Happy Jack

The thread on Sound Control alerted me to their Weekend Warrior thang, which I hadn't previously heard about. I took a look at the SC web-site to find out a bit more, but was put off by a very detailed registration form which appears chiefly designed to ensure that spam will reach me, whatever filters I may have in place.

As a middle-aged born-again musician with a full-time (real) job, anything that offers access to jamming partners or even occasional pub gigs is going to interest me.

Has anyone else had any experience of the Weekend Warrior program? Especially in London? Feedback?

[quote name='Dr.Dave' post='44804' date='Aug 13 2007, 01:57 PM']Without thinking about it , clasp your hands together like you were praying but with your fingers wrapped round to form a balled double fist.[/quote]

Left thumb on top is fine and automatic, right thumb on top feels deeply weird.

I've been totally right-handed all my life in every (and I mean [i]every[/i]) activity.

Will I ever play the violin again?

Buy yourself a cheap-but-good fretless, something like a Johnson J-bass. You'll pay around a ton for it, it will do wonders for your playing AND your listening, and if you get fed up with it you can eBay it and get £50 back later.

Of course, there's always the risk that it will convert you completely and you'll end up selling everything to fund an outrageously expensive boutique fretless. [i]C'est la vie.[/i]

In all fairness, it must be worth loadsamoney because Stereophonics owned that bass 10 times.

Don't believe me?

I quote:

WHEN I SAY IT WAS OWNED BY RICHARD JONES

Stereophonics

I SAY THIS NOT 100%

BUT 1000%

Looking at the re-built 4000 that Bassassin dug up, why would you fit a brass bridge/end-piece and then fail to polish it, resulting in some pretty ghastly corrosion?

Either polish it, or have it chromed / nickel-plated according to taste.

Mind you, anyone who would fit chicken-heads to a genuine Ricky clearly needs help.

In full-on IT Luddite mode, I'll try Neepheid's advice:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230158553163"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=230158553163[/url]

If that works, you should be looking at a Tokai in Spain.

Yes YES [b]YES[/b]!

Nice one Neepheid.

Well, you know that look a woman gives you when she really, really wants you to make love to her?





























No, me neither.

Sorry about this guys, I know it's a genuine Ricky and therefore (strictly speaking) off-topic, but I feel this deserves honorary membership of the RickenFaker fraternity:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/70s-RICKENBACKER-4001-BASS_W0QQitemZ180147499247QQihZ008QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViwItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/70s-RICKENBACKER-400...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url]

At that price, I'm almost tempted to buy it just so that I can fit Hondo pickups and Shaftesbury tuners ...

The link above doesn't work - try this one: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180147499247"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=180147499247[/url]

You're up against the Pole Dancing in the Ballroom ... good luck!

You do realise that you'll want another one a few hours later, don't you?

What about a man who doesn't trust his towel?

And now another Horrid Hondo:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Very-Rare-Vintage-Hondo-Bass-Guitar-Rickenbacker-Copy_W0QQitemZ250145813535QQihZ015QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViwItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Very-Rare-Vintage-Ho...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url]

A snip at £275 BiN with no covers or knobs. Oh yes, and buyer to pay £50 by PayPal and the balance to be cash on collection.

Seller thinks the bridge is missing. Granted it looks odd, but maybe it's supposed to be like that?

Done ... but the answer to "Can You Read Music Notation?" was limited to Yes/No, where there should have been an option for [i]Well, some - but I'm not very good at it[/i].

Not sure which model it is, probably a 1995 SB301 or possibly SB310, but mis-spelling [i]Bass Collection[/i] means that it probably won't attract much attention.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Bass-Colection_W0QQitemZ190132002200QQihZ009QQcategoryZ4713QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Bass-Colection_W0QQi...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url]

I use these things:

[url="http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Bullet-Cables-Coiled-Straight-to-Angle-Cable?sku=330072&src=3WPGWXX"]http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Bul...amp;src=3WPGWXX[/url]

Superb piece of kit. They're bloody heavy, mind.

That finish is not so much [i]distressed[/i] as [i]suicidal[/i].

There's a specialist book on Hofners, a copy of which (second hand) has just sold on eBay for £45.

You can still buy them, new, for €52 = £35.

There's nowt as queer as folk.

How on earth did this thread reach p.2 without mentioning

[i]Taxman[/i]
[i]Come Together[/i]
[i]Dear Prudence[/i]

and possibly, just possibly, a few other obscure tracks by some old fart called Macca?

If you want to know more about WEM / Watkins amps, the best place on the web is

[url="http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/britamps/watkins.html"]http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/britamps/watkins.html[/url]

That web-site is seriously good on a range of stuff, especially Hofners.

The Watkins Rapier is a fairly well-known 60's guitar, widely used as a first 'serious' guitar by quite a few of our parents / grandparents. The WEM basses never really took off, and were always extremely rare.

Check out the top of the range Tribal Planet stuff. It's semi-rigid, beautifully padded, rather well made.

[url="http://www.tribal-planet.com/Guitar%20Dimensions.htm"]http://www.tribal-planet.com/Guitar%20Dimensions.htm[/url]

I am not sponsored by, affiliated to, or associated with Tribal Planet, their parent company, any of their associated companies, or someone they met at the bus-stop.

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='30486' date='Jul 11 2007, 11:06 PM']That's really cool; be good if you could get one for lots of different basses so you could easily hear how they sound.[/quote]

[url="http://www.basstasters.com/"]http://www.basstasters.com/[/url]

Enjoy!

[quote name='OldGit' post='24434' date='Jun 28 2007, 02:19 PM']Ah yes ..
Andy Fraser in Free and John Wetton on Family's glorious track "Burlesque"[/quote]

Someone else who remembers Family, by God!

[i]Fearless[/i] remains one of my all-time favourites. I always thought that "Burlesque" was the only really good track on [i]Bandstand[/i].

And if I'm going to take the P, I'd better post my own list:

Gone, but not forgotten

Dean Edge 4
Aria Pro II IGB40
SGC Bass Collection SB301
Hagstrom Futurama (1962)
Johnson Jazz fretless
Satellite 3/4 size P-bass
Tanglewood TW15A acoustic
Klira Merkur (1965) fretless conversion
Traveler Pro travel bass

Still here, still played

MTD Grendel
Aria Sinsonido travel bass
Rickenbacker 4003 (1984)
SGC Bass Collection SB325
SGC Bass Collection SB320

The Collection, still played and sometimes gigged

Hofner 500/1 Violin 1963 RI (2006)
Hofner 500/3 (Senator) (1960)
Hofner Senator (500/3) (1963)
Hofner 500/5 (President) (1968)
Hofner President (500/5) (1964)
Hofner Verithin (500/6) (1969)
Hofner Verithin (500/7) (1965)
Hofner Professional (182/E1) (1965)
Hofner 182/E2 (Professional) (1964)
Hofner 185/E2 (Artist) (1965)

Naaah!

He's only bought ONE since 1998 ...

Dana + Georges Aznavour + The Wurzels.