NancyJohnson

Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Some years ago, I edited out all the chaff/speaking/nonsense from WTTPD; so much better.

I've never played a fan-fret instrument, bass or guitar and don't believe the question is able to warrant a simple yes or no answer. Newer builders/manufacturers are more inclined to experiment whereas Gibson/Fender rest to their laurels too much; I see the current crop of fanfret Spectors displaying an element of bandwagoning and profiteering. It doesn't matter what makers bring out, for all the naysayers, there'll always be someone who believes that this new innovation is somehow the greatest invention since sliced bread. Given the choice for multiscale instrumentation, I find the Novax Charlie Hunter to be a far more interesting/intriguing proposition to fan-fret basses being the answer to string tension/whatever. These things look truly wonderous and remember, Novax were making these years ago: The Hybrid Guitars Model 8 is a newer version of the above:

I was chatting to Barry at the Bass Centre a few months ago about this. He said he's busy enough working for the business without spending time scrutinising posts here. It doesn't matter whether you love or hate how the Bass Centre has evolved to where it is now; it's really just a business shifting its own branded product along with NS Design and Brian May kit, but they do it well, Chris (the tech) ensures everything goes out set up, communication is great and I don't know that I've read anything detrimental about them.

It's 2021, we are a suspicious species by nature and sometimes (mostly), and especially where there's money changing hands, a phone call may not cut it. It's probably better to have an email trail of some sort. I've worked in environments where you drop the phone and it rings immediately.

PUSA.

Most of us have probably got a story or two about poor communication that results in bad customer service. While I've no particular axe to grind insofar as BD are concerned, I've used them 5-10 times I suppose - last time about two and a half years ago - the three major purchases (two Lull basses and a used Spector) were all less than straightforward considering I spent c.£12K. These caused some overnight frustration/anxiety, but all came out OK in the end. To Mark's detriment (and I've mentioned this previously) I get the feeling he is totally hands on across the business and tries to micromanage everything (which is fair enough), but when he does delegate, it's like the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. To his credit, BD is a great resource for bass players...he does have some fantastic kit in there and long may he continues, blips or otherwise.

I get a bit of a wobble on if I see any (yes, any) bass in black with a dark board and matching headstock. It will always make me do a double check. Point of fact those Stealth/Darkglass Stingrays; I have no need or desire for one, but they do look beautiful and I recognise that.

My two Lulls are pretty much the one/two shop stop. I've been through so much kit over the years, I figure these will be with me until I cark it, even if they're just on stands reminding me of glories that could have been.

My Vitriol.

I'll always remember a mate of mine, quite straight-faced, telling anyone in earshot that he'd been in his car listening to Simon Bates doing Our Tune on Radio 1. He recounted the tragic tale of a young couple (let's call them Jane and Mike) who had met young, fallen in love and married, only for Mike to lose both legs in a tragic accident at a sawmill where he worked. We were all listening with our mouths open, at which point he said, "So old Batesy goes, 'So for Jane and Mike, here's their special song, Elvis Costello and The Attractions with I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down.'" Oh the hilarity.

I have a bass player mate who fell offstage while ducking to avoid being hit by a bottle. Sprained ankle and bruised ego. Does this count?

Gadzooks.

Despite achieving double-figure Thunderbird purchases over the years and while I never pulled the trigger on one of these, I did actually play one for a few minutes in New York when they came out. I have to say that the first mod I would do on a three-point bridge was replace it with a Hipshot Supertone; this was the first time I'd seen the Babicz bridge, so I eventually went the expensive route of swapping out the Hipshot Supertones for the Babicz units. I honestly couldn't work out what the microswitches were actually doing, if anything. Any change to the tone must have been so subtle my ears weren't registering it.

Living Colour today.

I had a Precision from that period and the finish was bombproof; I'd take (with a big pinch of salt) the claim a previous owner lived in Orkney...what did he do, leave it outside or use it as an oar? That looks like it's been in a flood. It's odd there's little evidence of finish damage on the neck.

I know NS Design are in business to make money, but the cost of the extraneous hardware is quite prohibitive when you consider what it costs for the two strap systems and the end pin. Concerning the end-pin, surely there should be a simple way of cobbling something together with quick-release clamps (rather than something you need to screw in like on a cymbal stand) for a tenth of the NS Design price. We all probably have the parts knocking around to facilitate this.

So, this'll be the last picture for a bit. Got the bridge pickup back from Josi a couple of days ago. Concerning the wiring, at present* it's just wired it through a three-way switch into the output jack; no volume control (yet). There's no grounding issues, it's silent. For the record, the knobs are just dummies on old pots; I have some of the same knobs on order, but in chrome which will set things off nicely. I need a truss rod cover. Dunlop Straploks fitted. To be honest, it sounds quite lovely as it is; I'd argue I always play with everything open, so the wiring apes this. I needed to do a bit of up and down adjustment to balance the pickups, action is borderline rattly. I suspect that if I left the holes open in the body, I'd be aching to put an East in, but right now as it's all closed up I'm happy with it visually, I'm okay with it. Of the Warman pickups, honestly if you need a decent affordable P/J set, check him out. [Edit v. 2.0] I woke up quite early and figured that as the pots I used for the dummy knobs were EMG push/fit connector types, it should be easy to put a volume control into the circuit at least. Took about ten minutes at lunchtime. So this is parked for now...

It's odd (perhaps not odd, but cited) that elsewhere Rick Beato says they regularly tuned down a half-step although it's apparent from the videos that Mark Hoppus is playing off an F# where Beato is playing off a G.

Bit of You Tube algorithmic juxtaposition yesterday. New Rick Beato (Blink182) and an in-remission and newly grey-haired Mark Hoppus (he is pushing 50, you know) doing play-alongs. The Rick Beato clip is, as usual, very well put together, enthusiastic and highly enjoyable. The play-alongs, if nothing, demonstrate that playing can be simple and effective without the need to showboat. Mark Hoppus admits he's not the most gifted of players but I've always felt that what he does do is contribute (musically) to something that consequently becomes greater than the sum of the constituent parts. Obviously it helps having Travis Barker in the engine room.

Warmans.

Tell more...

If you just want reassurance that the bass is comfortable from a seated position, rest assured that it is.

Don't forget The Shapes.

With the tripod - and despite me just playing at home - I seem the spend a bit if time dancing around the legs...there just doesn't seem to be a best position for it. I'll probably end up with one of their endpins at some point, but then we get into dilemma #2 of how to put it on a stand when you're done (the optional 'stand' brackets do not fit the supplied tripod!).