Annoying Twit

Which bass?

I must admit that I wouldn't be concerned about the hole at all if it meant that I could get the bass at a reduced price. However, I don't think that £250 is a reduced price, even with the EMGs. IMHO sometimes when a bass is modified, the owner assumes that its value has gone up by the cost of the modifications, but the market believes otherwise.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1424439327' post='2696318'] I had a wishbass with no truss rod. Anything else, like this, is all a risk. [/quote] Sorry, I don't quite understand these sentences. Are you saying that the Wishbass was fine with no trussrod. But that any other bass without a truss rod would be a risk?

Is that actually a MIJ one? I can't see the writing on the control plate and the listing doesn't say SGC Nanyo. BTW: I'd be worried about the condition. I played a Yamaha RBX260F (I'm guessing) in a local cash converters. The back of the neck had so many dents, and quite big dents too, that for me the playability was utterly ruined. I suppose that I shouldn't generalise from one instrument/shop to another. But it certainly gave me reason to think when I see a CC instrument that mentions worn condition. I know that an RBX260F isn't a high end instrument, but I did think to myself that this was most likely a decent instrument at some time, and now it's ruined.

Nor is mine stamped there. Having thought about it, it probably wouldn't weaken the bass. But, I'm very pleased that they are stamping the heel now, not the actual wood.

[quote name='KK Jale' timestamp='1424479898' post='2696892'] Nice project on first look but the real shame is that it's been a leftie. [/quote] I presume that you mean the four marks where it appears that the control knobs have been at some time. This might have something to do with the electronics not working.

From what I can see, it looks as if it might be just a case of gluing the neck back on again. I could very easily be wrong. http://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/1960-s-vintage-hofner-president-bass-guitar/1101412279 I [size=4]have no idea how much these are worth, and hence don't know if the asking price is reasonable or not. But, it certainly caught my attention seeing a Stu Sutcliffe bass on my local gumtree.[/size]

I'm feeling all smug because I guessed which bass it was just from the title of the thread. For a second I was going to offer him/her £50. Then I realised that I didn't want it.

[quote name='stubass' timestamp='1424470509' post='2696808'] Gutted, I'm after a bitsa project be others surely. [/quote] P-Basses come up moderately regularly. It is of course only £65 for the non-deko version, or £80 for the PJ. [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_pj_4_htr_deluxe_series_b_stock.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...ies_b_stock.htm[/url] The P-Bass was up for over half an hour I think. That's a long time in deko-land. [Following is in reply to other posts] I'd be interested in participating in a discussion on the morals of returning items under the consumer contracts regulations if one is started in the off-topic (or for instruments general discussion) section. [quote name='Kev' timestamp='1424472132' post='2696826'] I am tempted to grab an acoustic if one comes up, but by the time I get round to checking they are long gone! [/quote] Which acoustic do you want? There are always a few acoustic basses available, including four string fretted and five string fretted/fretless versions. [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_b_35nt_acoustic_bass_s_deko.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...bass_s_deko.htm[/url] Look at the photos of that one. I really don't like where they stamped the 'D' into that bass.

Loads of comparatively boring guitars just went up now. [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/decorative_guitars_and_basses.html"]http://www.thomann.d...and_basses.html[/url] Includes a P-bass. Not so boring. EDIT: P-Bass is £19 pounds something. Isn't that cheaper than before? Most of the guitars have gone now, but the P-Bass is still there. C'mon guys. We've got to show those guitarists that we can be as fast as they can.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1424461225' post='2696660'] Only a small snapshot of it though, I say. Fine if you are a fan of the Beatles but passing by a lot of other 'great' stuff [/quote] A crucially important snapshot of it IMHO. And I wasn't planning on this being the last learning task of my life, or the only learning I'd be doing while I did it.

I play for enjoyment only. There are only eight main Beatles albums, and I'd be revising modern bass playing as it was developed.

[quote name='Jonnyboy Rotten' timestamp='1424445279' post='2696407'] If you have bass with a hole in the back you are actually holding an [i]acoustic[/i] bass back-to-front! [/quote] @TwinCam - if you don't like it, you can send it back. However, I wonder what would happen to vouchers if you redeemed them, then sent the bass back.

@Tall Martin. Thanks. In some ways it's good that I didn't read your experience until now. When I received mine it buzzed quite a bit on the lower stops. But a turn or so to loosen the truss rod and it's fine now. The action isn't super-low, it's medium. I think, I'm not used to fretlesses.

@Twincam I'm pretty sure they do vouchers for reviews. I received a voucher for a review a couple of months ago. @Tall Martin. I wonder if I should check my fretless deco for similar. Now that I've got the trussrod somewhere in the ballpark, I haven't noticed any playing problems. How obvious would it be if mine had a similar problem? You described it as 'unplayable', so I'd guess that mine doesn't have a similar problem since it appears to play fine. But, perhaps I should take a second look.

Just curious, but how good is the B string? We often hear that it's impossible to get a fat B string sound on inexpensive basses. How good is it on the SQ VM P5?

Thanks @Irvined. @Tall Martin. What sort of bump was it? Small, or large (comparative to the size of a fretboard)?

Good result there. Irvined. What does the bass sound like? Apart from one youtube video that sounds awful, what I've heard from the standard HB Jazz bass suggests it sounds very nice. I'm curious about the precision as well. I see the £99 metal thing sold out. Since it started as 'Available immediately' rather than saying that there are only a few of this item, there must have been a number of them. I'm surprised that they sold at that price, but they did.

Brass guitar thing. The most expensive 'deko' I remember seeing. [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_custom_line_clr_brass_deko.htm"]http://www.thomann.d..._brass_deko.htm[/url] EDIT: Note that 'brass' is not a typo.

That is a bit of a mixed bag. I think I remember reading about someone who had a problem with a misplaced pickup on a HB Ukulele bass. I had one of these in my shopping basket for a bit, but didn't buy it. Given that you know what to do, then it seems that you can make this purchase work for you. But if I had your ukulele bass, I'd be in a spot of bother. Good luck with the project.

Please don't make me consider the possibility that there are two of these. Out of interest I took the photo and worked out where the bridge should be for it to intonate properly. Against all expectations, it's plausible that the bridge is in the correct place.

But everyone watches youtube. Or at least enough people to make it close enough to everyone. That we get viral videos such as Gangnam Style shows that it's still possible for something coordinated to emerge. Perhaps it could be said that X-Factor, The Voice, the TV talent shows are a new culture. Not one that I particularly approve of myself, but they are widely watched and perhaps have hoovered up a proportion of consumers who otherwise might have been screaming at The Beatles.

Yes, I was thinking 'raking' but it was being retrieved as 'straking' for some reason. Such is my memory. Grandad - I realise that I'm risking doing the same thing. For a while I was playing the Day Tripper riff incorrectly. It seemed to sound OK, but it was pointed out what I was doing, the real line fit even better.

I don't remember seeing a CE sticker on mine. The sticker on the ebay bass is suspiciously placed. However, the D stamp on my deko and also the stamps I've seen on photos of other people's dekos have minor cracks around them much larger than that sticker. It could be that there's a very neat and tidy 'D' underneath that sticker. However, my belief is probably over 50/50 that there isn't.

I've found an interesting fault in my playing. When I try to play something reasonably fast, it seems that I'm not thinking clearly about some aspects of fingering, and 'just do it'. This can lead to some inconsistencies. E.g. for the ISHST baseline, when I played a note on the D string followed by the A string, I was sometimes straking(*) the notes with the same finger, and sometimes alternating them. The inconsistency led to difficulties. It's much easier now that I took some time to strake those notes, and now have a more consistent style on this. (*) I thought this was the term for playing notes on adjacent descending strings with the same finger but a quick google doesn't find anything. As an educator, I think there's quite some value in revisiting basics. It's possible to learn more advanced stuff (in general) while forgetting the basics. If you have learnt the basics properly, then revisiting them won't take time, you can just flash through. Anything which starts taking up time is something that it's important to re-learn. So, there's no real down-side to revisiting basics. For The Beatles, tunes such as Misery or Anna (Go To Him) are ultra-trivial to play. Except that I do too much playing of bits and pieces. Remembering a whole song in order is something that I'm now getting used to again.