troubadour

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1464772115' post='3062294'] Yup, Mark does have opinions but they're mostly coming from a good place..[/quote] Exactly. And I like that. You don't have to agree with him. You can even have your own opinions if you like! I bought my Sandberg from him on a very pleasurable excursion to his premises. It's turned out that I've not got on as well with it as I'd hoped but that's not Mark's fault. He also sold a bass for me on commission which was done very professionally and went really smoothly.

In my pursuit of lighter equipment I took a chance with a long distance purchase of this splendid little bass . . . . . . and I’m really pleased that I did. It is quite a rare piece as far as I can tell - a Yamaha RBX550RS Special Edition in Metallic Blue with matching headstock and black hardware. It weighs a reasonable 3.5 kg (7 2/3 lbs). It is made in Japan and the serial number is 1M25 followed by 3 digits. The available resources suggest to me that this may be Yamaha’s guitar numbering system E4 which would narrow it down to the month of June in 1986, 1987, 1988 or 1989. Thanks to the power of the internet though, I have been able to trace its history back to the seller before the seller I bought it from. Seller number 1, usednet_corporation, advertised it on jauce.com ([u]J[/u]apan [u]AU[/u]ction [u]CE[/u]nter) with a starting price of 2,300yen and it sold on 7 April to the second bidder for 2,400yen (approx £15.50 ($22.50)). At this stage it looks to be in good condition but with a worn set of flats, the tone knob missing and a hefty ding to the lower body exposing the wood. Seller number 2, ms_tokyo, had put on a medium set of roundwounds (perfect for me) and replaced the missing plastic knob with one that is not quite the same as the other two. They did nothing about the ding, which I can understand. They advertised it with a buy it now of $99 (approx 10,500yen (£68)) which I took. Shipping was at least as much again, it was below the threshold for import duty but there was a small amount of VAT and handling to pay. All in all not unreasonable in my opinion. I thought it was great as soon as I unpacked it and tuned up. But I took it into Matt at Music Cellar in Preston for him to check over. He only had to make slight adjustments to have it playing and sounding perfect. I did ask him to change the jack socket as well because I’d detected a little uncertainty and I wanted to be on the safe side. [size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]I’ve touched up the major ding with some metallic blue Airifx paint. Not a perfect match but certainly much better than seeing the bare wood. I don’t notice it now but I do notice the mismatched knobs so if anyone knows where I can get 3 plastic knobs the same please can you let me know?![/font][/size] [size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]So there you have it, this is now my no 1 bass and I can start to divest myself of my heavier stuff.[/font][/size]

I was looking forward to this too. I'm a big fan. I'll be seeing him at Love Supreme soon so I'll ask him if I get a chance!

First album I ever bought . . . . . . apart from it was a musicassette. And I didn't have anything to play it on, had to take it to a friend's house.

Also at the Brudenell - Nicholas Allbrook, next Tuesday. Just trying to work out why Tav Falco is on at the same time?!

Interesting one for me was the reformed Magic Band John French put together. It contained various former members, and loosely associated musicians, spanning the years - many of whom would not have played together originally. Still great fun though!

Even if the band leader was a [i]waxy faced, glorified pub pianist[/i]*, I don't suppose it's a gig too many of us would have turned down? * quote attributed to one John Joseph Wardle

Last gig I had to stand on the stairs . . .

Sorry, still learning!

[size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][sub]Did Alien Ant Farm's version of Smooth Criminal previously, that worked I thought.[/sub][/font][/size]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1437420978' post='2825888'] A bizarre dog-walking accident? Very Spinal Tap...[/quote] Thank you. I have to admit to pinching that from Arthur Lee who lost his hair in a bizarre hairdressing accident!

Hi I've been lurking here for a while and been impressed with the helpful and encouraging responses everyone invariably gets to their posts. So I've plucked up courage to register myself. I've been out of bass-playing action for almost 7 years, a combination of breaking my arm in a bizarre dog-walking accident, losing my permanent job and having to contract away from home. Things have settled down now on both fronts and I've recently joined a soul/funk band playing not all the usual stuff. Really great fun and a friendly bunch. I'm enjoying playing as much as I ever have. I do have one issue though, my basses are now too heavy for me. They all weigh in at the just over 9lbs (just over 4kg) mark. I can see I'm going to be spending a lot of time in the Market Place!