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Gillett Contour basses are rare and very special, but this one is unique! It's the actual bass that the guys from the American magazine Bass Gear played on the Gillett Guitars stand at the Summer of 2019 NAMM show before declaring the Contour 'Best Bass In Show'. The ST had been launched just before the show and instantly became the most popular bass in the range combining as it does the 'pickup-plus-piezo' configuration in the slimmed-down 'S' body. The first batch had immediately been shipped to impatient customers - me included! As I was helping Michael Gillett out with his sales, marketing and PR, he asked me if I would lend mine back to him so he could have one at the show. Bass Gear played several Contours but it was the sounds of mine strung with the optional Newtone phosphor-bronze round-wound strings (still fitted btw) that really blew them away - see below. So what exactly is it? In summary, it's an active medium-scale (31.75") electro-acoustic with through-body stringing, a J-style pickup at the neck and a piezo transducer under the bridge. But it's the innovative design and construction combined with the finest components, materials and build quality that makes the Contour so rewarding to own, play and listen to. Playing as I do rock and pop covers on solid-bodied basses, I've hardly played my Contour - which is why I've decided to let it go. I'd really prefer the buyer to collect as the bass comes in a gig bag*. Happy to drive an hour or so from J25 of the M5 for a meet-up. * The OE Gillett hard case was made to accommodate the deeper-bodied Standard version and packed out with a thick foam insert for the ST. This made it needlessly big and unwieldy so I took a £200 discount instead of the case. https://www.bassgearmag.com/issue-22/

Ibanez Roadstar II 1981 Japanese made bass with original case. This is the early 80’s Ibanez version of a Precision, the difference between this and some Fenders of the same era is that this model doesn’t weigh a ton and costs about a quarter! This is a lovely bass in its own right, simple passive volume and tone, split pickup and a nicely proportioned neck. It weighs 4kgs and is in pretty good condition for its 44 years. It plays very well and sounds like you would expect. It’s all original apart from the strap buttons which were changed years ago for strap lock types. This was prior to my purchase so I’ve no idea what happened to the originals. There are some dings to the body and some small blemishes to the neck. Truss rod is fine and works well, frets are in good order as is also the pickups and hardware. I got this in a trade and it owes me £495. Classic black and maple looks which I love, sadly the slightly wider than a P bass body is uncomfortable for me to play so it’s not seeing any action. I’m getting rid of any basses that aren’t being played regularly that hold no sentimental value. Sorry no trades unless you have a Sterling SB14 or a US Sub Sterling then possibly. It comes with what I was told is the original case. It’s certainly of the same era. One clasp is broken but it still does the job. Great vintage MIJ Precision alternative at a decent price. I’m sure it will bring back memories for some of you. Prefer pickup but can post in the UK only at buyer’s cost.

I've been an afficianado of 1970s WEM combos for many years but my on-going de-clutter requires me to cut down to just a single unit (a Clubman, since you ask) which means that these two lovely things are now on the market. Both are 50-year-old combos that have lived a life so, although they are both in very good condition for their age, neither is pristine or as-new. The Dominator (on the right) is deffo in better cosmetic nick than the Westminster (on the left) but both work perfectly and exactly as their maker intended. Both sound excellent regardless of what you plug through them - bass, guitar, keys, Mongolian nose-flute. WEM DOMINATOR 25, late 70s, £600. Arguably one of the finest products of the British valve-amp industry, the Dominator was always in the running for nearly 20 years straight. Read all about it here: https://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/britamps/watkins/dominator/dom19.html Often described as a 15W amp, this was in fact more nearly 17W (which is why Mo Foster chose that as his title: https://www.amazon.co.uk/17-Watts-British-Musicians-Sanctuary/dp/1860741827). Mine is the truly wonderful Dominator 25, which is also a truly wonderful piece of Marketing tosh. The '25' was neither 25W nor did it sport a 25" speaker ... it was uprated from the standard Fane 12" speaker on a Dommie to a 15" Celestion to make it sound even better for bass. The '25' thing was the WEM Marketing Dept's equivalent of, "yeh, but this goes to 11". Twin inputs means you can plug in two different instruments simultaneously, or come up with all sorts of weird bi-amping scenarios to puzzle your guitarist with. All original and unmolested. So what does it sound like? Well none of Zoom's excellent product range can really capture just how good this sounds in the studio (or live), let alone the gorgeous, creamy valve break-up at very sensible volumes. If you want to experience that then you'll need to come to Harrow and plug in your own bass. But here's a crude approximation ... Maya into Dominator.mp3 Any excuse to show off my God-like abilities on bass, eh? Shafty into Dominator.mp3 WEM WESTMINSTER, 19777/78, £400. The Dominator was top of the range and not everyone could afford one, so the Westminster was always the better seller and went through far more cosmetic 're-fresh' experiences. Mine was a very short-lived variant in terms of looks, only being made for two years. Read about it here: https://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/britamps/watkins/westminster/west13.html Still twin input for all those pub-rock gigs back when that was a new thing, usually starting just after the stripper had finished. Notice the economy measure of a single set of controls, though. Side-mounted carry handle is very practical. Again, all original and unmolested. If I could play guitar then I'd have used that for these sound clips - the Westminster handles bass perfectly well but it's always going to come off second-best when compared to the Dominator 25. Shafty into Westminster.mp3 Put a guitar through this, though, especially something over towards the Les Paul end, and it's something else. Maya into Westminster.mp3

Roscoe LG3005 up for sale. I bought this a few months ago, but I’m probably not going to gig it regularly, so it’s up for sale. I’ve done two gigs recently with it, but it’s not for me really. Putting it up, for what I paid for it- though there’s a brand new set of DR Fat Beams that I put on it last week. 35” scale. 18mm string spacing. 45mm nut width. 9.4-9.7 lbs weight, slightly different between two scales. One piece body, quilted top, matching quilting on headstock. Bartolini pick ups. Bartolini NTMB-918F pre amp - 4 knob (vol, blend, stacked treble/bass, and push pull mid, which I think changes the mid frequency). Trim pot at rear, which I believe may be a master gain out- similar to some Status basses. It’s pretty much immaculate, with a couple of tiny indents on the neck- shown on photos. Three of ferrules have a split, but this is just cosmetic I reckon- the guy I bought it from was a guitar repairer, and he said he’d never gotten around to replacing them. USA Hipshot tuners. Comes with the Roscoe branded hard case. Trade wise I’m interested in Sadowsky Will Lee 5 strings (Japanese or German). German Sadowsky 5 string single pick up MM style. PJ5 Sads too. US Lakland 5P. Or maybe NS CR4M or 5M. Also Vincent 5s - so that sort of thing. Can add a bit of cash for the right trade if required. Thanks for looking.

Yep, a real classic, fabulous.