Bassman68

About 5 years ago, After driving from essex to plymouth for a function at an army base, after finding that we had no food provided for the band, we left the base in search of a food establishment. After 2 attempts to get seated in pub restaurants (no drinks consumed!) we decided to head for the 'Muckdonalds' drive through. The pub we were leaving had a long walk around to the carpark to get back to the van or,as i thought, a quick leap over the 3' high beer garden fence into the car park. I went to leap first, caught my foot on the fence, crashed down sideways on my right elbow in the car park... Wondering why i had something pointing out of my arm i quickly realised the pain i was in, thankfully the royal plymouth hospital was close by & after checking into A & E discovered that i had shattered my elbow & broken my arm in 4 places. Needless to say i didn't make the gig that night! Breaking my arm was bad enough but i was more concerned about making sure my gear was packed up & returned to essex whilst i stayed at plymouth hospital...

[quote name='Platypus' post='952313' date='Sep 10 2010, 10:57 PM']Just watched that gig on Sky Arts (Hammersmith Odeon -1985 ) myself - really enjoyed it. Haden't realised Norman Watt Roy played a Smith bass, in those days.[/quote] Think you might find it was an Alembic he was playing? Brilliant gig tho, would love to track down a DVD of that concert 'cos it didn't seem that long on tv....

9 basses for me at the moment, 1 guitar, 1 Uke but always on the lookout for more..........I have fretless GAS currently...........

[attachment=56844:Debs___gig_002.jpg] I love mine, but i find it's not a 'jack of all trades' bass tone-wise, It just sounds like an Alembic at the end of the day,The tone filter takes some getting used to, to begin with but the Bass & Treble cut/boost switches make for a nice tone, It's not that heavy either. As already stated, with the $ price being so strong against the £, I sometimes have to consider where to take mine at certain gigs. It is now my main 'Function' bass as i get some looks at pub gigs!

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='887284' date='Jul 6 2010, 01:43 PM']I bet you probably worked on my original SII (#402) with the almost black rosewood top and light flashes. This bass was made in 1987 & I owned it from 1990 until 2006. [/quote] A lovely example of an original series II but unfortunately built before i joined ('89-'91). I'd definately remember having a hand in such a great looking bass as that.... I love the earlier models with the L.E.D for the active circuit, even my 2000 V had to have one in green!

[quote name='scarified' post='901343' date='Jul 21 2010, 09:42 PM']Hey Bassman68 - I used to live in Chelmsford in the 80s. Would "SS" be Steve Sutcliffe ?[/quote] Yes.............Steve was there & Greg when Status were based in Chelmsford, before they moved production to Witham. That's when i joined in '89 ( I was only there a couple of years tho..) I don't know what Steve is doing these days?

[quote name='matski' post='886448' date='Jul 5 2010, 04:52 PM']I can join your merry gang now! The courier just delivered it today: the rather tasty fretless 5 string S2000. [attachment=53622:DSC02422.JPG] [attachment=53623:DSC02424.JPG] Serial number is 0435, can anybody shed some light on when it was manufactured?[/quote] Lovely 2000 5 string, reckon it's from the first batch in late '89 when production went entirely 'in-house' for 2000 mouldings (well saying that, the manufacturing process was the same as the series II, With a wooden core, set-in neck & graphite facings front & back. The join between wood & graphite being hidden by the black sunburst). I had #0440... If you look in the battery compartment, see if it has a signature in there, either SS or $L, if it's $L.......I made it!

Just down to my Pearl blue 3000 these days, altho it does have a series II circuit in it. Used to have a series 2000 V as well, One of the first few made in late '89 (circuit switch & green L.E.D) built it for myself when i worked for Rob. Sadly sold it back in '93 ( doh! ). Would love to track my old 2000 down or a nice series II 5 string......

Just a pity 'bout 'the pipe'!....................

You might also try the Corvette body shape as well. The longer top horn helps to distribute the weight. I prefer my Corvette proline over my Thumb NT when playing a long set although i suffer the Thumb for the clarity of tones & side LED's... Find a neck width that is comfortable for you as well when looking for a 5 string 'wick, I find they vary between certain models. My '96 Thumb bass is slimmer in profile than my '93 Proline although the Proline is thinner in depth.

I have a Bartolini booster pre-amp (can't remember the model number) in my MIM jazz V. I find it brings the volume up nicely to the level of other active basses i use, with a slight bass & treble boost, really rounding the tone off nicely. That fits directly in the original routing space along with the required 9v battery. With the tone control at 10, i can get that 'classic' Marcus slappy jazz sound but rolling the tone back doesn't make too much difference 'til about 3/4 when the 'mud' sets in. It could be more of a tone pot/resistance 'thing' i suppose but i can live with it, when i need that JB tone.

MDF was used in construction of Trace cabinets before Kaman took over...I was building them back in '91! & breathing in that sh*t. Pretty much all Trace cabs with the 'variable' tuned ports were constructed with this material (to my knowledge?). The best cabs IMO were/are the earlier MK V's & before, that were made of ply-wood with proper internal bracing & porting, anyone that's picked up a MK V 1048 would know why they were so heavy! they were also filled with an accoustic foam/lagging type material that was visible through the narrow porting slots, i don't know how much help this had on the sound but, to me, always exuded an air of 'quality'.... From the series 6 onwards kevlar impregnated Celestion speakers were used on all the range, prioir to that, a mixture of Celestion & Fane speakers were used, Fane being used for the 15''s with the silver speaker surround & Celestions for the 10''s, with the occasional PD (Percussion Dynamic?) used for the 15''s (fantastic speakers similar to the also occasionally used E.V), If you can find a 1518 with one of these in you'd hear what i mean. I think Trace went with the carpet covering as it come 'in vogue' with most speaker cabs in the mid-90's, a good tip if you have an earlier vinyl Trace cab is to clean it up with some black shoe polish to get rid of light scuffs, it's what they did at the factory before shipping! Lastly if you want to match up 'period' cabs, earlier cabs like MK III,IV's had chrome corner protectors & MK V's had black ones, & i think i can recall from series 6 onwards they had screen printed logo's...

Warwick seem to give everyone & his dog a bass! except me of course, i've only been playing them for 17 years & have 4 of 'em.... Then again i don't play metal & come from the USA or Europe ( As in most of their adverts!) I'm not bitter!............................................................................................Hone st!

I like it & for [b]that[/b] price it was an absolute steal. I would prefer some smaller machine heads & different control knobs but that's just personal choice...

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='765493' date='Mar 5 2010, 07:01 PM']Hell yes, people liked listening to it when I did it in the 80's. In the 90's it was a bit ho hum and now I don't do it much at all, but slapping is still a good way of finding out what the bass can deliver in terms of attack and frequency response. I stand unashamed. In twenty years time what questions will be asked of how we play now?[/quote] Yeah, go on...I'll hold my hand up too! Either Monkey business in Romford or The bass centre in Wapping (when they were still upstairs). Reckon they'll be asking what shoes we gazed at? in 20 years, either that or what Wooten lick we ripped off!

Deffo not an Alembic, they don't make bolt on necks! Either a piece of 80's jap exotica or a small time luthier paying tribute to san-francisco's finest. I remember a luthier called KGB but it's not one of them.

And what frequency is channel 38 on? 'cos i have UHF guitar, Mics & I.E.M systems to deal with!

[quote name='neilb' post='763226' date='Mar 3 2010, 06:44 PM']Thought so. Im Chas's mate and i know Lumby well...too well really!!! regards mate. Neil[/quote] Who don't? LOL! Good to hear from you mate... Gizza PM let's catch up!

Something like a LM2 or LM3 (both 500 watts) paired up with front ported 4x10 & 1x15 STDhf cabs would be equivalent BUT will sound different. Markbass has less of a 'signature' sound than your Trace gear, a lot more 'transparent' sounding but in a musical way. You can still get that Trace pre-shape sound with the MB VPF filter control, pretty much maxed out. I found when i changed to MB gear that all my basses sounded different. Not in a weired way, just they sounded almost DI'd, very natural (if that makes sense?) but then again i had been using an Eden rig for 8 years & had probably got used to that sound. You'll certainly notice the difference in weight, I love my stack & don't groan at the prospect of stairs at gigs, these days!

Might be able to get a Warwick Rockbass 'Nighthawk' streamer for that sort of money....

[quote name='Merton' post='762520' date='Mar 3 2010, 07:38 AM'] What did you do for them?[/quote] Sawmill/wood shop..routed all the cabs & amp cases. Nothing exciting really, prior to that i worked at Status, from the end of the series 3000 line to the introduction of the energy. series.

[quote name='neilb' post='762179' date='Mar 2 2010, 08:13 PM']Stevie L?????[/quote] Fraid so mate

[quote name='Merton' post='760643' date='Mar 1 2010, 12:42 PM']Careful with your history... Gibson took over after the GP12X preamp, not the SMX preamp, that wa sa Kaman era and widely regarded as the last "good" Trace. Pedantic, I? [/quote] Doh! & there was me working for them when Kaman took over! just couldn't remember the name, no wonder all these Ovations & Hamer guitars kept appearing. I left shortly afterwards