Conan

[quote name='itsat34' timestamp='1486405576' post='3231537'] Just got one, I've got a very early one in natural and the body is the same shape as fender, so a tort scratch fitted no trouble, BUT this surf green one is way different. The lower cutaway is like the Fender 24 fret so a standard jazz plate is totally different. However Ive found some nice mint scratch material and will make one. A word of warning here, folks. All good fun tho! [/quote] I sent the original one to Scratch-it and Tim made me a lovely purple tort plate. It has no pre-drilled holes and I glued it onto the bass. To say it looks awesome is an understatement (it is the bass in my avatar pic). http://www.originalscratchplates.com/

[quote name='Rexel Matador' timestamp='1486464112' post='3231958'] I paid £200 for it. There are a few dings in the finish but nothing major. It sounds fantastic as it is but I'm going to try a Quarter Pounder in it just out of curiosity. The tuners on the MIM feel better to me, but other than that, there's very little in it. [/quote] Wow! Bargain of the century!!

[quote name='danbowskill' timestamp='1486453205' post='3231804'] Slap some dimarzio model p's in it ,a nice gotoh 201 bridge and some better tuners and it's a bass that cannot be beaten .........Like my main player ;-) . Good score, I absolutely love mine and don't think I would ever get rid. [/quote] Really? The pickups I could maybe understand (although the stock ones - Tonerider I believe - are OK), but the bridge is fine and the tuners perfectly acceptable IMO. The problem is, once you start modding cheap basses where do you stop? These basses are great straight out of the box and put to shame many instruments at twice and even three times the price!

I've just traded mine, which I am sure I will regret at some stage... I put a lovely white pearl plate on it, which made it look very sexy indeed! [url="http://www.northwestguitars.co.uk/precision-bass-scratchplate-pickguard-for-fender-p-bass/"]http://www.northwest...-fender-p-bass/[/url] These basses really do set the standard for fit and finish - at any price point, but especially when they are so cheap! If you don't mind me asking, what did you pay for one in the end?

Musicians tend to know other musicians, especially if they are actively gigging. I suspect this sort of thing happens a lot when band members wobble a bit. It's a sensible precaution to prepare a replacement if you know that someone needs replacing. However, the way that it is handled is what tells you about the people concerned. It can be done in a considerate manner, if that is what is required. Do the band have a manager? Crappy decisions like this are usually devolved to them!

Can my cricket club have one as well please?

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1486397297' post='3231432'] Have I got this right, the current bass player can't play the bass parts on the new album? Which begs the question who wrote them - it's normally the bass player in my experience? In which case the problem doesn't arise.... [/quote] Maybe, but it happens. Something similar happened with Ron Blair in Tom Petty's Heartbreakers. Tom is a pretty decent bass player himself (and so is Mike Campbell) and they wanted the bass lines done in a certain way. Blair didn't want to play them like that so he left. It was all pretty amicable though, which this situation seems not to be...

They (the band) need to sack their current bass player. As I see it, that is nothing to do with you. Let them get on with it. If he is not good enough to play their new material, then he must suspect it's coming anyway. Time for him and them to move forward. Separately if he can't up his game. No harm at all in you learning their new (and, presumably, old) material. It's a free world (mostly) and you can play what you like. If they want you to join the band on bass, then it should be done "officially" rather than this rather back-door and underhand way. Think about how you would feel if you were treated like that. Once they have a vacancy, and you are available and prepared for it - it's nobody else's business who gets the bassist's job (including their current-and-soon-to-be-ex bassist). That's how I see it anyway You're welcome!

Just had another top deal with our man Kev. A simple bass trade. These things aren't always simple of course, but this one was - made so by Kev's excellent comms and ability to do what he says he will. Nice one Kev, and enjoy the Matt Freeman!

I have one of these incoming and have to admit that it looks great with the plate on!

A "classic bass" but handmade by a luthier? That narrows it down a bit, but I'm confused!

[quote name='GisserD' timestamp='1485788855' post='3226677'] so your saying you think the breakup could just be the amp? [/quote] That would be my guess, yes

Sounds like he's either got very old strings or the tone rolled off significantly. He is also digging in quite hard. Other than a bit of break-up I'm not hearing much in the way of effects there...

[quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1485256755' post='3222465'] Wow they're cheap. Any good and do they last. Dave [/quote] Yes and yes! I have them on all my basses now (except my fretless). They last remarkably well, and after half an hour in some ethanol thay are as good as new again. You can do this three or four times before they start to deteriorate. I would never pay "full" price for bass strings now. When Howard the Bass Doc did some work on my Geddy Lee J a few weeks back, he commented on how much he liked the strings. Lovely gold silks too! Definitely worth a try!

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1485020081' post='3220497'] Only when plugged in to the chicken rotisserie. [/quote] Damn! Just when I've invested in a full Maytag backline!

Sounds rather like Herbie Flowers. Discuss... (especially from 2:35 onwards). [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hm4FbWX4FM"]http://www.youtube....h?v=0hm4FbWX4FM[/url]

Would have loved to see him in this (very brief) tour, but sadly all the venues were just too far. I hope he does it again, but with a more northerly slant - which, bearing in mind where he comes from shouldn't be hard! And I think Tall Ships and Map of the Past are brilliant albums! To be fair though, any band that FD leaves is never going to be the same.

[quote name='ivansc' timestamp='1485036038' post='3220694']Cue clenched buttocks. [/quote] Excellent! I was looking for a name for my new band and I think that about nails it!