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Count Bassie

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Everything posted by Count Bassie

  1. I know, I need to keep 'em both, but I need a 5-string and the cash flow says I have to let something go. I've found a real nice Ibanez BTB405 I'd like to keep and use, but I have to come up with bread. It's a realistically wise idea for me to have a 5-er. I also have other concerns I need bread for, like my kid's musical life, which is starting to bloom nicely... Trace heads: AH250GP12SMX... 90s pre-Gibson, was in a sleeve but it's now rack-mounted in a soft gig-bag. AH250GP11MK IV... early 80s, uv light, fewer features, but solid as a Sherman tank. The MK IV has a sweeter, subtler graphic eq than the SMX, but less the compressor and with the older power section it seems apparently not as powerful-sounding. Still gets loud though- you just have to turn it up more. The MK IV is maybe 1/3 or more again the weight of the SMX, but that doesn't bother me any. I'm scrawny-but-wiry, pretty fit for a 50 year-old bugger. The MK IV has had no significant issues at all in its lifetime, I don't believe. I also dig the simple layout, and the flexibility for integrating other amps, etc. Old-school style head. The SMX has had a few minor issues, but they did get in the way of playing... and I don't like to think about my gear. I have had to think about the SMX. But it sounds big and gorgeous... the dual-band comp, tube, pre-shape/eq blend and the eq balance are nice features to a great signal-chain... So what would you do- I mean besides keep them both!
  2. Shot last night. I can re-visit and change it later, but at this point I'm going to stay with white. I evidently have a thing for a white bass, but it has to be the right one. I've modded and shot 2 white in the past, and this is working for me: Here's Stan, the guy doing the shot. I'm kinda sorry it's not more of a showcase for him at this point! But I may add a color, we'll see if I can't stand it in white, over some time. There's a clear coat of gloss (2 coats) over the satin white. It should eventually do that nice yellowing thing... It'll 'tighten up' in a day or two and lose that slight orange-peel thing, and I'll give it a coat of "Turtle Wax" when I get it home. More shots after it's cured, and put together...
  3. Maybe I'll make it a headless... hmmm...
  4. [quote name='BottomE' post='1210307' date='Apr 24 2011, 03:09 PM']What colour knobs? Now theres a question. I saw these [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Guitar-Amp-Control-Knob-Pedal-Chicken-Head-White-Ham-/220423558813?_trksid=p4340.m263&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D15%26pmod%3D220398431660%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D8687004091386240575"]Chicken Knobs (its not pornographic)[/url] They do red, white and black. Red on red? Could be a double denim moment.[/quote] Those look pretty hip. One of the pots is concentric though, and I'd like to find a split-knob for such a purpose if I could... two regular, one concentric. I'll have to start looking I guess, ebay might just be the ticket. Thanks for the thought.
  5. [quote name='BottomE' post='1209397' date='Apr 23 2011, 01:59 PM']Forgot to say i stumbled across your posts on Talkbass (i am not stalking you honest). Did you get the chicken heads?[/quote] No, no peripherals yet. Things're a little tight here... I have a kid who plays string-harp and I'm financing one for her; the other one plays violin, and I'm still catching up on getting us out of the red from last year. So my own little project is sort of limping along. I need the bass though, so for now I'll just pick up some bland-stock knobs at the local music store. I'll be looking for chickens though. Even local junk-shops might be a cool place to find funky ones.
  6. [quote name='BottomE' post='1208046' date='Apr 22 2011, 05:41 AM']Are you sure you are not a lady[/quote] Ahem... actually fickleness is not limited to the ladies... I like blue however, and this has taken long enough to cause me to lose my grip on my resolve! The gut says 'Reds', so it's reds.
  7. [quote name='BottomE' post='1206642' date='Apr 20 2011, 07:40 PM']I like the reds. Thinking something like a cherry burst. There is something sexy in that colour and actually saying cherry burst is quite sexy too. It might be a bit conservative but its a thought.[/quote] Well yesterday I changed my mind again, I'm back to the Reds. If it comes home, you have to keep it, I always say. I'm off to see the guy, I hope, tonight and 'press his hand' a bit. Hopeful for pix pretty soon here! Sheesh...
  8. Alright now, keep yourself at bay there Grasshopper! The new thought is Blue... A white center, [i]maybe [u]just slightly[/u] blue-ing as you travel outward[/i]- but still white, then it gets hit with a slam of deeper, darker blue as a narrowly burst-ed edge. I'm maybe getting done with reds. My vision of it now is completely unique in my mind. Whaddya think?
  9. [quote name='Bloc Riff Nut' post='1201994' date='Apr 16 2011, 01:07 PM']I'll just have to keep working out, otherwise I won't be able to lift it [/quote] Get a hand-truck. Hire the neighbor kid to move it for you... just don't sell it! Not without telling me first!
  10. [quote name='Bloc Riff Nut' post='1200748' date='Apr 15 2011, 09:33 AM']This isn't all green I'm afraid. I'll get there one day. By [url="http://profile.imageshack.us/user/blocriffnut"]blocriffnut[/url] at 2011-04-15 Reason for edit - forgot pic.[/quote] Bet it sounds great though! That's all of it right there man. I'd love a tube head... but I'm happy with what I have to be happy with!
  11. Well I'm waiting now, and I find myself, now that it's under way, thinking about it a lot. I think I'm incurring a bout of impatience... but hopefully I'll get to see it this weekend. Will post pix... it'll be completely white to start, then I have to get into color. Probably going with a white-hot-looking/yellow/gold center, bursting out to a deeper but vivid bright gold, then to a bright crimson-red edge. No wood grain. Think Danelectro, only snazzier, and on a long-scale quasi-SG bass...
  12. [quote name='BottomE' post='1192810' date='Apr 8 2011, 07:51 AM']Cool - looking forward to seeing it and offereing some suggestions if i may[/quote] Ah, I don't think so. Just kidding.
  13. It's been handed over to the furniture guy, and by the end of next week we'll have a bottom-coat of satin-white nitro on there. Need to get into the pick guard meanwhile, and settle on a color. That probably won't happen until I see (and get a pic of) the new white bass. I could use a little inspiration at this point... So we're actually doing this now!
  14. First things first: I'm in New England (USA), so we're talking about over-the-pond shipping here, which will significantly add to the price... but I'm taking every available route I can come up with to "git 'er done". I need to generate a down payment for a (string) harp for my daughter. She just got offered her first professional gig (a wedding in June- she's 12... yes I'm horribly swolled-up with fatherly pride ) after playing a service at my wife's church organist gig last Sunday. She's currently playing a borrowed instrument, but if she's going to be getting gigs then I'm going to have to get her an axe of her own. They ain't cheep, so I'm jump-starting it by selling off one of my beautiful Trace Elliot bass heads and a Trace cab. I have to keep one head so I can still play! And I have a ratty old, mojo-imbued Trace 4x10 that I've decided to hang onto. There will be another amp someday... But here are 2 head/cab combos for your consideration, including the following: OFFERING #1) Mid-90s Trace Elliot AH250SMX, recently gone over: It's had a couple solder joints repaired, a couple new caps, all pots and toggles cleaned up. It's a smooth-running, booty-kicking little monster, lots of tone-shaping ability, and powerfully loud. Comes in a well-used soft rack-bag. Note: It is wanting for 2 of the little flourescent green back-lights that go behind the front panel... I'll get 'em in there before it ships. OFFERING #2) Trace Elliot AH250 GP-11 MK IV, an early 80s edition. Still has the "Soundwave" company business card stapled to the inside of the plywood sleeve- Soundwave is the company that eventually became Trace Elliot, but most of you guys around here know that. Features are a tad less sophisticated and integrated than in the SMX version, but this more essential feature set includes the renown pre-shape, 11-band graphic (interesting note, the freq centers are the same as on the SMX- minus one- they got it right the first time!), noise reduction toggle, fx loop and slave and pre-amp i/o, and it has the fun black-lit front panel. It's also been serviced, as I was having issues with intermittent signal and noise when I first got it. It had been sitting in a guy's house unused for 10 years. Anyway it turns out the uv light's ballast is tied into the actual amplifier circuit, and the ballast and starter for the light needed replacing. That was it, and "viola!" No more noise. Beyond my own playing, that is. I'm pretty sure that in the lifetime of this amp, that's the only repair it's ever undergone. The tone, for a Trace fanatic, is pretty much to die for. Mark King. Say no more... Both heads were serviced by Dave at B-Sharp Music here in Providence, RI. Either head is being offered here along with a Trace 1153-T single 15 cab: It's in good condition, only a tad of dingage/ rust on metal corners here or there, and the plastic feet-holder cups have been moved around. But it looks fine and sounds like deep, dark gold, with a nicely balanced mid-range and a good smacking dose of highs. Well-balanced cab all around. I've used both heads at gigs with the cab, and it's a sweet set-up both ways. So... for the [b][i]AH250SMX head/1153 cab[/i][/b] I'm looking for [b]$600 US[/b]. For the [b][i]AH250 GP-11 head/1153 cab[/i][/b], I'm looking for [b]$800 US[/b]. In any case, feel free to make an offer or inquire individually for what you want, but I'll be inclined to give preference to a sale for a head/cab short-stack together. If I didn't have a very good reason for doing this, I'd never have done it! I dig, and use my amps- older Trace Elliot is all I'm using to play out these days (besides a Hartke A100 for rehearsals). I don't mind letting go of stuff though, as long as it represents gain and not loss. We got a young chopper here that needs a harp! I realize the logistics for this deal are a semi-long-shot! But I gotta try and do what I gotta do! Thanks for reading, and for your consideration.
  15. [quote name='silddx' post='1033235' date='Nov 22 2010, 05:52 PM']Here she is in action (and the Electra ) on Saturday night at a big Bollywood charity show for St Lukes Hospice. [/quote] That's a cool bass man. Nice job! Cute girl too.
  16. [quote name='Lozz196' post='1178073' date='Mar 27 2011, 06:17 AM']Well I`ve not had any experience with that particular model, but have had a few Marshalls and I like their bass gear. A lot of people don`t rate it, but in my view, this is a lot to do with the fact that Marshall excel at guitar amps, so the thought must be they can`t be any good at bass. All of my Marshall have been loud, reliable, and had a good sound (for me anyway, doing rock/punk etc). You`ll probably get many opinions, but let your ears decide. The only negatives I can really find with Marshall bass gear are: 1 - as it hasn`t got a "name" for bass equipment, selling it on can take a while 2 - its invariably very heavy[/quote] Well heavy is kind of ok- my Trace MK IV is on the heavy side- and in light (sorry) of the comparatively light weight of the SMX, it begins to seem unnecessary! But it's sound, not convenience, that wins the day, so the MK IV stays. I have been finding that a lot of the older gear is sturdier than the newer, more lightweight amps: The MK IV has needed nothing but a new black light in almost 30 years, but the SMX has seen four trips to the bench since I've had it- about a year-and-a-half. Point-to-point wiring and actual components appear to be tougher and longer-lasting than op amps and modules... that right there is almost enough to sell the deal to me, and the "new sound" coming from the lighter gear doesn't really sell me enough to change my thinking. Anyhow I'm going to see it this week, even though I still love the sound of my SMX. Hey, "love" hasn't stopped me from doing some very stupid things! Hopefully I won't do anything stupid! This time... but if the Marshall kills me where I stand, I'm going to swap. Thanks for the reply Lozz.
  17. I've had an offer to swap my Trace Elliot AH250SMX for one of these Marshall Integrated Bass Heads. It's the guy who's been fixing my gear lately- he's had both of my heads in there now, and has taken to the SMX! What a surprise... but he's sort of (almost sheepishly) offered to trade the Marshall. I don't think I will, the SMX has made itself valuable to me, even though it's had a few issues. But do any of you guys know the Marshall head? Would you do it, and why? I'm just slightly intrigued by the offer...
  18. [quote name='neepheid' post='1177604' date='Mar 26 2011, 04:23 PM']I intend to use a mitre box to make the vertical cut and then use a flush cutting saw to cut parallel to the headstock face.[/quote] Do it man!
  19. [quote name='neepheid' post='1177128' date='Mar 26 2011, 08:29 AM']Nah, I have lucked out and obtained one which adjusts at the heel, so this procedure will hopefully not cause any problems in that regard.[/quote] Then it looks like a plan to me. Pretty cool- although I've historically eschewed headless basses, I think this one looks pretty cool. I'm staying tuned in... You have some good jig-resources for that headstock fillet cut', I guess? Pretty precise cut.
  20. [quote name='neepheid' post='1176680' date='Mar 25 2011, 06:54 PM']I have the neck now and I'm scheming about how to move forwards. This is the plan: 1) cut out the fillet from the end of the fingerboard to the face of the headstock: 2) glue in a piece of maple: 3) trim to match the shape of the headless hardware and fit. Does that seem reasonable?[/quote] That looks pretty reasonable to me. As long as the truss rod isn't an issue, or you can get your cut around it. That's the adjusting end, right?
  21. [quote name='dincz' post='1168548' date='Mar 19 2011, 01:50 PM']Google is amazing - and leads you back to basschat: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=51769&view=new"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=51769&view=new[/url][/quote] You know, I thought it would be something like this- I had an issue two weeks ago where the blinking stopped after we'd changed sockets... now I know what ECI means though. Thanks guys, and thanks for the Google heads-up also! I threw that down on my way out the door this morning, in a hurry to get my young'un off to her fiddle lesson!
  22. The White Nitro is at the shop- turns out I got the same brand the guy knows about and has used in the past, so I'm on the right page. Stripping down the bass and plugging a few holes, and off she goes to the beauty shop... the guy's giving me a friendly deal in exchange for a lot of free advertising... folks like to take band photos in this neighborhood, amongst the Portuguese party-goers anyhow! Lots of them in my circuit... Also I'm looking around for "chicken-head" knobs. If anyone knows of or has them, I'd be interested... although I'll probably find them in my own backyard here, on my side of the pond! BUT- I would like to find a "chicken head" set for a concentric knob. Soon. Really.
  23. Hi kids, So I've posted ad nauseum about my MK IV head, and it's working fine except that last night I was plugged into a wall (110) and with the UV light on there was a little red LED labeled "ECI" blinking. I think it's better if that is not blinking, or on at all... does anyone know what ECI stands for, and what it indicates? Thanks!
  24. Well I've shined it on anyway. Big cabs and my home logistics are not the good match- and I'm already pressing my envelope with a 1048- and not unhappy about it. That and the 1153 are plenty...
  25. [quote name='BottomE' post='1156833' date='Mar 10 2011, 11:37 AM']Bump on the Hamer build[/quote] It's un-strung, and waiting for me to get some white nitro for a base. Once I have that, it's to the booth. It's out of commission for now though, as it needs some maintenance which I'll address before I deliver it to the furniture shop... Thanks for sticking by though! "Pay-off" happens soon now...
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