Count Bassie

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1321710678' post='1442264'] Mr Vaughan, or can I call you Roger, now that we're all cosy? [/quote] Hey Nancy, I want to bag the bad vibes. We don't have to like each other... I do find you a certain way and you've done little to alter my perception...although I also realize I took a shot at you- after you shot down, [i]with feeling[/i], my apparently [i]*failed[/i]* attempt at 'copping' a cheaper bass from my fine old Hamer Cruise (I do know I should have just stepped past it, but I still insert a smiley here). But it probably goes my way as well, although I remain at odds at your lumping me in with [b]The [/b](in-bred)[b] People [/b]("Yanks"... fine...)[b] Who Brought You The Iraq War[/b]; that and your other presuming sarcasm about being a "commie Muslim", that was pretty silly stuff right there... but you knew that, right? And- was I supposed to know your personal story in Syria? I don't even know your actual name (more on that). But there was nothing, I don't think, to infer the recklessness from my post that you did. I thought my point was obvious, although in retrospect it was too dramatic a rendering. But I think that was your own internal issue you responded to, irrelevant to my comment. Apparently though, I'd hit a nerve, [u]so let me declare this right now[/u]: I'm as sure as I can be that I'd never bring up an old wound or a bad, maybe irreconcilable experience to anyone at all- certainly not in retort, certainly not on purpose. I may come off as having a coarse, dark-ish sense of humor and a good dose of rasping sarcasm, but I'm not one to go swiping at someone else' wounds (I do have some friends in the world). I think I need to state here that I have no desire to treat you with disrespect. Alright? But I have to mention something I find odd: Funny that I guess you were prompted, somehow, to do some homework on me so you could [u]mention my actual name[/u] here on this forum ("Oh, Snap! You got me!!" ). Yes, we're cozy as two foxes in a burlap bag... but I'm not getting this (what appears a) silly gesture. Maybe I'm just a socially sub-standard and ignorant Yankee, but is this a 'slap in my face' with a virtual gloved hand, or something? I can't imagine you see this as something meaningful. I'd have said something sooner but hey, life gets busy. I just think it's a strange, and kind of funny, thing to do. I'll be interested in hearing what you've got to say about it. Take your time.

And by the way, my remarks about arrogance, etc., were my having a poke at you after another comment came around. I wasn't so affronted that I needed to express all that, really- I realize it was a bit over-the-top. ...but I still think you're an ass. Forgot to stop, sorry.

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1321710678' post='1442264'] Mr Vaughan, or can I call you Roger, now that we're all cosy?[/quote] A little presuming of you, posting my name when I use a screen-name. I don't even remember if my full name is in my profile... but I suppose it is, unless you're a SPY!!. But what's your point? Is this a way of calling me out? Cute. I 'edited' my posts because I thought, "maybe that's unnecessary". Can't hardly remember now, but no need to make something of it, it was nothing. In light of where we're at now, what's the difference? [quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1321710678' post='1442264']Let's bring some clarity to proceedings here for a moment. You posted to a semi-public forum and I responded. I am a bit of a Hamer fan and have owned several, to be honest, the original photos looked like the body needed some work, but clearly it wasn't something that would buff out, but - and I repeat - I hated what you did to the Cruise and stated so.[/quote] That's fine! I know I'm not going to get an award for it, and took my chances, as it were, in posting. I should have shined on your remark, but I was tempted by your 'down-your-nose' tone towards it, the fact that I perceived a haughtiness in your delivery. You just were pretty undiplomatic. I commented on your attitude. [quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1321710678' post='1442264']...And we were getting along so well. Anyhow, it's a really beautiful, place, the Syrians are nice people - well, the ones not doing the killings are - but I don't have much time for the two groups of armed militia that stopped us while we were driving from Damascus to Palmyra right after the killings really got started at Easter. It's really not that pleasant having a gun pointed at you and your family, so NEVER make a flippant remark like again, because it is neither clever or smart, it's ignorant.[/quote] Nice people are everywhere. So is trouble. My comment wasn't to be flip about someone's trouble or your personal experience. I know it's bad in other parts of the world and that in America I have it good. I also understand there is urgency and distress when your family is threatened. I'm a dad and husband, and have my own realm of experience. The remark was made because I thought your choice of words was a tad dramatic over a bass guitar project. "Just horrible!!" Oh my... but I meant not to make someone's (yours or anyone's) dire situation into a trite retort. My ready apology goes out to the offended, that will include you. End this bit: It's just a bass guitar. That was my point, and you know it. How am I to know anything about your situation? [quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1321710678' post='1442264']The final straw really for me was being described as pompous, arrogant and self-important. I apparently also dig 'venting off on [my] soapbox' and I have no [i]humour [/i]in me. Amazing how you can determine all this from a two sentence post. But then [b][i]you Yanks love to draw your conclusions based on a small amount of hard facts (WMDs anyone?)[/i][/b], so it doesn't surprise me. [/quote] Ironic post... listen to you! Yeah, George and I, we in-bred Yanks go way back. You are in fact at least as presumptuous and dismissive as you think I am. [b]And I haven't even called you a[/b] [b]Limey[/b]- sorry, I didn't mean to leave something out... at least you have the decency to capitalize your proper nouns. Well done! Your tone was speaking to me, and I responded to it. I'm happy to assume a less 'pointy' disposition toward you, and to step off my rhetoric. But so far you've done nothing to change my mind. I've even tried to be funny, hoping it might present a door for diplomacy. My less-than-casual, off-hand attempt has failed... probably because at this point I see no reason to bend myself into a shape to please you. [i]And[/i] you told me to go f*** myself. So screw then. [quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1321710678' post='1442264']I will stand by my original comments. I didn't like how the Hamer turned out. If you can't take some criticism, seriously, don't bother posting. Boo hoo! It looked so much nice before, [i]even if you did, for some reason have the strap on the lower horn.[/i][/quote] "[i]For some reason[/i]." The strap-button is there for a reason, yes. but it's all about you, isn't it, "Nancy"? I have a nerve/tendon issue in my left arm, which I've stated pretty clearly in a previous post or two- the position is helpful. I try not to get too tedious in going on about it. You didn't offer criticism, nor was there any thing agreeable at all in your tone- it was all about [i]pronouncing what you didn't like[/i]. Again, fine. But you sounded uppity and I said so. I'll go with the complaint that it was too harsh of me- it could have been a less colorful delivery. On for you. [quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1321710678' post='1442264']Much love, from your new musilm-loving commie friend. P [/quote] Dude this has gotten stupid. Stop it... I know you aren't stupid. I'll stop there.

[quote name='BottomE' timestamp='1321649554' post='1441725'] i told my dad to stop posting frankly its embarrasing. PM'd about the radio thing [/quote] Got it, replied...

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1321549912' post='1440574'] so I'm pompous, arrogant and self-important. Lovely. This is precisely why I gave up posting to this forum a couple of years ago. I quit. Again. Go f*** yourself. P [/quote] Maybe you're just not aware that you come off this way. Your summary declaration of dismissal concerning my sub-Westone-grade mod came off as arrogant. Don't blame me for your tone: If it's not the first time you've left off the forum, it might be I'm not the only one who "hears" that tone. Sentiment right back to you. And while you're fielding that, why don't you go find a sense of humor? Not meaning to drag it out here, but... maybe you just need a cuddle?... Ouch!! Alllright...

[quote name='BottomE' timestamp='1321539556' post='1440363'] Actually i re-read the comment and its confusing. I meant for the other guy to take a chill pill! Sorry if you misunderstood. Strange but i got really offended and defensive when he posted [/quote] Ha! I thought it might have been that way, but I took it from the other direction just because there was a point to be taken there, too. But old "Nancy" had to vent from his soap-box- and he sucked up a good bit of 'air' doing it! "Pompous" might be a good descriptive word for him there, as well as "arrogant" and "self-important"... but there's enough said. Nonetheless it can be annoying, and I understand how that could affect you in such a way. It did me, too! He's apparently finished now...

Nice pick-guard! It's got a very clean, pop-industrial look which is sharp. The Hamer... well I'm playing it happily, I get lots of good word on it at gigs for tone, etc. And I also get a few compliments on the look of it, it's true. Still, I do get annoyed at having to change the battery on occasion- it's like having a toy! It's also very not-"Green" because of that... I have always felt that way about active basses, so I'm on the lookout for another option for p'ups, like maybe an old Rickenbacker humbucker or similar. But it needs something- the Mahogany tends to have a honky, brash tone that the preamp cuts out, so until I get a better solution it remains... It's light as a feather, and really very comfortable to play- partly due to the strap-button placement thing. It stays wherever I put it and I can wear it for hours with no discomfort. And the horn gone-missing is a plus, for me. Yes, I could have gotten an old EB-3, or even an ESP Viper-type bass and worked with it instead, but this bass has a beautiful neck and is very light. I don't have a lifetime to go searching through the great pile of stuff in the world, I've got other people, etc to pay attention to, so I got on with it. I am aware that the new shape does have a kind of strange visual balance to it, I'm also keenly aware that the 'vintage vibe' is long-gone! I'm still not done though- when it's finished I think it'll look more complete, more itself. I'm here now, I'm going to make it the best of what I've done with it. It helps to have an unconventional attitude about certain things, I guess. As far as the chill-pill, I agree that I should be more [i]liquid[/i] about receiving detracting commentary (especially when it comes off as a little 'puffy'... Nancy... )! But I'll just quip that for the record, back in the 80s a Westone was considered a [i]second-string [/i]instrument in my neighborhood... funny how absence and time make the heart grow fond.

[quote name='the boy' timestamp='1319469979' post='1414473'] Understood. [/quote] Thanks. And thanks for the kind words there. Note... I think those smarts went to my kids... I'm going to go ahead and let them run my life pretty soon.

[quote name='Count Bassie' timestamp='1319408805' post='1413888'] I feel pretty old after looking back, sometimes! I've just handed off some very good, to be rewarded with a good bit less, too many times. Wasn't necessary mostly, and that's the part that smarts... so dumb, for so long... But I figure all that smart has to go somewhere... [/quote] ...and that's not to imply it went back to me at all! Just sayin'.

I feel pretty old after looking back, sometimes! I've just handed off some very good, to be rewarded with a good bit less, too many times. Wasn't necessary mostly, and that's the part that smarts... so dumb, for so long... But I figure all that smart has to go somewhere...

In response to the boy there, I think that amps are amps, for the most part. You learn to become simpatico with what you use, and after a time your voice comes out of it. At a point it becomes a refined relationship between your hands, your ears and your gear. To keep running off to the next piece of greener grass and buying a 'new' amp only cheats you of time invested in what you've been learning to use. I have 3 amps- two are necessary in case one farts... but they're all [u]different[/u]. That's a result of my chasing too many rabbits! The rabbit that always escapes is the one called Satisfaction. But I've had my Trace 250SMX a few years now, and will remain.

just thought I'd chime in... I have a partsed-together Squier P-Bass that I've strung up with an old BEAD set I had on another bass. The Hamer Cruisebass I BEAD'ed was ok, but it has a fairly beefy neck and the big strings seemed ungainly. The Squier seems a more friendly instrument for the purpose with the 'A' type neck on there- it's narrow at the nut and the profile front-to-back is thinner than the Hamer. I had to widen the nut slots- I think I'll try that using the strings as a file idea... but I used a razor knife to 'open' the slots and it's pretty good. I'm also going to have to remove a spring from the bridge to get the intonation nailed I guess... But it feels really pretty good. I've been trying to do this for a over a year now, as I play in a band that does some Brazilian 'Creole' and a few modern 'Dance' numbers with low-B in the bass. I haven't been able to get on with a 5-string all that well, though I've tried. They tend to feel big, and I've played a 4-string since 1979, so there's that. I'm trying out an Ibanez I found hanging in a friend's store, that one feels pretty good though I traditionally don't like the Ibanez SR line... I think they're ugly, but I'm sort of ugly too, so it may work out! Bu I kinda like the BEAD on the Squier. Interesting how the bass can make such a difference in feel, moving from standard to BEAD.

[quote name='EdwardHimself' timestamp='1319107709' post='1409925'] "Is anyone truly happy?" Of course not. It's the human condition to be perpetually unsatisfied with your current situation, it's what is supposed to drive you on to bigger and better things. Of course these days now that our lives are so comfortable and there really isn't much else to strive for in our lives, we end up becoming very depressed because we can't understand why we don't have this ficticious feeling of "happy" that everyone else around us seems to have. It's why countries that have suddenly become economically prosperous like china also have some of the fastest growing suicide rates in the entire world. [/quote] Thread Killer...

Fidget?... my kid plays violin, must have been a Freudian slip.

[quote name='bertbass' timestamp='1319102297' post='1409820'] I find that how happy you are with your gear is dependent with how many gigs you do. The more gigs the less you think about other gear. [/quote] Right! I start to fiddle if I'm not busy enough...

[quote name='deanovw' timestamp='1312469875' post='1327243'] At the moment I am gigging with an ancient Trace Elliot 4x10 combo, (with casotrs, phew!) There is nothing wrong with it at all. I play in a fairly loud band and the master volume rarley hits 2. It will prob go on for years. There is no need to change it. I am perfectly happy with it yet I want to change it. No reason, just fancy a change. [/quote] I've been through a small mess of used gear over the last few years... alright- since 1995 or thereabouts! Started with the sale of my blue-line SVT, and I don't think anything has been gained at all really in all that sighing, selling and buying, playing, thinking and sighing again... What a pointless cycle! I played a gig this last weekend with the old A.M.P. KD-400 I scored a couple weeks ago, and it sounds very nice. Got some old beater TL-606 cabs a couple months previous, loaded them with Eminence Kappalite 3015s, and whatever I do in the next 6 months, I will know that there's no need to change anything. My rig sounds really very good right now- and I have a couple other choices for heads on-hand also (Trace 250SMX, GK 800RB). From time to time though, the gear-a-whoring and trading has been a source of entertainment! More often than not though it has left me increasingly tired. It's been [u]the sound[/u] I've always been after, see, from the start; and somehow, I've always been able to get that, no matter what I've played through.

7 pm tonight (Eastern Standard Time, US...) I do my first live-on-air "Doctor Roger Radio Hour", on [url="http://990wbob.com/"]990WBOB.com[/url]. We'll have a friend of mine as our guest, she's a Yoga instructor and massage therapist. She's also a bluegrass fanatic, and is going to talk about the new wave of bluegrass music; she'll also be bringing along some tribute music in honor of Bill Monroe, apparently the Father of Bluegrass. I'm going to learn a thing or two myself... I'm going to be interested in getting music on the show, and if anyone has presentable original music I'd be open to hearing about it, and could have on the show. We could even arrange a phone interview (I'm in New England, USA). If you've got a relatively complete act going, bring it- hook me up wth links and ways to check it out! Music, band mythology, touring disasters, how "that tune" came to be, whatever your act consists of, I'm all about it. Thanks for checking it out. Tune in! And I believe the station takes callers...

[quote name='Stingray5' post='1358347' date='Aug 31 2011, 10:40 PM']Thanks, CB. The black Thunder 1A (fretless) was soon replaced by a Thunder II fretless. Made a nice pair with the other Thunder II.[/quote] Those are cool basses- when I went to Berklee in '84 I [i]almost[/i] bought one... mistake to not do it! Classy look, I always thought.

[quote name='EdwardHimself' post='1357805' date='Aug 31 2011, 01:18 PM']It is quite "interesting" i suppose. I remember the general consensus from the build thread was that it looked quite good apart from the bit i hacked out of the top horn! If I were to get another knob it would be for another pickup, should i decide to install one. The other 2 are actually a volume and rather than a tone (don't like tone controls) a variable coil-tap control.[/quote] I see now about the controls. Maybe that is a better use of your bass' guts... @ Warwickhunt: Right? Looks like cartoon chrome. Also I like the way it sort of 'floats' with all that blue nearby.

[quote name='Stingray5' post='1357732' date='Aug 31 2011, 12:01 PM']Apologies for the guitars as well as basses (not to mention crappy pics!). This was much of my gear through the 80's. [attachment=88348:guitars002.jpg][/quote] Nice Westone.

[quote name='EdwardHimself' post='1357709' date='Aug 31 2011, 11:43 AM']Hmm i'm really having trouble seeing what you mean. Here is another picture anyway which will hopefully clear away any confusion as to just how terrible this bass really is: [/quote] Maybe I can clear up what I meant also- I didn't think I was looking at reflections anymore, after you explained it to me. But, I still think it's kind of cool-looking... I totally get why you think it's terrible, and I guess it kind of is! But still it's got a sort of ghostly effect, and if you could convey that effect so it didn't look 'terrible' up-close, you'd have something. And I suppose you need to get another knob on that control plate.

[quote name='EdwardHimself' post='1357630' date='Aug 31 2011, 10:21 AM']are you takadipiss? Seriously though, one of them is blue cyan with black hardware and the other one is erm hmm good question. Sort of a managerie of sunburst partially covered over by grey and white primer and glow in the dark paint lol. Also with "satin chrome" hardware. It's Great [/quote] Ah... I figured I was looking at reflections! Some features/details are hard to nail down with these digital cam pix. You can get some unexpected, odd distortions. So thanks for straightening me out! Bunch-a ball-busters... Anyway from here it looks pretty cool.

[quote name='bartelby' post='1357595' date='Aug 31 2011, 09:50 AM']think you're in for a shock... [/quote] I'm sitting down...

[quote name='EdwardHimself' post='1306833' date='Jul 17 2011, 12:23 PM']amirite in thinking that one of these was used in a Thin Lizzy video? Might as well give this one a go, just for a lauwf: [/quote] Love the chrome Jazz Bass!

[quote name='NancyJohnson' post='1350803' date='Aug 24 2011, 04:53 PM']I've been dipping into this thread on an off over the last ten months and have [b][i]watched with horror[/i][/b] how you've [i]butchered [/i]this once beautiful Cruise bass and then have to front to compare the end product with a Westone...in hindsight all it probably needed a nice cuddle, a nice cup of tea and a small makeover. Sorry, does nothing for me. Shame. P[/quote] Running for office? Watch with horror how our rainforests are being shaved off the face of the earth for someone's fattening pocket. Watch Syria's twisted leadership slaughter their own citizens, simply because they want to be treated like people. [u]That's[/u] horrible. This is just an old bass guitar that belongs to 'someone else'. Shame it does nothing for you though- my bad!