NeilMorrell

Are any other Contemporary J users having issuses with exceptoonally noisy actives (almost like something is breaking down) or is it just me. Just had to do my debut gig with a new band with the Musicmaster because the Overwater sounded pap. Never thought I'd be writing that?

For years I've gigged I've gigged with 5 Strings. I now own equal numbers of 5's and 4's with 3 each. However, the 4 strings are the cheap Acoustic, the "Stealth" Soundgear Fretless, and a Dwarf (Fender Musicmaster). So I don't own a "Normal" bass. I am actually thinking of getting one - either a "bitsa" 51 P, or an Overwater Classic J. Fancy a 5 String Fretless before bothering with that though. .

I once was late for a rehearsal because as I was about to leave, I realised that there were about 40 Met Police in FULL RIOT GEAR covering an Armed Response Unit in the street outside. No shots were fired and no one arrested - Turned out they were actually filming "The Bill". Looked dead real through my kitchen window though - laser sights and everything.

Nice looking MM there Stag. If anyone is interested, I may be able to get some accurate bodys made, If blanks are done, then they can be routed further to either Musicmaster or Mustang as per required. One thing! If you can't find the original bridge, DO NOT attempt to put a Squire Bronco Bridge (easily available on EBay, or I have one for sale - however, I have a "bitsa" 51 P Bass in mind at the mo so may use it on that) on a Musicmaster Body. The rear screw holes are not in the same place - and the bridge routs on the MM body are exactly where the back screws will go!

Well, it's 79. I picked it up in a right state in August 1989 (for £65). I patched her up here and there, but after a few years decided that she really need to be given the love and attention she deserved, and decided to get her back to something like normal. However, I'm not very good at stuff like that - particularly the sanding and painting, so at the start of November, I passed all the bits to someone who DOES. I got it back last week looking like this, Boy does she play well. Has a Seymour Duncan SHR-1b Pup in and sounds lush (as long as you leave it as far from the strings as you can!!).

The Zippo between the two is supposed to be for comparison. Ibanez CT5 Overwater (Tanglewood) Contemporary J 5 (in "Elsan Blue Sunburst")

I like the look of the Squire Jag S/S - Now THERE is a bass ripe for customisation - P/J config, and you could easily drop a J-Retro in there, If you can put up with the 30" Scale Length that is.

My last band recently split up, after 8 years, down to a guitarist being hell bent on doing agent gigs on the northern club scene. When a 5 piece, female fronted Classic 70s/80s Rock Covers band arrives at a booking after travelling 50/60 miles, and finds themselves advertised as "5 Piece Showband" or "Caberet Rock outfit" it does NOT instill confidence. He NEVER came to see us, not even a rehearsal. He was also swapping with other agents to get us bookings at places we wouldn't have played at in a million years. Then when you are NOT as advertised, you have to deal with the committee, or at least the concert secretary. Basically the agent does not give a monkeys if you get booked back or not, as long as he gets his commission. And don't get me started about bloody bingo!!

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1323345126' post='1462185'] Everyone's different, for example I don't get on with skinny necks so that rules out a fair few basses for me: -Fender Jazz Basses -Almost anything Ibanez -A lot of peaveys [/quote] Not all skinny!

If you start to learn on a poor quality/badly set up instrument, then you probably not stick with it. After Christmas the second hand shops are full of unwanted plywood. I've heard that the Westfield stuff is excellent, but generally I would steer clear of the really cheap stuff. The Ibanez Soundgears are great basses (I have 2, plus a Ibanez CT which is not dissimilar) - GOOD second hand stuff has the advantage that it holds it's value. However, the Overwater by Tanglewood J Bass starts around £399 and they are excellent. Probably starting to hit second hand now too if you're lucky. As for a decent Amp - compared with some of the crap some of us probably had when we started, there is no such thing as a bad amp these days. If you want to gig with it, at least 65w (for a combo) and a decent eq (and if you can, a horn) should see you right. Good news is that these days you can buy giggable amps that only need one person to carry. Again, second hand is good - buy one and if it's a flunker, sell it on (but not to me). And good luck!

Poo - I ordered something off the website last week (had no idea) and was wondering where it was. Sorry to hear the news - Sure you've far more on your mind.

Which one Jimbo? (was at Uni in Huddersfield in the mid 90's).

I have a Maine "Musician" 2x12 100w Combo. There was a 80w 2x10 version (Stage) and a 50w 2x8 (Club). It has 3 channels, has an enormous reverb tank and sounds almost like a valve amp. The speakers in mine are Fane. Mine is closed back, very heavy and practically bombproof. Fretless sounds fab through it with just a little reverb. I remember once being told that the guy that started Session had something to do with these amps.

[quote name='overwater' timestamp='1307897490' post='1266368'] The second container is now on route and should arrive in the UK at the beginning of July and is essentially a repeat of the first run – but with some technical modifications and upgrades born out of our experience with the first production. So no new models or finishes are included in this shipment (and I don't think we have any Aspiration Elite 5's - which were designated for 'production 3' - though I will check on this next week when I get the manifest..). Production 3 – which I am meeting with the MD of Tanglewood on Wednesday to specify, will include some new finishes, some left handed models and a couple of fretlesses (which for sonic reasons, will have different body woods to the fretted versions). The Elite Aspirations will include new top wood options and probably some 5 strings. We will also be addind a new a new passive 'sub £300' Aspiration – which we have also designed and made prototypes for and sounds and feels great and which we're really excited about! Production 3 will probably be built in late July/August, for September shipping – so should be in the shops during October. I realise the progress may seem ponderous - but I would rather take a little longer and get things right, than rush into larger production at the expense of quality control! With regard to the 'Limited Edition' models – we are currently finishing a small batch of basses here in the UK workshops. These are hand finished and assembled in the UK, signed and numbered by myself – the first of which should be available and on out web site within a week or two. I hope this answers a few of your concerns – and yes we will try to update the web site a little more often! But if anyone has any specific queries, or questions about our UK built instruments – please don't hesitate to give me a call on: +44 (0)1228 590 591 Thanks, Chris May [/quote] Has "production 3" happened yet then?

Here's my 1987 SR05