Dingus

The cheapest way to ship from the U.S.A is to use the U.S Postal Service's Priority Mail International service. It usually cost less than $150 to ship a bass insured for $3500. They aren't the quickest, but they have always been the most economical way to ship packages, and I have found them to be just as reliable, or at least no less unreliable, than any of the commercial couriers. Maybe the O.P could try getting a quote from the equivalent Canadian postal service to ship this bass.

[quote name='Greggo' timestamp='1389390090' post='2333880'] How much wear is on the Nate Mendel precision? I like the look of them and from the pictures the relicing looks subtle. Am I right in thinking the controls knobs are 'aged'? I do like that particular look rather than shiny knobs! I don't mind subtle relicing on instruments but I personally would not want to buy a new instrument that looked like it was not looked after very well. However I have no issues with dings on guitars when I buy second hand, cause that's a sign they have been well played! Imagine if they did reliced cars brand new! A Ford focus with ripped seats, smokey interior, dings in the bodywork etc.. Is there a market? [/quote] Yes, indeed, or imagine if Fender had offered a knackered version of their guitars as an extra cost option back in the 1950's and 1960's. Those who enthusiastically purchased such guitars would probably have been forcibly placed in a mental asylum and given a lobotomy.

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1389381704' post='2333740'] Surely anyone deluded enough to actually buy one provided that themselves? [/quote] Good point!

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1389379202' post='2333680'] You are taking me far too seriously, old fruit. In any event, this whole thing merely reinforces the public perception of bassists as the Eeyores of the musical community. The acid test is 'Who gets laid more often?' and the whole world knows that it is Tigger. If we wish others to render solace to our secret places, we must abjure drab 'musicality. Let us instead embrace brightness and motion. [size=3]'I shall go and practice my scales,' sighed Eeyore.[/size] [size=3].[/size] [/quote] I take your point, Skank, and I agree with you. I have to admit that I have become a sex symbol not because of my bass playing but in spite of it.

If it is a standard production model, I always ask for a brand new, virgin example. That is unless there is some special reason or incentive to buy the one on display. Whether you are buying a new model or what is in effect a display model depends on a number of factors and each individual case is different. Especially with high-end boutique basses for sale in some U.K retail shops , a significant proportion of them are more ex - display models than you might think ( or the retailer would like to openly advertise) in so much as they have been on display not only in the shop but also at various trade shows, after which they are sold by the manufacturers or importers to retailers at a discount.

[quote name='Alfie' timestamp='1389378596' post='2333666'] A couple of years ago Barbour released a 75th anniversary jacket that was "pre-distressed". It had synthetic mud spatter on it and everything. Probably the biggest example of relic w***ery I have come across. [/quote] They should have made a special deluxe version that came with a genuine middle class twit included.

If you are remotely interested, they have got a couple of John Myung's actual Yamaha basses for sale at Basscentral in Florida.

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1389376957' post='2333624'] Oh no, you've played the clown card! Things could get messy :-0 [/quote] Mrs Dingus was a clown for a short time, apparently, and she's about as funny as the Gestapo .

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1389374325' post='2333579'] Quite right. And even when one has reached a state of musical accomplishment, performance issues such as strap height remain a vital matter of context. What is the point in executing a technically demanding passage when a simple drop kick or 'flying V' will rouse certain [i]specific[/i] audiences to greater heights of enthusiasm. Were it not that advancing age and deteriorating kneecaps preclude such showcraft, I should still mostly be airborne upon any stage I might grace. Unless it were a jazz gig, of course, in which case I might light my pipe, sit down with my back to the punters and smirk at the drummist. A rigid position on strap height, such motivating factors as might apply and the inherent 'integrity' of the low-slinger is the province of the hobbyist and second-class thinker. The bass player has too long been hobbled by reactionary nostrums. Let's get cool, people. [/quote] I'm sure I can't match your first- class thinking and professionalism, Skank - I only play the bass for a hobby nowadays- but I was taught by some very good players that playing the bass well is a extremely difficult skill to learn , and so if you want to be a good player you need to do everything you can to make it as easy as possible for yourself. Unless you have a very unusual physiology, wearing your bass very low will make playing anything reasonably involved or challenging a lot harder. If all you want to do is thrash it then I suppose you could wear it any height and it won't make much of a difference.

[quote name='operative451' timestamp='1389372739' post='2333543'] I also enjoy jumping about, showing off, making noise and dressing up - its all part of performing, and its fun. [/quote] In that case, have you thought about joining the circus and becoming a clown ? You get to do all those things a lot more than you do being a bass player.

[quote name='cameltoe' timestamp='1389373904' post='2333571'] Yes I've noticed that with one I picked up a few months back. It was a 2012 Precision. Heavier with slightly less wear than my 2008 Precision and the neck felt less worn-in to play. [/quote] The bottom line will be Fender are trying to make them cheaper to protect their profit margins. I honestly think those Roadworn basses are the JV Squiers of the future. If you have got a good one, keep it.

[quote name='cameltoe' timestamp='1389373791' post='2333565'] Susannah Reid every time. [/quote] Supports Crystal Palace, though. I'm not sure I could put up with that.

Those Fender Roadworn basses are very nice and very playable , but for some reason Fender have quietly changed how they make them recently. They have started using much heavier wood for them.

[quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1389373123' post='2333554'] Did you miss the last three words of my post? Spike Milligan writes about being instructed by Major Jumbo Jenkins on the correct etiquette for the Battery dance band: "Stand up straight, step forward smartly and play as if you were playing for King and Country." Spike replies "Yes Sir, and if I ever play a wrong note, I shall immediately think of Hitler..." [/quote] Only the first sentence of my post is directed at you, my friend. The rest is a broader discourse.

I don't like tattoos , either.

[quote name='grahamd' timestamp='1389193534' post='2331150'] This isolated bass track shows how in the pocket his phrasing really is… jeez… [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9xRuViPdkI[/media] [/quote] The man is a beast! That is some seriously good playing.

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1389368955' post='2333485'] Ah La belle Coren, didn't recognise her, or Abi as a brunette [/quote] Brunette? That was the pre-Titmuss era avatar , Jane Hill ( BBC news). I love her.

[quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1389365116' post='2333391'] I shall look forward (in another friendly manner) to your next gig when you all sit like a string quartet (to maximise the ergonomics of the musical performance) and entertain the audience that way...that'll be cool. Playing live can (and very often is) be a performance of the music more than a recital, and there are many factors to a performance, one of which is physical presentation and image. Sling it low and thrash the thing, or cradle it and never miss a note, all are valid. [/quote] Why does it have to an opposition between the silly affectation of wearing a guitar slung low for rock and roll "cool" ( Cool? Who says so, and why?) and sitting down like a string quartet? Wearing a bass slung very low makes playing it effectively and efficiently a lot harder for most people. That is an undeniable fact. Plenty of dynamic live performers wear their guitar at a sensible and functional height and it does absolutely nothing to detract from their charisma. Miles Davis once said that he could tell a good trumpet player just from the way he stands,, and the same is true for the bass guitar. There are some decent players who wear their bass lower , but they are few and far between. I'm not at all precious about it..Different people have different motivations for taking up and instrument in the first place, and to some people they are more bothered about appearances than actualities. That is a perfectly valid choice, but such people can only be judged according to those choices they have made . It is a false dichotomy to suggest that music divides between cool people who wear their basses low and nerdy geeks who wear it high . What could be more uncool than being so lacking in individuality or imagination that you unquestioningly buy into all the same old banalities? It's one thing to have an image, but it's another thing entirely to be a stereotype.

[quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1389364258' post='2333372'] True, but I don't thinking he was expecting an over enthusiastic fan to crush one of his bollocks on stage.. [/quote] My dad never had any fans , enthusiastic or otherwise, so his bollocks were relatively safe, I am happy to say.

Someone who worked at Fender told me that the more recent basses they have made will never wear in the same way as the older basses. Even the thin polyester coats they are using now are far more robust that the nitro finishes of yesteryear, and the paint technology has moved on a long way as well. Colours are far less prone to fading and wearing off. In the 1950's and 1960's it was still early days for the synthetics they were using at the time and they were relatively primitive products by today's standards. Everything in the finishing process is much more stable, durable and robust nowadays.

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1389365299' post='2333399'] Dingus, who are the ladies in the avatar ? And the previous one [/quote] The previous one was Abi Titmuss, and the current two are Emma Thompson and Victoria Coren.

[quote name='kennyrodg' timestamp='1389364271' post='2333373'] I like it, the more abused the better. [/quote] Me, or the bass?

[quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1389362687' post='2333337'] Captain Sensible may not agree with you on that.... [/quote] As my dad once said, if he was that bloody sensible he wouldn't look like that...

[quote name='0175westwood29' timestamp='1389306555' post='2332777'] [url="http://www.nashguitars.com/Images/Guitars/bass/JB63CARr3pw.jpg"]http://www.nashguita...JB63CARr3pw.jpg[/url] thats is sexy as! im all for natural wear tho doing that on my mody, its now a nice yellow close up, not bad in nearly 6 yrs. andy [/quote] That bass is so "distressed" that it looks like it has been left outside to the elements in a Portuguese fishing village for thirty years! Who would put wear on a bass like that ? It looks like it has been used on building site or something similar. People are paying extra for this? Just ridiculous. On another note, I never knew Nash guitars were from Olympia, Washington. It's a long time since I was there , but back in the 1980's that was a[i] wild t[/i]own! I would love to tell you the stories, but Mrs Dingus ( and the Moderators) might read this so I had better not.

[quote name='Freddy Le Cragg' timestamp='1389296292' post='2332592'] Basic rule. If you can be punched in the bollocks when playing, its too high [/quote] I would have to disagree with this. I want my bollocks to be easily accessible to the general public when I am playing.