Stacker

Rick copies - I just don't get them. Not these days, anyway. They just look sh**t. And when you think of the effort that goes into some Fender knock-offs why don't these comapnies make something that looks like a 'backer, no matter how litigious John Hall is. It's the old adge of 'If you can't do it properly, don't do it at all'!

Better off picking up an old Ibanez Rick than waste money on cak like Indie, [i]ad nauseam[/i].

I'd forgotten about these things! Never been a big P-bass fan although have previosuly owned two. Chandler Guitars did a slim, single bound slab-bodied version of this fella back in the mid '80s which fell into my hands but the neck was f'd so i didn't buy it. Didn't Ibanez do one, too, back in the late .70s?

Wait a minute - have you seen the price these things go for in the 'States? I've seen them go for more than that, esp the stack-knob Jazz with the dampers!

Having said that, I think the vintage market is full of holes these days in that if you do see a bit of kit that can be proven to be 100% original, then it will attract this kind of offer tag, if not a customer.

You'd be better off chucking your money at John at Bravewood and leaving the other 8K sitting in the bank!

Hhmmm... saw the thumbnail for that and didn't even go there, but I have now. Very early '80s 4003 with the split 'plate (rods adjust at body end) [i]and[/i] wavy Grovers!!

Wouldn't have gone, myself, to that sale price, though. Not with the coin you'd need to spend on the respray.

Moo, I think i've just seen my old Wine Red Status Series II in your collection! How do I know? Cos I (stupidly) got an XLR fitted to it! It's an early model from around 1984-85, serial number may read 45 or 54? Can you confirm?

[quote name='themoo' post='276811' date='Sep 4 2008, 11:20 AM']Some great collections going on there... So here's my little bass history!


Full details and some pictures... [url="http://web.mac.com/themoo/Basses/moos_basses.html"]http://web.mac.com/themoo/Basses/moos_basses.html[/url][/quote]


Man, a Strata! I rememebr just about wetting myself when they came out. Got a Status Series II not long after.

Here's my lot:-

[u][b]Current[/b][/u]
Rickenbacker 4001CS
Rickenbacker 4001 1973 with toaster and (retrofit) Horseshoe
Rickenbacker 4001 1973 with toaster and cheq binding
Steinberger XL2A
De Armond Ashbory
Fender Custom Shop fretless Jazz, stackpots with gold hardware
Fender japan 1965 reissue Jazz
Squier modified fretless Jazz
Levinson Blade Jazz

[u][b]Past Paramours (in order)[/b][/u]
Hofner HS182 Artist bass (Jazzalike)
Ibanez 4ick 4001 copy
Attila Baloght Odyssey
Rick 4001
Ibanez MC 924
Washburn 8-string bass
Washburn fretless
Alembic Series 1 point
Rick 4001s 8-string
Washburn Bantam twin-neck Steiny copy
Fender Precision Lyte
Fender Precision, defretted
Status Series II
Fender Precision with pull-pot sending pup straight to the jack!
Fender Precision 1954 reissue
Shergold Marathon
Warwick Thumb Thru-neck
Warwick Thumb Thru-neck fretless
Warick Dolphin Pro-1 (Boire and Ovangkol models)
Rick 8-string bass (again!)
Musicman Stingray, transitional model with mutes and TR bullet adjuster
Danelectro Longhorn reissue
Dynelectron Longhorn
Ricky/Jazz/Musicman Frankenbass
Self-built Jazz
Self-built P-bass
Fender Jazz 1965 in Oly White with matching headstock - sold to pay a credit card bill!!!!!
Linc Luthier fretless 5 string
Esp telebass
TJ Clem custom built bubinga fretless
Bravewood Stacker Jazz
Rick 4001 1980 with reverse chq binding
Rick 4001 1975 fretless
Hayman 4040
Rick 4003 BlueBoy
Fender Precision 1978 fretless
Traveller Bass

[b]Is that enough basses, Stacker? NO![/b]

[quote name='Paul_C' post='23105' date='Jun 25 2007, 05:15 PM']I thought my total of basses previously owned had peaked at 55 (including the 10 I have right now), but I have remembered another 3 today, so that's 58

I haven't got pics for many of them, but I thought a list might amuse ..

Aria P bass copy (my first bass, I was given it by a friend)
Maison (Bass Collection's cheap range)
Squier Jazz (one of the first, wish I'd kept it)
Gibson Thunderbird (s/h knackered, horrible, I took it back and bought the Maison instead)
Yamaha SBV/SBs (16) The Collection, now down to just two
Yamaha SB-2s (2) still got these, they need shifting
EB Musicman StingRays (4)
Rickenbacker 4003s (4)
EB Musicman Bongos (4) bought another one (a 4HH/P) so the total stands at 5 now
Pedulla Rapture J2
Epiphone EBO
Dean acoustic
Washburn AB10 acoustic
Status Stealth 4
Status Stealth 6
Fender Precision '78
Fender Highway One Precision
Fender Std. Jazz
Lakland Skyline Jerry Scheff
NS CR4MG upright
Daisy Rock Butterfly
Aria Pro II
Modulus Sonic Hammer
Modulus Jazz
Fender MB5
Westone Thunder 1A
Westone Thunder II
Yamaha Attitude I
Fender Jaguar
Fender Urge I
Levinson Jazz
Ibanez Sr305
Squier Bronco
Kubicki Factor


There's probably more that I've forgotten about, but that's the total for now [/quote]


I've played most of those models and the Levinson Jazz would blow the t**s off them all! One of the best basses ever made. Vastly underrated.

[quote name='Mr Bassman' post='616021' date='Oct 3 2009, 08:10 PM']Sorry to be vague on the price guys,



I've just had a look and noticed that unlike my Stienberger L2 it doesn't take double ball ended strings, just standard strings cut down.

Here's a [url="http://myweb.cebridge.net/gareth/gbay/index.htm"]link[/url] to another owner / seller from 2006

So any suggestions as to value most welcome.[/quote]

That was what became a real issue with the one I had: that f****** clamp! They obviously couldn't get a licence from Steiny so they made that thing. Bad design on an otherwise great bass.

[quote name='Mr Bassman' post='607241' date='Sep 23 2009, 11:22 PM']Mid 1980's Washburn Bantam needs new home.

Single coil pick ups (Riverhead, I think) to look like emg's.

Quite a modern, bright sound.

Weightwise not too bad with the right strap.

I was told by Washburn that only 6 of these were imported to U.K.

R.R.P. was just over £1100

Open to offers or trades for old Jazz or P bass, Gibsons (incl guitars) uprights, eub's etc or Bose L1 pa, or w.h.y.?
Or maybe a headless Status, never tried one!


[attachment=33387:twin_cropped.jpg] [attachment=33388:Wasburn2.jpg][/quote]

Man, I had one of those back in the mid '80s! Sound Control had to order it in from Washburn Germany. Cost me just over £600 then and I punted it in Brixton Exchange Mart a few years later when i fell out of love with it. Thanx for that bit of nostalgia!

BTW, is BEM still on the go??

[quote name='JayX' post='616052' date='Oct 3 2009, 08:49 PM']Ha, fun colour. I actually ended up buying Paul's Hohner he posted earlier in the thread. Still up for seeing more 80s awesomeness tho![/quote]


What, like this??

[quote name='Mokl' post='614221' date='Oct 1 2009, 08:52 PM']I have an awesome Westone Quantum which is about as 80`s as it gets. It has the original rifle case and has been a very convenient back up as it takes no room in the car. I might sell it but would be looking for £200.

Here's a pic I found online - mine is identical to this

[/quote]


+1 to that! That's just the one i was about to recommend. Didn't expect to see a beauty like that. Now all you need is an old Trace combo and an analogue delay (for the chorus) and you're off. And remember to wear the bass under your chin!

[quote name='chris_b' post='613492' date='Oct 1 2009, 01:25 AM']Overpriced![/quote]


+1

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='614527' date='Oct 2 2009, 09:21 AM']I've often wondered the same thing myself...[/quote]

Yeh, I'm inclined to agree. the Seppos also act like a bunch of magpies when it comes to Rick basses. You should see the state some of them get into on a certain rick forum when something tasty pops up on evilbay. They have a pecking order over who gets 'first dibs' (WTF??) on an instrument before the auction's even over!

The way I see it is that they're not work the £2.5K+

I nearly bought a '64 Dakota Red relic'd Jazz with - supposedly - a Brazilizan rosewood 'board. It didn't look like Brazilian rosewood but I guess it depends from what part of the tree it was taken from. The pots had next to no travel on them in terms of roll-off: you backed the pot off a touch and the whole signal just about disappeared! You'd be better of keeping that £2.5K and surfing ishibashi for a few months and picking up some lovely, unique fender Jap basses.

[quote name='Les' post='607550' date='Sep 24 2009, 11:39 AM']+1.[/quote]

Yup, + 1 as well. Nice to see the mutes making a comeback; now, where's the TR bullet??

Here's a link to a pic of the one I had:-

[url="http://www.luthiersaccessgroup.com/isodyssey1.html"]Odyssey Bass[/url]

It was my first 'name' bass. I'd been heading for a real Rick 4001 when I walked into Jimmy Grant's shop in Edinburgh and he had a raft of them. Odysseys, that is. Mine was one of the top-end ones and there was also a model like the one above that had a built-in 5 (Ithink) band graphic EQ!! The only thing I began to dislike about that bass was the sound from the rear pup. HAve a look at it and see how close it is to the bridge. Very tight sound with a quick decay. I fell out of love with it and it went after about six years but it turned up in my hands as a repair about 12 years later; somebody had ruined the wiring harness and the rear pup tone didn't work. A lovely but heavy bass

Inadequate shielding in you bass? HAs that room got UV/Fluoro lights? If so, try lifting your bass up to them, face up. If that noise gets worse that's what it is. I doubt it's dodgy mains.

Burnel is quoted as saying that he tried loads of Precisions and that none of them came close - through Hiwatts or whatever - to the old dog that he used. Listen to [i]Rattus Norwegicus[/i]: the bass tone is not always the same, although the grunge is still there, so it can't all be blown cabs or the studio board/fx.

[quote name='bassmachine2112' post='602705' date='Sep 19 2009, 08:27 AM']hiho,I,ve noticed that nobody has mentioned pick up height.I found this to be a part of the ricky sound jigsaw.Be prepared to balance the two pups to your taste.They can start to distort if you get them too high,not a problem with the neck pup as you cant get it as high as the bridge and a lot of people set the bridge pup too high in relation to the neck pup.I think balance is the word I,m looking for.Just a thought that might help someone.[/quote]


That's an interesting point, esp re basses. Usually, the common complaint is a weak E string on the back pup. An interesting point is that some early 4001s had Philips-head pole pieces (like one of my '73s) which gave you so much more control over the output.

Ok, I'll add my my ladle to the stew!

I have a love/hate relationship with these instruments. I had two when I was younger - a dead-dog of a 4001 and a 4001S 8-string that would be in tune down the bottom end and waay out up top and then had a break of about 15 years before I bought a whole bunch of them in a matter on months. The main beef I have with them is that CV finish they use and the marks and blemishes that can appear in them, although I'm sure I've heard they are moving away from that to another finish. Beware of those fat-neck 4003s that are going about, made from the late '90s up until '07, I think; my Blueboy had such a neck and that, combined with a weird reaction in the finish, was enough to make me punt it. The newer models have the slimmer neck and vintage tone modd but, yeh, I agree: they cost far too much. And their QC isn't that great, either.

Def a 'try many times before you buy' guitar. If you can find them, that is.

Bass now at the mercy of the horde!

Ok, one of the basses I was after has not, in fact, been sold so the CS may have to go. You've seen the pix/description so giving it a few hours punt on here before I open it up to the horde.

Any further Qs, fire away!

Stacker.

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=58149&st=0#entry575946"]original thread[/url]

[quote name='99ster' post='578328' date='Aug 23 2009, 05:01 PM']The way that many of these shops do their 'business' in a similar way may well have a lot to do with the fact that many of them are owned by the same two characters - the Harrison brothers - with the 'Music Ground' empire now comprising of the following shops:

Music Ground Denmark Street
Music Ground Manchester
Music Ground Leeds
Regent Sound Denmark Street
Rockers Denmark Street
Rhodes Music Denmark Street
The Bass Cellar Denmark Street
TPA Denmark Street
Hanks Denmark Street
...and good old Andys Denmark Street

And they also own both Hiwatt (yes - the Hiwatt) and JMI amps and have their fingers in many other pies as well.[/quote]

Wow, interesting. I've been wary of their spam ever since I encountered their sales guys in the Leeds shop back in the early '90s. That aside, I wonder how much they actually pay for the goodies they seem to acquire; they can't all be commissions.

I'd recommend Ishibashi any day. Yes, they make take a day or two to get back to you, but once the ball is rolling on a deal it's done very quick. Here is a a pix of my '65 dot and bound Jazz Bass re-issue, shipped to the UK in three days! Now, you don't see these in the UK, do you?

[quote name='Zach' post='578116' date='Aug 23 2009, 11:28 AM']Unfortunately I didn't check the bass in detail before walking out the shop, as when I got home I noticed that they'd completely stripped the screw head, so now I can't change the pickup height. Not a big deal, but it easily could have been. hence why I now am just happy to pay a bit more to go to the gallery instead.[/quote]

Perhaps it's time to tech-up, yourself. here is what you need:-

[url="http://www.jmldirect.com/product.asp?pf_id=S5616&changecurrency=GBP"]Screw Remover[/url]