Lw.

Looks cool - does it sound like a passive P or does it sound like a Warwick still?

@Little Dragon - I had one of those for my first bass, wish I'd never sold it (was purely down to downsizing house)!

FYI - you don't have to pop the necks off, someone showed me this a while ago after I complained about chipping a bit of paint off the neck-pocket off mine when doing the set-up (the pocket is incredibly tight). There's a special tool for it, I think it's called a telecaster tool? It's like a half-width flathead screwdriver on a 90 degree angle that you use a bit like a wrench - the slots on the truss rod look like they're for a philips head but that's not why they're in the + shape, it's so that you have regular access with this specific tool. I can't find it now to take a pic but I think StewMac sell them.

Ah, the age old high-cost-Fenders-aren't-worth-it debate! It's the same theory of diminishing returns as most other hobby-commodities; is a £4k bass 10x better than a £400 bass? Probably not. Is there something about it that will bring the buyer happiness? Hopefully yes! That's all there is to it. One of the great things about Fender (that they are ironically also derided for) is that they make their product to a wide variety of price points - set your limit and go buy your bass, it doesn't matter if other people choose to spend a different amount. For what it's worth - I have a CS precision. I had a decent bonus one year from work & decided I wanted to buy myself a precision as I didn't have one & GAS had made it's requirements known. I had a price limit in mind but for the sake of the search I decided to go out and try every P available between Reading & London regardless of price, new/used/vintage Squier/Fender/Custom Shop/Other brands that made a P shape bass, I played a lot of basses. There is no rule as to spending x will get you y performance, they all are what they are at the price that they are, some decent cheapos and some rubbish 10k+ basses - such is the life of a bass player. As it happens, the best bass I'd tried was a Custom Shop - it looked beautiful, played wonderfully & sounded awesome. It was c£5.5k I think, it was out of my self-agreed price range so for a best of cost/benefit bass I decided to go and buy a new Mexican Road Worn (they were actually pretty good basses and were less than a grand), when I was in the shop I saw the glimmer of a different bass that hadn't been there when I was trying out the Road Worns a couple of weeks earlier - a 2nd hand CS, it didn't play quite as nice as the £5.5k one but was easily the 2nd best bass I'd tried so I bought it at twice the price of a road worn but way less than the new CS. I've played that bass on a huge number of gigs, from decent size stages to the grottiest of back-street boozers. Not once has a non-bass playing punter commented on the sound, a single time a nice lady said she liked the colour. Most of the time the bass we're playing make zero difference to the listeners - so just pick the bass you like & is mostly likely for make you play more, so long as you can afford it price is meaningless.

I could have sworn I saw their final performance in 2001, then again a few years later at Download! Fair play to them for still going, got to be one of the most influential bands of all time - they certainly are for me! I probably won't make it to this but I bet it'll be a hell of a day!

Can't help but think it would have been easiest & cheapest to just buy a different neck to bolt into the roadworn but as that's not an option now, Limelight are a good shout - they can build one to your spec. I've played loads of Fender derivatives and the best have been from thier Custom Shop but they are pricey. Limelight aren't at that same level but they're pretty decent and come in way cheaper than even a used CS.

There's something wrong with me, I keep coming back to these. I used to hate this finish but over the last year I've started to desire it. Hoping everyone else has found them so hideous they end up heavily discounted somewhere like the anniversary basses!

New Settee, probably got enough space to add to the family now.

This is the one. The basic Fender Mexican "player" basses aren't particularly inspiring but if you can get the more premium Mexican offerings ("classic" or vintera etc...) then they're not bad.

I was down at Casbah in Greenwich too - got there an hour after opening & the queue was a similar size to your picture, flowed quite easily through, though it was a bit rushed in the shop. Picked up a couple of the records I was after, all in all a good morning! Might check what spare stock Rough Trade have tonight though my wallet is feeling the strain!

Gosh they're cheap. I feel like even if the electrics aren't great, if you've got the tools you should be able to sort them as the fundamental build seems decent. Really don't need another bass though, hmmm.

I think you'd be mad to sell the '71 but swapping out the Sandberg for the Custom Shop would probably be a good move. GAS is like the ocean waves; you can't stop them, you just have to ride them.

It does take some mental gymnastics, sure. Fortunately I'm not a trading block negotiating deals so it's not too big a problem, though generally I take it as wherever it says it was made, that's where it was made. If the electronics are originally made in china, the tree grew in India, the metal dug up in Africa but the label says it was Made in USA, then that's good enough for me. Don't ask me what nationality I'm classing my Limelight as! My buying habits very clearly show I have no brand loyalty!

I quite like it - like natural basses, prefer passive, looks quite smart. Never really played an MM bass but in the back of my mind always thought I needed one to complete the holy trinity. At c£100 a month for nine months it seems almost rude not to but I made a rule with myself a few years ago that I'd only buy basses from the brands country of origin (can probably blame Fender for that). One to consider...

Pedals that just add fuzz do tend to strip the bass out. I used to use a Dave Hall Amps pedal that was good, have also used a Big Muff Deluxe (this model has something it it to keep the bass frequencies in, I can't remember what it's called) to similar results. Depending on the type of metal, it's not a bad idea to just leave the bass clean & let the guitarists do the distortion.

Nice looking and sounding bass! I wouldn't worry too much about the price: a) That's not how much it will sell for b) Yes there is a rarity - there can't be that many of them left & we must lose one or two a year to fire/floods/car crashes/being stolen & dumped etc... c) You have to learn to disassociate cost & quality once you get past the threshold of £800-1000. Everything above that price is purely people treating themselves to something they deem as being a treat. If 26k isn't within your price range there's no point worrying because you can buy a perfectly usable bass from a musical perspective for vastly less so you're not missing out. For some people it will be within range and they'll probably buy it for noodling around at home.

They do make some very handsome basses, huge variety in finishes too. Would love to try one one day.

They're a box shifter, if they checked everything they sent out the prices would have to be higher - if you want set-up checks done you need to go to a brick & mortar shop (pref a good one as the rubbish ones probably still wouldn't check) & pay the extra for the privilege.

I never had a particularly big collection but I did fritter money away on a variety of mid-range basses over the years, then I decided I needed a P bass (having spent most of my earlier years hating them) and it pretty much killed the gas. Over night I switched to focusing on just having a few really nice basses/things rather than lots of ok stuff. Now I have a really good P, an almost as good J and an active 5er that I never play but for sentimental reasons need to keep (we've been through a lot) and it's actually a very good bass in its own right I just never play 5s anymore. Realistically now the only basses I think I'd look at buying despite knowing they would get way less play time than the P & J would be a Ric and maybe some form of Gibson. Honestly though, I reckon just the P would do. Younger me was wrong on many things but this was the worst mistake, so many missed opportunities for P bargains in years gone by!

Well, from a pretty negative start (the fake roadworn) this has turned into a decent result! Congratulations!

Certainly worth giving Mark at Limelight a call. Building & giving a slight relic does sound fun & probably quite doable but by the time you've bought the extra fettling tools, messed a few things up then eventually still not got exactly what you wanted you'd may as well just pay someone that knows what they're doing to do it for you. That's what I did, Limelight made exactly what I wanted - not the same specs as what you've posted but not a million miles away either, here's mine:

Mad bargain. I've got the collection down to all I need right now (3) so am going to pass but it's tempting to get one of the P's and leave it in the box just in case I'm in a band that needs a P with rounds again!

Good score. Are you talking about threaded saddles? They're the best (on a bbot)! The Vintera basses took over from the "Classic" range when Fender changed all the names & they've kept up the quality. I had a Vintera Mustang & it was great.

That's the kind of thing you dream of rescuing & bringing home from the tip but would be mad to part with cash for.