Leaderboard
Popular Content
Showing content with the highest reputation since 12/03/24 in all areas
-
Been on here years and seen you lot snagging vintage bargains, well today was my day as I spotted this old thing for £60 in a charity shop window. It's a Hondo II Professional with what I assume to be a Dimarzio, no Made in Japan on the neckplate so is this Korean/Samick or a later MIJ Tokai or something? Serial is 0110454. Sounds impressively loud unplugged, looks all original (to my untrained eye anyway) aside from the janky knobs. Pickup housing has cracks but not completely broken, parts rusty and definitely showing its age but should clean up to a less ratty state and the neck is straight. Some weight to it, given the rust and the fact I found it in the port town of Fleetwood I wonder if it actually has been used as a boat anchor at some point. Obligatory rubbish car seat shots.26 points
-
I have a couple of stories. They're not as good as those above, but here goes. Back in the 80s, some pals and I started a western swing/honkytonk band in London. Two of the band members were an established guitar and fiddle duo who knew the material, so we were off to a good start. We put together a couple of sets, sent out demos and got some gigs. All was going swimmingly until said duo got offered several months of lucrative work in Europe and announced their departure. We debated what to do. I played fiddle (it was originally my main instrument), but was playing bass in the band. Should I swap to the fiddle and look for a bass player? In the end, we decided that it was better that we had a rhythm section that knew the stuff and that we should add solo instruments (we had a competent rhythm guitar player, who also sang). We had gigs in the book and figured that a solo instrumentalist who doesn't know a number could sit out and not leave a hole, whereas a member of the rhythm section dropping clangers would not be good. We put out some wanted ad's and booked a rehearsal room for auditions. We looked for guitar players first. We did have a few interesting characters show up, saying things like "country music and swing? Yeah, no problem. Only three chords, innit?". One bloke was amusing. He produced a beautiful vintage Gretsch when he set up (to approving nods from the band. He must know his stuff if he has the right instrument, eh?). We kicked off a number and he thrashed the unfortunate guitar, pogoing around and gurning. We nodded at him to take a solo, whereupon he turned the volume up and thrashed away at the same chords, jumping about on one leg and smiling broadly at us as if to say "Great, aren't I?". We politely asked him to leave his number in the waste paper basket on the way out. All was not lost, though, because two guys showed up together next. They were long-time pals and playing partners, both had Telecasters (one with a B bender) and knew what they were doing, so problem number one solved. Rather than hire a room to audition fiddle players, I suggested that I should invite people to my house to check them out (I would play guitar to accompany them) to weed out the no-hopers/weirdos. We agreed and I placed the ad'. One guy rang the doorbell, I answered it and he fixed me with a gimlet stare and asked me, in a heavy Germanic/Scandinavian accent, whether Zis was the place for ze audition. I replied in the affirmative, led him to the lounge and offered him a cuppa, which he declined. Attempting to make small talk and break the ice, I asked if he had come far. "Vot do you mean?", came the reply. "Er, I wondered if you lived far away", I replied. "No. I do not". His manner was rather intense. Right. Okay. Let's get down to it. "Vot does the band play?", he asked. Thinking "didn't you read the ad'?" to myself, I replied "Western swing and honkytonk. That sort of thing". Another gimlet stare. "Vot is honkytonk?" I rattled off the names of some of the better known players and singers and he looked blank. I picked up my guitar and asked what he would like to start with. "I shall play you a piece that I wrote", he intoned with a fierce glare. "Do not play ze guitar, please". Um, OK. Go for it. He launched into a frenzied rendition of, er, something, sawing away furiously. It sounded vaguely like an American old time fiddle tune, The Devil's Dream, but was in some sort of free time. He finally stopped with a flourish and I said "Ah, the Devil's Dream". His eyes bored into me. "No. I wrote this tune". Have it your own way, sunshine. At this point, I was ready to throw him out, but felt I should give him one more chance. I suggested I should sing one of the songs from the band's set and he could play along. He agreed and I launched into a straightforward Hank Williams number (can't remember which. It was almost 40 years ago). Before I had got to the end of the first line, he was carving away, out of tune, out of time. He played random inappropriate nonsense over the entire thing, to the extent that it was a struggle for me to get through it. I put down the guitar, thanked him for coming and said I'd be in touch. "So I am in ze band?", he enquired. OK, you want honesty. "I'm afraid not", I told him. "Why not?". "You just aren't familiar with the idiom", I replied. He glared at me and said "I am not satisfied with your explanation". I'd had enough. I took out my fiddle and gave him a few bars of western swing legend Johnny Gimble's party trick, which was to play swing fiddle and scat sing a harmony line (a great device. I'd worked for hours to be able to do it). "Because you can't do that", I said. With a face like thunder, he put his fiddle away and left without a word. Just as well. Saved me from having to clean his blood from my carpet.25 points
-
hi! Marc here from Sandberg! first and foremost, I hope i’m not breaking any rules for the forum/this thread. if I am, someone kindly let me know (or give me a swift kick in the butt). as for your frustrations, I can assure you that it’s not intentional avoidance. some of the insight provided in this thread is spot on, in that we (like many other companies) have had a number of issues with emails either getting to us OR getting to people. anything from spam filters to the email servers people us (eg Google) rejecting our emails entirely for a variety of reasons, most recently the SMTP authentication certificate. these are just a couple very real and often very frustrating things we’ve encountered and are working to fix that! to address your specific concerns/inquiry, please don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected] (yes, “.com” - I live in Chicago. you are also welcome to CC my personal email at [email protected] to make sure I see it). thanks for bringing this to our attention! -Marc20 points
-
Played my first Wilcock over 2 years ago and finally placed an order last year. Arrived today. Its awesome! Only had a short noodle on it but its sounds killer, love the 'bridge' pickup, getting used the mudbucker, but overall it plays great and its PINK!20 points
-
After last week’s shenanigans with the full 12 piece band, including the percussionist doubling on pedal steel, our most straightforward format albeit my least favourite, 6 piece with the horns on tracks at Tewksbury Park at a smallish wedding. Nice room to play in, easy sound to manage and a up for it crowd. Dep guitar did great, singer decided he’d DJ the end of the evening, everyone happy.17 points
-
Played Butlin’s Skegness last night - doing a Semi-regular Monday slot there with a Nile Rodgers tribute over the coming season. Decent venue & crowd especially considering the time of year! Rocking my MTD Saratoga 5 just like Bernard Edwards used to play, obviously 👀 😛17 points
-
I bought this Bass a few months ago from a guy who builds his own guitars. I have had it set up and serviced by our guitarist. The Bass plays really well sounds great and will hold its tuning perfectly. However, I bought it on a whim as I play in a Glam Rock Band and thought it would look great on stage, photo's etc. But the truth is I can't drag myself away from my P Basses. There are a couple of little dinks on it, hardly noticeable and do not affect the playability. Cash on collection only please. Thanks for looking. John16 points
-
Back home from audition. It went as well as could be expected and they seemed a nice bunch etc….. Ended up only playing 2 of the audition songs as they were sick of playing Go Your Own Way that night 😬 Instead we played 2 other songs off the setlist that I had learned, so I was glad I had made the effort to learn them. hopefully I’ll hear back from them soon, one way or the other16 points
-
So, as a long-overdue, and final gift to the 'Washboard' (expertly named by an old skinny-stringer friend, with whom i used to jam in my student days), i decided i should finally finish this 55+ year old 'project' by covering its modesty with something hopefully more appealing than formica I sourced a couple of sheets of 0.6mm mahogany veneer which i'd have to glue together to cover the full area of the perspex scratchplate The edges needed to be cut to fit and, while i managed to do a successful 'overlap-and-cut', i wasn't so successful at taping and folding the joint to glue it - maybe the veneer was too thin for this approach? ...maybe i'm just making excuses! Anyway i finally found a way to get glue (mostly) on one edge of a veneer sheet and press the 2 sheets together - it worked out ok A couple of coats of water-based varnish, and a bit of sanding, later, i was able to find an area which seemed to be the best match for the grain on the body of the bass, and i traced round the outline of the scratchplate and its cutouts. I cut out the outline with some mean-looking scissors and the cutouts with a craft blade. For days before, i had nightmares about possibly cracking the veneer while cutting, but the varnish was my friend After a little bit of trimming, i loaded the veneer and hardware onto the perspex and finally… took a breath The Washboard just has a few battle-scars now - but hey, after half-a-century, who hasn't? Veneer in place16 points
-
8 years ago I was smitten by a Patrick Eggle New York IV being played at a mate's birthday bash. I was so impressed by it's tone, compact attractive aesthetics and high quality build/hardware that I've been trying to get one since then. The only example I knew of in my home town got sold before I was aware and went to Nottinghamshire a few years ago . Anyhow, last week I spotted it on ebay and amazingly it's now back in Hertford . There's so little information on the Internet about this 1995/96 bass that I can't imagine too many were made or have survived? Anyone else had or still own one?15 points
-
Jaco... I don't really like fretless bass. I don't like burpy bridge pickups soloed. (I mean, who wants to listen to burps?!?) I can appreciate the musicianship, but I really don't care for what he does. It doesn't speak to me at all.15 points
-
First time in the Racehorse taunton last night - in fact, probably the first time in taunton proper, which consider we are a band from Yeovil (25 miles from taunton) is quite odd in itself - we have done the villages around but not the town. Anyway, very narrow, long pub, tiny space, awkward load in, but in general was a great night, really enjoyed it and left with future bookings and wedding (gig, not proposal), so I am guessing it went down ok. There were a lot of people in the pub but you couldn't see many of them, they passed the door or went past from the room at the front or the room behind me or the outdoor area. Beyond that space in the picture was just people. It was pretty up close and personal. Second gig with a keyboard player, not sure I was convinced it was a great idea before, but although it doesn't work on everything, he really has brought a new dimension to some songs A bit of a pain breaking down, not much room, and a lot of people in the way of everything and walking through. Although it is further than we usually go (yes I know a lot of you travel miles, we dont!), it was a really quick journey back as the roads were empty, so back before 1. Noticed a private message on our facebook that we were amazing. Always nice to get a compliment although sometimes it would be nice if it was visible on the page!15 points
-
The Bluesfire gig at the Doll's House was last night. Long dark, wet drive up into the valleys. Good load in but virtually no parking, but the residents completely ignore the double yellows and we were told "you'll be ok as long as you leave room for a bus". We were a bit worried at first but it filled up a bit (although not rammed), perhaps as it was a miserable dreich night. But the audience made up for numbers with enthusiasm. The juke box made it clear our music was bang on target for the pub and it was great to get cheering not just applause! Got some positive comments all round too, which was nice 😁 Got away well after 12, for a long, dark wet drive. I found an open macdonalds when nearly back so didn't get home until after half one.15 points
-
Ban this sick filth!!!!!!!!! He is not wrong though.15 points
-
So, Turnette Doone (for whom I do the bass bits) had a gig in Minehead at The Old Ship Aground on a Friday night several weeks ago. All good, well received, want us back etc, so happy days. The next day I flew to Australia for two weeks of work stuff - sounds cool, but it was hard work. Imagine my excitement when I see there’s a fresh comment on the FB gig post from ‘Mark Young’. More compliments?? More praise??? A gig enquiry for a wedding???? Well, not really. Check out his comments, and I hope my reply spreads some joy on here. People, eh?14 points
-
We did a Butlins 70’s weekender at Minehead last night. We nearly didn’t due to our singer all but losing his voice, but the gig was saved by bringing along a possible future replacement for him. He did very well considering the circumstances and at such short notice, so they shared the vocal duties along with me doing a bit too. Had the use of an SVT rig which I’d been looking forward to. Unfortunately it seemed to have a problem during soundcheck so ended up using my GK set up. We got through the gig okay - great audience of around 2000 mostly in 70’s themed fancy dress and up for a good time. After we’d finished some of us caught Bootleg Blondie on another stage who were really good. Plenty of beers afterwards and a good night’s kip in surprisingly nice lakeside accommodation. Dreadful journey home today though due to an accident on the main road in and out of Minehead, necessitating a massive diversion using very narrow roads into Devon! Took us over 5 hours to get home so absolutely knackered now, looking forward to a night in etc. ( Got a break of 3 weeks now before our next gig in Milton Keynes, one of the 5 left before I leave the band. )14 points
-
Played the crooked crow bar in Leighton Buzzard on Saturday night. It's a funny venue, it used to be a Blockbuster video rental shop but now it's a live music venue. The boss, the staff, the sound people, each time we've played there they've just been so good to us. Not in the way of loads of free drinks or whatever but just in the sense that they really want you there and want to make sure you've got everything you need for a decent gig. I'd highly recommend anyone in this area to look them up. Anyhows, we are doing another specialist 00's gig on Friday so we trialled about five new songs and they went down very well, so we were pleased with that. Best part of the night: an artsy bloke in the crowd who fancies himself as a poet started peeling and eating an orange while doing some strange crouched down dance. Band's the Desert Penguins. Gear: Ashdown ABM600 with 2x15" cabs Bass: Stingray13 points
-
Back at Birchanger Social Club last night. First gig for us since just before Xmas, and first gig with new Allen & Heath CQ18T mixer and my new Sennheiser IE 400 Pro IEMs. It's a regular venue for us, but unfortunately it was rather on the quiet side, not to mention we had to wait for the rugby to finish before we could start. But that meant we could take advantage of the excellent food and cheap beer before we started. Every cloud... We played well enough, but as I say, it was a quiet night, so only a few dancers. But they seemed to enjoy it. And even though we've had a few rehearsals since Xmas and I've practiced at home, we were clearly out of physical "gig shape". All of us, apart from young Sophie, were broken by the end of the night. Hopefully, another couple of gigs should do us good. Really happy with the new mixer. I'm glad we had a technical rehearsal a few weeks ago to set it up but it's going to take a few gigs to properly dial it in and get the in ear mix just right (we're sharing a single mix for the time being). Talking of which, I'm very happy with the new IE 400 Pro IEMs, none of the irritating harshness of my previous ZS10 Pro X set, with a lovely full range and deep sound. And the sound from the new mixer seemed to be much clearer compared to the old Yamaha desk. Next gig in 3 weeks time back at the Cow and Telescope. Looking forward to that one.13 points
-
I did post this story on BC a while ago, but I'm posting again as I think it still proves that truth is stranger than fiction. In 1975 I was playing on the island of Jersey with the remnants of a 60's pop band called Love Affair. (Remember them?) We were doing some sort of cabaret show at a big hotel there. We'd finished our set in the main ballroom, and then picked up word that Robert Plant and John Bonham were in the bar. Went and had a discreet look, and it certainly looked like them. Plant was on crutches - I knew he'd had a car crash recently. Bonham looked completely out of it. They were surrounded by a posse of hangers on and music biz people by the looks of it. Next thing we know, everyones cheering, and Plant and Bonham are heading towards the stage. Plant stops and talks to our drummer briefly, and then our drummer points to myself and the guitarist, and indicates we should go up on stage with Plant and Bonham. The rest was a bit of a blur, quite honestly. Bonham was clearly more than a bit worse for wear but started fiddling with the drum kit. Then someone fetched a stool for Plant to perch himself on, and Plant suggested over the mic that we played 'Red House' Sorted out the key, and we were off. I was doing my best, but was only one step back from pissing myself with fear, god only knows what it sounded like. Luckily our guitarist was an excellent player and carried things along, as Bonham was hardly able to keep time, let alone play well. We played two lengthy numbers, half drowned out by whooping and cheering from the crowd, possibly undeserved. I cannot remember for the life of me what the second number was. Most unexpected thing that's ever happened to me at a gig.13 points
-
13 points
-
So - here it is, in all its ... er, glory - built like a tank - unfortunately the similarity doesn't end there... If i had a 3/8" steel bar rammed up my spine, maybe i'd be as upright after all these years 'Do not use until converted' - a little injoke there, to me, from my student self My 55+ year DIY bass case, also in better shape than me now That's all, folks13 points
-
I bought this a few months ago and it is absolutely fantastic, I've never played a 5 string with such a defined B string - and that growl! However I don't have much need for a 5 string so can't see it being played as much as I'd like. The bass is in superb condition. There is some very light rash/swirling to the rear of the body but hardly noticeable - in the picture the sunlight is shining directly on it and makes it look a lot worse than it is 😄 The neck is spotless as far as I can see. The only issues of note are some slight tarnishing to the bridge, tuners and knobs, but they function perfectly well. The bass has recently been set up with a low action and new Sadowsky strings. Collection from Dartford or local meet up preferred.12 points
-
We played the Grand Union in Leicester on Saturday night. Our first outing of 2024 and it went really well and the crowd loved it. We're a Country band so hats and boots are de rigueur for us, but the bar staff joined in and also wore their western gear. Pre-gig photo with said bar staff We got free food and a drink post gig so all in all a good un. The band is Southern Frontier Country Band and I was using my Mike Lull P4 through a Handbox R400 and matching Handbox 1x12 cab. I used my Thumpinator, bought off here, for the first time live and was pleased with results. I'm not sure what that gizmo does but it seems to focus the sound somehow12 points
-
We did the Gifford Arms in Wolverhampton on Saturday night. I've been having some serious stress recently and was really looking forward to a few beers, a curry, and playing f|_|ck out of the drums. Google maps directed us to the wrong side of the pedestrianised high street. 20 minutes of manoeuvring and bickering about signage and fines later, we got to the back door of the pub. The load in was punishing and I was drenched and out of breath by the end of it. Our roadie stood on a bench to hang up some merch, and the sound engineer immediately told him to get down. Apparently it was a health and safety concern. A little alert went off in my head and so I opted for my quieter, dampened snare drum, just in time for him to start telling us that we'd need to keep the stage volume down. There are only 2 monitors, one at each edge of the front of the stage. Our guitarist doesn't use an amp, and all 4 of us sing, so it was quite a challenge to get a sound. The engineer insisted our bassist turn down to almost zero, but then fed a load of bass through the stage monitors, making them work far too hard, and making it weird on stage with no low end. We play a lot of gigs, so we're used to compromise and the occasional sub-par PA, but this engineer was talking to us in a very patronising manner, as though it was our first gig. I'm sure he sensed the frustration as after our sound check he tried to win us round "That was amazing guys, is that song on spotify? I love it" etc. 🙄 The support bands turned up, and we start discussing kit share and stage space between ourselves, which is all pretty normal, but then the engineer started speaking to the whole room, over the PA. When he realised we were still talking to each other, he turned up, and literally said "lend me your ears for just a minute" in a tone that I can only describe as "caricature of bingo caller". He wanted to tell everyone the stage times, and the very strict load-out times. Obviously you'd usually get this info from the promoter/rep before hand, and maybe on the night too, but I've never had it announced at top volume over the PA by a sound engineer. It was all very bizarre Anyway, we trudged off through the rain to find a curry. We failed. I got some chips. I don't think I've ever been that grumpy getting on stage before, but as usual, the crowd cheered me right up. Ace gig, and by all accounts the sound was excellent, so I guess the engineer knew what he was doing (although our bassist turned up quite a lot, and I switched to my louder, un-damped snare drum). Nightmare load out through a wasted crowd but paid and home before 1AM12 points
-
All clean and shiny now, might not look much different but I can promise my bin is half full of absolutely disgusting paper towels. Still need to sort a shim for the neck as the reason the pickup casing cracked was because the previous owner screwed them down as far as they'd go so they weren't too close to the strings, bridge is bottomed out so it needs the neck angle sorting. Touched up some of the headstock chips and found some screws for the truss rod cover which had been glued on. Think I'll get away with the stock bridge unless it gets any worse in which case I'll get the AliExpress one .12 points
-
This deserves to be seen in full, it's just a symphony of perfection. "Grab me guitar please."12 points
-
12 points
-
Did a dep gig yesterday with my Police tribute guys (their normal pub band) I decided to use my Ltd Edition Hofner 500/1 union Jack bass. The whole band have just gone IEM and my bass sounded unbelievable in my ears. Great gig, we wheeled out lots of Beatles songs, some Small Faces, The Who, The Jam, The Police, Oasis IEM have totally changed gigging for me11 points
-
Give it long enough and every bass player who's ever lived will be in this thread 😀11 points
-
After a few weeks off we were back to the fore last night at a local charity event in a social club. Went for the set up in the afternoon as I’d agreed to let the band on before us use my bass rig, we were last on so that was fine. The soundcheck seemed to take forever, I guess I’m just used to us being quick and tidy on that at our own gigs….and of course as we were last on there were sound glitches when we started - no monitor feed, but we got through it. I was happy with our set considering our little lay off and the packed house loved it. In all the event raised over £2200 for blood wise and Weston Park cancer charities in the name of the bassist who died of leukaemia in a band our guitarist and drummer were in over 20 years ago. Things like this make it all worthwhile. I decided to use my EBMM Sterling on the gig, haven’t used it in years and it didn’t disappoint, made me wonder why I’m selling it.11 points
-
my gig last night is actually tonight. Turned up a day early, this is the first time I've ever done this in 38 years of gigging. Luckily the gig was very local to me, 5 minutes in the car DOH!!11 points
-
It was a bit of an impulse buy (hard to believe on Basschat) but as I turned 51 on Monday and the cat turned a far more impressive 17, I decided to invest in the Blackstar U700 head to go with the matching Blackstar Elite cab that I have. A quick road test in the kitchen and my bass tone brings all the felines to the yard! Sounds as sweet as it looks and I was quite taken with the bag it comes in too. Big shout out to Andertons who never hang about sending these things too!11 points
-
Those are my babies, one of the best purchases I’ve made for gigging. Apesticks by ApeLabs. I got a tour pack of 10 from Thomann, which means you can charge them in their flightcase, plus you get 20 small metal panels you can attach to anything suitable (I got a load of cheap photography stands off amazon) so the lights magnets can clamp on. You can operate them with a remote but I forked out for the wireless Bluetooth controller, which means you can control them via an app. The app will run 4 groups, you can assign the lights to any, and you can create your own colours and programs, then design a scene for each song. You can set the sensitivity to sound or speed a cycle runs in seconds. I’ve had a ball coming up with different set ups using the stands then having different moods for different songs, plus the controller will send DMX to other devices, so all our old up lighters match the scene as well. Here’s a few set ups I’ve used over the past year.10 points
-
From an engineering point of view - I think multiscale headless basses make sense to me as a way of optimising string length and balance and I wanted to try a 5 string - that pretty much narrows it down to the Ibanez EHB series! My research suggested the Nordstrand pickups were the way to go hence the 1505 series. I was lucky enough to be able to try an EHB 1005 at the Guitar show in Solihull and this really gave me the confidence to place an order. After a few days of messing about with it, here are my impressions and initial thoughts : It's very comfortable, superlight and the headless system means it is very well balanced As some others have said - the way the back is profiled means that the bass naturally sits on the strap slanted slightly upwards (towards the ceiling). Its not a huge deal, but I think I would have preferred it to sit parallel to my body. I'm still getting used to the multiscale fretboard but its not as dramatic a change as I thought it would be. Scan set the bass up for me and it has very nice low action, just like the one at the Guitar show, maybe they are all like that! Loads of output and many different sounds from the pickups and pre-amp, also sounds great in passive mode, B string seems quite well defined to my ears. The bass is silent, seems to have almost no noise, nice. I find tuning on the headless bridge to actually be easier and more accurate, the knurled knobs make fine adjustment easy I think the build quality is OK, but could be better. In the pictures if you zoom in you can see the finish has a lot of wood imperfections / unfilled grain holes on the body and the neck - I am not experienced enough to know whether this was done intentionally but it is not an aesthetic I enjoy, to my eye it looks sloppy and indicates a lack of attention to detail The neck is very nice, I have very little experience on 5 strings but it seems surprisingly thin and I like the fact that there is still reasonable string spacing. I think I would have preferred Dunlop straplocks but the Shaller ones are OK if a bit fiddly After one sitting I performed the mod on the locking jack, removing the spring, suggested by @fretmeister and others on here, the jack release was way to difficult to operate without removing the bass and messing about, hated it The neck dots, as many others have mentioned are pathetic and hardly visible under subdued lighting after a few minutes So far so good, not withstanding my niggles I am still very happy with the bass, especially the weight, balance and ergonomics making it so comfortable to hold and play ..... J10 points
-
Not really a gig, but went to an acoustic open mic tonight. Got up and added acoustic bass for the last half hour or so, utterly random and great fun.10 points
-
Finally got around to labeling my @moose23 custom. It looks the business!!!10 points
-
Yes it did, they had gigs lined up and a reasonable bunch of songs. I didn’t like the whole setlist, but then I have never played in a band where I liked everything on the list - the majority was good though. If nothing else, I am finding doing things like this is increasing my confidence with playing with new people, and learning different songs10 points
-
Okay so over the weekend I decided to pass on my Harley Benton MM-84a to my son, This left me with a vacancy in my bass rack so I decided to check out some p basses. I used to have a 1982 JV Squier that I stupidly let go while my mind was in a fog after my wife passed away. While surfing the web I came across the Vintage V-4BLK with mirror guard (Phil Lynott & Steve Harris are amongst my bass idols) Out of the box she virtually perfect. Just a slight truss rod tweak and the action lowering to how I like it Paintwork & hardware fit and finish are perfect Intonation was spot on The pickup sound fantastic through my Ashdown ABM EVO III 500 Both controls are super responsive. Minor niggles Fretboard a little dry - sorted this out along with frets The frets needed a re-polish (a couple of rough spots) The bass weighs 9Lb 14ozs but is slightly neck heavy (thats what wide straps are for) Factory fitted strings are rubbish to say the least - restrung with Rotosound 77's Flatwound. I'd never tried flatwounds till now - really enjoying the change The only mods I've done are (only because I already them in my parts draw) Pure Tone 4 point jack socket 3 string tree to stop any A string buzz (though she doesn't have any at the moment) The biggest problem I now have is, I am gonna have the to get the Vintage V4 in white with maple fretboard and make a Steve Harris version (store I got the black one from will order me a mirror guard from JHS at no extra cost)10 points
-
So... it wasn't today, it was Friday and a joy to behold and play it is. Feels great, sounds punchy and funky (shame it doesn't have a tone control in passive mode) but overall, very pleased with the bass. I will add that I was a little disappointed in the condition it arrived in from the supplier (who I won't name but some of you may have seen the bass for sale there, in direct line of sight... ). It had an inspection sticker on it but it was filthy. There was some kind of liquid stain over the scratch plate, under the strings near the bridge was covered in grime and dirt and overall, it looks like it had come in to the shop in that state and gone straight back out again with no checks at all. I had to strip the pickguard, control plate, strings etc and give everything a thorough polish and make adjustments to the truss rod and lower the action (a bit too much turn up at the nut end for my liking). I would have thought a 30 minute check over and clean would have been a standard procedure. Oh well... it's proper sorted now, nice and clean, fresh strings and plays and sounds like a demon. Atelier Z - you have a devoted follower. One thing - the sticker is pretty tatty. Do I remove it or source a replacement? If a replacement, anyone know where?? The Atelier shop only ships within the far east as best as I can tell...10 points
-
10 points
-
I think the time has come to sell my 1985/6 Steinberger XM2. Built in the original NYC Steinberger facility, it features a one piece graphite neck, maple body and the original EMG HBs, originally designed for this very bass I believe. It's in good condition for its age, but has some swirling and minor scratches to the finish. When I got it, the bridge pickup preamp had died inside the casing and EMG couldn't/wouldn't try to repair it and I couldn't find anyone else wanting to do so, so I had replaced it with a new EMG HB. It's the exact same spec but is obviously unoriginal. Had a fret polish, new strings and a setup this evening and it feels and sounds incredible, the neck is super resonant and responsive. Comes with the original gigbag, which is a bit worn but still functional and even some old 80s packaging Steinberger strings which are past their best but a cool bit of memorabilia. Seen these listed for 2400 online but due to the changed pickup ( original broken one included) I'm listing it a bit cheaper.9 points
-
For Sale… Ideally collection only, I maybe able to get this to the UK if there was an interested party. 1980s Music Man 112B One Twenty 120 Watt Bass Combo Amp with 12" Speaker. Ultra rare full Solid State Amp. These rarely come up for sale and this one is in beautiful condition c/w original Music Man 1-12 Bass Extension Cabinet. Both are fully flightcased!9 points
-
I had a job once in which I had to sit in on loads of job interviews as part of the panel, but I wasn't really the key player in making the decisions - I was there more to ensure consistent and correct process. It was a fascinating experience. What jumped out is that there's always a specific situation going on for the employer that the new person will have to step into, so that the employer always has a strong idea of the kind of person they need, but the interviewee doesn't and can't know any of that. It made me much more relaxed about getting interviewed myself. You can't know what they're after, so you just need to present who you are and what you can do in a clear and friendly way, and if it lines up with what they need then great, and if not then there's nothing you can do about that. We turned down loads of great people because they weren't quite what was needed - no reflection on them at all.9 points
-
Having tried this it’s just as epic and beautiful as it looks9 points
-
For those who like the TT I would heartily recommend an ACG Graft J Type. About £300 cheaper than the Sandberg and beautifully built and finished in the UK. Here's mine:9 points
-
Weekly Bandeoke residency last night. First use of my HB short scale. It sounded amazing I have to say. Probably a lot to do with the incredible sound I've found through the Source Audio Ultrawave to be fair9 points
-
I’m putting this up for trades preferably but will accept cash offers now. I’d consider the following basses or maybe a shortscale to try out. The priority is another EBMM Sterling USA preferably with a maple board. I’ve found that I’m using mine a lot and would like a back up. Other basses of interest would be a more modern US Fender Precision again with a maple board. I’m always interested in short scale US Stingray basses and would put money towards the right instrument. A US Vintage Mustang or 80’s Bullet could be fun too. I’m not interested in anything else. The bass is a 1980/81 Fender Precision Special. They weren’t made for long and are quite rare. This one is in Lake Placid Blue and has all the original brass and gold plated hardware. I even found the thumb rest that is made from solid brass hiding in a box when I moved house recently. Pickup is the original Fender and I had one side recently repaired by Aaron Armstrong. You will notice that the bass is wired passively. I still have the active circuit and extra brass knob but the circuit will need attention as it wasn’t working at all when I bought this back (I’ve owned this bass twice). It still sounds great as a passive bass however. The scratchplate is original and the extra holes have been plugged with removable plastic caps. I believe a non-original LED may have been fitted at some point as there is an extra plugged hole. It has dings aplenty as it has been gigged a lot over its 40+ years. Frets are in good order as is the trussrod. Action is nice and low and it is currently wearing Dean Markley Blue Steel heavy gauge strings. It’s got some tone to it and it’s a heavy bass at around 4.8kgs. The brass parts are heavy and when I was gigging it I had it fitted with lightweight tuners and a spiral bridge to cut down the weight. That said it’s a lot less than some 70’s Precisions I’ve played. The original Fender case is included. As I said this is for specific trades or cash offers and I’m afraid I won’t ship outside the UK. Any questions please ask.9 points
-
9 points
-
Blue, stop being sensible. If everyone followed your lead, there wouldn't be any great stories like the above to amuse us.9 points