molan

Having got round to using a Flea signature Jazz at my last gig I thought I should go 'all out' and use a Precision at the next one. Decided to stick with my 'artist signature' theme and used a Custom Shop Clayton P this time around. It was always going to be an interesting comparison because I own, and have gigged a lot, a Lull P that was built for Adam Clayton in a gold flake finish. The Fender CS is visually quite similar apart from the flashy pearl blocks instead of the plain black of the Lull. It was a bit of an odd gig because we played a huge hall to a decent number of people but had a very serious volume restriction in place - the organiser actually jumped on stage during the first number and insisted we stop playing until we turned down (and we're really not that loud!). Anyway, the CS P was great fun to play. It has a J nut but the neck is way chunkier than the Lull and deeper than almost anything else I own. Action is set low and the tiny vintage frets made it a breeze to play. I was able to confidently play stuff without thinking that I often have to concentrate on. The Abigail Ybarra pickups have a lot more low end and overall power than the Lull and balance from strong to strong is excellent. I sometimes find low notes on the G string are too thin and reedy but the CS P was really full and meaty I used the same Monique, Demeter, Bergantino rig as last time with the Flea but the CS P had a lot more depth and punch - felt like I could hear every note really well, especially any mistakes, lol. It's definitely been a fun experience using Fenders live after years of owning them but only rehearsing or playing at home. Will definitely try the P again at the next gig where I'll be able to jack the volume up a bit - plus the gold glitter finish makes it just such a great stage bass Edit - for anyone who hasn't seen the AC CS Precision, here's the full package:

I've played a couple of these and really liked them. Should fetch £600 easily.

Seem to go for anywhere between £1,800 to £2,500 from what I've seen (sorry that's quite a big gap!). Quite a few specific models hitting the higher prices E.G. The Steve Howe signature.

Could be that I'm too old but I wouldn't want to haul any of the three cab combinations up 3 flights of stairs. Both the DB212 and the DB410 are fairly 'serious' lifts and lugging a DB112 in each hand is going to get you a set of gorilla arms pretty quickly Not too bad with the DB112 if you make two trips (which I'm guessing you'd need to anyway to carry bass, amp cables etc). The new Aggie SL410 is a great cab and fairly easy to shift around, although any 410 is going to be a bit bulky in a tight stairwell. Unfortunately it's over £1,250 so quite an expensive option vs a DB410. We had a customer recently who tested a Streamliner into SL112's, DB112's and a pair of TKS112's. He found the DB's didn't pair brilliantly given the sound he was after and thought the SL's still sounded a bit too 'neo'. He left with the TKS (in a very funky snakeskin finish). I think your stage volume is an important consideration here. If you're in the PA and only using cabs for monitoring and partial foh sound then the DB410 is overkill. Conversely the TKS cabs are going to run out of steam at very high volume because they are relatively small, lightweight, boxes and the drivers have a lower rating. Going modular with a couple of smaller lighter cabs will do wonders to preserve your back in the longer run though and give you options for small gig/rehearsal situations too.

I thought this was going to be a TC Electronics thread - how do they still get away with claiming nearly double the power output for their amps!

[quote name='Twigman' timestamp='1476041426' post='3150772'] one word: Brexit morons [/quote] I so agree with this. I've lost count of the number of customers bemoaning the price increases on imported instruments and amplification since the £ started plummeting post Brexit vote. It's quite common for people to try and blame us, as a retailer, for price increases. One potential customer last week wanted us to sell below cost simply because prices have risen so much recently!

I never use the pad, always feel it's just putting another 'effect' in the signal chain that you don't really need - just turn the gain down

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1475841175' post='3149119'] While I agree that reglueing is not a complicated procedure... it just seems that it should not be necessary. People have been building cabs covered with various finishes, glued, without problems. For decades. So that would/will bother me if/when it happens. It's something I'll put up with without fuss if I'm happy with the cab in action (compact, light, powerful, good sound, not necessarily in that order ) but I really hope they've sorted it out by now. I am under the impression that it was just an initial mishap with their glue choice/procedure. We'll see! [/quote] If it helps then it's always worth noting that build defects are covered by UK consumer laws for 6 years. If something isn't staying as it should within this period then you can ask the manufacturer to make good. You have to be the original owner though. Something as basic as making sure a covering stays glued in place during normal use ought to be covered without any issues

Looks like normal service has been resumed - I took a, little used, Ritter to rehearsals this week and everyone said how nice it sounded. None of them even noticed the Fender last week.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1475768516' post='3148639'] I think 'Molan' Basschatter might be worth speaking to as Bassgear used to stock Zon Basses. [/quote] I think Joe is a lovely guy and makes great basses but, like a lot of custom luthiers, his perspective on delivery times may be a little different from other people. I'd suggest phoning rather than emailing to get in touch with him direct.

I used to know Mark fairly well - it's a shame he struggled with live performance (see what I did there TT aficionados) and more or less stopped recording new material as well

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1475437169' post='3145928'] Surely you walked immediately without buying the gear already in the till? I must say though, I used to use the Barnet shop quite a lot when they still had shops, and all I had to do was ring them about something and if they didn't have in stock, they would get one in for me to try usually by the next day without any obligation to buy. [/quote] That was my local shop -always helpful and friendly people there

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1475316476' post='3144949'] Lets hope it`s as accurate as Sid & Nancy....................... [/quote] They used to be visitors at my first flat in London. We had a few pretty dodgy characters round but Nancy was the only one ever to be physically ejected for 'bad behaviour'. This may have involved syringes . . .

[quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1475226253' post='3144118'] Well yes, I believe "German Pro Series" is the name of the line - I did hear some discussion about whether parts from Germany bolted together somewhere else or parts from somewhere else bolted together in Germany still counts as made in Germany but I can't remember which way round it was or the outcome. [/quote] Under EU regulations they are classified as being 'made in Germany'. However a degree of construction is carried out in the, much cheaper labour market, of the Czech Republic which isn't far from the German HQ. I'm not sure it makes the slightest difference in quality of construction but it always feels to me that it should be detailed in the product specs.

All the time. Maybe I'm just too trusting, lol

Played a small pub gig last night and thought I'd try my recent acquisition - a Mexican made Flea Signature. At the break I was thinking how nice it seemed to sound on 'stage' (I was using a Jule Monique Dove Cage and Demeter power amp through a Bergantino 2x10 so had a decent backline which would always help). The realisation then hit me that I'd never actually gigged with a Fender before! I own a 63J a pair of 68J's and a 64P and have owned several US and Japanese J's and P's. All have been played a fair bit and rehearsed with but never taken out live (well, not by me anyway). I've gigged plenty of 'Fender style' basses from Sadowsky, Alleva Coppolo, Celinder, Lull, Modulus etc. No idea why I've never grabbed one of the Fenders before, maybe just not my #1 basses at the time. Anyway, it was fun to play, no worries about batteries, stayed more or less in tune and sounded pretty good to me and to the two bassists in the audience apparently. Must do this more often 😂

As far as I know all the issues were fixed after a terrible launch period. It's not always the case but the early ones that did go bang tended to crap out quite quickly. If you were to come across an earlierbone that's been out gigging a fair bit it 'ought' to be ok.

[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1475126874' post='3143208'] It's a pity the store is closing, the kissing was the best bit. [/quote] You can always pop round mine for a snog 😘

[quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1475160786' post='3143595'] I thought the new-ish German-ish pro-series [/quote] Fixed it for you. . .

[quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1474965715' post='3141804'] How would Warwick be able to make decisions like that now when they don't know what trade deals will be in place? Was this in the press or just a made up internet comment? Not that there's anything wrong with requesting money up front for sales - we as customers have to do it all the time when ordering things. [/quote] It was a public statement direct to all UK dealers from Hans-Peter himself. Dealers used to get a short credit window which allowed them to check stock, balance cash flow and maybe move an odd instrument quickly. Post Brexit (in fact maybe a week before) all dealers were told that payment for every instrument had to be made in full in advance before Warwick would ship anything to the UK. With demand for Warwicks already dropping rapidly over here and the resulting low margins there's not a huge incentive to hold a lot of stock that has to be paid for in advance. The new Pro series manufacturing schedule is a little random as well. Dealers can log in and see exactly what's available but for certain models and colours the wait time was sometimes not even specified - they literally could not get a delivery date so couldn't really take customer orders for these. Full German built instruments have also become very expensive. Last time I checked there was only 1 for sale in the whole of the UK. Even the ex-demo and show instruments available to dealers from Warwick in Germany are pretty expensive compared to many other brands. Add all of this to a fall in the exchange rate and it results in very few new instruments being available for sale (or even demo) over here

Another big vote of confidence for D'Addario customer service. As a dealer we sell quite a lot of their strings and our service team are fantastic and so helpful

Quick tip for anyone who likes the Neotech straps but found they aren't quite the right length. The Sadowsky Neostrap is more or less the same thing but comes in 3 lengths instead of 2