maple fingerboards having "more snap" and other similar, fluffy, vague proclamations. If you want to bat back and forth the minutiae of basses then be my guest, but it all seems pretty pointless to me when you could simply enjoy the bass(es) you have for what they do for you, personally. Sound is all subjective, and whatever effect (not denying there will be an effect) the wood types have on the final sound, you'll make more difference to the sound mucking about with the EQ on your amp anyway.

da man dat can.

What makes me avoid my local bricks and mortar stores almost completely? They rarely stock anything I'm interested in. That's fine, I know how economics work (and how much stock some manufacturers demand they buy in order to cement a trade agreement) but there's nothing more yawn inspiring to me than walls filled with nothing but Fenders/Squiers. Not wishing to reignite the "Fender is dull/boring" idiocy that has recently flared up, but it's just not my thing. Strings and things are often ridiculously priced. Guitars outnumbering basses by factors approaching 10 to 1 really pees me off too, I know guitar is more popular, but THAT much more popular? All these things conspire to ensure that I rarely set foot in my two local shops, and if I do, it takes 2 minutes to verify that the same basses as last time are still there and I can leave again. It's been a year and a half since I actually saw something in a shop I wanted to try. Oh, and have some decent ampage in there AND LET US TRY THE INSTRUMENTS THROUGH THEM. I'm unlikely to get the full overview of what a bass can do if you plug it into a wee practice amp in the middle of a noisy shop. In any case, I don't think I'm any shop's target market. I mostly because I'm not in the slightest bit interested in owning a Fender. Most people are, it seems, so stock as many as you wish and don't mind me. Mouths to feed and all that.

In my experience, the bass absolutely makes more sense in an ensemble. I owned a my first bass for 4-5 years. It was practically an ornament. Then I joined a band and my bass playing took off!

Well, I suspect that if you wanted one, you might be too late. Had a look on gear4music and their projected delivery date for the BT5110 combo is ... the 30th September. Riiiiiiight then. Mine had better not break now

I've tried the Rotosound Trubass 88. A LOT more compliant than the regular Roto 77 flats (which are like overhead cables in their recalcitrance), feel nice when you're playing them/sliding around and have a nice rounded sound. Using them on a Yamaha BB350F. They're pretty fat though, had to get a wee bit of work done on the nut (slots widened) for them to fit properly (thanks Rich!).

Bought some strings from Richard. Good comms, quick postage, all good!

[quote name='throwoff' timestamp='1363258944' post='2010508'] Why exactly? Unless rules have recently been brought in by the gods of bass I am pretty sure you can play however you want on whatever bass you want. [/quote] I think it's more a question of room between the strings and the pickup to get underneath the strings, or whatever it is you crazy slappers want to do. Anyway, no-one said it wasn't allowed, I think the commentator was referring to the relative difficulty of achieving some slap bass on the SG. No need to be so defensive

I'm maybe a bit late to the party, but for my little stab at fretless (which I quite enjoy, but haven't been brave enough to embarrass myself in front of either band yet) I got a fretless (second hand, cheap, a bit ratty) version of something I already had and was familiar with - a Yamaha BB. I just figured that if all the rest of the ergonomics were the same then the only weird thing to get used to would be the fretlessness

I only replace bridges in order to improve functionality (for instance, offering string spacing adjustment where the stock on doesn't - and usually in order to combat something like a less than ideal pickup position or a [i]slightly[/i] wacky neck angle. Top loading is a nice bonus). Or to get rid of a Gibson three point bridge, just because I think it's a deficient design in so many ways. Yes, it top loads, but you haven't even got individual string height adjustment, COME ON! In my opinion, replacement bridges change the sound in one's head mostly. Yes, scientifically speaking the parameters have changed so something must change, but if you want to beef up the sound of your bass, the pickups are your #1 target, as that's where (in my humble opinion) 80-90% of the sound of an electric bass comes from with all the other disparate variables - wood types, bridge mass, neck join, string type etc. making up the rest - yes I do believe it is [i]that[/i] insignificant. Oh, and try adjusting the pickups you've got first before drooling over some Lindy Fralins - are they the right distance from the strings? Second, probably strings. Different materials and gauges with interact differently with the magnetic field surrounding the pickups. THEN tackle how the string moves/interacts with the body/neck with different bridges. THIS IS ALL MY OWN OPINION AND SHOULD IN NO WAY BE MISCONSTRUED AS FACT. Ithankyou.

Sad about this, like many others have already said, Iron Maiden were a big part of my growing up (I think Iron Maiden, "Killers" was the second tape I ever bought by myself - I remember my Mum not being thrilled at the cover ). Always liked Clive's drumming, a damn shame what happened to him with the MS. RIP Clive. Off to listen to some early Maiden now.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1363196292' post='2009641'] Some dick with nothing better to do had reported to eBay and as copies are not allowed they removed it and all my other listings [/quote] WTF? How? I've reported many actual fakes to eBay and they've done the square root of naff all about it.