prowla

So, I have a working bass! At the moment it's got some of the good bits on it, to get it up and running, including Schaller machines, a genuine Ricky treble pickup & surround and a Hipshot bridge; they're really destined for my next project (and are worth more than the instrument!), so I've got to get my copy treble pickup re-wired and find a straight bridge (as the original that came with it looks like a ski-slope!). I got the mono/stereo jack socket conversion done. I also plan to have a play with the electrics; I've got a couple of 330k (vol) pots & 500k (tone), a new Switchcraft switch to make them up. I also plan to put in a vintage/modern push/pull treble tone control (hence the 500k tone pots, as 330k onbes are silly money). I posted some more pics on the FB page. (I'm not happy with the "R" word on the TRC, cos it isn't one!, so I'll be changing that!)

If you're patient you could build... I'm working on a Precision and so far it's cost me:[list] [*]£52 for the Squier body, neck and a load of parts. [*]An old Badass bridge I had, but there are decent quality ones on ebay for cheap (even Fender Badass copies for under £50). [*]£35 for some Shadow pickups (the Squier ones were weak and a shop had this as old stock). [*]£20 for CTS pots, a Sprague cap and a Switchcraft socket. [*]£30 for a scratchplate (in a job-lot). [*]£50 for a Mighty Mite fretless neck, including machines. [*]£20 for a set of strings. [*]£10 for a pair of Straplock buttons. [*]£10 for a 4-hole neckplate with an "F" on it. [*]£55 for a Hipshot D-tuner (guessing you wouldn't need one of these). [/list] It is a very nice bass! I'll probably replace the body at some point - had been thinking about a Warmoth (as you know from my J-bass thread), the scratchplate isn't the best fit and I might go for better pickups if the mood takes me. The point is, though, that I've made up a good bass for well under your budget, so there's no reason you couldn't too!

[sub]I used to play in a band and we used thunderflashes.[/sub] [sub]Maybe an exploding guitar would add more to the music too![/sub]

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1485451763' post='3224076'] Then you probably won't be buying one... [/quote] You might be right, unless I see one at the price; the bridge & head are £23.64 (free delivery) on ebay, so £36.36 might just about cover the rest.

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1485435161' post='3223936'] Sure.. Although it's not second hand and is a Steinberger clone to boot... :-) [/quote] I reckon it's worth £60 though...

Very understated...

That's quite a nice bass now - battered, abused, resurrected and lived to tell the tale!

It's a lot of money for a copy...

I think it's Wesley who do some; they have a small-bodied one, which could be less of a burden, so to speak. I've no idea what they play like (they are definitely at the budget end of the scale).

I have to say, I've never been particularly keen on Yammy basses; I'd walk right past them... ...maybe I need to stop and try one next time.

[quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1485360150' post='3223382'] My old band used to quite regularly gig with a band whose guitarist had an acrylic/perspex BC Rich Mockingbird - it was heavier than any bass or guitar I've ever picked up but did sound decent enough, I'd even say it sounded exactly the same as his wooden one - though this was a metal band so a lot of the guitar tone was hidden behind distortion. [/quote] Maybe he should've had a metal bodied one then?

If you get the sender to pay the duties then you avoid the courier handling fees.

I got the Dremel out this evening and it's much neater now; the Mono/Stereo-Sound twin jack plate is on. Pretty much ready to put the rest on it and make it into a complete guitar.

OK - a couple more pics... I started off wanting a bass to muck around with, so I bought a Squier P-bass in bits on ebay; the seller had sprayed it orange. Well, I then had a badass bridge I'd had for years on another bass, so I put it on the orange one. It's pickup wasn't great, so I bought a Shadow branded one from my local shop. I was debating putting better machines on the Squier neck, but was really keeping my eye out for a Status neck (I let one go on ebay last year). However, a colleague at work decided to upgrade his bass and sold me its fretless Mighty Mite neck, so on that went. I'd always wanted a D-tuner, so I got one of those and on it went too. So, I had a decent orange P-bass, but was looking to replace the body at some point, possibly with a Warmoth. I had in the back of my mind that I'd make it active at some point too. Then, last weekend, I walked into the shop and there was pretty much my shopping list hanging from the wall! So here they are: Aqua and Orange... Headshots: The Aqua body: Funny old world, isn't it?

Yep. Big Deal. Nice bloke there; I may have met him at a guitar fair previously.

Well, I'm soldiering away with a hand file on the jack socket; maybe I should've got my Dremel out... However, I've also been a bit distracted by buying another (non-Ricky) bass on the weekend.

I've definitely got to spend a bit of time with the actives to get to grips with them. The active volume is roughly the same as another active bass I've got, so I don't think it's OTT.

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1485045568' post='3220761'] I'm thinking that's an East also. Do you have any other pics of the unit. What's the tone like by the way with that Status neck. I presume it's very modern sounding.? [/quote] The preamp looks like this. The active makes a big difference; turning it off and it's about half as loud. I think I'd be unlikely to use it in passive mode! In active mode, with all controls on mid (and volume on full) it sounds characterful; turning up the bass and it goes deep deep deeper than Eddie Murphy undercover! The general feel is that it is a pro instrument, probably the most of all my basses; whether it suits my scrappy style of playing I'll have to see. I'll get more familiar with it over time and figure out its character.

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1485125928' post='3221463'] Love that colour and if anyone thinks gold hardware looks tacky on a bass.....think again! [/quote] I have to say that I've always thought gold looked tacky on a bass... ...now I'm not so sure, in fact I rather like it!

[quote name='uk_lefty' timestamp='1485111266' post='3221198'] Well done! Great bass. Suppose with all of these things whether bitsa/ warmoth or complete custom it is hard to find a second hand buyer who wants exactly that so you have to price low or break it up for parts [/quote] Yep - that was the shop's logic; I just happened to be that buyer and just happened to walk in the day after they got it and before they even spent any time on it, so it was an easy flip for them.

[quote name='owen' timestamp='1485104905' post='3221139'] Will there be a better bargain in 2017? Doubtfull. [/quote]Cheers; £369 for a good grand's worth of parts is a score - heck, the body is more than that alone!

What's the Fender short-scale 6-string bass called?

I've now got pickups wired up, but yet to put in place. I have to tidy up the 2nd Jack socket hole the previous owner drilled/gouged out; I've got a couple of double jack plates to choose from to put on; one is a generic/flat one and one is a Mono/Stereo-Sound one which cost a bit more - unfortunately they're not the same size, though. I'm probably going to put all off my top-end parts onto this to try it out, but then shift them back to the stock ones at some point or I decide to move it on (my two genuine Ricky pickups cost more than the bass and the Hipshot bridge is probably half again!). Actually, I've figured out what I want to do aim-wise; I have drawn a sketch of a bass which Rickenbacker never made but would be recognisable... I want to get one made which looks like a prototype which never made it into production but just could be a Ricky (couldn't it?).

Yep - I looked up E-Pro and it took me to the East website; the controls match the J-Retro, so I'm good with that. (And I downloaded their PDF saying how to use it.) The neck - that's interesting; I've really got to plug it into my setup to see what it sounds like. I can say that in the shop, and not particularly loud, turning up the bass control it went seismic! I've two other Statuses (Statii) one with a graphite through neck and one wooden; the graphite one sounds artificial/modern and the wooden one sounds more (erm.) woody & natural! But it's really their pre-amp which defines the sound.

[quote name='therealting' timestamp='1485043873' post='3220750'] I'm going to guess that's a John East J-Retro preamp. Quite some score, I am envious! [/quote] Well, I just opened it up to have a look and it says E-Pro.