dlloyd

I'd imagine it would pick up a few extra quid on ebay simply because it says "Fender" in big letters. The confusion above re JV series instruments raises an interesting ethical question... I personally have never listed a serial number in an auction. Would the seller have a moral obligation to point out in the listing that this is not a JV series instrument? Or would it be sufficient to say made in Korea? My concern would be that someone with an inkling that big-Fender-logo Squiers are worth upwards of £500 would over-bid on it... or would it be their fault for not having done their homework?

[quote name='bobbass4k' post='850855' date='May 29 2010, 01:54 AM']5 gauss is nothing (a strong fridge magnet is about 50 gauss), I'd check with your doctor about that, if it really is 5 gauss you gave to avoid, you're in for an interesting life. Nerd note: who uses gauss instead of tesla?[/quote] It's useful for talking about teeny tiny magnets, even if non-SI. Magnetic field strength follows an inverse cube relationship with distance, so the drop off is very rapid. A 25 gauss magnet will only exert 5 gauss at a distance of a few cm. To give an idea of how rapidly magnetic field strength drops, the NMR spectrometer I used to work on (7T... 70,000 gauss) had its 5 gauss line at 2 meters. A pickup at waist height is going to exert sod all field strength at nipple level.

[quote name='Mykesbass' post='850640' date='May 28 2010, 08:39 PM']I'm no expert but this interseted me so had a quick surf - apparently you should avoid magnetic fields greater than 5 gauss - Seymour Duncan pickups are around 25 gauss! I would check with your consultant - hope all goes well![/quote] I seriously wouldn't worry about it. 25 gauss is nothing. They're really worried about things like MRI scanners that sit at a field strength of around 10,000 gauss and up.

Yep, from the photos the nut slot doesn't look like it's been cut deep enough. If the shop are happy to pay for that to be fixed, then fine... take it to a decent luthier.

If you want to be really annoyed, how about their poll for the "greatest bass player": [url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/rocknrollband/bassists/"]http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/rocknrollband/bassists/[/url] Shortlist: John Entwistle Flea Peter Hook Alex James John Paul Jones Lemmy Mani Paul McCartney Paul Simonon Tina Weymouth

[quote name='51m0n' post='849387' date='May 27 2010, 01:25 PM']It was supposed to be about great bass players, not bass players in indie bands you have probably heard of ffs![/quote] This programme was never intended to be about who were the "greatest" bassists. It, and the whole series, is about members of bands who appeal to certain section of the general public. One that doesn't appear to listen to a whole lot of black musicians.

[quote name='WHUFC BASS' post='849280' date='May 27 2010, 11:36 AM']They don't inspect every guitar that goes out the door apparently because the sheer volume of guitars they sell wouldn't make this viable.[/quote] ! Now that's just lazy... Surely it would take at most a couple of minutes to check that the truss rod and saddles were adjusted correctly?

[quote name='gjones' post='849225' date='May 27 2010, 10:24 AM']That's worrying considering all the good press these basses have had recently (and because I'm planning on buying one).[/quote] I don't think it's likely to be a problem with the bass, or with the way it left the factory. It sounds more like the shop simply didn't bother to set it up.

[quote name='Starless' post='849241' date='May 27 2010, 10:40 AM']Considering I don't get on with a fretless Precision neck, the 'beast' is a bit over the top... my left forearm hurts like hell today.. but I think that is just muscles which have never really been used saying "What the hell are you doing to us!!". Even plonking out basic root/fifths makes you close your eyes, nod in time to the music and say to yourself "Mmm, yeah, jazz baby...". Love it. Great fun and well worth persevering with. I think some formal tuition is in order so that bad habits don't form too early...[/quote] Glad you're enjoying it. Forearm pain would probably indicate your technique needs some adjustment, so I'd definitely go for a few lessons.

It was what it was, a light entertainment programme aimed at a general TV audience. The choice of artists had to reflect the musical tastes of those watching, who wouldn't have a clue who Bootsy Collins was, let alone Victor Wooten or Jaco Pastorius.

[quote name='Starless' post='849151' date='May 27 2010, 08:48 AM']As the previous owner of the little beauty, it had sat in a bag for months while I had mulled over converting it to fretless. I already have a workhorse CIJ 62 Jazz so the satin was in effect a duplicate. I came very close to making the journey to Glasgow to discuss removing the fretboard (completely) and replacing with an un-lined rosewood slab.[/quote] I'm glad you didn't! How are you getting on with the bull fiddle?

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='849075' date='May 27 2010, 12:42 AM']Truss rod?[/quote] +1 If it's gone out of whack while being transported, this is the adjustment to make. It's a simple tweak on MMs. Capo on first fret, fret it at the body join, measure the gap at the mid point... it should be around a business card thickness.

[quote name='Linus27' post='849066' date='May 27 2010, 12:25 AM']Damn, its you that bought it To be honest, if I had bagged it, I would had probably kept it fretted and de-fretted my ESP ... maybe. I agree, it is going to be pretty impossible to find another. One of the Jap import websites has the gloss one but thats at £899 and way more than I wanted to pay. Unless you sell your one, I can't see me ever finding one. So how is it the bass? Does it sound good and look as good as the pictures?[/quote] It's very nice indeed. Very resonant ash body, silky smooth neck, no dead spots. Looks nicer in person. Best Jazz I've played in a while.

[quote name='Prime_BASS' post='849053' date='May 26 2010, 11:55 PM']I'm quite sure there is a CIJ walnut satin jazz in the for sale section(try a search) it's fretted however but it would save you time to just defret the neck than huntfor a fretlezz one.[/quote] There was one for sale up until Monday. It's sitting a couple of feet away from me and the frets are staying on it (for the time being). Having done some homework on them, I'd say it's going to be quite difficult to get a hold of another one in the UK. They're non-export and they aren't made any more. I get the impression they're fairly rare. Fender Japan do a gloss version of it, but it's not cheap... at recommended retail it would cost around £1000 to import a new one, but you could probably source one for around £850 all told.

If you're after an orangey colour, but can't find a trans orange bass, Trans Gold is a little more common:

Might be worth sending a PM to Higgie... [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=19115&st=20&p=470846&#entry470846"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...mp;#entry470846[/url]

...it's probably worth mentioning that trans Orange is not one of the most common colours and the OP might have difficulty finding one in the UK. Transatlantic sales aren't as attractive as they were a couple of years ago either.

[quote name='4 Strings' post='843253' date='May 20 2010, 04:16 PM']Is that orange bass LIKE the one you're after or have you found it for sale? If the latter then I'm definitely with Duarte, go for it, its wonderful! (be even better with a maple fingerboard!)[/quote] It's one of Bovinehost's.

[quote name='iconic' post='843154' date='May 20 2010, 02:28 PM']many thanks guys, great replies et al. ...this quiet G string thing, I'm getting into slap now and always thought these StingRays were a great funk bass...doesn't this weak G limit popping or is this not an issue I would notice again, many thanks?[/quote] It absolutely doesn't limit popping.

Here's the current rates... it will update itself Not great at the moment. You want it around ¥200 at least: This is the situation from 2005 - May 2010... as you can see, mid-2007 was the time to buy. Before that, it was fairly stable at around ¥190

Ishibashi's policy is that they don't sell new instruments outside of Japan. But they have a great selection of second hand instruments: [url="http://www.ishibashi.co.jp/u_box/ubox.cgi?word=2&or8=32&key=fender&equal1=&value5=&select5=down&sort=&print=40&T=gazo"]Ishibashi U Box (Fender basses)[/url] A couple of years ago, the exchange rates were in our favour... in January 2008, it was around ￥212 to the pound and a ￥40,000 Yen S/H Japanese Fender (about the cheapest possible) would cost around £320 including shipping and tax. Presently we're at less than ￥130 to the pound (about as bad as it's ever been) and the same bass will cost around £200 more than it did back then. Anything around the ￥55,000 mark will come in at around £650 when it was around £450. I would hold my horses for the moment and wait for some economic recovery. Edit: just realised those figures were calculated at 15% VAT... add on some pounds!

[quote name='4 Strings' post='843068' date='May 20 2010, 12:58 PM']Pre-EB basses are expensive as Leo himself was still around for most of this period but they are massive sounding instruments. However the trans orange wasn't around then. EB has made every attempt to improve them over the years rather than dumb them down. Ernie is an enthusiast with little other interest as opposed to a corporate (such as CBS or Gibson) takeover.[/quote] Just a slight correction... The guy in charge of EB is Ernie's son, Sterling Ball. He was involved in Musicman from the beginning when the prototype Stingrays were being tested, and bought out the company when it fell into hard times and went under in 1984. Ernie Ball passed away in 2004.

[quote name='iconic' post='842785' date='May 20 2010, 08:17 AM']I'm looking at secondhand StingRays and have whittled my wanted list down to the Trans Colours and No1 is the Trans Orange with the white pearl eliptical pickguard...but I don't really know too much too about the different types out there and don't want to buy a lemon, I normally only ever buy new. Can anyone give me a brief LadyBird Guide to Stingrays....only interested in 4 strings. What years am I restricted too for Trans colours...Are they all active? 2 and 3 EQ?....didn't '90's have issues with pre-amps or is this pub talk, are later ones better, what to look for in general? Are there thin necks/big necks, you know the usual. any help very welcome[/quote] Trans colours have been around for a long time. Sunbursts and Naturals have been around since day one. Trans red and Trans Teal in the mid 80s. Other colours came about in the 1990s, but some are fairly rare, like trans green and trans white. I believe they were an option with either the 2 or 3 band or with the piezo pickup. Necks are fairly chunky... They're more P bass profile and string spacing, but a narrower string spacing more akin to J basses was originally available as an option. They're rare though. Some people have trouble with the preamps in that there can be uneven response across the strings. I found that this seemed to be dependent on the amp I was using, and that a flatter eq setting on the bass was more desirable (the temptation is to boost everything, which isn't always the best idea). They now also come with a few extra options such as a neck pickup (H or S) and fancy tops (expensive). Also there is now a vintage reissue that is more like the 1970s instruments. There are some early 80s instruments that have dodgy necks. But by and large they're usually good. They're usually fairly heavy, although some of the late 80s four bolt instruments are lighter.