Mokl

[quote name='bassjamm' post='218598' date='Jun 13 2008, 10:09 PM']They're not readily available, you have to get the custom built for you by the man himself...so going direct is the only way. Just google his name and e-mail him about them mate!!! Not the cheapest pre-amps about i don't think, but quality assured and the fact that you can tailor it to your exact requirements is pretty cool i think. Don't/didn't you have a Fodera?[/quote] Yes I do, but I was still interested to learn that the preamps were available directly from Mike Pope. I've got a passive Jazz here that I've been toying with the idea of "activating". I must say that I thought the playing advice he gave you was very interesting, it's given me plenty of food for thought (I'm somewhat theory-allergic!) and I'm going to try and practise a little differentlyand see where it takes me. I also thought it was generous of him to take the time to write to you as he did, seems like a decent bloke!

Very interesting, great post bassjamm! I didn't realise that the Pope pre-amps were available to buy without being attached to a Fodera bass. Is there a web site? I'll have to google it and see what comes up.

[quote name='7string' post='217607' date='Jun 12 2008, 01:51 PM']Well, the Tyler was meant to be with me today. Unfortunately, Business Post put it on their vehicle going to Gloucester instead of Glasgow . Had it been at the Glasgow depot I would have just gone down there to get it as it's not too far away. Gloucester, on the other hand, is about 300 miles from here..... Oh, well. Tomorrow it is [/quote] I live near Gloucester, I could pick it up for you, if you like

I loved mine - the neck was wicked, build quality absolutely first class and the tone to die for. I couldn't cope with the neck dive though, it really bugged me. Might not be so bad worn lower though, but I prefer to wear my basses fairly high.

Sounds as though you should already be able to get a "Chic" type of tone with your Stingray. But, fwiw, the other tone you are looking for sounds almost exactly how I would describe the tone of my Zon Sonus. It has a real warmth and clarity, amazing piano-y sustain and plenty of trebley sizzle if you want it. The graphite neck possibly has something to do with it, although I have owned other graphite necked basses (Modulus and Status), and this sounds more organic somehow. The mid-range on mine is switchable on the preamp, enabling scooped to more up-front voicings. You'd possibly pick up a good used one like mine for just under a grand, the only problem with Zons being that they don't seem to come up that often over here.

Fabulous sounding basses those double-buckers, you'll love it! Best "band" tone I've ever had was from a Warwick Thumb BO, how I wish I still had that bass

Just add some gold machine heads now, and it'll look well bling! Seriously though, it's looking good!

I agree with Ian. Although it does look great in the pictures, it could well turn out to be a real lemon. I've seen a few "copy" guitars that people have purchased through ebay, including a "Steve Vai Jem" and a "Gibson Zakk Wylde". Initially they looked good, until more detailed inspection and a play revealed terrible construction, lumpy necks, awful pickups (even though they appeared to be branded, lol). In particular the Jem copy is probably the worst guitar I have ever played, it just wasn't possible to achieve an acceptable action on it. The tremolo seemed to be cast out of something close to pig iron and all the bolts threaded and rounded off after only gentle tightening! I'm not saying that this bass is going to be like that, but I would definitely advise sensible caution before spending your hard-earned on something which appears too good to be true. Whatever the truth about this bass, I agree that it does look good, if nothing else!

My wife bought me a set of slap rings as a kind of "jokey" wedding present! Actually, I can see them being quite fun, but I find they don't work well with my set up ie very low action and light-ish strings. It's just too much weight on your thumb and you get horrible overtones from the strings "bottoming out" at the end of the fingerboard. Probably doesn't help that I already have large thumbs (?!!?). Perhaps I just need to spend more time fiddling about, but I couldn't be bothered to raise the action on any of my basses just so the slap ring would work better. If I did, or switched to heavier strings (I use 40-95), then it would probably work quite well.

Oh, so this is about mounting amps into cases?! When I saw the topic title "Rack sizes and holes", I was expecting something else :blush: Actually, is it just me or is this thread full of double entendres? e.g. [i]The tension between the nut and runner caused by the tightening of a screw keeps all the gear in place, and allows you to bypass any unusual hole-configurations.[/i] I'll get my coat.

Any chance I could be added to the list if it's not already too long?

Without wishing to turn you away onto another site, you can find the Wal forum at badassbassplayers.com. Don't know whether or not they have posted the eq settings again though. I don't really have a favourite setting for my Wal tone controls at the moment, but I do quite like B: 2-Pulled T:10 pulled and BT in the middle for a nice "scooped" slap tone.

I wouldn't do it. I'm sure the rig is great, but another will surely come along soon. It doesn't seem to make economical or practical sense to me, although if you can make a bit of a day trip/long weekend out of it then perhaps you could justify it.

Nice collection you've got there Gaf! The VM Jazz is looking great, how's it sounding these days? Matt

[quote name='Jamesemt' post='179827' date='Apr 18 2008, 03:19 PM']Sorry mate, my post sounded a bit aggressive and wasn't meant to be. It just bugs me when people won't tell me what they paid for stuff (like a car), like it's some conspiracy or something. I appreciate the thoughts about selling it on, but TBH as long as you keep it a while first then you just sell at market value. It's not your fault Crack Converters didn't do their homework properly...[/quote] Hey, no worries. I'm sure no offence was intended. A little update: I spoke to Bernie Goodfellow today and he confirmed that it is a Lowden. Still a great quality bass though, from what I can tell. I'd never spoken with him before, but he seems like an incredibly nice bloke and didn't seem to mind me bothering him at all. All of this has gotten me thinking that I really would like one of those GB's now..... lol!!!

[quote name='Paul Cooke' post='179132' date='Apr 17 2008, 06:34 PM']I'm convinced CC sit on the real bargains (like Fenders that are obviously valuable) and hide them away out of sight until the ticket expires and you can't redeem it... then they flog them off on ebay...[/quote] ... that may be true, assuming that they know the value of what they have. To be honest, I can't imagine them putting that much effort or thought into it given the masses of stuff that must pass through their hands. So long as they make a good mark up I would be surprised if they could care very much. One of my pals has had at least half a dozen very good deals out of CC, but then he does check it with alarming regularity. I guess that is the key, plus a little luck!

Here's a couple of shots of the bass after an hour of cleaning it up - it's turned out very nicely!

I suppose the idea is that if I decide to sell it on then I don't have to feel like a complete bastard for trying to make some money on it - although why I should even care given the ridiculous amount of money I have lost on bass gear (mainly through this forum) over the years is beyond me. It's kind of disrespectful to any future purchaser, if I blab on and on about how I paid £1.50 for this bass, don't you think? That was never the point of this post! I'm not short-sighted enough to think that I won't ever sell it, because I know me too well, but I thought people might find my story interesting and perhaps inspire a few more bargain discoveries in Crack-Generators across the land. As it is I will almost certainly keep this bass as it will make a great back up for my function band duties. Got some of the dings touched up today, and it's looking much better already. Will post some more pics when I've polished it and have it looking dandy, for those amongst you who may or may not care.

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='178477' date='Apr 17 2008, 12:26 AM']I think it's a Goodfellow Bass made by Lowden Guitars in Northern Ireland in the mid 90s; see here: [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalon_Guitars"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalon_Guitars[/url] As I understand it, Bernie Goodfellow lost control of the Goodfellow name in the late 80s or early 90s and so he started Nightingale Basses in Denmark Street, London for a while before he finally set up GB Guitars in Brighton which is where he is now. Lowden bought/owned the Goodfellow Bass name and the actual body design was very much like an early Goodfellow bass. I had one of these for a while in 1995 which cost me about £700 at the time, and it had a mahogony core like a Wal Custom (hence the tonal similarity you mention) and Kent Armstrong pick ups I think. It was a very nice bass but not quite in the class of an early handmade Bernie Goodfellow 'Goodfellow Bass' (if that makes sense).. So, although it's not one of Bernie's originals, you've definitely got a bargain and these are quite rare basses, so congratulations on your good fortune![/quote] Thanks for the information, perhaps it is a Lowden model then. Oh well, still think I did pretty well as it's a great sounding and funky-looking bass. As for the pickups they have the wood-effect covers (like my Wal, again) with little notches in the bass side for your thumb to rest on - same as this one pictured on the gallery site. [url="http://www.thebassgallery.com/goodfellowclassicfl.html"]http://www.thebassgallery.com/goodfellowclassicfl.html[/url] As I mentioned previously, there is no serial number on this bass which doesn't make it any easier to identify!

As for what I paid... it was in the region of second-hand Squier money (nothing wrong with those by the way!). Too cheap to not have a punt at any rate. Anybody able to tell me any more about the bass from the pics? Controls are pretty standard: bass, mid, treble, blend and vol.