martthebass

Too many years playing Stingrays and loud drummers.....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/music-fidelity-mc-mm-phono-stage/203290096263?hash=item2f5508b287:g:yXYAAOSwAnZgOOAD I upgraded from the project pre to this one from Musical Fidelity. Still go for reasonable prices on the bay of e and a massive step up in sound quality.

Couldn't tell you. My abiding recollection was that the journey home on South Yorkshire's finest cheap buses was more enjoyable.

Nazareth 1980, Sheffield City Hall. Had gone to see Saxon supporting (a mate/acquaintance was in the line up), made it about half way through the 'headliner's' and decided the 'going through the motions' performance was enough.

Or Liberty.... I worked for Corus/Tata and one of my colleagues was a Nigel, unfortunately he didn't know the song so my witless crooning of the lyrics was wasted.

Yes.....but there'll only ever be one true Steve McG - Jack Lord

Circus of death, The Human League. Steve McGarret will not be assisting in any investigations as I suspect he retired some considerable time ago.

Your comments gel with my feelings regarding the sound. I've had a number of standard neck Rays and my current one with the roasted neck is darker/smoother than any I've had in the past (Slinkies strung). As DrTS says above though, mine has an ebony board and stainless frets so not sure if that also makes a difference also.

I had one the same with the single piece scratch plate no control plate, bought it new in '97 for about £200. It was a good workhorse bass, used in on gigs for about 7/8 years without any problems. A bit heavy but generally ok.

Awesome work MrA, you are indeed an artist!

For me it's purely cosmetic, it looks very nice on my PDN Ray but I can't say it's any more or less stable than ordinary necked Rays I've had in the past - though I haven't had to touch the truss rod in over 2 years so the jury is still out. I do like the way it smells of maple syrup though!

I think a number of ‘lockdown’ pastimes have been hit by supply and demand issues on equipment. During lockdown I got more interested in astrophography and found long wait times on many items, particularly those from SE Asia. One sad aspect was that used pricing in some cases was exceeding new pricing. However new pricing has remained stable so no problems if you’re prepared to wait. What is sad in the EBMM case is that either EBMM, the distributors and the retailers (or a combination thereof) seem to be profiting from the current situation. People have long memories on this sort of stuff.

It'd be a 1x12 for me also. I use a 1x12 for rehearsal work (MB NY121) and it's fine for that task but also doable in small gigs. For larger venues it pairs up nicely with a second 1x12 to give a very versatile rig.

My memory may go a bit fuzzy on this over 40 years of playing bass (off and on) but here goes: Avon SG shortscale. Bought while I was at Birmingham Uni one wet boring Saturday afternoon. A total POC but got me onto the journey and into my first band (a Joy Division Tribby). Sold as soon as I could! Fender JV 57 P Bass (big F logo). Used the proceeds from the POC to buy this new, was a great bass and I let it go because I thought US Fender was better - fool. The one I really regret selling. 1983 US Jazz. Nice enough bass but missing something. Never really bonded. 1990 MM Ray 2EQ. Loved this bass, kept this one longer than any bass I've owned - foolishly let go because I thought I'd look cool with a Warwick. 1997 Jazz Korean. Bought this because I was doing dodgy pubs and clubs and it was a reasonable beater. Played the crap out of this bass and loved it....really can't remember why it was sold. WW Corvette. Did I say I thought I'd look cool?....I didn't. It was nice enough but the dildo jokes did me in. WW Thumb. Sold the 'vette to get the Thumb, less dildo-ish but hated the neck dive so it had to go. 2004 MM Ray 3EQ. Nice enough but somehow never sempt as nice as the 1990 so it was traded for another Ray 20th Anniversary Ray. Lovely bass, sold this in a moment of GAS - idiot. MM Ray 2EQ Fretless. Lovely and light (<8.5lb) and dropped on the floor at a jamnight...made a right mess of it. Sold at a loss because everytime I looked at it it reminded me what I pillock I was. MM Ray 2EQ Fretless - Black. Lovely bass bought to replace the battered one. Kept for many years, only sold as it was getting very little use which was a shame. Lakland DJ 5. Decided to try 5 string....shouldn't have.....sold 2004 US Precision. Decided to go simple. Nice bass, couldn't hear the damn thing in a band setting so it had to go. Sandberg Basic KT5. Decided to try 5 string again...shouldn't have...sold. MM Ray5. Decided to have one last go at 5s as I like Stingrays....what was I thinking....sold. MM Ray5 Fretless. No comment. MM Sterling US 2001. Bought on a whim, wasn't being used so sold it to the guy in Elliot Minor Status Streamline. Loved this bass for many years. Used it in many bands but when the 80s bands finished this one went to trade for a Starry Night Ray for the Glam Rock band. I still miss this bass but as they are now >£2K it's unlikely I'll get another. Rickenbacker 4003. Traded a Ray 20th and quickly traded back. Jazz 75 US FSR. Loved this bass, it was the nuts, sold to buy a Rick 4004Cii.......I Know. Rick 4004Cii. Nice enough but really not a £2K bass. Couldn't get a sound out of it that I liked...traded it for a 4003, ironically the same one I'd had a few years earlier. Still have it and it gets nooddled on occasionally MM US Sub Sterling 4. Lovely bass, don't know why I sold that one. Limelight 63 J Bass. The hardcore aging made me look a Richard, it was heavy but sounded great. Jack Casady. Nice enough but made me realise semis are not for me. Lakland 4401. Ok but bland. MM Caprice. Nice and light but neck dive was too much for me and really didn't like the passive sound, didn't sound right to me on a MM. Squier Mikey Way Mustang. Got this because it was sparkly, it could do with a more pokey pickup but I use it on most gigs these days as it's nice and comfy like a pair of old slippers. Fender CIJ Mustang racing stripe. Nice enough but didn't balance as nicely as the Mikey Way so it was ousted. Squier Jag SS. Ok but I think the body was made of cheese and the neck dive was hideous. 2015 US Precision. Bought on a whim to use for a non-local gig. Lovely and light and great sound. Shouldn't have sold this one. MM PDN Starry Night Ray 4. Lovely bass, a notch up in quality from the standard MM, lovely smooth sound for a Ray. Still in the family. Fender JMJ Mustang. Not a relic guy, but this bass plays sweetly and sounds great. Still in the family. Danelectro Longhorn. Bought as a bit of fun, sounds and plays far better than expectation. Still in the family. MM Sterling US 2013. Decided to have another go with one of these. Glad I did, love the neck and the hissing and spitting pup. Hated the maple neck finish so had it refinished by Shuker in vintage tint gloss. Still in the family. I know that there are some I missed (sure I had a Lakky JO4 at some point?) but the ones above are the ones that came to mind and remind me that I've spent far too much on this pastime over the years. But still, it was fun.

Yes they were about a year earlier I think. The point I was trying to make though, hardware design aside, is that the swamp ash on the SNs wasn’t particularly lightweight. So did they specially select lightweight for the specials and now that they cannot source this the specials are now a bit less special (but more expensive)?

Well mine may be Ash but I wouldn’t class it as lightweight.

I know the spec of my PDN Starry Night Ray is for an Ash body but I wondered why they would go to the bother on a solid colour like that?

That's how I see it too Kev.....what was it that John Lydon said? I love my 2 EBMMs but I don't think I'll be buying a new one anytime soon.

There's a shortage of swamp ash I believe. In the same mind as you, I was considering moving my PDN Ray on to get a lightweight Charcoal sparkle special but there doesn't seem much point now. I briefly had a 2018 Caprice that was bang on 8lb....looks like they used up all the lightweight wood stock during that period.

They can have an issue with losing the A string intonation screw - mine did and I've read others have had the same experience; maybe something to do with the factory set up? Easy enough fix (FMJ sent me some spares) but just make sure it's seated far enough into the saddle. Mine's been ok for hum, no different to my now departed MIJ Mustang.

I had looked at picking up a 4H special in one of the sparkle colours at one point, letting one of my current MMs go to part fund. Well the current pricing has pretty much done for that.....don't they realise that some of us aren't really gigging quite as often these days? I'm slightly put off the latest ones as I gather they no longer have the nice light woods that were available when they first came out. The only thing that slightly niggles on my PDN Ray is the weight and it now looks as if there would be little weight advantage on changing to a new special.

It’s a bit thick at the nut end, not the most svelte of profiles.

So did Rickenbacker in the end....I’ll stick with the 4003,just a shame the neck is such a lump at the nut.