Beedster

I suspect your strong and consistent sense of fair play has been challenged mate, but given that, my reading of the ad - and the asking price - was very much 'This is NOT an all original mid-'70s Fender by a long stretch....'. Enjoy the playing 👍

Yes, we'll have to disagree 👍

Really? Sale price is not much more than the retail cost of some recent MIM Sig models (DM is £1499), I buy stuff that plays well and sounds good, which is what the buyer appears to have done?

There are far more expert people than me on this forum, @Andyjr1515 of course being one of them, but my experience with a mid-70's Fender neck that I bought following a period in which it had been off the bass (and some recent stresses with a relatively recent Warmoth neck) suggests keeping it at tension is a good strategy, wood is not as consistent and stable a material as we'd like it to be, so reducing the risks is a good shout 👍

Tapes are a surprisingly lively string, I have them on both Precisions and a Jazz and they are awesome, La Bellas especially

I have a lot of respect for all the folks who post in this forum, sometimes things get lost in translation I suspect Steve 👍

I get where you're at Lawrie, but at £1650 for a bass the buyer likes and preferred over others that were more expensive, I've seen worse deals from shops, in fact I've bought worse deals from shops 🤔

That's good advice 👍

I'd agree with the above if it was a new or recent neck, this neck is 45 years old, and might not have been under tension for some time. At the very least, I'd get it strung up, leave it for a while, and check there are no issues before I store it

My first conversation with Dave was similar, but I knew I was talking to an expert and a passionate one so not a problem. But we get so used to corporate waffle from PR departments these days that the occasional bit of straight talking from the coal face can be quite refreshing

Buy a cheap body and bridge and keep it at tension 👍

That they appear happy to fix things that were bought used and therefore likely well out of warranty, to do so with no charge, and then suck up the courier fees as they did with me and have dome for others, is frankly extraordinary. Comparison with businesses who do exactly the opposite, either refusing to accept a unit as faulty - "that whistling sound is normal for this class of amplifier" (mention no names), to meet warranty terms, or quoting bank-breaking fees for repairs - makes it even more so. There will always be exceptions hence my note to @Minininjarob above, but to quote Melody Maker from the mid 70's "Even Stevie Nicks must have the occasional bad day". Whether you like what they produce, brands like Ashdown, Status, Trace, Wal etc are national treasures 👍

Beauty, too few builders use the classic SC PUPs in anything other than 51 RIs or derivatives (although Alpha do it very nicely), and it's a lovely sound 👍

Love that the word 'precision' is on the front page 🤣

That's great advice, especially the bit about describing you as a bassist who moved to China (and one with a well documented fascination with and knowledge of graphite necks) as opposed to just another manufacturer. Good luck with it all @Kiwi

Well, you did hijack a thread originally posted to praise a company that around 99% of people would say are 100% outstanding (Sex Panther reference there), criticised them for not helping although Dave did suggest a workaround albeit one that you rejected, then suggested that without another fix your friend's only amp is going in the bin because the fan being on all the time would not work for bedroom practice (despite the fact they can't afford a replacement), then mentioned he uses it for gigs also. My solution would be the same as Dave's; wire the fan on all the time, live with it for bedroom practice, and have a gig-worthy amp. Certainly far better than binning it or damaging it attempting repair. Either way, as Andy @agedhorse said, good luck. And I honestly would be very surprised to find that if you picked up the phone to Ashdown you didn't get a solution, given my experience with them and that of many others, it sounds like you either caught them on a bad day or there was a misunderstanding of some sort 👍

Calling @agedhorse There’s a TT for sale on here also 👍

We've done very small gigs with one but I'd recommend two, and it's really not a lot of extra gear (two small rucksack-sized bags)