Cat Burrito

I bought a fake. There was a thread about it at the time. I saw a CIJ Fender P-bass online for £350 that looked believable. It was £25 for Parcel Force 24 delivery and when it arrived 8 days later it had been sent Parcel Force 48. The second I opened it I realised I had a rebadged Squier VM bass. The seller was a complete fraud about it and suddenly it was being sold on behalf of somebody else etc, they knew nothing about guitars etc. EBay to their credit (& this was pre-credit crunch so they don't offer this service now) refunded me, banned the seller and let me keep the bass. I sold it on as a rebadged Squier (on here as it happens). It was actually a nice bass but I couldn't really keep it after all that. Interestingly EBay didn't seem that interested at first until I mentioned the postage being 48hr when I paid 24hr - then suddenly all my comments on Tuning pegs, neck finish and volume knobs were completely believed. I had to check about 4 times that they were happy for a refund AND for me to keep it. As I said, it's not a service they've offered since. Must have cost a fortune.

Dave, welcome You can't post a list of great gear like that without posting pics! There's got to be a law against that?! I too am a big fan of old Fenders, flats and all things old school. There is a gear porn section here on BC. Please, please post some pics of that little lot. I'm sure there would be a lot of interest

Hi Lee, welcome to Basschat [quote name='ern500evo' post='1172261' date='Mar 22 2011, 04:17 PM']Anyway thats enough about me, what's your story?[/quote] Nah, this is your thread! You can read about us lot on these very pages This one's about you, so enjoy your moment in the spotlight!

Firstly I agree 99 times out of 100 it's down to volume. I think individually we all worry too much about our own tone too. Watch a band mix a demo and everyone pipes up about their own performance first. If you listen to the Rolling Stones they sound great at what they do but listen to tracks of the guitars in iscolation and they sound terrible. However they sit great in the mix. It's a good example of a band working together and being greater than the sum of their parts. What sounds good at home or on it's own might not work so well with the other parts. It may help to get someone independant who knows a bit to come in and say what the problem. You can leave your egos at the door. Most of us are great at identifying problems with our drummers and our guitarists but stop short of realising how we may be less than perfect. All that said it's a common problem and one that is easier to fix than may seem.I bet you it's actually just a tweak and a fine tune - the problem will be solved! Good luck

It's always been the way. Having moved around a few times some areas are tripping over drummers & others you can't get one. Thankfully I live in an area where bassists are hard to come by

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='1172152' date='Mar 22 2011, 02:47 PM']I tend to quote my own fee as £1.00 per correct note played on the night. Sometimes I get a fiver![/quote] I adopt a similar scheme & owe one venue in Bristol at least £30!

Just as a second option, we have an Open Mic night at Newbury on the first Friday of the month at Ace Space, St. Nicholas Rd. A couple of Jazz guys come to that

Welcome to Basschat

Nice one. Gotta have a bit of Fleetwood Mac

I was dissapointed with my Laney & sold it on quick. I used my Peavey combo for 15yrs, always reliable

I'm a huge Hofner fan. I started a thread yesterday on them as I found out the factory in China is exclusively for Hofner. The QC has been extremely high from the fair few I've tried.

Welcome to Basschat

Vintage mojo

That'd be awesome Clarky

I'm very happy with mine. Being tall it looks better than a traditional Hofner hanging off me. It doesn't feel short scale either. Mine is well set up & strung with flats. No sharp frets or dead spots. It's light, well balanced & a lot of tone from the German pickups. Something a bit different too & it doesn't feel in any way budget

Mine is the B series Hofner so around the £230 mark. The Verithin is Contemporary Series so around £550. Both great and I've yet to see a duff one. My mate has started stocking them in his shop & the QC has been high. Were these recent examples you tried? Perhaps I've just been lucky then The ones you've seen would have been Chinese

London in 10 days and I haven't bumped this thread in a while. See new dates I've added Our new album "Every Dirty Mirror" will be out this summer

[quote name='clauster' post='1169858' date='Mar 20 2011, 07:34 PM']I've just had a quick look at the Hofner website and googled some prices. Are these chinese made models the CT series?[/quote] Yes they are. I'm mainly sporting the Verithin as opposed to the Beatle bass. Re Johnson's post, I don't doubt it [b]but[/b] my Beatle Bass was the same price as the Epiphone and is well made. I expect it was just an unlucky example. All my experiences have been very positive

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1169416' date='Mar 20 2011, 12:49 PM']Keeps your fingers cool when you're playing.[/quote] and trim your nails if you can get it going fast enough

Welcome Baz

I love The Simpsons and I love bass [b]but[/b]...

I stumbled across this on another forum & wanted to share it. I've been staggered by just how good the Chinese Hofners are & this goes some way towards explaining the Hofner ethos. [font="Arial Black"]It is worth bearing in mind that the Chinese production plant is wholly owned by Hofner, a most unusual situation, that few other manufacturers have bothered to achieve. They have done a huge amount of work developing the plant and training the staff, often in Germany, to ensure that China has become an extension of Hagenau. Many other manufacturers just put the work out in China to whoever offers the lowest tender, something that Hofner has completely avoided. The Chinese plant is one of only a handful to have received both a grade A production certificate and a grade A export certificate from the government. The fact that Hofner is building bodies and necks in China and then taking the components to Hagenau demonstrates their faith in their own manufacturing processes while allowing them to offer you a first class instrument at a reasonable price. True there are still a lot of cheap poor quality instruments coming out of China, generally aimed as beginners guitars and sold in packs around Christmas time, but these have nothing to do with Hofner and what they have achieved over there.Hofner has definitely entered a new era in manufacturing and brought the company alive with a good range of interesting guitars at prices to suit everyone. We need to get used to this and worry less about exactly where parts were made and concentrate more on the models they make, encouraging them to explore further with both retro and new models. They have the capability to do this now but will be hampered if we all keep on about where the body was made or who screwed the pickups on etc. Personally I applaud them for taking the difficult route and setting up a wholly owned and tightly controlled Plant of their own when they could have taken the easy option and just subbed the work out to any old factory. This really is a new era for Hofner and I think it is going to be at least as exciting as it was back the early 1960s.[/font] Well, I'm loving mine!