T-Bay

As I found out last week (on a toy for my daughter, not bass strings) if they refund and cancel the purchase you can't leave feedback. So checking the feedback may on,y show the positives of people who did not realise there was an issue. In my case it was a toy called qixels which involves small plastic 'beads' preloaded with glue that can be made into various shapes with just a spray of water to stick different ones together. I don't want to go over the top, but it's not something you want being dodgy, I contacted eBay. I was refunded so they don't care. The guy has a few positive feedback but if you search you can find a few cancelled auctions. eBay really are useless in this sort of case and I would bet similar goes on with the link above, refund and prevent negative feedback so others buy and some won't notice. Big fat con achieved.

First coat on the back, the picture doesn't do the colour justice, it's quite a greeny blue. I am very pleased with it.

Neck is finished and I am happy with how it's come out. Last coat of primer will go on in a few minutes and I may even get the first coat of colour on tonight with the weather being a bit warmer. The colour is a bit different to the usual red or black SG colours but I am hoping it will look good.

Whilst that's true bubinga5 I don't think it's unreasonable to say you don't like a Genre, I don't like Jazz, I don't like Rap. It's not the same as saying it is ALL s**t. There are a very limited number of jazz and rap songs I like and a few I can tolerate but as a whole I really really don't like jazz. And his image of the jazz club sadly sits exactly with my own experience of people heavily into jazz and their complete lack of understanding how anyone could be different. It's a wide genre and I am sure that not ALL jazz people are like that but the majority of the ones I have met are. Equally there are bands in genres I love that I don't like and whose attitudes properly stinks. But it would make a very long winded interview if he tried to get across all that sort of stuff.

I think I may have been in the same club that night..........

And the pics don't do the crack justice, there was about 15cm of the thin section where the electrics sit and that was all holding the bits together. You could flex the smaller piece enough to fit a 10p in the gap. That made glueing up easier as I could getbthe glue right into the crack as well doing the insert. I originally intended to just take the neck and fittings but I thought it worth experimenting with repairing it as I had nothing to lose and I would now be confident to do similar if I needed to on a more precious one.

The glue simply won't go off if it's too cold so I let it go tacky then bring it in. The paint can end up dull but as I am using lacquer over the top then it wouldn't be an issue but it's not one I have ever had working on cars over the years. I am far from an expert but just have a go. My top tip is to have a bit of scrap to test the paint compatibility on. So far I have used German primer from Lidl (very good), black from the pound shop (superb for this sort of job) and Halfords lacquer. The top primer for the body is U pol with Jewel base coat and more Halfords lacquer so there is ten potential for a reaction so always worth testing first.

My first Bass was a Stagg bought cheap off Gumtree. If you have never used anything else they seem ok but as soon as you pick up anything better you realise they are pretty awful. A good set up helps obviously but they just aren't very nice in any way at all. That one is cheap at the first price for a new one I suppose but at the second price of £190 I wouldn't go near it with a barge pole. I still wouldn't buy one though, even at the first price.

The new bridge arrived today so I now have all the parts and paint I need. The weather is not helping though as the cold still means it's taking an age for anything to go off. The lacquer will go on the neck tonight but I will then have to leave it a few days to fully harden so I can mask it up to do the body. Once the lacquer has gone off I can bring it in the warm to harden at least.

It's been slow going the last few days doing the final filling and cleaning up. It's only a few minutes at a time but the paint/ filler takes a few hours to go off fully. Finally got around to reblacking the neck tonight and it is looking good. I will flat it back tomorrow night with 2000 (or possibly 5000) grit pads then lacquer. Friday will see that backed off a little and then it's done. I also picked up the paint tonight. Had about 5,000,000 options it seemed but have settled on a nice colour, well I think so. With any luck colour will be on at the weekend.

But it's not a 'business' if no net income is earned, it's a hobby ;-)

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1483393563' post='3206857'] I have many hobbies that require driving to and from places with stuff in the car, I'd only declare any that I'd class as a proper income, proper incomes I'd class as anything where a tax return is filed each year. [/quote] When I was seriously into target shooting a few years ago I would regularly travel with £10k of kit in the car. Obviously it was never left in the car but it was specifically covered under the house insurance so it was never mentioned to the car insurers as there was no need. The only time I have ever mentioned a hobby to them was when we were doing a fair bit of black powder shooting as that comes under an explosives licence so I thought it best to mention to them even though the amounts were small enough that the 60litres of fuel is far more of a worry in the event of an accident.

I think the red is gorgeous. Having seen some of the other outcomes I think this will be another killer.

If you think of it with your tax mans head on, cost of fuel, cost of equipment, depreciation of equipment, etc etc then you probably aren't actually making on it with the number you are doing so it is a hobby not a second job. If you rely on it to cover household bills your main wage doesn't then it would be different. Just be careful that your kit is covered for theft/ damage though (but it usually is on your household insurance anyway).

Loads of repair threads on here as well. Why not have a go yourself? I am doing an Epiphone EB3 at the moment that was cracked so bad the corner was almost hanging off. Once it's finished I doubt you will be able to tell it was ever damaged. I am planning to change the colour and the bridge (I don't like the Gibson style bridge) but all in it won't cost half your budget and I get to choose exactly what colour I want. It won't help the weight but as said above you can save up for a new one.

[quote name='pfretrock' timestamp='1483222639' post='3205572'] # Not with a £60 budget! Have you tried Thomann, they are probably like the HBs [/quote] I think the budget has been added in the edit, but at £60 it will be tight. 2nd hand perhaps?

[quote name='joeystrange' timestamp='1483213847' post='3205513'] http://www.intunegp.com Been using them for years. Great picks, lots of options and really really great service too. [/quote] They look brilliant, shame about the $25 postage though.

Why not look in the build section on here, there are some very talented people making some beautiful kit.

Might be worth trying a specialist paint supplier, I use jawel and they mix up to your requirements. A 400ml spray is £10-12 depending what you want. Polyester is what I normally use.

Had this two hours now so first impressions. Arrived in ridiculously quick time. The box is compact and very nicely laid out. From the beginning it shouts quality and the presentation has obviously been well thought out. Inside the box are the two main components with the power supply and other little bits hidden under a liner. Both the transmitter and receiver are well made using quality materials. The battery cover on the transmitter is a bit flimsy but that's the only thing and it's a minor one. The instructions are simple and to the point. Within two minutes it was up and running. Sound quality is superb and I can't detect any deterioration or delay whatsoever. The controls are simple and well thought out as is the display. I then started moving around the house in an attempt to find the limit of the range. My house is hardly a mansion but it managed to pick up a signal from the front upstairs to the conservatory which is a decent distance and three walls away. Overall impression is one of money very well spent on a well thought out quality item. Very very pleased indeed.

Arrived at 9.15 this morning, by 9.20 it was set up and running. A great bit of kit and superb customer service.

Just ordered one today after reading on here. Got a message within 30 minutes with tracking info saying it was on its way.

Small update and more pics. The single insert for bridge was a bit tight so I fashioned a puller from two nuts and some washers and it came out a treat. Then another dab of filler and a bit of fettling and it needs to be left to go off overnight. It looks worse than it is as the filler needs to be flatted back and the earlier witness coat is looking rough.

Going well, just needs a tiny bit of finishing (probably a ,arch ends worth of filler) but have decided to ditch the Fender type bridge and buy something different. Partly to make it a bit different but mostly to make setup a bit easier. The first coat of primer filler wet well, should be done and ready for paint in a day or two if I get a chance to get at it.