EssentialTension

[quote name='jezzaboy' post='771008' date='Mar 10 2010, 10:17 PM']You will not be called Susan. That is the same colour as Pino`s. The photo below is a Hank Marvin custom shop Fiesta red strat. Still a cracking looking bass, whatever colour it is. [attachment=44580:57fiesta_1_.jpg] Jez[/quote] It definitely looks the same colour as the Pino which is supposedly fiesta red over desert sand.

Finish options on the P seem to be: - olympic white with black pickguard and rosewood fingerboard - natural, black, maple - wine transparent, black, rosewood - sunburst, black, rosewood - black, black, maple and I guess the same for the J.

[quote name='bass5' post='770622' date='Mar 10 2010, 04:53 PM']I got a text from "'er indoors" says fed-ex delvered a great big box. Guess I am leaving work now, had enough for the day. Pics to follow shortly.[/quote] We're waiting.

[quote name='funkle' post='769988' date='Mar 10 2010, 04:05 AM']The labels on the back of the headstock will eventually tell.[/quote] That's the point really - the brand new 2010 fiesta red P bass is still crafted in China and presumably at the same factory

Last week I asked at the Fender forum about this China/Indonesia/alder/basswood issue but no responses at all so far.

[quote name='Sibob' post='769558' date='Mar 9 2010, 06:43 PM']I'd be really interested to know if these new ones say 'Crafted In China' on them, in relation to another slightly controversial thread! Cheers Si[/quote] My thought exactly. I guess Bass5 will be able to tell us soon.

Lakland Joe Osborn Flats and Fender Super Bass 7250ML both have black silks

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='760695' date='Mar 1 2010, 01:17 PM']Any relation to Erik Estrada? [/quote] You decide:

Captain Beefheart's Magic Band had two bassists in the early '70s. IIRC, Rockette Morton (Mark Boston) on rhythm bass and Orejón (Roy Estrada) on bass.

[quote name='sjc' post='758728' date='Feb 26 2010, 11:28 PM']If you look at the Harmony Central reviews for the Tascam MP-BT1 (or more precisely its close cousins and the previous CD based variant), there seems to be some question as to the robustness and reliability of this device. Does anybody here have any views on this? Is the general opinion that they are fine as long as they are treated with a reasonably amount of respect? Cheers Stuart[/quote] I've had no problems with my MP-BT - although only had it two months and it gets no rough use but just sits next to my laptop and practice amp. It is slightly annoying that it only likes certain file formats and so I have to keep doing conversions before dragging and dropping though.

[quote name='funkle' post='750390' date='Feb 18 2010, 11:50 PM']If you have an '08 or prior CV (serial number starts with 08), which is stamped 'Crafted in China', then the body is not made of basswood, but of alder. Apparently, sometime in 2009, production was shifted from China to Indonesia, with a change in the specs, including a change from alder to basswood. I had a friendly chat with someone here in Florida who works in the instrument manufacturing industry, and who works with the factory where these basses were made (in China). This particular factory uses the same wood supplier as the Fender Custom Shop, and in fact has much larger wood stocks than Fender. Wood choice and quality control is apparently top notch, and basses cost more to produce at this factory than others in Asia; hence Fender's move of production last year to Indonesia.[/quote] I don't mean to doubt any of this as such but could you clarify. Is this a rumour with some evidence to back it up or is definite truth, as they say?

[quote name='funkle' post='750390' date='Feb 18 2010, 11:50 PM']Point of information to raise. If you have an '08 or prior CV (serial number starts with 08), which is stamped 'Crafted in China', then the body is not made of basswood, but of alder. Apparently, sometime in 2009, production was shifted from China to Indonesia, with a change in the specs, including a change from alder to basswood. I had a friendly chat with someone here in Florida who works in the instrument manufacturing industry, and who works with the factory where these basses were made (in China). This particular factory uses the same wood supplier as the Fender Custom Shop, and in fact has much larger wood stocks than Fender. Wood choice and quality control is apparently top notch, and basses cost more to produce at this factory than others in Asia; hence Fender's move of production last year to Indonesia. I handed my bass today over to Jeff Berlin's tech for the work I mentioned previously - right enough, he confirmed it was alder. Guess that explains the weight on mine - 9.5 lbs. I'm not sure what the '09 CV models sound like. But if you can snag an '08 that says 'Crafted in China', then you're on to a well built bass with good wood quality. Pretty much exactly the same as what many bassists of yesteryear would have played on.... No wonder Fender shifted production, I'm sure they literally cannot afford to make a bass this good at this price point. In passing, I note that OutToPlayJazz's CV was an 08/'China' model.[/quote] 08/China here too so that's very interesting. Is it the same story for the CV Precisions?

Well, thanks to all those who gave tips and just to bring this up to date, we eventually bought a Peavey XR8600 (at a very good price from Mark in the bass department at GAK). It has sailed through its first four gigs brilliantly.

Fender Reggie Hamilton: Someone here has one but I can't remember who.

I've at last begun to get into your boot camp Major. Very good it is too. Thank you so much.

Rosewood but I'd settle for maple on a '51P.

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='756717' date='Feb 25 2010, 08:13 AM']At your gigs, do you get 'gearstalkers'...folk that, as soon as the doors open, gather at the front of the stage and check out your gear? Can you admit to being one?[/quote] At a gig a couple of years ago I'd finished setting up - LMII, Ampeg 410, Fender Precision, TU2, Punch Factory - when a guy wanders over and says 'Is that your gear?', I say 'Yes', and he says 'I bet you're one of those people who buys Bass Guitar Magazine'.

And now the custom shop reissue at $3,779.99 has a pic:

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='753585' date='Feb 22 2010, 11:05 AM']Just re-visiting the "things used to be cheap" argument, there are some excellent sites out there that will give you the present value of old money, or the old value of present money. You get slightly different results depending on whether you use the RPI (retail prices index) or AEI (average earnings index). I prefer the AEI for this sort of thing, since we're trying to establish what you could have bought with your wages. This does NOT apply to any specific item, of course. It's a "typical" calculation for a "typical" basket of goods. Please don't point out that "a Fender Precision didn't cost that in 1965" or whatever - I already know. In order to have the same spending power THEN as earning £1000 a week gives you NOW, you would have needed a weekly wage of: 2005 - £892 2000 - £734 1995 - £590 1990 - £469 1985 - £310 1980 - £201 1975 - £101 1970 - £ 48 1965 - £ 33 1960 - £ 25 Do these numbers have any validity? Well, my first proper job started in January 1975 as a trainee book-keeper in a small travel agency in the West End. I was earning £1360 p.a. (plus LV's - don't forget the LV's!) which is £26 per week. The M/D of the firm certainly earned less than £101 per week - in modern terms he was on about £40k which is about right for that role in a firm of that size.[/quote] Is that gross or net?

[quote name='bigjohn' post='749991' date='Feb 18 2010, 05:29 PM']I put a set of TIs on a string through bass and the A string snapped at the bridge before I'd even got it in tune.[/quote] I've used TI flats through body for years without a problem except once when the A string went at the bridge I always go through the bridge not the body now as I can't hear any difference in tone anyway. EDIT: I should add that the A string which broke had been fine for nearly two years.

[quote name='neepheid' post='749357' date='Feb 18 2010, 10:10 AM']The only flats I've tried are Rotos, and I hated them. Horribly high tension, could hardly play them.[/quote] I only use flats but I don't like the Roto Jazz either.

[quote name='bass5' post='749216' date='Feb 18 2010, 01:59 AM']... but unfortunately as soon as I've lifted the pickguard it showed where Squier has cut corners in order to keep the prices down.[/quote] They have to cut them somewhere. [quote name='bass5' post='749216' date='Feb 18 2010, 01:59 AM'][b]No.1[/b] First of all it is no surprise that these basses are shipped with a transparent adhesive film on the pickup magnetic poles if you play the bass with those stickie things on, then your finger will not get in contact with the magnetic poles and will not cause any interference but... the minute you remove the 2 sticky films and you plug your bass in, at the minimum contact of your fingers with the magnets you get scratching noises and buzz galore through the amp.[/quote] I've not had this problem. [quote name='bass5' post='749216' date='Feb 18 2010, 01:59 AM']Big downer [b]No.2[/b] when you lift the pickguard there is a great big gauping hole where the bridge pickup floats and it is held only by the frame of the pickguard and the 4 mounting screws, in other words if you fancied to play it a-la-Jaco without a pickguard you would have an unsightly great big hole in which you can store your mars bars in and maybe even a sausage roll, bad that, not cool! If I knew about that one before I bought it I would have declined the transaction. Why oh effing why is there such a hole under the pickguard?[/quote] I replaced my pickguard with a white pearl and it would never occur to me to have a Jazz bass without a pickguard anyway. [quote name='bass5' post='749216' date='Feb 18 2010, 01:59 AM'][b]No.3[/b]Under the control plate. My oh my, I reckon Stevie Wonder could have done a better soldering job while Ray Charles mounted the pots. They've all got to go. Pickups, volume pots, cheap plastic covered connecting wires, input jack, the lot.[/quote] For the price of the bass I thought the wiring looked fine - although I'd agree that some CTS pots etc would improve it. [quote name='bass5' post='749216' date='Feb 18 2010, 01:59 AM']As for the pickups I went for a set of matched stacked single coils by Seymour Duncan they are vintage voiced and stacked i.e. reducing hum as they act as humbuckers these are the models are: STK-J1n and STK-J1b these will be wired to the new 250k pots and capacitors and hopefully they will be noiseless and perfectly apt to the vintage vibe.[/quote] Wizard 64s in mine now - not that the stock pickups were unusable.

[quote name='evilLordJuju' post='748810' date='Feb 17 2010, 07:06 PM']Yes he did, Moog was a Norlin company, like Gibson, and so the electronics were designed by him. It was initially touted a the John Entwistle 'Spider bass' but he soon lost interest, and the product was never officially linked to him Theres some info on the design of this guitar here, although I've got considerable updates to this page that I haven't added in yet [url="http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/RDartist_timeline.php"]http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/RDartist_timeline.php[/url][/quote] Ah, that'll probably be where I read it! I think they look cooler than most have suggested. The guy in Nirvana had one.

[quote name='Hit&Run' post='748956' date='Feb 17 2010, 09:13 PM']I've been toying with the idea of putting some flatwounds on a couple of my harem, and have a few questions for those in the know on such matters. I had a look The basses I'm thinking of putting them on are a fretless (japcrap?) satellite through-neck P (through body strung), with an SD 1/4lb pickup; and, a fretted SX P with a wizard trad in it.[/quote] ... and a P bass always sounds good with flats (IMHO)