EssentialTension

Looks like Skyline production is now Indonesian:

[url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?p=6565351&highlight=indonesia#post6565351"]Talkbass thread - see post 114[/url]

Basspraiser says there: "We also got to try some of the Skylines out that Jauqo mentioned in his post about “Skyline quality”……as some of you may know, rumor has it that Cort is closing the plant in Korea…as such, Dan had to move the production……based on input from Cort and other factors, the Skylines are now made at a Cort plant in Indonesia…….After trying out a few of the basses from the first shipment, I can say that they are as good if not better than the Korean Skylines. As Jauqo mentioned, they are lighter and very well put together! Dan is excited and impressed about the quality coming out of the plant. He mentioned that he thinks the reason the quality is so good is the fact that the Skylines are the “top of the line” for the particular plant and, as such, they are getting extra care and attention and he intends to make sure it stays that way…..in addition, all of the Skylines are now getting PLEK’d…overall, Skyline quality has never been better…."

Antigua finishes have always fascinated me and repelled me at the same time.

Still, an excellent collection.

[quote name='kennyrodg' post='334854' date='Nov 23 2008, 01:18 PM']Ive had it about 18 months so tbh i'm not sure if it's new version or not.There are periodic update downloads now and again.[/quote]

I might have a look at that again. Thanks

[quote name='artisan' post='334737' date='Nov 23 2008, 10:10 AM']cheers mate.
they really are lovely basses,i'd never even considered one before but just spotted it on the wall & fell in lust with it.
i agree about the neck-this has the best neck & fretwork of any bass i've ever owned.[/quote]

For me its weak point is the lack of passive switching - that would be a bonus I think.

I have the same bass but with rosewood - you can see it in my avatar.

I know some people don't care for the American Deluxes but to me this is a great bass in a great colour. I love the neck. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Difficult to get these as singles I think (except maybe the B strings at about £10 each from Stringsdirect):

[b]Jazz Rounds[/b]

JR34043 G string - £3.50

[b]Jazz Flats[/b]

JF34043 G string - £3.50 - [b]SOLD[/b]

JF34056 D string - £4 -[b]SOLD[/b]

JF34100 E string - £5

2 x JF34136 B string - £5 (£8 for the pair) - [b]SOLD[/b]

These prices are posted.

Any good for anyone?

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='334490' date='Nov 22 2008, 04:38 PM']Bum! Just seen this & I need a set of these. Oh well.

Enjoy 'em ET they're great strings for 32" like a Daisyrock elite bass or thru-strung 30" like a mustang bass.[/quote]

2x18 got in very quickly - lucky for him I guess. Sorry you missed them.

I really like these strings and I'm still using them on my Precision and on my Michael Kelly acoustic but the 34" kind for those. These were my spares for my DarkStarred Dearmond Starfire which is now gone so I no longer needed them. I've used the short scales on a 32" scale Aria TSB-550 too. Not everyone's cup of tea I know but I love 'em.

Although I've recently begun an affair with D'Addario Chromes on my Fretless Jazz.

And then there's an incoming Lakland Decade with Joe Osborn Flats.

So many strings, so few basses.

[quote name='kennyrodg' post='334441' date='Nov 22 2008, 02:59 PM']Horses for courses i guess. For me i find it gives me enough to work a toon out pretty quickly.Any gaps it does leave can be looped and slowed down to work out by ear.It's not perfect but its £30 at the end of the day.[/quote]

Maybe I was expecting too much and should try it again. How long have you been using it; is it possible it has been improved?

Sold pending the usual.

Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Flat Short Scale JF324 set

Unused, completely new and shiny.

£29.95 at Stringsdirect.

Yours for £18 posted.

[quote name='kennyrodg' post='328968' date='Nov 14 2008, 11:24 AM']It works great for me,i use it all the time to figure tracks out.You can pretty much start jamming to most tracks straight away.I am a lazy baas tho'. For instance..it's near as damn it spot on with "signed sealed delivered i'm yours",it misses the odd gost note here and there. I mention the Gladys knight track,most of its there tabbed out as its playing but you can loop sections to repeat and slow down if neccassary to dig deeper into the track.
I found that it negates the use of the tascam unit at home and i just use this software.It also transposes the tab as well plus a few other things. You pays your money you takes your choice but ive found it great value for money,i use it every day.
There is a free demo but there's talking over the top of it. [/quote]

Has it been improved then? Because I tried it about three years ago and I found it fairly poor at tabbing bass.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='333837' date='Nov 21 2008, 01:52 PM']Anyone know of any tap-tempo tremolos besides the Diamond, Ultrem and the Seymour Duncan one?[/quote]


Line 6 Tap Tremolo - although intended for guitar not bass.

bumpo

Sold pending the usual guys.

[quote name='spinynorman' post='331892' date='Nov 18 2008, 10:14 PM']I've had problems removing those witches hat style knobs myself in the past. If they're like the ones I had they're just a very tight fit to the shaft and a bugger to get off. I think I had just enough room to work a pair of scissors under the brim either side of the shaft, with a duster or something under the sharp end and I just levered and wiggled till they shifted. That was on a JapCrap EB3 copy though, on a hollow body I imagine you'd have to be more careful about cracking the wood.[/quote]

Yes, Fred Hammon told me something similar. He said he'd come across the same problem more than once. I still couldn't get them off though.


[quote name='spinynorman' post='331892' date='Nov 18 2008, 10:14 PM']Good luck with it, looks like a nice bass, despite the issues.[/quote]

It is a nice bass, and in my experience plays fine. It's just that the damage and poor repair doesn't make it look like something you'd necessarily want to invest in. Even though the second hand value of the hardware and bits and pieces and gigbag adds up to £230 or so, on my estimates. Brand new Dark Stars are just less than £250 for a RWRP pair shipped and taxed from the US and I believe minimum six weeks wait.

[quote name='BassManKev' post='331758' date='Nov 18 2008, 08:19 PM']i reckon you would be better off selling as parts, you'll get plenty of interest for the darkstars i would think, but i doubt those people would pay much more for the whole bass with them [/quote]

I think you are generally correct and certainly some interest in the Dark Stars but also other parts too.

However sale of the whole thing - my preference - is under negotiation. We'll see.

And more PMs replied.

[quote name='steve' post='330434' date='Nov 17 2008, 08:42 AM']pm sent [/quote]

And replied.

PMs replied.

Thanks guys.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' post='330344' date='Nov 16 2008, 11:11 PM']Yep, it looks in bad condition but I'll give you £15 for it as long as you don't tell anyone...... and my serious answer is it all depends on what you want for it.
You've made a full disclosure around its conditon, you say it plays well so price it accordingly and see what the response is.
It is however a buyers market......[/quote]

Thanks for the offer, I'll think about it.

And some buyers are PMing me , and I am trying to work out an appropriate price or prices on the parts.

I have a sunburst De Armond Starfire fitted with two Dark Star pickups and a master volume control. The original tuners have been replaced by Fender style Schaller tuners (I do not have the originals). The original De Armond volume and tone control knobs have been replaced with black Gibson style knobs (I have the originals). This is a short scale (30.5 inch) semi-acoustic bass which has a great sound (especially with the Dark Star pickups).

I’m looking to move this bass on to make space for another (and so keep Mrs Tension happy – otherwise I would definitely be keeping it but I much prefer keeping Mrs T) but I’m unclear how saleable it is in its present condition – it has some issues – or whether I would be better off selling the parts separately. So here’s a description of the issues.

1: The bass had been dropped (or taken some other kind of bang) so that the join between the neck and the fingerboard over the first three frets is cracked and has been repaired poorly. The crack is small and thin on the E string side but larger and worse on the G string side. I’ve tried to photograph this without much success but see pic five. Bernie Goodfellow had a look at this problem for me and considered it not worth the cost of repair (about £200+, he thought, to do a full and proper repair). Bernie did replace the nut, tidied up the poor repair, and did a set up. The bass does play without problem and I have gigged it many times. There is no movement in the crack. It is solid.

2: There are two small dinks near the bridge. These are purely cosmetic and don’t affect playability but the lacquer is clearly broken. You can see them in the second and third pics.

3: The volume and tone control knobs appear to have been glued to the pot shafts – I don’t strictly speaking know that they have been glued but I cannot get them off. Unfortunately they are stuck on slightly wonky. Again this does not affect playability but it is somewhat annoying.

So here’s my question: is anyone going to be interested in the bass in this condition or would I do better to part out the pickups, tuners, and bridge? I’d prefer to sell as is because despite the issues it is, in my experience, a good playable bass which I know I am going to miss.

I’m based in Brighton, so if anyone nearby wanted to actually see the bass in the flesh just let me know.

Opinions, questions, and/or offers are welcome.

EDIT: I forgot to say that there is no hard case but I do have a gigbag that fits well but was, in my experience, very difficult to find.

EDIT 2: I also forgot that there is a Dark Star thumbrest made by Jeannie's Pickguards fitted to the neck pickup.

The whole thing:


The body:


The body closer up with dings:


Replaced tuners:


The worst bit (as in focus as I could manage to get it); it's not as bad as it looks but then I have to admit it looks fairly bad:

[quote name='bubinga5' post='327872' date='Nov 12 2008, 07:23 PM']Anyone know where i can get scratchplates for a fender american vintage 75 jazz reissue..trying to find tortoise ones of different colours..

Any ideas?[/quote]

For my 1999 MIA Jazz, I got one from WD that fitted very well but you need to check very carefully which is the correct one for your bass. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=28405"]The thread about it is here[/url] including links to WD.

[quote name='johnnylager' post='325978' date='Nov 10 2008, 03:16 PM']Me ER20's help a lot by filtering a bunch of white noise the guits create though. And I'd be totally f***ing deaf if I hadn't worn them to Motorhead the other night. They were the loudest band I've seen since Quo in 1984.[/quote]

+1 on Motorhead being very loud at Brighton Dome. The bass drum(s) compressed the ribcage.

[quote name='notable9' post='324406' date='Nov 7 2008, 06:57 PM']Ah but not a low Eb....[/quote]

Well, I and (more so) many others have managed very well without that so-called low Eb. You and others might like it but that does not make it necessary. And anyway now you don't have a low Bb so you need to get an F# string, etc.

[quote name='lowdown' post='324875' date='Nov 8 2008, 05:11 PM']Here is his site [ Bob Babbit ]
Worth a look.

[url="http://www.bobbabbitt.com/"]http://www.bobbabbitt.com/[/url]


Garry[/quote]

Very interesting. I had never realised it was Babbit on Freda Payne's Band of Gold - always loved that line.