absolutpepper

[quote name='allihts' post='882976' date='Jul 1 2010, 01:53 PM']You were almost in Frightened Rabbit? I'm impressed![/quote]

We'll maybe in a seven degrees of separation type way!

Great band. Saw them last year in Edinburgh and it was a fantastic show. Seeing JPJ is only the icing on an otherwise awesome cake of pure rock! Someone's gotta snap these up!

Thanks, my plan is...if people like it...to do a post every month or so and chronologically focus on each bass i've owned (although some might be very short stories! )

Al give £50

Hey fellow BCers. I while ago I toyed with the idea of staring a blog which would comically and nostalgically look back at my life of basses - the equipment and the events so to speak. I never really took it further, mostly because I couldn't be bothered and I doubted that anyone would actually read it. So instead I figure I'll test the water here and below is Part 1 of my blog covering my first bass. Sadly its also one of the only ones which I don't have any old pics of the instrument but maybe some of you will know what its like. Anyways here it is, hope you enjoy and feel free to leave comments - just don't rip it to shred too much, its supposed to be fun!

'Part 1 - Beginnings

Okay so where best to begin with but at the top...and funnily enough for me the top was pretty much the bottom, but then again that never mattered to me, mostly 'cause, at the time, I never knew any better.

It was 1999, I was in 3rd year at high school and 15 years old. Musically the order of the day was basically anything that was loud and my parents wouldn't like; all the usual suspects were there...Nirvana, Guns, Beastie Boys and Green Day...there were others but that's a story for another time...Green Day were by far my favourite, having saw them on the Nimrod Tour the previous year at the Barrowlands the gig was everything I could've hoped for. It got me away from my parents and out to the big smoke and feeling so mature – I'm sure, in hindsight that couldn't be further from the truth.

At the Glasgow Barrowlands on that night I saw Green Day at their peak (I still like them but Nimrod for me will always be their crowning achievement – yeah yeah Dookie, I know, yadda yadda) and in particular Mike Dirnt impressed me so much. I loved the power of the bass sound and how, for the 3 piece it really pinned things down and held their sound together.

Skipping on a few months I relentlessly pestered my parents to let me get a bass. Eventually they gave in and I managed to pick up a second hand DeVille 5 string for £60 of my hard borrowed money (thanks Mum and Dad!). The bass was deep metallic red and came with a P/J passive pickup system with black hardware. In terms of build quality it was actually okay and more than adequate for the time – given I couldn't play a note. I've since learned that DeVille basses were made in the far east (most likely China) and were sold and branded through many different names such as Westfield, etc. Certainly I saw others very similar that had different names.

Eventually I realised that the 5 string never suited me. I didn't really see the need for a 5th string (whether Low B or High C – I tried both) so I guess I was already moving on from there and starting to show some promise, hey I knew the strings and the tunings; thats more than most who are taking their first foray into all things low-end.

I recently sold the bass (2007) and it was strange; I guess I expected to have more affinity for it, but even while I look back with great memories and how I learned so much over the year or so I steadily played it I've never felt bad about selling it. Truth is my first expensive bass (see later) has a lot more personal value and that one's getting buried with me. The DeVille on the other hand went to another young boy starting out so it's went full circle and good luck to him.

The DeVille was, I suppose, like SO many starter basses; quality and sound didn't really matter. It was mine and I wanted to learn it all (somewhat misguidedly, see slap later on). I even used it in my earliest attempts to play in bands...which leads me onto another story. Technically the first band I played in saw my tenure last about 4 days – and even that was probably kind of them - which consisted of one rehearsal at a youth club where we played Love Buzz by Nirvana for about 3 hours straight, but you know I was just happy to be playing something somewhere other than my bedroom and with other people - albeit very badly.

I knew the song inside out as a listener but not how to play it. I distinctly remember playing f – fsharp on my E string for the whole song because I simply didnt know what else to play and was actually nervous about moving around the neck. Needless to say I was humoured and was later told at lunchtime by another friend who had also recently taken up playing bass but was about six months ahead (light years for a learner) that the band were letting me go. That friend was Andy Monaghan, who has gone on to be a very well respected musician in his own right and plays with an excellent band called Frightened Rabbit, of who I am a big fan!

After this first abortive attempt at being in a band I actually gradually got better through a lot of bedroom playing. I don't think I ever quite lived down the reputation I cultivated from my first attempt and subsequently my friendship set at school never really sought my services for their various adolescent school projects.

Undeterred I plugged away and after making some excellent friends, in particular Matt Thompson - who is and will always remain one of my best friends, I joined more bands with people who hadn't heard of my previous ahem 'experience'. Skipping a few months (and bands) I then joined (at Matt's request) Chester Says – a collective Ska band which would go from around 6 core members (including myself) to anywhere close to 12 depending on who was playing. We had a great time, I learned a lot, and although I don't hold much of a torch for Ska music these, I loved playing those sorts of lines; that deep dub walking style that really kept a groove going; it was nice to not have to hang around the root notes so much – by then my progression was coming thick and fast. We played with a fair few big bands around this time including The Beat, Bad Manners, The Damned and Stiff Little Fingers – there may even be more but I cant honestly remember. It was great fun, I used a few basses over the 3 or so years we were together but none of it would've started without that little red DeVille!

Epilogue. The other MASSIVE thing that happened to me at the Green Day show was meeting my Cousin's - at the time - girlfriend Debs (thanks), who was having a bit of a flat clearout and handed me a box of cd's and told me to help myself. I only took two in the end, thinking, of all things that my Dad would like them (and then promptly left them in my room for years unplayed) - those cd's were to have the biggest impact on me musically; they were Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here, nothing was the same again, but you gotta admit, in picking those CD's the boy had style!'

Just going back to Chris' sound for a second. I would doubt that the bass was ever the 'true' sound as he runs it through a lot of rackmounted and floorboard pedals. There's likely some heavy EQing going on as well and from what i've seen of the other main stage performances the sound quality this year has been horribly sub-par and really poor. FWIW I havent watched the muse set yet (cue iplayer tonight) but having seen them a few times before I cant think of a single song where the bass he's been playing has sounded completely 'pure', there's always something in there - normally however its great sounding so its likely that the poor sound is a combination of factors - live mix, tv speakers, etc. Be interesting to see tonight.

[quote name='*RooT*' post='878212' date='Jun 26 2010, 03:44 PM']Hi, I am after some advice on getting a new bass. This will be my first bass, i play a bit of guitar but fancy ago at bass. The style i wanna play is a range from slipknot to Red hot chilli's.. I like the look of the Ibanez basses but i dont know if i want a 4 or 5 string, looking to spend around £400.... some advice would be thankful....I have seen an Ibanez SR-520 on Ebay, any good? Thanks in advance.[/quote]

Get a Sterling by Musicman Ray 34 (4 string) or Ray 35 (5 string). They area really versatile and sound great with great looks and build quality. As for 4 or 5 I would reckon a 4 sting if its your first bass and the new Sterling range is hard to beat. Just do a search on here and TB, they get a lot of love.

Cheers

Chris

[quote name='testrat' post='875731' date='Jun 23 2010, 07:02 PM']To those breaking forum protocol and discussing pricing in a sensible way cheers. I did put a speculative price on this expecting some PM's with offers. So was being naughty myself.

I bought this prob 18 months ago and have had my fun with it. So it's time to move it on and let someone else have a go on what is bass pedal history or should that be myth.

I was hopeful that when i sold this it would stay in the UK and i wouldn't have to use evilbay. Looks like i may be wrong on both counts.

So taking Absolutpepper's advice here is the revised price

£350 including appropriate fast shipping. Offers excepted but i will only be relying to the sensible ones





and after this if still got the fun and games of selling a markbass 106HR 6 by 10" cab due to chage of company car. Oh joy![/quote]

Thats a fair price, have a bump on me. Good luck with the sale.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='876238' date='Jun 24 2010, 11:07 AM']Hasn't this been up on eBay before?

What happened? to the original sale?[/quote]

Yeah it was. Non-paying bidder. Had to open a dispute and lots of messy stuff. Got my final value credit back and was planning on hanging on to the bass since the whole business really annoyed me - however I just grabbed a Ray 35 and its sorta relegated the Ampeg. Would much rather sell it on here than on ebay but we'll just need to see.

Cheers

Chris

[quote name='gjones' post='876231' date='Jun 24 2010, 10:59 AM']I've been looking for a Ray35 on Ebay too. Drat! I missed that one![/quote]

It was incorrectly listed in the heading and advertised as local pickup only. I contacted the seller and they said they are happy enough to post - its amazing how many times that happens and you usually find you'll get a better deal on it too.

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='876181' date='Jun 24 2010, 09:54 AM']Nice one. These basses are really nice and get the job done. I wish i had got the SB14 instead of my Ray34, only because of the smaller neck. Saying that, it does of course have a different tone to the Ray34.
when i first came across these it was via Ed Friedland's video reviews. I was looking for a cheap SR4 at the time but i was more impressed with the tone from the SB14.[/quote]

Yeah I saw the vids, they looked and sounded great and i'm well impressed with the RAY 35. Think i'd quite like the all black SB14 - it looks really classy and since I love a narrower neck (a la Jazz bass) I think I could get on with it quite well.

[quote name='steviedee' post='876171' date='Jun 24 2010, 09:42 AM']Hey hey nice one Chris sounds like you got a good bass there..[/quote]

Yeah its pretty nice! Having a wee play around with your 5 string the other week gave me the GAS and I was saving up for an EB SR5 when that one popped up on the 'bay. Took the risk with a cheeky bid and got it for £300 so i'm well chuffed. Seems like a lot of bass for the cash. I'm gonna hook it up with a set of Status Rounds shortly before popping it in to Egypt's for a setup.

Hey

Shameless plug for my trusty Dan Armstrong bass. Its in mint condition. Contact me for more info or a BC discount that would aviod all the crazy ebay fee's.

Linky - [url="http://tinyurl.com/22kjnxz"]http://tinyurl.com/22kjnxz[/url]

Collection is in Glasgow or postage via courier can be agreed to suit buyer preference.

Go on! You know you want to!

Cheers

Chris

Well

I gave it a good 'hammering' at rehearsal tonight and I was supremely impressed. Although not playing through my own rig I was running an EBS 350 head into an Ampeg stack and even with the amp EQ flat the sound was incredible. That snarly growl that you get from a Stingray was ever present and all tone controls acted just the way they should. I'm actually so pleased at the moment that i'm gonna get either a RAY 34 or an SB14 in the coming months so that I have a 4 and 5 string. For now its defo relegated me CV Jazz as my main gigging bass.

Hopefully get pics up soon. Its one of the all black ones and it really does look a million bucks!

Is it worth £500, no defo not but as people point out its worth entirely what people will pay for it so maybe the seller will get the £500, maybe not. Frankly I think its a crazy price but i've seen them go for crazy prices. The last few i've watched on ebay have went around the £300 - £350 mark so I think the seller is pricing a little high.

Perhaps a BC discount might actually encourage a sale on this forum.

Thats crazy cheap. I'd have bought another for that price haha. Mine was about £380 new without a HC about 6 years ago - go figure.

Well it arrived and all I can say is wow its great. First time owning a MM (I call it a MM 'cause it basically is). Having recently tried another EBMM 5 string I can easily say that sound and playability wise its pretty hard to tell the difference. I reckon it may benefit from a quick setup but thats hardly an issue and for £300 its a lot of bass for the money.

I can happily recommend the sterling range if this is anything to go by.

Taking it to rehearsal tonight so we'll see how it gets on then and some pics to follow.

Hey, i've got one of those. Mighty fine acoustic basses. Far better than the others in the sub £400 price range.

As a previous G-1 owner my view is - If its all original with OHSC and in good condition i'd say £500 - £550 for a G-1. If its all original without the case id say £400 - £500 depending on condition. If its non-original with case i'd say same depending on condition and mods. If its non-original without case it can be anywhere between £300 and £400 depending on condition and mods.

I've seen a few Grabbers and Rippers at these crazy prices recently and the simple fact is that the basses are not worth that much. They are nice but unless you are looking at a museum piece I wouldnt be bothering for that cash.

This sucks dude! Drop a wee post over on the Ebay forum, i'm sure the other regular contributors there wont mind and that way more people'll keep their eye on the 'bay where it may - more than likely - appear.

Good luck in the recovery.

I just picked up a preowned but mint Sterling by Musicman 35 and i'm getting quite excited by its arrival. I've been looking for a MM 'Ray (4 string) for ages but when I saw the price of this I figured what the heck. I've not played 5 string in years but im looking forward to 're-learning' and going by what i've read about these it should be a pretty great bass for the cash. Anyone have one? Any thoughts, mods, etc?

It arrives tomorrow but i'm going to a gig so I wont be able to report back for a couple of days. I'll bow to your superior knowledge and welcome any comments with open enthusiasm!

Cheeky - the gig's tomorrow night bump.

[quote name='BarnacleBob' post='861716' date='Jun 9 2010, 01:15 AM']Apologies if this has been covered in another thread but, as it says on the tin, what are BC'ers experience of the 30 -31" scale.

I remember as t'lad hankering after a Fender Musicmaster in the mid 70's cos the only 'real' bass player i knew had one - though he never let me anywhere near it.

They don't seem to be any more abundant now, as then, though. The two that spring to mind are the Fender Bronco and at the other end of the (short)scale the Alembic SC. Also the Gibson EB series were short scale I think.

What difference do those precious 3 and 1/4 inches and more make (please keep the Kn*b jokes for the recipe thread)?

BB[/quote]

Hey

The Ampeg Dan Armstrong Plexiglass bass was/is also 30" scale.

I have one and its a great bass to play. My experience with short scales is that you sacrifice a little variation in tone (the lower tension seems to impact the string vibration) but gain a lot in playability - the basses i've tried are passive so perhaps an active with an onboard EQ would be different. The neck on the Dan Armstrong is immense, 2 octaves over 30" and its lightening fast as a result. The pickup is really hot - kinda like a mudbucker from an EB0 and as a result it has this massive, warm, woolly tone. Very vintage but very cool.

I wouldn't recommend a short scale to someone who wants it as their main bass but short scales are way above their reputation as being oddities and curios. They are generally great (well the musicmasters, EB-0s, Ampegs, etc are anyways) and should stand on their own as a genuine alternative for a player who is looking for a short, comfortable, fast neck with loads of playability; they just might not offer the tonal variation of their bigger brethren.

Hi all

De Soto Firefly will be exploding all over the stage at King Tut's this Thursday night (10th June).

Also playing will be two great rock/metal bands: LA's Holy Grail and London's Rise to Remain as part of the Road to Download Festival tour, and both have LPs due to be released nationally very shortly - should be a great night.

The Firefly will probably be on at about 9pm and, as always, we'd appreciate your support.

Tickets are £7 at Tut's on the night or £4 in advance (just PM me and we'll keep one safe for you).

Hope to see as many of you there as possible.

Cheers

Chris

www.desotofirefly.com
www.myspace.com/desotofirefly

Should be in the basses for sale section.