Beedster

Crikey, it'll be there a while! I offered him £450 which I though was over the odds to be honest. Unplayed my a**e .......:) Well I guess at least there's a genuine connection, but yes, none of it sounds exactly kosher does it

Quick heads up about this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ovation-B768x-Fretless-Bass/223386387132 It was listed at £1,000 initially. I've always wanted one of these, having owned the fretted version. I contacted the seller - indicating that given what looks like a split down the front of the body plus the look of general wear - I'd be interested in buying but at nowhere near that price (note that he had initially indicated in the listing that the bass was unused). He came back with 'my dad bought it new in early 90's and it's sat in its case unused for close to 30 years' (he still maintains it's virtually unused in the listing). Clearly crap given the condition, so I walked away. He then pushed the price to £2,000 claiming - and providing apparent evidence - that the bass had in fact been owned all that time by Ronnie Wood of the Stones (who I guess might just be his father), with a signed photo of Mr Wood with alleged bass, although there was no photo of the serial number to verify any of it. Anyway, he's now removed both stories from the listing. If you are interested in this bass - which at £2000 you certainly shouldn't be - don't trust any of the crap the seller might tell you.

Offer him £800 perhaps? They sell for more than that in the USA, so well worth it. Trust me, that thing will make you smile a lot

Now then, there appears to be something amiss. I scrolled through the lengthy list of eminent BC'ers who've had the pleasure of dealing with Mick to realise that in 8 years or so of his residency, the two of us had yet to deal in bass gear..... Readers will be glad to hear that all has now been rectified, and I am now the happy owner (not for the first time you won'r be surprised to here) of a Mesa Powerhouse 15, the most glorious sounding (and heaviest) of all 15" cabs. More importantly, the deal has left me with that warm, fuzzy, life-affirming glow that only the best gear deals can provide. First, Mick responded to a wanted ad with the actual item I wanted, i.e., not some random item that could pass for it in poor light as has often been the case ("I saw you're looking for a Wal fretless 4-string, I've got a lovely Wal fretted 6-string.......". Second - and this is pretty serious stuff - he offered it to me at a ludicrously low price, and then refused to accept my offer of what I though was a reasonable price, settling for a sum marginally above his first offer. We're talking seriously gentlemanly behaviour here. Third, he agreed to send the bloody thing by courier, and you need to have owned and/or lifted one of these things to understand what's involved; serious volumes of cardboard, bubble wrap, 'FRAGILE' tape (which kinda made me laugh because with Mesa's ability to over-engineer the f**k out of everything, this is about as fragile as Wimbledon FC in 1988, apologies to Liverpool fans), and the risk that the collection guy is going to punch you. Fourth, his comms put GCHQ to shame, I knew what was going on every step of the way via polite, friendly and accurate info. Fifth, he engaged me in discussion about huskies (long story) when I'm sure he had far better things to do. Mick, thank you mate, it was an absolute pleasure to deal with you. If/when we catch up at a BassBash one day, the beers are on me mate Cheers Chris

Yes, I'm just not dating them anymore

As you can see, I was dating three early Fenders, a '64, a '73 and an '81, at the time

I have to agree, my '64 was original LPB finish, and it looked it, had a lovely subtle greenness to it, that finish looks like a current MIM. Not sure it shows in the pic below, but thought I;d post it anyway

I dated a '64 for a few years, she dumped me

Agreed

Thanks guys, and many thanks for several PMs also. Think I know where I’m going to go. Cheers Chris

Folks I think I'm going to hang onto the bass below and finish the body with some rather lovely oil I have here. First things first however, I need to get rid of the pen marks next to the battery cover, which were made with biro so pressed a little into the wood also. Can anyone suggest a method that doesn't involve removing any wood (would wood bleach work or would it make things worse)? Worst comes to the worst I will simply sand the whole back a little, but thought I'd ask here first. Cheers Chris

I'm lucky enough to have a pair of near perfect Warmoth Precision bass fretless necks, oiled neck with ebony boards, and they're both near enough identical in dimensions and the perfect profile and width for me to make me want to get one of them fretted (I had another neck from Warmoth that was the same on paper but felt quite different in the hand, so I don' t want to go down the road of ordering a new one only to find the same problem, and this neck really does fit me perfectly). So, I want to get this done by someone bloody good who I can trust not to cause any issue. My main problem is that I don't want to travel due to time constraints, so need to post the neck to whoever is going to do the work. Any recommendations based on previous experience? Also, what total should I be expecting? Cheers Chris

I'm not sure if it's a standard approach, but they've just fixed an amp FOC for me, great customer service

Just wanted to say that Ashdown have been outstanding with a beautiful Hayden guitar combo that has caused me a few problems (problems mostly of my own making I should add). We've had some challenges with couriers, guitarists who've used the wrong fuses etc, but Ashdown's comms and customer service are second to none; I love the 'why don't you pop in, have a cuppa, and we can take a look' approach (which I wish I'd done as it would have taken the courier out of the equation). Anyway, shout out to Guy and Dave for great comms and a really helpful attitude. And when I look at this thread I started, and then at my collection of Mesa and Ampeg gear, I have to wonder why I don't have more Ashdown bass gear