BigRedX

I wouldn't bother building your own case unless you either have your own road crew to carry it or access to lightweight materials and the constructional ability to make use of them. Having made several traditional style plywood cases for instruments in the past, I would gladly pay for something strong and lightweight such as a Hiscox, over any saving I could make by self-building.

Just though I'd show what sorts of results can be achieved with Letraset or similar Rub-down letters.

Here's an Amdek chorus & flanger (remember them) mounted in a 1U rack box (the top one) and then Letraset lettered.





I sprayed the lettered panel with a clear coat of laquer to protect the letters.
This unit was in my main gigging rack in the late 80s and early 90's and has stood up well. Sine then it's lived in one of my studio racks.
Proper rack units from Lexicon and ART below it so you can compare the quality of the lettering.

Two options. Either cut deeper groves in the bridge for the strings or you'll need to shim the neck.

Actually if you've bought a US Ampeg and you're going to want to run it off UK mains you'll need a STEP-DOWN transformer 240V - 110V. Make sure you get one that has sufficient rating to handle you're amp running at full tilt and then some.

[url="http://www.letraset.com/shopdisplaycategories.asp?id=139&cat=Transfer+Lettering&ssctn=default"]Letraset Rub Down Lettering[/url] is what I used last time I built some rack mounted gear over 15 years ago. You'll probably have to go to a graphics supply specialist to buy some now.

Cool thanks for the info - I'll have to do a look around and see if there any other fretless semi Laklands about.

As for the DeArmond - I was getting that mixed up with the Guild Starfire

Ta. I'm sort of GASing for a semi with a vintage vibe and that Lakland pretty much hits all the right points for me. Up to now all the semi Laklands I'd seen had been fretted so it's good to see that there are some out there. Where did you get it from?

Of course I also like the look of the DeArmond Starfire too - is that an original or one of the re-issues?

Is the Lakland HB a lined fretless or are thos just very skinny frets?

Because of shipping charges and the way import duty/VAT and its associated handling charges work there's a gap between the duty exempt price (around £36 for items marked as gift - less if not) and about £70 where self importing doesn't work out cheaper. As a rule of thumb I try and avoid buying items costing between £30 and £70 from the US because of this. Remember that VAT etc is added to the total cost including postage. Also handling fees vary from carrier to carrier. Normal post-office handling charge is cheaper than Parcel Force (which is normally the least good VFM when you consider the amount of time it takes them to get your package through customs - sometimes being able to track the progress of a package isn't such a good idea for carriers when you can see it busily going nowhere).

How about 80s Overwaters with the Thunderbird/Jazz crossed shape? There was an interesting article on Overwater in Bass Player Mag a few issues back, but there seems little info available on these older models and seemingly nothing about the history of the company on their web site. (I know I'd like a bit more info on the one I have - a 36" scale. 2 pup 5 string)

Also aluminium-necked Kramers provided that haven't been hacked about too much?

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='7066' date='May 26 2007, 11:46 AM']When I imported a 25 year old Wal from the States in 2004, I convinced the VAT people that the bass was 'vintage' and they reduced the VAT I had to pay on it from 17.5% to 5%!! ^_^[/quote]

That's interesting to know - so how exactly did you manage this. Did you have to pay 17.5% and then claim back. I guess all of us who are considering buying from outside the EU would like to know.

Thank you, that's a useful site, and should save me from asking a million stupid questions here - bookmarked.

No. As you said, though some of the patches will minimise the differences between basses just like the rig you mentioned, but in general (and I'm talking about the Bass Pod here because that's what I have and that's what I'm familiar with) think of it as multiple bass rigs (and mic'ing systems if you want) with a pedal to switch between them. What I like is the ability of the Pod to go beyond what the "original" offers, so if I like the sound of rig X but feel that for me it need a bit more top than than the real thing is capable of, then with the modeller I can dial in that missing ingrediant.

Well that's what I has asking. How old does an instrument have to be to be considered vintage?

Back when I bought my first bass in 1980 any pre-CBS Fender bass would have been considered vintage. That would have included instruments under 20 years old.

See what I mean?

Why should bassists be stuck with one sound?

Guitarists use all sorts of pedals etc to get different sounds, if you're using synths then the sky's your limit. So why not bass players too? It's all about using the right sound for the music you're playing.

I use at least 3 different basses (fretted, fretless, and octaves 8 string) live. All of them have very different output levels. At the very least having a Pod in my rack allows me to balance the volumes of the basses with a touch of a button. Also depending on the instrumentation of the song (one of our guitarists also plays keyboards) I have presets that tweak the eq of the bass to compensate for the sounds and mix of the other instruments - what works on one song might be too overpowering on the next and as Homer says I can't be mucking about with eq settings all the time. Hit the preset get on with playing the next song. Add to this that at the moment by backup bass for each type isn't the same as my main one, menas that I have a second set of presets to compensate for this. I don't know if the amp models I'm using are in any way authentic. However what I do know is that they allow my basses to achieve the correct sounds I want to have for any given song we play. And far from being a soundman's nightmare once the band is balanced up there should be little or more likely no more work requred FOH to get the bass right in each number.

I can remember going to see a pop/rock cover band about 10 years ago where the two guitarists had all the guitar sounds for the songs they were playing down to a tee. The bassist however played the entire set using the same ultra-bright sound on his Stingray/Ampeg set up. This was appropriate for about 2 of the 20 or so songs they played and overall the bassists lack of sound variation let the whole band down.

Amp modellers while still not being 100% authentic if you have a particular setup in mind, are by no means toys. They are extremely powerful tools that extend the palette of sounds available to bassists.

Like a said in the other GAS thread, I have around 100 bokmarked sites for luthiers/instrument manufacturers whos instruments I would be intersted in owning. Multiply this by the fact that some have more than one bass that takes my fancy, and subtract the few that I'd find I just couldn't get on with when I actually got to play them, that's a serious amount of basses that I'd like to have...

So at what point does an instrument become vintage?

My early 60s Burns Sonic Bass was simply an strange old cheap second-hand bass when I bought it in 1980. And what about my Overwater Original 2? I guess it's over 20 years old now, but seems strange to consider instruments that I could have bought from new as having "vintage" status.

I have a guitarist friend who never buys anything without an eye on it's resell price, and consequently he has a "collection" of nice playable, but ultimately rather obvious and mainstream instruments.

On the other hand I just buy guitars and basses that I like the look, sound and feel of (they also tend to be non-mainstream and unusual looking). Right now the resale value of them is probably a lot less than what I paid. However looking at the kinds of prices some of my older instruments are starting to command, it could well be that in another 20 years time the average price of an instrument in my collection will have outstripped his simply because of their rarity/oddity value.

However for me at the moment, the point of having the instruments is to play them.

Love the woods... and design.

So who is building this for you then?

Damn! that's a nice looking bass - why though can't Eiphone make a T-Bird with a set neck rather than the current bolt-on monstosity? Was there an elite version like the Epi EB3s? If there is/was bet it doesn't come in that colour though.

The thing with all these instruments owned by famous musicians is that when you buy them you don't get the most important part - the musician themselves. And at $20,000 of that bass I'd want Mr Sheehan himself to at least be available to play it for sessions whenever needed... ;-)

[quote name='s_u_y_*' post='6037' date='May 24 2007, 09:05 PM']Some people use their Line 6 Pods as preamps and use power amps to drive their cabs.[/quote]

That's exactly what I'm doing. The Pod for me is a way of getting a whole load of pre-set sounds for the different songs we do. Also I'm able to use it the balance the volumes between the different basses I use live - Fretted 5, Fretted 8 (octaves) and Fretless 4. Whether or not the models I use sound like the real thing is immaterial for me. I just pick sounds that suit the song I'm playing and the bass I'm using to play it.

Cheers!

According to the BassMute website I need a flat-fronted bass with at least 10.5 string clearance and gap between the bridge and the pup. Of the 3 fretted basses I have that I'd consider fitting this to none of them meet the requirements. The Traben Phoenix 5 has 12mm gap between the pup and the G saddle. One the Overwater Original 2 if the pup was any closer to the bridge it would be touching it. The Gus G3 has sufficient gap, but the body is contoured and the actual amount of body available before the recess for the bridge is only 10mm... Still it'll give me an excuse to look at fretted basses again.

Look forward to hearing those mute samples - also any chance of some j-retro'd Vigier ones as well?

Now of to look for a cool fretted bass with sufficient room between the bridge and the pups for a mute...

I have 95 luthiers/guitar manufacturers sites bookmarked. I hope one day to have at least tried one example of each of their instruments if not actually owned one...

The Bass Mute looks intersting. In my last band we used to do several songs where I did a "sequencer bass" effect with filters and timed delays. To get the best out of the delay sound I had to palm-mute everything which meant I couldn't play as hard as I'd have liked to still get the percussion to the start of the notes. A device like that would have been invaluable. Of course none of my main fretted basses have sufficient room between the bridge and the pup to fit one, so it would end up being an excuse to buy yet another instrument...