NancyJohnson

[quote name='clivem' timestamp='1506080148' post='3376298'] This'll be my first bass bash! Looking forward to meeting people tomorrow! I've managed to injure my blinking hand this morning, which has me now thinking about what I'm going to bring tomorrow..... I think it's gonna have to be light! (Don't think there is going to be much chance of me man-handling anything big and heavy in/out of the car. So the big stuff (tube amps and 212/410 cabs) will be staying at home. I think an Eden WTX-264 with a Barefaced 110 is going to be what I bring for an amp. I've already decided to bring 3 "lower end" basses (hopefully) to sell. Now I'm thinking about what other basses to bring. Is there anything from this list that anyone would particularly like to have a play with? (Won't have room to bring them all.) Fender Elite Dimension IV Gibson 2017 EB IV Ibanez SR1300 Premium IV Ibanex SR1405 Premium V [/quote] I'd be interested in seeing the Gibson.

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1506071303' post='3376211'] Nik, It was actually quite hilarious, I think Paul said to every single person who was there, "Look, if you win that Barefaced cab in the raffle I've got a lovely 335 over there I'll give you for it. And some pedals. And cash... And a kidney..." The look of shock and disbelief on his face when his ticket was first out of the bucket was priceless!!!!! [/quote] Blimey, what a memory you have. That was quite succinct. The Barefaced has become my go-to cab over the last year. I just need to win, sorry purloin, a Super Compact so I can run my GED2112 in stereo...

[quote name='silverfoxnik' timestamp='1506024299' post='3376018'] It was a fix! [/quote] Aah, it was clever subterfuge on my part. Well, while you obviously thought I was nipping out to check my car was locked, I did in fact travel a few hours into the future and found out what the winning number was going to be. I took my time machine back to 1976, had a quick chat with Herbie while he was doing the [i]War Of The Worlds[/i] album and told him to pull out ticket #64 at the 2016 Bash Raffle. While I was there, I hung around for a couple of months, saw the Sex Pistols at The Screen On The Green (brilliant, by the way) and then made it back to the Bash before anyone there knew I'd been away. I'm surprised nobody realised I was actually wearing different trousers from those I arrived in. I also bought back 23 1968 Fender Jazz basses that have now helped me in my dream of being mortgage-free. It's all in the detail. Nik.

I'll be there but my gear won't be. In body only and hoping to clean up on the raffle again. Titter.

I bought a Badtz Maru off here. The machines wete awful, while trying to enlarge the holes for new ones, the top of the headstock sheared off. So first up, new neck. It didn't sound so great, so I put in a hotrails style humbucker. It wouldn't intonate. The bridge was awful, so I put a Mustang bridge on it. Oh, and Straploks.

My name isn't Nancy and I'm not a girlie either. Not even the name I use in my band is real. Bwaharharhaaaaaar!

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1505302001' post='3370839'] Queen maybe? I'm sure someone will disagree though - that's what the internet is for [/quote] Early Queen stuff is fantastic, well certainly up to A Night at the Opera (and parts of A Day at The Races), but after that it's all a bit meh. That said, I'm loving that Queen Inc. are (finally) releasing so much of the older material - At The Beeb (1989 release), plus the recentish Rainbow '74/Hammersmith'75 shows and On Air.

Reading through the comments here, I'd concur with Timmo and PaulWarning...it really is a kind of IMHO type of thing and certainly one man's overrated is another man's underrated. It's all so subjective. I don't know whether being overrated comes into it really, I mean there's no doubting that the bands I mention below know their sh*t, but they are abhorrent to me on so many levels. I used to have these girlish crushes on dozens of bands but as soon as (metaphorically) [i]Teresa from the typing pool[/i] mentions them in passing or says, 'Ooh, I really like <[i]insert bandname here[/i]>', I'd draw a line under proceedings and make a mental note to move the band to my sh*t list. It really was as black and white as that...you knew when it was time to stop listening to them because they'd moved from your little secret to (shudder) the mainstream. There's a ramp of festival-pleaser bands that are a complete turn-off for me, with the top of list being comprised of Radiohead, Coldplay, RHCP, U2 and Muse. I look at the bills for Reading and Glastonbury and just go, 'Kasabian? Friday night headliner? Really?'

It looks a bit shiny on a 40 year old bass, it'll calm down a bit.

[quote name='LewisK1975' timestamp='1505211221' post='3370204'] Cool, been wondering about these myself since the BAII became impossible to get any more. I like the idea of the Brass saddles, which, correct me if I'm wrong, also offer sideways movement so you can adjust the string spacing? [/quote] Each saddle has a groove that carries an insert that the string rides on. There is a few millimetres sideways movement; there's a little hex grub-screw at the front of the saddle that you slacken off, adjust the insert, then re-tighten. Mine were set centrally on delivery, didn't need any adjustment.

Some of you may know a few years back I landed a very old Aria Pro II Primary bass...it was in a very poorly state. Over the years, I've done some patching up to bring it up to speed, but the bridge (a stock Fender bent tin unit with the knurled saddles) has been failing recently; the grub screws don't hold the saddle height and at a gig on Friday, one of them fell out. I ordered a Hipshot Kickass from BAss Direct yesterday and it arrived today and is fitted. It's pretty much a BadAss II clone, kind of updated with the rough edges removed. Brass saddles. Took about 15 minutes to install, another 15 to intonate and set the action and we're in business. The E -string saddle wouldn't go back far enough, but you get shorter saddle screws in the kit. It's really very nice and feels a whole lot more sturdy for starters. I'm a fairly heavy player and it's nice that the saddles aren't prone to movement. Notes actually sound fuller, more solid. Sound investment in my book.

Ordered a Hipshot KickAss bridge from them yesterday. It arrived today. Not good enough! Terrible service.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1505148446' post='3369815'] IME exotic woods might look nice (if you like that kind of thing) but they don't really add anything else to the bass. Same with fancy electronics, which unless you are Wal or ACG and are specifying your very own custom circuits are just some off the peg pickups and pre-amp shoe-horned into the instrument. AFAICS Mike Lull makes the best new Thunderbirds you can buy, while Gibson continues to drop the ball when it comes to bass guitars. [/quote] It's going to be covered in paint, so the exotic wood thing doesn't make much difference. I've never really bought into this argument that different woods sound better, plus in a blind test would anyone really be able to hear the differences between mahogany, alder, maple etc? Probably not. Years ago, I remember playing a Les Paul at a jam and the guitarist asked how I got 'that sound', I just handed it over and without the slightest tweak he sounded completely different. He never ever sounded like me, despite wanting to. Sound/tone comes as much from your hands as much as the pickups and guts of the thing.

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1505125580' post='3369580'] I'm intrigued too. What's the spec? Rare or exotic woods, or a complex construction? I'm not familiar with this model. [/quote] There's enough about Lull out there...Seattle based, high end builder, array of well known players. To be honest, they were never really on my radar until I saw the Jeff Ament (Pearl Jam) Thunderbird model (JAXT4); I'd been playing Gibson Thunderbirds for about a decade, but the Lull just took the design, made it bigger and bettered it. I'm a big bloke - the JAX has a body size 15-20% bigger than a regular Thunderbird - so it just looks normal on me. It oozes quality and plays like a dream. I saw some photos of Steven Jay Wilson online and he was using the NRT (non-reverse Thunderbird) 5-string shown in the above. It's loosely based on the Gibson Non-Reverse Thunderbird, but again, the body is bigger. It was like someone threw a switch, so I put up the rest of my 'birds up for sale and put in an order. Buildwise it's pretty standard stuff. Mahogany body and (Plek'd/graphite reinforced) mahogany neck...I've asked for an ebony board, but you know, if it comes with a mahogany board it's not a deal-breaker, the JAXT4 is nice enough...it's just looks aesthetically different. Pickups are Lull originals, Hipshot machines.

[quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1505115543' post='3369490'] I'm looking forward to seeing your bass on here. £4.5k for a bass is quite a fair bit and must be pretty special. Sure it will all go well and you'll be more than happy with it. Dave [/quote] Dave I've ordered the bass on the left below. 100% same spec. When the spec confirmation came through (weeks later), it was wrong...four string, vintage style scratchplate. Considering the money, it was all horribly vague. Now I know what it's like operating a small business; Mark is probably drowning in emails from suppliers, sellers and buyers. The team there have always been very nice when I've needed to speak to them, but maybe it's time for them to take on someone to handle their admin! It doesn't matter whether the bass is £250 or £5,000 you have to know that what you're getting is what you expect to be getting. I'm almost tempted to contact Lull direct prior to shipping to ensure that what they despatch is 100% what I've ordered. It feels awful, but I just have this nagging doubt that something won't be right. Anyhow, I ordered it in the first week of June, it should be here next month. Should. P

Wow, as Kate Bush would say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5z3PEvdrQ8&sns=fb

Here's the next one... http://youtu.be/iZMbZcFCgVE

Never been there, bought my first Lull through BD, which was pretty smooth. I have a custom Lull on order; I've supplied fills specs, photos etc...I covered the specifics of the order with them, paid a 25% deposit, but they didn't confirm the specification for ages and when they did it was pretty much all wrong. I honestly nearly sh*t myself. I did contact Lull direct and they confirmed they're building what I want BUT if there's anything wrong/incorrect, it's going back. I mean, I'm paying nearly £4.5k...I really would have expected better comms, especially as it's a custom build. I'm still not going to be happy (or mad) until I pop the catches on the case.

[quote name='TRBboy' timestamp='1505034132' post='3368925'] They do seem very good, do they actually 'sound' good? [/quote] Now I'm on a PC I can type a bit better. Yep, they sound great (and this isn't a sales pitch!). On occasion, when we've headlined gigs, my backline seems to be the one that gets used by everyone. Nothing but positive comments; they've had every type of bass styling pushed through them, rock, jazz, metal and they don't seem to have issue. I started with a 1x15 and a 4x10; both Hydrives, I really didn't get on with the 15...very scooped mids and it didn't seem to move much air. Stuck with the 4x10 and then added a 2x10 so I could run a dual channel application or daisychain them. (With my sale, you could pick up a 410 and a 210 for quite a bit less than a new 410). The only thing I've needed to so was to put some new wheels on the 4x10. Last year, I won Alex's prototype Barefaced Big One and the 15/6 configuration in one package just suits my tone a little better so the Hartke's are currently surplus to requirement. They're well worth a look. P

They're great cabs. Fairly lightweight, robust. The horn function, while basic, works well to pick up high frequencies. I think the rating is 1000w. I pair mine with the matched 2x10 for different applcations. Both my cabs are on the sale board; I won Barefaced cab last year and that's become my go to enclosure.

It's like this. I do wonder what people are thinking sometimes. A white Hamer Cruisebass is my first choice. It's cheap (£300/zero bids). We'll see. If the neck and headstock are OK, then there's an easy demarcation line to getting the body re-done. I'd really want to preserve the headstock facia. P

I've seen a bass on eBay where someone has painted flowers on the original finish and the clear-coated over it. It's a set neck bass. Would it be possible to rub back the finish to remove the flowers and then clear-coat or is it more a case of stripping it all back and refinishing?

[quote name='Al Krow' timestamp='1504789244' post='3367324'] Hey this looks like an amazing resource, particularly if they are not charging bands, thanks for sharing! Also really like the idea of a grass-roots "Later..." Will they let you have the video recordings for your own use / editing e.g. for use on your band website or is this "their property" and only for use on their YouTube page and you just have to link to their YouTube upload? Btw - really liked your band, too! Did you guys do both recordings in "one take"? [/quote] They've said we're free to share the recordings with whoever we wish, providing we don't edit out the Plasma TV logos/intro etc., which we'd have no intention of doing even if we could. On the music front, both are 100% one take, but Fear has some weirdness going on at the 50 second mark on the video as there's an extra bar there (it may be that we simply cocked up on the day). Thanks for the nice remark! If you like the band, try these: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOFdvxkzop8[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06GOu9JjHDM[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6WMtblfq1k[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCrQ5T-iMJg[/media]