molan

Slightly off topic but I will never forget seeing Hillage at Reading festival. Sham 69 were on stage with Jimmy Pursey in his usual rabble rousing phase and getting various skins etc up on stage to join in on 'If the Kids are United'. Then, in the corner of the stage a mysterious long haired, mostly orange clad, figure hits the stage, plugs in his guitar and begins to solo over the top of the cacophony going on all around him. Skins look frightened and unable to make out what's happening and give him a wide berth - Hillage continues to solo away seeming quite happy and serene

I think Talkbass has a 'lifetime' membership that allows open access to the classifieds indefinitely. I'd be happy to consider a single one-off donation of an amount greater than £20 to save the hassle of annual renewal. Let's face it, £20 = just £1.67 a month for the potential to a huge, an knowledgeable, base of potential customers for any sale. I can't think of anything that costs so little yet delivers such a wide, and directly relevant, target audience. I'd gladly pay a bit more to get things up and running with a solid base for future development

I picked up a fairly mint Ray here a couple of years ago for about £600. Sold it for whatever I actually paid and it was sold again a while later for more or less the same price. I think it's been fairly easy to pick up recent'ish Rays for around the £600 mark for a while really.

I would definitely be happy to pay an annual sub of £20 and have been doing this on Talkbass for several years. If people are really concerned about the cost of this vs a bass or cab then surely they could just pass some of the cost on by increasing the asking price by a tenner? Obviously this would be slightly inflationary but it's not really like BC is that ultra price sensitive in the first place. Also, prices here are often so good that the extra £10 - £20 is not exactly going to make much difference? I'd bet that if you took a 'typical' for sale bass like a US Fender J or P then you'd see a fluctuation in asking prices of more than this over any 3-6 month period. I can see how this would be a problem for someone who only wants to sell a set of used strings but would think there can't be that many people whose only sale in a 12 month period would be one set of strings? Obviously it's really difficult to be specific about such values but setting a fixed percentage of sales value (as per EBay) would require some sort of, much more complicated/expensive, software I'd think. I must admit that I much preferred the chatty environment of the original for sale section - not least, as others have said, because you can often get a feel for a seller very quickly by the way he/she lists items and then responds to questions. The fixed fee may also put off some of the less 'serious' sellers that have appeared in recent months as well and, to my mind, that can only be a good thing I don't have an issue with bumping so long as it doesn't happen loads of times in a single day. Again, Talkbass seems to have a decent handle on this.

I should also say that, after working in web design and digital marketing agencies for many years, there's a 'golden rule' that should always be used. . . Never, ever, launch a new site or feature until it's been thoroughly bench tested by both tech people and a sample of users. All that happens is that people either leave (and often never come back) or there's endless debate about why things aren't working properly. . .

I'd have no issues paying some sort of annual amount to post stuff for sale. I already do this on Talkbass and it works really well. In fact, as someone who almost exclusively access the site via mobile, I have to say the Talkbass app works really well on many levels. Automatically saves threads I'm taken part in, easy to use search function direct from forum area etc. I'm definitely using it more and more these days

Took my '63J out to rehearsals last night and so enjoyed playing it. I'm not really worried about damaging it but I'd hate to 'lose' it at a gig. I've wondered about trying to replicate it as a CS (probably in a different colour) but not sure it would have the same feel / sound. Might be fun trying though It's the one on the left of these four (the LPB '65 is mine as well but I prefer the '63)

It's just an aggregator thing from what I can see. I agree that it's not a lot different from Thomann although at least some of the revenue goes to GAK in the UK.

Met up with Greg today in a, surprisingly sunny, service station on the M4 to hand over a bass from a friend of mine. As ever Greg was good company & all the arrangements were expertly handled. Top bloke all round

As a long term buyer and seller here at BC I have to say I don't like the new format much. Feels a bit impersonal and loses the nice chatty community feel we had before. Seems more Gumtree-esque to me as well. Some of the core design elements require additional clicks per item which isn't very user-friendly (especially on a mobile - the fastest growing access device). I usually see this as a tactic from sites trying to 'harvest' as many page views as possible but a lot of site analytics tend to show those additional page views have a lower value and detract from the core message. Could just be because it's launched with lots of stuff that doesn't work very well so maybe they'll improve.

[quote name='ped' timestamp='1353412499' post='1874660'] Hi mate Check my earlier post: [/quote] Sorry Ped, missed that one. I'd seen something originally saying that their would be pics on the front pages and thought that the fact there now weren't might be something to do with the various site issues kicking around

Ni images loading in the new classified section for me - the listings are there but the various home pages are completely image free

Great bass, way over the cost these sell for in the UK though!

Scrambled menus - luxury, no access to site at all for last day or so on mobile (which is my main access device). . .

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1352984024' post='1870094'] Can someone clarify exactly what you get with a Fender CS instrument. Is it a combination of standard Fender features to your spec that doesn't exist in any of the current production models or is there something more? [/quote] My understanding is that all CS basses are made in a separate part of the factory in Corona by a special team of their very best builders. They have access to a series of genuine vintage templates and stuff plus the very best woods Fender can source. You can actually see this team at work as part of the factory tour so it's not just Fender marketing hype (although I'm sure there's an element of that). Some basses are 'team' built which means there's one guy working on a batch of necks, another on bodies etc. For a, hefty, additional fee you can ask for Masterbuilt which means pretty much everything is made by a single guy. There's a belief that this personal attention to detail will mean some sort of overall higher quality but I've yet to be convinced of this. There are a range of CS instruments built every year to a set of standard specs & they all will be more or less the same (obviously each piece of wood is going to be slightly different so there will be some tonal differences). These are usually the artist models - currently Jaco Pastorius, Reggie Hamilton, Pino Palladino & Dusty Hill. There's then usually about 2-3 per year of a specific time era that's designed to be as close as they can get to the original E.G. '58 P or a '64 J etc. Every now & then they will pop up something completely different - this year they made a P Bass pro with a J pickup at the bridge and blocks on the board. The big CS dealers in the States also have Dealer Select models - basically the dealer specs something up and has a batch of them made just for that dealer. Nothing to stop a UK dealer doing this but I think the numbers involved might be too high. Finally you have the full custom orders - these are principally built from a set of core Fender design principles J or P body, 50's profile neck, 60's pickup spacing etc. However you can, theoretically order anything you like but it does need to be a 'Fender' in broad design. They ahve made a few fairly crazy guitars but not as many off the wall basses from what I've seen. The latest area the CS guys seem to be really going for is a range of odd custom paint combinations that look like old basses that were something like sunburst but then re-sprayed with shoreline gold etc. If you really go for the full Masterbuilt experience you can even choose your builder and talk to him directly about every aspect of the build and finish - which is kinda what you'd expect if you bought from a UK custom builder like Martin Petersen, Bernie Goodfellow, John Shuker etc. Probably lots more to this but that's about the best I can do for now

Wow - I'm really getting into this now, lol. Has anyone watched the videos on the CS site? http://www.fendercustomshop.com/index.php/master-built/# I found the two on body wood & neck wood really interesting. They are, unsurprisingly, totally about Strat & Tele shapes but I like the way the guy in the vids stresses some stuff about there not being a 'better' wood but just that it will sound 'different'. Even the same woods can sound quite different dependent on weight etc. Worth 10 minutes of your time if you're interested in this sort of stuff

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1352978892' post='1869995'] Hmm... Masterbuilt Fee $2,600 Custom Classic Jazz Bass 4 $4,900 Ash Body $300 Contoured Neck Heel $50 Sunset Orange Trans AAA Flame Maple Top $800 AAA Flame Maple Neck Figure $500 P Bass Neck ( I think that's Modern C) 1 - Piece Maple Neck Base Model Radius Brass Nut Black Binding and Blocks (can't see option) Black Hardware (can't see option?!), if not then Base Shaller Machine Heads $50 BA3 Bridge $50 Black 1 Ply Pickguard $50 S-1 Switch $100 Hand Wound Bass Pickups $250 Total Cost... Drumroll Please! $9650 [b]£6,086.51[/b] [b]Although I'd be tempted to ask for EMG's instead [/b] [/quote] I hadn't seen full prices anywhere but I see they are on the quote sheet. I've looked at the catalogue a few times but only saw recommended full retail prices for finished basses & not options. Those masterbuilt fees are really high - there's an extra $1,000 to specifically choose your builder as well. Mind you - I guess I did start this off by saying 'if money were no option' so i can only blame myself!

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1352978108' post='1869981'] The RH 5-string is CS. [/quote] Ah ha - the site is working again now! http://products.fendercustomshop.com/en-GB/products/search.php?partno=0158500800 Looks like the 4 is CS too That's the 4th of the Artist CS models with Pino, Jaco & Dusty

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1352962684' post='1869767'] Headless, graphite bolt on neck, chambered body, semi parametric eq. and custom soapbar pickups. [/quote] I'd love to see their faces when an order like this went in

[quote name='Angel' timestamp='1352924652' post='1869499'] I already have a Fender CS, it's a Reggie Hamilton 5 string. Probably on the chopping block now though as I am firmly in the 4 string camp. I guess I'd like the same as a 4 string but relic'd and NOT sunburst! [/quote] Is the Reggie classed as a Custom Shop? I thought it was an 'Artist' series but wasn't sure if it carried the CS logo as well? I'd seen the Pino, Jaco & Dusty Artist models so maybe Reggie is in there as well N.B. I did try to check but the CS web site was down when I looked earlier

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1352912698' post='1869333'] Something with Sadowsky written on it. [/quote] The pickups and pre-amp

I've played a few Fender Custom Shop basses now and have been really quite impressed with just how well they are made and, more importantly, sound. I realise that we should expect them to be top notch given the price premium over 'regular' Fenders but it does feel like some of the newer ones have seen them raise their game a little (or maybe I was just lucky!). Certainly the Pino signatures seems to get rave reviews from just about everyone and the one I had for a short while was great. I also saw a Jaco model that looked seriously nice a while back which was much nicer than the Artist series ones I've seen. So - purely for fun - if you didn't have to worry about how much it might set you back I wondered what the BC collective would ask the Custom Shop to build? My starters would be: 1960 stack knob Jazz Herbie Flowers model in Lake Placid Blue with Fiesta Red undercoat & heavy relic finish with a tort guard. 1966 Jazz with a bound board and dots in a nicely faded Olympic White with matching headstock (because I like the way white matches the binding) and, again with a tort guard that looks like a 'proper' 60's aged one. 1977 Marcus Miller Jazz in natural with pearl blocks and a simple, high quality, active pre - basically an MM signature that's as close as possible to his original gigging bass & without the nasty scratchplate There'd probably have to be an old looking P bass in Burgundy Mist with a slim neck and a pearloid plate plus a 64J in Shell Pink along the way as well, lol. Haven't really thought about crazier colour schemes or hybrid body / neck combinations yet. . .

Blimey - you could open a shop with that lot!