Kiwi

Rich - thanks mate Looks like the weather in NZ is going to be the same as in the UK. Eight degrees in both Chch and Peterborough! Here comes another winter... JPAC - LOL, the funny thing is that this couple probably think they can get away with it and the naivety isn't surprising. NZ authorities managed to snag the pair of french agents who blew up the Rainbow Warrior so this couple must seriously fancy their chances. [al] - I made it to BKK in one piece and even got a full row of 4 seats to myself to lie full stretch on! Best nights kip I've ever had on a long haul flight! Den - thanks , I won't be too far away, just a different time zone. When I checked the bass safe this morning in the hotel, it looked like the barrel on one of the padlocks securing the bass safe containing the Shuker 6 and Axon AX100 had been damaged sufficiently that I couldn't open it with the key. The other lock and the nylon ties were fine. I'm not sure if the damage was malicious because someone could have quite easily just made off with the whole instrument if they'd wanted. Bit of a sobering thought though. I had to ask one of the hotel staff here in BKK to twist the lock off - which they managed to do with two pairs of pliers without any problems at all! Think I might invest in a couple of more substantial padlocks...

the ultimate 8 string would be one with a graphite neck I reckon. Not too many of them around though and only with higher end brand names. But if you could find a graphite neck with a big enough headstock to take the tuners then it might be worth assembling the parts and getting a luthier to make you the body.

I've already met him. He'll have to pay me a fiver next time. Its only fair, isn't it?

I managed to get online at the hotel last night. I spent most of yesterday cleaning and watching the packers wrap up all the instruments, amps, speakers and racks up in foam plastic sheeting and get loaded onto two massive paletted crates. I won't see them again for 2-3 months. That's gonna be hard. But at least they're all solidly packed and I don't think they're likely to move about in transit. However I have the Shuker and the AX100 in the bass safe and with the laptop, it should be enough to keep me amused. [quote name='foal30' post='492909' date='May 20 2009, 03:27 AM']I'll put the kettle on then if ya late ya suppers in the microwave don't forget to turn the outside light off. how many Christchurch BC'ers?[/quote] Thanks Foal. For a moment I read supper as slippers . Just you and me now but who knows, it might change if I start putting the word around. Next time you're at CJ's drop me a line and maybe we can meet up. [quote name='Platypus' post='492915' date='May 20 2009, 06:30 AM']and don't forget to put the cat out[/quote] Ether or sharp left hook? [quote name='Hamster' post='492917' date='May 20 2009, 06:45 AM']Have a safe trip Steve - sorry I can't make the vodka party this afternoon - wishing you .........[/quote] Yesh yesh Colin it no problems and yakshemash to you anyways.

thanks Kev, Mert. I'll still be online, just not showing up to any events. :-) The packers are here now and I'm not sure when I will next have a chance to post something on this thread so thanks again to everyone who wished me well. Hopefully I'll be back in the UK at some point in the future when things pick up economically again.

I just asked myself what I needed and what was collectable. Anything else got sold (including even the collectable stuff sometimes).

I've had some joy recently with a Technical Audio DA-B3000 Class D power amp for $219 +$60 priority shipping [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=361&view=findpost&p=490923"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&sho...st&p=490923[/url]

[quote name='SpinalTap' post='490881' date='May 17 2009, 09:25 PM']4-5kg isn't that light. I had a Sadowsky once that was around 3,5 kg. Or do you mean 4-5 pounds, or lbs?[/quote] Hmmm, maybe I do. I have to confess that I can't visualise weight very well.

[quote name='velvetkevorkian' post='490961' date='May 17 2009, 10:46 PM']Is that power amp one of the ones off Ebay from the US? Does it run on 240V or is there some adaptation required?[/quote] Yes, its one of these: [url="http://www.teptronics.com/dab3000.html"]http://www.teptronics.com/dab3000.html[/url] But I bought it from www.audiosavings.com through their ebay store.

[quote name='dub_junkie' post='487976' date='May 14 2009, 03:07 PM']nice one! well you got it in the end in a round about way .[/quote] Heehee, yeah I did and I'm very glad I got there in the end because it pretty much has My Sound. [quote name='dub_junkie' post='487976' date='May 14 2009, 03:07 PM']you're right about the sound. definetely the warmest sounding Euro 5 I've owned/played. the green 5 I've still got and others I auditioned at sound control all sound to have a more extreme glassy top end and not so plummy in the lows. THis one is a little softer sounding for want of a better description,and very musical to my ears for it[/quote] I couldn't agree more! The mid range growl is phenomenal, there's loads of bass and the top is really sweet. It's everything my Smith basses weren't and it was a quarter of the cost! I'm a very happy chappy!! OK, update on the rig now. I've put in place the last two components into the MIDI rig now I've sold the Strategy 400. Its separated into two modules. The upper one is the MIDI kit (mixer, AX100 and JV1080) and the bottom is essentially the amp module that I can use on its own if I need to which was waiting for the eq and amp components. In the lower rack, the white unit is a TL Audio 5013 2 channel, 4 band, valve parametric equaliser. This was to give me the versatility that so many bass amps I've had have failed to supply me with. Its also intended to soften the highs a little as well and it does the trick of isolating the frequencies very nicely for £110. The bottom unit is a Technical Pro DA-B3000 class D power amp. One rack space high, 700w a side and $219 plus $60 shipping. I really really like the sound of this power amp. Its very modern sounding, not at all scoopy or coloured and it preserves the mid range growl of the Spector spectacularly well. So what I've ended up with this unit is all the natural warmth and mid range of the Spector plus the potential to tweak the sound for awkward acoustics. I wish so much I had this this rig when I was gigging regularly! I can hear/feel my playing perfectly because the midrange is so well preserved. So this evening with the Spector and the new rack with loads of warmth and midrange with a nice bit of sparkle dialed in on the para eq. I was almost in aural nirvana (although I think the u-retro might give more clarity). Pretty much everything I've been searching for over the last 10 years was there.

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='490637' date='May 17 2009, 04:39 PM']Nice thread, Steve - I know the 'small child walking into the fantastic toyshop' feeling you get when you get when you visit your favourite luthier only too well! Is an order being placed soon?[/quote] cheers Rich, its still going to be second hand Celinders for me, for the time being I think. Although who knows what the future might hold? I would have done one on Jon Shukers workshop too but half the forum has probably visited there at some time or another

any tips for writing the arrangements and finger patterns?

...OK so the tunes may not be cool and right on but I'd still like to learn a few songs like this (fast forward to 0:52):

[quote name='SpinalTap' post='484183' date='May 10 2009, 09:45 AM']Exactly. Chris told me once he never used swamp-ash beceause the wood is so soft, and it just destroys the tone. His basses with ash body's are just to heavy for me, so I prefer the ones with Alder. Great tone, and not to heavy.[/quote] As I hinted at in the public thread, Chris has been working on something that will address that weight issue. The orange bass on the wall in this photo was the lightest bass I've ever picked up. I'm guessing it might have weighed something like 4-5kg even though it didn't have any hardware fitted. If Chris fitted titanium hardware onto it (light but strong) it would be truly standard setting and probably a god send to anyone with back problems.

Hi Brummie - Ped's already offered but they're all coming with me. (I'm dreading the container contents shift around or get flooded with seawater). Thanks for your wishes though. Hi Urb - I'll drop you a PM Prose - not sure where I'll end up at the moment. I'm going to Christchurch in the first instance, where my family are and taking a view on things. The inside money says I'll most likely end up in Auckland (which is no bad thing) but need to do some face to face meetings with prospective employers first.

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='490386' date='May 17 2009, 10:55 AM']You've somehow come to this conclusion, and for some reason people have taken it as fact. My issue with your ammended post is far more superficial.[/quote] Then it's probably something you should have taken up with me via PM instead of jumping in on the thread in a very public, distracting and unwelcome manner.

Fair comment Steve, I know you've had issues with Chris and I deliberately didn't make enquiries because it wasn't any of my business. I also don't know how much of Chris's personal situation contributed to his state of mind last time you both spoke. All I'll say is that Chris spoke with me about his dealings in the US. You didn't come up in conversations until much much later on (weeks later) and even then only in passing. I didn't get the impression that Chris felt bitter about his dealings with you. However, that's just my impression and nothing more.

I'll [i]make[/i] you a squier for £4k. Seriously though, if the cost of an instrument is too much then there's nothing to stop you from going the DIY route apart from time. Most of the stages of building an instrument can be broken down into easy to manage stages. For example, fret dressing isn't magic and even I can do it. Its mostly about attention to detail and patience. I've decided I'm gonna build my own bass some day. I'll probably start with retrofitting bodies before I tackle the fretting but the thing is its not rocket science at all.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='490179' date='May 16 2009, 09:52 PM']Wonderful informative stuff. And hardly advertising - in fact CK may have 'harmed' his mysterious persona with this report.[/quote] Mysterious persona? I swear I've never worn a mask with a cape and I don't like opera that much either. [quote name='obi 2 kenobi' post='490202' date='May 16 2009, 10:29 PM']Thank you CK for the details. Do you know if it is possible to order a bass or if he has basses for sale in his workshop ? Funnily enough I was in Copenhagen 2 weeks.[/quote] Its definitely possible to place an order. But Chris can't give any guarantees over the delivery times. They're likely to be very long because he has a massive backlog to get through in addition to the quick turn around repair work that he does for players in Copenhagen. I guess you need to decide whether you can wait a long time for an instrument or not. Chris won't be taking any form of deposit from you until the build is ready to begin though. [quote name='Born 2B Mild' post='490219' date='May 16 2009, 10:54 PM']It is your destiny CK.[/quote] LOL kiwi, I am your father... ...well we did discuss his own frustrations with what he called misinformation appearing on the internet surrounding his dealings with customers. I could see that he felt he'd been burned (without wishing to go into any further detail) by a few extremely vocal individuals in the past. He has a great reputation in Copenhagen, and nothing is too much trouble for the local players who own his instruments (and there are a number of them who play nothing else). So I sat down with him in his lounge and took him through Basschat, showed him some of the threads, and took him for a tour behind the scenes. During our discussion I did suggest there may be potential for Basschat, as a community, to play a part in helping to restore his faith in human nature...but its up to him to make the call. So for what its worth, I've sent him a link to this thread and I suspect that everyone's posts on this forum will be of great interest and encouragement to him (and perhaps emphasise some of the points that I raised with him about how he's perceived by the bass playing community at least in the UK). He's also said that he only accesses the internet twice a week so if anyone wants to talk to him all they need to do is call if they have questions about the instruments.

might be worth posting a pic of the front of the amp as well...I'm sure you've checked the obvious but we've all been there regardless mate

Its an old and modified Status Matrix 1, the Status geeks will confirm one way or another I'm sure.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='489855' date='May 16 2009, 03:11 PM']I have to ask, Steve: Did you get the story behind the Hofner Violin Bass leaning casually against a work-bench in one of your photos?[/quote] Yes I did Jack, the bass is a genuine '64 Hofner and was brought in for a restoration job by one of Chris's customers. It needed a pickup rewinding and the electrics needed looking at. I plucked a few of the strings and it seemed to be a very resonant instrument. I didn't dare pick it up in that state though just incase something fell out and rolled under a cabinet. [quote name='liamcapleton' post='489861' date='May 16 2009, 03:20 PM']I must say that I do find it endlessly frustrating that he's taken down the website now[/quote] He does have plans in place to put the site back up. There's a lot going on in his mind at the moment and I think he's very worried that he will get so sucked into spending all his time managing the backlog orders and customer relationships that he won't have any time for his first love which is building the instruments (which is what actually brings in the money and makes the business viable). He doesn't want to delegate the building of instruments to anyone else because they don't have his experience or skill. I should have asked him why he doesn't get someone in to manage the customer side of things and leave him to deal with the instruments but I think he might feel there's no point if everything comes back to getting the basses out the door and maintaining a reputation for quality. I think he's in a very similar situation to Jon Shuker where he doesn't have a wide pool of skilled labour to draw on and he doesn't have the time to spend training someone up so ultimately he takes on 100% responsibility for producing the instruments.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='489796' date='May 16 2009, 01:40 PM']So did he invite you over because you've ordered a bass from him? If so, what are you getting? [/quote] Oh god I could have spent a fortune in that place. Chris's instruments are around the £3200-4500 mark and he doesn't give the instruments away, not even to Victor Bailey or Marcus Miller. I think it's going to be a long time until I own one brand new. But I'd probably have a fretted/fretless pair of those Victor Bailey basses in a heartbeat if I had £9k to chuck at Chris.

Thanks for your comments guys. Chris keeps a very low profile these days and I have an interest in bass guitar design myself. So this was a very rare opportunity to get to know a lutheir who makes some of the most widely regarded jazz variant instruments on the planet and to try and gain an insight into what makes his instruments different to similar models out there. I've already visited Roger Sadowsky's workshop too but that was about 16 years ago and I didn't have a camera or the understanding to make the most of my visit back then. If I do make any other visits in the future, I'll definitely post them up here.

lol, the exterior of the building was very different!