Cato

I used to have a summer job in a cannery. Amongst other delights we made beans for one majorish brand (either HP or Daddy's, my memory fails me) as well for three supermarkets and a couple of budget lines. The recipe and cooking instructions did actually vary slightly for each different line, though, as far as i could tell, not being a bean connoisseur, the same type and grade of beans were used in all products.

Has anyone warned our brethren on Table Chat about these issues? After all there is a huge market for reproduction and replica antique furniture, which could be potentially passed off as the genuine article by an unscrupulous seller to an unwitting buyer. Perhaps all furniture sales should be suspended whilst the issues are considered?

I've withdrawn the post because it's a bit of a legal minefield, but the long and the short of it is that it comes down to intention. If the seller is intending to deceive the purchaser then there is definitely a criminal offence, otherwise it's not quite so clear cut, especially not pertaining to one off private sales between individuals where neither party raises a grievance. I would bet money that Fender are fully aware of the activities of Limelight and other similar companies and that conversations have taken place between them, possibly involving lawyers. Until those conversations are made public, the rest of us will have no idea what kind of agreement was reached.

In some cases, quite a big number.

This actually arrived from Thomman on Saturday but becuse of a recent bout of killer flu I was only actually in a fit state to unpack it and play it today. First impressions - it's a lovely bit of wood on the body, I'm sure it's at least two or three pieces, I can't see the joins, but then I never can on these things. It's seems well made, it feels exactly like a Jazz bass, so I feel immediately at home with the neck and the string spacing. This is my first fretless, I've played them in shops before and had a go on other people's but this is the the first one I've spent any real time with, so I'm not sure I'm really qualified to judge it's merits, but, unplugged, it sounds and plays exactly as I expected it to. Plugged in the first thing you have to deal with is the preamp. In passive mode everything is nice and calm, predictable even. Engage the preamp and all that changes. When I first got the bass I noticed that the bass side of the middle pick up had been lowered to the point where it was only about 1 mm above the body. With the preamp on, I realised why. Unless the volume is turned right down or the bass knob dialed right back the E string distorts like it's going through a fuzz pedal, the A is not quite as bad, but it's still not ideal. Once I overcame this initial challenge the preamp is actually quite versatile, with all the variation you'd expect from a unit with that many knobs, that said I think I may be making a far bit of use of the passive option. I'm also not that keen on the bridge. In the pictures it gives the impression of being a big solid unit, in the flesh, it's hard to describe why, but it actually feels a bit flimsy and poorly made. There may well be a Hipshot A in the future for this bass. Anyway, despite those gripes, I'm actually rather chuffed with it, obviously I'm a beginner at this fretless lark, but this seems like a decent enough instrument to get started on. Apologies for the photographs, which were taken on my tablet, which lacking any kind of auto compose function, does nothing to disguise my lack of photographic skills.

A lot of people who put together bitsas or build or commision replica instruments don't seem to feel that the instrument is complete without the 'correct' logo. I've personally never seen anyone trying to pass such an instrument off as genuine on the BC marketplace and, given the level of scrutiny that every instrument in the marketplace comes under from casual browsers, let alone serious potential buyers, I seriously doubt anyone would be able to get away with trying to sell a replica as genuine for more than a couple of hours before getting called out.

I'm not too fussed. I took a punt on an offer that was too good to be true, but too good to pass up, just in case. At this time of year it's bound to take a few extra days to sort any refunds out.

And to yourself. (Note for next year: this is not the best day to start a Merry Christmas thread, it's the quietest day of the year on the forum. There'll be a lot more people around tomorrow, but by then Christmas is technically over).

I've had a few bits and pieces from them in the past that have always arrived a couple of days after ordering. A couple of weeks ago I bought a bass from them. It took nine days to get here, no problem with that, it's almost certainly down to the time of year, but i did find the tracking process quite frustrating. There were various 'your bass has now reached this stage in the process' alerts, but no actual delivery dates were given, not even estimates until I got the 'your bass is out for delivery' notification about 00.30 on Saturday morning.

Every now and then I start researching and pricing parts to build my own 51 precision replica. Then I remember that I have the technical skills of a drunk koala.

I've fancied one of those for a long time. It's one of those Squier models that I suspect got discontinued for being a little bit 'too' nice.

On the plus side it is now, more or less a bass guitar, which it wasn't when he got hold of it. No excuses for the beard though.

'No, no, No, no, no, no , No, no, no, no. No there's no limit'. Words to live by.

In other news music retailer Gear For Music have just announced bankruptcy after an unfortunate pricing error was ruthlessly exploited by an online bass community...

Now listed as 'this product is currently not available for purchase. Either they've noticed, or we've just bought them all.

Half of that is p &p, presumably it's below the free postage threshold.

Reluctantly ordered, despite postage and packing almost doubling the price. Someone reassure me, assuming that this is some sort of pricing c.ock up, they can't just take the full amount out of my account without my permission?

Welsh language jazz fusion? Who knew such a thing existed?

I've modded a Squier VM70s Jazz to the point where on paper it's higher spec than a standard US Fender. I did it over quite a long period of time because it was easier to meet the costs that way, I installed high spec Aguilar pickups, a new wiring loom with CTS pots, had the frets dressed and levelled by a local luthier and put a new bridge on. It sounds and plays brilliantly, but is it actually a better bass than a US Jazz? I have no idea. I also have a couple of £1000 + instruments that I've never felt needed to be upgraded. I suspect a lot of it is psychological, if you don't believe that you get whar you pay for, there's no point in buying the more expensive instrument.

Bit of a can of worms this one. Is it possible to take,say, a Harley Benton Jazz, and upgrade everything, from the fret finish and tuners to installing all new electronics, to the point where it plays and sounds as good as a Sadowsky.? I have no idea, other than that buying all the premium components would cost a lot of money in itself, but anyone who has bought a much more expensive bass, and I'm one of them, would prefer to think that it isn't.

This why I love Basschat. At 43 in the real world I'm 'on the turn', but I'm still a whippersnapper on this forum.

Nasty.

I heard this on the radio the other day and it's been stuck in my head ever since. I thought I'd share the wealth. Anyone else want to share whatever is currently playing on repeat on their internal hi fi?

I guessed it probably wasn't an off the peg model. It's just too unique looking, in the best possible way

That's the problem with these things. Personally I think Flea and the Chilli Peppers peaked with 'Mother's Milk' After that they became a lot 'safer' and less unique.