tauzero

I'm not upset. Haven't had any import tax problems either - I did have to pay VAT on one bass from Vietnam once, about 20 years ago, but buying from AliExpress or Ebay that is all handled for you.

The shim might have been to tilt the neck forward rather than back, in which case the shim would be at the front of the neck pocket. Or it's simply crap.

I've got both the CT100 and the CT200. The CT200 is fine for TS too, you just have to remember it will show shorts between R and S (not exactly a difficult thing to remember) - after all, it can't tell whether you've plugged in a TS lead or a TRS one with a frayed ring or sleeve connection. For gigging needs, the CT100 is fine, except for Speakons which it doesn't do.

I don't see the problem. Nowhere in the description does it say that it's graphite. Those tuners, incidentally, have their pros and cons. Stringing is dead easy, you just put the string through the middle of the knob. Saddle height adjustment is more awkward, you have to screw the actual saddles up and down, like a Warwick Just-A-Nut I. Intonation is also awkward, as the anchor screw is under the string so you have to move the string out of the way to adjust it.

Don't fret.

Go headless.

Why, what's wrong with it?

Active bass? You probably want https://www.guitarmania.co.uk/product/neutrik-barrel-jack-socket-nys2203/ but do a search on the part number NYS2203 to see if you can get it cheaper. Also worth posting the the "Repairs and Technical" sub-forum.

A couple of us did anti-war songs last night - one did "If I had a rocket launcher" and "Come away Melinda", and Mrs Zero and I did "Zombie" and one of mine, "Newborn" - first time it's been played in public although I wrote it at the time of the Bosnian war, about a woman taking her newly born child that died after a few hours to bury it. All very cheerful.

Very sad to read that.

I saw them in 2006, they were great.

That's a real shame about Sam. I messaged her a week or two ago to see how she was - that explains why there was no answer.

Tring me the horizon

Does anyone know if Stubz Thumbs is transmissible by touch?

One gig in May, then a hiatus until August and five more gigs till the end of the year - but that's partly because one or other of us is away through June and July. Another two or three are coming in, we should get to our target of 20 or so for the year.

Apparently the neck has been shimmed to improve the action. With that thicknessof shim, I think a judicious bit of filing would have been a better approach and might have increased the value to somewhere above the £50 mark.

Where do you think all the Made in China instruments in music shops come from? I've had quite a few instruments from China and Vietnam over the years, no problems.

The body looks very Strat too, but without the pickup cutouts. That was what was puzzling me.

I've always thought that the Devil played far better than the plodding pedestrian redneck Johnny.

Hmmm. 27 pages of results for a search on Marillion everywhere in the forum. I've posted a few times about them, or at least about a tribute band I was in for a while, and about the Cort GB4 Custom I bought because Pete Trewavas played one. Pete Trewavas is an excellent bassist - the whole band is great, and I prefer the 36 years of the h era to the eight years of the Fish era.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/176920371446

The Aguilar does have four wires, sort of. There are four available solder pads, so I could unsolder the wires and rewire them, but I don't think it's worth it for me. And having wired in a blend pot rather than VVT (as the need to control the volume simply is my major consideration), wiring the pickups in series would be a right headache.

Last night, did some bass backing for a couple of people - the most notable being backing 12 year old Amelie (vocals) and 14 year old Phoebe (guitar) doing Sweet Child O' Mine. I think Phoebe's guitar playing was better than our guitarist (but don't tell him I said that). It's good to see that there are youngsters coming on as well as the old brigade.

A lady at my regular Wednesday night one lets me know what we're playing anything between twenty minutes before and just as we're setting up. At least she has the chords on a tablet and I can read them over her shoulder (gets trickier when the tablet goes temperamental and she has to use her phone instead). At least Blind Young George lets me know what he's doing at the start of the evening so I can check out the chords if it's not a 12-bar.

Sillie Eilish