Zenitram

Did you cut that scratchplate yourself? What did you use?

You could argue that they also help people to bid for auctions that end when they're not at a computer, and by helping to secure a lower price make people more inclined to shop on eBay.

I've heard that bassists don't get much sex. They do do it, but the frequency is quite low.

It's so magical and special, like a dream.

Aye.

Where in Kent is this? Would collection be possible for a lower price?

If it's after 13 August I can come along. I'm pretty new here and new to the bass, so won't have much to add, but I'm really good at drinking.

Good old Clarence. Always needed above the magnet.

One day I will buy this bass.

Hello again. I was wondering where in London you are, or where the bass is. For collecting it. And buying it. And stuff. Thanks!

Ben sold me his very loud Orange Crush 35B amp yesterday, and delivered it right into my front room for a modest fee. It's a very nice amp, and he's a very nice guy.

Hello. Where does this bass live, please?

I don't disagree particularly, but who would you say was influenced by Hooky's style of playing/writing? I can't think of anyone. Which probably just means I've never heard of them.

Apparently Hooky started playing high up on the frets from the very beginning, because the gear he was playing through was so crap (I remember something about Bernard butchering his granny's old gramophone by wiring it up through where the needle went to play his guitar) that he could only really hear himself in the higher registers.

Jumping forward, by the time New Order were using lots of synth, there was generally a programmed synth bass line (think Bizarre Love Triangle), allowing Hooky to do his melodic thing. When I first heard PCL and Low-life, for example (I was a spotty teenage drummer at the time), I never realised that a lot of the melodies/tunes/riffs/whatever were a bass, I just thought they were lead-ish synth parts, and of course the thing is that it doesn't matter what they are, what they sound like or who plays them, all that matters is the song. And as someone else above said, New Order produced beguilingly sublime creations that are far more than the sum of their parts. Things like Your Silent Face, All Day Long, Leave Me Alone, The Village.... wow.

Listen to this, with the synth bass first, and then Hooky coming in. Doesn't particularly sound like a bass. Doesn't have to. Doesn't matter.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd6P5H9ZUVk[/media]

I could go on and on about New Order. They also produced an awful lot of absolute crud. PCL contains four of my favourite songs from my teenage years, desert island disc stuff. The other four are dreadful. Complete dross.

On the fretless, what are the screw holes around the bridge from? What was there before? It looks a bit mad. I like it.

I have an EHX Bass Big Muff Pi in perfect like new boxed condition that I don't use... but my girlfriend bought me it for Christmas (because she saw the name and thought it was funny)... and selling presents hasn't gone down too well in the past. Let me enquire.

I also don't know which of those pedals I'd actually be interested in! Probably the octave pedal.

Damn.

1. Encore
2. Stagg
3. Dean
4. Westfield
5. Rockster
6. Benson
7. Chord
8. Shine
9. Chase
10. Kay

That tube looks like a great idea, but I curled all my strings up in an empty ice-cream tub, and they came out fine.

I can confirm that soaking strings in meths does wonders for them. The tired crappy old strings on my Stagg sound completely, totally different after an overnight bath in meths. So different that you might want to tread with care; if you have some amazing sound that you just love, don't go doing this. But then if you had a sound you loved, you wouldn't be considering this in the first place, I suppose.

Right. It makes the strings like on a harp. Makes sense in my head now. Thanks.

What does "better tension" achieve? Genuine question.

Mel managed to palm a load of unwanted stuff off onto me, for money. And pretty damned efficient about it she was, too, sneakily covering everything in bubble wrap and making sure it was delivered promptly. Oh yes.

Just watch out, that's my advice.

What does it say on the tin?

There's nothing wrong with my Stagg -- I like it very much.

Thanks for all the info. The dude hasn't replied so we can probably forget the whole experience and put it behind us.