Dood

Hi all! I can only echo a lot of what has been said on this thread already.

I have met Alan from ACG and played his wonderful basses. What a gentleman. I feel lucky to have had an opportunity to play pretty much (nearly) all of the UK most known Luthier's products. (does that make sense? really bad grammar!! but I'm gonna leave it.. hawww hawwwwww)

I think choosing a Luthier can be a very personal thing, even before saw hits wood. After all you are entrusting a large some of money to someone and you want to feel confident in their abilities and understanding of your needs. In my case, one or two 'companies' didn't really get what it was I was trying to achieve. Other simply didn't offer a 'pattern' I liked. I thought, for my needs at least, it'd be easier to start with a 'stock' body shape I liked as opposed to designing something new.

I really can't say a bad word about Jon. His lead times have been mentioned above, but I'd need to clarify that a bit and say that it needs pointing out only Jon works on these instruments. Some other companies outsource their spray shops etc, thus essentially having 'more than one man on the job' if you see what I mean.

Jon also had some real problems with the recent flooding too, which I can imagine could have been problematic. I'm pretty sure he is up and running again now! Must give him a bell soon.

I think, having played a few different custom basses, when it comes down to 'who is the best' well, in the absence of cost, it'd be a harder choice to make. When it comes to the folding stuff though, quite a few Luthiers get ruled out fairly quickly, sadly.

I feel I should balance the discussion a little and say, ultimately it is up to you who you feel will be best. The UK has simply awesome designers and builders and we all have a personal preference when it comes to who we'd want to take on such a project.

I am very proud to be on Jon's endorsement page.. he will be getting my next build.. and probably the next.. infact, he'll be sick of the sight of me by the time we have finished ha ha ha!

For me, Feeder I think. They were cool. Paradise Lost were dark and very scary lol. Gun were a great bunch of lads, very down to earth. But if we are talking bass player, it would have to be Glenn Hughes. Anyone who can sing that high and play at the sametime.... well.... Awesome!! *sings* "I've ...been... Misssssssstreateeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed" !!!

I'll give em another listen later this week I reckon...

he he!! .. It IS you after all! Thank gawd for that!

[quote name='tayste_2000' post='51345' date='Aug 27 2007, 05:15 PM']I've decided after various talks with my band, managers and producers to simplify my rig down so this is on the chopping block.

Cheers[/quote]

Ste??? is that REALLY you in there? Quick! Everyone! I think Ste has been drugged. STOMACH PUMP! STOMACH PUMP SOMEBODY!!!!!

If you saw the trade prices of the 'market leaders' strings, you'd feel pretty sick when you see how much outlets mark them up by.

Thank you so much guys! You all def' get a big +1 from me too!

Then I must jump right in with a great big +1 for a top chap, with great communications throughout the purchase. We had a good time when we met up, eh Paul!

Chat soon,

Dan

Hello! We have quite a growing 'upright' forum, so it's good to have more UB's on board as well as electrics. Welcome!

You've come to the right place... I'd go as far as saying the best too! ;o) Welcome aboard! Great to have ya here.

[quote name='ronnus' post='50873' date='Aug 26 2007, 01:06 PM']Any reason why guitar emporium won't get your business dood?[/quote]

PM'd.

It'd be good to have a fresh MySpace thread, as the last one is probably a bit out of date now.

My site is woefully out of date, but is in my sig or a link on my website.

Always a popular subject! Take a look at the 'importing guitars' sticky as Ishibashi is a great way to go. I and several others have had good experiences buying direct.

Far East guitars are really cool too. John I think would have gone out of his way to help. Good chap! I havent dealt with 'carafted in Japan' and I wont be dealing with guitar emporium.

I do believe in naming and shaming such pond life.. but I guess there may well be a "Mr. Ian Roberts of 16 Lade Court, Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire " who actually exists out there who has had his account details phished / stolen. Unlikely, but I think it's worth pointing out.

[quote name='ped' post='44821' date='Aug 13 2007, 02:30 PM']I am really and truly sorry to say it will be a cold day in hell before I buy a new stock instrument from the UK. I would like nothing more than to support our UK shops, but who can afford to?![/quote]

that'll be a +1 from me....

[quote name='Champion Badger' post='49426' date='Aug 23 2007, 11:45 AM']My Jazz Fretless arrived today. It was sent out from Japan on Sunday, arrived in the UK on Monday - then took until today to arrive at the local Parcel "farce" depot.

Ishibashi were excellent, but as usual - once it arrived in the UK, it was delayed. Plus I had to pay £86 customs charges.

The bass is excellent and sounds great - I would highly recommend the Japanese option - far superior to the US/Mexican Fenders I have played.[/quote]

oh and I believe that's another +1 ;o) Lets see some pics! ;o)

Yes, I agree.. I think you can learn from watching any musician no matter what level they are at.. but I'd rather see an original band trying to make an effort than a cover band, any day.

"Chemical warfare never smelt to good...."

nup.. didnt see that one! I wonder if it is one on the Sei website?

I had Mr Hellborg do a personal demo of his gear for me. Gotta say I rather liked it ;o) - Speaking of Ampeg.. I could be swayed by the SVT-8 .. now the spec of that looks good. I wonder if it sounds as good.

[quote name='stevebasshead' post='48879' date='Aug 22 2007, 12:39 PM']Dood, IIRC I think there were two Groove Tubes and Two Sovteks but my memory is somewhat iffy... I'll swap them over tonight and see what they sound like at the next rehearsal.

Regards,
Steve.[/quote]

Oh ar? the GT's will be ok.. but the Sovteks can be improved on easily.. In general, they are good valves, but there are certainly better ones in terms of tone/clarity etc.

1. Is a light bass cabinet important to you? Yes

2. Would you be interested in a smaller designed cabinet for maximum portability? Yes (only if capable of enough bass) the Loud/Deep/Small law applies.

3. What is the weight of your current rig now? cab= 35 Kg, 4u Rack = hmmm 15Kg?

4. Have you ever had portability issues with this cabinet before? Not yet

5. Would a Neo speaker make the amplifier more appealing? Mine is NEO and the best thing I have ever done ;o)

6. Would you want casters on the amplifier for added portability? Yes, my new cab has the insert ones, so the cab does actually sit on the floor, but tilts back onto its wheels for ease of movement.

7. Would you want the input to be in the back? Yes

8. Would you want the Ohm rating to be 4? Yes, I have a stereo poweramp, so this isnt really a problem

9. Would you want the power rating to be over 200 watts? defintely. You cant have too much headroom

10. Is a metal grille cover attractive on an amplifier? Yes, strong enough to stand on, if it's 'going out on the road'.

Also, try a different lead. I once had a similar problem with a little electronic tuner. The 'sleave' side of the cable had come away from the attached plug, leaving the 'tip' (signal) cable connected. The tuner picked up lots of main hum because of this (as the cable could no longer 'screen' the signal). Now, UK mains in 50Hz which does read fairly close to a low G ,give or take a bit. A possible cause!

Try changing the battery on your bass too, if it's an active one.

When (and if) I get round to it, I'll endeavour to do some and post on the Pod library. It won't be anytime soon unfortunately.

Check out all the 'muse sound' creations. Some are 'interesting'.

Yes, I was impressed with the Pod manual. It's much easier to read as a 'hard copy' too. Some manuals are very technical and expect a level of understanding of terminology before opening the cover.

Steve.. getting those ole stock valves out will be an improvement to start with lol!! - Actually, i'm not sure what they will be in the 'hammerite' SVP's.. but they were of dire quality in my old black front SVP. Some chinese rubbish.

I'd be interested to hear what the differences are when using '82's all the way through.