Just not right ....

[obbm]

Today I took delivery of a 30" scale Precision from a well known budget manufacturer but this is just not right.

 

How are they able to get it so wrong?  It's going back tomorrow.

[Horizontalste]

Yep, string alignment is out up the neck too.

Send it back!

[hooky_lowdown]

SX basses along with pretty much most budget basses often have misalignment with pickup poles. Obviously the bridge is slightly off, but it doesn't affect the sound or output.

[such]

There is/was an identical one in my local Cash Converters. I bought a brand new SX jazz in a shop nearby, and while it has a beautiful quartersawn neck and sounds as good as my more upscale jazz, the fretwork was ridiculously bad. They literally used noticeably different sizes of fretwire on one board, next to each other. Took me hours of grinding to level and it's still the least playable of my basses. Still, sounds and looks great and isn't going anywhere. 

[Burns-bass]

15 hours ago, hooky_lowdown said:

SX basses along with pretty much most budget basses often have misalignment with pickup poles. Obviously the bridge is slightly off, but it doesn't affect the sound or output.

Always makes me chuckle when people are upset that the strings don't perfectly bisect the poles on their pickups. Aesthetically, you may not like it, but it doesn't affect the output at all.

[bartelby]

You have tried reseating the neck?

[ebenezer]

this is one of my pet hates...unacceptable on a modern bass with cnc this and lazer alignment that....some of the lakland basses suffered from this, and that includes the usa models.   

[pete.young]

Just like a genuine CBS '70s Fender 🙂

 

[Happy Jack]

1 hour ago, Burns-bass said:

Always makes me chuckle when people are upset that the strings don't perfectly bisect the poles on their pickups. Aesthetically, you may not like it, but it doesn't affect the output at all.

I'm sure you're right about the output being unaffected (I haven't run any tests) but that's not really the point, is it?

That level of highly-visible incompetence is an early warning that the same (pah!) attention to detail has been applied elsewhere too.

If I get a letter from a lawyer or an accountant that contains spelling mistakes, it doesn't mean that the legal advice or the tax computation are necessarily wrong. But it does mean that I'm dealing with someone who either can't be bothered to, or who cannot, check their work.

In a world with so many choices available, why would anyone opt to do business with someone that inept?

 

[hooky_lowdown]

11 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

That level of highly-visible incompetence is an early warning that the same (pah!) attention to detail has been applied elsewhere too.

It's a cheap bass, what do you expect? 

[EliasMooseblaster]

15 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

In a world with so many choices available, why would anyone opt to do business with someone that inept?

 

Happens to the best of us, to be fair...

[Happy Jack]

37 minutes ago, hooky_lowdown said:

It's a cheap bass, what do you expect? 

Lots of change ...

[chris_b]

. . . . . . that's what the ashtrays are for.

[such]

2 hours ago, chris_b said:

. . . . . . that's what the ashtrays are for.

To be honest, I might have good reasons to have left both ashtrays on my aforementioned SX jazz. 

[obbm]

6 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

I would send it back for sure

Better than that for sure.

It went this morning.  The problem with BC is that one becomes more and more accustomed to quality gear and anything less is  just not acceptable any more. Looks like I'm going to have to order a custom 30" Jake when I've sold something.

[Frank Blank]

28 minutes ago, obbm said:

It went this morning.  The problem with BC is that one becomes more and more accustomed to quality gear and anything less is  just not acceptable any more. Looks like I'm going to have to order a custom 30" Jake when I've sold something.

Surely nothing is going to top that  b e a u t I f u l  Spector of yours?

[Newfoundfreedom]

5 hours ago, hooky_lowdown said:

It's a cheap bass, what do you expect? 

Cheap does not necessarily equal bad quality. I've played some superb budget basses. I've also played some expensive ones that are absolute sh1te! 

[hooky_lowdown]

35 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

Cheap does not necessarily equal bad quality.

I never said it did. Slightly misaligned pickups I wouldn't say is bad quality.

Having owned the same bass I know it is very well made, far better than a lot of old MIM Fender's I've owned.

[Burns-bass]

On 11/12/2019 at 16:27, Happy Jack said:

I'm sure you're right about the output being unaffected (I haven't run any tests) but that's not really the point, is it?

That level of highly-visible incompetence is an early warning that the same (pah!) attention to detail has been applied elsewhere too.

If I get a letter from a lawyer or an accountant that contains spelling mistakes, it doesn't mean that the legal advice or the tax computation are necessarily wrong. But it does mean that I'm dealing with someone who either can't be bothered to, or who cannot, check their work.

In a world with so many choices available, why would anyone opt to do business with someone that inept?

 

It’s a fair point but if you buy a cheap bass then you expect compromises... You get what you pay for etc.

[Happy Jack]

1 minute ago, Burns-bass said:

It’s a fair point but if you buy a cheap bass then you expect compromises... You get what you pay for etc.

I do understand mate, but my point remains ... in a world filled with surprisingly-good cheap basses, why would you choose to buy a not-very-good one?

Reverting to my previous analogy, if I request a quote for - say - a new Will from three cheap, local lawyers, all else being equal I'm going to go with the lawyer whose quote isn't filled with typos and spelling errors. Which would you choose?

[hooky_lowdown]

4 hours ago, Happy Jack said:

I do understand mate, but my point remains ... in a world filled with surprisingly-good cheap basses, why would you choose to buy a not-very-good one?

Because most cheap basses have little niggles, you're never going to get a cheap bass to the quality or standard of an expensive bass. I'm not sure why you don't seem to understand this?

Edited December 14, 2019 by hooky_lowdown

[hooky_lowdown]

2 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Probably because I, and presumably Happy Jack, don’t believe it’s true. As an example, a sub £200 Ibanez Talman. Tremendously well put together and sounding bass. If they can do it, why not the others?

Almost all cheap basses these days are well put together, and most sound good. The low price point means corners WILL be cut by the manufacturer(s). These corners being cut are the details which consumers will have to compromise on. The details and materials are, and should only be the things which separate cheap with expensive basses.

Having owned the bass the OP is taking about, I can say it is very well made, the build, the paint finish, fret work etc is all very good. So the bridge is slightly off, not a big deal, just move it (the alder body) will allow it. Quit being pedantic.

[Happy Jack]

Cabin fever setting in early this year, Hooky?

[hooky_lowdown]

You been drinking too much of your mate Daniels - Jack? 😃

[Bassfinger]

Not all cheap basses are crap.

 

My cheap Gear4Music bass was fine...once I'd given it a fret job, fitted some Entwistle pickups, slipped on some decent strings and set it up properly.  After that it sounded and played ok 😄

Edited December 16, 2019 by Bassfinger