three

A bit of trivia and possible provenance, if I'm right. I think I know this bass pretty well. The George Radcliffe named in the MECAA card was a serious trombone player but doubled on bass. He was the bass player for a band called Five Penny Piece - a sort of Lancashire folk and comedy act with some big gigs and several albums (national TV etc.). George was also the landlord of the Star pub in Ashton-under-Lyne - the best pint of Boddington's bitter available anywhere in my opinion. The quality of the beer was largely down to George's son, the cellarman and another 'bone player, who I think inherited this bass, along with George's Jazz. As far as I know, the son was recently made redundant so not unreasonable that this bass should appear now. With a mate, I took both of the basses to be set-up by Ted Lee (luthier to the stars and painted Manzanera's Firebird red I believe) in the very early '80s when George was still very active. I shall make further enquiries with the son. Anyway, that passed a few minutes.

Beautiful finish!

I like the sunburst! i’m not usually a fan of offset bodies but the scratchplate works brilliantly – obviously, this could be an example built carefully for the photographs but the guard follows the lines of the bass very neatly

Gillett, unfortunately long-since folded and disappeared, built 5s. They come-up for sale rarely but worth a look. Incredible design and world-class execution - I’m surprised that they weren’t more popular. There’s some detail here: https://www.gillettguitars.co.uk/bass-guitars/c/3/

It is! She played a central role and was excellent throughout - playing with a smile on her face and clearly enjoying the gig and camaraderie

Roger Daltrey in Manchester last night. A voice I've known since I was 10 and all of the character and timbre remains intact. An extraordinary vocal performance, and not just in view of age. An outrageously talented nine-piece band including some big names. Roger moaned about his IEMs for most of the performance, though that seems par. Probably a gig for Who and Daltrey stalwarts but a superb two-hour set that covered a lot of ground with some excellent variations on classic and less well-known tracks. A highly appreciative audience too, and the band and Roger appeared to be genuinely happy throughout. Excellent mix overall - I was directly in-front of the desk. Acoustic instruments - and there were many of them - were handled beautifully. As one might imagine, the only flabby, mushy, indistinct mess was the bass. No note definition at all. A P employed throughout with no visible bass amp. A very good player I'd assume (given the overall class of the band) but impossible to tell.

I sort of hope it is a mod - I rather like it if so. In the first image, it looks like the head could be tucked inside Billy J's bassist's jacket? The second looks a little more clear but still hard to tell. I expanded the images as much as I could - anything but get on with work.

Absolutely love that violet - could I ask who performed the respray?

We are! A combination of the height at which I wear the bass and my own physiology I suspect, but Schallers just don’t work for me. I tried the newer version but with the same result. Both my Shortys have Dunlop Dual pins. For security, I double over the ends of the Comfort Strapp, then add the rubber washer. This prevents any forward swivel and provides a bit of solidity and stability. I still have Schallers on the ‘bic shorties but only play seated - strap balance is a joke (again, preference and physiology - I’m sure they’re fine for many players). Here’s the Shortys - a rare day of strong sunshine up here

Agreed - I remember posting a fairly lengthy contribution on just this issue around five or six years ago - I find that Schallers permit my basses to subtly tip forward a little, creating a bit of an uncomfortable angle between chest and the top edge of the bass. I jettisoned straplocks in favour of rubber washers years ago.

Angela Arnott is in Gloucestershire - http://guitarangel.co.uk If you don’t mind driving into London, I’ve always been impressed with Martin’s work at the Bass Gallery in Camden I hope you can get the bass up and running as it should

Sorry Chris! My scepticism may be terribly misplaced but I’m struggling with this one

Yes, they sort of missed a trick here 'organic micro-chambering' It could be a fabulous bass (I'd love to find out) and League is no slouch... but...

Without wishing to open the can, I particularly enjoyed the marketing copy in this at Andertons: https://www.andertons.co.uk/bacci-guitars-amrita-woodworm-michael-league-signature-maple/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=surfaces&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADujoUqVDRQwkN1bWBZcEzip5ciCn&gclid=Cj0KCQjwzrzABhD8ARIsANlSWNOy6ZK_8WuK66VSG5h7Z3UTqmDDDEChjBNvC49jOeUAn4kUKGS7GKkaApxEEALw_wcB

The only graphite-necked basses that I've played are Status - I've owned and played quite a few and still have a fretted and fretless. There seems to be a consensus that Status graphite necks have a sort of soft D profile - I think this is pretty accurate and meets with my own experience. I find the shape very comfortable and it's easy to get around on the necks - I've had some gloss and some satin finishes and tend to prefer the former. The arguments re: contribution to tone are endless, though to me (and with respect to Status), the sound is tight, clear, highly focused and accurate - really quite pokey with masses of sustain. The stability of the necks is also incredible - set-up is easy (and the basses stay 'set-up'), and a very low action is possible. My old Series II doesn't have a truss rod and the neck is almost flat. Action can be incredibly low. I hope this helps, though as above, I can only comment on my experience with Status