Kiwi

Myahah! Well Sir, I will trump your Alembics and your graphite necked basses with... ...a graphite necked Alembic. I duly flap my silk lace handkerchief at you!

[quote name='doctor_of_the_bass' post='166621' date='Mar 30 2008, 10:02 PM']Kiwi, a man with great taste in graphite[/quote] You didn't get to try the one I left at home. Maybe next time though...

[i]Features:[/i] This 34” scale instrument was originally bought off Talkbass. The previous owner had purchased it from Guitar Den in Florida who have sold a number of Cliff Williams instruments on consignment. The bass is active and features a 2 band baxandale eq plus volume running off a 9v battery. The pickup is an original Musicman twin coil humbucker with fat pole pieces in a position about 4 inches from the bridge. The body is made from ash and the neck is a single molding of graphite composite with 21 frets and a phenolic fingerboard. The bass is finished in black poly which appears to be sprayed over a sanded back white finish. The body shape is a standard stingray with a pre-EB 3 bolt neck joint. The bridge is a substantial affair and made from steel with two dimensions of movement and through body stringing. The tuners are open geared Musicman cloverleaf tuners typically of the design associated with vintage fenders. The neck dimensions are probably best described as a cross between a jazz and a precision bass. The neck is a little fatter than the normal stingray neck and has three bolt neck joint whereas most cutlass basses feature a 4 bolt neck. The three bolt neck also features the microtilt feature which makes fine tuning of the neck angle possible without completely removing the neck, I'm a big fan of this feature and wish many manufacturers still included it on their basses. The neck has a serial number and date in hand written marker that suggests is was manufacturered in 1984 whereas the body has an ink date stamp that reads August 1979. The serial number is also consistent with a 1979 year of manufacture. I’ve speculated that either this bass was made up from NOS parts at the factory or Cliff Williams gave them a bass to fit the neck to. [i]Sound:[/i] Probably the most striking thing about the sound of a Cutlass in comparison to a Stingray is a much harder character to the sound. The highs are crisp rather than coarse, the mids are perhaps centred around a higher frequency and the lows are broader and less barky. The overall effect is like a velvet glove – a very big and solid sounding instrument. The growl is still there but its softer and less prominent. At the moment I use the bass with Gallien Krueger and Trace valve amps through Gallien Krueger and EBS neo 2x12 cabs. I’ve found that the cutlass and stingrays have the same affinity with valve heads. The lower mids are projected nicely all through from the strings to the speaker. [i]Action Fit and Finish:[/i] The action is fairly low but the neck could do with a stoning or, better yet, a bit of a clean up. The fit of the neck isn’t super tight into the neck pocket, theres a 1mm or so lip to the neck pocket where the neck fits inside. The neck has always been a bit of an issue on basses that were made towards the end of the Cutlass era. This one has a slight bow in it and the lack of a truss rod means I can’t get the action below a fairly average string height. OK for most players gigging regularly I suspect but it still pales in comparison to my Alembic and Pedulla. [i] Reliability/Durability:[/i] I’ve not had to replace the battery yet after a couple of years of infrequent use. I’ve not had any other problems with the bass so far. It’s proven to be a very reliable instrument. [i]Customer Support:[/i] None. Ernie Ball don’t stock pre EB parts or have any pre EB information on basses prior to the change in ownership. The only source for preEB parts is secondhand through somewhere like Ebay (sometimes at a price). The necks are no longer manufactured, not even by Modulus. [i]Overall Rating:[/i] I own a range of other bass gear including Smiths, an Alembic, Celinders and a Pedulla, plus more stuff I’ve sold on. I’ve been very satisfied with the bass since owning it, its managed to hit the right spot every time I’ve used it. Generally this bass tends to get treated quite gently but I’m getting used to the idea of possibly gigging with it.

[i]Features:[/i] This 34” scale instrument was originally bought off Ebay in a mutilated state. The original body had been hacked into an approximation of a Warwick Thumb shape, painted in blue emulsion and then an original airbrushed sci-fi nude on plastic had been laminated onto the front of it. Apart from the body, the rest of the bass was intact and I planned to transplant a EB 93 body onto the bass temporarily. Eventually I found a worn but nicely mojo’d 1977 body on Ebay which I bought at a silly (ie. expensive) price but I still had a pre EB Stingray at a very good overall cost. It also wasn’t unknown for bodies and necks to be up to a year apart in dates as well so the bass still retains a lot of integrity. The bass is active and features a 2 band baxandale eq plus volume running off a 9v battery. The pickup is an original Musicman twin coil humbucker with fat pole pieces in a position about 4 inches from the bridge. The body is made from ash and the neck is a single piece of maple with 21 frets (which could probably do with a bit of stoning) The bass is finished in a nitro finish and is very worn and checked. The body style is a typical double cutaway with a 3 bolt neck joint. The bridge is a substantial affair and fixed to the body with two substantial anchor bolts that screw into ferrules inset into the body. The bridge itself made from steel with two dimensions of movement and through body stringing. There were sponge mutes still on the bridge but the foam was turning into sticky gunk so had to go. A bit of white spirit took care of any residue. The tuners are open geared Musicman cloverleaf tuners typically of the design associated with vintage fenders. The neck dimensions are probably best described as a cross between a jazz and a precision bass. The neck feels very similar to many modern basses in terms of its playability and super low action is possible thanks to the microtilt feature in the heel of the bass. This makes fine tuning possible without completely removing the neck. [i]Sound:[/i] Probably the most striking thing about the sound of a Stingray is the very prominent lower mids and the coarse sounding top end. This is primarily due to a combination of the pickup placement and the Baxendale preamp although the neck and body woods undoubtedly provide the basic growl and attack. With this particular bass, the vintage disco vibe is immediately apparent, particularly the growl on the lower strings. Some people have claimed that on their stingrays, the D and G strings are quieter, I have to admit I’ve never encountered this on the Stingrays I’ve played. When I fitted the 77 body, the bass was a little dead sounding for about 6 months but the bass kind of settled in and now it sounds as growly as it did with the 93 body. At the moment I use the bass with Gallien Krueger and Trace valve amps through Gallien Krueger and EBS neo 2x12 cabs. I’ve found that stingrays and valve heads generally suit each other very nicely whereas super clean amps like the GK can make the ‘ray sound a little brittle unless the tweeter is turned down. But any amp with a warm mid-low emphasis and clean highs will compliment a stingray. [i]Action Fit and Finish:[/i] The action is fairly low but the neck could do with a stoning or, better yet, a bit of a clean up. I think the neck has been refinished at some point judging by the scratches around the headstock, but that’s OK. I have a spare 1978 neck which needs a new trussrod but could do the same job. The fit is great for an old bass, but the finish is very worn and cracked. Overall it’s a bit of a beater but looks great from all the player wear. [i]Reliability/Durability:[/i] The battery seems to last about 3 months with weekly gigging and I’ve not had any problems with the bass so far. Its proven to be a very reliable instrument. [i] Customer Support:[/i] None. Ernie Ball don’t stock pre EB parts or have any pre EB information on basses prior to the change in ownership. The only source for preEB parts is secondhand through somewhere like Ebay (sometimes at a price). [i]Overall Rating:[/i] I own a range of other bass gear including Smiths, an Alembic, Celinders and a Pedulla, plus more stuff I’ve sold on. I’ve been very satisfied with the bass since owning it, its managed to hit the right spot every time I’ve used it. Generally this is my bass of choice for funky 70’s disco type bass sounds. The instrument is probably replaceable in terms of sound but the mojo it has probably isn’t.

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=135"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=135[/url]

In order for everyone to get the best out of this section, its important that easy comparisons can be made between different reviews. For the sake of some consistency, we recommend using a format similar to that used in the Harmony Central reviews. We like the system they've used and we reproduce part of it here for your reference: * Select a numerical rating in each category (10 is the best, 1 is bad) * Add comments in at least one text field (You must enter some comments that go deeper than saying it's good or bad. Surveys without valuable comments will not be used). There are a number of questions below that you can use as a guide. * BE CRITICAL! Nothing is perfect. Superficial, glowing reviews may not get published. * Resist the new product rush! Take some time and really work with the product. If you need to comment right away, make it clear you haven't used it extensively. * Please include some of the specs too, since not everyone will know the model numbers and names alone. * For manufacturers - We value your input, but DO NOT pose as a customer. If you want to address any comments on your product or refute the facts, you can use this form, but make it very clear you are responding to those comments as a manufacturer (and leave the sales pitch out please!) Companies that abuse this review system will be warned, and related reviews or comments may be removed. Additional instances of abuse will result in ineligibility to participate in user reviews for a period of one year.

In order for everyone to get the best out of this section, its important that easy comparisons can be made between different reviews. For the sake of some consistency, we recommend using a format similar to that used in the Harmony Central reviews. We like the system they've used and we reproduce part of it here for your reference: * Select a numerical rating in each category (10 is the best, 1 is bad) * Add comments in at least one text field (You must enter some comments that go deeper than saying it's good or bad. Surveys without valuable comments will not be used). There are a number of questions below that you can use as a guide. * BE CRITICAL! Nothing is perfect. Superficial, glowing reviews may not get published. * Resist the new product rush! Take some time and really work with the product. If you need to comment right away, make it clear you haven't used it extensively. * Please include some of the specs too, since not everyone will know the model numbers and names alone. * For manufacturers - We value your input, but DO NOT pose as a customer. If you want to address any comments on your product or refute the facts, you can use this form, but make it very clear you are responding to those comments as a manufacturer (and leave the sales pitch out please!) Companies that abuse this review system will be warned, and related reviews or comments may be removed. Additional instances of abuse will result in ineligibility to participate in user reviews for a period of one year.

In order for everyone to get the best out of this section, its important that easy comparisons can be made between different reviews. For the sake of some consistency, we recommend using a format similar to that used in the Harmony Central reviews. We like the system they've used and we reproduce part of it here for your reference: * Select a numerical rating in each category (10 is the best, 1 is bad) * Add comments in at least one text field (You must enter some comments that go deeper than saying it's good or bad. Surveys without valuable comments will not be used). There are a number of questions below that you can use as a guide. * BE CRITICAL! Nothing is perfect. Superficial, glowing reviews may not get published. * Resist the new product rush! Take some time and really work with the product. If you need to comment right away, make it clear you haven't used it extensively. * Please include some of the specs too, since not everyone will know the model numbers and names alone. * For manufacturers - We value your input, but DO NOT pose as a customer. If you want to address any comments on your product or refute the facts, you can use this form, but make it very clear you are responding to those comments as a manufacturer (and leave the sales pitch out please!) Companies that abuse this review system will be warned, and related reviews or comments may be removed. Additional instances of abuse will result in ineligibility to participate in user reviews for a period of one year.

I saw it last night, the guy was playing a Schecter which was unusual. I thought the band lost it a bit during the instrumental breaks and although the slap bass was a novelty to begin with, it looked a bit silly towards the end as he'd started off busy and couldn't build the dynamics of the song much further without playing more notes. Definitely technically proficient but I wasn't convinced by his musicality.

OK, well if anyone is travelling up north from London, could they let us know? I'll give them the gig back to drop in on the way through.

All I can say is WOW So many people turned up and SO MANY BASSES! I don't think we've ever had such a stunning variety of gear before. This is really what its all about - thanks also to Woodenshirt for the industrial quantities of sarnies, we managed to distribute the few cartons that were left over after feeding the hundred or so that showed up. Good to see suppliers too with John East, Jon Shuker, Poptart etc. showing up as well. Awesome, absolutely awesome! Without question, the best Bassbash ever. My picks (not that I actually tried much) was DoctorBass's graphite necked Pangborn for the stunningly low action, and if my bass is going to be anything to play like Johngh's Shuker 6, I'm going to be a very happy chap.

Just let us know where you live and we'll discuss some way of getting it back to you, even if we have to form a Basschatters relay...

ooooh! Itsh sho ickle!

I wonder if many people will forget its daylight saving this weekend?

Welcome to the club Steve

[quote name='Shifrin' post='165788' date='Mar 29 2008, 11:27 AM']Hey there, I'll take some Zubrowka vodka straight up if you're buying Simon.[/quote] +1 but with apple juice.

Stick with the best and forget the rest, mate. Welcome aboard BTW

I have a custom HSS strat that I got for a cheap price considering it has a 2 piece SOLID quilted maple body. I'm in the process of slowly upgrading it, just sticking EMG's in it transformed the guitar. If anyone is interested in a loaded scratch plate with Seymore Duncans in it, feel free to drop me a PM. [attachment=6971:610f_1.JPG] [i](in original condition)[/i] Upgrades will be (in order) 1) refret and natural refinish the ESP supplied maple neck (or get a replacement neck if its cheaper) 2) Wilkinson VS100CV convertible tremolo 3) Body refin to purple sunset tint (a bit like on the Steve Morse sig guitar)

I spoke to Andy today about doing a rewind on a pickup and he seemed like a very nice bloke. No wonder you guys like him. He confessed to me that he's had so much demand from Basschat that he's now short of certain parts. Nice work!

[quote name='ped' post='164146' date='Mar 26 2008, 10:37 PM']Just how good is the neck exactly? Perfectly straight, or a bit of relief, how much are we talkin'[/quote] There's a tiny amount of relief, the frets have been poorly crowned as well so the bass could probably do with a stoning around the dusty end of the neck. I think the bass is probably capable of lower action than the Cutlass 1 which is good news. I opened up the neck pocket to find two sets of makers initials in pencil and no date stamp (which apparently did happen sometimes). The initials were E.V. and G.G. (Geoff Gould?). If it was inspected by Geoff Gould, its unexpected - maybe he got back into quality control after too many duff necks were produced. I couldn't see any initials apart from a "T" in red marker on the Cutlass 1 pocket. I had a closer look at the Cutlass 1 pocket and I wondered if the bass might have actually been resprayed black over an original white finish given the thickness of the white "undercoat" which also had scratchmarks from rough sanding. That could mean both basses should be white! The seller of has offered me some compensation which might actually cover the cost of a coil rewind by Andy at Wizard Pickups.

The bass arrived today. Delivered without a case - not even a gig bag. Luckily the courier was careful! So the good news is that the neck is pretty good, particularly for an '84 bass. The neck needs a bit of a shim (more tricky with a 4 bolt neck because of the lack of a microtilt feature) but otherwise looks OK. The bass is pretty good nick otherwise, even still has the crusty old foam on the mutes! The bad news however is that the bridge side coil in the neck humbucker doesn't work. I've tested the connections with a multimeter and the windings around the coil appear to have broken at some point. The other coil is reading fine so it looks like I'm either going to have to get the coil rewound to the same impedance OR get a replacement sabre neck pickup from somewhere. I've asked the seller (who was selling it on behalf of his Son who is overseas at the moment) what he suggests we do about the extra cost the coil repair is going to require...

Did Jon give you any tips for making sure the neck was carved in a consistent and parallel way? Was there anything to stop you from taking a large chunk of wood out by mistake?

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120237627391&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:GB:1123"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...ME:B:SS:GB:1123[/url] No need to leave the house for a demo, regardless of where you are in the country. Just get him to turn it up a bit.