Grand Wazoo

If anyone is interested, there is one of these going on eBay (I have already posted the link in the correct section) but in case you've missed it, here is the link: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=88304&st=0&gopid=839455&#entry839455"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...mp;#entry839455[/url]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='839440' date='May 17 2010, 02:36 AM']Was there a buy it now before someone bid? Post it up, then if you want it at that, you can message the dude and have him cancel the bids so it reappears.[/quote] It's not me selling this, I've already got one, I am just passing it here for the BC'ers, at the time I spotted it there was no Buy it Now

Someone's going to get lucky [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-Squier-Classic-Vibe-Precision-Bass-50s-/110534036387?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item19bc578ba3"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-Squier-Classi...=item19bc578ba3[/url]

[quote name='cameltoe' post='839195' date='May 16 2010, 08:21 PM']Marvellous advice as always Grand Wazoo! I told you I'd get one didn't I? I have spotted a Seymour Duncan Antiquity pickup for the single coil Precision in the For Sale section. These are around £75 new, wondered if that would be a good match? I don't know too much about them though, the only thing I can find is that they are a sort-of reissue of the original Telebass pickup, a sort of 'original vintage' so to speak.[/quote] I have no experience with the lollar, but you must bear this in mind, which is the advice I have received from experts on the subject: the original 50's precision is made of ash this one is made of basswood, a vintage pickup will work better with ash but not with basswood, so the antiquity and the lollar might be the perfect match for those but not the Squier CV, and money was not an issue in my case when my friend say to me, go for the quarter pound which is what this bass need to shine and cut through. He was right, I didn't take his word for it and tried the antiquity first and felt very thin, after I put the quarter pound I regretted buying the antiquity and I was lucky to be able to sell it on ebay for a fiver less.

1) Pickups: Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound I believe is the best match for this bass [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/basslines/progressive-1/scpb3_quarterpo/"]http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/bass...cpb3_quarterpo/[/url] 2) Wirings & Pots: change the Volume and Tone pots for a set of original Fender CST 250 K and high quality Fender waxed cloth covered wiring together with the correct Sprague capacitor and a Switchcraft input jack all of which are available as a complete kit for £14.99 on this link: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WIRING-KIT-FENDER-PRECISION-BASS-HIGH-QUALITY-/270578014080?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Guitar_Accessories&hash=item3effb4d780"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WIRING-KIT-FENDER-PR...=item3effb4d780[/url] I've tried the other Seymour Duncan vintage pickup but the Quarter Pound gave it the necessary presence and punch that I was looking for whereas the other one felt thin in comparison.

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='838254' date='May 15 2010, 04:56 PM'][b][size=6]F[/size][/b]or the 2010 50th birthday celebration of the Jazz bass, Fender wanted to create something different from just another reissue of a classic model, so the 50th Anniversary model combines elements from several eras of the instrument's history, making for a special bass not only for collectors, but for players, too. Working from the top of the bass downwards, the tuners are from the current American Standard, lightweight Hipshots & the logo on the body colour headcap is the original "offset contour 60's logo." The neck is from the American Classic 62RI model with the "most comfortable shape ever", but incorporates the posiflex graphite rods as well as a modern bottom end hex wrench operated truss rod. The selected maple neck is also beautifully figured and lacquered with a gloss nitro finish. Fretwork is also excellent & the rosewood fingerboard is of excellent quality, the edges of the 'board being polished to match in with the gloss neck. The fingerboard also features pearloid block inlays which as flawlessly fitted flush to the wood. Another piece of excellent work. The neck plate is a special commemorative anniversary edition, bearing the inscription, "50th Anniversary JAZZ BASS, since 1960" across the background of the "big F" & has the standard four-bolt fixing. The neck pocket join is as near perfect as a bolt on neck is going to get & detail finishing around this area is highly impressive with none of the over painting or jagged edges that are found so often on mass produced instruments. The body is made from select alder & has through body stringing & the pickups are taken from the American Vintage series 75 reissue model. These pickups are a little noisier than the almost silent [with flush polepieces] models you get with the American Standard, but having owned a 75RI, they do produce the creamiest tone of all the stock Fender pickups. The positioning of the rear pickup is one quarter inch further back than the standard model in the '70's position", giving the 50th Anniversary model a slightly harsher tone to the back pickup than you'll find on either an American Standard or a Road Worn when the rear pickup is solo'd. An interesting fact linked with the 70's positioning is that it was originally moved because the back pickup poked out from the pickup cover a little. The happy coincidence to this move was a much brighter and sharper sound which is still popular to this day. The bridge is the vintage high-mass model first introduced on the American Standard at the beginning of 2008. This design caters for both base stringing & through body options and saddles are ribbed for greater accuracy in placing the strings between the pickup poles. The nitro candy apple red finish is flawless and seems to have a lot of silver in the colour mix. It really is a striking paint job! The chrome pickup & bridge covers are a nice touch, but make playing in modern styles difficult. The "Marcus" pickup cover tends to make a good thumbrest if you can play with your right hand that far away from the strings, but does create an extra metallic shimmer within the sound when played fingerstyle. The "F" embossed bridge cover is huge and only leaves a gap of 2-3 inches between itself and the pickup cover, so playing fingerstyle back there with the covers on is a little on the tight side if you're blessed with big hands like me! That leads to my only complaint about this bass - Fender are shipping these basses out with the chrome covers pre attached, whereas American Vintage models are supplied with them separately in the accessory kit, leaving the owner with the choice of whether or not to put them on. I personally prefer to play without the covers and it's unfortunate that on my example of the 50th, the bridge cover has left a couple of small indentations in the nitro finish. It's not a big deal, as the bass is going to be played, but it is mildly annoying on a bass at this price point. Sound-wise, the bass is pure Jazz, but an interesting mix of the creamy 75RI sound, the growling graphite-rod equipped sound of the American Standard and a lot of additional rich tone, courtesy of the thin nitro finish. Well played examples of this bass are going to be seen as very "cool" by the relic fraternity in a few years, as the nitro finish will undoubtedly mark very easily. The aforementioned neck is indeed very comfortable to play and the nitro gloss isn't in any way sticky feeling like on some of the lesser models. So, what do you get for your money? Well, as well as all of the aforementioned features, you get an embellished version of the American Vintage luxury Fender plaque'd hardshell case & the [b]CASE CANDY[/b] pack includes the same strap and cable pack as the AV series, bridge mutes of two varieties & a commemorative booklet of the history of the Jazz bass. There's also the usual T-shaped trussrod tool & various imperial sized hex wrenches. All in all, this is an excellent celebratory version of the Jazz bass we all know and love. Great to play & great to look at, with a once in a lifetime combination of specs from different periods of the Jazz's history, making for quite an individual sounding bass to play. Looking at the bass from a potential buyer's point of view, it looks expensive, even for a limited edition, but when you start to look at the quality & the custom shop like attention to detail, you can almost forgive Fender's bass division a little monetary indulgence! Highly recommended.[/quote] Very nice review Ritch, I know this thread is old, but I just stumbled on it by chance, this really looks like a bass that will become quite collectible, I love all the details and my only complaint is that to see a block inlayed neck without the customary binding is like looking at Dolly Parton with a flat chest, not something you'd expect. But yes it is a very nice bass and one I never had the chance to try yet, as I haven't seen it anywhere yet.

ebay has these: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-Mustang-Vintage-Trans-Brown-Bass-77-78-/150440989549?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2306fb536d"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-Mustang-Vinta...=item2306fb536d[/url] [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-MUSTANG-BASS-Guitar-Marshall-Amp-Strap-Lead-/200470794045?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2eacfd8f3d"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-MUSTANG-BASS-...=item2eacfd8f3d[/url]

Going through an airport on my way back from France this morning, I stopped at an outlet, my attention got caught by this digital scale that it is used to weight luggage, with max capacity 35 Kilos. one hook at the bottom and a belt on top, I thought ah!! I could used that to accurately weight my basses! It was only a fiver so I took it home and tested it with a bag of sugar first, yep 1.00 kilos then 5 liters of water and it read it accurately as 5 kilos, so I started weighting all my basses and these are the readouts from each one of them in order of purchase... 1. PRS 4 - 3 x Single coils plus hum cancelling coil in the back - 2 band eq = 8,51lbs.00oz 2. PRS 5 - 3 x Single coils plus hum cancelling coil in the back - 2 band eq = 8,87lbs.00oz 3. Stingray 5 - Single H - no piezo - 3 band eq = 10lbs.00oz. 4. Bongo 5HH -Piezo saddles - 4 band eq = 9lbs.14oz. 5. 25th Anniversay 5 HSS - 4 band eq = 10lbs.08oz 6. Squier CV 50's Precision - 1 x single coil = 8lbs.15oz 7. Squier CV 60's Jazz - 2 x single coils = 9lbs.12oz. 8. Squier CV 60's Precision - 1 x split coil = 9lbs.04oz. 9. Fender CIJ 51 Reissue Precision - 1 x single coil = 10lbs.08oz. Funny enough my lightest bass is the Squier CV 50's Precision and the heaviest is the Fender CIJ 50's Precision (Also I've just noticed the Fender CIJ 51 weights exactly as much as the 25th Anniversary EBMM) Here is the scale I got: How much do yours weight?

Wow that's a lot, I am glad I got all 3 of mine dirt cheap before the prices went up I paid as follows: [b]50's Precision £234 60's Jazz £249 60's Precision Fiesta Red £259[/b]

I want a cinnamon active 5 strings, anyone who has one please let me know

You can find a pickguard here: [url="http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/category/Pickguards/Musicman,b.html?page=3"]http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/category/Pickguar...n,b.html?page=3[/url]

[quote name='Musicman20' post='836149' date='May 13 2010, 01:37 PM']I see what you mean, things can change in a store. Its great that they let you test all those bits n pieces out. I just received my Polytune from the Bass Merchant so Im looking forward to playing around with it. [/quote] Wait... the only thing that I tried in the Bass Cellar was the Big Al. The rest of the bits were in all the other shops up and down tin pan alley.

How do they do it? Buy Ibanez parts and re-brand them would be my guess.

[quote name='kjm' post='835892' date='May 13 2010, 08:58 AM']While the fact that they have one in stock may be cause for some joy, the fact that they are rude ignorant arses would make me wait ten years before giving them 10p if at all. And if you really want to try one go see or talk to Darren at bassmerchants in colchester he has one in stock (4 string) and to my knowledge has never been a rude ignorant arse !!![/quote] Darren is a top bloke I give you that but he is untold blinking miles from me. Serioulsy Kim you can't generalize, that shop has a fast turnaround of staff, and every time I have been there, there have been new faces, I am not discounting your bad experience, but you can't paint them all with the same tar brush. The blokes that were in there yesterday were a right laugh and helpful too.

I tell you what else I tried yesterday: 1) MIM Fender 60's reissue Precision. Verdict in a nutshell: CRAP! horrible neck, edged like a sawtooth, sounded like sh|te! 2) Squier Vintage Modified Telecaster Bass: nice enough to play but very bad sounding, deffo lesser quality than those made in China. I'll stay away from the Indonesia stuff from now on. 3) Epiphone EB3, that was nice, but I couldn't hold it on a strap without getting a back pain, weights as much as 2 basses glued together, sounded good though. 4) Ashdown wireless gizmo, expensive but it worked, if you can afford it, buy one, it didn't warp the original sound at all so that gets a 10/10 from me, yet I can't justify that much dough. 5) TC Electronic Polytune - yay!!! Something else to go in my xmas stocking this year, wicked little tuner, forget about everything you've tried before this thing is nice and accurate, it also picks up the harmonics on a low B (5th string) at almost any fret 6) Boss RC20-XL Loop Station, as above Xmas stocking filler, pricey but you can overdub lots and lots up to 16 minutes of recording time with what seems like unlimited overdubbed tracks and it has a very interesting feature: it quantizes your next phrase / chords / solo automatically so even if you are slightly lopsided it manages to fit it nicely in sync. Wicked this one and worth the £200 mark. In conclusion 1) Big Al four = MEGA 2) Boss RC20-XL = MEGA 3) TC Electronics Polytune = MEGA 4) Ashsown wireless whatsits = COOL but dear 5) Epiphone EB3 = Interesting but not my cuppa - too bloody heavy 6) Squier Tele Bass VMod = nah... not keen. 7) Fender reissue 60 Pbass Made in Mez'co = just say no! take a wide berth. It's proper sh|te.

What I've also realized about this bass is that despite the sharp looks it is very functional to play in the ergonomic side of things, the angular body shape is very comfortable and it's by no means as cumbersome to hold as it might look on pictures. Actually the body when you look at it, is quite petite and with those 3 huge single coils and the massive bridge, everything seems to be neatly compact and evenly placed. I have ordered mine in April almost sight unseen, I had only previously tried one at a music show last year and liked it but I was only able to hear the sound through one of those pandora box headphone amp that was on the Ernie Ball stand, didn't give it justice, now that I have heard it properly through an amp I am convinced that I have made the right choice.

I was out and about in the big smoke today enjoying a day off when I spotted and tried this Big Al 4 strings in the Bass Cellar, Denmark Street. Olympic White with a white perloid guard, rosewood neck and the 3 single coil pickup combo. It played really nice and the best bit is that the asking price on the tag says £1695 but they are willing to let it go for somethin between £1399-£1450 for cash. (in other words 15% off for cash) If you are after one of these and you want it now without having to wait 5 months like I am for a 5 strings one, then give them a bell and put a deposit down, it will not last long at that price. Believe me if I didn't have one on the way I would have snatched that one, it sounded the bllx! Like Ed Friedland said, it's a P-Bass killa!

[quote name='Hutton' post='833992' date='May 11 2010, 10:02 AM']It's all really a bit subjective. 'One man's meat is another man's poison' so to speak. I had a Ray and a SUB. I sold the Ray because I preferred the sound of the SUB. My Ray had that weak G string thing no matter what I did to it. The SUB was and is even across the strings. The build quality is pure USA Ernie Ball so you know what you're getting. I know that my SUB is a keeper, and I suspect it will rise in value in the passage of time due to the relatively short production run. The Ray34 I have no doubt is an excellent working instrument. However, if you want a piece that is going to rise in value it seems it has to have 'Made in USA' stamped on it.[/quote] Those are entirely my thoughts too. The SUB will be extremely sought after in the years to come, and in less than 10 years it'll probably reach legend status, can you say the same about an Indonesian SBMM?

[quote name='Musicman20' post='833774' date='May 10 2010, 11:19 PM']Its killing my savings, although to justify I basically was going to spend around £3k on a custom Sei/Overwater for my 30th next March. In the end I knew I wanted a few different basses instead of one very expensive one. I cant really pick what I want from a custom builder, plus Im not one for really exotic tops. I also sold my two Rays to fund the incoming two...but yep the Big Al 5 SSS will be worth it I think. Ill update the thread when I go ahead haha.[/quote] and be prepared for a long wait... I'm still counting the days for mine to come

[quote name='cameltoe' post='833027' date='May 10 2010, 01:16 PM']Would you generally rate Sterling by MM as a better quality instrument? Seems like that range has taken over where the SUB left off, so would be good to know, especially if they're knocking about in a similar price range[/quote] I am afraid but I have to disagree... If we are talking playabilty and sound the Sub are superior in my views. To me Sterling By MM is a bit like mutton dressed as lamb. the few I tried loked nicely polished and pretty coloured but playing them they eventually felt like copies, I didn't feel like jumping up and down about them. I still believe that if you succeed in getting a decently priced SUB you will own a better instrument.

Dunno, I never touched one, I'll have to try. However something worries me about that bass, it's not from the same factory where the other CV's come from, this one says "Crafted in Indonesia" I am not sure about the quality of their workmanship and/or the material used. So before I start the gassing procedure, I'll have to get my filthy hands on one of them and see for meself.

[quote name='matski' post='832955' date='May 10 2010, 12:11 PM']I have the same issue with the same type of tuners. One thing I have noticed is that when the tuners are screwed tight to the head of the bass, the actual middle section of the baseplate of the tuners tends to bow out slightly from the wood of the head. I haven't investigated thoroughly (cos I'm lazy) but what I think may be happening on mine is that the threaded 'screw' of the tuner is in contact with the wood of the head, causing friction which makes it hard to turn the tuner peg itself. If this is the case, then I guess some sort of spacer between the tuner and headstock is the solution. Alternatively, over time they will gouge themselves a channel out of the headstock... Have a look at yours: are your tuners slightly bowing out from the head of your bass too or are they sitting flat?[/quote] Yeah, I've had a look, you are right! They are slightly bowed, however following a previous suggestion I've managed to make them a little bit less stiff by unscrewing the main large screw that holds the big string post, not a big deal but slightly better, so I take it is a matter of time, wear and tear and hopefully they should get less hard to turn with time (one hopes), I nearly snapped my plastic peg winder on them, f-f-sake! Cheers though, very good advice.

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='832697' date='May 9 2010, 11:51 PM']Also available left handed.... some 80s silliness for those who remember [/quote] Nice bit of miming, ahhh! the magical unplugged bass!

very good compressor which was later integrated in the Trace Elliot SMX series in 1996

[quote name='Musky' post='832434' date='May 9 2010, 06:47 PM']Have you tried loosening the screw that holds the centre of the gear slightly?[/quote] No I haven't but I shall give it a try [quote name='arsenic' post='832441' date='May 9 2010, 06:54 PM']I wondered if the string post is being pulled hard against the headstock bushes when it string is under tension.[/quote] I've had exactly the same doubt but that was soon crashed when I temprarily swapped that tuner from another Fender bass in it and there were no issues with stiffness in the headstock bushes. [quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='832443' date='May 9 2010, 06:54 PM']Well, for a start WD40 isn't a lubricant, the WD stands for water displacement, its a for penetrating and driving water out, too thin to be a good lubricant. I'd guess the sewing machine oil is also very thin, for finely engineered gears, which Fender's definitely aren't. Take it apart, and re lube it all with vaseline or similar petroleum gel, that is more like grease, but clean for your fingers.[/quote] I agree abot WD40, errr we've got no vaseline here is there anything else what works that is not vaseline? [quote name='richrips' post='832451' date='May 9 2010, 06:59 PM']Most open gear tuners stiffness id dictated by a piece of bent metal which pushes against the screw thread. it is held under the 'cog'. if you disassemble the tuner you can remove this piece of metal and slightly reduce/increase the bend with pliers or in a clamp to reduce/increase stiffness. Some tuners do not have this piece of metal and the only way to adjust them is via the screw as described above, although this may affect the overall stiffness of the tuner assembly and effect the tone. Try both and compare, Rich[/quote] Yeah these tuners don't have the piece of bent metal just the open cog. Cheers to all for the advice, I see how I get on with losening and lubing the gear with v#s#line