cameltoe

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='1065294' date='Dec 20 2010, 11:41 PM']DR Sunbeams are my first choice strings but if I have to buy local, it's Ernie Ball Slinkys.. Not as good as the Sunbeams but IME, if you like the DRs you'll like the EBs.[/quote] Unfortunately the only slinkys stocked in my local shop are the stainless. I did use them briefly before. Never tried the nickels.

[quote name='essexbasscat' post='1064904' date='Dec 20 2010, 06:45 PM']I use DR Marcus Miller Fat beams on my Roadworn Precision. The thing sings like mad with them on - I'll be sticking with them for quite a while ! T[/quote] Ah! Considering mines a road worn as well I'm interested. I did look at the Marcus millers, the description seems to be right what I'm after but I was put off by them being stainless, even though they appear to be a bit tamer than standard stainless. I may have to try them at some point. Do you normally use stainless strings? Just wondering what they would be like to play considering I'm used to nickels.

I've just restrung my precision with D'addario XL nickels after having Sunbeams on there since July. The sunbeams had felt dead for the last few weeks and although I wanted more Sunbeams, my local store only had the D'addario's (for £25!!!!) but the sunbeams had been so bad at a gig on Friday they needed to be changed. I'd previously used the D'addario's several times on a few basses, and although they didn't feel good, and didn't have a great lifespan, they always sounded nice and punchy. I prefered the Fender 7250 nickels as they were a touch less harsh and hit the sweet spot a little quicker and lasted a little longer. Last night I strung the P with the D'addarios, and I can't tell you how disappointed I am. They feel soooooo tight compared to the DR's, they feel a lot rougher to the touch, sound harsher, and unless I'm imagining it, the strings seem to be a different level of volume. The E and D have sounded a fair bit quieter than the A and G and I had to really dig in as a result. Punchy, yes, but not as defined in tone as the Sunbeams. I don't want to bash the D'addario's, as I had always gotten on with them before, but after having the Sunbeams for a while only a day after paying £25 for the D'addario's I already want to change them. Stringbusters have the Sunbeams for £27.60, but can anything else compare? I've looked at the La Bella's and Ken Smith's which are all a fair bit cheaper and the Thomasick Infelds which are more expensive again. I love the low tension, the warmth, the soft feel, the definition of tone (without the zinginess and clankyness of other fresh nickels) and the fat punch of the Sunbeams. Does anything come close at all, or even for less ££?

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1021768' date='Nov 12 2010, 06:08 PM']Once you hit "Post New Topic", the thread you started is no longer yours, it's everybody's. I started this topic to speculate on what might happen to prices in 2011, rather than to criticise the mechanism by how a market works. Now look what you've done. The ENTIRE purpose of a market, any market, anywhere in the world, any time in history, is to establish the "right" price for goods. This is not a moral judgment or a piece of pontification, it's a very simple and repeatable observation. If I sell a bass to Tom, Dick or Harry for £500 and they turn it around for £600 next day, why should I complain? Maybe I set my price wrong. Maybe I was feeling generous. Maybe I was in a hurry. Maybe I wanted to deal with someone I already knew. Maybe they were lucky. Maybe they were smarter than me. Maybe they described it better. I could go on like this all day. So could you. I've chosen in the past to sell basses on Basschat for less than they were worth, and I'm very well aware that others have done so too. Their reasons were their own. Mine were that I feel that this is a community, and that's how I like to behave in a community. Again, no value judgment there. If there's one thing I'm not, it's "holier than thou". I've never chosen to sell basses on eBay for less than they were worth, but I had no part in the decision! The eBay market determined what the "right" price was. That's how it works. And frequently, it's impossible even to gauge how much I've "paid" for a bass. Sitting next to me is [url="http://tinypic.com/a/2i2wp/3"]http://tinypic.com/a/2i2wp/3[/url]. How much did I "pay" for it? Damned if I know. I bought Bass A, sold it at a profit to fund buying Bass B, traded Bass B + £200 for Bass C, spent £300 having Bass C overhauled, added a new fitted hardcase, then traded Bass C for the Alembic. How much is that, then? A week after I traded Bass C for the Alembic they brought out their new price list. Judging by that, the Alembic is now worth at least a bit more, possibly substantially more than it was valued at during the trade. What should I do if I now choose to sell the Alembic? This is a sterile argument. If someone makes a profit, congratulate them. If someone makes a loss, commiserate with them. Meanwhile, let's play some bass.[/quote] +1 The joys of living in a free market. Supply and demand dictates how much something is worth. Just because someone paid less for something yesterday than they sold it for today, does not change the fact that the item is only worth what someone is willing to pay. I'm constantly surprised by how many Classic Vibe Squiers I see for sale at around (and often above) the £200 mark. These can often be several months old, used and gigged. If you look around (even on google shopping) you can find them brand new for only a shade above £200. Not suggesting they're not worth it second-hand, (I love my CV P) but again, if people are willing to pay it, then what's the problem? A while back prices here on Fenders were really high, and you could pick a Stingray up for stupid cheap. Seems to be levelling out now. Plus it often only takes one or two desperate sellers of an item to devalue those items for the next few months.

Guys, I got fed up with the neck dive on my ridiculously light RoadWorn P, so I replaced the stock tuners with some Gotoh GBR640's (They are amazing tuners, fit perfectly, and are reverse-tune to keep the period-correct function of the stock tuners) and now I am very happy. The one thing that's not quite right, is that I now have really shiney chrome tuners on the end of my battered guitar! The tuners that came off were nicely reliced (the metal was tarnished lovely and really looked the part- a recent custom shop P bass I played had the same tuners)-would anyone have any idea how to try and replicate this? Chaaaars

Just did a deal with Tom for his USA G&L. Great guy, I've dealt with him before and he's one of the best sellers on this forum. Would definitely do business again. He sells great gear at great prices and is always up for a trade. Cheers Tom!

Hello from Cornwall. You have a beautiful country! We Cornish wait patiently for the day Cornwall snaps off and floats away from this hell-hole, to hopefully rejoin our Bretagne cousins. vive la France!

My Roadworn Precision cost £699 and it's unbelievable. And I've back-to-backed it with a 2.5k Custom shop '57. It held it's own. There was extra fretwork on the CS, worn in quite a bit, to replicate the 'genuine' '57 theme I guess, as the body and neck were both heavily relic'ed, but I guess I could take mine to a luthier to get this done if I wanted it. It may not be your cup of tea of course, but if Precision's are your thing.... Other than that, second hand Stingray!

Usually any of those onboard effects on SS amps are crap.

Move on dude, sounds like you made the right choice. Too many guitarists think playing bass is 'easy'. These are the guitarists you should avoid. Any guitarist who's been around a while and been in a few decent bands knows there's a lot more to playing bass than hitting the root note at the right time. Learning new songs can be a bit of a challenge, and unless you have a symbiotic relationship with the drummer (which in one of my bands I have, in the other I don't) it can sound well out-of whack until you both get your heads round it as one unit. Move on and play with real musicians. Best of luck.

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='998526' date='Oct 23 2010, 10:56 PM']It's always going to be a personal choice & personally I'll always favour a Precision. Strung with flats & I get a tone close to what I hear on a lot of records I own. In terms of neck profiles I reckon you get used to playing a bass if you practice. I don't like the thinness of Jazz necks but I managed on one in the late 90s for a couple of years so you can definitely get used to what you don't traditionally play. The Jazz seems to be used by flashier players who cut through the mix more and the Precsion seems to be used more by players who sit back in the mix. But of course it never is quite so clear cut as that. Ultimately for all the advice you'll know what you prefer when you try them out[/quote] Spot-on. I used to prefer a narrow neck until I got used to using a fat neck on my Roadworn. Narrow necks cause me to wrap my hand around like I'm playing a guitar, whereas a chunkier neck forces me to play it like a bass. My playing has improved vastly as a result of this. This is a case of preference though, it's whatever feels good for you, although bearing in mind the above I would add that if you haven't been playing too long or if you've previously used slimmer necks then you'll naturally favour the thinner neck at first, unless of course you have hands like Jaws off of James Bond The sound is quite a bit different. I favour a precision because I like to have a percussive thump to my sound that fills out the band, and when locked in with the bass drum really drives the band along. Occasionally when I have a very busy bass line I wish I had a Jazz, as the notes tend to step over each other on the P as it's such a fat sound. Intricate bass lines IMO work better on a Jazz (I'm sure some will disagree). The notes from a Jazz cut through a band better, (everyone will hear every note you play) whereas a Precision sits in the mix beautifully, ties everything together and fills it out. Or as I heard somone on here put it once, a Precision is like a baseball bat, whereas the Jazz is like a ninja sword

Trev bought a set of Hipshot Ultralites off me. Great guy to deal with, instant payment, no faffing. Recommended!