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J'arrive! These are interesting, and subject of a lot of speculation over in MIJland. Prepare to be bored into a coma. Strongly Burns-influenced, but not a straight copy, there are several variations on this same design, indicating a number of different factories made them over quite a long period. What seem to be the earliest ones have a 2-a-side headstock & a pronounced German carve. Hardware & general features place these at mid-late 60s. As ever with this sort of thing, unless a brand name refers to a specific factory, ignore it: https://reverb.com/item/18207457-dynatone-guyatone-short-scale-bass-1960-s-aged-white There's also a guitar version of this style. Subsequent versions have the 4-inline headstock, chrome pickups, tort plate etc that @Lord Sausage's example have. Here's where a brand name is useful, up to a point - these sometimes turn up branded Sakai, which was an actual manufacturer, Sakai Mokko. They can also have build traits associated with Sakai. This version appear in an early 70s Aria catalogue (probably 73-4, not 1970 as the link suggests) alongside a pair of Kalamazoo KG copies, which are also thought to be Sakai Mokko guitars: https://www.vintagejapanguitars.com.br/en/aria-1970-catalogue/ This is where the mistaken connection with Matsumoku comes from - the incorrect assumption that all Aria/Aria Pro II instruments were Matsumoku products. It's interesting that the images are unbranded factory catalogue shots, and I can't remember one of these (or the KG lookey-likeys) being seen in the wild branded Aria. However while I don't think Matsumoku was connected with these, there are enough variations to suggest several other factories were - some have 6-bolt neckplates, some have mahogany necks, others maple, while still others have painted necks covering strip ply construction - a known Sakai trait. All these minor differences suggest different factories made them, or were involved in supplying components. This might likely point to the involvement of Matsumoto Gakki Seizou Kumiai, the so-called Matsumoto Manufacturers Association, a collaborative group building instruments sourced from various woodshops, hardware & electronics manufacturers in the Matsumoto City area. There are later, and slightly more crude versions of the same bass which were made in Korea, not Japan. This points to the migration of the manufacture of low-end instruments from Japan to Korea in the mid/late 70s, and demonstrating how specific established designs were exported. This one is branded Arirang (named after a traditional Korean song), a common 70s/80s Korean brand name. It's unclear whether Arirang was a manufacturer in its own right, as there's evidence suggesting it might have been a sub-brand of Samick. https://reverb.com/item/786783-arirang-short-scale-bass-1970s-olympic-white-mahogany-neck It's entirely probable that manufacture of this style continued in Korea (and possibly Taiwan) into the 80s, like many designs & styles that originated in Japan in the 60s did. Which coincidentally, leads me quite neatly to... Yeah - I can & they didn't! Well, broadly anyway. Excuse me while I rant incoherently: There's a tendency for people to look at anything old looking & Far-Eastern looking and go TEISSSCOOOOO!!! (in the same way anything late 70s/early 80s & stripey provokes MATSUUMOOKUUUU!!! - as though no-one else ever ripped off Alembic) whereas the reality is there were countless manufacturers making & exporting similar odd little guitars in the 60s. Many of these designs continued being made as starter instruments in the 70s, alongside the 'proper' copies, and later being manufactured in Korea & Taiwan through the 70s & 80s. Teisco was actually taken over by Kawai Gakki in 1967, and ceased manufacturing in its own right at that point, and a lot of what people try to flog as '60s Teisco' is actually 80s Taiwanese catalogue tat. And breathe. There. It's over. You made it. Well done you!

Eh up So..... It's been years since I was here last. Most of you won't remember me, but a few oldies might. I've been here since the start, since the "Bassworld" days which most of you won't remember. I've been totally out of it all now for at least a couple of years. I totally lost all enthusiasm for bass, and making music generally for no reason I can put my finger on other than concentrating on art. I've had every bass you can imagine.... I must be into 3 figures of them... fender, lakland, musician, sadowsky, ibanez, Yamaha etc.... from 3k to £100 (best P bass I ever had... a 100 quid knackered MIJ Squier from the bay).... Anyway.... 2yrs since letting my last 2 Yamaha BBs go..... I got the itch again... my Mrs has bought me (with my guidance) an old Yamaha RBX460. It's, really fun to play, made in Taiwan, around 1997 I think. I'm already looking for pickup upgrades lol.... but it decent as it is... anyways.. Just dropping in.... 👍🏻

The End of Days haz arrived. Teeblet-boy arrived in the World yesterday. Be afraid, be very afraid!

@Al Krow Peavey have said they’ll try to send me some specs later this week, if they’re allowed EDIT: got some very basic info I’m allowed to share 🤘🏻 Weight: 11.5 lbs (5.22 kg) Dimensions (H x W x D): 12.0”W x 12.0”D x 3.62”H (305mm x 305mm x 91.9mm) Protection: Over temperature, Over current, Clip limiting, Short circuit, DC output Power Output (THD+N 1%) Minimum load = 4 ohms Bridged output RMS Power, 4 Ohm load 1100W RMS Power, 8 Ohm load 835W Nominal Input Sensitivity: All EQ controls at 12:00, Compressors off, Shape off Gain at 12:00 = 1.4VRMS Gain Control Max, = 70mV RMS (not sure why some has pasted with yellow highlighting!)

Only on internet forums is there this preoccupation with flat response. Flat response means there is no change in sound. So put the pedal in bypass and you can use it as a regular DI. If you turn off the Blend control and set the tone controls at their midpoint the unit is also flat and becomes an active DI with EQ. The SansAmp section is only the Drive and Presence controls. The Bass Driver DI is an amp emulator /DI. It's supposed to sound like a vintage tube amp and includes tube amp and speaker emulation which are not supposed to be flat. You can't have distortion and flat response. The unit has the Blend control which enables you to mix in your unprocessed signal along with the Tube amp emulation. This goes back to the old studio technique of mic'ing a bass amp in the studio while also running a direct signal to the console. The two signal are mixed together to give you a composite sound. Because most live sound techs like to DI the bass amp (vs mic'ing) the bass Driver DI was developed to give you a better DI tone than can be easily achieved with a standard DI box or your amp's DI out.

The reason we haven't heard of Michel Hatzigeorgiou is because he is a shade, a shadow of another artist. A fool's errand. He would not exist without Jaco. Jaco wasn't perfect but he changed the rubric. Michel Hatzigeorgiou just a fan who got lost down the rabbit hole dug by his mentor.

but does he have a time machine to travel back to 2019?

I worked in a repair shop. Hairspray trick is interesting. I'd first test on an inconspicuous place such as in a control cavity (I have to imagine that not all hairsprays are formulated the same). Alcohol generally works well on permanent inks - again, depending on chemical composition - though two things with that: first, on pure nitro I would use grain alcohol - yes, the drinkable kind (like 95%/190 proof) - as some of the denaturing agents in denatured alcohol can act as a solvent on nitro (and even grain alcohol can sometimes cause some clouding though that can generally be polished out - I try to do the whole process as quickly as possible, once the ink is gone, clean the surface of any residue). Second, if the nitro was a mix with shellac I would avoid this as alcohol is a solvent for shellac (much the same as acetone for nitro). In that case, I would probably just go with scratch remover/polish by hand on a cloth. It's trying to find a solvent for the ink which has no effect (or the least possible) on the finish. With any method, test first...

I've had a few of these pass through my hands in recent years and found them to be very capable and underrated amplifier heads. The Trace Elliot GP7 SM 150 heads were almost an entry level TE amp head of the late 90's /early 2000's and typically came in an enclosed metal case which was fitted in a wooden sleeve covered in green carpet covering. The RAH heads could be rack mounted ( assuming you had purchased a set of TE rack ears ) but in my experience most of these amps came in the green carpet covered wooden sleeve. The amps were fairly straight forward design with either a Mosfet power board or a Bi-Polar power amp board ( The Bi-Polar Bear) and were fan cooled. Output was 150W RMS, 300 Watt peak. The input stage was a standard 7 band graphic with pre-shape buttons and a graphic output knob and an EQ balance knob. A DI option complemented these features and an effect send/return and line out completed the front panel options. On the rear panel was two speaker jacks and a tuner out. In use the amp has a fairly characteristic Trace Elliot tone using the pre-shape. Using the graphic EQ in conjunction with pre-shape 1 gives a fairly wide option for tones and its not difficult to get a useable tone for almost any musical style. In use these amps are very versatile/toneful and their output will more than cope with rehearsals and small gigs even with a good 8 ohm cab. With a good quality 4 ohm cab they can be very loud and remain stable for an all night gig lasting several hours. I haven't experienced any issues with cutting out or overheating with prolonged high output usage of these amplifiers. Pro's Trace Elliot classic pre-shape sound Quality pre-amp tone shaping abilities 150 old school Watts is deceptively loud cheap to purchase used easy to repair/maintain Good build quality Great amp for punk/metal tones Cons fairly heavy for a 150W amp head rack mounting options limited as TE rack ears unobtainable these days cooling fan can be noisy as tend to run very fast Watch out for crackly/noisy examples. There is an issue with some builds that don't have a locking washer on the power amp ground post(mounting screw can shake free after years of service and cause noise/crackles). For the amp aficionados and techies, there are a couple of simple mods for these amps that can improve their usability. Changing R21( GP7SM 150/300 schematic) on the pre-amp from 10K ohms to 4.7k ohms transforms the input sensitivity and overall volume responsiveness of the unit and makes a huge difference to how these amps perform. The same mod was carried over to early Clive Button designed Ashdown MAG amps to also increase the pre-amp sensitivity and overall amp performance. For examples with a very noisy and fast cooling fan, you can mod this by fitting a series resistor on the fan positive to drop the fan voltage( usually a high 16v rail). In my experience, a 5 Watt 82 ohm or 5 Watt 100 ohm resistor will reduce the fan speed without adversely affecting cooling ability. Thermal cutout on these amps is designed as 100C so you really need to be thrashing them to death to cause a cut out. Always consult your amp tech before applying any mods* Overall, nowadays these are great budget amps that we're still built up to a spec and not down to a cost. The sound and performance from them is still valid today and I'd give a good example 8.5/10 - in my humble opinion.

I’ve been doing a bit of digging, this through headphones sounds very similar ?

The Peavey made Trace Elliot 2x8" cabs are some of the nicest I have ever owned. The Faitalpro speakers in there are simply amazing. I also own the Elf head and the Transit-B pre. The Transit-B is all you will ever need to get that Trace Elliot tone you know from the SMX range, minus the tube section in the pre but with an added overdrive channel. Peavey try to make great products when they throw the Trace Elliot label on and imho so far are doing a pretty damn good job! Eagerly awaiting the specs of this new TE-1200 amp.

Following just do something imperfect, just once, please ?

I have a small pile of veneers that my dad gave me a while ago and in it was a couple of pieces of walnut that look a very similar colour to the walnut tops. A right stroke of luck I say!! After a little bit of carving on the back of the neck, the veneers could be glued on. The curve just makes a nice little volute when the neck is carved. I glued the front veneers first as they are flat, then once the glue was set enough so they wouldn't slide at all, I glued on the rear ones and clamped it all together. And as said before in this forum, you can't have enough clamps. I forgot to take a picture but I probably used 10 G clamps to hold on a headstock veneer. Overkill? Maybe, but it'll be flat and it won't move!!! To get the veneer to sit tightly onto the curve at the back of the neck I use a flat block with a curve at one end to match. On this I have some foam rubber about 4mm thick so when clamped to the neck it pushes the veneer nicely onto the curve. Sanded the front lip flat and marked the centre lines ready for routing the truss rod channel and carbon rod channels. Right, off to sand some coving to earn some brownie points. Cheers

God no. Can't risk overhang

That’s a solution but not the solution. Usually the problem with the device not being seen on the online updater comes from not having plugged in the device before launching Chrome; Chrome scans for connections when it is launched, not when devices are plugged in. (Same is true of the Editor: plug in the USB device before starting the editor, otherwise it won’t show in the menu.) Another issue can be that one has MIDI disabled in Chrome. The MIDI I/O setting in the Editor is for the Editor only; it has no effect on Chrome.

Who came up with the name 'Heavy Metal'? Lengthy piece here by Deena Weinstein, Professor of Sociology at DePaul University in Chicago (really). Library searches, phone calls, exchanges of correspondence; quite the detective story. The minor problem for me is that it seems that the originator wasn't really thinking of what we call heavy metal music when they first used the term. Answer in spoiler box:

Someone on talkbass said he see him live and he was playing a Rick 4001 with flats and mutes on

Good post. Personally I find ‘flat’ and even ‘FRFR’ to be over used by some people who think they need them. What’s the point of having a flat response? So you can colour it 😂.

That reply was tongue in cheek of course but without providing more info as in what you wanted/ needed form an fx unit it’s a bit vague. Sounds like you got it sorted tho.

Leon Sylvers played a Rickenbacker most of the time if the internet is to be believed. Beast of a producer/bass player.

my quartet,

Let's just agree, we all like a rough shag.

Looks like I've got a few to go thru again, when I've got an hour or so free ! 👍

Very exciting! I also have one on the way, fingers crossed it will arrive with me this week! I think it's probably time that we move away from this 'far eastern = cheaply built" mindset. Sure that's true in some cases, but these are highly spec'd, low-order-quantity basses, they're not building hundreds at a time, far from it I believe. They're designed by Rob Elrick I think, and so John Files (of Sonata Marketing) and Rob are not going to settle for any old cheap factory knocking them out! Si

I thought tiesco , but there’s 2 similar, Is this it

Nope, using it to hold a wayward coiffure in place is the second best use. Flamethrower for the win.

Remember buying the single version of this in 1981, but can't find on youtube (seems it's worth £50+! I'm rich!). So here it is, in all its glory, from the album:

Quick - create two more accounts and vote "definitely not" with both of them to counteract your earlier mistake. This stuff matters.

As in I’m giving up making recommendations of a tried and tested method I’ve used many times… Sean - set fire to the guitar mate, it’s a gonner once the ink is on it 😂

I'm not too sure on that really,the hardware is all very good quality,the build quality it totally flawless,it sounds just as you'd expect & it plays beautifully. Personally I really don't care where it was made it is a very high quality P bass & the neck,oh the neck

Michael Manring uses D'addario piccolo, and finds them very responsive to his wild and wacky tunings. I have a cut down set on an Ibanez Mikro ; the G string tuned down to F makes it nice and bendy without being floppy. (And that's the only way to get me and MM mentioned in the same post...)

Courtesy of Walshy for the stunning body, Lindy Fralin for the PUPs, Kiogon for the loom and an unknown manufacturer for the neck, this is on the basis of going back through photos my 19th bitsa build, and one of the best. Lightweight, resonant and articulate. Check out the wood.....

Hipshot Drop D tuners. Makes life so much easier when gigging. Nordstrand pick ups - I have never played a Nordstrand pickup that sounded anything other than fantastic.

Farther & Son - Cat Stevens

Harley Benton.

More post punk whimsy. Not exactly a Desert Island Disc but this really takes me back to John Peel midweek and Anne Nightingale. Really enjoying this thread

For the C string I would recommend 0.32, I believe that's what D'addario use. I used to get Warwicks that had 0.30 and the C usually felt a bit too Trebley compared to the 0.32.

A couple of weeks ago Alan sent me some options for how the book matching for the front and back should look, I chose to go with these front and back: Today he sent me these fresh out of the press: Awesome figuring that's so well fitted to the shape of the guitar. I'm proper excited now...