Members Ancient Mariner Posted January 1, 2010 Members Share Posted January 1, 2010 As in 'bass guitar-like object'. Well, maybe not quite that bad. Pics to prove it happened. Following up on my 'bass for a guitar player' thread I picked these 2 up on Monday but haven't had the time or daylight until now to take pics. The Encore P type wasn't too bad, and just need to action dropping a little. Despite their guitars having a bad rap, it seems the basses are quite well thought of (as budget instruments) and once I'd made it a little more finger-friendly and tweaked intonation it produced all kinds of classic growley precision type noises. This has my favourite tones of the pair - think the bass solo of Queen's Radio Gaa Gaa - although the neck and fingerboard feels enormous even after a '59 Les Paul. The J type is a cheap Chinese job sold on the Johnny Brooke label, and was initially presented as 'sorted' (chav filing system?) apart from an incorrectly connected tone pot. The guy I bought if from (30 quid - no complaints there regardless) demo'd it briefly, slapping and popping like Mark King doing a solo. Investigation at home showed serious fret buzz and back-bow on the neck, screws missing (1 broken) holding down the bridge and the odd high fret. Initially it was horribly clanky and rattly, but with a bit of tweaking and fixing the tone pot it'll do everything from clangy Rickenbacker stuff through to big round dub-style tones. Favourite tone sounds like the intro to Deep Purple's Highway Star. The neck of this one is much slimmer and guitarist-friendly, and I may consider doing a neck swap with the encore, although I really like the aged white finish and offset body shape much better than the sunburst precision style. What to play through? Well, I happen to have a Pignose G40V fitted with a 10" Hartke bass speaker laying around, and since the pignose circuit is vaguely bassman-like it seemed the obvious amp. Naturally a single 10" speaker won't make my trouser-legs flap with gut-wobbling low notes, but it does sound pretty nice and crisp at reasonable volumes. Happy new year everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mid Life Crisis Posted January 1, 2010 Members Share Posted January 1, 2010 HNBGLOD x 2! They look a nice pair. Just remember to take them back inside before its starts snowing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dougie.Douglas Posted January 1, 2010 Members Share Posted January 1, 2010 My friend gigs with his Encore bass guitar... its exactly the same as yours. He loves it HNBGLOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dimmypage Posted January 1, 2010 Members Share Posted January 1, 2010 needs moar strings:lol::thu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ancient Mariner Posted January 1, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 1, 2010 Cheers guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jjpistols Posted January 1, 2010 Members Share Posted January 1, 2010 I remember back when you didn't have any basses at all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stevemcb Posted January 1, 2010 Members Share Posted January 1, 2010 Congratulations, merry Christmas and happy new year! Have you thought about doing a series switch mod on the J? Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ancient Mariner Posted January 1, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 1, 2010 JJ - so do I! Steve, I've not thought about that yet, although I do need to replace the pots (they're truly dreadful, especially the all-or-nuthin tone control). Might do a push-pull for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brian Krashpad Posted January 1, 2010 Members Share Posted January 1, 2010 Double congrats! (o)(o) (o)(o) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jjpistols Posted January 1, 2010 Members Share Posted January 1, 2010 you should try flatwounds on at least one of them, too this is still probably the cheapest, even for UK http://www.webstrings.com/flatwound_bass_strings.html We will automatically add $6.00 plus 15% of your shopping cart's subtotal to your order. We will ship your strings by air using the U.S. Postal Service for a very speedy delivery. Orders over 1.0lb. or 0.454kg will be shipped along with a customs form with the declared value li6sted on it. Import taxes are based on the country of destination. I just re-shaped the neck on my p-bass last weekend - it's still HUGE but I contoured it to my liking and tru-oiled the back - I still prefer jazz bass necks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ancient Mariner Posted January 1, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 1, 2010 you should try flatwounds on at least one of them, too this is still probably the cheapest, even for UK http://www.webstrings.com/flatwound_bass_strings.htmlI just re-shaped the neck on my p-bass last weekend - it's still HUGE but I contoured it to my liking and tru-oiled the back - I still prefer jazz bass necks Thanks for the link and the suggestion - I may well give those a go, althought here are some good value suppliers here too now. BTW that precision looks nice, with that tiny tortie plate for the PU and all that nice stained wood. I'd have liked a maple neck too, but for the tiny expenditure I'm really grateful to have these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jjpistols Posted January 1, 2010 Members Share Posted January 1, 2010 Thanks for the link and the suggestion - I may well give those a go, althought here are some good value suppliers here too now. BTW that precision looks nice, with that tiny tortie plate for the PU and all that nice stained wood. I'd have liked a maple neck too, but for the tiny expenditure I'm really grateful to have these. thanks actually, only the headstock is stained (I used leather stain) - the body is one piece of mahogany - the color match is pretty close in person, not quite as close in the photos, but not bad for free it was a guy in town's parts build - the neck is an SX, the body was a custom built - I like his PG idea - I traded a couple pedals for the bass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ancient Mariner Posted January 1, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 1, 2010 Now free is GOOD. I traded a pedal for the encore and both parties were well pleased. The guys on www.basschat.co.uk rate SX basses alongside MIM Fenders, and they seem to like the necks a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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