Jonnyboy Rotten

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1370376880' post='2100066'] ...the drinks/ pastries (now frozen so they'll keep) which didn't sell can still be sold.. [/quote] Put me down for a mail order pastie!

Nice project Grangur - so is the problem with these Squier headstocks/machine head compatibility just that they are too small compared with the Fender ones? Speaking as a complete novice and noob, they can't be all that different can they?!

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1371053265' post='2109213'] Hey Jonny, You're doing well. I've got an almost identical project on the go with a Squier P Bass, but I paid a bit more for the bass. (Dammit all!) Mine has the same prob with the headstock and getting tuners that don't hang over the side is near-on impossible with the dinky Squier heads. Sorry to say this but the Wilkos will over-hang top to bottom and may be too long on the width. Ones I got, that are actually slightly smaller, and mine are chrome, but you could look at these: [url="http://www.giggear.co.uk/p/Guitar-Gear-P-Bass-Style-Machine-Head-Set-4-In-Line/"]http://www.giggear.c...-Set-4-In-Line/[/url] (Call them I believe they do them in black) I hope this helps [/quote] Nice looking bass BTW What are you doing to/with it? Oh bugger... just when I thought I had it all covered! I was trawling the net and on *ahem* a different bass forum, some guy seemed to have fitted the Wilkos and got them to fit by grinding a few mm of one of the edges. I hadn't even considered that they might actually poke out from behind the head along top. Thanks for the link - I have ordered the Wilkos now so if I can make them fit with a little jiggery-pokery then I will, if not, someone one here might get a good price on them and I will see if Gig Gear do the smaller-footprint black ones.

Havin a jam with a mate in my dining room!

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1370969953' post='2108115'] With all due respect, £600 is not high-end and neither are U.S Fenders. I'd say a hi-end bass is £2000 starting... but that is not to say they will be the be-all and end-all even then. [/quote] I would agree with you. I was only mentioning the £600 bracket because as I was wanting to spend £200-300 - there wasn't any point in trying anything more than that. It was simply to give me a flavour for what there was in and around my price.

If only I lived in Leeds!

[quote name='Myke' timestamp='1371031243' post='2108764'] +1 about KiOgon Awesome guy Edit. Was this on gumtree? Ex Kill Kenada? [/quote] It was from Gumtree but I got it from Essex from a chap who's brother in law had recently passed away and was selling his collection of guitars (There was just the one bass but about 15 electric guitars).

Thanks for the encouragement Discreet! I look forward to posting the photos and of course playing it! Thanks for the tips Truckstop. As I am on a budget - buying machine heads, bridge, scratchplate is enough for the first month (as well as buying the bass itself). Also - as all the electrical bits seem to work - I think I will stick with the stock pups and pots until I have played it for a while and got used to its own sound. I do plan to do a dramatic new finish on it - but again - I want to get to know the guitar's character before doing too much! I liken it to a garden. When you buy a new house - as long as the garden is in reasonable condition, there is no point in digging everything up and replanting it for at least a year as you will miss what the garden already has to offer during the various months and seasons. And only by watching it and living with it do you notice where the gaps are and what can be improved! - Hows that for philosophy!

Heres some pics:

in my very limited experience when I was shopping around for buying my first bass, I played some that were £150 and some that were £600 to help me understand the differences and feels. It was a mixed bag and I was really surprised - there were a couple of £500 basses which played and sounded worse than some of the £200 and the only guitar I preferred to my purchase of an Ibanez SR300 was an SR600 which was around double the price of mine and that was mainly because of the better finish - though there was a difference in sound too. I think it is only worth spending money if you can't achieve the sound or tone you want with something at a lower price (or if you can afford it and want to treat yourself!). There is nothing wrong with spending big money on certain guitars as long as you don't do it for credibility or hoping it will make you a better player!

"The chubber in the photos can be negotiated, the kid in the boot goes with the car, this is non negotiable, he came with the car he stays with it."

[quote name='EricOnBass' timestamp='1370897570' post='2107232'] Hi Wish I'd seen this sooner Maybe next year [/quote] Me too! I was even in Nottingham the weekend before visiting the parents-in-law. Will deffo be on my list for next year!

Hey there people, I am a fairly new bass player (since Christmas - I got an SR300 for my present! ) and whilst I love it to bits - it is very much cosseted and taken care of and metaphorically wrapped in cotton wool to keep it pristine and nice. However my normal style at least in my clothes, appearance and personality is sort of surfy, hairy and laid back which would suggest more a beaten up or rat-look (as they say in the VW Beetle community) bass. So I really wanted something to make my own and customise. I was looking for something classic looking like a Fender/squire etc or something a little bit odd like a Vox/Danelectro etc. I didn't want to pay more than £50 for a do-er up-er. So after scouring ebay, gum-tree and other sites I managed to land myself a black Squier Precision MIC Bass I think of the year 2000 with a white scratchplate. It is in relatively good condition overall and cost £50. The bad points: 1) It is really grubby (and not in a cool, used kind of way! ), 2) the tuning pegs are the closed back type and they 'wiggle' and feel loose in their housing 3) the scratchplate is cracked across where the jack plug is. Other than that the pots work without crackling, the neck is straight and the body is in nice condition apart from 2 dings one is just cracked and pitted laquer (the paint and wood I think are not affected) and the other is a small chip out of the laquer and paint down to the wood - but in an inconspicuous place. Never having undertaken a project like this before I was a little disappointed when I found that any decent replacement tuning pegs would not be the right diameter so the peg holes in the headstock will likely need to be widened. I also found that my scratchplate is a 14(!) hole one - all the ones on sale seem to be 10 or 13. So whilst pontificating on whether I have taken on too big a task as I am not very practically minded, I ended up thinking 'Sod it - what is the worst that could happen?' So this will be an ongoing project but I have ordered everything that I (think) I need to get the bass playable and I have decided - at least for the short/medium term - that I want my bass all black (apart from the neck/head). So I have ordered black Wilkinson Machine Heads, black 3 ply scratchplate and a black bridge. Will keep you updated. Let me know if you have any advice or thoughts! Cheers, Jonny.

IMHO if I was in your position I would start (if you haven't already) keeping track of what 'the band' is spending and how much of it has come out of your pocket. I would suggest working out the average cost of keeping the band going each month and just have the members all stick the same amount in by Direct Debit. Or like a previous post said - just present them with the evidence and just say you can't keep putting £XXX into the band without seeing either some help or some return. I hope it gets sorted mate - let us know what happens.

I thought I would see if, what at first glance looks like a stupid question yields any nuggets of useful info! I have my bass in a gig bag which has pockets enough for a small tuner, a couple of cables, cleaning cloth etc, spare set of strings & batteries. I thought I would ask anyone if they had any advice with regard to what type of bag to get for the pedals, music stand, guitar stand etc that won't fit in the gig bag but are a pain to carry around seperately. The standard option would be a holdall type thing but if anyone has any novel or unusual recommendations I would be gratefull!

Nice - just subscribed to your youtube channel!

I'm probably not the best person to review this as I am a noob and only been playing a few months however, I'll give it a shot and other people can add their views below. I bought by A100 off another forum member in almost new condition so I can't say how the unit was packaged or what the manufacturer included but I gave it a run for its money the other night! For completeness you may want to know that I was using my Ibanez SR300 active bass. First impressions:8/10 Good: Great looking smart and modern design with clean brushed aluminium style control panel and an impressive number of knobs, switches and dials. You can clearly see the 15" aluminium speaker cone through the grill which adds to its distinctive look. The kick back feature is also a boon for anyone who will be wanting to use these as foldback speakers during a gig (why more cabinets don't do this I will never know!). Bad: Nothing really - the only thing I would mention and this is probably based on taste and my lack of experience - I would probably prefer the cab to be finished in vinyl or a tough leather look plastic. It is finished in a fuzzy felt material which is probably fine. It just looks as if it might be more prone to tearing than vinyl but feel free to correct me on this! Sound: 9/10 The sound of this cab in all its trouser-flapping glory is amazing. It is a very clear and punchy sound thanks to the aluminium cone and the 7 band graphic equaliser. You also have a variable limiter dial so if slap bass is your thing, you can keep control of your pops and slaps without them being overly loud compared with the rest of your playing. My Dad plays bass and he has the equivalent 100 watt Ampeg BA-115 offering with the kick-back feature. It may be to do with the fact that my bass is active and his Warwick is passive but (and I hope he doesn't read this coz he won't like it) his set up sounds a bit muddy and tame compared with the punch and clarity offered by my Hartke. Summary: 9/10 All in all it is a well built, quality unit which I look forward to using whenever I think about it! It is easily loud enough for pub gigs, band practices and other situations that wouldn't require a full set up. I love it and it seems to go particularly well with my Ibanez SR300 but that just might be my own bias! I hope you enjoyed my review in all my limited experience. Let me know if you have any questions and I look forward to hearing what others of you have to say on the Hartke A100!

Cheers guys! Im really looking forward to giving it some welly!

Thanks all for your input! I have finally purchased my bass! I got the Orange SR300! Gonna go set it up, tune it and rock out! \m/ \m/

Yeah I hadn't reckon'd on other band mates objecting to my choice of colour!

I'm thinking of the blue, orange, pewter or red. But I think I needed to see them in the flesh tbh. I seem to be enticed by the orange but it isnt particularly subtle!

Thanks for the input! OK I went to the music shop(s) last weekend and had a play with several basses ranging from the SR300, Thunderbird and Thunderbird Pro, Epi Toby Std, Yamahas, Fretking, Epi Les Paul and others. I can honestly say that the SR300 felt, played and sounded better than some basses I (wishfully) tried that were twice the price. I found the Tbird pro came a fairly distant second. The standard T-bird, Fretking and some of the others just felt like four strings attached to a bit of wood! The SR300 felt like more time had been taken to craft it and it had a premium feel to it which I loved! So just gotta get a couple of hundred quid together now! What is the difference (if any between the older model with 5 dials and the newer one with 4?) or is it a different guitar altogether? It would be handy if any one can upload some decent pics of their SR300 so I can see the various colours because all the reviews say the stock pics don't do justice to the finishes!

[quote name='Matt P' timestamp='1349374727' post='1825515'] whatever you end up buying i'd really recommend buying from the Basschat Classifieds, there are bargains galore to choose from, [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/187674-kramer-baretta-nt-l75/"]http://basschat.co.u...baretta-nt-l75/[/url] this looks a bargain, even with a pro setup and a new set of strings it would still leave you with plenty of change. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/188326-yamaha-bb300/"]http://basschat.co.u...6-yamaha-bb300/[/url] you can't really go wrong with a Yamaha, and this is a good example at a great price. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/184803-spector-q4pro-now-l170/"]http://basschat.co.u...q4pro-now-l170/[/url] this ones been mentioned before but it's a great deal and a cracking bass. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/185002-reduced-l200-yamaha-trb1004-natural-that-needs-some-love-epic-sad-face/"]http://basschat.co.u...-epic-sad-face/[/url] this one is a tiny bit higher than you wanted to spend but if it's anywhere near you then it's worth the extra (especially as it comes with a good gigbag. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/188112-bass-collectionyes-sgc-nanyo/"]http://basschat.co.u...nyes-sgc-nanyo/[/url] i saved this till last, the sgc Nanyo bass collection basses are superb and this one's in a good colour and at an amazing price. i have no connection to any of these sellers. but i've made plenty of deals on here and they've all been fantastic. Matt [/quote] Thanks Matt thats really helpful I had looked through and seen those but as a newbie and someone who has only heard of the household brands Gibson/Fender etc I had no idea if these were any good! I will check them out! Thanks! BTW are Peavy Millenium any good?