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[quote name='The Funk' post='191740' date='May 4 2008, 06:37 PM']Brian at Wunjo will always do deals on things in the shop. A lot of the time you don't even have to ask.[/quote] Thanks for the tip. Next time I'm in there I'll keep that in mind. I just assumed their pricing would be similar to the rest of Denmark Street.

I've been working on "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick", although it's slow going. Fingerstyle is probably my weakest technique, so it's hard to combine the speed and the groove. Which is why I chose the song - if I can get this down, I'll feel like I've taken a big step forward.

[quote name='Rich' post='190423' date='May 2 2008, 12:32 PM']That's what was so great about the Bass Centre (RIP) back in the Wapping glory days of the late 80s... you'd wander in there and a guy would approach you and the first thing he'd say after 'hello' was "Is there anything you'd like to try?". That's [i]try[/i], not buy. It was always kid/sweetshop time in there. I remember going in there once and telling him what I wanted from a bass... he sat me down at a Trace amp, pointed me at the free coffee m/c, and then brought me [i]fifteen [/i]different basses to try, gave me all the time I wanted, and never once prodded me for a decision or showed any sign of impatience... ahhh man, those were the days... [/quote] Yeah, the original Bass Centre was awesome. When I first got to London, I was desperate to go and check it out, as I'd always read all these great things about it, and I wasn't disappointed. Even though it was a complete pain in the butt to get to, it was always worth the trek. One of the coolest experiences I had in there, as far as customer service goes, was a time when I decided to try out a Jack Bruce Thumb Bass. I'd recently bought a Streamer Stage I, and just wanted to try some other Warwicks out as a comparison. I was playing the bass, and it was nice, but the strings were a bit old, so it wasn't going to display it's full potential. The guy serving me asked if he could have a quick play, which he did. He then looks at me, hands me another bass, and says something along the lines of "just bang on this for a few minutes". He nicks over to the counter, restrings the bass, gives it a quick set up, and brings it back, and the bass was playing absolutely superbly. He didn't give a damn whether I intended to buy it or not, he simply wanted the bass to play as well as it possibly could. As for the Bass Cellar, they're *ssholes. I had two basses on consignment with them. They sold one fairly quickly, and paid up fairly quickly (say, 6 to 8 weeks, which I wasn't too worried about). The other bass took about 6 months to sell, but it took them over a year from the selling date to actually pay me, and that was only because I was ready to call the police. The d*ckhead manager kept blaming the shop owner, saying that he was never available for signing cheques, or some crap like that. Having said that, I did get to play an amazing custom colour '66 Jazz in there that was absolutely amazing - I think I must've got the salesman on a good day, as he was more than happy to let me try it out. As for the rest, yeah,Wunjo's is probably the pick of the bunch, although they're still very expensive. I doubt I'd ever spend money in Denmark Street.

[quote name='Alemboid' post='173723' date='Apr 10 2008, 10:16 AM']The early Fender-like Bassstar graphite necks go back even earlier in fact, dating from the late 70s onwards. Here's mine (1979-ish, neck number 53): [attachment=7456:bassstar_head.jpg][/quote] I didn't know that, I thought it was a bit later. I also didn't know the part about the Modulus/Alembic logo - I've never seen one before!! Thanks for the picture, that's great. Other than that, the logo looks pretty similar to what I had (at least from memory). Thanks for the info!

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='172339' date='Apr 8 2008, 02:41 PM']That was my view on the manufactured Super-Jazz as opposed to the modded Fender. Does anyone know of any sites that have examples of early production Sadowsky's etc?[/quote] The only time I've ever seen any old Sadowskys is when they've been put up on Talkbass or Bassgear for sale. In the 7 or 8 years I've been going to Talkbass, I've only see 3 or 4.

Early Modulus graphite necks had a Fender headstock, and were called "BassStar". Originally they were produced as a part to be added to other instruments, then Modulus starting producing full instruments using these necks. I think this all happened around the late 80s, early 90s. From what I understand, Hutch's instruments are a pair of the complete instruments I mentioned. I actually had one of their necks for quite a while. Absolutely brilliant neck, I really regret selling it, to be honest.

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='171998' date='Apr 8 2008, 07:57 AM']When did the 'Super Jazz' ie Sadowsky take on the jazz come into being?[/quote] If you look at the way Roger describes what happened, he was modding basses in the late 70s and early 80s, but at that time, he'd tell the guys who came to him to go and find the nicest 60s Jazz they could, then he'd mod/upgrade it. I think he was building full instruments by the early 80s, and also, he stopped recommending that they upgrade 60s Jazzes as he realised he was telling them to basically destroy any vintage value the instrument might have. I'd imagine other builders were doing much the same thing. For instance, Charvel/Jackson were certainly do Fender style basses in the early 80s, and I know Schecter were building similar instruments as well. So you can definitely say that that style of bass existed in the early 80s, and I'd imagine there are probably earlier examples as well.

I really liked Louis Johnson's Starlicks video. It's like a crash course in the roots of slapping. I started from there, and found it fairly easy to expand out from what I learnt from his video. And that was about 15 years ago!!

[quote name='simon1964' post='153544' date='Mar 8 2008, 11:53 AM']Some good suggestions above. I've just bought an Ibanez ATK305. They're certainly worth a look. I've never got on with 5 strings before, but this is really playable, and very versatile.[/quote] I was going to suggest an ATK as well. They're good basses for the money, and have a sound that would probably suit the style of music karlbb plays.

[quote name='sticker' post='151747' date='Mar 5 2008, 02:24 PM']"Hit me with your rhythym stick" ... if I could play that I'd be a very happy chappy indeed ![/quote] LMAO!!! This is exactly the song I thought of when I read the thread title!! It's fast, but it's also got such an amazing groove. I think I'll just stick to listening to Norman nail it!

[quote name='petetexas' post='150981' date='Mar 4 2008, 12:54 PM']Hi, Does anyone have any info on the above bass. I understand that they were Canadian built between 1975 - 1982. The guy himself apparantly died in a car crash in 1987. Pete [/quote] I've tried a couple, quite nice basses. The information you've got there is about the extent of my knowledge as well, unfortunately!! I've seen some discussion about them on Talkbass, though, so you might have a bit more luck there.

Sounds like you're sorted, but as an alternative, I've got a Warwick Rockbag for my Steinberger which is pretty good.

[quote name='synaesthesia' post='137931' date='Feb 11 2008, 02:54 AM']Valenti is now using the team at USA custom guitars as a subcontractor.[/quote] Actually, I think he's moved on from them to another company. He mentioned it on Talkbass a few months back.

[quote name='Jamesemt' post='137932' date='Feb 11 2008, 06:37 AM']I've got the chance of a cab from Switzerland that works out about £40 cheaper after adding postage. Does anyone know what the local Swiss tax is? I seem to recall 23%, which would make it even cheaper. I've bought things from Thomann (Germany) before, but they work out the VAT in the prices... Am I right in thinking that because it's coming from Europe, there are no customs charges?[/quote] Whilst they are in Europe, Switzerland are not in the EU, and so I think you will pay taxes.

[quote name='ped' post='137423' date='Feb 10 2008, 01:15 AM']Every time I have heard an F bass being played on a record, in the context of the whole mix it always strikes me how similar they sound to a really good modern Jazz bass.[/quote] I was very close to buying an F Bass 6 string for this exact reason, as I'm a big fan of Jazz basses. Unfortunately, the F Bass I tried didn't do very much for me, and I never really investigated the brand any further. I was told at a later date from an independent source who was familiar with the bass I tried that it was actually a rather bad example of F Basses, so I guess I'd always be keen to try another.

[quote name='bassjamm' post='137409' date='Feb 10 2008, 12:44 AM']Just to clear up...i believe that Valenti basses used to be made from Warmoth necks, however, Nino now makes his own!!! And whilst i appreciate you've made your oders...what's the matter with Mike Lull basses??? I've been able to play a few of his basses, as well as some Sadowsky's...personally i'd buy a Lull, not only are they cheaper, but the feel and sound, for me, was more pleasing!!! Not trying to put a downer on this whole thing...just trying to put out some happy words of bassage on the Lull department!!![/quote] You lucky bugger!! I own a couple of Sadowskys, but the one brand I've always wanted to do a side by side with is Lull. When I bought my first Sadowsky, it was a real toss up between ordering one from Roger or getting Mike Lull to make me a bass, and the thing that swung it for me was the preamp. 6 or 7 years down the track, I have absolutely no regrets, as I still love playing that Sadowsky, but the curiosity about Lulls has always remained.