ThomBassmonkey

[quote name='chris_b' post='1191796' date='Apr 7 2011, 03:01 PM']Maybe someone here has a full flight case you can "borrow"?[/quote] While anyone offering would be very kind, I have no issues forking out £150 for a flight case if it's deemed that that's the safest option. While my Sandberg isn't the most expensive bass and I'm not bothered about superficial damage to it (it looks a bit beat up anyway and it suits it IMO) anything like neck problems with it and I'd be gutted. I'd want to be sure that a £150 case is going to give an advantage over an £85 case though before I fork out the extra £65 as as much as I want to protect it, I don't want to throw away money.

It's a Sandberg so it's no Ritter, but it's not a cheap bass. £150 sounds a little steep (though they do look good) compared to what else is out there. I had one of the Rockcase flight cases with my Thumb and I doubt a bass inside would've taken damage if it had fallen out of the hold during a flight, never mind being put in one. The one I had was constantly being stood on, having amps etc put on top of it and it never got damaged (at least by me, it was well used before I got it).

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='1191766' date='Apr 7 2011, 02:32 PM']Am I annoyed or offended by the chummy who's semi-spamming his bass around the forum at a price higher than new? Not at all. Though possibly unkind, it's fun to watch someone piss on their own chips.[/quote] I wouldn't feel too bad about it, I'd have been interested if it was a realistic price so I IMd him about it and it turns out he wants a slightly different model so he's trying to sell on his bass for more than it costs so he can replace it with a new version. He's well aware that he's asking well over the new price but it's up to him. It's not the first person we've seen on here that is asking WAY over the normal asking price of an item and assuming that because they're asking for help, someone will feel morally obliged to basically give them hundreds of pounds over what they usually sell for. I doubt it'll be the last either.

People should be able to list basses at whatever price they want. As Red said, if the price is too high, they won't sell. I disagree that "a bass is worth however much someone is willing to buy it for". If someone tries to sell a Stingray on here and no one's prepared to pay over £5 for it, but there's someone that's got a wanted ad up on Talkbass and they're prepared to pay £2,000 but the seller never hears about the buyer, does that mean the bass is only worth £5? There's always someone prepared to pay a good price for an instrument, it's finding them that's the problem. It only takes one person that's prepared to pay asking price and the bass is sold, whatever that asking price is. There's been a seller on here that's been trying to sell his bass for about £150 more than they sell for new, I'd say that was (very) overpriced, but it's what he wants for it so he has every right to ask for it. If the bass is worth that to him, whatever anyone else thinks, that's it's value because someone would rather own the bass than the amount of money it would sell for.

I'm browsing around Thomann and they're surprisingly cheap actually. There's a Harley Benton plywood one for £58 or an aluminium one for £75 or alternatively a Rockbass one (Warwick IIRC, I had one with my Thumb that went when I traded it) that's £84. They should be enough, right? I think it's definitely going to be worth the plunge.

I've just put in an order for a GK MB Fusion and 2 NEO212s. I was playing with them at LBGS and they really blew me away, I wasn't expecting a lot as they're designed more around weight and price (and size for the head and to a certain extent the cabs) than the artist series that is designed with no compromises for sound but I was genuinely shocked at just how good they are. For a full rig at around the £1500 price mark new, you get 2 2x12 cabs, a 2 channel valve preamp and 500w of power that weighs about 125lbs and sounds amazing.

Going to revive this thread after seeing the post about someone's Fender being damaged on the way to Musikmesse and knowing that I have to fly over to Holland soon with my bass. Is an ABS case enough to protect it? I might put some bubble wrap or something in too just to make sure, or should I invest in a proper flight case?

The thing about clothes is that some people have a band uniform/outfit, I always wear black or red shirts on stage, I wouldn't want to wear a teeshirt with a forum logo on it. Same thing with amps, my amp's been battered about a bit now, but I don't really fancy sticking stuff all over it (odd how I wouldn't mind on a (painted) bass but on my amp I don't like the idea of it). Cases would be a good idea, but cases are very rarely on show, they're usually backstage somewhere. That's why I was thinking about the merchandise case, that's usually somewhere visible.

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='1191197' date='Apr 6 2011, 10:40 PM']My understanding was you can record CDs of covers to get gigs so long as you don't sell it at gigs to make money[/quote] I think this is right. From what I remember from college, as long as you're not making money from the CDs/recordings directly, then you're fine.

[quote name='Telebass' post='1190555' date='Apr 6 2011, 02:48 PM']And although the physics may well indentify a differrence between an open string on, say, a bone nut, and a fretted note, if it was a massive difference, there wouldn't BE bone (or anything else) nuts - just metal nuts or zero frets. For certain, no-one listening live or even to a record, is ever going to hear that differrence.[/quote] I disagree, I think there are advantages to having the tonal difference as well as disadvantages so there's no reason to "fix" something that's not a problem. There's not a lot of difference in the tone but when there's so many threads about maple vs rosewood boards, lots people obviously care about every little difference in their tone. As you say though, I doubt people 99.9999% of people would notice and it's unlikely the last 0.0001% of people would care anyway. I know although I like having the 0 fret for the consistency, I've never played a bass and thought "I wish this had a 0 fret", it's just nice when it does have one (IMO).

There's some people that must be a pain to talk to if you're interested about their gear if this thread's anything to go by. I have people IM me from time to time asking about stuff (mainly GK stuff, I had a few about my Dingwall and even one or two about my Sandberg), no interest in buying any of it (some of the questions, like about GK stuff, I haven't been even selling the gear sometimes not even owned it (though have used it)) but I'm always happy to answer and help people. If someone wanted to come around and try some of my gear out, unless they had a bad reputation, I don't see why I'd say no. I've had people offer to let me try out their gear too. I know it's a little more frustrating if you think there's potential interest to buy it, but that's why I always approach every IM as though someone's just interested in the item rather than buying it.

I think it's a bit of a red herring saying that you'll be better off with an unlined bass. Yes, lines essentially a crutch, but even with them you shouldn't be looking at the fretboard that much so it shouldn't really make any difference in the long term, it'll just help you start out. In saying that, I think lined fretlesses are ugly as sin. They do just look like someone's trying to play a fretless but can't be bothered to learn properly to me (not so much with the cheap ones as it's easier to accept that they're new to fretless, but with expensive ones it never looks good IMO). But as a bass teacher I'd never recommend a student not to get a lined.

I love my Sandberg, I've played quite a few high end basses, but nothing has had the sound and feel that my Sandberg JJ5 has. They're made by about 5 people in a work shop from what I've heard, so you have the quality of hand made instruments with rediculously cheap prices. I'm on the look out for a new bass and I think I'm going to end up with another Sandberg.

[quote name='crez5150' post='1190562' date='Apr 6 2011, 02:53 PM']I use the MB500 but had the fusion on loan for a couple of months.... really good head!! (oooer)[/quote] Yeah, I was on the GK stand at LBGS and I was amazed by the MB range. I think I had the same ideas about them as most people do about micro heads. They're underpowered, they made to be small and light, not to sound good. Especially because the MB heads are so cheap. They blew me away, I said then that I was going to get some MB and Neo gear. And here we are, I've just ordered. At some point I'm going to get an MB200. They're so convenient as a backup head and so cheap it'd be stupid not to.

I decided to go with 2x12s in the end (I was expecting it to take longer to go through haha). I can't imagine a situation where a 2x12 would be too much and 1 2x12 is smaller than 2 1x12s if I was limited on room, so it kinda made more sense to me. It'd be nice to have a micro rig, but I don't feel I really need it. Really looking forwards to getting some alone time with the MB Fusion!

Could do something simple like put a BC sticker on your merch box. That way it doesn't affect your on-stage image or comfort in any way and people could find out if there's a BCer around before the gig even starts.

I'm going to be getting a lightweight rig soon (it'll be GK Neo cabs and an MB head or two ) and I'm wondering if people gig comfortably using 2 1x12 cabs at medium rock venues. The only thing making me consider 1x12s is that they're slightly smaller (not a lot, mind. 10 inches roughly in one dimension, the others are the same) so they're a bit more convenient for travelling. Weight and price doesn't bother me, I'm trying to get something lighter than my RBH410s so either are a massive improvement and money's not a factor in this choice. My 2001RB-II and 2x410RBH stack isn't leaving me, it's just insanely heavy and pointless taking to practices and small gigs (even only taking half of it is a pain since I do most of my loading myself). So my new rig doesn't need to be a huge powerful rig, but preferably (for security) I'd like it to be capable of supporting it's self up to medium sized venues. Though I guess if 2 1x12 cabs is enough, getting 2 2x12 cabs then potentially only using one when needed would be an even better option for saving space with still the same speaker area (I doubt GKs would struggle with the lower wattage at 8Ohms, even the MB200 at 140w would probably be enough to do small gigs with). Ok, so I'm half talking to myself while I think things through, I would still like to hear peoples' experiences on using 2 12" speakers though, whether it's 2 1x12s or one 2x12s and of course comparing that to 2 2x12s. Thanks!

You already posted a thread about this and it was moved to the for sale forum. Please bump that one instead of making a new thread. To be honest dude, as I've told you in PMs, you're asking more than the price of a new one for a used bass. I know you're going to struggle to sell it at that price. Going around spamming various random threads and bumping threads that are literally years old aren't going to improve your chances of a sale. If anything, they'll make you look bad and put people off. If you really want to sell this bass, you should look at putting it up for a reasonable price (maybe start at 3/4 the price of a new one) and be prepared to be bartered down a bit. Put it in your forum signature and post around the forums or just put it in the for sale section and bump it up from time to time, but be patient. You're really not doing yourself any favours with the way you're going about it at the minute.

I think there's different points when you're buying/selling an instrument. Casual enquiries about it. Simply asking or answering questions. If someone loses interest at this point, it's good manners to send a message saying "Ok, sorry but it's not for me" but nothing's agreed to so at that point it's assumed there will be no deal. Next stage would be agreeing to meet up at some point in the future to try the bass then decide whether or not to buy. Anyone who agrees to definitely buy before they've seen it (unless it's being mailed) needs their head checked. If a meet up is agreed on, it's fair to assume that both parties are very interested in doing a deal and it's fair to assume that (assuming the buy likes the bass) a deal will be made. I've been caught out here a few times by people agreeing to meet up, so I put the bass on reserve and they pull out after a few days, meaning for days people have been looking at my advert and assuming that the bass isn't available any more, then the other party pulls out without warning (or often a very poor excuse, it happened recently). IMO if you pull out at this stage, you should let the seller know ASAP because he's probably not promoting the sale of his bass any more. Actually meeting up is the next phase. An agreement should be made on where the trade is happening. The buyer should travel to somewhere convenient to the seller, that way if the buyer doesn't get on with the bass (which is a perfectly legitimate reason to pull out IMO) the seller hasn't lost out on travel expenses or time travelling. All expected costs for the travel should be discussed before setting off, the buyer can't expect to turn up to buy a bass at an agreed price, then have the seller knock off money for travel. Finally the sale. Until the cash is handed over, there's no sale. After meeting up is arranged, it's assumed there'll be a sale but things can crop up, unexpected bills, not liking the feel of the bass etc. Until the sale is made however, there's nothing binding either person to the sale. Post-sale. It's all down to the seller really, it's assumed that the bass is in good condition etc. If there's a problem with it, unless the buyer's agreed to something previously, then it's up to the seller to sort out. Anything from the buyer is in good will. However if something is agreed, then it should be upheld. I've had various experiences on here ranging from today, turning up at Jarhead's house with my Dingwall, chatting for a bit and leaving with a cheque with no problems at all to buying a bass, the seller agreed to hang on to the money for a bit so I could make sure it worked for me. After changing the strings, realising there was a serious problem and telling the seller that I don't mind putting in some of the money to get it fixed then after sending him a copy of the reciept, he completely ignored me. On top of that, after trying to contact him more publically, when someone asked him about what happened, he plainly lied about it. Had one a few days ago where I wasn't sure what I was doing this week when someone interested in a trade wanted to meet up (which involved me travelling ~3 hours each way) and he was going away for the weekend, so asked him to ring me when he got in. A few hours later the bass he offered to trade me was up on BC for trade/sale. I left it, I don't blame people trying to get money for their basses instead of trading them. Then after about 2 days I got a message off him saying that he needed the money for bills so he had to sell one of his basses. A couple of days later and both his basses were up for a 2v1 trade against something nicer. He obviously lost interest in the trade and instead of telling me he started making excuses which he quickly showed up by his trade threads. Edit: Well that's a longer post than I was expecting when I started.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' post='1189259' date='Apr 5 2011, 04:41 PM']Getting back to the original question...won't they be the 2 slightly odd looking guys stood just in front of the mixing desk sucking their teeth and shaking their heads?[/quote] This Also anyone that feels the need to play a bass worth more than £800 (with the possible exception of Warwicks) or less than £200 with at least £600 worth of modifications tends to be a BCer. I happily gigged an Ibanez BTB406QM for 8 years, signed up here and I've had well over £4,000 worth of basses in a year come and go, and that's not including amps. Also anyone that comes up to you at the end of a gig and asks you whether you've seen the video of the drummer at the wrong gig.

[quote name='cetera' post='1188795' date='Apr 5 2011, 11:37 AM']I think the OP has probably made his choice in the last 3 years and that you shouldn't post e-Bay links to your item in this forum... [/quote] He's been posting it everywhere. He wants a new one and is prepared to sell his 2nd hand for only about £50 more than it'd cost to get one new.

If your teacher can't come with you to look at basses (if he has a lot of students, he can't realistically do it for everyone) then maybe if you ask nicely on here someone in the area (that has no financial interest in the sale) would come along for petrol money. It's important that you take someone who knows what they're doing along to check it out as a bass that looks and sounds great to a beginner might have more subtle problems that you'll pick up on as you gain more experience. Also make sure the bass is set up as close to how you'll be playing it as possible. It's not so much a problem on 4 strings, but I bought a 5er that was strung E-C when I tested it, I set up instruments so I know my way around them and it seemed fine. Unfortunately a problem with the neck meant that the extra tension from re-stringing it B-G highlighted a problem with the neck and it needed some (expensive) work doing. If the seller is prepared to let you (or someone you know, another reason it's worth taking someone along that knows their stuff) do a set up then you should definitely do it. If you buy off here, make sure to check peoples' feedback threads. Some people think that any sale on here is going to be with the best intentions from both parties and though it's true 99% of the time, there are people that just want the sale even if there's things they've not mentioned. Very few 2nd hand basses are in perfect condition, if you're looking at one that someone says is in perfect condition or doesn't mention any dings/problems, make sure to look extra closely. Also don't be afraid to buy new. There's a good chance you'll become emotionally attached to your first bass so you won't need to worry about re-sale value and there's plenty of brilliant basses available for not much money new. In my experience and opinion, if your budget's around £200, you can get a brilliant new bass, buying second hand won't get you that much better (though people do rave about Squier VMJ/CVJ which go for around £200 2nd hand). If your budget's £350 upwards, definitely look second hand though, things like SUBs, SBMM Ray34s and G&L L2000s, maybe even a German Warwick can be got for around that money and they'll be better than anything new in that budget by quite a way.

I agree, it's frustrating. A lot of the things you said were people being lazy, I wouldn't want to part with hundreds of pounds without researching something myself, those people will learn one way or another eventually that they should do some legwork themselves. Things like the guy that bought the bass, then rang back and said he didn't want it, he might have been too shy to say he didn't want it initially, then talked to his girlfriend about it who gave him the courage to admit that it didn't suit him. Again, frustrating and a waste of time, but these things happen. Just because he then wanted to buy another bass, it doesn't mean that yours was the right one for him. All you can do is leave bad feedback for them on here explaining what happened and move on.

I'm subtely trying to set myself up for a "what bass shall I buy" thread, but without it being quite so obvious. First post was obviously completely tongue in cheek. Oh woe is me, it's so horrible. haha