Bassassin

[quote name='FlatEric' post='1200228' date='Apr 15 2011, 08:10 AM']The man, himself - live! Like it. Aside from the track, absolutely facinated by the mic stand. . . . . how is that done? Answers on a postcard. [/quote] It's a lightsabre. So the band members don't forget who's boss. J.

Another practice room camcorder job: One of our oldest & heaviest songs, nothing fancy bass-wise, but a tune and a half, in my unreliable opinion. Jon.

[quote name='ash' post='1200097' date='Apr 14 2011, 11:19 PM']I bought the John Birch above from Ebay[/quote] Excellent, always good when something exceptional goes to a BC member!. Please take loads of lovely hi-res pics then post them in Bass Porn (dig out the Rampant Rickenbuggery thread, why not?) - including whatever's under that curious back scratchplate! J.

"TM"? Whatever happened to.... [size=6]TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM?[/size] Jon.

Hard to say because it depends on demand/interest at any one time. The Vox brand's collectable in itself, and high-end MIJ stuff like this can be quite dear - look at the prices Aria SBs & 80s Ibanez can fetch. However making an offer is quite a different matter, depends how cheeky you want to be! I'd say if you could blag one of these for under £200 it would probably be something of a bargain - but that's a total guess! These hardly ever come up on Ebay so I have nowt but speculation to go on, I'm afraid! J.

These are probably Matsumoku but I don't think it's confirmed. Not that it matters, they're lovely MIJ through-necks, these are rare as the proverbial & I'd love to get my hands on one! Jon.

Just spotted what looks like a somewhat butchered one of these on Ebay: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/guitar-project-/260765775275"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/guitar-project-/260765775275[/url] Headstock looks a bit different but the body shape, neck & inlays look identical. Might be a mess under that novelty scratchplate though. Jon.

[quote name='RhysP' post='1195897' date='Apr 11 2011, 04:16 PM']The top one is a total rip-off of a Gittler.[/quote] It's certainly a similar design philosophy, but I don't know if I'd call it a total rip-off. [url="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/52/Gittler_guitar.jpg"]Gittler guitar[/url]. Jon.

CMI (Cleartone Musical Instruments) was Marshall. It was a sub-brand Jim Marshall started up to sidestep a dodgy distribution deal Marshall were tied up in at the time. I think on the whole they were more budget-oriented products but would've been made alongside "proper" Marshalls. Jon. Edit: £250 on their website.

I won't be bidding (new bike GAS takes precedence at the moment), would really like to see someone on here get this one. J.

[quote name='karlfer' post='1195019' date='Apr 10 2011, 08:29 PM']Don't know if anybody has clocked this one. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110672355633&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...e=STRK:MEWAX:IT[/url][/quote] Total stunner - that's a Yamaki, this is only the 3rd one of these I've seen, in fact they've only started turning up in the last year or so. Apart from the Hi-Gain type neck pup these are closely based on the pre-'73 4001, with checker binding and gorgeous crushed pearl full-width inlays. I thought I'd got over my 'Faker gas but oh no... J.

Here's a project - by the sounds it needs a new truss rod & the fingerboard re-attaching properly: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110672949044"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=110672949044[/url] It will get pulled so anyone interested should drop him a note. It's probably originally been a Shaftesbury or Cimar - with the work it needs though it shouldn't be too dear - £200ish maybe. J.

[quote name='4 Strings' post='1194174' date='Apr 9 2011, 11:47 PM']Apart from snobbishness, I would add blandness. I've never played a bad one either (haven't played many I'll admit) and heard only good reports but ... what is there to attract? Seems rather characterless somehow.[/quote] Blandness? [i]Characterless??[/i] Actually - apart from the freakshow stuff, I do agree, about modern ones particularly. Very competent, consistently well-made, the budget ranges are excellent for the money - but they do lack something. Absolutely love my SBV, though. Jon.

Here's the KA wiring schematic thing: [url="http://www.kentarmstrong.com/schematics/KA_Wiring_Instructions.pdf"]http://www.kentarmstrong.com/schematics/KA...nstructions.pdf[/url] It says red & the bare wires are earth & the white is the signal - I'd guess on yours the red & bare go to the volume (probably stuck on the pot casing) and the white to the switch. Looking great, by the way. J.

[quote name='chaypup' post='1193180' date='Apr 8 2011, 07:14 PM']Bassassin - you may already know about this site but I just found it and, WOW it has a lot of gorgeous Matsumoku basses on there! [url="http://www.matsumoku.org/ggboard/index.php"]http://www.matsumoku.org/ggboard/index.php[/url][/quote] It's a good site & forum, excellent catalogue archive too. You'll find one or two posts from me on the forum, I should think... J.

It's obvious bollocks/stupidity - but these were officially licensed by Steinberger, so if they pull this they'd better get busy removing every Squier listing that mentions Fender. Jon.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='1192799' date='Apr 8 2011, 12:41 PM']Sold! Even though it wasn't as fancy as some other Kawai basses I've seen, I thought that £90 including delivery must be a bargain. Anyone around here buy it?[/quote] [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150546738592"]No, but I seriously kicked myself for forgetting to bid on it first time it was on.[/url] J.

[quote name='mart' post='1192649' date='Apr 8 2011, 10:11 AM']Isn't that the problem? The anti-guitar feelings come from having played with guitarists whose attitude/ego outweighs their abilities. Personally I've been really fortunate - the only guitarists I've played with have been lovely blokes. But I've known of others who are rather harder to work with, and I'm sure folk on here would have a few stories to tell.[/quote] I think this stems from the fact that it would seem that most bassists tend to play in someone else's band - apart from my first one, that's never been the case for me so it's difficult to empathise. A guitarist with more ego than ability wouldn't last 5 minutes in my band - mostly because it is [i]my[/i] band. J.

Fat Les? Not really convinced by the pics, so I'll have to reserve judgement on the aesthetics until I see a real one. The pups & hardware look sort of lost on that huge body - actually one of the things I quite like about the look of normally-proportioned LP basses is the over-long neck in comparison to the body. Should neck-dive less though, but it's going to be a fair bit heavier. Jon.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hondo-2-bass-guitar-Fireglo-stereo-like-Shaftesbury-/250801254838"]And the award for the most hilariously overhyped slab of Korean plywood goes to...[/url] J.

Just found [url="http://www.bass-aholic.com/basses/W/westone/westone_catalogue_pages.htm"]this[/url] linked from the Westy forum. Should help ease the pain. J. Edit: [url="http://www.bass-aholic.com/basses2.php?instr=Basses&orderBy=By+Name"]The rest of that site ain't exactly going to help the GAS either![/url]

First go at a practice room video: Audio's not at all bad considering it's just the camcorder's (Canon Legria FS306) built-in mic and our PA's complete rubbish! Bass is an '82 Washburn SB-40 Vulture II through a GK700RB mkII 1x15 combo & Hartke 2.5XL. Really enjoying playing the Washboard at the moment & the rig's a killer - exactly what I was after. Jon.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1191490' date='Apr 7 2011, 10:34 AM']I would hazard a guess that the people who play more than just bass are also songwriters?[/quote] Definitely. I spent about 6 years out of bands in the 90s - during that time I wrote plenty, and really only picked up a bass when I had to record a bass line. I've never found the bass a good instrument for composition - I can easily come up with bass lines & riffs I like but trying to add a guitar to that always feels & sounds (to me, anyway) awkward & forced. The other way 'round is no problem - in fact when I'm working on a guitar part I can usually hear in my head what the bass should do before I even pick it up. And it's not usually root notes. J.

[quote name='Johnston' post='1190470' date='Apr 6 2011, 01:43 PM']But sure BC has the almighty fountain of knowledge himself. The one and only Bassassin[/quote] Thank you for the recognition - but the flaw inherent in that solution is that much of my massive, gushing fountain of hot & sticky but ultimately useless information is backed up by a library of links to websites such as Westone.info! To be honest this seems incomprehensible and somewhat spiteful to me - even if he didn't want to continue maintaining the site, he could have left it up - or alternatively there are plenty of people with spare web space who could have hosted it. If I'd known I would've offered, I run a couple of other sites & the Westone one wasn't a physically big resource. Bollocks. Jon.