Jean-Luc Pickguard

I believe my Indonesian Daisy Rock Elite Bass & Peavey Millenium fiver came out of cort's factory. The quality is great. Both are very playable and very good sounding & looking basses and certainly giggable however one was £200 new and the other was £135 secondhand. Neither was amazing until I set them up though but at least the frets were good without needing a levelling. I guess Lakland will be putting the production savings into the work done in Chicago.

Hercules do a few that grab & support at the headstock.

I tried one in a shop once but I couldn't get anything approaching a usable sound out of it. The chap in the shop was particularly unhelpful - maybe of he'd let me look at the manual I'd have been able to shape the sound properly rather than twiddling the knobs at random.

I sorted out an xmas pressie for my daughter for £56 - a daisy rock Wildwood acoustic geetar. Its in mint condition with case & has been set up with beautifully low action.

Could be a cheap way of getting a decent headless bridge/tuner assembly.

[quote name='aceuggy' post='334745' date='Nov 23 2008, 10:19 AM']Bidding has ended. Well did ya get it? did ya did ya??[/quote] 'fraid not. I put my max bid in with seconds to go, but the price jumped above my bid while it was updating. It ended quite a bit above what I'd pay given the current exchange rate. However if I'd got a more definite answer from the seller about the condition of the neck/truss rod I'd have been happy to go way above what it went for. I was concerned about there possibly being a permanent backbow to the neck if it has been stored for an extended period with the strings loosened or off with the truss rod under tension. Oh well win some lose some. That would have been a bargain at last years exchange rate. Hopefully the neck/truss rod is all good for the new owner. Every cloud has a silver lining - the wife's still speaking to me - apparently I already have 'enough' basses.

I have a step ladder. I never knew my real ladder.

I use a couple of Behringer pedals that make any amp sound a lot better (although I don't use them with my LMII): [list] [*]V-TONE BASS BDI21 - Bass Amp Modeler/Direct Recording Preamp/DI Box Nice easy to use eq and some subtle valve grind/distortion [*]& the BASS LIMITER ENHANCER BLE100 which keeps the level under control without squashing the sound. [/list] They'd probably be help for a low outlay.

If was a set of Thomastik Flats I'd be interested...

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='333990' date='Nov 21 2008, 05:14 PM'][/quote] "Time Gentlemen Please"

Well I'm still watching it. I keep telling myself that my CIJ Mustang is perfect & I don't need an old one, but them I look at those pics again... You'll hear on Sunday if I do give in to temptation & get into big trouble with the missus. Or if this is the one that got away.

Well I eventually got a reply to my questions. Didn't really get a satisfactory answer to the question about the truss rod though - he said "[i]as far as truss rod problems i dont think so[/i]" I'm not sure if that's reassurance enough. Once I've factored in the postage charge, customs & VAT, a set of TI JF3244 & a fret level from the gallery it'll be expensive, but there can't be many daphne blue ones around in this condition.

My questions to the seller have gone unanswered. Apart from asking for a shipping price I asked about the truss rod & back of the neck. I'm not going to risk bidding without getting answers to my questions, so it looks like this'll be the one that got away. Ho Hum.

If my experience is anything to go by, first you want a bass you can't walk past without wanting to pick & have it on a stand ready to play.It helps if its set up perfectly so it feels like its doing half the work for you. Then have a way of playing along to songs without having to hunt for cables, plug in an amp etc. I have a tascam MP-GT1, (a headphone guitar amp & MP3 player in one handy rechargable unit) I have it loaded up with all the songs I'm working on & everything that is likely to be on the next gig setlist. I make sure its always charged up and keep it next to a curly cable and a set of headphones. Even if I've only got ten minutes to spare I can play through three songs without wasting half the time setting everything up first. As for what to play - nothing makes me make time to practice like an upcoming gig, so I always make sure the set list is made about a week in advance of the gig so I know what to practice. the most fun I've had learning recently (but not for a specific gig) was working through Ed Friedland's 'Blues Bass' book - I put the CD on my Tascam so I can dip into it whenever I like.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=280284888719"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=280284888719[/url] Does this finish look original to you? The hardware looks right - I love those lollypop tuners and the bridge seems to have the correct saddles. I'm very tempted - this as its the first year mustang in the colour I like & (it looks like) an original silver case. I've been waiting for one to surface, but I'm amazed at the condition this one is in - equivalent to 'closet classic' rather than knackered 'relic'. I think it'll be a long wait before another like this comes up. I'm awaiting a reply from the seller about shipping to the UK, the truss rod & the back of the neck (often the popper button on the strap securing it in the case rubs away a patch on the back of the neck) What other questions should I ask the seller before bidding & possibly parting with my Benjamins?

How about a headphone MP3 trainer - I have the guitar version of this (bought before the bass version came out) & find it very valuable for practicing. Includes tuner, fx, 1GB MP3 including transpose function.

The headstock on the live at San Quentin CD looks like a Burns.

Its probably pretty pointless to learn bass from a guitar teacher. They may have a basic idea of the mechanics, but they often approach it wrong. My daughter had a few lessons from a guitar teacher who claimed to also be a bass player, but the technique she was shown was complete crap. I don't think he even owned a bass. You'll be better off jamming with a mate on guitar or getting a real bass teacher.

My favourite is the planet waves SOS. Accurate, easy & quick, but for (B-[b]E-A-D-G[/b]-C only). I never use anything else these days.

[quote name='tauzero' post='325717' date='Nov 10 2008, 09:53 AM']It could be that the lines were put on in their theoretical positions, and Ashbory in their wisdom neglected to consider the fact that as you fret the string, you also increase the tension in it, and with an action that is presumably quite high in relation to the scale length, that actually makes a considerable difference to the pitch of the note.[/quote] Not on an ashbory - The rubber strings are very low tension so you can bend it by half an inch & not get any noticable change in pitch.

I hope no one posts the pic of that chap who photographed his chrome kettle starkers

I have my eye on the Harley Benton fretless acoustic five string from Thomann for around £200 with case. I've been dropping hints to the missus but apparently I already have too many basses.

I like the tasty little bass solo James did on Mutiny by Jnr Walker & the Allstars. He didn't get to play an actual solo very often.

I got a few cans of custom lilac rattle cans mixed at my local Halfords for my daughter's '71 musicmaster and it went on with no problems. If it was good enough for Leo Fender, its good enough for me.