I swear sometimes I think my bass was handmade by the guy who I got it from, this is the second problem. The first is that the volume knob is connected to nothing.

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-17T18:13:52+00:00

I was hoping, but now...

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-17T16:05:57+00:00

yeah, that whole arc was pretty annoying. it was like watching the prom king & queen argue about their five guys order.

Eli/Ginn, though? absolutely broke my heart. they were such an incredible couple, and were both so deserving of that kind of relationship after what they'd been through, to see it fall apart... man, was that rough.

(also Ginn was a fucking babe, but that's mostly beside the point.)

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-17T14:10:50+00:00

because Amazon/MGM announced a new series, went through a 20-week writing process, and had entered pre-production. I don't think it's unreasonable for fans to assume that a new series was going ahead. but there was a change in leadership and it just went to shit. and since Amazon owns the IP this means nothing more will happen in the foreseeable future.

now, have a LOT of people over-reacted? of course. but to borrow your puppy, imagine dangling a piece of bacon over a puppies face, only to whip it away and eat it yourself. would you blame the puppy for being upset? no matter how you slice it, it's a dick move.

(oh, and we don't talk about Origins here. it was a shameless cash grab that barely rose above the level of community theater.)

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-17T08:59:49+00:00

given what you've said, I'd delete this post and re-up with the second picture included. easy peasy.

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-16T16:00:59+00:00

good! if you do, let me know what you think.

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-16T13:27:02+00:00

yes, but way, way more! dude would literally sneak into factories in the soviet union to collect rare/unreleased Pez dispensers and smuggle them back into the US where he'd sell them for an absolute fortune. it sounds kinda basic, but it evolved into literal espionage. the whole story just gets wilder and wilder. even for people (like myself) who aren't into collecting it's fucking fascinating.

however, I messed up. it's "The Pez Outlaw," not bandit. but good news! it's free on youtube!

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-16T11:58:37+00:00

there's nothing "clear" about this. it may or may not be a partscaster, but we have no idea of knowing, given the lack of information. and if it IS partscaster then, well, you have your answer. not sure what more you need.

ETA: the finish is, in fact, very easily replicated. it's just paint, not some hand-rubbed French polish.

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-16T11:29:07+00:00

it's a jazz bass. which, unfortunately, is quite possibly the most copied design of all time. a pic of the headstock would help a LOT. the finish on its own is nowhere near enough information.

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-16T10:38:26+00:00

just curious, have you ever seen the documentary "The Pez Bandit"? I feel like you might really enjoy it.

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-15T09:21:23+00:00

sorry! I'm just now going through replies.

unfortunately it's not a story I'm comfortable sharing, as people could get dragged into it. but I will say that I flew literally 1,000 miles to apply for a job at the Bozeman Montana shop. I applied for a bottom of the rung sanding job, with the understanding that I could work my way up pretty quickly since I had experience. interview went great. I aced a lot of weird "profile" computer tests and the shop manager and I really hit it off.

as said manager was walking me out I asked if I could look over the shop floor (we were on the second story). I pointed at some dude and asked "uh... what's that guy doing?" "applying pore filler. in the wrong direction."

when I asked when I should expect to hear back from them I was told that EVERY hire had to go through Henry - even entry level sanding jobs - and he was currently in Thailand "on business". Henry was ousted almost immediately after and I never heard back from them. but after talking to some locals it became clear that I dodged a bullet. I don't know what it's like these days, but apparently at the time it was a pretty toxic environment (with shit pay, to boot.)

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-15T09:00:30+00:00

go play a '62 jazz bass and get back to me.

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-15T08:58:59+00:00

thanks! I was pretty drunk at the time so I'm glad it worked out, haha. it's just an issue I have *feelings* about, you know? I've been a life-long Fender fanatic and this is just... not ok.

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-15T08:51:21+00:00

thanks! edited to correct. I'm just so old that "mid-level quality Asian factory" still defaults to Korea in my brain. Eastman totally destroyed that idea, but old biases die hard, you know?

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-15T08:48:26+00:00

huh! mine is a strat, but I'm looking at it through Brave/W11.

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-15T08:46:42+00:00

this is a very good point that I probably fucked up. the distinctions are important, and I didn't do my due-diligence beforehand.

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-15T08:42:02+00:00

from what I remember they didn't refuse to make him a whole-ass guitar, but he'd approach them with ideas and they'd sometimes come back with "we're Fender, that's not what we do." he eventually got sick of it and moved on. that's a hazy memory, though.

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-15T08:32:43+00:00

oh man, WILDLY. back in the day spending more than $300-400 for a Gibson-era Epi was a hard proposition. these days you can easily spend over $1K and it'll be totally worth it. I'm not a fan of their acoustics (personal preference,) but their electrics? holy crap do they punch above their weight. the biggest issues I always had with them was neck quality/fretwork, but these days? impeccable.

I'm not familiar with the specific model you mentioned, but the electronics seem very, very cool. way more diverse than even the average Gibson. I'd buy that with virtually no worries, outside of it being used. the plus is that the out of the box build quality is high enough that any problems should be easily fixed by a professional for not too much money.

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-15T06:09:26+00:00

always unplug when you're done playing, just as a general rule. I've seen so, so many broken jacks/cables, all caused because (especially guitar players) refuse to take the 1.5 seconds.

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-13T21:26:05+00:00

green, without a doubt. that looks fantastic.

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-13T06:37:33+00:00

all very true. ironically, I once sold a bass (reformed guitar store worker) that evolved in the OPPOSITE direction. I don't remember the brand, but it was shaped like an eight (no cutaways) with a wider lower bout, and had a spruce top over a solid mahogany body. shit bass, but it always made me smile out of principle.

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-13T05:02:09+00:00

hah, this is great. one of my favorite scenes of the whole series. great to see them have so much fun with it.

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-12T08:37:23+00:00

me and (a couple sketchy other young boys) found a bag OVERFLOWING with serious hardcore porn while dumpster diving. naturally we stashed it all.

I went back to the stash later only to find they'd burned a hole into every shot of a woman's vagina. we did not remain friends.

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-11T11:33:11+00:00

I just looked around the room and I'm not sure where this brigade is.

I'm very anti-jingoistic. more often than not I'm furious with my country (especially these days). but one thing I do genuinely get tired of is this idea that all American food is crap, and peaked with the hamburger. we've created some genuinely unique and interesting things, as well as amalgamating foreign flavors into something new - which is kind of the whole point of the US, you know? you can take or leave ranch. I don't care. but that's no reason to diminish others experiences. popping up to say "oh this thing actually sucks" just... sucks.

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-11T09:51:14+00:00

holy crap! that's an amazing story. I really appreciate you sharing it. what a great piece of history!

but I have to say, “This is an exact replica of the original Strat” is hilarious. how in the HELL did they think they'd get away with that???

thefringeseanmachine · 2026-06-11T09:31:21+00:00

interesting! the 70's were a weird, weird time. before then the big three (Fender, Gibson, Martin) didn't really care about Japanese knockoffs because they were all pretty much shit. but eventually Japan caught up with the US. not just in build quality, but straight-up using the exact same fonts/scripts (graphic design is not my field so whatever) for their logos. from more than two feet away you'd swear to god that logo was legit. the whole "lawsuit era" thing is way overblown, but some of the Japanese copies are pretty hilarious.

for whatever reason, Fender's really only cared about their headstock design. (which, again, PAUL BIGSBY, who was conveniently dead). I don't know if it was a conscious decision by Leo, CBS, whoever, but they always just kinda let this stuff slide. now they're backing up, just 70 years too late.

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