Annoying Twit

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Charvel-P-bass-CX492-made-in-japan-circa-91-/130980715706?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item1e7f0f1cba"]Japanese Charvel P-Bass[/url]

[quote name='Zodiak' timestamp='1378046952' post='2195045'] But not overseas, AFAIK. Not to Portugal, at least, as per their website... [/quote] You're right. I somehow missed the 'outside the UK' in your post. Sorry.

[quote name='clauster' timestamp='1378052174' post='2195147'] Not on my crappy cameraphone. Plus I don;t want to become the creepy stalker of the block [/quote] Couldn't you just turn up at his front door with a bass and amp and suggest a jam?

I bought a cheap double neck silent guitar. It doesn't sound very good.

[quote name='Zodiak' timestamp='1378038238' post='2194934'] Well, Thomann offers free shipping for orders over 200 Euros, while DV247 charges 16 quid + VAT, so it's a no brainer for orders outside the UK. Even if it's not a lot of money, it's still nice to get a deal like that. [/quote] DV247 offer free delivery on orders over £99.

Is "I Surrender" the David Sylvian song of that name? I"d guess not, but if it is, I'd really like to hear what a heavy version of it sounds like. If I see a covers band, I want to hear some interesting/obscure choices as well as the obvious stuff. Even if it's a song I haven't heard. For HM, and since you cover Deep Purple, what about Glenn Hughes more recent-ish songs like 'High Road'? Can't find a youtube video of it, but here's 'Soul Mover' from the same album. (Though, I think Soul Mover isn't such a good choice as its a less 'immediate song). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXz6ASogp7w&list=PLowsEZEvFOXhWzPUHl_yXTnRtmVtpciQe

Does anyone remember that story of the phantom bassist of Tumbridge Wells? Does he/she only play after midnight on a full moon?

DV247 itself found a buyer very quickly it seems. Usually this means that part of the business itself was reasonably healthy and can be sold as a going concern. Not always though, perhaps Music Store was planning to move into the UK market anyway (as Thomann has been rumoured to be doing for a while - have they?) It could be that DV247 was healthy, but other parts of they company they were owned by caused the problems. E.g. like how the Matsumoku guitar factory was healthy (I believe) but went down with its owning company. I'm wondering if Music Store GMBH and Thomann have a close relationship. The two 'similar' basses in my previous post are, it seems, actually identical. Perhaps it's just that they have the same supplier. (Saein?) Also, I've noted that the prices in the 'DV247 Recommends' section are (at least sometimes) cheaper than if you go to the instrument directly or through search. Edit: That's wrong - this is a different instrument from the previous (cheaper) one. http://www.dv247.com/guitars/jandd-jb-vintage-1975-bsb-bass-guitar-butterscotch-blonde--201559

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1378024129' post='2194687'] They have quietly been raising prices of some stuff as well. Particularly things they have to import from the States. One distributor told me he'd monitored prices and it seemed that they started to rise after DV247 went under. There has been quite a price war going on with some brands and it wasn't really sustainable - DV247 being a perfect example [/quote] DV247 went bust? I missed that (Wasn't reading music forums for a while). The web site is still there, I presume they were acquired. Or, is it the receivers selling off stock? Edit: More information here: [url="http://www.dv247.com/news/DV247%20Is%20Not%20In%20Administration/133450"]http://www.dv247.com...stration/133450 [/url] DV247 has been purchased by what seems to be one of Thomann's German competitors, so overall market competition shouldn't have decreased. Someone on here was asking about the Thomann [url=http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbb1975_na.htm]'Harley Benton' VM-J-a-like[/url] recently. DV247 have a similar item [url="http://www.dv247.com/guitars/jandd-jb-vintage-1975-na-bass-guitar-natural--201563"]http://www.dv247.com...natural--201563[/url]

If the seller thinks that this is a left handed bass guitar, could that explained why they never got the hang of bass? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Riks-Stagg-6-string-left-handed-electric-bass-guitar-with-case-and-straps-/271268775867?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3f28e107bb

Is this really what a Ricky pickguard looked like in 1962? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1962-RICKENBACKER-4000-VINTAGE-ELECTRIC-BASS-GUITAR-RIC-4001-1999-ROSE-MORRIS-/281154525617?pt=Guitar&hash=item41761d99b1

I ordered from them, not a whole instrument but some bits. It was pretty painless, like ordering from Amazon. The goods arrived quickly fully professionally packed. Unfortunately, I made a booboo while completing the order (I wanted some strings and forgot to add them). Even though it was my fault, because Thomann didn't read my email asking if anything could be done until after my order had shipped, they let me buy the strings free shipping. I was impressed.

So, who beat me to it?

I have a five string fretted bass already. I'm interested in the BC bass most because I'd like to Japanese-ise my collection, but I don't think that I should necessarily have any priority. We'll have to decide soon though. I wasn't going to bid high, so if it's only me bidding there's a risk that it will actually go to someone completely different and non-BC person. I don't know if it's evil to suggest that we PM each other our prospective high bids and see who's most serious about it!

I was planning on bidding, but not near the actual market price.

It's OK, but not as inspired as some of his work. A bit Beatles by numbers. Some of the mock 1966/67 Beatles tracks on Pete Best's album "Hayman's Green" are actually better in my opinion. E.g.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLXFct0uLYM

Gibson gone, and this one appears. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Jazz-Bass-1964-Left-Handed-Sunburst-w-original-case-not-a-re-issue-/221275594144?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item33850d9da0"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item33850d9da0[/url] Note that the scammer's details are given in an image, so you can't search on them.

Would it be too much to ask if you could give a fair number of details about how you progress from this laminated/stuck together neck to something that's smooth and beautiful, and looks like a single 'thing'? I'm very curious about how that process works.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1377850909' post='2192618'] I saw that a few days ago, think it looks really cool. My wife is really good at decoupage, I'm half thinking about getting her to do something similar to a bass of mine... [/quote] Which book would you use?

Another, in my opinion, nice looking cheapie. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mania-VTB-4BS-electric-bass-guitar-/261273809690?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3cd521f31a

The zoom B2 has a fixed list of drum patterns, and not too many of them. It does have a metronome click, so maybe I'll use that. Otherwise, I'll wire something up so that I can mix raw audio with bass so I can choose whatever for accompaniment. The Mighty Boosh episode on 'The Funk' is of course surreal fantasy, but Old Greg's criticism of Howard at the beginning of this clip certainly applies to me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZwRQDNIPog

Thanks all. I feel that I have some feel, but there's a big gap between me and the pros. And this is really the thing that I want to push. Part of my practice routine is a collection of riffs, and the riff from Herbie Hancock's Headhunters is part of that. It includes the staccato notes mentioned. I've found if I play, for example, the introduction to the [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox-DmJ9H3ng"]Barney Miller[/url] theme by itself, then it sounds reasonably like the original (not super smooth or funky but better than me), except at the moment I have a trade off (playing the riff starting from an F - presume that's F minor) where the C to A transition is difficult for me and I either make it a bit wonky or get an overlap between those notes which sounds wrong. However, if I use the drum patterns in my Zoom B2 as a metronome, I find it tends to straighten out my timing even more, and it sounds a bit robotic then. I've been experimenting with varying the timing of single root note riffs in order to make them sound a bit more funky, particularly when practicing syncopation (which I'm not yet good at, if I play too long I tend to fall back to playing the strong beats). Given your recommendations, I'll do more of that It would help if people could recommend individual songs where there is simple, but well-timed, playing. Amazon MP3 purchase account and time-stretching software are both ready and waiting. Edit: Thanks for the Bootsy Collins clip. I'll study it carefully. (Though, I must admit every time I hear of Bootsy Collins nowdays the first thing I think of is the Mighty Boosh Old Greg episode that explains how Bootsy 'got the funk'). More about Bootsy - it makes an interesting comparison to play the Dee-Lite song 'Groove is in the Heart' featuring Bootsy and then play the Herbie Hancock track 'Bring Down the Birds' that the riff was sampled from. The former sounds much more funky. I'm going to make the video posted by redstriper the main part of my practice tonight. (I've done a bunch of scales already).

How do you get a more funky or smooth feel? To a large extent, I can play the kind of things I want to be able to play. (I don't have exceptional targets). But, I play something, and it sounds straight. Professional players may play something that is the same notes in more or less the same timing, but it just sounds so much more 'right', has a degree of funk in it that I can't duplicate, etc. Is there any method of building these skills, or is it just a matter of practice?

It looks nice in the photos, but I'd want to see what it looks like in real life.

Literally so! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-EST96-Stingray-style-Bass-Guitar-unique-styling-Salinger-Catcher-/331006146616?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4d1180f838