Musky

I'm not familiar with the MEC pickups fitted to these, but single coils are prone to picking up interference - and mains transformers will produce a LOT of interference at close quarters. You'll probably find the buzzing will lessen as you turn the bass within the transformers magnetic field. Some amps are better at suppressing the interference than others, and some transformers inherently produce less interference (toroidal transformers, for instance). Your main amp seems to be better in that respect. But get close enough and I suspect you could coax some buzz out of it.

[quote name='eude' timestamp='1335627424' post='1633949'] The Prometheans came out first, probably by a good 6 months or so. Then, I imagine, the factory who made them for Ibanez pimped out their facility to other amp companies, so to all intents and purposes, they're the same amp in different boxes. What with them all being built in the same place, they should be identical, and dare I say it, with the Prometheans being the first off the assembly line, you'll probably find the latter ones a bit more reliable, as they'll have ironed out all the kinks on Ibanez's watch... [/quote] The HB and RS models are identical, but the Ibanez has a different pre-amp - the former two brands have a few more bells and whistles on the front panel. Beta Aivin were developing their own amp when Ibanez approached them with their requirements for a new amp - one of which was a pre-amp based on the MarkBass. The added features of the other Beta Aivin produced models appear to be there so they don't step on Ibanez's toes. However all the amps share the same power modules and supplies. So it might be fair to say that they're all clones of [url="http://www.beta-aivin.com/English/Products/Bass/BT/English_206.html"]Beta Aivin[/url].

Good luck on getting in at the Windsor Castle - most of the bands are the same handful that have been playing there for the best part of a decade.

If you like the sound of the Peavey 115, getting another will give you more of the same. The speaker diameter won't tell you much about the sound per se, as the cabinet design has such a big effect on the sound produced. Many manufacturers list their 4x10's as going lower than the matching 1x15 for instance (the specs are very often dubious, but they do give a clue as to the relative performance of the cabs when coming from the same manufacturer). The barefaced site is very good for explaining the technical stuff - http://barefacedbass.com/technical-information/speaker-size-frequency-response.htm

I'm not sure if they've actually gone bust or are just "having difficulties", but you'll have trouble finding new ones (at sensible prices at least). There were a few NOS popping up on ebay now and then, and even the price of secondhand units are fetching considerably more than they did a few years back. This has been going on a while now. If you try a search I'm sure it'll throw up a bit more info, as I know this has been discussed before.

[quote name='FlatEric' timestamp='1335336742' post='1629332'] Amazing! Here we go again! This was mine, until last year - see here: [url="http://flatericbassandguitar.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/photography-and-couple-of-cort-kay.html"]http://flatericbassa...f-cort-kay.html[/url] They aren't that rare. I had Two!! Rob's got one - [url="http://www.whitstableguitars.co.uk/1980skaycortvintagebass.htm"]http://www.whitstabl...vintagebass.htm[/url] To my knowledge, this has now been "Flipped" four times, I think. Why???????????? This and it's mate are really nice basses. Jon - Bassassin, also had one. They are are never going to be an Alembic but would easily hold it's own against a lot of things that are a lot more expensive! Hey Ho. PS The knobs that were on it when I had it, were the same as all the others I have seen - BLACK! Cheers. [/quote] Yeah, I was highly sceptical about the whole story - particularly the bit about the Corts being late nineties reissues. Weirdly enough I was the person on TB who pointed out to Rob that these were Corts - I pointed him towards your site and Bassassin's posts about his.

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1335302427' post='1629114'] The bits saying "THIS IS NOT A MATSUMOKU" probably are. [/quote] I liked the gratuitous mention that the Teisco factory was just down the road as well!

The last one on ebay sold for £74, though he had it up earlier with a BIN of £50 without any takers. Another was listed at £45 without any bids, One here, one was advertised for £70 with no takers a few years ago, and Blademan_98 listed one for £20 before finally selling on ebay. Might be worth asking him what it eventually sold for. So quite a spread of prices, £45-ish being the midway point.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1335218365' post='1627603'] Since this place is now known to be under the eye, maybe posting stuff here is doing a bit of a disservice. Maybe people after them should just post here instead, and become informed by PM. Need to figure how to not have them totally spammed I guess. [/quote] I'm not sure it is being watched at the moment - the 'faker that was posted up on the 13th (after RIC contacted BC) ran to completion without any takers. Anyone looking on the forum probably isn't aware that joining BC allows you to see more forums.

[quote name='thodrik' timestamp='1335221120' post='1627678'] I generally prefer the look of maple, but even then it depends on the colour scheme. I personally think that the sonic differences between the maple and rosewood are pretty minimal compared to fundamental issues like design, build quality, strings, eq, playing style. When it comes to a Fender just go into a shop and try all of them until you find one that looks great and plays great. Or if you are ordering blind just order the one you think looks the best. [/quote] [quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1335222392' post='1627698'] I think the influence on tone is extremely minimal - much less than strings, pickups, pick or fingers, playing near bridge or neck, amp settings etc., they all beat fingerboard wood. But I still think rosewood looks and feels better. [/quote] +1 to both of these posts. There can be big enough differences on different examples to swamp any variation in tone caused by the fingerboard. If the different feel doesn't bother you (it isn't huge anyway), go for looks.

[quote name='chaypup' timestamp='1334934327' post='1623740'] Flipped in a day with £50 added to the starting price [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1981-83-Tiesco-Kay-Made-Japan-Bass-Guitar-Highly-Collectable-world-shipping-/261007518179?_trksid=p4340.m185&_trkparms=algo%3DDLSL%252BSIC.NPJS%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%252BUA%26otn%3D10%26pmod%3D221001470517%252B221001470517%26po%3D%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D7855516429096439818#ht_500wt_945"]http://www.ebay.co.u...18#ht_500wt_945[/url] fast mover! [/quote] Interesting bit of blurb there, but I wonder how much of it is true?

[quote name='simwells' timestamp='1335213075' post='1627477'] Bass collection, can't see it lasting long at all [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bass-Collection-Californian-Pro-Bass-Based-Rickenbacker-4003-Bass-/221006990394?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item33750b0c3a"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item33750b0c3a[/url] [/quote] You were right about that!

A quick google reveals that the Substation has a dual coil driver, with 3 input options: direct mono, passive mono and passive stereo. The first option runs direct and the second goes through a crossover. Both these options are 4 ohm, and should NOT be used with another speaker if your amp has a minimum impedance of 4 ohms. The last option is intended for use with a stereo amp where each coil runs at 8 ohm, 250w RMS. You could run one of these coils in conjunction with another 8 ohm cab, but you'll have to run each cab direct from the amp rather than daisy chaining them. It doesn't appear these cabs can be daisy chained, but I'd contact celestion to see if they have a manual - rather unhelpfully their website doesn't seem to have any support for discontinued products. So in short, what you have in mind won't work.

There are cab switchers about, but they're not cheap. As has been said, the need to keep a load on valve amps' output means this is never going to be a cheap option. http://www.customaudioelectronics.com/products?view=product&prod_id=prod7

[quote name='4000' timestamp='1334854655' post='1622463'] I don't personally see this as a problem. If they were my designs I wouldn't want other people to copy them either. Anyway, if the designs/parts are so crap, why would anybody want copies of the same? [/quote] I think all the parts mentioned above aren't actually copies - they just fit in the place of the original RIC part. At a tangent slightly, but has Hipshot actually changed their design? Just looked at their website and the footprint (the bit JH had a problem with) looks to be the same.

You're ready for a band when you meet the expectations of that band. That could mean you've never played a note before, or conversely it could mean you'll never reach the level expected of you. Talking to them about what's expected and the kind of level you're at is usually a good starting place. Just remember that getting the gig is not just about your playing ability.

Depends how much treble you want. AFAIK you don't get the acoustic coupling with a tweeter paired up in cabs like this, but on the other hand the tweeter in the top cab will be closer to your ears so you should be hearing much more of it (unless the cab was angled up towards your head anyway). So I suppose it boils down to whether you're using the cab for onstage monitoring with PA support, or whether you're relying on the cabs alone for the audience to hear your tone - which would be another kettle of fish for people off axis anyway.

I think these have been discontinued, which is why they're going cheap. Wayne bought one from a seller who had several in Milton Keynes - £200 collected. So from that point of view £195 delivered isn't bad at all. Do a search and you'll find several threads in the Ebay forum.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1334689215' post='1619877'] If it is twisting, there is an engineering issue. That's all there is to it. Use wood right, and the chance of twisting is pretty well minimised, couple of quarter sawn pieces, laminated, and well seasoned, graphite will sort it too, but if it is twisting, then it has been done wrong. Not twisting = good engineering, twisting = bad engineering. Fender necks are made in such a way to be disposable replaceable items, plan being once the frets wear out, bin it, put a new neck on. The obsession with name over everything is the only thing wrong with that concept. All ways of bodging round the original issue is going to be inferior to correcting the issue. Edit: also relevant to note: Fender putting graphite in to sort the issue is an example of development, which is something that keeps their continued production valid. [/quote] Sorry, I don't buy it. 4003s do use quarter sawn, laminated necks with well seasoned woods, so design isn't an issue in this regard (and it is [i]design[/i]). However wood is an organic product and nobody can accurately predict the behaviour of that wood, just minimise the effects of any differences. Or provide a means of correcting any changes. Twin rods do just that (to an extent). Incidentally, RIC have changed the design of both the neck and truss rods over the years. Development, n'est ce pas?

[quote name='Stacker' timestamp='1334677796' post='1619613'] Bizarre, isn't it? I have the 7-screw bridge on the 4001 I'm punting right now, as the original had about 4mm tail-lift. Had around ten Ricks and the only on that didn't exhibit TL was a '73 4001. Even my CS was starting to exhibit it and that's one reason i got shot of! [/quote] 73? Might have been one of the older aluminium tailpieces, which were less susceptible to tail lift. Seeing as how RIC brought in big price increases a few years ago to "manage demand", it might have been nice if they re-introduced the ali version. Or just brought in the mythical new bridge design.