Machines

Got this from GuitarGuitar a few days ago. I saw it the day before but was busy packing for a camping trip so decided to leave it, but then ordered it the next day at 5AM whilst staring at a tent roof. I figured it was worth a go and could return it if it wasn't for me. USA Built, June 1995 in Blue Swirl (aka bowling ball finish). In reasonable nick with a few lacquer dings you can only see close up. The finish is quite subtle but really shows up with decent lighting. Stock EMG 40DC pickups and BTC preamp, these were the stop gap between the L-5000 and L-2500 as the 5 string MFD pickups were not yet available. Produced for about 2 years and ~350 were made, mostly in stained ash finishes. It was up for quite a decent price for the spec, only a bit more than you'd pay for a L-2500 Tribute 2nd hand. I can't think of any other USA built instruments that go so cheap, and it is not the quality that is the reason for this. On arrival it didn't work which was a bit annoying, but only a loose volume pot wire, 20 seconds with the soldering iron sorted that. Build and playability is excellent, the tone is very bright and in your face as you'd expect from the pickups, not typical G&L sound at all which may have put people off. For a 34" scale the B string is surprisingly good, no flapping fart noises here. Decent sound demo:

Yeah that's me. I think it's a theme with G&L generally. Not a Fender but it is at the same time. I'll post the L-5500 tomorrow when I have some decent light for pics.

Sounds more like buyer's remorse to me. Legally they had no leg to stand on if it was inspected before collection.

Done, waiting for my brown envelope.

I've had a Dingwall, a few Musicman (SR5 / Bongo 4 & 5), Fenders MM Jazz, Overwaters, Spector. All of them were obviously good instruments, but now my 'go to' bass is a Squier VM Jazz I got for £200. I couldn't justify the capital in the basses value compared to what I could get for under 25% of the cost

It's not about being happy with what you've got. It's the dopamine hit of wanting something new, researching and getting it.

Had a 4 string. Was good fun but never really emulated the intended sounds that closely (except maybe the Rick and Modulus). I think the best way is to treat it as many tones, rather than replacements for the targeted basses.

I really wouldn't be losing any sleep over this, if it sounds decent get on with playing it. If you really want matching pickups get a replacement set or even just covers.

I sold my MIM Jazz pickups on ebay a few weeks go for £30. Had them sitting around for 10 years.

I got £30 quid (10%) of my RedSub Coliseum 6 from Gear4Music as it had a headstock ding. I pointed out this was the same bass used in their YouTube demo, and the ding was visible in the website photos if you zoomed in really close. I was happy with that.

Update - it didn't happen. The seller refunded me on Friday with no explanation provided. It was a USA Stingray 5 (2008) with a Buy-It-Now price of £460, be fun if it had have arrived. I left negative feedback as clearly they were time wasters, but it somehow got removed. Sh*t happens.

Picked this up yesterday... tuned F# to E. £200 second hand, but as new condition with the plastic still on covers. Needed a setup tweak (too low choking notes) and the intonation is today's job, but the pickups seem decent enough and it does the job I want. EDIT: Intonation done, no problems.

I did leave fairly amicably, but I don't think they'd have me back. The drummer (band leader) is a bit of a knob and seems to have took it personally, I think the 2 guitarists would be fine with it.

Ironically, I quit my band just a couple of weeks before Corona kicked off as I wanted a break from gigs and late nights. I could have not dropped the mic and had my way and started again later in the year... oh well.

Hassle yes, but I will definitely get my money back. Just might take a week or two.

I thought it was a 50/50 shot. They won't get the money though so it all seems a bit pointless.

Cool saves me making my own thread. Did a BIN last Sat on a bass at a very good price, new seller so was quite aware it was a bit risky (PayPal protection though). Paid immediately, no contact from seller despite 3 emails from me. There are no contact details on eBay, I just have to wait till 23rd so I can open a case against them as i'm fairly confident it isn't going to show up. If it does though, you'll all be extremely jealous.

Yamaha RBX775 owned since new in 2004. Since defretted and refinished, also tuned E to C. Still sounds great. I regretted my modding however and have since bought one exactly like my first premodding.

1996 Musicman Stingray. Traded it for an Lakland 55-02 which was just a bit boring and didn't last long. With my band in 2007 (13 years ago suddenly makes me feel queasy).

What do you want from it that it can't already do? Sounds like you want to upgrade but have no actual target to aim for.

Sound Control Birmingham circa 2004. USA Gretsch Firebird 6131 Firebird new for £299, should have been £1699 but they marked it up as an Electomatic. Even asked them to check... Sold on ebay for a grand a few weeks later.

Yeah it looks decent. I've got a couple of 24 fret basses and never get that high, as long as I can get to the 21st easily i'm not bothered (really hard on Precisions and Jazzes). Perhaps they wanted to make it even more different to the standard Stingray copies to avoid any moaning from EBMM.

Looks like that's to accommodate the 24 fret neck without a really deep neck pocket.

A fair point. I tend to take the absolute minimum amount of stuff so I don't have to keep track of too many items as well as reduce the tedium of packing away at the end. I very much could take a spare bass/fx/cables etc. It's all weight to me. I hate nothing more than lugging stuff into the house at 1AM, one trip please.

Do you take a spare amp and cab ? Do you have a spare car in case you can't get to the gig at all ? I'm trying to work out how often it actually becomes a problem to gigging musicians. Lower quality gear should be more likely to fail than higher, however simpler gear should be less likely to fail than complex.