scrumpymike

Thanks Damonjames - and the Basschat-er I'm buying from tomorrow also owes you and Kirky one.

Hey Kirky, thanks for those carefully chosen words of reassurance. It's probably the case that the OP has just been very unlucky, although I'm sure that doesn't make him feel any better. GK should be ashamed of themselves and of their UK rep.

Bu99er - I'm just about to collect/pay the balance tomorrow on an 800 that's from our FS forum! What should I do? Is the 800 of similar design (and unreliability?) to the 550? Presumably it generates more heat so could potentially be worse 😲

Thanks for that. Just fitted a set of GHS Brite Flats in medium gauge, already had them so nothing lost. They're definitely have a much stiffer feel than I'm comfortable with but I'll see how they sound in rehearsal. Following on from what you said though, maybe a higher tension set of light gauge would be the best compromise. Too many variables for me and I can't afford to try everything.

Just a heads-up for anyone looking for a Cazpar (30" scale). I've just posted my beautiful 4p on the FS forum - and here's the sofa shot: http://

QUOTE: Although @Len_derby 's bass contained no CITES Appendix timbers, there seems to be confusion in some US and UK customs operations (and some associated scare stories) to make me believe that I need to be particularly careful that this does NOT contain any such woods and that I can prove that in a way that would satisfy a well-meaning but ill-informed customs official who might think, "Bass Guitar - impound" or even worse - and just my paranoia because I'm sure this would never happen - one who might think, "Hmmm - bass guitar, impound ...and keep" Andy, I know from my Gillett experiences what a minefield this CITES business is. Doing the necessary paperwork for Japan recently was a nightmare and I was having sleepless nights until the importer confirmed the consignment had successfully cleared through customs. So, here's an interesting development I was going to PM you about but thought I'd add to this topic instead as it may be of general Basschat interest. A Swiss guy visited our stand at Olympia to tell us about a system he's developing that would enable us to build ID data in to our instruments. The data lives on a transducer that's embedded during construction and can then be scanned with a smart-phone. His idea was that this could confirm serial number, model name, give detailed info on construction materials and would also be helpful in case of theft. He didn't know about CITES and when I explained to him the potential for adding traceability info he got really excited. We're excited too as this would be a great 'fit' with our Contour range. We're expecting a trial system some time soon.

😄 Yep, Mick's right - that's the sort of answer I was hoping for!!

+1 (except the one-hour drive bit).

What a bummer! That must really take the edge off owning a good amp.

Thanks skelf - I know this is pretty complicated. The compromise I'm after is low physical input with good sonic definition but I don't know how to translate that into a string spec. Maybe time to have a chat with Newtone.

Thanks for the lead. As you suggest, shorter scale normally means lower tension and a heavier gauge is the obvious way to add some tension back - hence my surprise at how good the light-gauge Fender strings sounded on my tuned-down 30" scale bass.