BassBunny

Would love to meet up with the Manchester/Stockport/Warrington guys Alex. I guess you could get a lot of feed-back from this area.

[quote name='OldGit' post='529992' date='Jul 1 2009, 09:36 PM']I'm the current keeper of the Fecker Pretender put together by BassBunny and previously owned by BeerDragon [attachment=28097:FeckerCat.jpg] [attachment=28098:FeckerHeadstock.jpg] The chassis is SX/Noname Pbass. I've had a few SX's (Come on WaynePunk, post the Bart Bass) and usually just put Gotoh 203 bridges on them but this one's had the works. To quote BB's original sale thread: "The cavity has been lined with Copper. The scratchplate has been foil backed. A Wizard Thumper has been installed along with CTS Pots, Switchcraft Jack and Sprague capacitor. All wiring is in Vintage cloth covered wire and the pot/capacitor values were decided upon after a chat with Andy at Wizard pickups. The bridge has been replaced with a Wilkinson Vintage bridge with Brass Saddles. New string tree and Fecker transfer, (laquered over), complete the picture." A bit of neck shimming from me to line things up a little nicer for me and it's great. It goes to jams where I want to be happy to hand a bass over to anyone without worrying. Can't really do that with a Shuker It's got a big fat warm P sound and the decal always gets a laugh.[/quote] So that where it is now..... Glad you are enjoying it Si. It was real fun putting it together and then i realised I play 5 strings. Funnily enough the main driver for building it was for jam nights we were hosting. They collapsed before i finished it. Will have to have a go at a 5 -er.

[quote name='sshorepunk' post='526640' date='Jun 28 2009, 12:28 PM']Warwick Rock Bag 3u Rack Has damaged zip on front flap, needs some way of holding it shut, not hard to do! free to good home Collection from Manchester Tony[/quote] Hi Tony, I'll relieve you of the Rock Bag if you still have it. Am in Worsley with the Key player tomorrrow, if that is of any use??? Cheers, Stuart

[quote name='lozbass' post='528417' date='Jun 30 2009, 10:36 AM']Gordon (Witham) and (John) Smith also had a band as far as I remember (Shy Tots) and played around Manchester in the late '70s and early '80s - mainly rock and biker pubs. The guitars and basses were - in the main - fairly simple but beautifully built. Some instruments had fairly innovative features (a bass with individual pickups for each string - I think these were housed in a small round casing that could be rotated to adjust the pickup height). Finishing and quality of materials was/is excellent - attention to detail and build quality is also first rate. A friend of mine had a black and maple 'precision' built for his son (I was teaching the son at the time) - it was a stunningly beautiful instrument, fabulous to play and a classic P tone. I wish I'd bought it when the student gave up. As the Doctor suggests, there is a Gordy Status copy knocking about - this really was rather naughty - it's a very close copy indeed but lacks the 'class' of the original in my opinion (i.e., it looks a bit cheap). Gordys and Gordon Smith basses come up on ebay - a few a year I'd say - they're almost always worth a punt. I've seen a few that are knocked about but you have a chance of getting a beautiful handbuilt at a reasonable price. There are still a lot of G and GS guitars and basses around in the North West: Gordon Smith is still in business - though it's Johh Smith and his wife Linda now - they continue to build guitars in Partington near Manchester). Just found this - the official GS site: [url="http://www.gordonsmithguitars.com/"]http://www.gordonsmithguitars.com/[/url][/quote] And just to add confusion there is a Chris Smith who works there as well amd has done for about 20 years. I know him quite well. They haven't made Basses for ages, although Chris has a stonkin P Bass that he made for himself. They have a very clever way of installing truss rods into 1 piece necks.

[quote name='Muzz' post='527518' date='Jun 29 2009, 10:48 AM']Never even met Dean - he left along with John the bassist, so there were two of us joining at the same time. Mind you, I've played in a least four bands over at least twenty five years with the others, so it wasn't too much of a shock to the system.[/quote] That explains a lot. Good luck.

[quote name='Muzz' post='527068' date='Jun 28 2009, 09:02 PM']Thought I'd best introduce myself - I'm Muzz from Manchester. Recently returned at the grand old age of 45 to band membership after 15 years off for a family - I'd promised myself I'd start looking again when the boy was a bit older (he's 4), but a couple of months ago I got a phone call from a friend in a band that went "Have you still got your bass? Have you got an amp? Can you help us out and do the Montrose Music Festival in a month?" Had a ball up in Scotland, and and it's gone on from there. The band is The Worry Beads - www.theworrybeads.com . Ignore the photos, I'm not on any of them Gear-wise, I've still got my 88 BB3000A (which is just a fantastic bass), but all the other kit went for distressingly small amounts of money back in the early 90s (£250 for a mint jetglo 4001 anyone? £150 for a 78 Precision? Yeah, I know...), and I've picked up a Line6 LD300 combo and a Bass pod. I've got a Michael Kelly Dragonfly acoustic, and a black/maple USA Jazz, although I'm not altogether convinced I'm a Jazz man. GAS running at critical levels at the moment, too. Anyhoo, enough of my yakkin...[/quote] Welcome from a fellow Mancunian. How's Dean?????

We use Midi tracks for Drums and Guitar. Use a search engine such as VanBasco, [url="http://www.vanbasco.com/"]http://www.vanbasco.com/[/url] pick the best tracks and then use some editing software to strip out the tracks you don't want. Pretty sure Sweet Midi player is free here [url="http://www.ronimusic.com/"]http://www.ronimusic.com/[/url] or use Studio 4. Sweet Midi player will also allow you to change instruments on each track as well. PM me if you want to chat through the whole process.

[quote name='crez5150' post='525569' date='Jun 27 2009, 12:39 AM']you wanna see Mike's latest venture...... Purple Chilli cabs...... looking good so far....[/quote] You is correct Jay. I was with Mike a couple of weeks ago picking up a Compact 15 he has made for me. The Purple Chili's look awesome. Apparently he is re-branding the Zoot Bass Cabs so all the cabs come under the Purple Chili banner. I have had my Zoots for well over a year now and still love them. No problems at all and when guitarists start commenting on what they sound like, you know you are on to a winner. Mine have Eminence Delta's in them and not the Celestion Neo's currently used. At the end of the day no-one can pick your kit for you. There will always be people who love a product and those that hate it. What works for you, works for you.

I tried a Bass at last years LIMS strung with the roundwounds and they were superb. I know what you mean about the "Soft" feel Peter.

[quote name='Bigwan' post='520829' date='Jun 22 2009, 03:25 PM']Probably the best deal close to your budget would be a s/h G&L Tribute 5 string I should think, although I've never played one myself.[/quote] +1 for the G&L. I've had 3 of them and every home should have one. If ever i am struggling getting the sound i want at a venue, wheel out the G&L and it's there. You can get Stingray, P-Bass and Jazz sounds out of it. If you keep and eye out on e-Bay, you should be able to pick one up for a reasonable price.

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='517261' date='Jun 18 2009, 11:14 AM']Maybe two weeks in Crete'll cheer me up. [/quote] Al, reflecting on it all in Crete is a great idea. I know exactly how you feel and had the very same conversation with Nick recently. I jacked the pub band in for the same reason NGE folded. Hacked off with the same material week in week out. Very heavy gigging schedule etc. etc. Also it enabled me to concentrate on the Function band. Then we made a fatal mistake taking on a Female Singer who really pi55ed us around and that imploded. There was one important piece of info that Dave Marks imparted at last years Bass Day, "always try to play with people you like." So 3 guys i have played together with On and Off for the last 40 years are back together. Hard work starting from scratch, but well worth it with right people. Incidently, the superstar from oldham isn't called Jim is he?

[quote name='tayste_2000' post='509996' date='Jun 10 2009, 11:01 AM']I'll keep it I think I have another drummer coming down. Worst case we can just try gear out [/quote] Them with Kids may not make it as it's Father's Day. Just imagine, you want to to be jammin away in Stockport but have to suffer Wetherspoons instead.

I would recommend Wizards. Ace pick-ups and a service that is second to none. Ring Andy at Wizard, tell him what you want and voila, job done.

[url="http://www.vanbasco.com/search.html.en?q=TeenTown&resultsperpage=10"]http://www.vanbasco.com/search.html.en?q=T...sultsperpage=10[/url] Van Basco is the best search engine for Midi Files. Above is the search result for TeenTown. There are quite a few but most are likely to be the same. If you pick the one you want and send it to me and i'll strip the Bass out for you and send it back as an MP3.

Nice to have you onboard Greg. Would be good if you could keep us uodated on what you are doing during your course. A sort of course Diary.

OK either way. If you do postpone, I can get pissed watching the GP though

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh British GP day. Will come along after. Could you PM details please.

[quote name='solo4652' post='504438' date='Jun 3 2009, 08:42 AM']Hello mate, Never did get to jam with John because - well, I think you've worked it out already. The soul singer is Matt Philips. See: [url="http://www.melodypop.co.uk/mattphilips/"]http://www.melodypop.co.uk/mattphilips/[/url] He's a friendly, approachable chap. Great soul singer too. This project has only just got started. Matt's manager is putting the band together. She envisages a 5-piece. [b]DRUMMER, LEAD GUITAR, KEYBOARD PLAYER STILL NEEDED.[/b] Like you, I'm wondering how we'll manage all the brass, sax, strings etc of the wall of sound. I wonder if some of that will still have to be on backing tracks, but I don't know. My reservations are giving way to excitement now. Today's job: The bassline on "You're the first, last..." by Barry White. I may very well be in touch for some advice about kit - I'm going to have to upgrade the combo and I'll [i]definitely[/i] have to buy another bass - no question about that at all! Cheers, Steve[/quote] Hi Steve, A decent Keys Man should be able to handle the brass/sax, so should be good. I remember learning First Last Everything, a crackin Bass Line. Good Luck

[quote name='solo4652' post='502345' date='May 31 2009, 04:14 PM']I've been invited to be part of a backing band for a professional soul/motown singer.[/quote] Hi Steve, What happened to the band John F was trying to put together? Did his colourful language get the better of you. The Soul/Motown gig sounds a cracker. As you know that is my favourite music. Do you know who it is by any chance, cause I might. All the advice above is spot on and I can't add anything other than managing the singers expectations. Not of YOUR playing, but the band in general. If he is used to singing to professionally recorded backing tracks, everything will be there. Strings, Brass, and all the Bells and Whistles. If it is a large backing band, (8-10 people), you stand a chance of getting near the backing tracks, but if it a 5 piece, there is likely to be something missing. Have been through a similar scenario and we got there in the end, but after some tantrums from the singer. Good Luck mate and you always know where I am.

[quote name='Thunderthumbs' post='497638' date='May 25 2009, 10:49 PM']Hi Keith, We've got Public Liability. I don't know whether it's a separate policy or included with other insurance. Our singer deals with it all as that's his business. I'll ask him tomorrow for you and let you know. Cheers, Pete.[/quote] Pete, If it's a good deal could you let me know as well. Our's is due for renewal soon and always looking to save a "bob or 2"