Beedster

4 minutes ago, nilorius said:

In my 25 year bass life - i got so much problems to learn slap. At first i tried Flea way and got it in elementary position. After 4 years i had a big period where i didn't need to play slap/pop bass, so i got to restart from zero. Last years i only played fretless where slap is not the best sounding style. About a half year ago i reset my main bass should be 5 string fretted and i tried to slap again, but dahh - i was a slut. I tried some youtube learning videos, but somehow it didn't work. 4 days ago i bought a book - ''Acid for a children'' - Flea life biography. There was some part telling that Flea once seen a black bass guitarist playing slap/tequinique. And he just wrote - I like it and i will learn it. And he said he did it. Today i took my 5 string Yamaha trb 5p II and tried to slap and somehow the elementary things got right. So now i decided to learn it very well and believe i will be able to do it.

1) Glad you’re making progress

2) Slap on fretless is a lovely style

3) This thread is about slap on DB

👍

The Sphere, unused, still boxed, split XLR cable included (necessary to use unit with modelling software)

And next up the Softube, also in very good condition and mounted in bespoke desktop rack

Photos as promised (moved out of studio and into kitchen for light and access). x8p first off....

Not it's in very very good condition, there are some very minor scratches on the top surface from inserting into the rack unit where it has lived from the two years I've had it, but otherwise it's in great condition. The power socket has been pulled in/out two or three times at most, and having used a rack panel for mics, the XLRs on the unit itself have also been used very rarely. It even still has protective plastic on screens!

47 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

the shop didn't even do research to find out the value of a Wal. - do you think they had any idea about packaging and CITEs to send a bass internationally?! 

In a country where house purchased can be gazumped I find little to be worked up about when a small shop takes local money and hand delivers vs international sale and everything that entails. Not great but life is too short to get that worked about it. It's just a bass!

That is the mystery here, the shop not understanding the potential value of the instrument. Despite often talked about rarity (more a case of people holding on to them than rarity per se), it's not like they're a hard to research obscure brand....

Fantastic thread, I'm almost 60 and having played bass since 1982 thought I knew a bit about the instrument and those who play it. I've been proven wrong on the first many times, now finding I'm not doing so well on the second  

6 hours ago, Rayman said:

I’ve been scammed. He sold the exact same bass in February. Same photo, identical.

 

I’ve asked eBay for a refund. No idea how long that takes.

Might be that it sold but buyer never paid? Happens a lot on eBay 🤞

I had to shift my source of income rather dramatically during lockdown having previously had the good fortune to be to all intents a walking psychologist in the French Alps. I went digital and produced podcasts and videocasts for the same clients, a model that took off nicely and enabled me to buy some rather nice studio gear. However my work is now moving away from the vocal booth and back towards the real world, so it's probably time to let some of my gear go. I recognise that money's short at present and that it's a bass forum not Gearspace so am very happy to talk trades/PX with bass gear, especially for anything Fenderish.

This is lovely top end gear that has been in my studio from new - all of it is less than two years old - has been well looked after and probably used less than 100 hours (I have two other smaller UAD interfaces and two Townsend L22s that I used more as they were portable and I was doing quite a lot of location recording). The mic is new from earlier this year and still unused and boxed; if you've not used UAD mic modelling be prepared to be impressed! 

I'd like to sell/trade this as a job lot if possible, this really is a very nice package, especially if you're podcasting/home recording and want to get pro results at less than pro prices. I'll also include all necessary interconnecting cables. The price is very competitive for gear that retails at well over £5000 new. Pics are on their way just need to get the units out of their respective racks. All original packaging etc included. Collection from Whitstable preferred, but delivery in person is possible and courier delivery negotiable.   

7 minutes ago, Kev said:

I think it also matters tremendously the reason the shop gave to the US buyer for cancelling the sale, whatever that may have been.

Agreed, and of course in this case it could all be completely legit. I probably shouldn't have equated this situation with my own as they might be quite different 👍

Having owned three Wals, I can understand the appeal but not at anywhere near the prices now being banded about. At those prices they've become an attractive collector's antique, and it might be an attraction that only lasts for a few years while people of a certain age get stuff out of their systems.... 

6 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

I guess one could argue that given that it was possibly a commission sale, that the shop had a duty to get the best price for their customer.

That should have been sorted out before it went up for sale though. I say 'sale', but it sounds like it was a blind auction.

I'd also argue the case for the buyer saying 'I understand it's sold, but let me have first refusal if things don't work out'.

But, 'I don't care if it's sold, I'll give you more money, plus you won't have to ship it internationally' sucks big time from both sides.

I have visions of there being a mirror thread on Talk Bass.

It's a poor show. It happened to me a few years ago, and over and above the frustration - it was a nice old 70's Precision fretless with a retro-fitted J-PUP - I then had to fight with the shop to get my money back, they seemed to think it was OK to 'process a refund which will take several days'. Guess the US buyer might have similar issues if it was an international money transaction

I inadvertently found myself with 6 Precisions at one time in around 2008, mostly due to a spate of selling and buying getting a little out of whack (not for the first time). But wow, 8 Precisions is some serious shit, I take off my hat to you 👍

18 minutes ago, Cygnus x-1 said:

Thanks very much Lawrie [Burns-bass] for your understanding and support, you give your fellow man a chance and are able to look at the big picture. 

 

I must say being a member of this forum for more years than I care to remember, I have dealt with and spoken to many great people, but... I think it changed when the listing fees were introduced and can get suspicious, prickly and petty. 

 

I'm a member of many forums of different interests and have never had or seen issues like this. 

 

Anyhow thanks for lots of understanding and like Burns-bass I'll take a break. 

 

Nick. 

Nick, seems to have got messy above. All I can add is that the £7 per sale or £20 per year to sell for a whole year will be money well spent. This is a great place with a lot of great people many of whom like buying basses (and then selling them again) 👍

36 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

Let’s just help the fella out… I’ve emailed, you can message me back and I’ll do what I can to help you. 

 

If you want a bureaucracy free sale then you can call up BassBros or if it’s vintage stuff, then try Andy Baxter.

 

 

Well done Lawrie 👍

48 minutes ago, Owen said:

My bass loves those keys with open strings in them. 

Mine’s the opposite 

9 hours ago, EJWW said:

…one-time Bowie bassman (according to Wikipedia 🤔) Richard Fairbrass…

 

That’s a solid no

Having started this thread a year or so back, and since then seeing even madder price inflation despite the cost of living crisis, I suspect the question should be 'Is any electric bass - even a true vintage - ever worth over £1500?', or is it all simply a dopamine-driven ego trip eagerly capitalised on by the sellers and dealers? Mid 80's Fenders and even Squiers in the £2000 bracket, Wals that could be bought 10 years ago for around £1500 now selling at almost ten times that, Mex Fenders selling used for more than a new MIA a few years back....? 

My three a few years back....

....an '82, '64, and '71 (albeit modified with Jazz PUP and fretless board). A great gang, but collectively worth over £10,000. I love the idea of vintage Fenders, but in terms of value it's nothing more than an antiques market, you can build instruments of equal quality for significantly less than £1000 if you're patient. The magic is in the player not the instrument, despite what the dealers tell you 👍

PS those two rigs were also lovely, the Ampeg way better than should have been the case at the price - and so easy to hear on stage - and the Boogie/Bag End just glorious at any price 

2 hours ago, tauzero said:

It looks like the off-track action is going to be more exciting than the competition itself. Oh sorry, that's Formula 1.

 

Complaints in from Bambie Thug about Israel's broadcaster, possibly the European Commission about the EBU banning the EU flag, and the Netherlands' Joost Klein possibly being prosecuted by Sweden, it's all great fun.

Which is what Eurovision is about, generating non-news

11 hours ago, Leonard Smalls said:

And while I didn't watch the final as I was gigging (to be fair I rarely do anyway as I don't really like the Eurovision song format) but the staging is absolutely amazing. I'd love to play on a stage like that rather than a grimy grass-roots venue with 4 coloured spotlights and duff PA!

Give me a grass roots venue every time 

19 hours ago, tinyd said:

I can see how the bass might "prefer" certain notes in that it resonates better and so on. But I can't see how this might be the case for flat keys vs sharp ones in general. As you say, you're more comfortable in certain keys than others (as most of us are) and so your hand shape, fingering etc might be subtly better and therefore you stop the notes more cleanly?

That seems to be the most probable explanation 👍

3 hours ago, Belka said:

I don't doubt that there are dodgy guitars out there but in most cases the problem is actually that they are cut and shuts, they're non original custom colours, or they're stolen (or any combination of the three). Faking an entire instrument or even neck is going to be a pretty rare occurrence.

 

The paler padauk necks really were a thing in 1965. It's a very hard wood which could account for why it looks new. There are more examples, all from 1965 in the pictures below, including one showing a prominent unfaded neck stamp. 

 

 

3 hours ago, Belka said:

Actually, the two stamps show the same distortion in the '7','5'and 'A'. (the one above is a bass sold on Talkbass, the lower picture is the one at Charlie Chandler's). Same month too. I'm pretty sure that neck is legit.

Nicely presented @Belka, every day's a school day when it comes to vintage Fenders 👍

2 hours ago, Beedster said:

A couple of visits to dealers of vintage basses around 15 years ago made me realise that there's not only a lot of dodgy basses out there, but that the owners - not always as expert as they'd have you believe and often not as honest either - have all sorts of stories to cover for what in real terms were deal-breaking deviations from originality and even authenticity. A memorable comment from a London-based shop/dealer was something along the lines "If I took the neck off to show you the neck stamp it would devalue the instrument and i'm not prepared to do that just because you don't trust me. The person I bought it from - who I've known for years - assured me that it's a June 1964 instrument and that's good enough for me.....".

Ha ha, I forgot to mention the key fact; I found out a few months later when I bought my (real) June '64, that the bass in question most certainly wasn't a June '64 Precision, just a bitsa albeit built mostly of original '60's parts  

4 hours ago, Noisyjon said:

 

 

This is why I love BC!

 

Would you 2 fine fellows mind expanding a bit on what the giveaways are?

I'm genuinely interested and love building up my knowledge on this type of stuff.

 

Cheers,

Jon

 

Ha ha, there are far moore knowledgable people than me on this forum, but I've owned a few 60's Fenders, and have spent an embarrasing amount of time looking at them, trying them out, researching them, and talking about them!

But to this bass; it could be 100% lewit but there are simply too many questions about the neck for me. When I saw the first photo my strong and immediate gut feel was 'Mmmm, neck's wrong'. OK, it might be a very unusual/rare board that's throwing me, although it looks rather unplayed even for a paler hardwood for a 60-year old board to my eye. But that the potentially rare board is part of a neck with at least two other potential signs of non-originality leaves me feeling suspicious. A couple of visits to dealers of vintage basses around 15 years ago made me realise that there's not only a lot of dodgy basses out there, but that the owners - not always as expert as they'd have you believe and often not as honest either - have all sorts of stories to cover for what in real terms were deal-breaking deviations from originality and even authenticity. A memorable comment from a London-based shop/dealer was something along the lines "If I took the neck off to show you the neck stamp it would devalue the instrument and i'm not prepared to do that just because you don't trust me. The person I bought it from - who I've known for years - assured me that it's a June 1964 instrument and that's good enough for me.....".

47 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

Repro bridge as well. If the shop can’t spot that not sure I’d have confidence in their ability to authenticate the whole thing.

There’s a few things look less than authentic on that bass to be honest