matski

Such a pity, and such bad news. Like many others here, I never met him in person but had PMed and found him to be a true gent and a natural joker. My sincerest condolencies to his family and all who counted him as a friend.

On the lawns at Tonbridge castle - as a background band during one of those mock medieval battles where loads of hairy geezers dress up in chainmail and try to hack each other to death. The nudist gig will be horrible. You just know the audience will all be saggy 50 year olds who really should keep their clothes on...

Don't thank me - I nicked that info from www.musicmanbass.org

Looks all hunky-dory to me. Another clue as to the age of pre-EB StingRays can be found by checking the codes on the volume/treble/bass pots: if the seller will allow you to remove the control plate on the front of the bass, you should be able to see a 6-digit code stamped into the side of the pots. If you take a look at this pic of a pot from a '79 Ray, the code is R1377918: 137 is the part number, the next 2 digits give you the date of manufacture - in this case 1979, and the last 2 digits give the week of manufacture - week 18 which is approximately beginning of May. [attachment=55708:Pot_with_Date_Code.jpg]. While you've got the control plate off, check out the state of the wiring, soldering, pre-amp board etc., - just to make sure nothing has been tampered with. You know it makes sense.

2EQ. You know it makes sense.

1984 - Doughnuts - Tunbridge Wells - 16 years old. An original called 'The Persistance of Memory'. Our band was called Acid Rain: we were a trio consisting of me on bass, guitarist, singer, and drum machine and keyboards on a PortaStudio (with immense levels of hisssssss at quiet moments). Bass: Aria SB Black & Gold I. Amp: horrendous Carlsbro Cobra 90. I still have an old VHS tape with that gig somewhere, the playing was pretty shonky due to extreme levels of nerves, but we looked pretty natty in our matching red paisley shirts.

I replaced the nut on my P bass a couple of months ago and it was a piece of cake. I bought a Tusq one off the web, used the highly scientific method of gently tapping the old nut out sideways with a hammer and a flathead screwdriver, and slotted the new one straight in. Maybe I was lucky that the replacement nut was exactly the right size and needed no sanding down to fit, but it couldn't have been simpler.

I saw the Dalai Lama in Warsaw a couple of months ago. I waved at him, and he did his 'namaste' bow thing at me.

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='132824' date='Feb 3 2008, 12:27 AM']My late Mother was once escorted home after a Cliff Richard gig by one Hank Marvin - What could have been, eh?[/quote] I've got a similar tale: back in the early 60s when my mum was a teenager, her and a friend sneaked out to go and see the Rolling Stones play. As they were too young to drive, they had to hitch a lift. A car pulls up and the passenger leans out to ask where they are going. "To Hastings." they reply. "So are we, jump in!" replies the guy. When they clamber into the back of the car they realize that they are being given a lift by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards & Charlie Watts! They got to go backstage, watch the gig from the wings and were invited to join the band at their hotel for a party afterwards. They made their excuses and left...

[quote name='blind pilot' post='870805' date='Jun 18 2010, 01:10 PM']still havent found a wal, but still want one! missed out on one on the bay a few weeks back, went for £3100.00 crazy![/quote] To go back to what others have already said: TRY BEFORE YOU BUY!! Especially as Wals are frighteningly expensive. The Wal Custom was my dream bass back in the early 80s - which was a time when they were hugely popular AND available - and there was a music store in London called Allbang & Strummit which regularly had about 6 or 7 Wals in stock. I visited that place about 3 or 4 times, trying out the different Wals and testing the patience of the staff, but always left the store disappointed. Don't get me wrong, the Wals were lovely looking instruments and extremely well made, but as others have said, they either work for you or they don't. They definitely didn't work for me. It's hard to say why exactly, but I could never quite get a sound I liked from them, they were bloody heavy and prone to neck diving, and I found them uncomfortable to play.

I just do it for my own personal pleasure, to be honest - I don't crave hero worship, fame, riches or any of those trappings. I once played with a band which had a drummer who 'fired' the rest of us, as he felt we were holding him back from his objective of "making it". That was 20 years ago, and funnily enough he's still a loser.... I consider myself lucky to be able to play exactly what I want without any compromises, as music is my passion in life not my day job. Oh, and snorting coke from groupies tits ain't all it's cracked up to be: you can't chop out a nice straight line and the sweat causes it to coagulate.

[quote name='bubinga5' post='899471' date='Jul 19 2010, 09:54 PM']....the string needs room to do its thing....[/quote] Nice!

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?

From way back in the day: Solsonics.

Congrats! And this finally laid to rest my doubts that NO-ONE ever wins these competitions, but they are just cunning marketing ploys.

Virtually every gig I've ever played.... I used to find it handy to have a wireless receiver thingy - then I could jump off the stage and listen to the sound of the band from the middle of the room, just to reassure myself that the FOH sound was ok.

[quote name='silddx' post='883791' date='Jul 2 2010, 09:53 AM']Tell me about it! I have a pair of trainers I can't even put inside the house! And I don't even have smelly feet usually.[/quote] Top tip from off the telly: 1: put aforementioned stinky trainers in a plastic bag and seal up the bag securely 2: put sealed bag of trainers in the freezer 3: leave in the freezer overnight or longer 4: open bag to reveal non-stinky trainers

Once the farkin' couriers sort their lives out, I'll be able to join your gang - I've bought Dave Perry's rather tasty fretless S2000 5er. The anticipation is killing me...

[quote name='Sumbabba' post='872513' date='Jun 20 2010, 11:02 AM'][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpYoBXTnhyU&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpYoBXTnhyU...feature=related[/url][/quote] I've got a videotape from the 'Oil On Canvas' tour stashed away in a box somewhere, and went to the gig at the Brighton Dome. I was already of fan of Mr Karn and when the gig started was well freaked out by his peculiar style of moving around the stage - there was knee high dry ice on stage and he had this weird method of seemingly sliding forwards and backwards and sideways. At first I thought he was on some sort of trolley, turns out he was shuffling about on the tips of his toes at high speed! And like it says in the interview, always staring impassively straight ahead with not one single look at the bass or what he was playing, and not missing a single note. Cool.

Ever tried out a JV? I own 2 Precisions: a 1978 US model and a 1982 JV 57 reissue, and although they are only 4 years apart agewise they are quite different from each other in both playability and tone. The '78 is your typical solid old beast with the classic baseball bat neck, and it just nails 'that' late 70s/early 80s Pbass sound. Think Foxton, Forbes, Burnel et al. The JV is definitely lighter, and the neck is a lot different: with a much flatter rear profile. The closest comparison is to my '79 StingRay. Soundwise it has more bottom end, and less mid and treble. I've never strung it with flats, but no doubt it would be capable of that Motown kinda tone. Plus JVs are considerably cheaper than vintage US basses...

[quote name='Big_Stu' post='874179' date='Jun 22 2010, 09:54 AM']OK, here's a question for you. I have friends with a son at your age getting into guitars. They are in the Maastricht area, when I've been there to visit in the past he told me that it's difficult for you there to buy "good" gear, and I didn't see many shops for modern stuff, just plenty of accordians etc. When he decided he wanted a Tele I bought one here & took it over, it was that difficult. So the question is, how do you find getting good equipment, both in having a choice & paying a good price? I've recommended them using Thomann in Germany for future things.[/quote] I lived in Amsterdam for 10 years and in my humble opinion the best store for BASS gear is in Nijmegen. The owner is a guy called Paul and he really knows his stuff, is super friendly and helpful, and makes good coffee! He also does trades and sells 'preloved' equipment, does good set-ups and can organise quality repairs too. VERY highly recommended. Check out this link: [url="http://www.bassmatters.nl/"]http://www.bassmatters.nl/[/url]

Does this seem to good to be true or is it just a bargain...? Current highest bid is just over $2000 with a couple of days to run. [attachment=52903:Picture_1.png] [attachment=52904:Picture_2.png] [url="http://cgi.ebay.com/1963-FENDER-PRECISION-BASS-VINTAGE-ORIGINAL-PRE-CBS_W0QQitemZ220623590386QQcategoryZ4713QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m8QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DMW%26its%3DC%26itu%3DUCC%26otn%3D5%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D7597499308482535198#ht_902wt_1020"]http://cgi.ebay.com/1963-FENDER-PRECISION-...8#ht_902wt_1020[/url]

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='875174' date='Jun 23 2010, 09:37 AM']It's kinda fugly[/quote] What?!? You don't think that scratchplate is thing of beauty...?

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230490243879&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_15499wt_1075"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...ht_15499wt_1075[/url] [attachment=52843:OxWal.jpg]

[quote name='Bilbo' post='873335' date='Jun 21 2010, 11:28 AM']Nothing is foolproof (my only loss was an amp/cab taken from a car with someone from the band SAT in it)...[/quote] ????? Was this bandmate of yours deaf and blind...?