molan

I work one or two days a week at a specialist bass store and they have consultancy arrangement with a real pickup pro who can supply most brands and he really knows his stuff. If you zap me a PM with exactly what you're after I'm happy to get his views for you

I think there's a difference in etiquette between what people say in the classifieds and the EBay section. Generally speaking it's frowned upon to disparage someone's classified listing (unless it's obviously deliberately misleading). However the EBay zone is seen as a bit of a 'free for all'. Some quite nice instruments get a lot of stick here (I actually bought one that was torn apart here and it's both immaculate and seriously nice). I think most potential buyers that might be reading this area of the site will make up their own minds about whether they want to bid on something or not. I have to own up that I'd spotted the Warrior connection and was already watching this - also it's based only about 20 minutes from me. Lots of bassists in my neck of the woods

Nordstrand '51P is your baby - there are two types I think. Just tracked down the hum-cancelling version for someone. Supposed to be very good indeed!

Watch out for some of the cheaper Chinese made ones

My only reservation might be that it could be heavy - not that I've tried a Lul T-Bird, just that conventional T-Birds can be a strain on the shoulder

I quite like the fluorescent pink strings on the "Yamaha More Attitude"

I know some really good people who are total experts when it comes to matching pickups and pre-amps to specific briefs. They are based in the US but I know a way to import through them that usually matches most UK suppliers and it's completely legit with taxes and duties paid If you zap me a PM with as much detail as possible about what you're after I can explain more

[quote name='ped' timestamp='1359398323' post='1954204'] Oh, and there will be free lanyards for all the lovely BC folk who come to the stand and meet other BC folk. Don't worry, you don't have to stay long, or talk to Dood. [/quote] Talking to Dood is my favourite part of the show! The entire BassGear stand will be populated by BC folk this year Even better news, for my poor ears anyway, is that we'll be in the quieter zone this year. In fact, theoretically, they are restricting crazed noisy slapping to just the first 15 minutes of each hour even in the main hall!

As someone who's worked in online marketing pretty much since it existed I can safely say that these ways of artificially paying for views, downloads, site visits, likes, app installs, search clicks, links etc etc have been around from day 1. As others have said, some are legit but, unfortunately, many are not. In fact quite a few of them can seriously damage your web credibility and reputation. I'd steer well clear unless you're certain you're getting something that's actually worth having.

I've never heard of anyone wanting someone to learn 15 songs for an audition? May need to watch out that the other band are just trying to get a dep in for one night. Do you already know them? If they are remotely serious and, possibly more important in the long run, professional, then they should let you have copies of the set list with any arrangements that differ from originals. I always give full details of any songs for auditions with arrangements and MP3's in the correct key as a matter of course. It's really not very hard to do given the number of free programmes out there to adjust keys etc. Obviously having fun is the most important thing but I'd definitely make sure I was really happy with each band before making this sort of commitment

I have no idea if this is real or not but looks fun!

I must admit that I think there's still a general perception of 'made in Japan' instruments being inferior to USA. This must be partly down to years of Fender pricing them below their USA standard models? To be honest I think that us Brits in general are pretty jingoistic when it comes to appraising instruments pretty much anywhere outside of the UK or USA. In fact, if I'm being really critical, there's a hell of a lot of players out there who look down their noses at anything other than American made instruments. A lot of this is just good old Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker, MusicMan etc heritage followed up, in more recent years, by the rarity and desirability of the super Jazzes pioneered (to something approaching a mass market anyway) by Roger Sadowsky and the custom shops at Fodera, Alembic, Spector, Zon etc. Personally I'd think that Japanese and German craftsmanship, manufacturing skill and attention to detail would be at the forefront of modern instrument production but there's still a bias over here against them (interesting that Warwick reversed this trend for a while but seem to be quite out of favour now). I guess the other one that still surprises me is the negativity you see against lots of UK luthiers. Maybe not so much here on BC but try selling a Shuker, Sei, Overwater, GB etc to the more mainstream bass playing public and watch them turn their noses up when you say you have a handmade British instrument. Anyway - I have a Danish super-J on its way fairly soon so that'll keep me quiet for a bit until I spot an Aelier Z or a nice Larry Graham Moon up for sale Definitely going to browse all those other links people have suggested as well!

I must admit I'd normally think there's an over saturation of the expensive Fender clones but I think that an NYC Sadowsky is just about the easiest high end bass to sell on the used market so there's obviously lots of demand for them. It's a funny old market at times, Fender traditionally struggle to sell high end active basses but 'copies' of their core design fetch £3K new and can easily go over £2K used. I played an ESP CS bass once, very nice but I know the owner found it hard to sell for anything like what it cost new. Never heard of Atlansia before - they have some pretty crazy designs! http://www.atlansia.jp/BASS.NEW.HTML#P1 There's even a 1 string 'Solitaire' bass in here, lol

He was an American Idol winner (or at least a contestant) I seem to remember?

I'm not sure about cheaper brands but there are a few of the high end 'boutique' brands that have all been rising in value over recent years. Stuff like Fodera & Celinder etc have been on the up for a while. Alembic prices have really dipped but rarity and build quality should mean they'll rise again. Definitely a brand that could do with a modern 'name' player or three to start championing