Col the Plunker Posted August 25, 2020 Share Posted August 25, 2020 (edited) Hi folks, Had a Gumtree alert on my phone whilst practising last Sunday. Vintage brand Stingray active bass copy for £160. Looked good. ( You know how it is... I had bought a Fender Champion 100 twin amp the week before from a Gumtree ad, so once they have your number, they send you similar flavour ads). Fine by me, Contacted the guy, and he's only a few miles down the road...makes it easier for me to nip out, do the deal and sneak it past Wifey. It's a no brainer! Or so I thought. Wifey taps me on the shoulder, "Col, I need the car to take the grandkids out". Plan B. Need to wheel out my 100cc scooter once she drives off. Just hope I can carry the axe on two wheels. Challenge on. Coast clear and I whizz over to the sellers village. Pull over at the village pub and phone for closer directions. I ask him " I don't wish to offend, but d'you mind if I wear a mask?" " No probs bud". Next I am knocking on his door, he answers and hands me the bass, he is wearing rubber gloves. The bass looks great, still got the sellophane on the pickguard... but I need to play it. Then the guy says " d'you mind if you stay outside and I wheel an amp over to the porch?' " Course not mate, pays to be careful" Next thing he wheels over a Marshall stack as tall as me, and throws a cable over the top. So here I am standing in his front garden hooked up to this powerhouse of an amp. His neighbours are tending their lawns, washing their cars, kids riding bikes etc. Perfect urban summer scene about to be ripped apart by yours truly. (I have snuck the volume of this 300w Goliath up to five. Bit of Beatles "come together" riff followed by Sniff and the tears "driver's seat". Then distort on full treble for The Stranglers "Down in the sewer" for some real dirt. All the birds have fled the trees. Somewhere a baby is crying, and many dogs are barking... People are staring at me...think it's time to stop. " I'll take it mate" I hand it back and pay up, he returns it clad in bin liners. He says smiling " I recognised "come together, I'm a real Beatles fan". I would have liked to chatted to him for longer as I love all things Beatles too, but I need to stow this axe before Wifey gets home. Manage to balance it ok between my knees on the scooter, but to my horror the car is outside our house. Luckily the garage door is up, so I ride straight in and stow my booty. Just need to wait for her to shower later and I can retrieve my new bass and get it in the rack. Mission accomplished, but it was my wierdest buying experience ever. Good to know that other discerning folks are respecting the covid restrictions seriously though. Cheers Col. Edited August 25, 2020 by Col the Plunker 17 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky 4000 Posted August 25, 2020 Share Posted August 25, 2020 I'd be interested in your thoughts once you've had some time alone with it. 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miles'tone Posted August 25, 2020 Share Posted August 25, 2020 "The Bonnie Situation"... HNBD! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted August 25, 2020 Share Posted August 25, 2020 Love that story, that’s great, and the bass looks cool 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinnyman Posted August 25, 2020 Share Posted August 25, 2020 (edited) What are the chances that while you were off buying a new bass to sneak in, Mrs CtP was smuggling in a couple of pairs of shoes and a new handbag?* Nice looking bass 😁 *I know, gender stereotyping, sorry. Make it things related to a hobby of hers. Like... a MiG welder. Or... A couple of pairs of fins and a wetsuit. Or.... A couple of lenses and a new DSLR.... Edited August 25, 2020 by Skinnyman 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col the Plunker Posted August 25, 2020 Author Share Posted August 25, 2020 (edited) Ha ha, No worries mate, and I DID get Wifey new shoes! (Guilt tripping in) Nowhere near the price of the bass, but as I really had a shyte couple of weeks at work, I needed cheering up big-time. ( How lame an excuse is that??? Especially after buying the Fender amp the week before, she was ok with that one though as I had sold my previous amp)... Edited August 25, 2020 by Col the Plunker Typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madshadows Posted August 25, 2020 Share Posted August 25, 2020 Loved this post, such a fun story LOL John 😎 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col the Plunker Posted August 26, 2020 Author Share Posted August 26, 2020 On 25/08/2020 at 03:18, Ricky 4000 said: I'd be interested in your thoughts once you've had some time alone with it. 🙂 Hi Ricky, It's taken this long to respond to your post because the strings on this bass were absolutely shagged, not much of the nickel remaining. So I waited until my new strings arrived and give it a proper set up so to give it a fair hearing. TBH it sounded fine as it was despite the intonation being miles out and a massive curve in the neck, things could only get better. Stripped off the old strings and to my surprise the nut fell off! No evidence of glue in the recess. No matter as 80lbs of string tension will hold that baby firm. Plugged in and what a difference. Fingers zipping around the fretboard, sounds a bit over bright, but that's to be expected with new strings... they will soon mellow out. The bass itself is a nice weight, feels like a medium scale even though it's a long one. Gave it a good workout, and it proves to be a great all-rounder, the active circuit tone controls are simple and effective... Glad I bought it, a joy to play. Cheers... Col. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueMoon Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 Great story! Isn't it crazy that, despite Covid and the potential wrath of "wifey/partner", some things have such pull on us bass players! Glad it all worked out for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col the Plunker Posted August 28, 2020 Author Share Posted August 28, 2020 Thanks, I even have a regular socially distance jam with a pal... probably a bit extreme, but we're both still alive and rocking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky 4000 Posted August 28, 2020 Share Posted August 28, 2020 On 27/08/2020 at 00:44, Col the Plunker said: Glad I bought it, a joy to play. Good to hear 👍 I have a couple of Vintage brand Jazz basses, which are pretty nice, and well made for the money, but the Wilkinson J pickups are very low output. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted August 28, 2020 Share Posted August 28, 2020 i know a young guy whose USA Jazz got stolen and replaced it with A Vintage Stingray. I heard him play it with his band and it sounded excellent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col the Plunker Posted August 29, 2020 Author Share Posted August 29, 2020 Yup, I'm really impressed with mine, especially now the new strings have bedded in. Has plenty of low end grunt now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col the Plunker Posted August 29, 2020 Author Share Posted August 29, 2020 9 hours ago, Ricky 4000 said: Good to hear 👍 I have a couple of Vintage brand Jazz basses, which are pretty nice, and well made for the money, but the Wilkinson J pickups are very low output. That's a shame, have you tried raising the pickup height? My pu is fairly low, maybe it's because it's an active circuit that it's punching out well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoBass Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 My wife doesn’t care what I buy, but my ex did, so if I was planning on smuggling a new purchase into the house I’d always go out with an empty bass case - she assumed it contained a bass and I was off out for a jam or whatever - then the new bass would be stashed safely inside and carried over the threshold when I returned home following my ‘jam’... she was never the wiser 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col the Plunker Posted September 8, 2020 Author Share Posted September 8, 2020 Ha ha... Great idea...(thanks). The trickiest situation was when I have bought new guitars, even though I give the courier instructions to deposit said item in the garage, there was the bigger problem of getting shot of all the cardboard packaging undetected. Especially as the axe in question has been a big hollow body! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueMoon Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 I always try to keep a packaging box in the room where I keep my bass cases/bags. My excuse is "I've always got a box ready in case I sell a bass and need to ship it". Mrs Blue Moon seems to accept the logic and is pleased that I'm thinking of selling! Helps when a bass arrives and you don't have the chance to get rid of the original box. Just flatten it and jamb it behind. I make regular trips to the container park and helpfully manage the household trash collection. Double win!! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 It's good to see buyers / sellers taking relevant precautions. It feels less strange when more people are doing this. With reports in the news this morning of the rise continuing for a second week, it does appear that a few folk are getting a little lax about things. I had a tonne of stuff for sale prior to lockdown and I was just now thinking I might refresh the sales threads again. There's always that fear of the guy showing up coughing with his whole family! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sambrook Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 I have a sneaking suspicion that our wives all know about our 'habits', and just choose to turn a blind eye... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoBass Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 On 08/09/2020 at 01:08, Col the Plunker said: Ha ha... Great idea...(thanks). The trickiest situation was when I have bought new guitars, even though I give the courier instructions to deposit said item in the garage, there was the bigger problem of getting shot of all the cardboard packaging undetected. Especially as the axe in question has been a big hollow body! I’ve had that issue too. Luckily I live very close to a cardboard recycling centre so any boxes and packaging get swiftly taken down there before Mrs Bass gets back from work. Although to be fair, I’ve just bought her a Peloton bike so I need to offset that with something nice and shiny for me 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col the Plunker Posted September 10, 2020 Author Share Posted September 10, 2020 Seems totally fair to me. Happy hunting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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