Tripehound

[quote name='blamelouis' timestamp='1385460072' post='2288423']
Ha ha I read that wrong .
[/quote]

Dream on.

It's a beauty. A bit like yourself I've always wanted to play five string on a regular basis. The sound of that B......

I had a lovely Italia Imola 5-string for a few months. Great instrument but I sounded like I was a beginner again. Started getting looks from other band members when I dropped bum notes - all those years of developed muscle memory take some dislodging. I couldn't try their patience any longer and it was cast out from the herd to make way for another 4-string. Similar story with fretless.....

Anyway - bump!

I'm starting to wonder about dragging my beloved Bassman TV15 to pub gigs. It's still in vgc but a number of spillage/falling over incidents recently have lead me to think that perhaps I've just been lucky. Things get boisterous (not completely out of hand) sometimes and - by and large - that's a good thing.

It does weigh 64lbs and every time I clean lift it into the back of the Punto I can feel the ligaments protesting....

So - I've had a brief look at these small size/low power combos and head/cab setups and have been impressed by the Ibanez Prometheus P3110 and the TC Electronic BG250. Both are affordable at £285 and £299 or thereabouts respectively. I read claims that they could handle a pub gig with full band without PA, will take an extension feature, and weigh less than bugger-all.

Is all this too good to be true? Which is the better and is that mobile phone beaming malarkey the gimmick it seems?

I have a Gibson Midtown Standard 6 string (the P90 version) and it is a sensationally good instrument. If this is anything like the guitar then it will be a brilliant bass.

I've just parted - rather sadly but needed the cash for another bass - with an Italia Rimini 12 string. I would imagine this shares many of the characteristics of that guitar which was incredibly well put-together. These are quality and characterful guitars for very little money.

I have to agree with Dingus - it all sounds great unless and until it goes wrong. I also know from umpteen spreadsheet sessions that importing normally only results in marginal savings and huge potential for increased heartache if there's something goes wrong.

However, the Musicians Friend website makes the claim that ALL duties, taxes and so on are covered and the delivery fee in this instance is £57. This means a £250 saving - that's nearly 20% - against UK price. It's enough to make me wonder whether it's worth it. Having read their return policy for international ales, it seems that you can send a product back for up to 45 days if you stand the cot of shipping. In the case of faulty goods - and I presume that's what we're talking about here - they pay.

I can't imagine the UK dealers will be too happy at this, but then prices have always been so much higher here. I remember the shock of translating the price tags in a branch of Guitar Center the first time I visited the USA. An entry-level Martin for just over 300 quid!

As for things you can't get here, it's a shame the site doesn't feature that new short-scale Lakland. $998 (that's £622).[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA-vTrzY3PY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA-vTrzY3PY[/url]

I'm looking to buy a new bass - specifically a Lakland Hollowbody. The price new seems to be around £1300 but it seems Musicians Friend in the US will ship me one for a grand plus fifty-odd quid for postage. Significantly they claim that this figure includes all taxes and duties. I've also noticed some vendors on eBay offering this service.

It appears very competitive - a 250 quid saving is not to be sniffed at - but it still makes me uneasy. Has anyone a tale to tell of using a service like this?

Anyone know when these bad boys become available in the UK and what the price is likely to be?

Anyone had hands-on yet?

[quote name='iiipopes' timestamp='1381975115' post='2246327']
Contact D'Addario customer service. Explain you exact model of instrument and which strings are too short or too long. They will help you.
[/quote]

Thanks - I did just that and the very nice people at D'Addario are sorting me out, which they were not obliged to do at all. It's refreshing to see that customer service is alive and well. Suffice to say, they will now become my supplier of choice. Not sure that my endorsement is worth anything but it's the thought that counts!

The great day is coming - just waiting for a couple of final sales to come good and then I'm in the market for another instrument! I'll have up to 750 bass vouchers burning a hole in my pocket. I'm looking for a gigging bass as I'm reluctant to take my current pair out to pubs that are noisy and crowded (at least until we start playing); one that has sentimental value and the other I just couldn't bear to see marked.

I'm seduced by some of the images of the Reverend basses - the Dub King, Decision (in their version of surf green) and the Mercalli 5. These are all in range of my budget bought new. It's a long time since I bought any gear new. Problem is though, that there's only the one UK dealer and they only carry a fraction of the range, certainly not the DK or the Mercalli, which means buying blind. I've done that once before and there was a happy ending, but I don't want to push my luck. I'm very interested then to hear of anyone's experience with these rare and exotic creatures.

Beyond the Reverends, I'm then into pre-loved territory for the basses that interest me and again, they don't feature in any shops I can name in the Midlands. Again, any comments, thoughts or advice gladly received! My shortlist runs a bit like this:[list]
[*]Reverend Dub King (short scale but very pretty and not a bit like)
[*]Reverend Mercalli 5 (big beautiful beast sounds as good as a bass can on YouTube)
[*]Reverend Decision (I'm a sucker for surf green - sorry 'oceanside blue' - and looks a funky alternative to....)
[*]One of the USA P-basses (a safe bet?)
[*]Lakland Skyline Darryl Jones
[*]Lakland Skyline Duck Dunn
[*]Lakland Joe Osbourne
[/list]
My current setup is a MIM Jazz Deluxe and a Gretsch Broadkaster played through a Fender Bassman TV 15 and the band mostly covers 70s and 80s stuff - Stones, Springsteen, Bowie, T.Rex and so on.

Care to help me blow my hard-won cash?

Lovely looking bass. Pardon my ignorance but what's the difference between an American Special and an American Standard?

Feel bloody stupid now.

It's the first time I've restrung my Gretsch Broadkaster. Taking the 30" scale as the clue, I ordered a set of D'Addario ECB81S Short Scale Flat Wound strings; no local shops seemed to stock decent short-scale flatties hence a bit of a wait.

Anyway, tried to fit them tonight and they seem a weird combination of too short and too long! Pardon the lack of technical language but the metal string bit is about 2" short meaning I would have two frets worth of the fabric wrapped bit. Said fabric-wrapped bit then seems inordinately long. Would these need to be cut? Never had to do that before.

I'm guessing that a more typical short-scale would have the ferrules near the bridge whereas the Broadkaster requires the strings to go to the tailpiece.

Any advice very very welcome!

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1336755252' post='1650630']
Is that the one that was on eBay a week or so back? Absolute beauty
[/quote]

It certainly is! One very happy boy here - skint as well but money is only there to buy basses with.

Just have to show off my new baby. TV Jones Thundertrons and the bridge pinned.

Now comes the delicious fiddling around to find the sweet spots......

It still gets played from time to time - it's an extremely 'roadworn relic' but still solid, sounds brilliant (esp. with fresh strings) and fun to play. Owned since new some time in the early 80s (it's all getting a bit hazy now) and I left it in the care of a 'friend' who got it into the cosmetic condition it's in now. Our sax player, a woodwork teacher - sorry - Technology/resistant materials - has offered to give it a rub down and a revarnish but I hesitate to let him do it....

Took me an age to get the amp I really wanted - seduced as much by its looks as the sound it promised. It delivers.

And the Italia was also bought on the basis of looks (I'd sniffed round the Eastwood EEB for ages and this also bears more than a passing resemblence to the Ampeg in my eyes). Again it sounds great and introduced me to the wonders of a fifth string.

Doubt I can operate on this basis going forward - my luck must run out eventually!

(and yes - that's my old SD Curlee in the background)

Hi there Dad3353 - many thanks for investigating this.

As you'll see from the post on HH (now a member), I got the jack plate off and discovered that it's an Ignition. For an entry-level model, it's a great piece of kit - plays and sounds terrific. Must go and try out a Contemporary now to see how they compare. There was a pukka (new (other)) German bass on eBay the other day - went for about £550 if memory serves .... hmmmm.

Whereabouts are you (and your lovely bass)?

That's very decent of you - thanks! The first attempt to register returned a server error, the second time the registration e-mail didn't arrive. Turns out the mail was stuck in Google as spam - I use Exchange up front and it didn't get that far. Resolved now.

I suppose the proper place to ask this might be the Hofner Hounds forum but their registration process seems not to be working right now so here goes instead...

I picked up this fine little Hofner a while back in a trade but have singularly failed to identify what it is! I presume it is actually a Hofner - the logo looks right - but the question is which model? The unusual thing about it is that the finish is an antique matt sunburst and all of the Ignitions and Contemporary models that I've seen are all glossy. There's no obvious serial number to go on. I tried a couple of shops when trying out for a new amp but they were left scratching their heads too....

Any clues folks?

[attachment=104159:IMAG0125.jpg][attachment=104160:IMAG0127.jpg][attachment=104161:IMAG0126.jpg][attachment=104162:IMAG0128.jpg]

[quote name='pudie' timestamp='1333441397' post='1601611']
Wish you were nearer to me , would have had this today but due to this robbing corrupt government it would cost me about £100 in fuel plus 10 hours travel. Hope you sell it mate
[/quote]

Thanks for the support - but Jesus - what sort of car do you drive? We're right next to Junction 25 of the M1 which should take about 2 hours....

6 Fenders, 2 Rics, 2 Gibsons and a bunch of others for 400 squid.

Bump time

And here's what it sounds like (though computer speakers/compression etc)

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjnoQXDOGH0&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjnoQXDOGH0&feature=related[/url]

Pretty pretty bass - bumped.