Dom in Dorset

When I used a pic ( still do sometimes) I liked 1mm nylon pics with a textured grip.

Hi fitzy, I don't know about that particular bass ,The intonation is set in the same way as an acoustic guitar..... you just rely on the bridge being in the right place! I once cut a new bridge for an acoustic bass and found that all the adjustment I needed was in the way that I cut the saddle ivory, Hohner should have got that bit right for you already. I don't play my acoustic much about the 12th fret and haven't found intonation a problem.

[quote name='wombatboter' post='532351' date='Jul 4 2009, 11:41 AM']Sounds cool. Is it somewhere near the Rainbow Diamondwood fingerboard of this fretless Roscoe? Until last week I had never seen anything like it. It was posted on leftybassist.com by a guy who owns this and a fretted Roscoe LG3005 in trans white.[/quote] Noi , nothing like that! I am exagerating, it's much smaller scale, the more you stare at it the more colours you find, mostly reds yellow, purples. If I get the chance I'll post a pic in a few days.

Of course there is alway snakewood: It's the world's most expensive timber, if you have to ask how much , you can't afford it. IMO the most beautiful timber is our native blackthorn,the heart wood is all the colours of the rainbow, gnarly and gorgeous. It's not comercialy available and comes from tiny little trees (you'd have to make a bass boby with at about 4 or 5 sections)

It's heavy enough to sink in water. Also a lot of people are alergic to it, I worked with it years ago and my skin reacted to the dust. I hate to throw in the environmental card but, apparently it's endangered outside of national parks etc. It is pretty though.

I have tried many, the best acoustic sound I think is the Eko (I think it's about £275?) At the moment I'm playing (and it's my main bass) an Ibanez AEB 8E. Not the loudest acoustic but plugged in it's massive. After every gig someone comes up and says how good it sounds. It's the bottom of the Ibanez bass AEB range (£250) I can't imagine just how wonderful the other models are. I've not tried anything more expensive than the Eko, I tried a Fender years ago and liked it (the black finish was better that nutural) Ibanez go up to about £400, for £600 you should get something pretty amazing.

Wow that's more like it! There would prably be VAT on top if it's shipped from Iceland. I'm not in the market right now , but I'd be intrigued to try one.

The problem that I'm finding is that loads of places are listed as dealers, I can't find anyone who actually has them in stock or that much info. I'll be working in a shop on thursday , they have an acount with Sutherland, I'll see what I can find out.

Thanks for that, I've just had a look to see who sells them and how much and so far found nothing. It's probably way out of my league , but no harm in asking. Anyone found anywhere that sells a range of Crafter Basses?

I was into Fairport many years ago, then lost interest. I was at Glastonbury, they were on , I went along. I've always rated Pegg's playing, close up it's quite something. He had the most gorgeous tone, I couldn't see the name on his bass. I've not posted a pic here before , i hope this works.

Hi Nostromo, I can't help you with your question but, I'm just down the road from you in Bruton. What is your band called?

I first got interested in acoustics about ten years ago, there weren't many around then and I tried as many as I could and found most of them dissapointing. The Fenders were head and shoulders above the rest, I'd certainly concider one if my Ibanez ever needs replacing.

I was lucky enough to get an Ibanez AEB8E on special offer for £169, I constantly bore people by telling them how great it is. It's not the loudest acoustic but it has a great warm , but punchy tone, plugged in it's FAT to the power of 2365740. They are now in the £250 range [url="http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/product/15750-ibanez-aeb8e-black.html"]http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/product/1575...eb8e-black.html[/url]

I was goig to recomend the Stagg fusion bass (about £120) but , I've looked it up and I the blurb implies that it's a 34" scale. I was convinced that it was short scale as it's so dainty. It's worth trying one in a shop , there is also a 3/4 size version, that must be 30" scale ?

I tried the Fenders in a shop in Brighton, they had two. One had a natural finish , the other had a heavy black laquer (like the Ibanez) the tone of the black one was noticeably richer , warmer , darker and I think louder than the natural. The Ibanez also uses two AA batteries in the pre-amp rather than the more usual 9v, they seem to last forever, the low cost of the batteries does save the price of a pint every six months or so.

I got back into bass playing after a few years gap when I bought an Artisan acoustic for (I think £148), After a couple of months I was well into bass playing but hacked off with the artisan. It had a 30" scale , the strings always felt slack, the tuning wasn't that stable, the tone and volume of the E string was radicaly different to the other strings. It did have a fairly cutting sound if a bit clanky and good acoustic volume. Last october I bought an Ibanez AEB? they were special offer at £169-problem solved. 32" scale, even tone , sounds good with pic , fingers or slap (old one sounded tinny with a pic) built in tuner ,I rave about it at every oportunity. I've tried : Echo- good, more harsh sounding that the Ibanez Stagg ovation style- sound like a long dead doornail. Ashton- tried it a long time ago , liked it. I tried some acoustics about ten years ago, the Fender was by far the best then. I will post a more comprehensive review of the Ibanez when I have time, there are almost no reviews of acoustics (that I could find).

The bass in question could be good, it could be bad, I've never heard of that make before so I can't tell. If it was under £100, then it might be worth the risk, howevoer there are several well known brands available for £150. My first acoustic bass was a bubget special , I soon got anoyed with the silly problems that it had eg: the E string had a different tone and much lower volume than the others, I tried everything but to no avail. In the end I just bought the best bass I could afford by a big name, reasoning that at least all the basics will be right. I got an Ibanez (was £169, they've gone up to £250 now) and it was even in tune when it came out of the box.-wow I must be getting old I'm repeating myself. In short , there is so much out there in the £150 and under range it's worth shopping around.

The P bass copy is most likely made in China ( as are most budget instruments) , that's only a problem if quality control is alowed to slide. As this bass dosen't bare a makers name that I've heard of I would be cautios, Ibanez make instruments in China but unlike budget brand X they have a reputation to uphold. I've just done a quick search and found this : [url="http://www.guitarandampshop.co.uk/acatalog/Ibanez_SR_and_GSR_Soundgear_Bass_Range.html"]http://www.guitarandampshop.co.uk/acatalog...Bass_Range.html[/url] - I recon that's a prety safe bet, about the same price as brand X but with a respected name on it. I've got an Ibanez acoustic bass, it was perfect straight out of the box. The value given for the brand X of £280 a bit suspect, it's worth £280 because they say it is.

[quote name='Kongo' post='492005' date='May 18 2009, 11:24 PM']All I can remeber playing one round a friends house is DAMN do they dive! [/quote] Thunderbird devotees tend to ignore such practicalities as ballance.

I could always turn the body into a novelty bread board.

[quote name='Buzz' post='491988' date='May 18 2009, 10:58 PM']If you're thinking of getting one beware the new model, the Epiphone T-Bird Pro, should surface next month. Bascially, the current T-Bird is a Bolt On, and has a really wide neck (it's 1.73", but quite thin) which on par with the original t-birds iirc, the new Pro is much like the current Gibson ones, neck through and with a width at the nut of 1.5". The Epiphone ones are also very difficult to play past the 15th fret, the combination of the heel block for the BO and the lack of a deep cutaway conspire to make life difficult. The only problem is that with the new active electronics (2EQ) and pups in the Pro and different neck woods (Pro has a maple walnut 7 piece laminate), no-one has a clue how they're going to sound. I'm *really* looking forward to trying one this summer though And in preperation of it sounding sh*te, I've aquired an Epiphone T-bird which I plan on gutting for the pups as the bridge isn't aligned properly to the body and neck and I can't be arsed to fix it. Edit: yes, 34".[/quote] What are you planning on doing with the leftover neck?

Hi Metalmoore, looks like you got a bargain with the Stagg, they are about £150 unscathed. I planning on making myself a fretless , I bought a copy of "Make your own electric guitar, by Melvyn Hiscock" it covers prety much everything.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='491973' date='May 18 2009, 10:45 PM']To get the scale length measure from the nut (or zero fret if there is one) to the 12th fret and double.[/quote] That makes it 34".

Wikipedia says 34" however.... I have my Epiphone with me now and nut to bridge on the E string is 34 and 3/8" the G string 34 and 2/8" - do I win the Billy No-mates prize fror nerdery? If you are thinking of getting one (Epiphone) I think that they are a good bass, I've seen a couple with quite high action due to the slim neck. It's easy enough to sort out and when set up well it's a far better instrument than it's price would indicate. As for a Gibson, I've never tried one, apparently they're quite good.

It sounds like you have a high fret. Sometimes you can see one fret standing higher than the rest if you look along the neck, try putting a steel rule unto the frets in the area of the buzz. Any good guitar tech should be able to fix it without too much cost, the exact remedy depends on the exact nature of the problem. Sometimes the offending fret can be tapped down with a special punch ( supporting thr neck with a sand bag or padded block ), sometimes stoning the fret down can help, sometimes both.