GeeCee

[quote name='ash' timestamp='1353517095' post='1875528'] That's not Roger Newell in the picture though! I've met Roger when he was touring with Jet Harris and also when he edited Bassist Magazine - lovely bloke and a great player ( I think he played a Wal triple neck when he was in Rick Wakemans band). [/quote] I think the seller meant to write Roger Inniss.

[quote name='funkgod' timestamp='1349045484' post='1821177'] More Jaydee porn, im sure i heard/read he had ordered 1 or 2 before he died ? anyone ? UPDATE..... I have just had a scoot about the net and found a thred on talkbass. [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/jaydee-mark-king-heaviest-bass-guitar-ever-782908/"]http://www.talkbass....ar-ever-782908/[/url][/quote] Not quite. He didn't actually order any. John was given an open commission through his US distributor (Aspen Pittman) to build Jaco a bass as a result of him trying the Mark King seen in the above video. I think the distributor was involved in setting up the demonstration. John was in the process of building 6 (or up to 6) '62 jazz copies when he learned that Jaco had died. There were 3 fretted and 3 fretless. If you scroll back through this thread (page 8) there is a picture of one of the fretless ones. Other than the frets, they were all identical: black painted bodies, ebony boards, unlined in the case of the fretless basses, black hardware (bridge, machineheads, knobs, etc.), active EMG pick-ups, and passive controls (V/V/T). It's not clear if all 6 basses were finished (though I suspect they were). After Jaco died, the finished basses were sold through various guitar shops (such as the Bass Centre). Interestingly, Jaco was offered a sunburst fretless jazz bass to play during that BIT demonstration that belonged to someone in the audience. Jaco declined and said he wanted to play something different and was either given or chose the Jaydee off the wall. It wasn't his instrument and he returned it after the show. I think that particular bass is currently owned by a pro musician, Mark Manley, in the USA.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1347389779' post='1800196'] I met a fella recently who claimed to have a Jaydee Flying V guitar...now that's going to be unusual.. [/quote] Not really, a lot of John's early output was guitars. I have seen JD versions of strats, teles, Les Pauls, firebirds, explorers, 335s, flying Vs (inc. a 12-string), SGs, even large-body jazzers, as well as his own Hooligan line of guitars. The guitars are really good value on the second hand market since they are high quality builds, using quality materials and don't seem to fetch much money since most of the interest is in his basses. That said, I believe much, maybe most of John's output these days relates to SG variants (Iommi Old Boy copies).

[quote name='mep' timestamp='1346355076' post='1788315'] A O, lost on me too. Someone please enlighten us. [/quote] I have not seen it, but I am guessing a call and response type thing, like ogie, ogie ...oi, oi (A O = ay oh)

[quote name='OldGit' timestamp='1271366245' post='807734']To the OP get yourself around to Electric Ladyland and press your nose against the window (I doubt he'll be actually open) 85 West Street St. Philips, Bristol BS2 0BX 0117 983 2500[/quote] Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but is this place still open? The phone number doesn't seem to work.

[quote name='adriansmith247' timestamp='1343217750' post='1747153']The bridge is almost certainly not the original which left the low E string not really sitting over the pickup pole. I replaced the pickup years ago which helped. The bridge is one of those with small wheels to adjust the spacing.[/quote] Sounds like you're talking about a Schaller 3D bridge which probably is the original bridge for a percussive fretless model. It's also probably not worth putting a lot of money into it, in terms of a refinish; unfortunately, Wilkes basses don't seem to fetch much money in the second hand market.

Nice blend of GA and Calibas styling. I think the "figure of eights" are actually infinity symbols. There is a guy in the US that posts on here now and again that has a S1 MK with the same type of inlays. I bet the matt finish is a swine to keep from shining up in the places where your body makes contact with the finish though.

[quote name='Bass-Thing' timestamp='1341402515' post='1718317']You don't hear about Alembic or Jaydee trying to stop them building Kingbasses, nor do you see Fender bothering anymore to try and stop jazz and p bass copies. They are all confident enough in the strength of their own brands and so should Warwick.[/quote] Oh, I'm pretty sure Fender would if it could. Think of all the royalties/licensing fees they have had to pass on over the years because they didn't adequately protect their designs in the past (unlike it seems HPW).

It's quite amusing that a company that has borrowed from other people in the past would be so reluctant to let what is a pretty niche manufacturer produce his own product and one sufficiently distinctive (all graphite vs. wood). After all Nobby Meidel = Steinberger, Streamer = Steinberger/Stuart Spector and the Star bass and Jack Bruce signature models both draw from earlier designs while not slavish copies. It may have been decided in a court of law (was it a German one?) that HPW was mostly responsible for the design of the Buzzard, but the other party to the conversation, Entwistle, wasn't exactly around to say otherwise was he?

[quote name='SimonEdward' timestamp='1341180142' post='1714917'] [center][color=#0000ff][font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif][size=3]Jaydee - Custom 4-string:[/size][/font][/color][/center] The bass that I always wanted J.D. to make, and has elements in the design of almost every range of bass he has ever built, but unique. Four-band parametric EQ and mother-of-pearl 'figure of 8 inlays' in the fret-board. Finished in Matt opaque black color, but oddly for a JD - WILL NOT be slapped!! Just let your fingers do the walking[/quote] Now this one sounds interesting. Care to share pics in the Jaydee porn thread?

[quote name='SimonEdward' timestamp='1340463659' post='1704813']Hope you enjoy all the pics. god bless. [/quote] Thank you. Nice looking bass, the GA body style is still my favorite. I can see where the fretslots were filled, but what about the dot markers. Were those filled in as well?

[quote name='alloy70' timestamp='1340456308' post='1704673'] Ok the plot thickens,ive finally seen the bass in the flesh,the story is the gentleman who owns the bass since 2006 is now 65years old,as he has back problems he cant play this bass and he only uses the alembic on rare recordings,He has given me the alembic for a lend for a couple of days to try out,in exchange ive given him a 5string musicman to try out which he has fallen in love with,He maintains the stingray is much lighter,personly i cant feel any difference.but im a happy bunny at the moment here goes the bass has all solid brass fittings,bridge,tailpeice nut,same on back of bass all solid brass,looks like two purpleheart stripes down back of maple neck ,same on front,chrome schaller tuners?anyone know are they normally fitted on an alembic,should they not be alembic tuners?finish on top and back looks like either indian rosewood or mahogany,and finally the big suprise is it is fitted with red side leds very unusual me thinks for a 1981 bass no?i shall put photos up shortly,which shall greatly help in identifing the bass,serial number 81 1860 USA,Ive loked on the alembic site,and i nearly passed out at first i thought the bass was stolen,but mine is 1860,the the one on the stolen list is 1810.thank god for that it looks like i will be swapping my stingray with small amount of cash my way,sounds like a no brainer to me if you check out the old level 42 video,man it looks very similar to marks first alembic before the got his specifications right.the back pick up screw housing is broken but the pickup is still held in place.any help in how to mend that problem would be appreciated.will keep you guys posted,any help or advice greatly appreciated... [/quote] Everything sounds bog standard for a Series instrument except possibly the machineheads. I think these are normally Alembic-branded Gotoh machineheads, but I suppose someone could have asked for Schaller. The purpleheart laminates in the neck are standard, ebony, for example, is an upcharge (like most things at Alembic). Just to confirm it has the flush-mounted hum-cancelling middle PU, right? I think 1981 predates any of the signature series stuff. Side LEDs are also not unusual for a Series bass of that period. Alembic pick-ups come up for sale on eBay from time to time or you can hand over a boat load of cash to the mother-ship for a new one, though they may not quite match the current design. You may want to think about the scale length. Standard long-scale (34 inch) and the point body shape will shift your hand position out if you're used to Fender style instruments. As someone else said, it's also probably, but not always pretty heavy. With all that I would swap a Musicman for an Alembic in a heart-beat.

[quote name='alloy70' timestamp='1340415240' post='1704324'] Thanks GeeCee do you have any idea what the current value is for a series 1 alembic?what ball park figure do they sell for.It really is mint condition,except for the crack on the pickup housing. [/quote] Not really. I am in the US where Alembics are more available and, therefore, cheaper than in Europe. I would imagine you can get a decent Series I bass here for $2,500-$3,500, depending on condition, woods, age, etc. A really pristine instrument would be more, maybe $4000. Make sure it comes with the external power supply and remember that Alembic spares aren't cheap.

[quote name='alloy70' timestamp='1340405516' post='1704249'] Hi guys ive come across a mint condition 1981 alembic bass that i am very tempted to buy.The owner of the bass says its a series 11.To me it looks more like a series 1.Would i be correct in saying that all the series 1 basses have two purpleheart stripes running down the neck and not three?this one has two stripes on back of neck and down the front.The bass itself is in very good condition has that big body look with a point at the back of the bass,very similar to what mark king use to play.IT has two flick switches on the body and four control knobs,with a strange pointy control switch,a power supply connection socket and a normal jack imput.it looks like indian rosewood but im not sure,the back soapbar pickup screw assembly is cracked,but apart from that the bass has no blemishes or dings,could i be on to something very rare and special.or are these basses very common.? [/quote] Sounds like a Series I to me as well. The difference between Series basses is in the electronics. I think a Series I has 3-position flick-switches for the Q function, while the Series II should have rotary knobs for a continuosly variable function. I don't think the neck laminates play into at all. Likewise the body shape. The pointy switch is probably the P/U selector.

[quote name='SimonEdward' timestamp='1340060600' post='1698658'] MORE JAYDEE PORN!! Let's have it..[/quote] Hi, How about some pictures of yours? The fretless GA sounds interesting.

[quote name='benebass' timestamp='1340311744' post='1702835']I was quite surprised to find out the headless bass was another Fender first (not Leo though): -[/quote] Not sure about that. I believe Norman Houlder from the Hayman/Shergold factory was experimenting with headless designs in the 70's as well. One of his employees, a young Rob Green.

[quote name='giblett123' timestamp='1333693760' post='1605297'] Alan sent me a PM, the rosewood on this one will probably be too soft so it may be a no go, putting a new bard on it would be v costly too. [/quote] Get the defretted board coated with a polyester like a Pedulla, problem sorted.

I think Wilkes called both of the models shown in this thread BI Supreme basses. The BI Standard bass had one Schaller humbucker in the P position. If these are both passive, there was also an active version (B/T). Not sure if the bridge is original on the black one. The only ones I can remember picking up had Schaller 3D bridges. Schaller hardware seemed to be standard throughout. My local shop used to carry the full range of Wilkes bases.