trtzbass

hey, hope you all are well.

I've had this pretty SDGR 1000 in bits laying around for ages and decided to restore it.
I realised I lost one of the screws that hold the neck in place and I can't for the life of me find the sizes on the interwebz.
The only replacements I found that are specifically made for an Ibanez are on ebay for 40$ a pop so that's out of discussion.
Help please?

23 hours ago, Jakester said:

Ah, sorry! Glad you found it though. 

No problem mate, thanks for your help.

Hope you're well and safe

Thanks guys for your help.

I'm afraid it's buttercream, not butterscotch. Easy mistake to make (it confused me to no end too). Manchester Guitar tech has it, BTW thanks for your help Jakester

Hey peeps

Hope you are all well and safe;

Last year, as a family activity, I put together a P bass with one of my kids. I'm pleased with how it turned out. Doesn't sound half bad and it's a pleasure to play.
Originally, I planned to paint it Fender Buttercream, but since I am not a luthier I bought a spray can of nitrocellulose vintage white which is not quite the colour I wanted. 
I'm kinda happy with how it looks, but I'm still curious to see it in the colour I like the best

Do any of you know if and where I can buy that specific colour in a spray can?
Many thanks everyone

Hi. 
I’d like to buy the last set please. Is it sill available?

Hey.

I live in Gillingham and teach double bass. Wanna swing by for a cuppa and a chat?

Super smooth transaction and real nice guy!

Cheers TBird!

price drop bump!

Hello everyone.

Up for sale two of my favourite basses: A fretted SR500 and a (I believe) 1992 fretless SR1000. After I bought my new instruments, they are not getting any loving and it's just a shame.

[url="http://jordanbrown.bandcamp.com/track/alan-parsons-undercover-mission-to-africa"]You can hear both basses in action here[/url]

and

[url="http://imgur.com/a/gPvr7"]You can see them guys here[/url]

So, without further ado:

FRETTED SR500 MIK [s]250£[/s] 230£

This guy and I have some great memories together. I bought it at Sam Ash in NYC, 2011. Spent three hours in there, comparing it to its twin brothers and anything else in its price range and slightly upwards (think Fender and mid price Spectors) and it won me over because of tone quality and sustain. It is a made in Korea model, meaning greater build quality than the new Chinese models. Bartolini pups and onboard pre. It shone in a couple of NYC recording sessions.
We then went on a European tour with Aussie folk rockers The Wishing Well - it delivered consistent tone and stability for the whole five months of tour.
Finish is in good shape (no usual thumb discoloration on the body) apart from some very light scratches on the back and a nick on the side, as portrayed in the pictures.
It really breaks my heart to see it go, but I can't just watch it sitting there gathering dust. I would love it to go to a loving home.

FRETLESS SR1000 MIJ [s]300£[/s] 250£

Bought this a year ago from a guy on Gumtree. For some reason the letter R of SDgR is missing from the headstock.
This is a MIJ fretless conversion of an early '90s instrument. I believe the natural flame maple finish was part of a limited run (don't quote me on that, I think I read it on the net somewhere). It looks great onstage BTW. The electronics have been upgraded to a set of Tesla pick ups and an onboard Aguilar OBP - 2. Mwah for days! It's currently being used in Davy 'O List's (of The Nice fame) live band and recordings.

Of course you are more than welcome to come and try them out, I live in Streatham, SW London.
Have a great day

Oh my god what a beaut.

I... I think I need a minute...

Hi! Where are you based?

Hi petetexas, yes it's the 4 ohm version an, yes of course courier is an option
Check out [url="http://www.parcel2go.com"]www.parcel2go.com[/url] so you can choose your preferred courier.
[url="http://epifani.com/ul2-410-bass-cabinet/"]This is Epifani's product page[/url] should you need the size, etc...

Also, bless you paulmcnamara for your help - dunno what happened there. I took the pictures with an Iphone and probably the orientation tag was corrupt or something. No matter how much I'd rotate and save them again, they'd keep on showing up sideways!

You might want to check https://www.parcel2go.com/

It's a good comparison website, I always use it!

This is now SOLD. Thanks very much everyone!

For sale my EBS Reidmar bass head.

Light as a feather but BIG sound, in great condition. A quick Google search will show you how everyone raves about it.
I just bought a combo amp so I need to shift it.
In great condition, fully functional, no scratchy pots, etc. comes with original box, documentation, etc.
You're more than welcome to come around for a test drive
Based in SW London

[attachment=190314:20150416_091712107_iOS.jpg]
[attachment=190315:20150416_091722604_iOS.jpg]

For sale is a nice NYC built Epifani UL 112 series 1

UL stands or Ultra Light! It only weighs 32 pounds so you can hop the tube and go to a gig with it.
Nice hi fi round sound with the extra zing of a powerful tweeter.

Price includes an original amp cover I got from the hands of Mr. Nick Epifani himself.

You're very welcome to come and have a test drive.
[attachment=190311:20150416_091452447_iOS.jpg]
[attachment=190312:20150416_091506761_iOS.jpg]
[attachment=190313:20150416_091516930_iOS.jpg]

Apologies, I can't seem to find a way to rotate the pics!

This is now SOLD. Thanks everyone!

For sale my Epifani UL 410

Sounds massive with any bass head, I use a Reidmar 250 and still the sound pressure could rearrange somebody's internal organs!
It had been on tour a couple times and the carpet is a bit worn out in places; also one of the plastic corners needs replacing.
Because of that I think it's fair to ask 360 pounds for it. Aside from that the cab speaks loud and clear with the Epifani quality and clarity we all love!
Selling it because I'm downsizing my rig!
You're more than welcome to come around an try it. I live in SW London
[attachment=190309:IMG_0256.JPG]
[attachment=190310:IMG_0257.JPG]

P/M sent!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNi7DO2mcPY

thought you guys might like this.
A bunch of friends took Daphne out for a spin and that's what she sounds like

I don't know if it's of any help, but I covered it on my youtoob channel
[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP92epYM1Ys&list=UUoyTKu6myeqciDKNh1O9SKw"]https://www.youtube....yeqciDKNh1O9SKw[/url]

Cheers you guys!

I know I'm a lucky dude - really can't wait for Daphne to be here with me. I'll be posting some soundclips ASAP!

[b] Rufini Vintage Custom Series – it’s READY![/b]
August 23, 2014
If you followed my build diary so far you’d have seen [url="http://www.matteorufini.com/"]Matteo Rufini[/url] has been busy putting the final touches on my new instrument which is now ready and will be shipped to me tomorrow.

I must say, from the pictures it looks stunning and I am really impatient to rip the packaging to shreds, open that case and smell that wonderful aroma of wood and fresh paint. I am loving what Matteo did with the relic work. It’s very subtle but effective; also, now I won’t have to take off my belt every time I play!

The flame maple neck looks amazing and only has a very thin coat of finish that makes that veneer pop through nicely. Something I did not talk about during the build diary is the decision to have a 24 fret neck mounted on a traditional P bass body without extended cutaway.
I have another instrument which is basically that, a P bass with 24 frets. Somehow, when I play that I can feel there is a slight imbalance of proportions as if the bass sits at an awkward angle. After a bit of searching I noticed it’s because the body shape accommodates for the extra length of the neck and it feels ever so slightly unnatural to me. I mean it’s not a massive issue by any stretch of immagination but I can feel it and it kinda puts me off sometimes.
The neck / body joint on this bass only offers easy access up to the 21st fret but I decided for the 24 fret option anyway because I use a fair amount of touch style / tapping technique. That way I can still access the high notes on the neck but at the same time retain the vintage feel of the instrument.


I’d like to spend a few word about the pick up configuration.
Well first of all I really need to thank [url="http://www.teslapickups.com"]Tesla Pickups[/url] and their fantastic products. Those pick ups are the bomb! Everybody who’s played the bass so far has said it speaks with the voice of God. I have Teslas on other instruments and they never fail to impress me with their sound. Seriously, you should check them out, they’re high quality stuff.
The pickup configuration was actually the original reason why I wanted a new instrument.
During the past few years I’ve been blessed with a thriving career both in the studio environment and live. I have my collection of instruments and I have my palette of tones I go for depending on the sound I want. Fact is I kept on wishing a given quality of a certain instrument belonged to another bass with a better feeling neck, etc; so it was only natural to compile a wish list and come up with a Swiss knife kind of instrument, the one that’ll be my first choice whenever I head out for a session or a gig.

The layout is pretty straightforward: I have a P bass pickup in the traditional neck position, so I can cover the classic rock and Motown tones and then a beefy Music Man humbucker near the bridge, when I need some funk / modern (ish) / heavy rock gnarl.
The humbucker comes with a three position switch that gives further tonal options: I can run it in parallel, series or single coil mode. Pair that with the option to blend the front and back magnets and you end up with a tone monster!

Oh, and before I forget. Her name is Daphne

Yeah mate, I can't wait!

I'll receive it on the 28th and I'm counting the seconds!

The instrument is almost ready now!
The body has been painted and the hardware installed and meister [url="http://www.matteorufini.com/"]Matteo Rufini[/url] is about to put a tasty P / MM [url="http://www.teslapickups.com"]Tesla pickups[/url] combo set on it.



My color combination of choice is a correct daphne blue with cream pickguard.
I’ve always wanted a daphne blue instrument, I find that colour very subtle, elegant and classic, but for some reason daphne blue instruments are very hard to come by. I’ve also quickly learned that it’s a shade of color that changes though the years and can fade to an almost seafoam green tint, so a bit of research went into that; Matteo and I both agreed that the best pickguard colour to go with it had to be vintage cream as it complements the whole vintage vibe quite nicely.
This is also quite interesting:
Yesterday night I was having a conversation with my pal Pat Harrington who lives in California. He’s an incredible bassist, a wildlife conservationist and a hard core Rush fan. My kinda guy. Well, he loves his cars and told me more about the much coveted Daphne Blue tint.
It first appeared as a color option on the ’58 Cadillac!

Story goes that Leo Fender would just pick the colours from the DuPont chip charts of the day so that they’d be consistent and, well, very cheap. Fender offered it as a colour option only from 1960 to 1965.
So, my baby is going to be the colour of a vintage car. And yes, it’s relic’d. Heavily.
The relicing of modern instruments is a delicate topic and never fails to heavily polarize opinions. Some think it’s a cool look and some others loathe it on the grounds of purism and age coherence.
I personally find that an instrument needs to inspire the player to pick it up and make music with it and if a fake antique look does the trick (and in my case it does indeed), well, then let it be.
Furthermore, guitar based music of any genre (rock, pop, blues, r ‘n b, etc..) is rapidly becoming a nostalgia business.
A quick look into the charts reveals how little mainstream music is being made with traditional post 50s string instruments. I know I harbour quite an unpopular point of view but I truly believe that with the advent of the latest music making technologies, the electric guitar (or the electric bass) is rapidly becoming the new violin if you know what I mean. Sorry for the digression, that’ll have to be material for a new post on my blog.
What I’m trying to say is that it’s my perception that a lot of what I play on nowadays draws so much from the tradition of pop and rock music, that my instrument needs to reflect that.
It’s either that or I’m just getting old and grumpy and crave for a more conservative design.



Take a look at how Matteo masterfully aged the hardware.
Last but not least take a good look at that sweet flame maple neck that show off the signature Rufini Guitars fret markers.


Man I can’t wait…

[b] [size=4]Rufini Vintage Custom Series build diary pt.3[/size][/b]
August 2, 2014
When it came down to discuss neck measurements I had two requests: it had to have 24 frets and it had to be narrow because I have small hands / short fingers, so no P Bass style baseball bat profile.


Of course Matteo laid a lot of great ideas on the table and I couldn’t help but keep saying “yes”, “that’s great” and “you’re so talented it’s not even funny”.
I told him how I really enjoyed playing a Music Man Sterling that belongs to a good friend of mine and how its neck felt good and fast; he got that on board and delivered something better: he started from the classic ’60s Jazz Bass measurements but added, quite literally, a twist to it.
The neck will sport a variable taper construction technique: it will be a C profile at the nut and will slowly morph to a flat D under the higher frets. On top of that it’ll gradually become asymmetric, so it’ll help the thumb to get in the optimal position to help accessing the top frets.
I can’t wait to lay my hands on it!



Another feature I always wanted on my dream bass is a flame maple fretboard just because, well, it looks gorgeous and feels really good under the fingers. I asked if we could keep the finish to the bare minimum as I’m not a fan of finished necks; it kinda bums me out a bit when I’m onstage, things are a little sweaty and the back of the neck ‘catches’ my thumb. It’s a minimal thing and it really is a borderline first world problem, but what the heck, you’re having an instrument built on your own specs, better address every nuance.


Matteo explained to me that he employs a very interesting building techinque when it comes to fretboards. Instead of just gluing it to the neck and then shaping it, he sands down the neck shaft and then he glues the fretboard so that it follows the curvature he imparted to the main piece. He swears by this kind of approach and says it prevents dead spot problems.


Lastly, here’s a couple of images of the instrument pieced together. As you can see a lot still has to be done, but you can start guessing what makes it stand apart from a traditional Fender style instrument!