lowregisterhead

[quote name='alyctes' timestamp='1369529154' post='2090248'] It has a Heavy Rock Bottom! What more could you ask? ... other than a truss to lift it, and a taste bypass. Both available on the NHS, I'm told. [/quote] Makes me want to form a Spinal Tap tribute act and buy this specifically to perform 'Big Bottom'. I had a taste bypass, but I went private. Now all I need is a truss.

I've had a hit-and-miss right-angled one for years that I didn't use because I felt I couldn't trust it, so I only used it with my practice amp in the house. Only the other day, on unplugging it from my bass I heard a tinkling sound as something fell to the floor. I realised it was the moving ring on the shaft of the jack that had come off, but it was silver, not gold like the rest of the plug, and also looked rather small. I figured out it was the inner ring, but couldn't find the gold outer one anywhere. Resigned to the fact it was knackered for good, but I could perhaps put a new plug on and still get some use out of the rest of the cable, I cut the plug off and threw it in the bin. It was only when I came to pick up my bass again later that same day that I found the outer ring, stuck over the slightly protruding shaft of the jack socket of my bass. In short, the 'silent jack' is a good idea, but in this case just poorly executed.

[quote name='woodyratm' timestamp='1365695698' post='2043116'] Except for TVs. They went pretty cheaply. But yeah - I agree - Aberdeen is ding for musical stuff on bass. I'm still confused why RnB are a "full" orange dealer but weren't willing to order the OTB500 unless I was actually going to buy it... eh no... I want to try the damned thing first! On another note; BMs did have some good stuff occasionally (got my Lakland there) - though the girl who sold it was a dingbat. [/quote] Going back much further, did you ever frequent Brian Middleton Music on Holburn Street, close to the junction with Willowbank Road? Brian would stock much more interesting stuff than BM's, and would let you take basses out 'on approval' with nothing more than a scribble on a receipt book. At 16 years of age in 1976, I took an Antoria Jazz Bass copy out one weekend, and dropped it on the way to rehearsals, completely knackering the finish on the bottom corner. Obviously I had to buy it, but he let me pay it off at a couple of pounds a week, with no interest. It took a long time, and it turned out to be a really good bass. Sadly his business went under eventually, and he ended up working at Bruce Millers. Living 'doon sooth' as I have for many years, I'm not up on what goes on musically in Aberdeen anymore, but back then almost every pub had live music, many of them several nights a week. Changed days.

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1365690064' post='2042977'] Manchester? North? You think you've got problems - I'm in Aberdeen! I've only ever bought on bass out of a shop in Aberdeen and it was my first one. It's a complete Fenderfest up here. I wouldn't go as far as to call it purgatory, but it's close. Since then, unless someone local is selling something I like (which has happened 2 or 3 times) I've always bought at distance. I keep what I like and shift on what I don't. Incidentally, I've never had problem with Interparcel/UPS for sending basses. Also, the furthest I've ever travelled to buy in person (it was a swap, but never mind) was a smidge under 200 miles. Incidentally about the same as it is to go from Manchester to London [/quote] Aye, it's nae the same since Bruce Miller's closed doon min! (exiled Aberdonian in Surrey...)

Try these guys - S.M.A.R.T. Distribution, used to be run by a guy called Ian Morton, who also imported Glockenklang at one time. http://www.smart-distribution.co.uk/bassandguitar/modulusguitars/modulusguitars.html

I had a Synapse a few years ago, and it was just a piece of metal screwed securely into the body at one end, and with a hook at the other end that you hooked your strap onto. Simple enough, and it did work, but it always felt slightly unstable to me. How about a small bag of lead weights hung from the strap button at the bridge end? Cheaper than $39.99 plus shipping and duty from the States for a bit of tungsten steel!

Great combos - I gigged one mercilessly for years, and it always worked perfectly - and it was old when I bought it! I put some big castors on, cut a hole in the middle of the baffle and wired in a piezo horn I got from Henry's in the Edgware Road for a fiver, and it was the most reliable amp I've ever had. It finally died when I loaned it to some mates of mine who were touring in the newly-reunited East Germany with a Nirvana tribute band, and that was only because the bass player used to kick it off the stage every night at the end of the show. A £50 repair, and it lasted another two years until I sold it for exactly what I bought it for. Great sound, and absolutely bomb proof.

Saw them a few years ago at the Mick Jagger Centre in Dartford, and unfortunately Norman was absent (out with Wilco) but it was still pretty good. 'Derek the Draw', on the other hand, was profane and just plain offensive with none of the charm that Ian Dury possessed - he just came across as a loudmouth pandering to the Oi rentamob who sadly were in that night. Disappointing. A couple of years later I was fortunate enough to be on the same bill as The Blockheads at Rewind in Henley, and it couldn't have been more different. Norman and Dylan Howe were cooking up a storm, and Phill Jupitus fronted the band admirably, with more than a hint of the essence of Ian Dury, despite being visibly stoned out of his head! Got to meet Norman backstage as well. A real gent.