TOMAS

On 01/02/2024 at 13:55, Manwithvan said:

The odd one out in the BB range, the 1500A is a JJ 'super jazz' which features noiseless stacked single coils.

 

It is 9V active-only, with a tone switch with two non-standard options (typically mid scoop and mid boost) which can be preset from the circuit board to define mid frequency and gain. Controls are Volume, Blend, Tone preset, Treble boost, Bass boost.

Long scale, weight 4.2kg

 

 

 

Where are you based mate ?

On 29/12/2023 at 12:26, TheGreek said:

This will almost certainly fly away so if you're interested BE QUICK!!

 

https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/status-washburn-series-1000-bass-guitar/1427796878

 

Did it sell ?

Hello guys, experienced bassist can play most styles to good standard, easy going , pro gear and transport. Lookin for Soul Funk, 80s ,Electronic or Swing Jazz band.

Thanks

How does the Glockenklang sound ?

On 18/05/2021 at 20:18, White Cloud said:

An incredibly kind act, extremely generous and altruistic!

Yes brilliant act of kindness, good on you sir.

On 23/08/2023 at 13:20, RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE said:

Well, this is my first ‘proper’ Bass purchased by myself way back in 1989 from Macaris in Denmark Street.  It has been my go to bass over 90% of my and its lifetime. 
It has played stuff from Mustang Sally ,pretty  Vacant , and I will survive . 

 

A lot of people who have their first proper bass normally keep it . Some stick to just one . All good . 
so why am I thinking of moving this on ; well I’m not using it much if at all since getting synths etc . I won’t be gigging and maybe 🤔 it’s time to let it be used to its full potential again .

 

Now , regarding the modifications: 

This Bass is now PASSIVE and NO LONGER NEEDS BATTERY. The volume and tone buttons don't do anything and step ( clicks when adjusting volume , bass and treble ) are no longer there . Just plug'n'play . 
I got annoyed with the orders of kebabs being picked up when rehearsing in Alaska Studios in Waterloo many years ago, and Graham Noden formerly of Denmark Street gave me the option of removing the active circuitry. He was right in what he said , in that in the ‘80s there was a massive influx of active circuitry more or less just for the sake of it . 
As a side note ; when it had the active circuitry a few of the bands I was in at the time never liked the brightness.

” Can you turn it down! “ 🗣️okay but mr guitar was deafening anyway 😬

Having said all that , the bands  since liked the sound after it was doctored.

I even recorded an ep in one of my covers bands should you wish to hear it. 🙀. This bass is still very loud and powerful.  Oh , and the Bass has a swift craft jack replacing the fragile one of old .Again done by Graham Noden.

Having said all that , the Bass still sounds amazing , and not much reduction in treble at all. I fitted a new set of Status Strings which sound Clangy. You can sound like a slinky falling down uncarpeted stairs should you want to .Not much effort needed.

(Apologies to slappers everywhere)

 

The bass is in very good condition for its age imho. A few marks etc but like me, it’s been through a lot 😺It needs a setup . 

It comes with a gig bag which is usable  just . Price not set in stornr , but they don't seem to be around much these days .

I still have original Washburn strap and strap looks somewhere. Washed once

 

I may keep it , but at the moment I’m my user name using synths recording SoundCloud noises which I find more interesting. 
 

Trades? Well( incase I made a mistake), Ibanez headless ( straight swap ? Synth gear ? , or badtz Marou Short scale with cash my way .maybe a squier mustang and cash my way etc . Maybe a MacBook m1/2 ? 5 string considered also . 

I have never shipped a bass. I could if you’re serious, purchase a couple of Bass Guitar Boxes from the Amazon and you could arrange for your own courier to collect and do their business at your cost .
Look forward to your input 

Thanks for loooking

How much are looking for please ?

Hello guys interested in joining a giging or nearly gigging band in the general area from Durham to Morpeth area. Interested  in most styles of music except Death Metal and Country I have standards Pro gear can cover most styles to good standard  transport reliable easy going get in touch..

Still for sale ?

Sold ?

Where in Scotland are you based mate

On 25/03/2010 at 22:31, EBS_freak said:

On 24/03/2010 at 22:39, funkgod said:

Hi EBS FREAK

some questions would be
!) what time did lowden make goodfellow basses
2) which models were made.
3) from what, and to what serial numbers would be handy
4) the differences between the lowden and bernies ones.

here is what im led to belive so far.
the lowden ones were player models ??
they had metal tuning pegs and not bernies wood ones ??
lowden ones dont have the sandwich layer under the headstock facing
which are green on some of bernies ??
how much of this is true ??

Anyone ??

 

OK, I'll attempt to answer as much as I can.

Bernie was one of the first electric bass luthiers in the country (Wal, Status, Overwater being the others). Bernie started building basses in his shed at the bottom of his garden.

Out of the small startings of a hobby turned business, Bernie partnered Mike Freston (Managing Director) and Phil Harris (of Star Guitars, regular contributor for a guitar magazine and owner of a sizeable collection of vintage guitars) to form what would would become Goodfellow.

Following a run of protoypes (I believe 10-15 basses), the first Goodfellow basses (with serial numbers) were marketed. The protoypes were all slightly different in design as Bernie was still finalising what would become the Goodfellow shape, the selection being a mixture of passive and then later, active basses. The whereabouts of these original pre serial basses are unknown, they may still be with either Mike or Phil. If they were to surface, although they are without serial number, they do bear Bernie's signature. The marketed basses (i.e. the ones with serial numbers) were of two designs; the Player and the Classic.

The Classic is a Goodfellow that has pretty facings, usually quilted maple, elm burr, poplar burr which were all bookmatched to give the bass it's attractive front. This facing was flanked by another 2mm vaneer before being glued to the main core body. There are a few rare examples out there that have both front and rear facings.

The Player was a series of Goodfellows that had unusual vaneers and finishes. I'm sure anybody following the Goodfellows that have surfaced on here will realise that they belong to this range - the Harlequin has a multi-coloured wafer thing laminated top, with a subtle burst around the edges. Other finishes in this range include the Herringbone laminate, as seen on #003 above. Some of you may have seen the zebra burst, a grey white and black burst Player. All of the basses in this range have a mahogany core with front and back laminates. I believe Lowden stopped producing the Player series when they ran out of vaneers - but they may have kept calling the basses they were producing Players anyway.

The necks of both guitars are 5 core laminated necks, bolted on to the body.

When the Lowden era came, Bernie was employed for 18 months to 2 years but was out come 1989. That makes the start of the Lowden era to be 1987/8. So, what's the difference between the Lowden era basses and the original "Bernie era" (for lack of a better phase)? Well, there are a few telltale signs. What you have to remember is that these basses went from a small handmade operation to a more mechanised/automated assembly. When Goodfellow was initially taken over, there were numerous components that were inherited - such as pickups, half finshed necks and bodies, fascias, circuits etc.

There are numerous tell tale signs however that give a clue to whether a Goodfellow is a "Bernie era" or a Lowden era.

The obvious one is a low serial number. The lower the number, the greater the chance of a bass being a Bernie bass. It's estimated that Bernie made approximately 150 under the original Goodfellow company in Wandswood and Depford before production was overseen by Lowden. It's not clear what happened to the serial numbers during the transisiton period.

Looking at the headstock, the original logos were the big G logo with the Handcrafted England footer. When the production moved to Lowden, this footer was removed - however, due to the stock of parts that came as part of the Lowden deal, there is a chance that a Handcrafted England neck made it onto a Lowden era bass. With regards to a "sandwich layer", it depends if it is a new stock or old stock neck. On the rear of the headstock, the original Goodfellows have Schaller M4 tuners with the G insignia on the rear of the casing. Of course, the originals have the handmade wooden buttons - these have become a bit of a Bernie signature what with them being common place on the modern GB Rumour. Again, as stocks depleted, these were changed to cheaper metal buttons. In fact, I believe that the hardware, including the bridge were sourced elsewhere (Far East?) later in the later period of production due to lack of original stock and a bid to cut cost.

The milled bridge (with the Goodfellow wording across the rear of the unit) was a Bernie original design, but Bernie sought permission from Helmut Schaller and Rene Schaller to make use of Schaller saddles on those bridges and also use the alternative buttons on the M4 tuners. The keener eyed of you out there, may have recognised the Schaller saddle design. Like other pieces of hardware, alternatives were sought when stocks ran out.

Circuitwise, the preamp was only found in Goodfellow basses. The original circuits were all handmade, as they are with todays GBs. The original Goodfellow active circuits however, were much different to what we see now. They were small circuit boards that clicked into place to the loom that was conencted to all the control pots and switches within the control cavity. A smart idea, but a very labour intensive process. The stock of boards may have made their way into Lowden Goodfellow basses, it's hard to say but these were later switched out for alternative preassembled circuits. It's worth noting that the Bernie era basses have the disk around the most foward placed pot. Maybe some Lowden era basses too whilst stock was available but from the Goodfellows I have seen, they seem to be without this disk. I believe that some of the prototype basses have a pickup selector switch as opposed to a pan pot.

Finally, the pickups. The pickups are quite famous for having a thumbrest indent on the top surface and having a wooden grainy appearance. Often mistaken for wooden pickup covers, they are infact solid resin blocks with the pickup encased within. The reason they have a wooden grain appearance is the fact that they are cast from a mold that was made from a wooden master. The wooden master in question, was actually a piece of London Plane (Lacewood) that Bernie carved by hand in his shed in Forest Hill, SE London.

Of course, the mix of parts depending upon availability can mask a Lowden bass but a Bernie built Goodfellow will have all the components present. Its estimated that 100-150 Lowden Goodfellow basses were built before Bernie left Lowden. As the process became more automated, Bernie's role there was removed and Bernie was left without work.

Following Bernie's departure, the body shape did change somewhat, specifically with regard to shape of the horns. A five string was developed but again, was significantly different to the 5 string design in the plans that Bernie had drawn up.

With regards to the "kit" Goodfellows, this is true. Parts, or rejected parts for that matter, were "leaked out" and assembled outside of the Goodfellow production line. The quality of these basses cannot be guaranteed as the pickup routing, neck joint routing and cavity routing would all have to be done to assemble a complete product. As shown through various parts and complete examples turning up on the used market and eBay, the quality of the final product can be pretty poor.

After Lowden, Bernie set up Nightingale guitars with Neil McDonald and with a familiar Bernie designed shape, started producing basses. These basses notable included an early incarnation of the Bernie designed GB style circuit (comprehensive circuit board (for the time at least!) with PCB mounted pots) that would evolve into what we see in the GB guitars of today. Interestingly enough, the Lowden Goodfellow basses adopted this style of circuit. Whether this was coincidental or not, I wouldn't like to say.

After Nightingale, came GB Guitars, Bernie's latest creations. The modern Rumour bass definately shows a resemblance to the early Goodfellow design but they are two very different beasts. The electronics and pickups are unique to his GB instruments and help give the instuments a sound like no other. A Goodfellow bass is not a GB (Goodfellow Basses) guitar - buyer beware!

His current basses are certainly a mile away from the humble beginnings of the shed builds but I think the Goodfellow history is an interesting story.

A move from his Croydon GB workshop to Brighton followed and Bernie now has the chance to pursue both of his passions. His love of bass building... and his love of fishing.

Originally sold via the Bass Centre, the Classic has a retail of around £1250 and the Player retailed at approx £950. The more interesting examples of the "Bernie" basses, (e.g. made by his own hands) still sell on the used market for anywhere between £750 to £1500 depending upon it's fascias and condition (and whether it still has a Goodfellow branded Hiscox case.

Check the GB porn thread for a look at some of the early Goodfellows that have popped up... and check out Graham Gouldman playing a genuine Bernie bass on his TOTP appearance with Wax (with Andrew Gold)... also the bass on stage with the Style Council at Live Aid is certainly worth a look...

It's funny, there has been quite a lot of interest in the original Goodfellow basses in the last month. It seems they are pretty popular out in America!

Hope that somebody has found this interesting! All the best, Russ.

Thanks for that very I interesting insight, I owned at one  time 001 Goodfellow bass, ( Bernie told me it was made in his shed)a passive bass. Wonder where it is now.

I find interesting why people get so untight about who first played or influenced slap in the uk. Even as is well know Larry Graham invented it. Don't you think however other not name bands bassists where playing slap on electric at the same time? Of course they were, MK actually states in a interview it was some coloured guys that came into Sounds that sparked his imagination along with SC that started him off.Clearly around 79/80 many players were experimenting with slap bass, so unless someone has atomic clock and photographic evidence who did it first thumb struck, every argument about who first started it is meaningless..

On 19/07/2018 at 23:21, EMG456 said:

Hi Tomas - nothing I know about - it was a long time ago and even the 4 track cassette portastudios had not yet been invented!

On a quick dig around the web though, I have his name wrong - he is John Manby. I had heard he had moved to London but he now lives in Australia and apparently is still playing. The band I remember him from were called Croppa and he and the singer from that band, Tommy Jackson seem to be facebook buddies.

Isn't t'internet an amazing thing?!

When were you in Glasgow?

Thanks for that for that info, must see if I can find some footage/audio. I lived my whole life up 1999 in the Glasgow area. I do remember the name Croppa but never seen them live. I use to hang out in McCormicks on Saturdays they was young funk  player who was acceptoonal unfortunately do no his name. There was also a older guy that use to hang out at CC music Gary Denyer he had the Louis Johnson vibe nailed.. great to chat to you.

On 02/04/2018 at 10:09, EMG456 said:

This is a strange thread...

DrT, you are correct in what you say about the general reach of Graham Central Station versus EWF or indeed the Brothers Johnson with their Quincy Jones connections. Up here in Glasgow, the talk was really all about Louis Johnson. There was a great player called (I think) John Mambie who gigged with a funk/soul outfit up here who was very influential with the local players simply because none of us had ever actually *seen* that type of playing being performed before. the impact was similar to going to see Weather Report at the time and watching Jaco casually strolling out to the front of the stage to play the opening bars of Birdland in false harmonics on the bass - everybody had assumed it was played by Zavinul on an ARP synth! "What?! That's a bass??"

Mambie's main man was Louis Johnson so that's who we investigated. 

Also, here at that time, most of us who were playing came to it through rock music, not funk or soul. There were many more would be rock/pop bands than funk/soul. Bass players of the day who were interested in taking the bass out of it's traditional comfort zone had already been influenced by guys like Chris Squire, John Entwhistle etc. and had dumped the flatwound strings and extended the high frequencies to cut through the mix better. Stanley Clark, Alphonso Johnson, Jaco Pastorius were all heavy influencers as well and using similar clear, bright sounds

So the funk crept in through the Jazz/Rock/Fusion stuff and from the rock side through the likes of Steely Dan with the Chuck Rainey/ Bernard Purdie/ Steve Gadd rhythm section and the likes of Little Feat etc.

It's a big melting pot!

Hi I originally from Glasgow just wondered if there any footage /audio of the bass player you mention John Mambie

Did this sale?

Hello guys, interested in function band ideally playing Soul Funk or 80s. Can play to high standard quick learner, reliable, pro gear and transport

Bump

thanks ..yes the tone features are unique and useful

Nobody I ntrested is pro quality American made Eden gear?

Bump

Pro Quality WT800 World Tour amp in good condition £525 and WT1000  Power Amp £375. can provided 2u flightcase for extra £20. Buyer arranges own courier  or pick up in person from Newcastle area.

Library photos but units are in very similar condition.

Ok thanks for the reply

How much mate  for the cabs each thanks ?

I just PM you Rob

cheers