HowieBass

I've reported the Gumtree advert as fraudulent using the eBay sale in September as evidence.

The Gumtree advert must be a scam. Look at this eBay auction... for the same instrument http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ritter-Roya-Jazz-Bass-5-string-/261279864767?nma=true&si=wDji4N%252Bj8Wxd%252FiD78H1ZT8Wwk7I%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

... and wiped with a diaper after use? Hmmmmmm. According to Ritter it went to Chuck Bernklau in New York... https://www.facebook.com/chuck.bernklau

Hi and welcome to the world of bass playing! Cort instruments are excellent value for money and are every bit as good as Squiers, Epiphones and the less expensive models from the Ibanez range - in fact Cort build Squiers and Ibanez guitars and they come from the same factories. Squier basses have developed quite a reputation for being great instruments, try Googling for reviews for the Squier Vintage Modified Jazz bass and the Squier Active Jazz Deluxe bass (I own a Squier Active Jazz Deluxe IV and am very happy with it, I also own a Cort Curbow 5 and a Cort B4FL fretless). Try before you buy if possible because new instruments don't always come particularly well set up - you might need to have an instrument seen by an experienced player/luthier to ensure it's set up properly (intonation, neck relief, string and pickup heights).

Do you have conductive shielding paint handy for the cavities?

[quote name='Johnm93' timestamp='1387653926' post='2314316'] Blumin eck, she's good. What is she, about 12? I must go and practice... [/quote] That's not a 'she'...

I'm just making arrangements to have one made for me, just sent a paper template of the side profile so the fit is perfect (rather than try using a bevelled front design) so they might well be making a couple of covers up at the same time

... Martin Hannett and his pioneering use of the AMS digital delay unit helped shape a lot of what followed... http://www.trustmeimascientist.com/2011/08/01/producer-profile-martin-hannett/

The supposed shielding benefit (via the Faraday Cage effect) of the metal covers, probably not achieving much in practice, means they serve more as hand rests, or hand hindrances, depending on how you play. As pickup technology advanced (noiseless/humbuckers), pickup shields/covers became superfluous and so have been dispensed with by many builders/players.

Choking might be eliminated by a very minor increase in action height, not so much change in string height that you'll notice it when playing but enough to let the string vibrate fully when struck hard... talking less than a full turn of the saddle adjustment screws.

[quote name='DiMarco' timestamp='1387623472' post='2313857'] The bridge cover is what caused seventies pickup positioning so be thankful. [/quote] Meaning (I think) that the bridge pickup is pretty close to the bridge (otherwise the cover would have been awkwardly large) and that position creates a particular tone where more of the harmonics come into play (vs the tone from the neck pickup which has more of the note's fundamental in it). The ability to have two distinct sounds from one bass and to be able to blend them together is what makes the Jazz so popular.

I'd suggest much less relief to almost none for fretless bass.

Try getting the neck almost straight with minimal relief - with the string held down at both ends of the fingerboard you should just be able to see under the string around where the 12th fret would be; the relief on mine is less than half the thickness of a credit card. Try setting your action at 4/64th for the E and say 3/64th for the G and slowly raise the saddles until you dial out excessive buzz. My action isn't excessively low and I still get a nice 'mwah' - it's around 5/64th for the E and 4/64th for the G on open strings, height measured at the octave (12th fret) position. Buzz at the higher frets (high end of the fingerboard) is usually due to too much relief. Hope this helps!

Unless you can define where the unwanted 'slap' is occurring and what your string heights are it's difficult (at least for me) to suggest whether a shim is needed. You want some string buzz, usually called 'mwah' at the point you stop a string (where the fret would be) but too much buzz can sound unpleasant. The fingerboard can probably be close to flat with just a touch of relief, the nut slots ought to have the strings REAL close to the fingerboard and then adjust the action from being say a few 64ths above the fingerboard and if you're getting 'buzz' rather than 'mwah' raise the strings a little. That's the way I've adjusted my fretless anyway.

If it's a Matsumoku bass then it should be a very decent instrument indeed - there's a lot of love for "Uncle Matt's" instruments... I've got a Westone Spectrum LX that I think I'll keep forever (had it from new in '86) and with it currently wearing flats (and having given all the toggle switches and pots a decent clean) is sounding better than ever through my Christmas pressie to myself (Genz Benz combo). Jap? Yes. Crap? I doubt it!

I think the huge difference in tone between flats and roundwounds is about the best [s]excuse[/s] reason to own several basses... so I've got flats on two (one of them a fretless) and rounds on the other three (one of them a 5 stringer and another designated as a 'chuck in the back of the car bass')

Turn up with your P bass and a distortion pedal next rehearsal or gig and tell them you thought this was the direction they wanted to go in based on their playing style...

The first thing I thought of when I saw the paler wood inset in your Wal was maybe adding a large ramp in wenge with two pickups concealed inside it...

I think flats are usually higher tension than roundwounds for equivalent gauges so you might get a similar feel with a lighter gauge than you've currently got strung on the SUB, but yes it'll sound massively different (though at least flats tend to 'improve' with age, if you like that mellow sound). And don't feel so bad about not knowing much about strings; I only fairly recently discovered how much nicer nickel roundwounds feel after using stainless steel roundwounds for years!

I think it always helps to state how disgruntled one is in writing; in your case you might write a letter to the shop; even though you've already spoken to them; and indicate you're copying it to Blackstar too. One could imagine having a problem shipping an amp back to a manufacturer abroad but Blackstar are only in Northampton for heavens sake! I wouldn't threaten the shop with naming and shaming yet - but indicate that should they continue to mess you about that you'll make sure their shoddy service gets known about. And for all the trouble they've caused, I reckon they ought to offer the luthier work at a heavily discounted price.

Another happy GAK customer here. I wanted a Genz Benz Contour 500 combo and was initially going to buy it from the only other place doing them in this country. A CTR500-210T was showing as 'in stock' on the other retailer's website so I phoned to make a purchase; turns out they had none in last week, so I went to GAK's website and placed an order with them and the combo was at my door within 48 hours, same price as the other retailer, plus a free guitar cable and free delivery via FedEx.

Get one of those plate compactors they use for road repairs for all the really low notes?

It looks very like one of these [url="http://www.vintagesilvertones.com/forsale_silvertone_1490bass.html"]http://www.vintagesi...e_1490bass.html[/url] More identifying pics here http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=46863

I'd say check the nut slots first to make sure they're at the right depth before you decide to start inserting neck shims as obviously your action will be affected by the nut as well as the bridge saddles if you're measuring the string action unfretted. There's probably a thread on here about how to check for the right nut slot height (think it's something like hold the string down at the third fret and the string should just be shy of touching the first fret). But yeah, when all other adjustments have been tried then raising the whole neck a few 1/64" of an inch might be necessary. I shimmed the neck on my Curbow 5 using 2 layers of a plastic sheet I had handy (raising the neck in total by 1/16") because I couldn't get the action low enough and the G and B saddles were as low as they'd go.

Another vote here for a Columbus Jazz copy that I retired when I got my Westone Spectrum LX; the Columbus was eventually donated to a young guy who'd just started learning. The funny thing is, I now almost wish I still had it just to see what I could make of it now that I know how to set up an instrument properly