Try before you buy?……..

[lemmywinks]

The only times I've been disappointed buying blind was from big UK music chains selling "new" items and from a Thomann B Stock, all the used gear I've got has been splendid.

 

Ideally I'd like to try every bit of kit before buying but this isn't always possible unless you restrict yourself to your local area or are prepared to write off a full day and fuel costs.

[Paul S]

I can't honestly remember the last time I tried something before I bought it*.  I rarely buy new - these days my bass requirements are quite specific such that I need to cast my net wide and buy from sellers from far afield.  Looking at my rack of basses, in fact, two were bought new (but not tried beforehand) the other 8 are 'pre-loved'.

 

*Actually, I just have.  It was early January 2020 - I tried out the RCF EVOX 8 pa in the Southend PMT along with my mate and local legend Noel Ashton (who understands pas).  Although I ended up buying Thomann B stock at a decent discount on new.

[Silky999]

8 hours ago, neepheid said:

Regarding the Z3/Z7/SBMM Ray34 conundrum - I think all SBMM basses are horribly overpriced by the time they make it over here and I really don't see where the extra money went.  Up to you if you think it's worth it.  If you go Sire, whichever one you choose you're going to get an 18V preamp, well rolled fretboard edges, passive/active operation to name but three of the things a Ray34 won't have.

 

Z3 or Z7?  Well, depends what you want.  The "advantages" of the Z7 are - a neck pickup, a preamp with more features (giving you a mid sweep and a passive tone control - the preamp in the Z3 is fixed frequency three band and the passive option is just a get-out-of-jail-free card - no tone shaping as far as I know) and stainless steel frets.  If you can live without these things, get the Z3 and pocket the difference, happy days.  Another thing to factor in is I think Sire have done a small redesign on the Z7 and the neck pickup has been improved, at least aesthetically with four fat pole pieces instead of the regular small 8 pole piece Jazz pickup in the current ones.  So it might be worth holding off if you think that's important and you want a Z7.

 

I would ignore all campfire stories about QC (and yes, IMO they are individual occurrences with no correlation between them - no-one here has the statistical overview to be able to make blanket statements about an entire manufacturer's or factory's output, it's utter tosh.  Every factory makes the occasional "Friday afternoon special" - so what?  Return it if you're not happy).  For a contrary data point to any doom and gloom you might have heard, my Z7 arrived in perfect condition and my only beef with it were the knobs, which is a personal preference I was happy to correct on my own.  I think I would have preferred the Z3's knobs to be honest with you.

 

Hope that mini rant helped

 

Brilliant thank you……you have thrown a cat among the pigeons with the Z7 review as I really like the mint one from a colour point of view