Muzz

^ This. It was painful. I managed over a minute, and I wish I hadn't. Chops should stay in the butchers.

The biggest problem with homebuilding (or, as has been pointed out above, home assembling) basses, is that you can actually get what you want from a bass, without compromise, which kinda ruins the appeal of 90% of off-the-shelf stuff. Once I'd been through a lot of basses, from cheapo stuff through the midrange to the top-end luthier-built stuff (all secondhand, I might add), I was able to identify what worked for me and what didn't, and now there's very little out there which would tick all my boxes. I can, however, put together (with some luthier assistance - fortunately I have a very good, very reasonably priced luthier at my disposal) what I want pretty cheaply. I wouldn't swap my FrankenP for any US Fender P (I had a couple of these when I built the main FrankenP, and subsequently sold them), and I'm currently having a ball with my Fenderbird. I'm not sure I agree about depreciation being so bad, either: homebuilds can always be parted out and the bits either reused or sold on without much financial pain, especially if the bits have been bought second hand. If everything's bought new, then yeah, you won't see your money back, but you go and buy a new Fender (or worse, a boutique bass or a Warwick) at list price and see how much of that you get back after 12 months. I see plenty of things like Hipshot Xtenders flying around on here, and people don't lose much on them. I think far more emphasis is placed on bitsas depreciation than any other bass - would we really have a discussion about the next Fodera for sale on here along the lines of "Oh my God, he's losing £3500 in depreciation on that bass! New Foderas are SUCH a bad idea!". Having some experience of bitsas now means depreciation isn't much of an issue for me anyway when we're talking about £200-300, which is where most of my builds lie, and because I buy the bits carefully. It's a market like any other, you can spend wisely or not. I'll still buy off the shelf stuff, mainly to satisfy my curiosity, and I'll do this second-hand with one eye on the resale value. Inevitably they get moved on, but I'll learn from them. All that said, I have a decent budget available at the moment, and I'm looking for a very special bass. It might even end up being a Dingwall or a Lull. But I'll be changing the pickups from standard...

OK, well, that's me out. Just found out Mark / Bass Direct won't be there, so that's a major shopping attraction out anyway, leaving the prospect of paying £25 for a browse round the other stands being deafened by slap, which just doesn't sound like much of a deal for me...

Schaller 463...the most comfortable bridge for palm muting I've found.

OK, can anyone answer this one - would I have to pay £25 to get to the trade stands? I'm in the market for a good bass, having just sold the last of my valuable basses, and it'd be handy to have a look/try of various basses in one room (if, in fact, there's anything I'd like, and to be honest there wasn't much rang my bell last year), but I have no interest in Mr Miller or any of the other performers (and Nige I'm more than familiar with (in a good way) ) so £25 to go shopping for an hour seems like a lot of money.

Since I went back to serious playing (rehearsals every week, gigs as much as poss, etc) I've been borderline-obsessed with the weight of all my kit. I've slimmed down to the rig below, which weighs in total probably 50lbs, and I look very carefully at ways to lighten my basses, or I look for lighter ones. I've just sold my boat-anchor 78 Jazz (a sniff under 12lbs) because I simply couldn't use it for more than a half an hour, and anything over 9lbs is looked at very carefully these days - a good example is from another thread I posted here: I've replaced my tuners on the Fenderbird with Gotoh Ultralights, and they are a fantastic upgrade for any bass. I'm not suscepible to the juju that is 'heavier is better tone' or any of the related nonsense, a good bass is a good bass, it doesn't have to be heavy.

And as an addendum to this, got home tonight and the Supertone bridge was waiting for me. Fitted it, and I was initially taken aback by the change in the bass - helps the balance that bit more, comfier on the heel of the hand, but the increase in sustain was startling. The whole bass resonates now - OK, it's not mahogany like a Gibson, but it's really, really good, and feels alive. The FrankenP's off the go-to top spot, and my plan to make a Warmoth super-P is now on hold. Now if I can only find some chrome covers for the pickups...

You're not the only one...although now I've got the Hipshot Ultralights and the Supertone on my Fenderbird, it's keeping the £3k+ GAS away...

...and they're great. Originally fitted (inc the Ultralight Xtender) to cure the neck dive on my Fenderbird, and they do this admirably. They're a little shorter in the shaft* than the originals, so the keys sit lower on the head, but that's more to do with the fact that they're in a much-used and abused MM P-Bass neck rather than something designed for them. A bonus is the great feel to the neck now, I really like the lightness of the head: if you move the neck around a bit when playing (as I occasionally do), it feels much more like an extension of your hand than before. I'm tempted to fit them to all my basses now. * Oooer missus, etc, etc, write your own punchline here...

Welcome Dunc - I think we have a contender for Strongest Back On The Forum!

This ^ All of it. Your choice of pickups and EQ circuit will have the most profound effect on the sound of the bass. I have an ash bodied, maple neck and board, corian nut and Schaller bridged bass, and another with a maple body, wenge neck and board, brass nut and two piece bridge. They have the same pickups and circuit in in pretty much the same position. Amplified, it's very very hard to tell them apart. Once the band starts up, it's pretty much impossible. They feel, look and play differently, though a lot of that is down to their shapes, size, neck profile, etc. The wood 'tone' is probably the least significant factor between them. I like Padauk.

I've put Wizards in my FrankenP, and then sold my US Precisions because it sounded and played better. I also put some in a Warwick Fortress, and that worked a treat, too. I'd have some in my Fenderbird, but they don't make 'em to fit.

How far away is that? Seriously, he does look a bit of a tool playing that...just doesn't work, somehow...

That's just horrible. Horrible.

Oh my giddy aunt...my YOB Precision. That's lovely...wish I was in as good nick... Edit: just read a couple of posts up - wise men think alike...

I thought the output from the pickups was quite 'polite' compared to a lot of basses I've played. I love the neck, but I'd decided if I ever went for one, changing the pups was job no 1 on the list. Given the current list price, 425 for a nice one is a great price to pay. I'd certainly go for that.

Going down the same route here (not with the second Mrs (yet) tho... ) on the Fenderbird - Hipshot Xtender and tuners fitted, Supertone ordered, next it'll be the Seymour Duncans and a CTS rewire. Then it'll be finished. Probably. This modding lark's more GAS-inducing than buying em whole. At least it's cheaper...

I thought the Rumour build quality was very very good, but then so was the build quality of the Shuker and the Overwater I had. Not another level between them though. Couldn't fault any of them, so it'd be doing someone an injustice to claim one was better than another, much less vastly better. Once build standards and attention to detail reach the heights of most (haven't owned em all, so I can't say all) top-end luthiers, the differences become very very small indeed. Maybe you've had a substandard Sei, or an under-par Overwater, or a dodgy Dingwall, I don't know.

Not for me - I had a Rumour a fair while ago, and it was a very well made instrument (not sure about 'another level') but that's just Huggy Bear's bass.

I like even more Tubetone in my sound - between 12 and 2 o'clock on the dial, but I think this is one of the strengths of the RH450 (certainly compared to the LM Rocker or Tube) - that tube saturation (as well as being very natural sounding) is also very gradual from a hint to full fuzz. I preferred it to lots of heads with yer actual valves in the preamps. Oh, and I have a pretty compressed sound, too, so them there transients are all squished out before I start...

Yep, that was my first 34" scale bass, too - second bass overall, first was a short-scale - Satellite, too. It was OK at the time - certainly better than I was in 1978...

This has been round the EBay block fairly recently - I was watching it then. Can't remember what it went for.

Anyone care to point out the difference between this and the Spyder 550? I'm presuming it's the same power stage, tho the Spyder has (I think) the Drophead pre. Is there much difference? I loved the sound, but it didn't beat my RH450 as an overall package (size and weight had a lot to do with it) so it went. Gotta say I quite like the styling (if they did it right - those labels are cack for an amp on the north side of £700), tho the 'bastard' thing got old very quickly some time ago, and is embarassing now.

Nice wood, but it's yet another version of the most-versioned bass shape in the world. If basses were cars, people would still be making Model Ts out of carbon fibre and composites. The Dingwall's much nicer.

Very nice, unfortunately that stonking great switch on the upper horn ruins it...