Cat Burrito

The bass player in my singers last band got around on the tubes with a double bass so it can be done. I've gigged in London using public transport although as we're 70 miles west we tend to use cars mainly

Welcome to Basschat Johny

Just after a bit of advice really. I've recently picked up an S9 serial number Fender Precision. The neck dates to 1979 but of course these serial numbers were used from 1979 - 1981. I'm (sort of) restoring it but I'm not going to use the original pickguard. It's a cool looking brass one but being solid brass it isn't the lightest I'm probably going to sell it on. Obviously it's around 30yrs old & quite unusual. I don't like these sellers on EBay that charge $200 for tuners etc but wondered what would be a fair deal to offer it for. I was thinking about £50 incl UK p&p. Does that sound fair? It's obviously not for everyone's tastes but I reckon some people would really go for it. Oh & I'm looking at a gigging bass so not interested in keeping it for resale value - other original parts are needing to (have been!) sourced anyway I thought it looked quite good against the black & sunburst (pics attached)

I played a Vintage one that was sub £200 that seemed nice. I know you say don't mention Olp but they come up often enough on here & are nice for the money too

*oops double post as the screen froze out

Welcome to Basschat

[quote name='Delberthot' post='953475' date='Sep 12 2010, 12:32 PM']When standard '51s are going between £300-400, adding £200+ for work that maybe cost £100 to have done is a tad steep. Especially when I've seen US Jazz basses going for £450+[/quote] I think unmodded ones are recently going more for £400-£500 now as they've been discontinued (again). But yes, I agree with you

Hey Mark, welcome to the forum

Welcome to the forum Gaslion

Welcome to the forum

Welcome to the forum Dai

On 2 occasions I've spent £1500 on a bass & felt guilty beforehand... so, um, no. That price would clear a huge chunk of my mortgage or pay for every home improvement / extension I could ever want.

The Orange Crush stuff is fine, we've only ever had one thread on those though so not so popular on here (I started the thread so not a criticism of Orange Crush). I owned the 50w which was an ok / nice practice amp. My advice would be go for the best you can afford. I've gigged 100w amps a bit but my band is quite quiet. I've owned a Roland too which had a great tone (the DB700) but from your 3 I'd opt for Ashdown because I think you could use it more

I do like the 60s RI too myself and then of course the 62RI MIJ has USA pickups & is close to the USA AV in my view but at half the cost

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='953230' date='Sep 11 2010, 10:54 PM']That makes sense, but I would imagine the major contributor to that sound is the strings and maybe amp rather than the pickups? Although I'm sure if you had active pups it might sound too modern and compressed, but I expect any old crappy passive pickups would do. Indeed I am currently gigging a Squier with La Bella flats on it, stock pickups which I would've replaced if I wasn't so skint/lazy because they sound pretty bad, but in context they actually sound great. Wedge some foam under the bridge and it sounds like a '60s soul or reggae record.[/quote] I tend to agree with this & of course how you play too - when I moved from right hand with plectrum rested on the bridge to fingers between the pickup & neck this was the first time my tone majorly changed. The other major change was roundwound to flatwound. I think pickups can be the icing on the cake & often they can be great as stock. Oh & I've been trying the foam too lately

[quote name='Lozz196' post='953214' date='Sep 11 2010, 10:22 PM']Re the 70s ones, from all accounts, they can be very heavy[/quote] The keyword here is [b]can[/b]. Mine are standard weights. My 1978 is great, the 1979 slightly heavier but still very manageable.

A bit steep price wise, especially as that mod isn't going to be for everyone's tastes

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='953168' date='Sep 11 2010, 09:25 PM']What does that mean? I'm not even being facetious, I never know what people mean when they say that. Do you mean a sound like a particular record or year or genre or what? What are the sonic characteristics of "vintageness"?[/quote] Probably a whole other thread in this I'm sure like everyone else here I've spent a while searching for a tone I like. My personal tastes seem to centre around the 1970s but I like a lot of music from the 60s & 50s too (I'm not anti-modern, these are just predominantly where my tastes lie). Modern active sounding basses don't get me that sound although I quite like some of those tones in iscolation. I'm not a poet so I'm probably not the best with words but when I think of the pickups I like they have names like "trad" or "reissue" in the title. I've found that coupled with flatwound strings gets a tone similar to the music I like on the records I play. Sometimes it's an almost double bass like sound. Think Motown, think rockabilly, a lot of old country music.

I've said it a thousand times before but it depends on what tone / vibe [b]you[/b] want to go for. Personally I like vintage / classic tones but if you want active then we'll have different tastes

It totally depends on what you want. I own 3 vintage P-basses so they are obviously what I like but the modern ones are excellent and I'm sure the Nash ones are very good too. The Fender AV series is excellent but it completely depends on what your needs are. Your budget will mean you certainly will be able to get a great bass

I did some sessions with one in the late 90s & it was amazing, awesome tone. I've played new / current Danelectros but not the Longhorn. The new ones were good but not like the one I used originally.

Two guys in my band are full time musicians & it seems to involve giving a lot of lessons and playing in other bands for a quick buck. I'm occasionally tempted myself but my their own admissions they do a fair bit of rubbish. At least I play stuff I love

Welcome to Basschat Mark