alyctes Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 (edited) Withdrawn, because I don't really think it's worth half what I paid for it. ====================================================================== Left-handed bodyless travel bass, very light, wire bout/leg-brace arrangement removable for travel. 34" scale. Bought in a fit of madness a couple of months back, played once so effectively brand new. In original packaging. Not an instrument of great quality, but it may be useful to someone - its virtue is its light weight and ease of transport. Pics at the weekend; in the mean time, it's pretty much identical to this one [url="http://www.amazon.com/Ministar-Basstar-4-string-Electric-Compact/dp/B001FSCEGO"]http://www.amazon.com/Ministar-Basstar-4-s...t/dp/B001FSCEGO[/url] Cost me £135; selling at £70. Would trade straight across for a right-handed version of the same model in decent nick. [attachment=83524:PHTO0008.JPG] In its bag [attachment=83520:PHTO0001.JPG] Bass, bag, three wire parts. [attachment=83521:PHTO0002.JPG] [attachment=83522:PHTO0003.JPG] With leg rest. [attachment=83523:PHTO0004.JPG] With strap legs and forearm rest. Edited July 5, 2011 by alyctes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alyctes Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 It would be easy to modify this for right-handed use with reversed string order; essentially, drill one hole out so that it runs all the way through the body. I may yet do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alyctes Posted June 26, 2011 Author Share Posted June 26, 2011 Bump for pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeftyJ Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 I've always been intrigued by these when I saw them on eBay new. How does it sound and play, and what is the intonation like with that dead-straight bridge? Also, where are the strings anchored at the bridge? Looks like a very sharp angle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alyctes Posted June 27, 2011 Author Share Posted June 27, 2011 [quote name='LeftyJ' post='1283651' date='Jun 27 2011, 07:36 AM']I've always been intrigued by these when I saw them on eBay new. How does it sound and play, and what is the intonation like with that dead-straight bridge? Also, where are the strings anchored at the bridge? Looks like a very sharp angle.[/quote] Sound is a bit tinny, to my ears. I haven't tried it with anything except the strings it came with. To be honest, I don't know how it plays - I'm not a lefty, I bought it because I wanted to experiment with reversed nut, and rapidly decided that was just going to screw my playing up. (No, I don't know what I was thinking either. Impulse buys are seldom a good idea.) Likewise, I haven't done anything with the intonation; I will check, see what it's actually like. The string angle over the bridge is indeed very sharp, pretty much 90 degrees. The anchoring is at the base of the bridge. I'll put a pic up when I have time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrenleepoole Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 I've often wondered about these too. A sort of poor man's Sinsonido, if you'll pardon the expression I'm guessing converting to right hand should be easy. The bridge is fixed with screws correct? Take it off, flip it round and fix back in the same holes. The bridge is now reversed and just do the same with the nut. The fixing arms could be an issue though. Might make an interesting EUB with a stand modification and defretted? Good luck with the sale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alyctes Posted June 27, 2011 Author Share Posted June 27, 2011 [quote name='derrenleepoole' post='1283961' date='Jun 27 2011, 12:28 PM']I've often wondered about these too. A sort of poor man's Sinsonido, if you'll pardon the expression [/quote] Exactly. [quote name='derrenleepoole' post='1283961' date='Jun 27 2011, 12:28 PM']I'm guessing converting to right hand should be easy. The bridge is fixed with screws correct? Take it off, flip it round and fix back in the same holes. The bridge is now reversed and just do the same with the nut. The fixing arms could be an issue though. Might make an interesting EUB with a stand modification and defretted? Good luck with the sale [/quote] Thanks. I think there are two options to reverse it. To turn it into a right-hander with left-handed nut, it should be enough to drill one of the existing arm holes all the way through the body; that would let the strap arms go on in reverse. Worst case, it might need a shallow channel routed out to ensure the arms stayed aligned along the body. For the full conversion, the bridge is fixed with screws, yes. (IIRC, this allows some bridge adjustment, but I can't remember where I read that.) I don't know if it's a flat plate or if there are lugs fixing its position in the body end. I haven't looked seriously at the nut. EUB would indeed be interesting. Stand mod, and maybe even leave the frets in place - some stages are very cramped indeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alyctes Posted July 2, 2011 Author Share Posted July 2, 2011 Okay, I've had time to have a look at it. Unfortunately converting to RH looks quite a bit trickier than it first might. The nut appears to be glued to a carry plate which is screwed onto the headstock, which means it's pretty thoroughly handed. It's possible it's just floating, but if so I can't see why they'd bother with the carry plate. I haven't bothered to look any closer, because of the other problem: The bridge screws directly onto the end of the body, as noted above. However, the end of the body is not square; it's cut at an angle, for intonation. So reversing the bridge is not simply a matter of taking it off and turning it over. Simplest solution is a wedge-shaped shim; which isn't impossible. But it's not obvious to me that it would be worth the effort. Shame, because there are things I really like about this. It's so easy to carry and store, it would stash under my desk at work so I could sneak off at lunchtime and run it through a headphone amp to practice. I guess I mark that one down to experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alyctes Posted July 5, 2011 Author Share Posted July 5, 2011 I'd also say, the pickup pole alignment is not good. The thing is just too wide for the string setting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldman Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Like you I bought one, as I travel a fair bit, B&Q would have been a better bet with an off cut and some binding wire! I gave it away, kids use it for cricket now. Not my best GAS attack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alyctes Posted July 5, 2011 Author Share Posted July 5, 2011 I'll probably try to convert it to a fretted RH EUB, when I've got time (ho ho). I might do something with the bridge while I'm at it - get some adjustment on it and reduce that nasty angle. The pickup works, but it's not exactly well-suited to the job it's being asked to do, so that will want changing at some point. I guess this thread ought to be moved, probably to Reviews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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