Annoying Twit

Probably about 500 metres from where I'm sitting now. But, I don't need a p-bass. http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/aria-stb-series-bass-guitar/1066379899

[quote name='itsmedunc' timestamp='1401966252' post='2468723'] Some of the comments are great! [/quote] [quote] Optimus Prime called, he wants his dick back  [/quote]

And if 15 strings aren't enough for you: [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIupV9HyeSE"]https://www.youtube....h?v=kIupV9HyeSE[/url]

There are some seriously light basses out there. I'm thinking pawlonia bodies. But also short scale basses, e.g. a hofner type. Given that the bass would be the heavy part of the 4string/6string, you'd think that someone could make a reasonably light doubleneck. The only doubleneck I have is a cheap knockoff of a Aria Sinsonido, but it's 6/12 string, doesn't include bass. It's pretty light. Skylark guitars were selling them, but I bought mine second hand from gumtree. There was a single neck bass version, and I wondered about buying one and making a triple neck out of it, but it's not very good so there probably isn't much point in doing that.

Pretty impressive p&p, only £12.50 for mainland UK.

I listened to some of the demonstration videos, and must admit that I don't feel all that motivated to have a bass with one of those bridges on it.

Someone's selling a bridge to turn your bass into a sitar bass. Only thing is, the converted basses don't sound all that different to me. http://www.eyb-guitars.de/Eyb-English/Sitarbridge.html

Very nice indeed.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1401554918' post='2464717'] All good points, though I'd pick up on the example of 'worse materials' for the moving coil/diaphragm. I agree that worse materials would likely have a deleterious effect but my real point was than over the course of 30/40 years there's a very real chance that better materials are actually available, possibly also at lower cost, making it possible to build a counterfeit mic that actually performs BETTER than the genuine article. Anyway, interesting subject. [/quote] Some reviews claim that the Akai D5, and even the Behringer XM8500, are superior to the SM68.

I've now played a real Rickenbacker. I'm aware of taste, but I can't see how they are bad basses. It felt great to me. Like my Rickenfaker, but without the age related foibles. The worst bass I ever played was my first bass, which was a 1970s (or earlier, potentially) unbranded P-bass copy. It had very high action. At school, none of us knew what we were doing. I did what others had done, and shimmed the neck with a thick piece of flat particle board, maybe 1/4" The bass still had a high action. The bass also conked out when I was playing with the school orchestra. BTW: I know there are some other Kiwis on here. I bought that bass with my paperround money, from Harmony Central, a pawnshop in Queen Street, Auckland. Anyone have a memory of that? After that bass, my Dad said that I could buy a better bass. I had no idea what I was doing, and went to a music shop and bought a more or less random second hand bass because it looked a bit fancy. (Slightly different model from this with different pickups, I think the 1978 model not this 1977 model). Blind luck. I wish I still had it. I've seen some old Satellites etc. as posted in this thread. But, I've had absolutely no desire to try them out at all. I've played almost no basses that were actually bad. I played some Johnson basses, p-bass and jazz bass, when a local shop was closing down and selling them for £60. They seemed OK to me. Not wonderful, but entirely playable. I played some no-brand p-bass with a suspiciously light body (Pawlonia?) Played OK though.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1401547639' post='2464628'] The issue of 'best' is an interesting one, especially in the context of the SM58. Do we really believe that a 30/40 year old design is still the 'best' these days? And why should a cheaper mic be inferior? Pretty much all other electrical/electronic goods have become ridiculously cheap over the past 30 years, so why not mics? [/quote] There are a number of reasons why a cheaper microphone could be inferior. The SM58 and most other microphones mentioned in this thread are moving coil microphones. Worse materials might not unreasonably result in a diaphragm and coil that need to have higher mass and therefore inertia in order to be sufficiently robust. It's a 30/40 year old design and any patents will have expired. But, if what makes the SM58 good is that it uses reasonable materials, that would mean that cheaper copies might still not be as good, as the lower cost doesn't allow the use of as good quality materials. It might also be the case that a higher price allows better QC. Again, being able to use the design might help there. And for something simple like a moving coil microphone, it could be that the design is fairly well optimised, and there are no real improvements to be made. Like an adjustable spanner.

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1401540797' post='2464550'] Do you really need to post things like that when there are weak and impressionable bass players around? [/quote]

I may be looking in the wrong places, but I think there are fewer strange looking basses on sites such as Ali Baba than there were a few years ago. BTW: Kodiakblair found the following ex-demo bass with mucho spaltedness, and five string fretlessness for well under £300 even if postage is included. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ELECTRIC-BASS-ESP-LTD-5-STRINGS-B-205FM-FRETLESS-5-STRINGS-/261484776067?pt=Bassi&hash=item3ce1b50a83"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3ce1b50a83[/url] That's a lot of bass attractiveness for the money, and in my eyes answers the question in the thread title. Edit: I checked Ali Baba again. There are more interesting basses than I remember seeing last time I trawled through. E.g. this one: [url="http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Strong-wind-DF-BS10-electric-bass_533595396.html"]http://www.alibaba.c..._533595396.html[/url] Not too bad, but I must admit that I find quilt tops a bit too much, and the inlays are a bit too green for me. But, I could imagine other people liking it. This one isn't bad, but looks a bit squeezed. [url="http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/bass-guitar_481579968.html"]http://www.alibaba.c..._481579968.html[/url] Same company as one of the above, but again it has the right ingredients but doesn't do it for me. The (presumably) veneer here somehow doesn't look right. [url="http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/bass-guitar_481580107.html"]http://www.alibaba.c..._481580107.html[/url] The less said about this one, the better [url="http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/JN-12Custom-bass-guitar-unique-5_892665991.html?s=p"]http://www.alibaba.c...665991.html?s=p[/url] I really like the headstock and brand (font etc.) of this one, but the body looks a bit 'brewer's droop'. http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/XB-B4-Starlight-bass-guitar-in_499507020.html This is a 'stunning designed masterpiece' we are told. I think it would look nicer with more traditional darker wings. The model holding the bass looks like she could do the 'rock chick' thing if she held the bass in a more convincing fashion. http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Electric-Bass-Guitar-with-2x-Tone_1158073275.html This one looks good and extra-stripy, but the double MM style pickups look too big for me. Too blue inlays. Hmm.... am I subconciously looking for reasons why these are not quite right? http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Wood-made-electric-bass-guitar-from_895608661.html

Now that the action is sorted out, I quite like my Rockbass Streamer Standard. There are better basses around, including several I own. But, I don't think it's bad, and they have found a reasonable price for what you get on the second hand market. I wish the passive pickups had a bit more oomph though.

[quote name='cytania' timestamp='1401520366' post='2464365'] Are Shure cracking down on copies? Studiospares used to have own brand sm58/57 alikes but they've all disappeared this year... [/quote] Fame MS57 is still available it seems. http://www.dv247.com/microphones/fame-ms-57-dynamic-instrument-microphone--203386 I've never tried one. Reviews seem good. E.g. http://eugene-getman.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/shure-sm57-vs-fame-ms-57-do-you-really.html

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rare-Black-Kawai-Aquarius-Bass-Guitar-Good-Condition-/201099089557?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2ed2709695 Kawai Aquarius I say, smoothly pretending that I knew all along that there was an instrument called a Kawai Aquarius, rather than only reading about it for the first time when I saw this listing. Headstock looks a bit Aria Pro II SB Special II.

[quote name='rubis' timestamp='1401441929' post='2463582'] Me too, I'd like an SM57 for recording guitars and I'm very wary about them [/quote] It's a real pity that there are fakes. I have a '57 that I bought sometime in the 1990s. It's still going perfectly, and is a very useful microphone. I've had it through all sorts of stages of my music and recording life, and it's been good for all sorts of things. Everything from talking books to recording a chainsaw. It cost me £95 way back then, which would be a lot more now. But it's been really good value. A genuine '57 or '58 nowdays is a real bargain. If anyone wants a cheaper mic, they can buy a Behringer XM1800 which should be at least usable and cost absolutely nothing. No reason to buy a fake.

[quote name='EliasMooseblaster' timestamp='1401288458' post='2462077'] Oh, they look lovely, I agree (but take a closer look at the second photo!) [/quote] Yeah, that one's mentioned in the listing

The stripy through neck natural finish Aria Pro II basses are IMHO not a bad look for a company to imitate. At least the Tobias basses have an original headstock.

Cream is my favourite colour for an SG, slightly ahead of worn brown. My Westone Thunder II (sadly a guitar not a bass is a similar colour). Looking at this bass has made me think I want to eat some white chocolate. Fortunately there's none in the house.

<Fast Show Voice>Nice!</Fast Show Voice> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tobias-6-string-bass-guitar-/281347848545?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4181a37961 Is this one of the Korean made Tobias basses, made after the company was purchased by Gibson? If so, I enjoyed playing a four string Korean Tobias that have encountered.

Maya Jazz pickup only in Andover with an electrical fault. I must admit that when I see a passive bass with no sound, I have quite optimistic thoughts about the possibility of fixing it. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Maya-electric-bass-guitar-/321417004541?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4ad5f245fd

That's filled in. That's cheating

It might be interesting to think which letters could make interesting basses. My first initial is R, and I think an upside down back to front R could work. A would be easy as a flying V type bass. V itself would be harder. Nowhere to put the bridge!

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1401202780' post='2461132'] I think it was some sort of anniversary model, not an entirely serious instrument... Damn it's ugly though. [/quote] According to the NZ shop, originally this was a bass received by Warwick from a distributor to mark its 30th anniversary. But then Warwick put it into production. The bridge looks really oddly placed to me, not being central on the W. But I presume that was necessary to get the body to balance without angling the W so that the 'horns' didn't get in the way. Or???