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Muzz

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Everything posted by Muzz

  1. Muzz
    The problem with the design is a common one - they've got right on the Fender body shape bandwagon, positioned the pickups in the usual place and then visually the only thing they can work with is the scratchplate, so they change the shape of that. Unfortunately, the shape of these scratchplates don't take any visual cues from the body shape, and so don't work at all. At least Sandberg had the good sense to make their scratchplate changes minimal.
  2. Muzz
    I think my basses are works of art, and I take good care of them: they don't get buckle rash because I don't wear buckles or sharp crap when I put a bass on, but if they get accidentally dinged, it happens. The first ding's the worst... I guess most of them could be described as 'boutique', but I've never hesitated to take them anywhere to gig, and I never would. I enjoy them, and I don't worry about them.
  3. Muzz
    Apropos point to recall my best 810 tale: at a rehearsal rooms years ago, the band I was in had a huuuge row round the pool table which culminated in my leaving in a typical "F*&k you lot, I'm off!" kinda way. Stormed back to the room, packed up and slung my stuff in the car in a massive strop, but then had to go back to the pool table and say "Erm, can you give me a lift with me cab?"
  4. Muzz
    Quick weekend bump...
  5. Muzz
    In general, it's a call on how drunk the punters are - yeah, you're there to entertain and produce an atmosphere, but I've done security work, and it's the same call: I wouldn't stop anyone having a good time (though the stage is ours), but if they're hammered, they're a liability to themselves and others. And massively irritating... I'll even let punters have a (unplugged) go of my bass (the Dingwall gets the most enquiries, for obvious reasons) if I judge they're sober enough.
  6. Muzz
    Aaaaand a weekend bump...open to trades...
  7. Muzz
    Not the same cabs, but I'm running two 350w 112s (Bergs) with a Streamliner 900, and I have the Bass at about 9 o'clock on the dial - partly for the sound, but also because, like you, I'm just a little wary still of cranking too many deep lows through them. I'm sure I'm worrying unnecessarily, I just need to do a few more gigs with them to relax... The Streamliner has a High Pass Filter, too, so the ultra-lows get, erm, filtered out, but even so, I fret a bit. I do hit the thing quite hard sometimes, I'm a pretty dynamic* mostly-pick player... * AKA 'Ham-fisted, gets carried away'...
  8. Muzz
    "Can play a myriad of styles, basically speaking Jazz..." Calling Bilbo...
  9. Muzz
    Aaaand a bump for a "What the hell was I on when I typed this ad?" kinda thing...
  10. Muzz
    Thanks fella...it's a well-made bass, that's for sure...
  11. Muzz
    To start cheaply, I'd put a hotter pickup (like the aforementioned DiMarzio Model P) in your P-bass, and give the mids in your sound some attention: they can get overlooked, and are where a lot of the anger lives...after all, Lemmy's sound was pretty much ALL mids, and it doesn't get a lot angrier than that. My Shuker's a flexible animal with two EMG 40P pickups in it, but if I crank the mids on the U-Retro, it gets very very cross indeed...
  12. Muzz
    I'm about to restring my Shuker 4-string from the slightly older set of D'Addario EXL170s it's got on there at the moment, so it'd be a good opportunity to compare the new with the old. Thanks.
  13. Muzz
    [quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1452610961' post='2951624'] I quickly came to realise that a Rickenbacker 4001 was not for me, not before owning two of them though..... Players that gained my interest were the standard Rick playing ones really, Squire, Geddy Lee, Hawkwind era Lemmy, Ashley Hutchings from Fairport too. Also a lot of people were using them in the late 70s in punk & new wave bands & I just thought they sounded great & looked cool as f***. Found out pretty quickly that Ricks weren't for me though, but that's all part of the fun of learning about gear when you first start playing, isn't it? [/quote] This was my experience (pretty much word for word) the last time I bought a bass influenced by the player. It wasn't an actual sig, but it was Geddy (plus some other fellas) and a Jetglo 4001. I was 16. Same experience with getting on with it, too... Nowadays a signature on a bass would actively discourage me from buying it...
  14. Muzz
    The most ridiculous rig I ever owned was an Ampeg B25 into an Ampeg 215 AND a Peavey MkVI into an Ampeg 810. 1979 4001, Jetglo: Rick-o-sound stereo output, split between them. Sounded...big, but I'll let the court decide why I got rid of it all...as a clue, it had its own gravity system... I downsized (and this might be the most ridiculous downsizing ever) to an SVT and just the 810...
  15. Muzz
    These puppies are [s]surplus to requirements[/s] SOLD [font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][color=#333333]Full details here: [/color][/font][url="http://nordstrandpickups.com/products/fat-stacks/"]http://nordstrandpic...cts/fat-stacks/[/url] In the UK they're £190 a pair, so I think £95 posted is fair, or if anyone's got a Bigman they want to trade... Edit: dunno where I was with £120, it's £95 posted... I'm going daft in my dotage... [attachment=209250:IMG_3330.JPG] [attachment=209251:IMG_3331.JPG]
  16. Muzz
    Time for a small post-Xmas "oh my gawd how much did we spend?" mini-clearout, and this bass is part of it. It's a Nightingale, a rare beast these days, here's some info from Russ on here (and thanks to him for this) about Nightingales: "[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Nightingale basses were made by Neil McDonald, who used to be Bernie Goodfellow's business partner in the original Goodfellow Guitars venture. Neil struck out on his own and started Nightingale after Bernie sold the Goodfellow name to Lowden in Northern Ireland (a few years before he started GB). The Nightingales shared a lot of features with the Goodfellow/GB basses, including the custom Kent Armstrong pickups and Dick Straker's active circuit, as well as some similar styling cues, including an almost identical headstock for a while (I loved Nightingale's yin/yang owl logo). The Nightingales were awesome instruments. I owned a lovely bolt-on 4-string for a while and it's one of the basses I really regret selling. [/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Back in the mid-90s, Neil McDonald moved his workshop from Croydon to Denmark St. He started to build a profile as a guitar tech, and after he made the perspex bass for Charlie Jones he got some extra visibility as a luthier, but by 2002 or so, he'd closed up shop. No idea what he's doing now, alas. I know Bernie G still services Nightingale basses, since they used more or less identical pickups and circuits to the early GBs (not to mention that the newer GB "bass processor" active circuit just drops straight in)."[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]The bass itself is very reminiscent in shape of the early Rumours, and does indeed have a custom Armstrong pickup - I contacted Aaron and his father about it, and they confirmed it's a high output single coil: "[/font][/color]My father would of made this the code stands for the following: J10 = 67.5mm long 12mm tall inside coil measurement; 5X = 3 ceramic magnets 8mm deep; 7kt = 7,000 turns of wire; 63 = 0.063mm guage wire (42 AWG). I couldn't give you an exact date but definitely before my time ( I started working with my dad in 98).[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]. "[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]The EQ is active bass and treble, and it's got a surprising sweep of tones for a single pickup bass.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]The neck and headstock's got some nice birdseye going on, and a very[/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] nice black ebony board, and the quality of the bass itself is a cut above the usual factory-made suspects.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]It's got some of yer actual mojo going on (see pics), one of the tuners has been refitted t'other way round, but it all works, it plays nicely and is definitely something different.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]No case, but I could sort out a decent gigbag for it, and I've posted enough basses to be able to get it to you in one (insured) piece if neccessary.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]£300 collected (the kettle's always on) or we can sort out delivery depending.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Open to trade offers...whatcha got? [/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]EDIT: I have, in Baldrick's phrase, a cunning plan afoot, so I'm looking at a trade for a Class D head of some sort...[/font][/color] [attachment=209244:IMG_2958.JPG] [attachment=209243:IMG_2956.JPG] [attachment=209242:IMG_2955.JPG] [attachment=209241:IMG_2954.JPG] [attachment=209240:IMG_2953.JPG] [attachment=209245:IMG_2959.JPG] [attachment=209246:IMG_2961.JPG] [attachment=209247:IMG_2962.JPG] [attachment=209248:IMG_2963.JPG] [attachment=209249:IMG_2964.JPG]
  17. Muzz
    Viewed this post expecting to hate it....and I hate it... At least I'm consistent...
  18. Muzz
    Sounds like you may well have all dodged a bullet there: imagine Stig Of The Dump turning up to every gig...
  19. Muzz
    Two channels and 2.67 ohms? That ticks a lot of boxes for me - I've got a new project underway in parallel with the function band stuff, and this'd make a lot of sense: although I rarely touch the EQ on my amp (other than during a soundcheck to adjust to a particularly problematic room/stage), it'd be nice to have to some quick stompable EQ flexibility, and I'd also like to have the option of running 3x112s for the, erm, louder project, and 2x112s for the function stuff, without sacrificing the tone I like.
  20. Muzz
    My Shuker I had made for me so it was new, it's done possibly 120 gigs so far, there's no wear. I look after my basses, but only to a point - it travels in a gig bag and hangs on its stand all evening when its not being played. I chuck them around a bit onstage, too, but I don't have a belt buckle in the back of them, or wear jewellery on my right hand... Makes me smile/wince when I see some 'relicing'...I had a Yamaha for 20+ years, which in total picked up half a dozen small headstock/bottom end dings, and that was it...no-one can legislate for accidents, but some 'relics' you see are hilarious.. I'm gonna ding my Shuker now, aren't I?
  21. Muzz
    I did about 50 gigs last year, I always take 2 basses (I have 8 in total, 4 of which aren't used outside the house), but the one that always gets taken, and used 90% of the time, is my main Shuker. The 'sub' spot rotates between the other three main basses (Dingwall, Thunderland or my other Shuker), but when it comes to getting onstage and reaching for a bass, my hand falls on the Shuker nearly all the time.
  22. Muzz
    I'm lucky enough to play with a few deps, three of whom are all very very good in their different ways. Interesting how they bring out different aspects of my playing, too. We've discussed this on long van trips, and they've all said they play slightly differently with different band members, especially bassists. It appears to be a two-way street: that chemistry thing... The downside of deps is sometimes there's a right duffer turns up - not often nowadays, and they're not as awful as some of the guys I've played with back in the day, but I think they seem worse by comparison...
  23. Muzz
    Played The Nines in Barrow, great venue, fantastic in-house PA and engineer - we sounded very very good. 2x45s, finished for 11:30, on the road for 12:10, and the money was excellent. All in all a very good one...
  24. Muzz
    [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1451475247' post='2940731'] I agree with the above, but unfortunately there are songs I just will [i]not [/i]play and so I don't 'do' covers bands. They include, but are not limited to: Sex On Fire, All Right Now, Mustang Sally, Mr Brightside, Brown Eyed Girl, Sweet Home Alabama, All The Small Things, Get Lucky, Honky Tonk Woman, Brown Sugar, Play That Funky Music, Creep, Smoke On The Water, Hotel California, Superstition, Proud Mary, Wonderful Tonight, Born To Be Wild, Wonderwall, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Moves Like Jagger... and yes, bleeding Summer of Fecking 69. There you have it. There are lots more but I can't think of them right now... [/quote] Thirteen of those are on our 'big' setlist, and half a dozen of them get played every gig. The upside is we play them well and punters love them, so there's always a good reaction, which is why I play. We'll try any song which we think might go down well, the only criteria for retaining them is if we can play them well, and they get the crowd up and moving. If they don't they get dropped, and we're all immediately and unanimously aware of that anyway. We bring a pro/dep approach to the function/covers band: I've never heard anyone moan about playing any song (other than to discuss the floor-killer situation above), and we don't bring any personal negativity to song choice. I personally can't stand Mustang Sally, but we regularly get asked for it by the people who are paying us, so we play it. No-one else in the band knows I can't stand it, and that's the way it should be.
  25. Muzz
    And PM'd again…
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