HowieBass

+1 for good impressions for PMT - looks like nothing from the outside (anonymous metal shed) but inside it's an Aladdin's cave! Bought my Zoom B9.1ut from there.

Your nirvana might well be the Manchester Bass Lounge http://manchesterbasslounge.com/ though I haven't yet dared set foot in it (too tempting). You have to let them know you'd like to call in as I believe visits are by appointment rather than a casual knock on the door. They're a few minutes away from J13 of the M60. You've also got PMT in Salford, close to the end of the M602 which rather handily would get you to the M60. In Liverpool itself is Dawsons, just off the main pedestrian thoroughfare (the shopping area leading from Lime Street down to the Albert Dock).

I guess we can train our ears to discern differences between various types of string, pickup, amp/combo but I wonder if the casual listener at a gig notices or even cares...

... and though I'm an utter noob when it comes to soldering I think the advice is make sure the ends of the wires are tinned first too.

Can you believe these are valued at £50,000 each?!?!

I believe GAK are quite happy to receive constructive criticism on these YouTube demos so for those here who want to make suggestions then let them know what you think. I imagine a fair bit of the character of what we've heard is the amp/cab so maybe they need to just take a clean DI'd signal?

They try to sell basses on a regular basis (oooh poetic!) and I've only ever seen 'Collection only' from Annan. I seem to remember seeing they had a fretless Squier VM Jazz going last year. EDIT: They still have a fretless Squier VM Jazz going...

All the winning bidder has to do is work out a way to travel back in time...

Now mountains have been mentioned I'm looking at the front of the bass in a whole new way, with the spalting being rivers running through some kind of landscape in some kind of old Chinese artwork... I like it!

Don't worry you can just swap out that 13A for a 10A or 5A fuse any time you like.

[quote name='bassace' timestamp='1394971543' post='2397174'] But sometimes the amps have internal fuses, so if they blow there is a kerfuffle to get the innards exposed - not too clever on a gig. Which is why all my leads have 5a fuses in the plugs. And there is quite a disparity between amps re the fuse rating - what amps, slow blow/fast blow. So even though the fuse is accessible best to know exactly what fuse is needed and have one or two handy for replacement. And just to spoil the party, fuses don't often bow spontaneously; there could be a problem in the circuit being protected. I'm not a techie but someone with a few years of amp usage, that's all. [/quote] +1 to this, better the fuse to blow in the kettle lead before an internal fuse first but whichever did it'd mean the unit needed looking at. The very reason we have different value fuses is that they are rated for the demands of the equipment when running in normal safe operation.

Have a look on the back of the combo to see what input power it draws (in watts), then divide that number by 240 (volts) and that gives you the value of the fuse required (in amps) but I'd guess it would be a 5amp fuse because my Genz Benz Contour combo can deliver 500 watts and that has a 5amp fuse in the kettle lead.

I wonder if a dark brown wax shoe polish pushed into the holes would work? You can always get a screw back into it if you want to put the scratchplate back on and the polish shouldn't damage the finish.

The Genz Benz Contour combos seem to be very well liked and have been absolute bargains at £299 recently (prices were slashed across the board) but you might struggle to find one new as it's a discontinued product line - Fender's new Rumble range are supposed to have pretty much the same design innards as the Genz Benz units (Fender own Genz Benz) but you'll not benefit from the discounts that many of us happy Contour 500 owners have enjoyed.

You owe it to yourself to consider this Squier as well http://www.fender.com/squier/series/deluxe/deluxe-jazz-bass-v-active-5-string-ebonol-fingerboard-3-color-sunburst/ - I have the 4 string version and love it (NB: I understand the 5 stringer is quite wide).

Ahhhhhh happy new bass day hahaha!

At least you know what'll sound like played in a bathroom...

What scale length is the bass?

Needs more self control... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yEcTB2va5E&feature=kp

He mistook 'road worn' to mean dragging it behind his car for a couple of miles...

+1 for the blue go faster stripe idea; two to run lengthwise from bridge towards neck and continuing across the headstock!

Nice to see tight and restrained playing, great stuff!

[quote name='Len_derby' timestamp='1394640570' post='2393610'] You might be doing this anyway, but do you thread your lead 'over the top'? Assuming you play right-handed, take the jack plug in your right hand, thread it behind the bass, in the space between you, the bass and your strap. Pull it over the top across the front of he bass and place the plug into the output socket of your bass. The cable's own weight shouldn't be pulling it out now, and your strap should stop it falling sideways. [/quote] +1 to this

I prefer the look of the Lakland but I haven't a clue what they both sound/play like...