Paolo85

I started with guitar at 13, with lessons. Moved to bass at 15, and did not take any lessons. That was also pre Youtube. I continued to use fretting techniques that I was taught for guitar. That's one of the reasons I think by the tine I was at uni I had to quit bass because of recurring tendinitis

I guess the downside with that is that, as a buyer, I would rather not pay through something I am mot very, very, familiar. Maybe, just because I have Monzo myself, I'd trust this one depending on how it looks. But in general, if I was to transfer hundreds or thousands of pounds before something gets posted to me, I don't want to have to figure out what the heck is that payment platform that I am seeing and whether is legit or just looks legit but has been created by a hacker

I politely disagree For distance transactions, as said, cash is no use. In person, everything is safe unless one of the two people decides to get a kinfe out and mug the other: the buyer tries the bass, the seller gets the money instantly, be it cash, bank or paypal and that's it. No way the money can be clawed back in a scam. With the only risk being that the bass has hidden issues in that case I am not sure how having paid cash helps - indeed, having at least a proof that the bass has being paid for is a good starting point in that case

If you pay on the bank account you know for sure that you are paying a person based in the UK, whose name and address can be found very easily assuming banks do their checks. Taking legal action could be straighforward. With paypal family and friensd not so much. I much prefer bank transfer. Paypal goods and services it's different but there are fees

You mean if the buyer claimed in court that you sold them a faulty good or something?

Good one. Yes I would totally check how pickup height change when you downtune. And make sure I compare the sound with identical height, noting that each half mm matters

It should be safe, only you can get money out of your account. Maybe naively I never considered it would be an issue and never showed up with cash until recently somebody did not accept that

Ha! Turns out the bass has been discontinued, that's why they were giving it away for free!

Well, because the shim took 30 seconds and the risk of screwing up something was minimal. Bit that's a good idea

...when I say it fits Squer bodies alright, there is a caveat: it needs a massive shim to tilt the neck away from you as the Fazley neck is much thicker

Well, I am also enjoing a lot. But I love to practice standing and it's heavy for me. Because of that, I was considering selling and getting a HB B450fl. GAS for the HB per se was not strong though. As it happens, however, I have figured out the Fazley neck fits Squier bodies alright. Then you have a massive neck diver.. but things would maybe be different if I chopped thr headstock and went for 2+2 instead of four in line. Basically I am mulling a bitsa monster...

...now they are selling for 57 pounds it seems.. https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/right-handed-bass-guitar/fazley-fpb218sb-fr-fretless-electric-bass-guitar-sunburst?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=surfaces&gclid=Cj0KCQjw7aqkBhDPARIsAKGa0oIkoHFpWPv51lH3NbD7odS3xkD0gHAkqYzedTJ_2HVhE7PLMjWaZjsaAnRIEALw_wcB That's very annoying because the resale value of mine is then zero, while it is a fine bass for the budget range!

Fair enough. It's hard to say how to look at all that in terms of market positioning. Will people go "do I get better value from a Fender or from a Sadowsky?" or "do I get better value from a Squier or a Sadowsky?"? Probably they'd look at both and more I guess As said previously, I personally do not see these China-made Sadowsky as a great value-for-money proposition at least on paper. But then a Squier VM is the most expensive bass I have (not considering other basses cheaper to start with but now modded quite a bit). Obviously, it is possible that if I were to try one everything would make absolute sense as a bass could be more or less than the sum of its parts (to a point..)

I am not sure I get this. I am not aware of Fender Js made in China at this moment although I may be wrong. Squire J basses made in China go for either 220 pounds or 350 pounds (the Paranormal). If you put lightweight tuners, fender high mass bridge and Sadowsky preamp into a Paranormal (which by all accounts is a very fine bass) you are in the region of 640 pounds

I bought a GruvGear duo strap about a month ago here in the classfields... why aren't dual strap more of a thing? Why it seems GruvGear and a very basic one from D'Addario are the only options? I see people moving to short scale basses for weigh reasons, I see people, including me, only buying light basses and doing mods to reduce weigh. Well, these straps work great for all that! ...I mean, I get why the GruvGear is not that popular: it's weird, looks ugly, it's too short, and keeps the bass in a weird position. That's why I think more conpanies should jump in and offer alternatives. GruvGear says you should wrap the bass around the bass'horn as per the doctor picture On top of looking ugly, it contributes to making the strap too short. Also, your bass ends up being pulled toward your right. An interesting position because it's identical to when you play sitting down, but looks and feels odd when standing up. I just attached the second strap straight to the strap lock. Looks comparatively better, leaves the strap a bit longer, and allows to keep the bass where it would be with a normal strap. I also created the option to extend the strap further with an old belt and some rivets. As things stand, I am quite happy with it. I like to practice standing up most of the time and it makes a massive difference. Another plus is that the bass stays still, exactly where you put it, more than with any other strap I have tried