skankdelvar

That's not abalone. It's 50,000 whelk shells.

[quote name='artisan' post='386373' date='Jan 20 2009, 04:37 PM']Dennis was a total arrogant prick.[/quote] If it makes you feel any better... in the early 80's at Alaska St Studios I saw him wearing frankly laughable diamond-pattern parachute trousers. He looked like a trainee salad chef on acid. Everybody tiptoeing round him trying not to giggle. Touch of the Weller's, methinks.

The bloke who does my amps has seen a number of Marks with this problem, which he puts down to the D-class power switching as noted by Soulfinger above.

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='386599' date='Jan 20 2009, 07:30 PM']Quite frankly not true, my B series is made to a high standard and makes a very good noise in fact I said so earlier in the thread.[/quote] He did, y'know. [quote](bass_ferret @ Jan 20 2009, 07:13 PM) I would get 2 2x10's.[/quote] Surely you mean a 1x15 and a 4x10

My name is Skank and I'm a GASaholic. ([i]Damn[/i] that Gasahol!) Maybe I'm alone in this, but the only reasons I've (possibly) not seen quoted are the ones that afflict me: * I'm greedy and I want more of what I like * My life will be incomplete without (item here) * I'll be a much better player if I buy that new (item here) * I'll sound just like (artist) if I buy that new (item here) * I'll be a more fully-rounded human being, easier to live with and kinder to strangers if I can just buy that new (item here) * I'll never need another one * If I buy this, my search is over And, of course, I'm wrong. Every other justification I've ever had is just spurious rationalisation of my ugly acquisitiveness and reflects my desolate inner self. So who's with me for the 12-step GAS programme?

[quote name='matt_citizenbass' post='385614' date='Jan 19 2009, 11:35 PM']isn't that a guitar head?[/quote] Last time I looked...yep! A JCM 800 Superlead is indeed a gtr amp (unless the one above's been modded. Though, theoretically, any amp is an amplifier of whatever you stick into it. With Marshall's partciularly, there was't always much difference between the amps. IIRC, some 70's names (Kossoff?) put their Gtrs thru Marshall bass amps.

I reckon I've bought most issues of the UK guitar and bass mags for about thirty years, and, IIRC, the only time they've ever slagged a product is for poor finishing or set-up, which can then be put down to the review instrument being a one-off, thus sparing the Mfr's blushes. In recent years, reviews have become much more detailed, and generally stricter than those of the early 80's. And there's a greater willingness to 'question' the thinking behind certain aspects of a product - e.g. "perhaps a different speaker might smooth out some of the highs". But you'll never see an outright slagging of quality or function, because those are the rules of the game. The only mag that I recall going outside 'the agreement' was the US publication Guitar Player, who 10-15 yrs ago trumpeted a re-launched reviews policy. For a few months, they stuck the boot in; shoddy products were named and shamed; badly set-up review instruments were returned with maximum publicity; amps that blew up on review were ruthlessly exposed. For Yanks, they got quite sarky. It was fun. The result: The Mfrs and retailers pulled advertising, the editor was 'disappeared' after a discreet interval and the mag went back to soft-pedalling. It has since then, given stick where really merited, but covers it's arse with a "manufacturer's response" which gives the offender a right of reply. That said, my real concern is not whether reviews are too forgiving of [i]all[/i] mfrs. I have a queasy feeling about the relationships between the mags and [i]certain[/i] mfrs. For example: Guitarist has a policy of not reviewing what it calls 'copies'. What it means is, it won't review embarrassingly well-made Chinese sub-£100 copies. It's published rationale - they don't want to contribute to copyright infringement(!) - suggesting Fender, who have the most to lose, have a bit of issue with cheapies and Guitarist is helping them out. Furthermore, there seems to be a distinct warmness towards certain manufacturers - maybe they've got better PR people, but PRS and Mesa seem to glide by on rose-petals, whatever they produce. Now, I wouldn't deny these are quality products, but it's funny how they can seem to do no wrong. OTOH, Gibson seem to have a lot of comms issues and get quite lukewarm reviews as a result. Fender only have to fart a minor variation of the J, P, Tele, or Strat and it gets 3 pages The reality is that the relationship between mag and mfr is mutually beneficial, and no-one rocks the boat. It's pretty much the same in all areas of specialist consumer interest publishing - cars, boats, hill-walking...try getting a slag letter published in any of them. I'm aware of editors and journos who agree that Mfr X might be taking the pi$$, but they know they just can't publish that opinion. If they do, some ar53wip3 will ring them up and the pressure will be on. To get round this, I suspect any number of review products get returned with a polite excuse. And in fairness, I've rarely seen a gtr or bass product that got a good review that turned out to be a [i]total [/i]turkey with bits falling off. Compare that to the last Hoover, kettle or plasma TV you bought. Journalism's a funny area - It's not all investigative derring-do. If we were more aware of the conditions that surround - say - Beckham-type celebrity interviews (pre-vetted questions, no-go areas, preview of article with right to demand changes, picture approval) we might not be so hard on BGM and the poor schmoes who've had to turn a lovely hobby into a horrible job.

Welcome - we could do with more country round here!

Welcome to the forum - hope you enjoy it!

Much more of this valve swapping stuff and you'll be turning into a guitarist...

The thread in question is: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=38461"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=38461[/url] As far as getting stuff off the street is concerned - depends which bit of London you're in

AFAIK, the Gretsch family own the name / brand and have licensed Fender to oversee production and distribution. And the basses seem a [i]little [/i]expensive at around one and a half sheets, but in line with items like the 6120. Maybe they'll do an Electromatic version...

As regards removing peoples' heads with 100 valve watts - depends what you're putting it through. A Behringer 15 will take it, I'd imagine, but produce less decapitation action than a couple of 4x12 marshall cabs. IMO. Didn't Orange recently offer a 200w bass / guitar head? Pricey, IIRC. And Marshall once produced the 'Major' which delivered 200w. God knows what the VBA puts out, but it's got about a squillion power tubes. The nice thing about valve amps is you can (if the amp tech's up for it) sit down and try different caps etc to 'fine-tune' your tone.

[quote name='Hiperi0n' post='382240' date='Jan 16 2009, 12:15 PM']Hello guys...i need an info..i'm going to buy today a fender jazz 1975 , it's black..that should be a custom color at the time...do you know if under the black finish there was a white one? because in the parts where the black is fading away there is the white...thanx to anyone will help![/quote] You'll need the definitive from Musky or someone of his stature re basses - but... I've got a black 76 Tele I bought in 1980 with similar 'whiteness' showing through. I suspect it's primer or an undercoat. After the white, comes the wood. So prob'ly not a problem.

1) What do you look for in a music shop? Old, interesting s/h stuff. But what I want is probably very different to someone else. It's worth having a look at NAMM's web site (and it's British equivalent whose name escapes me) to view the data they have on musical instrument sales trends - various downloadable PDF's available. 2) What would you ideally like to see in a music shop? As above, but at prices only marginally above private sale cost!! Well, you did ask! Personally, I think there's a need for a source of verifiably fit for purpose, quality old gear, at realistic prices. 3) How far would you travel? On a regular basis - 20-30 miles. For special one-offs, up to 100 miles 4) Am I mad to consider this? Only if you're swayed into starting a business simply by the availability of premises. First off, there's a premises cost. Secondly, what about it's position / location? Are you going to have to buy advertising just to tell people where it is and where to park? And will your town support a guitar shop? And is there any money these days in 'general' guitars? Might you not be better off launching a specialised offering - say basses or bass amps only - to minimise competitive exposure ? And doing it as a home-based, nationally-targeted, online offering - avoiding premises costs and the cost of local "directional" advertising. Better to be narrower and national than wide but local? What it comes down to is - do you want to own a shop or do you want to sell guitars? If the former, then there may be more profits in selling something else - like home security or cheap car spares ...and, in any case, isn't retail tanking at the moment? If the latter, it's worth looking at the classifieds here and seeing what's selling and working out whether you could turn a profit out of a marginal mark-up. As they say, there may be a gap in the market, but is there a market in the gap? If you want to talk marketing at any time, feel free to PM me.

Happy First New Band Gig.

While we're at it - thanks for all your work, Dood.

[quote name='mcgraham' post='381321' date='Jan 15 2009, 02:29 PM']...something to help with slight neck dive...[/quote] Wider, leather or soft-backed strap? (First time I've heard of tele neck dive )

I had a maple-glo version of that in 1979. £125 new, sold it a year later for £100. I was a stupid youth.

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='381020' date='Jan 15 2009, 09:40 AM']Sorry but the Tele can't recover from this[/quote] Fair point well made. He's butchered that Tele. Yet another reason to dislike Coldplay.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='381268' date='Jan 15 2009, 01:39 PM']I think once a week is reasonable.[/quote] +1 - the section's very cluttered.

[quote name='tauzero' post='380303' date='Jan 14 2009, 03:00 PM']I think they sound pretty realistic... it's nice that the one I found suited me best was also the cheapest. [/quote] Thank you for that - I've seen some reviews, but I'd always trust a user over a journo, and a BC-er over a user. Glad it came up a bargain. Cheers!

[quote name='Beedster' post='380374' date='Jan 14 2009, 04:13 PM']So, for arguments sake, if a 1970 Fender is built entirely from components bought from 20 different sellers on ebay, and all of those parts are 100% verifiable as authentic and original Fender components from 1970, and given that the combination of neck, body and hardware on any one bass was likely a matter of chance at the Fender factory in 1970 (pauses for breath)......, is there an argument to say that the 1970 bitsa Fender in question is, to all but the most anally retentive purist, original? By the way, I have no interest here, I'm not trying to get a response to justify having sold a bitsa as original on ebay Chris[/quote] I'd say it isn't an original 1970 fender guitar, because it didn't exist as a guitar in 1970. But where do we draw the line - just neck and body, or orig hardware, strings even? Many serious collectors want confirmation of original solder joints... [quote name='Beedster']BTW, my other half works for the Archbishop[/quote] I love coincidences...I bet he can knock out 'Kumbaya' on an acoustic...

[quote name='westoneblah' post='380164' date='Jan 14 2009, 12:17 PM']....bands are employed by hotels and play covers 7 nights a week, 365 days a year in the same venue...[/quote] So nice solid gig calendar then. Sounds like paradise And that Cherie Garcia is something else...but is there a Joan Entwistle?