molan

I think if you buy 'sensibly' on the used market then it should be easy to retain the value of any 'investment'. You have to go for quality brands and not just something that's in fashion at the moment (although sometimes this can be hard to predict). Garish colours and full custom build basses tend to devalue & can be buggers to sell. For some brands the market is at absolute rock bottom at the moment so buying one of these now will almost certainly see an increase in value within your 10 year time bracket. Some of the 'big name' US exotic brands have soared in value over the past 5-10 years. A few years back you could pick up a high end Alembic or Fodera etc for way less than they sell for now. To a degree this is because these brands have very high demand (and limited supply) in the big global markets like USA & Japan. Because of this supply / demand scenario they've also increased the price of their new basses substantially which makes their older used basses appear more attractive as well.

Aguilar say that feedback about him is always good - seems like a top class bloke!

Details here : http://basschat.co.uk/topic/185643-aguilar-repair-specialist/

I love the Diamond bass comp. superb piece of kit and very 'musical'. The first compressor I've actually thought I might be able to work with

Warwick stipulate minimum stock levels that are pretty high - puts a lot of people off stocking them

Definitely shouldn't be doing that. Did you buy from a UK dealer? They should either offer a repair or refer to their official tech in the UK - he's an absolute gem of a technician!

Happy to have been able to help out. I help out at the BassGear showroom every now and then if Phil is busy or needs a day or two out of the 'office'. I always try to give the sort of service I'd expect if I was a customer - besides, placing an order for a new custom build Carvin is pretty exciting too Really looking forward to seeing this one when it comes in!

[quote name='garythebass' timestamp='1345568881' post='1778976']. And no bull either - if he wasn't sure about something he went off and checked so I had the right answer. Very highly recommended! [/quote] That's because he didn't know any of the answers without asking an 'expert'

Looks really similar to my old one, what a great bass that was, my #1 gigging bass for a few years

Some simple Allen keys will work for trussrods. I used one on my Ritter yesterday when I changed to a lighter gauge of strings and then realised I'd left my truss rod tool at the 'office' I wouldn't recommend this as a permanent solution but, knowing you want one quickly, it might help. Just need to make sure you buy an imperial set and not metric to be sure of a tight fit. Either a large diy store or a decent car tools shop might have imperial keys

[quote name='risingson' timestamp='1345818301' post='1781976'] I noticed Dave Swift had one of these made for him and it took years for it to be completed!! [/quote] I was talking to him just yesterday about this and asked if he would ever sell it - "absolutely not" was the reply. This tale has also done the rounds a few times - the bass was ordered and built before Jason De Salvo joined Fodera as a partner. The problem with the old set up was that if anyone popped into the workshop to chat then Vinnie & Joey would leave their benches and chew the fat with whoever it was. They also took very, very long phone calls from potential customers who wanted to discuss woods, neck profiles, pickup choices etc. etc. Months of time every year were lost in production time because of this. Jason has totally cleaned up this area and now he takes many of these meetings and calls (and he really, really knows his stuff - he's another fine player who happens to own 13 Monarchs, all paid for & not freebies!). Average wait time is now circa 18 months from first order to completion. Might sound long but I've known a lot of other luthiers who quote less but end up taking a year or more for final completion. Jason keeps customers totally up to date on build process and is pretty much always available to answer questions (I know this because I've asked loads!).

I've played that Fodera, it's stunning. In fact I've been frighteningly close to buying it a few times The first time I saw it there was some bloke called Victor Wooten playing it. He liked it so much he promptly ordered one built to the same specs (it has a custom neck profile modelled on a '64 Jazz owned by Joey Lauricella plus the Seymour Duncan dual coils as opposed to the EMG PJ that he usually has). He has to pay for his basses and wait in line just like anyone else as well. As for the age old argument that seems to pop up here every few months that Fodera is all about marketing and that they are ludicrously over-priced, well, I think it's simply not true. I can't ever remember a single piece of 'marketing' by Fodera themselves. They attend winter NAMM and sometimes Bass Player Live but other than that they spend all their time in the workshop. They work long hours in a dusty shop with no air con. None of the partners appear to be dripping with cash and each of them is in the shop all the time with just the odd short holiday. Each bass is made with total dedication and a great passion for their work. All of the partners are really easy to talk to and actually quite humble about their reputation. In fact Vinnie Fodera hardly ever talks to the press in the States and never attends the trade shows and Joey is still a gigging bassist who plays in NYC every week. One of the reasons they charge a lot is because they are a 'proper' company that looks after its staff. They bring in apprentice builders and train them meticulously, all their staff earn a decent basic wage and they provide full health care and support as well. Everything is hand made in New York as well which is not exactly the cheapest place on earth. Are their basses expensive, yes. Are they fabulously well made, yes. Do their owners rave about them and love them so much that they often end up owning two or more, yes. Are Vinnie, Joey and Jason nasty money-grubbing horrible individuals, absolutely not - nothing could be further from the truth. In terms of BGM writing reviews of the very best basses available then I totally applaud them. Personally I have little or no interest in yet another review of a cheap Fender or Musicman clone. Ok, I'll get me coat. . . Well, either that or I'm off to my little study to play a Fodera or three

[quote name='CHRISDABASS' timestamp='1345911530' post='1783067'] i don't think I've ever layer my M80 down to get my bass out? it just slips in and out while held vertically. [/quote] I don't think I've ever laid any gig bag down to remove a bass or put one back in!