Skybone

This is where Truss Rod Cover plates come in so useful... Failing that, the scratch plate is another good place... Or, as previously mentioned either your back pocket or "Zippo" pocket in your jeans. If you are priveleged enough to own an exotic wood bass without a scratchplate, and don't fancy the idea of sticking something to it, then maybe you could pay for someone to stand somewhere off stage and be your "Pick Monkey".

If the sale is from a private individual, and not a shop, like you said, you can get them to send it as a gift. If the item is sent as a gift, you should get around the customs charges. There's always getting them to send it as a lower value package (but insure it for what it's worth).

There's always Matamp over in Meltham... purveyors of fine valve amps. They currently have a 200w valve head in production, and are also doing 8x10 and 2x15 cab's to match. [url="http://www.matamp.co.uk/home.htm"]www.matamp.co.uk/home.htm[/url]

Love the HiWatt's & valves in general, but would never give Music Ground any of my money or custom. Just my personal opinion. BTW, they own JMI as well, who make spot on Vox AC15/30 replica amps, and have also built some ToneBender MkI & II clones.

OK, so I'm really kicking myself now... I missed out on one in around '88 from a shop near us, they were asking £350 for it, but it had major buckle rash on the back (ie, most of the back!). Only took me over 20 years before I finally took the plunge and got a newer 4003, and ever since wondering why it took me so flaming long!

Halloo fae up north!

I'm another former SB Special II owner. I mistakenly part-exed my original one in about 1991 for a seriously rubbish Encore Strat, a trade that I immediately regretted, and regretted for a long time afterwards. I managed to find another one on eBay a few years back, but again, ended up part-exing that for an SB1000 that was in a local music shop (which was subsequently chopped in for a StingRay - another mistake!). The Special II had passive twin 'buckers, concentric vol/tone pots, a 3 way selector switch and two coil split toggle switches. The neck felt fantastic, very much like a Jazz, and the body was very much like an update of the Jazz too. The SB1000 was nice, but didn't have the versatility I was after. Saying all that, the only other bass to compare to my old SB Special was my old Westone Thunder 1a. Though they're both eclipsed by a Ric.

I've owned a couple of StingRay's in the past, an '89 blonde/maple board 2EQ & a later 90's black & rosewood 2EQ, with a truly gorgeous birdseye maple neck. Both basses were amazing to play, and felt good sat down or on a strap, but they were both somewhat lacklustre in the tone dept. I could not find that sweet spot no matter how hard I tried. I'd been a big fan of actives since I had a Westone Thunder 1a in the early 90's, that I really do regret selling, and I've been through quite a few other actives, but it wasn't until I picked up a Mex Jazz and compared it to the StingRay, that I realised that the Mex Jazz was a tone monster compared to the StingRay. There was more "zing" and life in the tone of the passive bass, compared to the one with the active circuit. There never seems to be much variation in the tone of active basses too, whereas you know when you hear a passive bass. I feel the same about active EMG pickups in guitars too, their tone is pretty much dull & lifeless compared to a good PAF style humbucker. All IMO o'course...

Try contacting Matamp in Yorkshire. [url="http://www.matamp.co.uk/home.htm"]www.matamp.co.uk/home.htm[/url]

Defo going to be checking that out when I'm next in town...

Big fan of D*A*M pedals here, there ace! Both the Ezekiel and Ram Head have been discontinued though. The Zeke was too complex a build, and they considered that there were too many other Big Muff clones out there. Even though the Ram Head is head and shoulders above most of the clones IMO. The early, single knob Meathead's were very bass-y & bass friendly, there was a bass variant called "The Shrew", but there were only 3 examples built. The later Meathead's are still pretty good for the bass though. The 3 knob Meathead Deluxe is worth checking out, it's dabbling in RAT territory, but still an aggresive sounding fuzz with more "tweakability" than the single knob version. If you're after that "power valve distortion" type sound, then a Sonic Titan might be worth a try, I haven't tried it on bass, but it sounds immense on guitar. Then there's always the MkII Tone Bender clone... That £100 Ezekiel really was a steal!

[quote]Now the Band Im in plays in Drop C,and its only one guitarist,and I try to 'fill' the sonic space left as much as I can...[/quote] The big question here should be "what is the guitarist is doing with his EQ?". If he's scooping his mids out, and over compensating with loads of bass & treble, which a lot of guitarists who detune do, he's seriously encroaching into the bass spectrum and killing the mix. Likewise, if you're scooping the mids too, you're both competing for the same soundwaves, and things tend to get a bit mushy. If the guitarist cranks his mids and drops the bass/treble a bit, this should fill the gaps. I played guitar in a 3 piece, and this all became obvious when we started recording rehearsal sessions, the bass & guitar were just competing for the bass spectrum, and the mids/tops were left a bit empty. On cranking re-evaluating the EQ, I cranked the mids, dropped the bass/treble, and bingo, next recording, both bass and guitar were clearly audible. Add some mids to the bass as well. If nothing else, it's worth a try.

Been a long time customer at Electro, though the last deal I did with Dave (mail order), I got the feeling that I'd been given a bit of a bum deal. Got a BODxt from him at a decent price, thinking it was a brand new one, but actually got the shop demonstrator. Saying that, I have done a few good deals with him and others in the shop. The guitar dept. guys are pretty good too. Wouldn't buy anything from Music Ground. Ever. Northern Guitars (accross the road) do have some interesting gear in from time to time, kicking myself about an Aria Pro II SB Black & Gold (Cliff Burton circa Master of Puppets) I missed out on a few years back. Good price too. Wizard Guitars formerly of Doncaster, but now resident in Sheffield is good for the odd interesting bass now and again. Last time I was in there (quite a few months back) he had a 70's Gibson Grabber and a few nice old Fender's. Better for guitars of all price points. Rock Factory in Cas have some decent gear in sometimes.

Found a link to this site while trawling MusicRadar when I should be working... Basically started off playing bass many moons ago, been in a few bands, done a couple of records & quite a few gigs, but have mainly been playing guitar for the last 10 years or so, but without loosing sight of the bass. Recently managed to pick up a Ric, only after about 20 odd years of lusting after one.