Green Alsatian

[quote name='donkelley' timestamp='1399909747' post='2448854'] Only song you know with two bassists? [/quote] Sorry - should have been clearer! I was talking about the tracks on Phil's 'Solo in Soho' album. More than one bassist? Gotta be 'Big Bottom' by Spinal Tap (two 4-strings and an 8-string)!

Phil used to play guitar on a few songs ('Ode To A Black Man' and 'Solo in Soho' to name two), so the second guitarist would go on bass. On the 'Live in Sweden' album which was recorded during some downtime with Lizzy, Phil plays guitar on Solo in Soho with Doish Nagel playing bass for the song (and John Sykes on lead guitar). The only song I know with two bassists (or possibly just a double-tracked bassline) is 'Talk in '79' from Solo in Soho.

It's obvious he hasn't got one and is just trying to impress us. Just like my mate had a pair of Adidas Barcelona in 1983 but his mam said he 'wasn't allowed to wear them to school or play out in'. Yeah, right.... Marcus, you [i]promised!!![/i]

"On the occasions he lies upon you, close your eyes and think of nothing but private hell." Private Hell by The Jam. I'll follow in the 'less obscure stakes'. "He's just a boy, that has lost his sights. He's a stranger, that prowls the night."

Aye, I thought I'd mention it with him initially mentioning the Modern Player Jazz, which also has a skinny neck. White (ish), with most definitely not a skinny neck would be the Fender Blacktop Precision Bass - no maple fretboard option, but I suppose you could swap it at a later date. This one has the older 'double jazz' humbuckers, rather than the ones featured the newer Modern Player Jazz, which look like (but don't sound like) the pickups on the Roscoe beck.

Looking at your budget, what about the SR-300 in white/maple? You'd actually have a lot of change from £500

Cool - I'd seen their other songs from that set on YouTube but not that one. A great cover - it also featured on the early 90s compilation 'Extras' which I have on tape somewhere. Bruce is playing an Aria SB R-60 (the wide-necked version of the SB-700, itself the passive version of the SB-1000) and their set on the Tube is the only time I've seen Bruce playing it. Apparently, his head was wrecked for that performance as Paul had told them he wanted to break up the band prior to it (according to the 'Our Story' book by Bruce & Rick).

And a pair of mirrored aviators!

Definitely Rocker Launchers!

They're great sounding synths - I've had the CZ-1000 (full-size key version of the 101) and the CZ-3000, which is like the 5000 without the sequencer. I quite liked the (noisy) chorus on the 3000, but it did add a bit of warmth to the sounds. The multi-stage envelopes enabled them to do things you couldn't do with the analogue polys that ruled the roost at the time. As BRX has said, the VZ series are also worth looking into, but programming them isn't as simple or 'immediate' as the CZ series but the screen gives a graphic representation of what's going on with some parameters, unlike the numbers-only display on a DX7. I've currently got a VZ-1 although I need to replace the backlight on it soon. Just a pity it was overlooked in favour of the DX7 at the time (or more accurately, the DX7 MkII) as with the extra waveforms (something Yamaha didn't address until the TX-81z/DX11), you have more scope for sound design. This advert still makes me laugh though: http://youtu.be/GPWEnmEYxqs

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1396887962' post='2418432'] The keyboard sound is very reminiscent of Jan Hammer in the 1970's/early 1980's. That is neither good nor bad , but I just thought I would mention it. [/quote] Classic Minimoog sound - Jan used the Mini a lot in his work around that time. The 'guitar' in the Miami Vice theme is actually six of them. Miss mine.

"But if you worry about your ports of call, you'll never get nothing done at all" - Five Minutes by The Stranglers. "No more silver rain will hit your ground and no more guns will sound and no more life be drowned..."

One thing you could try is to unscrew the pickups and rotate each of them 180 degrees. On the 'single coils only' setting, you'll then have a setting close to a regular Jazz Bass (both inner coils active) as the factory setting is for the two outer coils, which I found sounded a bit nasal due to the distance between them. It might tighten up the setting with the bridge set to humbucker/neck set to single coil and then back the balance slightly towards the bridge.

That sounds normal - there are two types of pots that can be used - Audio (or Logarithmic), which are generally used for volume pots and Linear, which are generally used for tone pots. With audio pots, you only hear any significant change until nearing the end of the knob's travel up from zero. Here's a little feature which explains how they work. http://www.learningaboutelectronics.com/Articles/What-are-audio-taper-potentiometers Some people prefer switching them around though - all down to personal choice.

I wasn't sure about the scratchplate on it from the earlier images but seeing it on there, that really works!

A black sparkly scratchplate and matching painted headstock would look even nicer.

Aye, mine was the relic version too - quite tastefully done I felt, with the 'wear' in the right places and not just looking like someone attacked it with a sander. Sadly for me, it was one of those 'didn't have the money for it, but couldn't resist at the price but ultimately had to move it on' affairs. A pity, as it just felt right and sounded great. Even at full price, these basses are bargains!

I've owned a Vintage Tony Butler model (maple fretboard) and a standard Vintage V4 (rosewood) and the neck dimensions were the same from memory - I don't recall the Tony model having a thicker neck. It's wide, as you say - around 43mm - but not as thick from front-to-back. It felt like the MIM 50s P-bass I used to have. The American Standard P-bass (I had a 2010 model) was a bit narrower at the nut - 41mm and a modern-C profile, a far cry from the baseball bat-like Yamaha BB300 I had - thick from back to front and 44mm at the nut, but with big hands, I found it sat nicely in the hand. If you get on well with the Standard V4, you'll find the Tony Butler model to be familiar territory although the finish is glossy, rather than the satin of the standard V4.

Funnily enough, when I watched BBC's 'Sounds of the 70s' in the early 90s, they showed The Jam playing Eton Rifles on 'Somethin' Else' and I remember noticing the Jazz bass bridge pickup on Bruce's Rick (I had a 4001 myself at the time). Here's the clip featuring that bass, although you can't make it out on YouTube: http://youtu.be/lG0L86DRuC8

Thanks Stu - I see they're playing in town in November for the 'Setting Sons' section of the tour. Ticket bought!

Funnily enough, I've just watched my 'Bruce Foxton Live From London' DVD from a gig he played in 1985 (a fiver on Amazon!). He was using his black P-bass with mirrored scratchplate through his Marshalls and his playing was flawless throughout the concert, fantastic tone. Not a patch on seeing him 'in the flesh' though - I'd love to see him in action live.

I'd certainly pay that for one - it's only £40 more than the recent Squier VM PJ basses (I had one in sunburst) and as nice as the Squier was, the ESP felt like a more expensive instrument to me. Of course if you do find that parts are lacking, you've still got a great platform for modifications. This was mine:

I've had the fretted 'relic' ESP LTD 204, which I picked up really cheaply on eBay (£140) a few years ago. After putting on my choice of strings and setting it up, I felt it didn't need any upgrades as the pickups gave me the sounds I'd expect from a PJ. Neck felt good and it was solidly put together. You may find you don't need to do anything to it.

"...to a place where he could make it re-aaaallll" Dr. Stein by Helloween. [size=4]"[color=#000000][font=proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif]So she had a Milk of Magnesia and curry powder sandwich, half a pound of uncut pork"[/font][/color][/size]

I've never had any customs charges from StewMac purchases (or Guitar Parts Resource who I've used a lot in the past) - I ensure that my orders stay under the price that incurs charges (can't remember the limit off the top of my head). When you factor in the fact that stuff is more expensive (or not available at all) over here, StewMac really aren't that expensive - better quality tools too, I've found. It does take longer, so if you're impatient you can pay more for speedier shipping services.