Kiwi

I got mine sent over from the US. Just type in the model number and you'll find any number of online resellers. I got mine for $219 on sale excl shipping. Here's one place doing one for $229. [url="http://www.abesofmaine.com/item=TECDAB3000~item.htm"]http://www.abesofmaine.com/item=TECDAB3000~item.htm[/url] And another place doing one for $224 [url="http://www.sbhcorp.com/scripts/homeViewItem-1975.html"]http://www.sbhcorp.com/scripts/homeViewItem-1975.html[/url]

[quote name='FlatEric' post='655916' date='Nov 16 2009, 01:10 PM']WOW! When I were a lad, workin' int' shop, we used to sell these. We had the 501 and the 502 - probably my favourite guitar amp It is a VERY long time ago, but we put them up against all sorts of stuff and as far as I can remember, it was very close to a Messa Boogie. BLOODY loud - not even seen one for years - didn't even know he did bass amps!! Look at all the workmanship in there - almost a work of art!! How much do the 501's go for these days? Santa's coming soon!! [/quote] For a while they were £250 or so, then for a brief period they shot up to £600 and now the price appears to have come down to about £300 again. Hardly saw any on Ebay but quite a few have surfaced in the last 6 months or so. So now is the time to buy if you've wanted one.

I have one of these: [url="http://tpro.com/prods.php?prod=DA-B3000&PHPSESSID=tbompxid"]http://tpro.com/prods.php?prod=DA-B3000&am...SESSID=tbompxid[/url] Works fine and has proven to be reliable so far.

I've seen an 4 banger version that was a Ritteresque riot of grain patterns.

Yes, hurrah for our fearless leader Ped.

OK, I've just finished playing the bass after making adjustments to the wiring options from the toggle switches. The coil/parallel/coil mode didn't result in as much distinction as I would have liked but the differences in sounds are still noticable. The inside coils don't make as much of a stingray-ish sound as I suspected. If anything it reminds me of an Aria SB1000 - the single pickup version. I did wonder whether it might be worth putting LED's in so I can still which coils are which. Also thought about whether it might be worth putting in a rotary selector instead of the toggle switches as well...

[quote name='jezzaboy' post='654423' date='Nov 14 2009, 01:50 PM']The 80`s were THE worst time for music. Depeche mode, Spandau ballet, Paul young, Howard jones, etc... I rest my case. Jez[/quote] I dunno, I'm thankful for the 80's, there may have been some cheese produced but at least the fan base didn't take itself so seriously. I found the 90's were far worse. I was doing a fine art degree at the time and I had to escape the studio because my classmates insisted on having the radio tuned into the uni radio station and all they seemed to play were the Smiths and indie music. It got to a point where I couldn't listen to one more dirge but everyone else liked it because it was cool. At least people listened to happy music in the 70's and 80's and the element of musical craft/skill was appreciated. In my experience the 90's were dire, depressing and dumbed down.

Yamaha BB5000 necks are pretty chunky although the string spacing is also quite narrow. Are you looking for depth or width? Also, my Spector NS5CR (from the SSD era, with the dot neck) is pretty chunky also.

I know, kick me please. I just have this thing now about Spector NS5CR's, playing the sunburst one right now along to a Four Play DVD and with the mods I've made it sounds smoother than Nathan East's Yamaha. :wub: I'm besotted and its starting to get embarrassing.

Update time: [attachment=36295:DSC02843.JPG] Modded Spector (serial NB1926) from above and a recent bargain off Ebay, NS5CR from the SSD days but after he reclaimed the Spector brand. So its got the slightly thicker neck profile and dot inlays, serial 1382 I think. The natural tint one has a slightly lower resonant peak so sounds warmer and growlier but less bite. The sunburst one is brighter sounding but the resonant peak is higher so less warm but the mids have a nice purr to them and the neck has super low action. I can really fly around on this bass. Both are now loaded with customised Wizard soapbars to my spec (overwound coils, ceramic magnets, coil splits) to give as much warmth as is possible with magnets and wire. In single coil mode, they can sound like an Alembic in the upper positions and like a Tobias in the lower positions. In parallel mode, it sounds like a Smith but with less scoop. On the bridge pickup alone in single coil mode it does a pretty good impression of a Jaydee! With the neck pickup in single coil mode it does a passable p-bass impersonation but the ceramic magnets mean its a little clackier than most P's I've played. Still, by notching back the mids and raising the frequency cut to the clacky frequencies, its possible to tame them. Both will eventually be loaded with three band customised parametric eqs by Klaus Noll. EDIT: Doesn't do Stingray or Jazz at all. But it can sit nicely in the mix of most Chic songs nevertheless.

I want the green one.

Joe I find myself lusting after that guitar preamp. Then I have to remind myself that I've already got everything I can realistically justify...*SIGH*

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='652863' date='Nov 12 2009, 06:07 PM']If it doubles in (real) value by the time you retire then that's - whoopee!!! - £8000. You could buy a cheap car for that. If it increases in (real) value at a gentle rate and ends up being valued at £12k then you've tipped all of £4000 into your retirement pot. These are very small numbers. And they assume that you're prepared to invest £8000 in the first place, which I am certainly [b][i]not [/i][/b]going to do.[/quote] For items like vintage basses you NEED for them to appreciate in order to even cover the costs of ownership which, as far as insurance goes, could potentially be quite a bit unless you have the bass stashed in a secure deposit facility somewhere. Plus there's the lack of peace of mind if you do use the bass in having 8000 quid wrapped up in something that can be easily lifted with one hand from a venue somewhere while you're not looking.

The quilted maple strat body that I dropped off to Jon Shuker for refinishing 2 years ago, so I can get my Nile Rodgers thing happening again.

I felt a twinge of jealousy at that P-bass. Most of the time I'm put off by the chunky neck but a factory fitted jazz neck would be the business.

[quote name='Sean' post='652316' date='Nov 12 2009, 10:39 AM']Are you using toggles to do the coil splitting or what? I'm seriously thinking about using the splittable EMGs in place of the existing ones but don't want to spoil the look with mini-toggles.[/quote] I have the NS5CR forum whore bass which I've fitted with toggle switches because I don't intend to sell it, ever and there wasn't really any other feasible and cost effective alternative to getting the options I wanted with the U-Retro. There are some early Spectors out there with toggle switches fitted at the factory as well so its not completely out of character. I find the attack of EMG pickups is too brittle. The pickups I've fitted give it the sweetness of an Alembic but they're more susceptible to hum than the EMG's as well because they're not active. I've got a second NS5CR in sunburst which is an earlier SSD version so has a slightly squarer neck profile but I'm modifying it in the same way. It sounds slightly brighter acoustically but is deader electronically because I haven't yet fitted a buffered pre.

Investing my savings in some niche appeal instruments helped me stave off the effects of redundancy for a good 12 months. I didn't set out to invest my money though, I got lucky with the choice of instruments. Still, way better than sinking my money into a flash motor.

12 years, kind of made up for it afterwards though. I'm pretty settled where I am at the moment although I've still got a hankering for a custom graphite necked 5 string...

As Sean says, the all maple instruments do have a compressed response when popping. I like that personally. I have custom made Wizards in both mine to pump up the warmth, sweeten the attack and supply coil splitting. The single coil response is really nice too, a bit more definition in the mids. I have a customised u-retro in one which sounds great with the pickups but I'm getting customised 3 band parametric eqs for both eventually so I have maximum flexiblity. What are you listening to your bass through? Is there likely to be anything in the signal chain that is causing a compressive effect? Some wireless headphones have a signal limiter built into them.

I have a spare 3 bolt MM maple f/b neck from a '78 Stingray in great nick although the truss rod needs replacing. Paul_C offered to do it once for 40 quid. I probably don't need it anymore since I had the current neck on my Stingray dressed and refretted. I paid quite a bit for it (120 quid) because they're so uncommon and I'd looking for that plus shipping from NZ. Alternatively there's a graphite jobbie from Status too.