Muzz

Played a couple of the RW Precisions, and they feel and play very, very well, but the looks? Nah, I'd never pay for that.

Grand, I shall be following this one with interest. Fingers crossed.

Yup, an essential piece of kit for me, because I just don't like 5s. Got them on at least six basses at the mo. Graphite (aka pencil lead) in the nut, a very very small amount of lube in the tuner itself, and a minimal wrap on the post, good to go. I have used one in the studio, no issues at all.

There's at least one isolated bass clip on YouTube of this - I was staggered by the (relative) amount going on in a song I'd heard but not really listened to, basswise, for four decades.

Y'see the 'wonky fret' thing is so natural, I'd completely forgotten to comment on it in the mini-review above! The only thing I would say about it is if you do a lot of chordal stuff above the 14th fret, there's some adjustment to be made. Yeah, like I do a lot of that...

Went through a rash of stuff over a couple of years a while back (after a very long time with an Ampeg SVT/810 rig), but settled on the RH450 and Schroeder 1515L - it does the job, is incredibly loud, very very light and easy to shift, and gives me the tones I'm after. I'd consider another Schroeder cab if I was completely confident about it running under 4 ohms. Will admit to Barefaced GAS, but unless I actually had a chance to try them, it's manageable...so I'm not trying too hard.

Just picked this up from Bobpalt of this parish in one of those one-in-a-hundred long shot situations, and it's very, very nice indeed. It may only be the 4, but the long scale E (and A and D) really really works well - gives an evenness and clarity across the strings I've never encountered before on anything, and I've had a few basses in my time. Dropping the E with the Hipshot Xtender (to D and even C) does not, for once, adversely affect string tension and feel. The banjo frets and compound radius board work massively well, too - this thing plays better than almost everything I've played before. The pickup selector is, erm, idiosyncratic (four-way switch: Neck, both in series, both in parallel, bridge) but gives a huge range of sounds, most of which, uncultured heathen that I am, I'll never use. The tone control also has a more profound effect than any I've used before on a passive bass: it sounds like much more than the usual treble cut, and alters the character of the pickup considerably. Wasn't keen on the standard issue strings (thanks anyway Bob) with them being light gauge Stainless, but a set of medium gauge Nickels worked much better for me. It sits very nicely on the strap, and is clearly made from clouds and helium, because it weighs (by my digital scales) 7lb 9oz. Very very refreshing. Build quality is faultless, it's a solid top quality bass. I may still end up with a Dingwall P-tone in the neck position (see Uncultured Heathen above) but otherwise, it's an absolutely ideal bass. Thanks Bob. Oh, and because I'm well aware it doesn't exist without pics:

I tend to Bob's view, too - the RH450 has all the bells and whistles, but I've long ago settled on three settings (two of which I rarely use), and the only control I touch is the master volume, perhaps a bit of EQ if the room is particularly iffy, in fact the best day-to-day extra on the amp is the tuner, which is very handy. I hate the mither of pedals, and don't use them with the originals band, although one (a cheapo Zoom multi-FX) is a necessary evil for the function band (Octaver for Sledgehammer, etc). Same thing with the cab - it's light, compact and very loud, and it does the job well. All my basses are 4s with Hipshot Xtenders, and that's enough range for me. I take a couple of basses out with the covers/function band, because I'd presumed different genre songs would be better played on a different bass, but the last time out the singer/band leader called the set list changes very quickly without time for changes, and I ended up playing Superstition/Long Train Running/Play That Funky Music/Sledgehammer on the Fenderbird and d'you know what? It worked just fine.

Amsterdam = Disneyland for the adults...

[quote name='Icarus_147' timestamp='1331639314' post='1576239'] Hmm, see, I'm not sure about that one. It's certainly something I've considered, but I'm not sure how hard they'd be to get right for a beginner. I'd like to though, I certainly imagine it'd be worth it. Are decent necks generally very expensive? Money isn't really a problem, but it'd be nice to have a couple different options without having to shell out hundreds of pounds. [/quote] I got mine from EBay - Mighty Mite ones are great quality for the £80-100 you'll pay for them. They're a standard Fender sized heel, too, so as long as the neck pocket on the body is close to Fender specs, you could end up with a really good fit. IMHO, the neck pocket fit is a big influence on the feel (resonance) of the instrument. There's threads on here with pics about fitting and shimming necks, too. Going upmarket, or for just a great way to kill half an hour with bass-porn, have a look at warmoth.com - more necks and bodies than you can shake a stick at, and they're far better quality than bog-stock Fender stuff.

Speaking of which, there's a nice BB3000 here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/169887-yamaha-bb3000-for-sale/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/169887-yamaha-bb3000-for-sale/[/url]

Fretmeister, you really need to try a Dingwall, they really are extraordinary basses, and Bass Direct is definitely the best place to do this. If by any chance you don't get on with a Dingwall, Mark has a zillion other top-drawer basses and amps there, too...it's definitely a "I've always wanted to try..." sort of establishment

I've got a couple of Frankenfenders and one, my SX/MM P/J thing, is a really nice bass, period. I may have been lucky with the neck (possibly not, though, because I have a MM J-neck which is very nice, too), but with a new nut it feels every bit as good as Fenders I've owned, and the rest of the bits are at least Fender quality, if not better. I sold both my US P-Basses once I'd finished it, because I didn't need them any more - the homebuilt one was (for me) better than either. It isn't worth anywhere near what a US Fender is worth, but then it isn't for sale, and won't be. I buy basses now and again on a whim, and as everyone does, I'll be aware of the resale value, but that's not the point with this one - it's mine. For the OP, if you're not going to play around with different necks, then you really need to try the bass you're thinking of buying, and if you like the feel and how it plays acoustically, then you're off on the right foot. Don't knock basswood, either - if it's good enough for a £1.5k MM Bongo... Pimping bridges, nut and tuners are all small positive changes which can be done, but for amplified sound the biggest one by a country mile is the pickup, pots and wiring. I'm not a believer in 'tonewood' as far as the end product (an amplified bass in a band setting) goes.

This is getting monotonous...but Bob's Da Man! Met up to take delivery of a flawless Dingwall, Bob's a gent and a pleasure to deal with. Cheers!

Any old body you like the look of, it's all going to be about the neck pocket - if it's at or very close to the fender dimensions you can put a MM neck on there and it should be a decent fit. I've had a couple of good ones with MM necks and SX bodies, tho not sunburst. Tuners whatever you've got lying about, cheapos are usually OK. Bridge, I'd use a Gotoh 201 or a Schaller 3D, then a Wizard Thumper and CTS pots. All done bar the scratch plate and strings, both to taste. Shouldn't be much more than 250 all in, and you'll have a bespoke P which you'll feel quite attached to; well, I do to mine. If you've got more money and want to go upmarket past the usual Fender quality, have a look at the Warmoth site: it's P and J bass porntastic... I'd still go with the Thumper, tho. Be warned, though; once you start putting basses together from bits, you might never want a standard off-the-shelf one again...

+1 to the above - we were in Gracielands to record our album last year, and one of the reasons we chose it was the fantastic (signed!) Neve 9098 desk and acres of older outboard kit, which give a much more organic feel to the process - we got to A/B with the digital gear they have there while we were recording, and I'd go with the older kit every time.

I like 1 myself, then 2. Hopefully there's be enough of 1 for what you need.

I used a LD300 combo for a short while, and it was certainly loud enough for pub-sized gigs. The tone shaping is what it is, there's much better out there, but for the money (IIRC I bought/sold it for £250 or so) it does a good job.

[quote name='deaver' timestamp='1331032830' post='1566494'] When I hear something I've recorded and think that it sounds like a proper bass player rather than me. When I get to the end of a gig and get that rush from having got through it and done a good job. When a new song comes together properly for the first time. [/quote] +1 to this, all of it. It's what it's all about.

Another problem you might have changing necks around is access to those upper frets - I'm putting a 22-fret neck (which I already have) onto a Thunderbird body, so I'm kissing goodbye to, oh, seven frets or so. That's OK for me (saves all that anxiety and nosebleeds straying over the 15th fret), but if you're after a useable 24 frets, you'll need the right neck position/cutaway to actually get to them without having to have a second left wrist installed...

Yup, that's where I've got mine. Still had a little bit of dive, but that would be because it's got a P-neck, but a set of Hipshot Ultralites completely sorted it.

Cheers Karl, I do like it, though it was done on a budget, just to try the concept out - £130 for the Epi Thunderbird (less what I got for the neck when I sold it), a MM neck I had sort of lying around, plus a bit of machining for the pocket. Result. I liked it so much, however, I've spent a bit more on it: Hipshot Supertone bridge, Hipshot superlites (inc.Xtender), rewire (inc.pull-serial pot) and SD pickups. It'll be finished by the end of the week - I'll post more pics then. I've also got a really nice Lakland birdseye maple neck awaiting another Thunderbird body, so I can start all over again...

Hmmm, not sold on that one, to be honest, but on the Fenderbird front, I'm a fan - if he can make a good one like this, I'd be in.... [sharedmedia=core:attachments:89623]

[quote name='Earbrass' timestamp='1330611932' post='1560353'] "To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world....” ― [url="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1020792.Antoine_de_Saint_Exup_ry"]Antoine de Saint-Exupéry[/url] Perhaps it's not about waiting for "the one" to appear, but about making the one you have "the one" by getting to know it inside out. [/quote] And I think this is what I'm approaching, by modding, modding, modding basses, now I have the experience of many other basses and I understand which elements of which bass appeal to me. If I get the mix right, I'll have a unique bass which suits me uniquely. If I hadn't owned new Fenders and old Fenders and Gibsons and Overwaters and Goodfellows and Warwicks and Yamahas and Laklands and Ibanezes and lots of others, I wouldn't know this. I'll still need at least three of them...can I call them The Ones?