peteb

Yes, they do and when I bought a bass off them before it had a very good setup (they asked me exactly how I wanted it setup, what strings I wanted, etc). The trouble this time was I was very non-committal about buying the bass until I had actually played it (70s Fender and all that) and I was principally going down to get them to sell a Warwick Streamer for me on commission (or to part-ex if I bought the Fender). I was happy with the bass as soon as I picked it up, so part-ex'd the Streamer. I did consider asking Will to set-up the Fender with the new bridge, but it was a bit of a faff to get him to send it to me and it's rather a long trip for me to pick it up, so I decided to do it myself. I've been mucking around with it and I've got it more or less about right, although it might go to Jon Shuker at some point when I've got a bit more time. But you are right, Bassbros do normally include a setup with each purchase.

Thanks. Personally, I could never justify dropping more than a couple of grand on a Fender (this one was a bit less than that), but I still like the feel and sound of old Precisions. I've never had a Fender that I haven't modded myself (one exception - a 2015 Am Std Jazz in sunburst that I currently use for a Led Zep tribute and probably won't keep once that band finishes), so I've been keeping an eye out for a non all original 70s P bass that isn't too expensive. Hopefully when I get this set up properly, it should be a nice bass and get a fair bit of use.

So I popped down to Bass Bros yesterday and came away with a 79 Fender P bass. It's a bit of a mutt, with a non-original scratchplate and a nice Lindy Fralin pickup. In addition, I've swapped out the bridge for an old Badass 2 and put on heavier gauge strings. As you can see, it has been stripped, but thankfully they did a much better job than I did when I stripped a 77 P bass years ago! It plays nicely, but I think that it could do with a touch more relief in the neck, which I hate doing myself on old Fenders so it might be going to a tech for a pro setup as soon as I get a chance. Not exactly one for the purists, but it has the feel and vibe of an old Fender, sounds great and as a bonus is reasonably light compared to my old 78 Precision.

But he is also somewhat of a contrarian (to put it mildly)! I believe that Alex from Barefaced also has an engineering background (in addition to very successfully building high-end, high-tech musical equipment beloved by many on this forum), but Dad is quick to dismiss his views.

Absolutely, although on the tonewood does not matter video he is basically saying the same thing with a different slant. On both videos he says that wood does make a difference, but it doesn't matter how rare / exotic / expensive the wood is, as long as it is stiff enough and resonates well.

And you can't get a higher seal of approval than that...

I will just leave this here:

But are they really getting £1.5k for most gigs? As you say, musicians have a tendency to exaggerate. They may earn that for some gigs, but the chances are they are doing plenty of $500 gigs. You have to be realistic if you want to work regularly. It has to be financially worthwhile for the the venue / bar / promoter otherwise they won't put the gig on. They won't be paying big fees for bands that obliterates any additional profit that they can potentially make over the bar.

You could always do what we do at those type of gigs if you don't fancy the late night drive home - pitch a tent, stay the night, have a few beers and drive home about noon the next day...

I used to have one of them in bright red (I got it in the early 90s). Really nice bass...

To be fair, in my world anyone who is any good is likely to have more than one project on the go. You just have to learn to manage everyone's' diaries and dep gigs out when necessary! Of course, everyone has to be upfront about what gigs they have taken on. A bit ago, we had to lose a keys player because he was so busy and just couldn't commit to the gigs we had coming in. It worked out well, as we got a new guy in who is excellent and who's availability is better these days. We're still mates with the other guy and use him for deps for other related projects when he is around.

That's because you eat your porridge oats every morning...!

That's a great photo! You couldn't get any more American than that - from the cut-off flannel shirt to the hat, not to mention the Fender bass / Mesa rig! But it does look cool...!

Jon Shuker is just over the border in Derbyshire (not far from Sheffield).

The room is a bit beyond your, or the luthier's control. Remember that in Roger Sadowsky's case, he made his name by modding Fenders for top NYC bass players. When the particular type of Fenders he recommended started getting in short supply / too expensive, he started making what were meant to be superior quality Fender type basses, with the improvements that he had installed in the instruments for his clients. It was the very opposite of 'exotic', just a basic 'Fender on steroids'. He didn't have to make up anything about the woods he used, he could have just said it was because of his electronics, fretwork, etc. I'm quite happy to accept that he believes that the quality of the 'non exotic' woods he uses is important. Bits of wood can just be different. I've owned a number Fender America Standard Jazz basses. The one that I have on a stand beside my desk is one that I played when I was picking up a couple of secondhand cabs from Bass Direct. As soon as I picked it up I thought that it was just more resonant and lively than the other Fender jazzes I had owned. I had no intention of buying a bass that day, but I was thinking about it on the drive home and when I got back home, I rang Mark and bought the bass that I had been playing earlier. As I say, all the components on that bass are the same as the other Am Std jazzes I had owned, so I can only put it down to the wood!

I don't doubt that pickups make a bigger difference than wood, and to be honest, I can't really tell the difference between alder and ash (but I can with maple). Everything in your signal has an effect, either big or small. It all starts with your fingers and how you strike / fret the strings. Obviously that is the main factor, but everything else has an effect as well - wood, pickups, strings, amp, speakers, etc. Even the lead makes a tiny difference. Getting a bass to sound good is down to a decent technique and whatever marginal gains you get from each component in your chain, from fingers to speaker.

I don't understand that at all. I've had a bass with a maple body that sounded completely different to my other basses made from alder / ash. The difference between rosewood and maple fingerboards is pretty clear as well. I'm not saying that one is better than the other, but there is a clear difference, even played unplugged.

I'm sure that Joe has one somewhere in the house...

Interesting take on the vintage market from Joe Bonamassa https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/gear/unlimited_money_and_ego_make_for_a_dangerous_combination_joe_bonamassa_on_how_perception_of_scarcity_drives_vintage_guitar_prices_up.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1DpB4xJVOw_3SXldFaLAYVPjO6K_pOavr29u99yuBRFkvYHgyJLHebXqU_aem_7cL5Vq-pC0VNnLaq8SflTw#Echobox=1719357522

Exactly what I thought when I saw the photo! All round, it's a very cool looking bass...

Another pretty nice looking 72 P bass at Bass Direct for £3,250 https://www.bassdirect.co.uk/product/fender-precision-bass-3-tone-sunburst-1972-pre-owned/

I've bought a Fender Am Std Jazz from Bass Bros and part-ex'd a 5 string Spector . Will was great, very helpful and did a reasonable deal. He used to work at Bass Direct down the road and they still seem to be mates.

It's a good job that I didn't buy that one from the Bass Centre then! It wouldn't have lasted half a dozen gigs with me...