SubsonicSimpleton

If the previous paint finish bubbled up, have you asked your friend to consider whether he/she wants to risk the expense of commiting to a spray job which might go the same way (silicon contamination possibly, but it could also have been a bad combination of primer/sealer and topcoat that reacted badly)? If the bad paint that you removed wasn't an original factory finish, then it's anybody's guess what a previous owner might have used in an attempt to conduct a DIY refinish.

I think that stripped body has really interesting texture - I would opt to use something like a wax finish on the body as it is now (to avoid any smooth shine), but not bother attempting to age/corrode the hardware or any other 'relicing' to the other bits and simply treat the visual and textural interest of the body as a counterpoint to the shinyness of the hardware.

Thinking outside the box a little, have you considered building Francis Deck's quick and dirty jfet piezo buffer circuit? https://sites.google.com/site/hpftechllc/home/technical-diy-stuff Low component count & cost, and his fdeck jfet based preamps have a very good reputation for transparancy.

Make a trip to Bass Direct and BassGear and try a load of basses out - just because an instrument has a high price doesn't necessarily mean it will work for you. Even if a Fodera/Ritter/whatever has been built out of the best materials available, with attention paid to every tiny detail and exquisite workmanship, it doesn't automatically follow that you will find it inspiring to play or producing the sound you want.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1438306900' post='2833482'] Agreed, I mean look at George, who was like 17 years old. Outside of a few country guitarists he didn't have a lot to draw from, [b]yet he started the whole concept of "lead guitar"[/b]. Incredible. I didn't know what feedback was until I heard "I Feel Fine" Blue [/quote] And Chuck Berry had absolutely no influence then?

Have you considered using an Esquire (or modified Esquire) arrangement for the electrics and not bothering to replace the neck pup? Loads of interesting options documented here https://sites.google.com/site/phostenixwiringdiagrams/teles/esquires This particular variant would be really useful on any single pup guitar https://sites.google.com/site/phostenixwiringdiagrams/teles/esquires#Esquire3-Way2 Not really what you asked about, but on the limited selection of strats and tele that I've owned, that if I set the amp to sound really good on the neck pickup then the sound of the bridge pup is too thin and trebly, and if I make the bridge sound it's best then the neck pup starts getting muddy and boomy for my personal taste, and I've never been fond of the middle pup. Might merit some experimentation before you start buying pups (your mid pup will work in the neck position if you extend the wires, and if it is reverse wound it will give you a humcancelling pair).

Options depend very much on what sort of music you want to play - nylon strung classical guitars can can be had for silly cheap money. You need to pay attention to the construction of the instrument to avoid the horribad ply top crap, but there are also some quite nice spruce topped student instruments that get lumped in with the tat if you look around charity/junk shops, flea markets, car boot sales. If you want to play steel strung acoustic or electric, then one option that hasn't been mentioned yet is a 12 string that has a wider nut width(not all electrics do, but acoustics are quite common with wide nut), you can omit the octave strings if you want a normal six or string as a 12 for extra jangle as desired, has the advantage that you don't need to make any permanent modifications to the instrument to do this and everything will line up and work properly - much better idea than badly butchered 7 strings IMHO. http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_rb_612cs_classic_series.htm Harley benton also do very affordable acoustic 12s, but they don't specify nut width, so you'd need to drop thomann an email to check.

Here is the manual for the BB404 which lists Yamaha part numbers and component values http://www.manualslib.com/manual/722123/Yamaha-Bb404.html?page=3#manual

Looks like someone has gone crazy with stick on inlays and pinstriping tape to me as well as changing pup covers and control knobs - I would assume that it is the basic RBX170 that someone has tried to tart up visually rather than some rare exotic variant.

Worth giving the manufacturer a call maybe? As this stuff is hand built, mr Hall would be able to troubleshoot this very quickly I would imagine (especially if there is an obvious component that might have failed (dodgy capacitor maybe)).

Just a thought, but is it possible to be a great band if you don't get out there and gig? I would agree that the music is very important, but you need to be able to present the music to an audience and be in a position to get gigs in the first place as well - getting the momentum to have gigs in the diary is one of the most difficult aspects of starting a band. I've seen bands playing locally (and getting paid) where the standard of the musical content isn't at a level I would be happy with as a musician, but still being enjoyed by the audience and the band themselves, these bands always have their marketing sorted out. These bands always have the option of spending some time in the shed if they want to up their game - on the other hand, some bands get so obsessive about getting the music spot on that they don't manage to get out of the rehearsal room and play to an audience. I would be very happy to see any of my bandmates taking the initiative to do something positive to promote the band - if you aren't happy with what they are doing, or feel that it is distracting them from sorting their act out, then pick up the baton and take some weight from their shoulders and bring a positive contribution to the table that gets the band closer to where it needs to be going.

Just spotted this "interesting" instrument on gumtree locally http://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/electric-guitar-with-amp-and-lead/1126017311

Looking at the photo, and the relationship between the truss hole in the neck and the truss access hole in the end cap, it looks like the end cap on the neck might be mounted wonkily rather than the neck itself being twisted - how does it look if you sight down the bass from the bridge end at an angle where you can see the smallest amount of fretboard still visible between the frets?

Let him have a go and see how 'cool' he can make it sound - you might find yourself being asked to return to bass duties by popular demand if he isn't nailing it from the off.

Do you like the music that the band is making? Is changing instruments going to make a big difference to the level of enjoyment you get from playing in the band? Does the ability to play two instruments allow you more creative input in the writing & recording process? Nothing stopping you from making music with other people as well as your current band - I would be tempted to stick around for a little while to see what happens if you have been enjoying the band until now, it might even be worth suggesting via jedi mind trick that the songwriter just focuses on singing rather than splitting their effort between vocals and guitar/bass, and add a guitarist that already knows how to play.

I'm an arco noob so take this with a pinch of salt; My understanding is that when you play at fff (loudest possible dynamic) the bow hair should be deflecting towards the stick, so that in the middle of the bow the hair and string are just a whisker from touching the stick - any looser and you can't play at full volume without the string clattering on the stick(possibly causing damage), any tighter and you are just shortening the service life of the hair.

You might want to live with the stock tuners for a little while before scrapping them, I was sceptical about the tuners on my CV Pino P initially, but they have proved to be quite capable of accurate tuning and very stable.

Slightly off topic, but have you had your westbury setup properly by a good luthier since you bought it? Even at the pricepoint that these basses retail at, they are still factory basses and don't get tweaked to perfection before they are retailed.

Isn't the whole point of prog to progress (even if some of the fans want you to remain in a timewarp and stick to what they feel was the bands best lineup & stylistic output)?

Prepare properly and make sure that you really know the structure of the songs inside out - it's good to be able to play through a song from the beginning to end with just a metronome for accompaniment.

Might be deals to be had on D'addario strings - the offer applies to orchestral strings as well from what I could gather looking at the D'addario website. http://basschat.co.uk/topic/264169-50-discount-on-daddario-strings/ A few people including Geof Chalmers have reviewed the Zyex strings and posted decent quality vids - I don't have any experience with these strings personally, but worthy of at least a little research considering the discounts. I'm using spiro weich 3885,OW(good price at thomann on these) on a strunal ply, and have found them to work really well as a mag pickup compatible do (almost)everything string, but there are a couple of noteworthy characteristics IMHO; -for pizz they sustain a looong time (on my ply an open A will ring for ~15 seconds) this makes the envelope a lot different to more traditional sounding strings(matter of taste but reasonably in your face). -The bright character of the strings means the pitch center is really easy to hear which makes it easy to hear if you are in tune and really obvious to everyone else when your intonation is off. -Slapping the strings against the fingerboard produces a very hard sounding clack - I only palm slap occasionally to provide some percussive punctuation when I'm pizzing, but I wouldn't want to use these strings for rockabilly slapping. -For arco the strings speak very quickly, but they are also somewhat unforgiving of sloppy technique - in my experience there isn't much of a middle ground between getting it right and sounding good and getting it wrong and sounding awful, but worth noting that I haven't been playing double bass that long, so more experience players might have a more informed view. -The sound of the spiros has improved over the last 8 months as they've lost some of their newness and zing, when they were brand new, they were a bit boingy sounding. -Tuning stability is rock solid once the strings have settled in, and acoustic volume is good.

Money no object - it would have to be half a million quids worth of 400 year old Gasparo da Salo double bass awesomeness.

As you are based in the midlands, you might want to consider making a road trip to visit the specialist retailers that carry double basses near you(Turners & Tim Tofts), and also maybe stop in to visit bassbags.co.uk who hire double basses (either hire only or hire to buy IIRC). Mail order is a gamble, so best to try hands on if you can.

Bought Luke's B3, great comms, nice straightforward transaction, and Luke was helpful above and beyond, top bloke. Recommended, I would deal again with Luke without hesitation.

[quote name='curacao' timestamp='1434998669' post='2804606'] I hear what you all say but was trying to be sensible and not spoil a 10 year old with a very expensive instrument...even though the £450 is already a very big birthday present but justified for her love of music. She plays in the school orchestra and also the Junior Chamber Strings group and her teacher says that she has a natural affinity for the double bass but we can't be sure she will continue into her teenage years as we see so many children in the school stop once they reach about 14. [/quote] If she is interested and talented, a good quality used instrument will be an investment that you will get to enjoy on a daily basis when you listen to her play, she will enjoy on a daily basis when she plays it, and be encouraged and motivated, and you will always be able to get your money back if she loses interest at a later date.