Beedster

I realised this evening that, possibly for the first time I can remember, my (one) Ampeg/Mesa bass rig is worth more than my (five) bass guitars put together. This is largely down to my having spent about two years building, unbuilding and reconfiguring Fender-fit bitsas, usually from Warmoth, Allparts and similar parts bought used either here or on eBay. It also got me to thinking that I've now got a pretty clear system for my gear, that certain things really matter to me and that certain other things really don't. Thought I'd share the list Things that really matter: 1. Neck: the neck to me is the most important part of the whole system; if it doesn't feel right, I don't play right, and I don't enjoy playing. I'm a better player on basses with necks I like. I play 1-11/16" nut Precision necks on both Precision and Jazz basses. Jazz Basses are a different beast with a substantial Precision neck. 2. Strings: wrong strings, wrong tone and more effort required, making playing less fund. Nothing else in the signal chain makes up for it 3. Tuners: doesn't matter how good the tone and playability if it creeps out of tune. Amazing how many tuners can't hold tuning, even some quite expensive ones. Amazing how irritating an instrument going out of tune can be. 4. Amp head: wrong choice can make an expensive bass sound crap. A good choice can make a relatively cheap bass sound good. This is not the place to skimp on cost. Or weight. 5. PUPs: it took me a long time and a lot of convincing that PUPs define the tone almost as much as the head and the strings, but the right PUP for the sound makes playing effortless and puts a smile on the player and the band's faces. Things that really don't seem to matter: 6. Cabs: never seem to make as much difference as the head, differences between expensive and cheap never seem to justify the cost of the former 7. Circuit: with a decent bass, strings and head, I just don't use the circuit on any of my basses, might as well run the PUPs straight to the output jack! 8. Bridge: despite years of trying them all, the only thing that matters is that you can get the right action and alignment. Tone metals? High mass? Never noticed an effect. 9. Body wood. Still find it amazing that people talk endlessly about tone woods. Change any of the neck, PUPs, strings and the tone changes significantly. I've yet to find two different bodies that sounded significantly different when fitted with the same components, and I've done a lot of experimentation. So, looking at my current basses, I realise that about 50-60% of the total value is in the necks, around 20% in PUPs (which I tend to buy new as I've found too many PUPs bought used have issues), the rest split variously between bodies, tuners, bridges, circuits etc. As mentioned, I've five basses, three Precisions (one fretless) and two Jazzes (again one fretless). Total cost was a tad under £1500 for the lot. I'd put most of them in Fender MIA territory in terms of build quality, playability and tone, with two in CS territory (the two fretless). Makes you realise just how much we pay for the names on the headstocks. Having said this, I have to thank Leo Fender however for making it so bloody easy to mix and match parts of Fender-alike instruments

£350 for a completely unknown quantity in manufacturing terms and of equally unknown quality in playability/tone/structural terms? I agree with Bassassin

Folks Useful thread, thanks. I've some experience of sanding the finish off bass necks and refinishing with oil, with a decent degree of success. However, I have a lovely old MIJ Fender neck that a previous owner has finished with a very thick layer of varnish, and which I want to strip back to an oil finish. Can anyone recommend a product I can use to get at least the worst of the finish off, I suspect that sanding will be a very long and painful process given the thickness of the stuff! Cheers Chris

Very very true. I've been in that vicious cycle for quite a while under the guise of 'so much gear to try, so little time'/'didn't have this choice when I was a kid' etc. Ultimately, despite all of the differences and nuances we discuss here, one bass/head/cab is much the same as another in the grand scheme of things. The rest is just dopamine

Yep, two of those that sold were mine, which I listed at very good prices and which sold within hours of being listed. I'm surprised at some of the prices people are asking here at present, there's more than one example of gear listed for more than the same items can be bought new. OK, the retail market is struggling at the moment, but a lot of folks seem to believe that the same forces affecting retail don't affect the used market; the main driver of price is never going to be what the seller paid for it, but the current market price. The two rather nice used basses in this thread are being sold by a shop

And some

I doubt even they did

Emphasis on the + I think. I guess they discontinued the Walkabout with something like this in mind, but I very much doubt it'll get the same following. Re price, Mesa stuff is lovely but the prices make it a luxury. The older/heavier stuff is selling so cheap these days also, check this out, £1K for a rig the size of a small house https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mesa-Engineering-Pro-Bass-Rig/253994307565?hash=item3b233d8fed:g:J5wAAOSwhexb9rsc:rk:4:pf:0

Have you tried playing it at a different height (usually higher/shorter strap), it makes a huge difference. I played a gig with my bass only a few inches lower than normal (strap hole tore), and by midway through the set was struggling to hold even quite easy lines together.

No, not without moving the bridge as well, and then the PUPs are slightly out of the spot that makes a Precision sound like a Precision. I have small hands and have always found Precision necks - the fatter the better - easier than Jazz necks, on which I tire very quickly. Go figure?

Spent yesterday sorting through some old photos for my Mum and found a very old photo album I'd never seen before. Turns out that this is my great grandfather Not sure what being a Banjoist said bout you back then, but on seeing the pic and finding out who he was, I felt a really strong emotional link to my past (kinda wished it had been an upright, but c'est la vie). Anyone else got any old pics of distant musical relatives?

Can't argue with that