noelk27

[quote name='simon1964' post='334351' date='Nov 22 2008, 12:16 PM']Incidentally, it always surprises me that Foxton doesn't get a writing credit on songs like Town Called Malice, Tube Station, Eton Rifles etc. Those songs are, in essence, the bassline.[/quote] With respect to the material up to, and including, Setting Sons, this is a reasonable point - and was the subject of litigation brought by Foxton and Buckler, an action that was settled out of court. For Sound Affects and The Gift, Weller recorded writing demos, where he would play all the parts. It's interesting to compare the different playing approaches of Foxton and Weller on the few commercially available tracks that both recorded bass parts for, and when you realise that Weller's frustration with Foxton's playing concerned feel and looseness. Also, listening to the very early Style Council singles highlights that Weller was a good bass player in his own right - which, given that Foxton was a guitarist before converting to bass with The Jam, makes you wonder if they wouldn't have been happier switching instruments.

[quote name='markdavid' post='334218' date='Nov 22 2008, 01:45 AM']Ive been offered one for £100 , its the Aria Libra LLB-DLX , I take it thats the deluxe model?[/quote] Yes, it is. And for one that's in solid condition, with no issues, that's a reasonable price. If I was you though, I'd still do a little haggling.

[quote name='acidbass' post='334222' date='Nov 22 2008, 02:47 AM']I believe he also used an Ibanez 4001 copy for some of their stuff?[/quote] The bass he was using before the band were signed, and for some of the work on the debut album, In The City - he's pictured with it on the back cover. My understanding he mainly used Rickenbacker or Fender until he picked up the MusicMan before recording Sound Affects and the Aria before recording The Gift - although studio photographs from the time suggest he was never far from the black/maple Precision. The last live performance The Jam gave, he used the Aria - which was his main bass during his solo career.

In addition an Aria Pro II SB1000, a MusicMan Stingray and a maple neck, fretless Fender Precision, also featured on his work with The Jam.

These were nothing special. Aria Pro II were producing the Libra (LBB Series) at the same time as the CTB Series and PRB Series, making the LLB 88-89. All three of these lines went out of production late 89. There were three models in the LLB Series - Standard, Deluxe and Custom. I should have the printed catalogue somewhere, to remind myself as to specifications. To be honest - from memory - there were better APII models from the mid and late 80s. The LLB Series suffers a bit based on it's very 80s styling. (Personally I don't like the hair metal inspired headstock.) What’s a very good price?

[quote name='Telebass' post='332662' date='Nov 19 2008, 09:45 PM']Precisely. The catalogues are not reliable guides as to what colours were available. Matching headstocks could be had on anything during the 60s, but to special order only. Production custom colour Precisions with matching H/S are very unusual...[/quote] Thank you for the selective quotation from, and loose, but inaccurate, interpretation of, my posting. Had it been my intention to refer to the printed publication media utilised by Fender across the decade referenced, and I employed language inaccurately, I possibly would have referred to "catalogues". As my intention was to refer to the "list" of models produced, or released, by Fender across the decade referenced the usage was, correctly, employed. Maybe you were confused by the duality of English language? And perhaps, before attempting selective quotation in future you will take into account sentence context, and refrain from misrepresenting other people’s statements. I would also refer you to the text of the original post, where, at no point, does the author state his question is specific to either production or custom models. In this context, as you yourself concede, the information detailed by my posting is correct, and was stated specifically to assuage the impression given, in the post therein quoted, that the item in question was, most likely, fake - although I suspect a statement genuinely made to stress the doctrine of caveat emptor.

Fender also did this finish on the Coronado. Edit: Add some details and dates.

[quote name='Beedster' post='331822' date='Nov 18 2008, 09:14 PM']Which, roughly translated, means that whatever you've been offered is 99% chance fake [/quote] Well, every bass model in the Fender catalogue over the 60s received colour co-ordinated headstocks- Jazz, Telecaster, Bass V, Bass VI, Mustang, Coronado, and Precision. Undoubtedly more common on some of the other models- particularly the Bass VI and Mustang- and more common on the Jazz than the Precision, but certainly available. Now, competition stripes, that's an entirely different matter.

My guitarist owns a Strat in a similar finish. The Strat, of course, has an awful white pickguard and lace sensors. And over 40 photos! Were eBay having an "all the photos you can post for free" day?

Couple of old Destroy / John Richmond, 32”, black, leather belts- removed the buckles and slit a hole either end. The extra 2” of material folded back to secure the buckle came in useful for length, as did the strap guide for decoration. But the buckles went in the garbage.

[quote name='funkygreega' post='329892' date='Nov 15 2008, 09:41 PM']Does anybody know whether they do make acoustic basses ...[/quote] Acoustic, as opposed to hollowbody. They did. In very small quantities. The basses are fantastic. But they don't make any these days.

Go for it. '81, in the space of one week bought a Schecter precision style and a Fender Precision Special. In all honesty thought the Schecter was streets better than the Fender. Don't regret letting the Fender go, but miss that Schecter. The modern stuff isn't a patch on the one you're looking at.

[quote name='Buzz' post='324854' date='Nov 8 2008, 04:24 PM']... some people have posted brilliant informative posts ...[/quote] Cheers, mate. Always nice to be appreciated.

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='320387' date='Nov 2 2008, 07:30 PM']All lined fretlesses I recall playing were in tune when played on the lines and unlined ones were in tune on the dots.[/quote] Heaven on earth, it would get so confussing if that weren't the case. A lined fretless where you had to ignore the lines? My poor brain is starting to hurt even just at the notion of playing one of those!

[quote name='Buzz' post='319936' date='Nov 2 2008, 02:18 AM']Dunno on that, while I'm not a violin player, I do think with them reaching the millions that while they may be really good instruments, made of rare wood, handcarved with lots of love, I can't help but think that 90/95% of the "price" is name alone, with people just percieving it sounds better because they expect it to. Don't get me wrong, although instrument making is an artform, and can go wrong at any and every stage, it's very forumulatic for the "base" model. They've all got to have X, attached to Y via the use of Z etc... Not to mention they're instruments that amplify sounds by vibration in the wood, who knows, but other violins may have been made from the same trees/batch of wood, but by an equally skilled but unknown builder, they wouldn't fetch a fraction of the price if if they sounded better.[/quote] No, I can’t agree with that. Apart from the fact that the Stradivarius studio made more than just violins, the instruments they made were unique. They were unique, not because of the woods selected, or the craftsmanship employed, although those played a part, but because of the way in which the finishes were applied. The studio developed a type of coating and a method of applying that coating that allowed the woods to breath, and not smoother the instruments tone. What they realised was that the final layers of finish had a profound influence on the tone an instrument would produce, and they did something that no other studio did with their coating process. Add to this that the instruments they manufactured were produced in very limited numbers, and you have your answer. I have no experience of playing a Stradivarius, but through RSNO know of someone who has- a leading player, in whose opinion the instrument she played vibrated in a way that no other instrument she’d played before had ever done. As for vintage basses, at it’s simplest, what people pay for is character. Forgetting that the numbers produced were much smaller than today, that the tolerances in manufacturing were wider, that the finishes had an influence on the characteristics of the woods, and that the woods themselves mature, people pay for character.

Hmmm, wondering if this is geographicalist ...