oligoon

lowfer, agreed I would prefer to go second hand - however I still need to get to a decent shop to try out a few different bases. I'd hate to pay a grand for somethung that wasn't comftable to play.

crow, what's the name of the burnham shop pls? I agree the vibration is strange - I got the pickups out easily enough expecting to find something vibrating against them - but there wasn't. I did try prying the pickups open, but they seemed to be sealed with some sort of gunk so gave up. GAS ftw!

ta for replies:- crow the pick up resonates when the open A is played - sounds like there is something vibrating inside the pickup. i'm not near burnham - but near Yeovil - out in the sticks! although do go up the m5 fairly often - is there a good shop in burnham? chris whats GAS? Gear Aquisition Syndrome??? I certainly have that - the missus is doing her nut already!

Buzz, ta for reply - better get my arse up to the big smoke (london) as decent music shops aren't plentiful in somerset!

Guys, Hi - forgive me if this is a set of questions asked many times before! Anyhow i've had a Squire P Bass copy for 5 years now (my first bass) and have been quite happy with it - but recently have had a problem with some resonance on the open A string, even when not plugged in to an amp. After stripping the guitar down I found this was coming from one of the pick ups. The question is - is it worth fitting good quality new pick ups to a budget bass? Or should I get a better instrument? I did try a friends mexican Jazz and found the pick ups noisy but liked the way it played and the adjustability of sound - is the noise down to the pickups on these? In some ways money is not a major issue as a good intsrument retains its value (at least to some extent). So should I go US Fender Jazz or maybe even a Sadowsky (metro - I don't have stoopid money). Should I go 5 string or will it annoy me too much? Fot info I use an Ashdown ABM900 head and 1510 stack with Rotosound Monel Flatwound strings (45.65.85.105) on the P and play mainly with a plectrum. Material is rock based (ac/dc, greenday, metallica etc). Sorry for the questions being quite open - but i'm just not sure which way to go. oli