molan
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Everything posted by molan
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With a £900 budget you've got a great range of options if you are happy to buy used. Pretty much any Fender up to the American Reissue series, Lakland Skyline series has a range of great basses & you'll easily bag a Stingray at this budget (some have dropped right down to £650 recently). Personally I'd look around that that £600 - £750 market as pretty much everything mentioned above will be affordable used. The range which I think almost always throws up amazing consistency is Lakland. I've owned a few and never played a bad one (unlike Fender which can sometimes be patchy - much more consistent since '08 onwards though). My favourite Lakland is the Darryl Jones Signature but the Joe Osborne / Bob Glaub / Duck Dunne basses are all great in their own individual ways The other good thing if you keep in the sub £750 bracket is that you should always be able to sell on again easily if you don't get on with something.
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I always take 2 basses, spare leads, strings and my little outboard Sadowsky pre-amp. I've only ever had one bass 'failure' & that was only an E String that suddenly popped - it was my fault, bass was headless but you could clamp regular strings rather than using double ball end. I'd been a bit 'over enthusiastic' with my clamping technique & had virtually snapped the end of the string off. Had an amp blow a fuse & the Sadowsky was a life saver, just went straight into the foh instead with a little bass through monitors. Worst thing that happened to me once was when a lead inextricably failed just as we were about to encore. I didn't carry a spare and the only thing I had was a 1 foot patch lead. Had to play the two encore songs with the bass up around my ears at a crazy angle whilst jamming myself up against the amp & cabs. The band thought I was just 'showing off', lol.
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I was listening to that album on Friday night whilst cooking and wondered if anyone was at the gig Sounds like a good 'un . . .
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Love it Pete I recently drove up to Harrogate & back & loaded my Steely Dan box set onto the iPod for the journey. Every time I go over the back catalogue I find another song I'd missed previously, lol. Saw you in Reading a couple of years ago (at least I assume it was you!). Often look out to see if you are coming back this way
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[quote name='Ricardo' post='904207' date='Jul 24 2010, 06:16 PM']Mick's first album "Titles" is now selling around the £50 mark, I can't believe how quick people are at making a fast buck from other peoples misfortune, this I had on vinyl and so thought I'd download it from iTunes. I checked out that it was avaialble and it was for £7.90, I needed an iTunes card and when I went back on they'd removed it so no doubt Apple will be cashing in on this too, needless to say I 've sent them a snotty email.[/quote] I got quite excited when I saw this as I have a pristine copy of the album on vinyl & thought I'd EBay it & send the money to the appeal. However I've just looked on EBay & there's a copy sitting at 99p with only 6 hours to go & plenty of other copies at £4 - £5 on BIN Only heard about Mick's plight this morning (inspired to hunt out some 80's fretless playing after listening to some John Giblin late last night). I saw on his site that the state health system has agreed to treat him over in Cyprus now (he didn't have an approved medical card when first diagnosed apparently) but this doesn't necessarily mean he's any better off financially
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[quote name='RhysP' post='918537' date='Aug 8 2010, 08:45 AM']I'm a big fan Of Giblins playing too. However, in both the live videos you posted that's not John Giblin playing, it's Alan Thompson. He didn't play on the first Kate Bush album either. On "Wuthering Heights" it's probably David Paton. Kate used a wide variety of bass players - don't assume any fretless playing on her stuff is Giblin, it's just as likely to be Eberhard Weber or Del Palmer. It's definitely Giblin on "Babooshka" & "Breathing" though. Both absolutely brilliant bass parts.[/quote] That'll teach me to go YouTube hunting at 2 in the morning, lol. I always think of Danny T on upright bass and thought that Giblin was out live with John Martyn around the Grace and Danger era - of course the live vids could have come from any time.
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ooh - I'd forgotten he worked with Kate Bush. I love his playing on Breathing. Here he is live with John Martyn again: EDIT - This actually Alan Thompson but it's so good I thought it was well worth leaving here He really does have a great way of weaving around the vocal without over-playing & getting in the way of the melody
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I've never really been a fretless man but I just love John Giblin's playing with John Martyn. My all time favourite has to be Hurt in Your Heart. Studio version: and live: EDIT - my mistake, this is Alan Thompson playing John Giblin's lines and John M talking about the song in '07: I really miss the old bugger. . .
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[quote name='BigBeatNut' post='918408' date='Aug 7 2010, 10:49 PM']He has a time machine ... haven't you seen that wacky looking DeLorean around his neigbourhood ?[/quote] Wonder if I can borrow it for a while. . . -
Wow, that looks absolutely immaculate! Looks like it's hardly ever been played
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So - we hit day 4 of the big clear out & the basses available are getting tastier by the day Here is a simply delicious Celinder J Update with the, very desirable Greengrove pre-amp & Chris Celinder's pickups and hardware. I bought this as a back up to my 'reference' trans red J Update and, if anything, it's maybe even nicer in some regards It's much lighter than my red one (maybe 9.5lbs) and just a shade sweeter sounding. The pre-amp is a Greengrove with active bass cut & boost and a lovely passive treble roll off. It's an older version of the pre & doesn't have the dip-switch options internally - I genuinely don't think it's any the worse for this, I can't even hear the differences with the dip switches whenever I've tried to flip them back & forth, lol. I love these passive treble controls (called VTC by Sadowskyif that helps as a reference). I tend to set them to sit bang in the middle of their range and then just gently tweak them up or down depending on what works best for each song or maybe subtle room characteristics. One of my very favourite pickup / pre-amp combinations. Celinders really are my all round favourite J basses and, despite selling a few basses I will absolutely keep one or the other. My current preference is for the red one but this is purely aesthetic as I'm a sucker for red basses - it's about 10.5lbs so too heavy for me to gig with really. There's been quite a lot of stuff to read about Celinders here so I won't waffle on any further - suffice to say that the necks are gorgeous & everything about them feels just 'right' Very tough to find a new one now and these recent ones with the really nice trans finishes over Danish ash are, in my opinion, by far the nicest looking ones. This one is currently sitting up with Phil at BassGear in Harrogate if anyone wants to try it out I've priced it at the cost I paid a few months back (imported from a very nice guy in Canada) but I know the market is tough so I will listen to offers or maybe a PX with a decent amount of cash my way. Happy to ship anywhere really. . . -
[quote name='blackmn90' post='918202' date='Aug 7 2010, 06:16 PM']seeing all these nice basses you are selling molan, reminds me of going to the carnival when i was a young skipper. Lots of candy! only this is obviously just eye candy [/quote] Sometimes people come round just to 'play' for a while
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[quote name='Legion' post='918234' date='Aug 7 2010, 06:45 PM']Barrie, just to clarify - Clarkys post says its a P width neck, is that correct? It looks fairly slim in the photos.[/quote] It's not a 1.75" neck - I only have a ratty tape measure but it looks like a stock J width of 1.5" to me. Definitely narrower than the Fodera I have sitting next to it & that's a 1.625". It is quite rounded in shape though, definitely not as skinny as my, anorexic, '78J bass. I'm really no expert on J bass neck shapes but I'd say this slightly chunkier neck would be typical of the '63 it's supposed to represent?
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Very rare Zon VB4 in immaculate condition - SOLD pending usual stuff
molan replied to molan's topic in Basses For Sale
[quote name='Happy Jack' post='918200' date='Aug 7 2010, 06:14 PM']I realise you're looking for cash sales, Barrie, but do please let me know if you decide you'll accept trades on this bass. I probably don't have anything you'd be after, but "don't ask, don't get". [/quote] Hi Jack, I've agreed a price with a very friendly guy in Italy - just need to work out international transfer stuff really. Why do the damn banks try to charge £25 just to receive funds in Euros, grrrrr. . . . -
Due to a piece of, unforseen, fortune on another potential bass purchase I'll definitely listen to offers (or possible PX deals) on this beauty if anyone fancies a seriously nice P bass
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Very rare Zon VB4 in immaculate condition - SOLD pending usual stuff
molan replied to molan's topic in Basses For Sale
[quote name='RhysP' post='918168' date='Aug 7 2010, 05:31 PM']If I win any money on the lottery tonight I'm going to be really pissed off.[/quote] Not if it's a £1M jackpot -
Very rare Zon VB4 in immaculate condition - SOLD pending usual stuff
molan replied to molan's topic in Basses For Sale
Looks like sale number 1 in the big clear-out has been made & this should be heading over to Italy soon Plenty more basses on the way. . . -
[quote name='Beedster' post='917570' date='Aug 6 2010, 11:43 PM']Man. there are a lot of lovely basses for sale on here at the moment. That'll be gone by this time tomorrow! Chris[/quote] It almost was but back on the market again, lol
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[quote name='molan' post='898705' date='Jul 19 2010, 10:39 AM']Lyn Collins anyone? I recently bought Mama Feelgood (cost me a massive £1.93 on Amazon as I had a £2 voucher from a recent book purchase!). It's full of great classic funky grooves Here's one of my initial favourites: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_cTV2P9oWo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_cTV2P9oWo[/url] The version I have is a couple of minutes longer but this gives a good feel for her.[/quote] Some more Lynn Collins for ya Check the dancers on this one
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I used to have a Streamer really similar to that fretted one. Sold it for stupid money years ago because I simply didn't know any better - the good old web has made us all so much better informed now, lol. Bet this one sounds great, those earlier Streamers had a great growly tone from what I remember -
I have to admit I saw him a few times live during the 'pop' years as my wife was a big fan. That touring band with Lee Sklar on bass, Daryl Steurmer on guitar, Chester Thompson on drums (as well as PC) and the amazing Earth Wind & Fire horns was something to behold. Funnily enough I actually saw the horns with EWF around the same time and the PC band was a much better show! Check those horns on this:
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[quote name='kevbass' post='917252' date='Aug 6 2010, 06:06 PM']Way out of my price range but have to say that is one good looking bass[/quote] It really does look nice in the flesh - can't quite explain why but it does feel just 'right' somehow Of the various basses I have up for sale this is actually the one I'm most likely to hang on to as I can't think of a nicer P bass that I've played and you never know when that 'rock' gig might come up that just demands a P lol
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So here's something quite different for me that I picked up in a PX deal recently. Great fun to play & looks really nice but I'm pretty serious about culling my bass collection so this is the third of my basses to go up for sale. . . There's a stack of information about Nash in general and this bass in particular [url="http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Nash_63_Jazz.html"]HERE[/url] Basically it's a really nice heavy relic bass designed to look and feel like a very well used '63 Jazz. Not quite sure how they get away with it but it even has a Fender decal & looks very authentic. Previous owner was Clarky and his views on it are [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=89963&hl=nash"]HERE[/url] Happy to answer any questions I should also say that there's already some interest on this as a few people expressed interest over the last day or so
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[quote name='Spoombung' post='917320' date='Aug 6 2010, 07:22 PM']Molan, take it easy.... I'm not suggesting they're 'swimming in profit' - just that making a box and putting a speaker in it is a lot easier than making a bass! And if you can charge (in the worst example) an eye-watering, mind-boggling, grossly inflated [b]£500[/b] for it (like EBS do) - even calculating all the expenses you mention above - I'm sure it's just a little [i]bit[/i] more profitable that making basses! To concede to you -less so, perhaps, with speakers costing £200 - £300.[/quote] Sorry if it sounds like I'm splitting hairs and/or trying to be argumentative - it's really not my nature I guess I'm finding it difficult to grasp the concept that there's such a huge profit margin in speaker cab manufacture. My point is that if it was really that easy to make huge profits then lots more people would be doing it instead of making guitars. The only luthier I know that I once asked why he didn't think about making speakers told me he couldn't make any money out of it because margins were much tighter. He said that the core margin in guitar making was his time and not materials &, therefore, he could charge himself out at a higher rate than he could buy raw materials for. Personally I think the cabs out there in the £500 bracket generally tend to kick the cheaper ones in the ass so i have no issue in spending this sort of money because I simply get something that's just so much better than a cheaper option. Obviously I'm generalising here and there will be some great cheap cabs & some rubbish expensive ones but people like Bag End, EBS, Genz Benz, Bergantino etc can only charge these prices because a lot of people think they are worth it.
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[quote name='Spoombung' post='917282' date='Aug 6 2010, 06:40 PM']Well, you asked for two examples and I gave you two - then I explain how the profit margin is bigger making cabs than making basses...and you don't seem to want to believe me! [/quote] I guess that basically I don't - sorry about that If it was that easy to make £400 profit for every £100 in costs then everyone really would be doing it. In fact I have a pair of 10" PA speakers sitting unused in my shed & I just looked up to see how much they would cost if I wanted to buy more & start putting bass cabs together They are £131 plus VAT plus delivery so probably £165 just as a start price. They are made here in the UK so it's not import duties etc that's whacking them up. Bearing in mind these aren't exactly high spec bass speakers that were designed for high powered use (mine are 125W only) either. By the time there's costs of decent building materials, hardware, wiring, a crossover, an additional cost for a decent spec tweeter, labour, storage, distribution etc etc then I don't see how you can make a decent speaker for £100 & flog it for £500. I've met quite a few luthiers & the odd cab builder and none of them are swimming in profit, in fact most seem to be just about ticking over & covering costs so I really struggle to see how margins could be as great as you suggest.
