Musky

[quote name='Longmayyourun' post='161684' date='Mar 22 2008, 09:28 AM']Thanks guys for your thoughts. It has also been pointed out to me that the original Quo bassist (Alan Lancaster?) did alright with a Mustang[/quote] Andy Frazer and Jack Bruce did ok with EB3's as well. Short scale basses may lose a few inches off the neck, but they don't lose anything in tone. If you decide you don't like the bit of 'flap' they add you can always use a heavier gauge of strings.

Welcome back Bargy! I'd wondered what had happened to you. Still using the same strings?

[quote name='GreeneKing' post='160758' date='Mar 20 2008, 12:42 PM']My Sound City 120 is a Mk4 and does allow switching to 4. 8 and 16 ohms on the output transformer. It's been a little noisy (when I'm not playing) in an annoying way in the house. I tried swiching from 4 to 8 ohm and it makes no difference. It sounds great when I'm paying and I have no concerns about anything else. I'm led to believe that the capacitors may need some attention/replacement. Does anyone know of a good repair person in the NW (I'm in kendal)? Peter[/quote] Hi Peter. Using a valve amp set to 8 ohms into a 4 ohm cab is a pretty quick way to destroy it. If you've got away with it so far, all well and good, but I wouldn't recommend you carry on doing it even for a second. Valve amps shouldn't even be fired up unless they're under the correct load. Oxblood made a useful post about using valve amps into too high a load, and though not as bad as using it into too low a load, it will burn out your valves much quicker and can take the OT with it when they go. Take a look at [url="http://vintageamps.com/plexiboard/viewforum.php?f=9&sid=34986776f7f9070d4713c0acc74c1611"]the PlexiPalace Sound City boards[/url]. Sound City amps have a reputation for being noisy, but there are mods that can be made that will quieten them down.

I'm sure there's some documented phenonomen that explains this, but I think peopel just enjoy some kind of consensus. There was a spate of people buying the Harley Benton Beat Bass in the dying days of Bass World, but they're never mentioned anymore. I can understand why the SX's are so popular in the US, but when you factor in shipping charges they're not so competitive over here. I'm sure the SX's are coming from the same factory as a lot of other Chinese budget brands which are available over here for the same kind of cash (or less).

It rather depends how close you want to get to the Fender look. Aria Cats (Matsumoku era basses) are a kind of 80's take on a P/J bass and go pretty cheaply on ebay for some reason. But unless you get very lucky, the Cat aside, you're unlikely to pick up vintage japcrap of any quality for under £100 from ebay.

[quote name='allighatt0r' post='159849' date='Mar 18 2008, 07:21 PM']I think I need a diagram... I always coil my cables by holding the end in one hand, pulling my other hand down the cable then rolling it a hole turn between my fingers and thumb, then bring my hands together, making a loop. Then lather, rinse, repeat. But this BBC method sounds intriguing![/quote] I think I wind cables the same as you, but I'm curious if we're doing the same as Clive suggests. I always thought the idea was to never twist a cable unnaturally, but I'm rather curious what this 'reverse coiling' is about.

You're fairly limited with a single pickup, but a push/pull pot for series/parallel and a dual concentric pot offering treble and bass cut would give you some more tonal variation without messing with the look of the bass.

[quote name='Bassassin' post='157882' date='Mar 15 2008, 10:43 AM']Chancellor, James, Zender, Myung were all 90s (Mike Dirnt's technically 80s!) - and I saw Muse supporting Skunk Anansie in 1999... Tricky decade so far, there have been some great new bands, but no bassist has yet made much of an impression on me. I was going to say Martin Mendez from Opeth - but he first recorded with them in '99. /Gives up. Jon.[/quote] Exactly what I was thinking Jon. There don't really seem to have been any real bass heroes this decade - plenty of well regarded players that play in successful bands, but no-one that Joe Public would recognise as a stand out member of the band in the way Burnell or Flea were. Maybe it accounts why bass players seem to be a bit thinner on the ground now, judging by the ammount of 'bass player wanted' ads in the classifieds.

[quote name='tonybassplayer' post='157687' date='Mar 14 2008, 08:10 PM']Really pleased to see Jim Lea get several mentions as without Slade entering in to my teenage life I don't know where my musical direction would have gone. Always remember the story ( after they had fallen from favour ) when they turned up as a late replacement at Reading to play low down the bill carrying their own guitars from the car park and went on to win over the sceptical rock audience and blew all the "top" bands of the day of the stage. Anybody there that day ??[/quote] I was at that one! I remember everyone expecting them to be bottled off stage - instead they went down really, really well. That gig was probably responsible for their 80's comeback.

[quote name='OldGit' post='156391' date='Mar 12 2008, 11:05 PM']ha ha I'll tell Burke next time I see him. He'll be tickled I think [/quote] Please do! I loved basss players that really kicked along the song with great lines and took a leading role (Andy Fraser made the list for the only bass solo I've ever heard that really works on a purely musical level). I spent many, many hours trying to work out his bass lines when I started out. Great pass player IMO, and sadly overlooked.

PM Geejay - he has (or had) a BBT 500H.

JJ Burnell John Entwistle Andy Fraser Phil Lynot Burke Shelley (Budgie) It's not fair - I want to get Lemmy in there as well!

Not a bad idea, but then we haven't really got it together to write a complete wiki, let a lone a book!

The ABM will only be knocking out about 200w into an 8 ohm load (ie one cab) so you'd be ok using it. I've no experience of the Yamaha, but at that price the ABM is still looking good to me. If you look for matching cabs second hand you might just shoehorn a pair of 2x10s in secondhand (if you get lucky).

Ideally you'd need to take a listen to them and decide what does the job for you. But if that's not possible, out of the 3 I'd pick the ABM if it's in good nick. If you decided at some point it's not really what you're looking for you're looking at less of a loss selling it on.

I always used to refer to the Precision's growl, until people started calling the Jazz's characteristic sound 'growl' in the early nineties. So then I just started using the word 'grunt' to describe the p bass. It's just a matter of semantics really. Can't help with the jap 62 RI with US pickups though - I've not tried it.

I'm not sure why BBC is being singled out here - Janek was clearly p*ssed off with a lot of the posts here. It's equally clear that plenty of people agree to a greater or lesser extent with his sentiments (myself included). If Janek no longer wants to post here that's his choice, just as he's chosen to post very little previously. But let's not have any nonsence about bringing the forum into disrepute - if Busted or whoever popped up because they've received a slagging I doubt we'd shedding tears over it. If you put your work in the public domain you should realise everyone's a critic, whether their criticisms are valid or not.

[quote name='Jamesemt' post='149709' date='Mar 2 2008, 08:39 AM']You get £32 tax free if its a gift...just mark accordingly. Customs opened my SX basses thinking I'd pulled a fast one... there are loads of scams - lower declared value, labelling as a commercial sample, prototype product...not that I've used any of these. I know of people that have bought £300 lenses from Hong Kong and not paid any duty by declaring as a prototype.[/quote] I think it's £36 if it's a gift, though I think shipping is included in that amount - so just the p+p would take the bass over that.

If the neck comes with hardware then £50 probably isn't too bad, though how the guy knows it's a japanese '85 if he doesn't know the brand is beyond me. Stamps on the heel? I might be more inclined to pick up one of the cheap squiers that go on ebay for less than £50 pretty regularly, and then sell off the parts that are no good to you (like all the electrics ). A bit of a pig in a poke, but I'd guess you're in the same position with the neck you're looking at.

I stuck a straight edge along the picture in photoshop, and it looks fairly straight to me. Perhaps a slight concave bow, but as it should be.

[quote name='sixshooter' post='146525' date='Feb 25 2008, 12:59 PM']I would be interested in what speaker you go for, I noticed mine is torn in my GP7 250 and I need to replace it so was thinking should I get it repaired or replace it? Also if anyone knows best place to get one from it would be great. By the way they are great amps, (bit heavy). Mine is the first type with the black covering and must have had it for close on 10 years with no problems, (other than the speaker, but it still works), for bigger venues I add the 2 x 10 underneath, for even bigger venues the V8 comes out. Ta[/quote] Wembley Loudspeakers is the place for this - despite the name they're in Shepherds Bush. Most other places you could try just send the speakers off to them for reconing. They also do a replacement service, where they can exchange your speaker for one that has already been refurbished, but you've got to be a little lucky for them to have something suitable in stock.

[quote name='onehappybunny' post='144929' date='Feb 22 2008, 12:00 PM']Couldn't agree more Perry, bass players are the nicest, least egotistical musicians by a long way [/quote] I think Perry's suggesting that we're not, at least in guitar shops. Though last time I was in the Bass Centre the experience didn't exactly put me in a friendly mood.

It seems that Fender Japan have been turning out basses with 'Made In Japan' on them recently. Not sure that extends back to 2004/2005 though. I'd be inclined to think it's genuine - it seems to be a lot of bother to go to for not much return on a fake.

A couple of Mats. An Aria CSB-300 - not a 380 like he claims in the listing. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-Pro-2-Bass-1981-model_W0QQitemZ110226544312"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-Pro-2-Bass-1981...emZ110226544312[/url] RSB Performer with a Carlbro practice amp [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-Bass-guitar-and-Carlsbro-amp_W0QQitemZ330213955017"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-Bass-guitar-and...emZ330213955017[/url] Both pickup only.

You might want to reconsider the white P bass - apparently they're considerably more yellow in the flesh than the pictures on the Rondo site suggest! Unless of course you like yellow.