tauzero

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1380709829' post='2229209'] The insurance thing has long been a bugbear of mine, too. Surely the post is the responsibility of the courier while it is in their care? If they lose or wreck it shouldn't they have to pay for its repair or replacement anyway? How can it possibly be legal for them to charge their own insurance on top of a service which should include the safe delivery of posted items? I already paid them to deliver an item to an address, which in my mind includes not damaging or losing it- if they don't do so they have failed to provide that service and should take responsibility for the situation. [/quote] Look at it from a different perspective. It's inevitable that some items will get lost or damaged, and the courier firm will have to recompense the customer, which will have to be allowed for in what other cusomers are charged. Having some sort of sliding scale depending on the value of the item means that people sending cheap parcels aren't subsidising those sending expensive ones, which are a higher risk for the courier.

[quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1380644039' post='2228373'] Specialty guitar makers aren't really luthiers. They're essentially carpenters. [/quote] Don't be silly. They're joiners.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1380636892' post='2228227'] But the fact is, and I'm sorry to say this and I hope I don't offend anyone, but every time I go to a bass bash or play someone's bass, or even buy a bass from someone on here, most of the time I am surprised by how badly they are set up, and how poorly they play, sometimes I am amazed at how little they seem to have been cared for. [/quote] That's [s]relousing[/s] relicing for you.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1380634805' post='2228191'] It absolutely does matter what the stories are like. Some folk for example, I knew if I dealt with (given the stories that I have read), would be a rollercoaster ride. I'd have to think carefully about taking that step. Perhaps I should clarify - sometimes the want for the product overrides all the negative stories. You brain tells you it's a bad move... but your heart really wants it. [/quote] OK, what you said (and I did quote it in my initial response) was "It doesn't matter what stories good or bad you are told..." - and that's to qualify that if you want something that only X can provide, X has you over a barrel and you'd better lube up. So yes, I think we're in agreement - my point being that the stories are valuable because they can affect your decision.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1380634133' post='2228174'] Err... I'm not disagreeing with you. If you are going down the custom route without doing your homework, then you really are leaving yourself wide open! All I am saying is (and this seems to be being ignored), if you know the stories are bad and only luthier X will deliver the goods, you have the choice to either go with it and deal with the potential anguish... or not. [/quote] Then I misinterpreted what you said, which was along the lines of "it doesn't matter what the stories are like". I've been getting the implication from your postings that there's no point in people posting about problems they've had with a luthier. If people don't post their stories then how do other know that the stories are bad, or even, indeed, whther the stories exist at all?

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1380559426' post='2227087'] It doesn't matter what stories good or bad you are told... if you want something, in a way, you have to play their game despite you being the customer (and of course, the customer is always right). Totally wrong I know... but that's how it is when the seller has something that you want that you can't just pluck off the shelf. Yes, you shouldn't have to play the BS games... just depends how much you want that final product. [/quote] But it does matter what the stories are. A typical shop transaction consists of finding a shop with what you want in it, visiting the shop with the requisite amount of money, obtaining the object of desire, handing over the money, and returning home. If you look at the ledger of your life, you have now obtained the most recent object of desire and it has cost you a certain amount of money and a certain amount of time. What you don't have, and don't have to budget for, is pain (in the metaphorical rather than literal sense). If the cost of your object of desire was not just money and a known amount of time but an unknown amount of time, frustration, and stress, then knowing that there would be lost time, extra frustration, and extra stress does mean that one can decide whether the desire for the object of desire is actually sufficient to balance not just the financial cost but also the potential pain. So, if I find that luthier X could make an instrument which cries out to me to own it, but others' experience would lead me to believe it could be five years and innumerable unanswered phone calls and emails, while luthier Y could supply me with an instrument almost as wonderful which is sitting on a shelf waiting for strings (and not strings made from unicorn mane either), then I could make an informed decision based on how much money and how much pain I would place as the valu of an instrument.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1380554518' post='2227003'] Neck throughs are far less common nowadays than they once were [/quote] Far more common at the budget end of the scale. I will agree that some higher-end makers have brought in bolt-on versions of models that were formerly neck-through only.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1380543805' post='2226740'] I agree. Even construction techniques such as neck -thru-body that were extremely fashionable and commonplace thirty years ago , and generally thought to be superior at that time , are now a niche design [/quote] Surely you're not saying that the Peavey Grind is a niche instrument? Just because Fender don't do neck-throughs doesn't mean that they're not commonplace.

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1380396919' post='2224806'] A pinball machine then... [/quote] I think we need to sort out priorities here. First, bacon sandwiches in the shop.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1380471287' post='2225740'] Edit: [size=4]Yes I know, there's no accounting for taste, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it would be boring if we all liked the same thing and so on. [/size][size=4]I bet it plays like a dream and sounds amazing. It's just that I prefer a headstock in the traditional position. Old Skool, me.[/size] [/quote] Oh, headstocks are rubbish. But if you're going to make a headless bass, don't start with a Precision, Jazz, R-thing, or Stingray.

Just for the avoidance of doubt, I should say that I think it's hideous.

... would we finish up with this? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Custom-Headless-Bass-/121184602015"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Custom-Headless-Bass-/121184602015[/url]

[quote name='ash' timestamp='1380360978' post='2224208'] Well I may have a Hayman 4040 I may be moving on...... [/quote] Hmm, for me that would be a battle between nostalgia and Mrs Zero's resistance to further increases in the bass collection...

[quote name='chriswareham' timestamp='1380202051' post='2222234'] How on earth do people actually play those six and seven string monsters? I've got big hands (and you know what they say about men with big hands[1]), but no way could I see myself playing that width of neck in comfort or with a decent technique. [1] they take a large size in gloves [/quote] I've got small hands (well, I take a medium in gloves) and have no problems playing a 7-string with a decent technique. Try one, it's fun.

I've used wireless systems on and off for 20 years. Got a Line 6 G50 recently and I now use that exclusively rather than leads. The only minor point is that when clipped onto a strap, it can slip off - however, a rubber band wrapped round the receiver body and over the bottom of the clip (which conveniently turns up at that point) holds everything in place.

Buy a Warwick

[quote name='goingdownslow' timestamp='1379506848' post='2213442'] The insulation resistance test is at 500v. [/quote] Ah, that would explain it.

Any idea what the thread is called? Haven't had any luck hunting it down.

Well, he's got the right idea. If it doesn't sell for £349.99, put it back up for £350.

The Kala U-Bass was the pioneer in acoustic-body bass ukes (the Ashbory is a similar scale but solid body). Tanglewood now make the TWRBE which is half the price of a Kala. If you want to mod a uke, you need to start with a baritone, not a concert. Scale length on the Mk I Ashbory is 19", on the Mk II Ashbory and Kala 21", on the 5-string Kala solidbody (which seem to me to be ludicrously overpriced) it's 23.5".

A couple from The Lightning at Tamworth BotB 2013 - first Ghoti (which as any fule kno is pronounced "Fish" - a full explanation of the title is available on request) [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dcSVO8MA1w[/media] and next, Alien World [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0AVMyt0rs0[/media] PS. Sorry about the rather rubbish intonation in parts of Ghoti...

They might want to check that no-one has tipped a pint down the back before they issue the refund.

I never realised Times Like These was in 7/8 until either the guitarist or the drummer mentioned it, just heard the riff and played the riff. Then again, I'd been playing in a ceilidh band for years with lots of random time signatures (9/8 is a particular favourite) and just sort of learnt not to count. Guitarist in the other band has no problem counting 1 2 3 4. However, he does insist on doing it on songs which are in 6/8, which is why we can't do any of my songs which are in 6/8...

I've got the passive version, the B2V, which I use as a backup bass as it's small to carry. I've had a 4-string B2, a 5-string Jack, and this. All competent basses - the 5s have a slightly fatter neck than I prefer. It also tends to hang slanting away from your body, which I think is due to the strap pin placement on the back of the body.

Four pages in and no-one has mentioned Warwick. So I will.