Musky

I can't help with the six string, but I think you add the duty before VAT (though I might be wrong). You've also got to allow between about £8-15 for admin charges, depending on who processes the charges for you.

If it's belief in their own abilities they're lacking then you've got problems. The only way round it is to start gigging, and if they won't do that they (and the band) are stuffed. If they think you're going to set the world on fire from gig 1 by being perfectly tight, then they're sadly mistaken. What's going to take the band anywhere is being enthusiastic and entertaining live - your guitarists are clearly lacking on the first count and can't hope to get good on the second without getting on stage. Lots. I've heard stacks of bands who've been rough as hell in the early days - Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, U2 were all pretty shambolic. And listen to Led Zep at the height of Page's powers and listen to the mistakes, even on record. Which was probably why their fanzine was called Tight But Loose. I'd make this a deal breaker - do the gig or you'll consider it their resignation. Hopefully at least one will stay, but there doesn't seem any point in wasting more time with them. Life's too short.

[quote name='Sarah5string' post='225459' date='Jun 23 2008, 10:38 PM']Latest in the saga... guitarist 1 has full out refused to play it or anything between now and the end of august... *rolls eyes*[/quote] Tell the guy to grow a pair!

You could do worse than start with [url="http://www.joeysbassnotes.com/Fakericks.htm"]http://www.joeysbassnotes.com/Fakericks.htm[/url] I think the absolute decider would be a photo of the routing beneath the pickguard. Genuine ricks just used to drill a series of holes between the control cavity and the neck pickup - no Rickenfaker was ever as shoddily routed! Edit: Oh - and checkout the basses section under Articles at [url="http://rickresource.com/main/"]http://rickresource.com/main/[/url]

I was thinking the same thing Jon - both about the colour and the model number. I thought all the name plates (except early ones) were originally printed with the model number? I don't think this is a fake, but maybe it's had a new TRC at some point. Or have I got that all wrong?

Yep, just briefly. That was quite enough. It's basically a DS1 with the feedback thing bolted on. I wouldn't recommend the distortion side of things for bass, and the feedbacker doesn't really work either. It ends up with a synthy type aproximation of feedback with guitar, which is quite entertaining if not realistic, but it just sounds totally wrong with bass. You might be able to find a use for it but, because of the way the feedback kind of fades up, I couldn't.

It'd be very interesting to compare these and the SX side by side. Even if they are from the same factory (which seems very likely) the specs might not be identical. By the time these are discounted I wouldn't expect them to be too far off the imported price of an SX.

The headstock looks remarkably similar to the SX. I wonder if they're from the same factory?

[quote name='phil_the_bassist' post='224864' date='Jun 23 2008, 11:33 AM']Now, the big question...I've got a Hartke HA5500 (so that's max output 500w@4ohms but it's currently running 250w@8ohms) and I've got a VX215 cab thats rated upto 500w@4ohms. So, they're matched, it should all work OK but on the speaker outputs on my head it's saying '8ohms'. Does anyone know how I can get the full 500w@4ohms? Will I need to send it back to the factory, or is there a secret switch I need to flick? Any Ideas?[/quote] If your VX215 is rated at 4 ohms you're already running your amp at 500W - you don't have to adjust anything on a solid state amp. You shouldn't add an extra cab to that set up, as the amp's already running at it's minimum impedance. [quote name='obbm']I strongly recommend that you read paragraph 2 on page 8 of the Hartke 5500 User Manual.[/quote] Only if all else fails!

[quote name='synaesthesia' post='224650' date='Jun 23 2008, 12:21 AM']Lens cleaning tissue soaked in PVA applied over tear will work.[/quote] Plus it sounds far less potentially embarassing!

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='224642' date='Jun 23 2008, 12:13 AM']Sooner buy a new one than be caught dressed up like that again [/quote] I found the original thing I read about the repair if anyone's interested. No idea how it would sound, though the guy swore it worked well. Probably worth bearing in mind for emergencies, if nothing else. As long as you don't mind keeping nail varnish and tights with your toolbox. [quote]Coat the area around a rip in a speaker cone (a good inch or two on either side of the tear) with nailvarnish, leave it for a minute to go tacky then place a patch thats been cut out from a pair of tights (or stockings will do Big Grin) on it and smooth it out. Once the nailvarnish has set a little more, coat the whole area with another layer of nailvarnish. Do the same to the other side of the cone and there you have it. One good as new, professionaly repaired speaker for a fraction of the price it would cost to get a speaker re coned.[/quote]

[quote name='Merton' post='223048' date='Jun 20 2008, 04:07 PM']Can yours fix torn drivers? We haven't figured out how to do that yet... [/quote] I read somewhere or other about a repair involving the material from a pair of tights and something like nail polish. Or maybe superglue. Never had to try it myself though.

Oddest thing about that listing was that it said he could deliver up to 120 miles for £25. Which would be far less than a courier would charge.

Have you seen [url="http://www.reranch.com/"]http://www.reranch.com/[/url] ? They suggest that with a bit of time and care you can get decent results using spray paints.

[url="http://www.studioarts.co.uk/links/hintsandtips/gildinggoldleafhintsandtips.htm"]http://www.studioarts.co.uk/links/hintsand...intsandtips.htm[/url] ?

[quote name='ahpook' post='223175' date='Jun 20 2008, 07:13 PM']got a mail back this afternoon from jon at black guitars. lovely chap, and the price is right. thanks for the advice (don't worry - when all the work's done, pictures and a run-down will follow !)[/quote] Yep, Jon's a really sound guy. Maybe I should have kept that one quiet - he'll be putting up his prices if he gets too popular! From your location I'd always thought you were based in Southampton - I take it SOTO is South Tottenham.

My first thoughts were that it looks a bit like the Aria A-200 - same pickups, similar sort of shape (what I can see of it ). [url="http://matsumoku.org/models/aria/bass/a-100_200.html"]http://matsumoku.org/models/aria/bass/a-100_200.html[/url] It also looks like the Ibanez Goldentone guitar, which probably fits in more with the Ibanez brand on your bass. [url="http://www.grouseguitars.com.au/sold/ibanezgoldentone.htm"]http://www.grouseguitars.com.au/sold/ibanezgoldentone.htm[/url] Given that nobody seems entirely sure where a lot of Japanese brands were sourcing their instruments in the 60's, it's possible both models originated from the same factory.

Cheers everyone. I was asking out of idle curiousity, but it's nice to know all the same. And Ben, I'd imagine your Ashdown will be knocking out about 200W without an extention cab.

[quote name='aceuggy' post='221219' date='Jun 18 2008, 10:49 AM']This is quite scary for someone like me. I'm new to the world of bass and looking for a Jazz. I could quite easily have bid for this thinking it was what this guy said it was. I wouldn't know any different and could end up being ripped off. Fair play to the guy in question, he's acknowledged the feedback given from you guys and re listed it. I know what though, if I see something on ebay I like the look of I will post it here and let you guys have a look before making any bids. I think you may have saved someone a few bob there. Good to know there are people out there looking out for you. Nice one. [/quote] I've been meaning to stick up something about 70's Fenders for a while - just stuff I've collected from various books and info from the web, along with a bunch of pictures I've saved. I'll have to knock it into some sort of meaningful shape, and then start a thread for people to add to it/tell me it's all wrong! Once there was some kind of consensus it could be added to the wiki.

Thanks for that everyone - a simpler answer than I thought! It does beg another question though. With the amount of boutique, high end, expensive amps out there, why aren't at least some manufacturers making amps with power supplies that would be capable of delivering the kind of power needed to make the most of the amp? Expense and/or weight? Or am I answering my own question again?

I know that in theory if you half the impedance, say from 8 ohms to 4 ohms, you should get double the wattage. So an amp that gives 150W at 8 ohms should produce 300W at 4 ohms. Only in practice that rarely (if ever) seems the case. For instance, my 250W (into 4 ohms) HH Bass Machine produces about 180W into an 8 ohm load. And I've seen the specs to other amps that state that using an extra cab (ie a 4 ohm load) only gives an increase in power of about a third. Any idea of why this should be? The only thing I could think of was that maybe the power supply couldn't cope with with the extra demand. Off the top of my head I can't think of any amps that actually give twice the power with half the impedance, with a 50/60% seeming like more the norm. Or am I missing something obvious here?

You could try [url="http://www.blackguitars.com"]http://www.blackguitars.com[/url] He does the repairs for some Denmark St shops, but does repairs from home at very reasonable prices. He's based in Stoke Newington.

[quote name='SJA' post='220254' date='Jun 16 2008, 10:12 PM']is that a real fender neck though?[/quote] Nope - no plug above the nut, wrong nut and the 'contour body' logo is missing. And no skunk stripe either.

Since we're talking about overseas rickenfakers, here's something you don't see everyday - a rather lovely Greco 4001s copy [url="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320263662913"]http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=320263662913[/url] The seller actually had this on talkbass recently for $750 without any takers - I don't think trying to cover his fees buy adding $50 is going to get him any takers either.

That's quite weird - last night I was thinking about posting a 'how much does your precision weigh?' thread. I think the average weight of a P is about 9-9.5lbs, though I'd imagine a 70's (particularly late 70's) version would be about 2-3lbs heavier. I've got a 74 which is fairly hefty, but unfortunately no scales.