neepheid

Again? (Fender Pawn Shop Series Reverse Jaguar)

Pfft, showoff!

Well, to answer your questions the neck is lovely, satin finish on the back, I whizz around on it quite happily. Positions is an interesting question. I fitted a Freeway 10-way switch to give me more options (like combining pickups in series, using the first and third together etc.). My favourite positions are neck pickup only, neck and middle in series, and middle and bridge in series. Note that the second two are only available by modding - the stock five way switch is wired exactly like a Strat - N, N+M, M, M+B, B - all parallel. I am not renowned for my liking of the bridge pickups, but the bridge pickup on the Triad is one of the few that have impressed me.

Is that an open question to the entire Triad crew?

Proof that bass players can indeed count to 4.

Further update - a (useful) spanner in the works has appeared from nowhere. Don't wanna jinx it. More news later in the week...

Update - Thomann have gone straight to return for full refund. Have asked them if they had considered my initial request for a discount. Waiting to hear back.

Geez, have I been living under a rock all this time or what?

I'm still digesting the acronyms!

Yes, and? Is there a point buried somewhere in this sentence?

My guess is that they cut through many layers of BS to just get nice instruments made and in the hands of people at reasonable prices. The insolent upstart market disruptors that they are!

Also, F U very much Fender...

Not yet. Still waiting for Thomann's response. Saturday probably isn't the best day to get admin-y stuff done and they're shut on a Sunday. Maybe tomorrow. Well, today.

I am also in a fortunate position. It boggles my mind when some people report that they have to sneak basses into the house, or hide them under beds, or pretend that they've owned them for a while. I hear stories of pressure applied by partners to give up gigging. All this stuff makes me sad, but glad that I do not experience any of this myself. When I bought my most recent bass, I told my wife about it and her response was "good price"

That is correct, the Sire preamps do indeed have a trim pot. There's deffo one in my Z7, put it that way.

If Thomann lop as decent a chunk off the price as DHL have lopped off the bass, I'll keep it and fix it up. We're not exactly talking megabucks here. Honestly, glueing a few pieces of finish onto a bass is a lot less hassle (to me at least) than going through the arseache of packaging it up again (effin' properly this time so I don't get any blowback) and getting it to wherever DHL can lay their hands on it again.

Boxes were structurally fine (if a little grubby). I think this is a case of insufficent internal packaging - the bass was able to move around inside the box, so I think the box got dropped and the bass bashed against the inside of the box. This was all that was keeping it "tight" inside the inner box: Note the nick of the third cardboard retainer, looks bashed in to me. Foam bag was ripped too. Finish chip was rattling around inside the box.

Well, let's see what they say about it first. I doubt they'd want it back anyway - it was B-stock to start with, so they've already had it back once (or maybe it was ex-display?) and I don't think they'll be able to sell it again anyway if it was returned to them. Let's see if logic and common sense prevail, 'cos I'm doing them a favour by offering to keep it. I don't feel obliged to keep it - I just think because I've accounted for all the finish pieces that I can glue it back together and it's at the back so it wouldn't be too bothersome.

Aw man! I thought I was in luck - I snagged a B-stock Squier Jaguar H from Thomann. And then DHL got involved What a shame! The good news is that the damage is at the back, and I found the finish chip inside the box. So I've told Thomann that I'm willing to keep the bass if they lop some money off. Waiting to see what they have to say, having sent them all the many photos of bass and packaging that they asked for. Unfortunately, it's kinda in limbo land right now - I don't want to do anything until I hear back from Thomann about what they want to do. Had a quick play around with it and it seems nice and well put together. Pickup is a bit meh, so if I'm keeping it then this will probably get changed. I guess I'll update when I get their reply. Until then, here's a quick shot of the front, and my Sire D5 keeping it company while we wait.

This is shady AF. Most other vendors make it clear that you're buying a refurbed/B-stock/ex-display etc. item.

So, anyone want to tell us about a gig they have recently performed at?

I'm in. That weekend is clear for me and I have blocked it off in the band calendar.

Top to bottom: Volume/passive tone stack Blend High Mid/mid sweep stack Bass (pull for passive)

Lace Aluma P - punchy, sorta sounds "active" without being active, if you catch my drift.

A few months back, I bought a Gear4Music LA Select bass, mostly because I wanted to see how bad a £150 bass is these days, but also it had some interesting specs for a P bass: Bound body Roasted maple neck 21 frets instead of 20 Block markers. Mmm, blocks. So it arrived and honestly it wasn't utterly awful - on the whole it was pretty well screwed together. It fell down in three main areas - some ratty fret ends, comically bad tuners, iffy pickup. So I got to work with the remedial work - ground back the ratty, pokey fret ends. Fitted a set of Grover Minis that had been languishing in a spares box for years, waiting for this exact situation! Straight swap with the old ones, so a piece of cake. So, to the pickup. Now there's a tsunami of split P pickups out there. Conventional wisdom would have dictated that I stick a Tonerider or Warman in here and be done with it - great pickups at a price commensurate with its surroundings. But not me! I wanted to try something different/odd/unusual. After some research, I decided to give the Lace Aluma P a go. Because I'm quite, quite mad. Insert really boring story about how the pickup in this cheapy is not standard size, neither is the depth of the pickup route, lots of p!ssing about with different length screws (because the Lace Aluma P has low profile mounting lugs) and having to paint inside the route with matt black paint to hide/disguise the fact that it's bigger than the pickup. While I was mucking about, I added a Sire style 3 string retainer to replace the standard round style 2 string one. Anyway, I'm done now. I have a very giggable bass that sounds great for around £300.