ossyrocks

Like many people, I go all around the houses with cabs and amps, most recently with Barefaced cabs, of which I now have two, a One 10 and a Two 10. I did sell one of my Mark Bass 102P’s, but I kept the minty one, and I have recently reverted back to that setup - LM3 + 102P. I’m gigging that rig today, and on Monday, with the Elf in the bag as backup. It really is a great sounding rig. It’s a sound I haven’t found in anything else I’ve tried, and I can’t put my finger on what it is, like there’s a little magic dust in the air as you play it. Interestingly, I also feel I don’t need the compressor when I use it either. I also set everything at noon with filters off as a starting point, and rarely change it. When I get a little time, I’m going to do a side by side with the BF Two 10 and the 102P using the LM3, and just see what I think the differences, strengths and weaknesses are are with both. Rob

I have LaBella LTF's on my Jazz. It's a mexican roadworn with pickups and pots upgraded. I find Labella's particularly deep sounding when compared with the other flats I've tried, which are only Picatos and Thomastiks. So they've given my Jazz a really deep tone on the front pickup, if you want it, but it's still pretty honky on the back pickup alone. I more or less have the tone rolled off the whole time too. I had some fun the other night with my Mark Bass rig, a compressor and the jazz on the back pickup, trying to cop that Joe Dart tone (not the chops I'm afraid). Rob

Good luck! I did my first on bass last November. Parts of it went well, parts of it were “challenging”. Roll on a couple of months and I’m in a band with the house bands drummer. Above all, try to enjoy it, all the pressure is coming from yourself. Rob

Sean Hurley has been a busy man! https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sean-hurley-mn0000948491/credits

Two albums with John Mayer, Born and Raised (quite good, a “grower”), and Paradise Valley (never liked it!). The best John Mayer stuff is the Trio, Steve Jordan on drums and Pino Palladino on bass, phenomenal.

Really? Well I've got most of those and didn't ever put two and two together. I'll dig 'em out.

Well and truly down a Sean Hurley rabbit hole now. I’ve not really looked into him before. I play a P with flats, a lot. His tone is a little “dry”? Also a bit more top end than I’ve got used to. Interesting.

I have a LM3, and a TE Elf. I’ve been using the Elf out of convenience mostly, it’s just so tiny and fits in a gig bag. At rehearsal the other day, I had this feeling that it wasn’t doing what I wanted it to do, somehow lacking in the mids, and not quite defined enough. It’s still a good amp, but it got me wondering if I just should use the LM3 more. Anyway, Friday night, I went to see a band because a great bass player I know had let me know they were playing. What’s he got on stage?, an LM3 and a MB 1x12. How did it sound? Frickin marvellous! It’s convinced me to use mine more, his sound on Friday is more in the direction of what I have in my head. I might keep an eye out for another…… Rob

I know exactly what you're saying, it's a question of risk, and minimisation thereof. That one was about as minimum risk as you're likely to find with a custom colour vintage Fender. I personally would not buy one, unless I had a tale/story/background like the one above. I know for a fact that Musicground have sold 100's if not 1000's of fake custom colour vintage Fenders over the years, many of them weren't just refins of genuine guitars, they weren't even Fender bodies or necks in a lot of cases. They did the same with amps. The water is very murky indeed. Rob

No harm in knocking, he might still be there. I bought some vinyl on Lancaster market a few weeks ago, and whilst cleaning them, I found an old postcard posted from the USSR in the early 70’s to an address nearby. It was quite a tale, of drunkenness, vodka, and Russian girls. So I posted on local Facebook groups asking about the address and who it was posted to, as it would be nice to return it. Lo and behold, they still lived at the same address, and I delivered it again, 50 years later. They were chuffed to bits.

Tony, that’s four miles from where I live! I could be there in 10 minutes. Do you want me to go and knock on the door? 😂

I’ve been into vintage gear since the early 90’s. The general direction of prices from then until now has been one of outperforming what you can get at the bank, by quite a long way. However, there have been major bumps along the way. A big bubble built up before 2008, when for instance early 60’s Gibson 335’s got to over £30k. Then the crash hit. A couple of years later I was at a show looking at a ‘62 335 in nice original condition priced at £12k. There were a lot of dealers and collectors stuck with stock that was probably worth half what they had in it. Since then, prices have recovered, but it’s taken a long time. If you could hold on to your instrument/investment and were not in in need of the cash, then in the end you broke even or better. But all those with cash flow problems took a very deep bath. The last two years have seen an acceleration in prices I haven’t seen since the late 2000’s, and I can’t help thinking it might happen again. For instance, last February (2022), I bought a nice all original, lightweight ‘73 Precison from ATB for £2600. What would that guitar be now, even from the same dealer, only just over 12 months later? I’m still looking at vintage instruments, and still buying the odd one, but I’m being really cautious. I think the 70’s is where to look now, and have the most potential, but also it’s less of a risk as they are just so much cheaper than 60’s guitars, and if the worst happens, then the hit will be smaller. Does that make sense? Rob

Bass players have always been a little more conservative than guitarists in their tastes, and the depth of their wallet. But there is no doubt that guitar prices have been going up a lot lately, and the prices of basses follow on behind. Check out this guitar at ATB for comparison. ‘62 Fiesta red strat, in many ways comparable with the ‘61 P above. https://www.atbguitars.com/1962-fender-stratocaster-fiesta-red-ohsc-2 Rob

The wiring looks untouched to me. It's really rare to see that these days I think. I would have been tempted to pop a pickup out, just to see, but the chances of those being changed or messed with, given the rest of the bass, are miniscule. How's the pickup height adjustment doing for you? I mention this, as my '73 wouldn't adjust at all because the foams were so badly deteriorated after 50 years. I had to change those out and it's sorted now. Rob

‘76 Jazz popped up just now on ebay, no affiliation. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USA-FENDER-JAZZ-BASS-1976-Near-Mint-ALL-ORIGINAL-SUNBURST-with-hard-case/125886025376?hash=item1d4f644ea0:g:VCwAAOSwwcFkO90w&amdata=enc:AQAIAAAA4LQ7zNy+17vharPOUOCQiiQ6B1A6JSAgjdiEhLyltpwZ+0RoZfVtHMgizKhOnlZvo+szEKzF4nR5ZwtTQ6wuyGxrK+JWNhCPXVUXIAUqjxoHvakzBP94B8gFaUoV+rzWFpaytrmzMt8GN+ZYUyC7+xpuQu/RMq1IfGg4YwXJKBZeK9tU8Hpf7ikYDQunAqP77uXhk/3Unqsjejj4wz0RTD7Q7gXAFVyuLBQz0UoYM3bLfEHyOZlVPXc3tq4yXfIxOUYaq1ZEqsBn5eOMByibsG1CXI8ZlIWdbVFapUNExj2P|tkp:Bk9SR-SLm6LxYQ&LH_ItemCondition=4&pageci=f6e591b5-318f-4e72-bbd3-0628a67de622&redirect=mobile Nice bass by the looks of it, and not an unreasonable price, also open to offers, and will ship. hmmm. Rob

Congratulations! Lovely bass. I really like early 70’s Precisions.