4-string-thing

[quote name='NancyJohnson' post='654400' date='Nov 14 2009, 12:20 PM']While there's no doubting the band had talent, on a more personal level, Level 42 represented everything that was bad musically about the 80s. It was a really terrible, terrible time if you were a fan of good old guitar based rock or punk. And remember punk was only a few years old. I remember one bloke saying to me [at the time] that they were just easy listening rock for stock market traders. Slappidity dappitdy slappidity. Yawn. Twenty plus years on, the opening bars of any Level 42 track will still have me reaching for the remote control or changing the radio station. Sorry! P[/quote] I agree, while there is no doubting Kings talent, IMO it's just showboating for showboating's sake, sickly tunes and rubbish lyrics!

Yamaha used to sell a bracket for mounting their small mixers onto a mic stand. This could easily be adapted. I bought one from Germany (probably Thomann) for a few quid, not sure if they still do it though.

I've got a pair of HH PA speakers, that I was given. Only rated at 100w with a single 12" driver, but really loud and clear, I reckon they would easily take double the power. Only trouble is the weight, boy, they are heavy! I also have a McGregor power amp, and I was told that the guy who designed it used to work for HH. This is also a great bit of British eighties kit.

[quote name='EdwardHimself' post='629386' date='Oct 18 2009, 12:25 PM']That's cool that you've owned your bass for the last 30 years. Must be a good un.[/quote] Er, yeah, I'm 47 now, and I remember I couldn't drive when I bought it, so would have been 17 or less! As for it being a good one, I don't remember ever playing another one to compare it to!

[quote name='budget bassist' post='629144' date='Oct 17 2009, 11:06 PM']is it not just a really sort of bleached vintage white? really cool rig, loving the vintage vibe, especially with the acoustic stuff, can't beat a corvette either [/quote] It's never really been a white, more of a cream colour, it seems to be getting darker as it gets older, especially where my forearm rests while playing. The corvette is nice, only had it a few weeks, will sound really nice when the strings get played in a bit! (about 5-10 years, lol)

[quote name='wesfinn' post='628957' date='Oct 17 2009, 07:18 PM']yeah could be anything between 79 and 82 as this serial number was for all of these years. i had a sienna burst one in better condition than this. looks lovely though. i reckon the guys just mis-typed.[/quote] My 70's (77 or 78) precision has a rosewood fingerboard, but no "skunk stripe" cos the truss rod went in from the front. Did this change later on? Or has the neck been replaced?

[quote name='BassAgent' post='628919' date='Oct 17 2009, 06:31 PM']I dig it! What year is the Precision from? My guess is '77?[/quote] Not sure, either '77 or '78. I bought it S/H in 1979 or 1980 for £240. Btw, I'd be interested to know what the colour is? I've never really liked it, its a sort of custard yellow.

Almost finished rebuilding my 2x10, so I thought I'd take a couple of pics of my main gear. Trouble is, I've not posted pics on here before and am not sure how to go about it.... D'oh! [attachment=34614:PHTO0097.JPG] Oops...seems like I do know, after all...

ok, here's my two 'penneth for what its worth! I wanted a cheap bass a couple of years ago (after playing an outdoor gig in November!) that I could leave lying around at toilet venues etc, and not worry too much about. I came across the black violin bass by Le Marquis, and at the time it was about £85 plus a bit extra for the case. My girlfriend bought me one for christmas. Delivery was quick, and painless from Sono music supplies in Germany. I have to say, for the money, it is a very good bass. Much better than I expected, well built, nice to play, nicely finished and sounds pretty good through my Acoustic 220. I would be quite upset should it get damaged or stolen. Even though I am not playing toilets anymore, I will be hanging on to it. Whether I would want to pay todays price for it though, is another matter. Contrast this with my experience with Squier products. About 8 years ago I bought a Squier "Fat" telecaster, cost: £240. This thing was bobbins from the start. Bad neck, which I could never get straight, no matter how much I tweaked the truss rod. The paint finish was ok, but the hardware was rubbish, the machine heads were sloppy, and the pup selector was hit and miss, sometimes killing the sound altogether, when selecting the neck pup, requiring a bit of fiddling til it made contact with something! I managed to sell the thing for just over £100 in the end, despite being barely played and in "as new" condition. However, my girlfriends son also owned a £90 Squier strat, which was pretty good, certainly better than my tele. Horses for courses really, of course, it's always better to try before you buy, but I have had no problems with my Le Marquis violin bass or Sono MS.

Dave Pegg of Fairport Convention and Jethro Tull used them in the 80's. If they're good enough for him, then I would have no qualms about using one! I think they were a Canadian company?

I was looking at both the Warwick and the Rockbass Corvette's at the weekend. I wanted a sub £400 bass and thought the Rockbass looked ideal. It was ok, but when I saw them in the shop, I didn't like the hight gloss finish much. My girlfriend then told me to try the natural oil finish Warwick which I did, and what a difference! The whole thing just seemed so much better! Nicer woods, nicer sound and the oil finish is so much nicer. My girlfriend (bless her) insisted that I had it, so how could I refuse? We even managed to get them to knock £80 off the asking price and got it for £640. I'll be taking her with me when I go to look for my new amp sometime in the future, thats for sure!

Hello All, Operation Rock 'n' Roll will be debuting their own brand of sleazy, punked up, seventies rock at this years Whitwick Music Festival, in Deepest Leicestershire on Bank Holiday Sunday (august 30th) at around 2pm. There are usually around a dozen bands on at this event, it's a fiver to get in and all proceeds go the the air ambulance. If any BC'ers come along, come and say hello and I'll buy you a pint! Cheers, Mark Kinton.

Hi, thanks for the suggestions! I did have a look at the Squier active Jazz, and 51 precision, but as I already own a 78 precision, I think I may want an alternative to a Fender. The Ibanez didn't really do it for me, looks wise, sorry guys! Nobody has mentioned the Cort, so I am still thinking Yamaha or Warwick/Rockbass. Keep 'em coming though, Mark.

I'm looking for a versatile, modern looking (maybe) small bodied, lightweight, slim necked bass, for under £400. I'm thinking maybe a s/h Warwick Corvette, a Cort Curbow or a Yamaha RBX4 A2. I must admit, I have never played any of these, so have no idea what they play or sound like, I'm just going on looks at the mo. I play in a sleazy, punky rock 'n' roll band, so need something that suits that kind of thing. If anyone has tried or owned anything that fits the bill, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Cheers, Mark Kinton.

Easy....buy an old Acoustic head on ebay and spend the remaining £1350 on a week in the sun!

Oh lordy, I knew this would happen..... I love the look of the sunburst modified vintage, fretless, but think it looks a bit odd with the chrome control plate but no pickguard. And they do the deluxe in the same colour, no control plate, but fretted only. (stick with me, I think I have that right so far) So I'm thinking my ideal beast would be the deluxe, defretted and with the actives removed for the true "jazz" sound! Hmmm, not very likely to find one then!

In a few weeks I'll be looking to buy myself another bass. I was thinking about a Squier classic vibe 51 precision, but as already own a 78 USA P bass, I'm now thinking about a Squier Jazz. Does anyone own, or have you tried either the Vintage modified fretless, or the Deluxe active IV? Are they any good? If so, which would you buy? Cheers!

Has anyone tried the Squier version of the 51? I'm poor and can't afford the real thing! Things are so bad, I'm even thinking of hacking up an old Hohner p bass copy and turning it into a lookalike...

I work for an electrical wholesaler and amongst our old stock I found a tripod that they use on building sites for floodlights. I bought one of those and modified it. First off, I cut one leg shorter, so it leans back slightly. I then cut the "U" shaped top piece from an old guitar stand and rivetted that to the top to support the neck. To hold the endpin, I drilled through the bottom of the tripod and put a 10mm eyebolt through with a nut either side. The endpin of my Stagg, sits in the eye of the eyebolt, the hole in the eyebolt is big enough for the spike to go through. The eyebolt is about a foot off the floor, so I don't need to mess about with the spike every time I take the bass off the stand. The whole thing seems very stable due to the bass leaning back. The eyebolt is long enough to hold the bass body well away from any metal parts of the tripod and the whole thing is adjustable for height. There are a couple of drawbacks though....the hole for the eyebolt must line up with the short leg or it would be unstable, and, er, it's bright yellow! Total cost was less than a tenner.

The old Acoustic Control Corporation heads would run at 2 ohms, I believe. I'm not sure if the new ones will, or if they will ever arrive in Britain!

Fender, original and best! In my opinion, at least. Mine has sounded great through every amp I've ever used (except one, a rehearsal room Behringer) and has been with me for almost 30 years and will be with me for 30 more! Hell, I may even have it buried with me!

Just what it says on the tin.... after 8 months away from the band thing, I now feel the need to get going again. Mature (ahem) bass player with good gear, enthusiasm, transport etc is looking for an interesting band based within reasonable reach of NW Leicestershire, ie, Notts, Derby, Brum, Leicester etc. [email protected] or 07799 326158 Cheers, Mark Kinton.

I have a Behringer desk for my PA, and its ok, though nowhere near as loud as its "1200w" would suggest (that could just be my inefficient speakers though) I have only used one of their bass amps once, in a rehearsal studio, and its the only amp thats ever made my precision sound crap!

Thanks for the advice guys, just as I thought, Fenders numbering system was vague at best! I guess it's not really important, as I'll probably never sell the thing anyway! Mark.