Jesso

[quote]It might be worth you looking at Hiscox cases as one of their selling points is their great insulation properties.[/quote] Thanks for that!

I really should know this, but is a 73 P nitro or polly?

[quote name='JTUK' post='690202' date='Dec 20 2009, 09:54 PM']Wouldn't be leaving an amp or basses in a car/van overnight and even more so when temps are cold. Cabs maybe until the morning if I REALLY can't unload but no more than the next day, and even then only because I could more easily replace them if stolen and they are the most robust to the elements, IMO. FWIW, I wouldn't want to be buying gear ( basses and amps ) kept like this...sorry..!!![/quote] Theres just no way our cabs and amps could all come out of the van every night. The way I see it is that our gear is there to be used.... if something dies it get replaced. It's all high quality stuff, built to last. All my own gear has been solid and reliable so far, depspite being often left overnight in the van. We're gigging well over a hundred times a year now, and so far everything is holding up well. We have spares of everything for the rare occasion if something misbehaves.... which sometimes happens with the valve guitar amps, but that would happen regardless of where they were kept overnight. For instance, my markbass amp is kept in a case, with-in a case, in an insulated van, in a shed.... No different to a house with no heating I suppose. Guitars are a different story, and I can agree with you that they should be taken in if at all possible. I'm going to change my evil ways! Don't worry, I'm not trying to sell any basses on basschat at the moment! Although, I must admit I'm trying to sell a pair of Markbass cabs. They would have paid their dues in the back of the van during the summer, but they are almost perfect in their appearance, and obviously they sound perfect. Nothing wrong with them at all.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='690188' date='Dec 20 2009, 09:41 PM']If you can't be arsed to unload the van, how hard would it be to just take your guitar in with you? Load them in last, take them out first? I left a bass in a car boot all day once (because I had no choice), it was scorching hot and the bass was never the same again, the neck twisted. I try to keep them in sensible temperatures now.[/quote] Yeah perhaps it would be a good idea to at least take valuable guitars in at night (I wouldn't take my backup... It's an SX.... let them have it!). I shudder to think about our gear being stolen. Doesn't bear thinking about really.

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='690166' date='Dec 20 2009, 09:27 PM']In 1995 we played Tunbridge Wells and the van was nicked. We lost a drum kit and a few other bits and pieces. Thankfully I got trapped backstage as the next band went on so my bass and amp stayed in the venue. However, it cost us a fortune. The drummer was reluctant to replace his kit so we wound up having to sack him (which cost a friendship!). The moral of the story for me is that I never leave kit in the car / van and if I do I make sure it's only replaceable stuff.[/quote] Good moral, but I swear to god at 5am after playing a 3 hour set, Djing for 2 hours, and then driving for another two, the last thing you want to do is unload the van. Takes about 15 minutes and there's some pretty heavy stuff in there..... Our only real option is to make the van extremely secure and take every possible precaution.

[quote name='Bloodaxe' post='690146' date='Dec 20 2009, 09:14 PM']I'd personally be very cagey about leaving electrical equipment in the van for any length of time. If an amp (f'rinstance) has been in the cold for a while & becomes "well chilled" & then brought into the warm there's a risk (albeit small) of condensation forming within it - & water and electricity are well known for not getting on. I trust there's an alarm on the shed? Pete.[/quote] Hey Pete, No alarm on the shed yet, but soon. It's insured in a locked shed, behind 2 locked gates, in a locked (a propper lock) imobilized van kept out of sight, right beside our guitarists house in a remote area. I'm pretty happy about the safety of the gear, but I'd still like to get one of those sms / gps alarms, plus a bollard to put infront of the van. We insulated the inside of the back of the van to try to avoid any type of condensation building up (it used to) and it seems to have worked. Also, we use good quality covers or flightcases on everything.

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' post='690111' date='Dec 20 2009, 08:23 PM']What about a padded gig bag?[/quote] Maybe a gig bag would give good insulation, but I don't trust gig bags in the back of a van with all that heavy stuff with curshing potential!

Here's my question. My band has a van, which is insulated (i.e. wood panels with some insulation behind them) and is kept in a shed. We gig a lot, and it's a huge amount of bother to unload the equipment when we get home (sometimes it could be 5am in the morning). Everyone is knackered, so we usually just leave everything securely locked away in the van. Sometimes the gear could stay in the van for up to a week, but usually it's only a night or two. I know that it's probably ok to leave the P.A. and even the amps in the van overnight when it's cold, but I feel like over a long period of time it might be bad for guitars. We keep them (obviously) in their cases. Sometimes when I bring them in from the van they are really cold... I've read that you should try to treat instruments as you would treat a person (temperature wise)... but I don't know if thats true or not. So far, I haven't noticed any bad effects, and my bass has not warped or anything wierd. It's a modern Fender Stu Hamm urge. I'm thinking about making a vintage P bass (valuable!) into my main gigging bass, so I'm a bit cautious about leaving it in the cold... Would a top of the line insulated flight case be any better than the normal fender case? Any ideas much appreciated. Jesse

UPDATE: Went to have a look at it just now. Scratch plate was very obviously not original, looked brand new actually. It was about as heavy as any bass I've ever picked up (a big no-no for me!). The body did look like it was all one piece... must have been ash. I didn't bother asking to dis-assemble the bass to see dates n stuff, cos I knew I wasn't interested immediately. The neck seemed a bit suspicious.... it wasn't a great fit into the body, and it seemed like the headstock was a different shade than I would have expected it to be.... It just felt like it wasn't the original neck. Plus the decal looked a bit odd to me. I could see a very faint outline around it... as if it were a sticker or something? He also told me that there was no point in taking off the neck, as there was no date on it, just an initial. He said - "according to the blue book, there was a period at the end of 73 when they didn't date the necks for a while". I'm not sure if that's true, but alarm bells started going off in my head straight away! It was also missing the longer screw in the bridge for the G string adjustment.

I'm gunna bring my own 73 along, (which I know to be all original) and compare them. I should be able to tell if the decal is off, as well as compare weights etc (mine is nice and light).

[quote name='neepheid' post='685290' date='Dec 15 2009, 03:27 PM']Rotated for your convenience: Compared with this '74 (courtesy of Elderly Instruments, who I presume are a fairly reputable source), doesn't the font look a bit different? I think that's a replacement decal. The Fender bit is too far to the right (the tip of the F is underneath the string tree whereas on the '74 shown it is to the left of it and just misses it). The font is not only a different style, it's a different size too.[/quote] Hmmmmmm In your that pic of the 74 theres a truss rod opening towards the nut.... is that something that changed? Or is that pic of a 74 jazz or something?

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='685277' date='Dec 15 2009, 03:16 PM']Ah, it's right for pre-73-ish. Looks a bit different on the other photo![/quote] Ok so assuming that its a nice 73 refin with a repro guard, but everything else is pukka... What's she worth today?

[quote name='neepheid' post='685267' date='Dec 15 2009, 03:08 PM']I'll stick my neck out and say the logo's wrong for '73 isn't it? That style didn't appear until about '75?[/quote] Heres a better pic... [attachment=38351:headstock_small.jpg]

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='685248' date='Dec 15 2009, 02:52 PM']Now why didn't I spot that...? Eagle-Eye Doc strikes again...[/quote] Ok cool thanks a million. So the a repro is 3 ply (i.e. 3 layers) but an original should be 4. Is that right?

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='685227' date='Dec 15 2009, 02:32 PM']They still had torts in '73, but.. that one ain't original. It's a repro. I'm fairly sure natural wasn't a stock colour in '73, too.[/quote] Thanks guys, How can you tell its a repro guard? Could it have been a custom colour?

[attachment=38350:pbass_na..._smaller.jpg][attachment=38349:Pbass_na..._smaller.jpg] Hey folks, Just looking for a bit of help with this... I'm going to look at this bass tonight with a view to maybe buying it. It's advertised as a 73 and all original. I suspect it's not all original, but I'm pretty sure the owner thinks that it is (i.e. I don't think he's trying to pull the wool over my eyes) From what I can gather, a bass of this era should have come with a white pickguard, or maybe a black, but not a tort. Also, it looks like alder, which means its a refin.... it should be ash? I'm no expert though, and any tips about what I should be looking for are most appreciated! These pictures are the ones he's sent me so far. Thanks,