Rich

In my 2p-worth, labels are only really [i]essential[/i] if you're particularly concerned about a} resale value (an expensive custom will be easier to sell if it's a Wal or Alembic than if it's an ACG or Shuker) or b} snob value. Obviously there's always brand loyalty (e.g. "I love Rickies and would never play anything else"), but that's more a case of the label being preferable rather than an absolute must-have. That's what I reckon anyway.

[quote name='OldGit' post='443293' date='Mar 23 2009, 11:52 PM']Actually a metronomic drummer, click track or drum box would be horrible... No feel ..[/quote] A bit like Mike Portnoy, in fact

I sold a cab to Joe many moons ago. Definitely one of the good guys. Also, he's a dab hand with the ol' sound engineering and has done the biz brilliantly for my band a couple of times, including performing the semi-miraculous feat of getting us a really good sound at the Fleece the FOH there normally sounds like a bag of nails.

What polepieces?

I've got arthritis in the top joint of my fretting pinky, so I can't use it. My right hand pinky is starting to go too. I live in fear of the rest of my fingers developing it too.

Delano pickup + either East Retro or ACG guts.

Did the review bass(es) happen?

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='441955' date='Mar 22 2009, 07:42 PM']The amps get stuck on a sturdy shelf unit: [/quote] I should bloody well hope it IS sturdy too, with that Strategy sat on the top...

Has he changed the price or summat? Cos now it's a 99p start and I can't see anything wrong with it.

My favourite J colours are CAR/pearly white, but not sure how well that would go with a maple neck.

Oh pants. Of course the Factor is American. My mistake. Still a classic though.

[u]Tune Bass Maniac[/u] The bass that launched a thousand imitators. One of the first, if not [i]the[/i] first, of the lightweight 80s superJap basses. [u]Kubicki Factor[/u] Like it or loathe it, it's a radical design that works brilliantly. Sounds fabulous too. Look, no coffee table.

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=44488"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=44488[/url]

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=44488"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=44488[/url]

Yup, I have 40TWs in my Shuker 5-string. My favourite setting at the moment is with the bridge pup on full and the neck pup 'tapped'. Lovely tight sound. The only thing I don't like about them is that there is a very noticeable difference in output between the single and double coil settings.

[quote name='lee4' post='440617' date='Mar 20 2009, 08:28 PM']Er,Status Groove(my precious). [b]A classic?[/b][/quote] Only if the OP likes it.

Not a chance.

Well, like I said before, define "cool". If you can demonstrate who the Official 'Cool People' really are, as recognised by absolutely [i]everyone[/i], then maybe I'll have to reconsider. Actually, I've just thought of another more accurate title for this thread of yours. It should be 'All The Stuff I Like Is Great, And The Stuff You Like Is Crap, And That's A Fact'. [quote name='WalMan' post='439553' date='Mar 19 2009, 06:39 PM']Blimey! If you were buying from an advert not a shop that might have been mine, in which case it would have been the silver burst one above. It was quite hard work as an 8 string. Not one to be used for a whole set!![/quote] Nope. It was back in the late 80s, sitting in the window of Amen Corner Music near Bracknell. Sort of a baccy sunburst. It looked like a real beast, but the first thing that attracted me was how similar the body shape was to my Wal! I ummed and ahhed and then walked away. Idiot!

Years ago I nearly bought a Shergold 8-string for £150... been kicking myself ever since for not grabbing it. [quote name='thisnameistaken' post='438263' date='Mar 18 2009, 01:57 PM']Are you serious? Anyway, nothing with a figured top is going in this list. This is for [i]cool[/i] basses.[/quote] Sorry, I must have missed the bit where you were made the ultimate arbiter of taste & coolness So I guess this means that the accurate title of this thread is "Not-American Classics (But Only If [b]I[/b] Like Them)"

So, at what point does an expensive bass become too expensive to comfortably take to a gig? Let's say an ordinary gig at the Dog & Duck, rather than a big gig on a proper stage. Actually, to partially answer my own question, I guess the key word is 'valuable' rather than expensive. A £300 bass bought for you by a loved-one could quite easily be far more personally valuable than a £1000 piece of exotica.

You think using 'gay' as an insult is funny, but you're all sensitive about calling someone an idiot (rather than using 'gay' as an insult again) and you think 'chav' is offensive? Oh please.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='427808' date='Mar 7 2009, 03:02 AM']it pisses all over your Alembic and doesn't look as gay.[/quote][quote name='EdwardHimself' post='428064' date='Mar 7 2009, 03:59 PM']For a start it pisses me off so much people who use the word "gay" as an insult it suggests to me that you're homophobic.[/quote][quote name='thisnameistaken' post='428129' date='Mar 7 2009, 05:42 PM']I thought it fit the rant quite well, that's why I used it. Most of my friends work in theatre, if I was scared of gays I'd have nobody to talk to.[/quote][quote name='EdwardHimself' post='428218' date='Mar 7 2009, 08:48 PM']Yeah but what maked you think it would. You could have just said it looked crap or terrible. I just don't understand because you don't hear people saying something looks "n******" or "Paki" or "Spazz" so why the hell do you call it Gay? I just really don't get it.[/quote] I am firmly with Edward here. [b][u]The word 'gay' is not a term of abuse and should not be used as such[/u][/b]. If anyone wants to call something crap, say it's crap. If you want to call someone an idiot, call them an idiot. But if you simply [i]have[/i] to use 'gay' rather than crap or idiot, go to a Big Brother discussion forum with the other 14 year olds where you can type "OMG u r like so gay" to your heart's content.

[quote name='Russ' post='437959' date='Mar 18 2009, 04:54 AM']I was thinking of just bringing it onto the plane in its gig bag as hand baggage and getting them to stick it in the coat locker or something, since you're now allowed to bring more than one piece of hand baggage again. Plus having it in its gig bag would make it easier to carry around with me when I get there. Anyone got any experience of doing this? The flight is from Newark (USA) to Heathrow on BA.[/quote] I did this once on a BA flight, many years ago, with a bass I bought in Jakarta. They stuck it in the coat locker and it was fine. But that was 1994 and obviously things have changed. If you turn up at check-in with your gig bag and they say you've got to check your bass as hold luggage...

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='436826' date='Mar 17 2009, 01:20 AM']Aria SB range - Bit plain, but the best suggestion yet.[/quote] So the Aria SB isn't a classic, but the Yam BB is? Hmm. This is all very subjective. [quote]Manson - Does he even make basses? Another boutique nobody - NO![/quote] Boutique [i]nobody[/i]? John Paul Jones would disagree! The Mansons have been making basses for decades. I would suggest that the Kestrel bass from the early 80s is something of a design classic: [quote name='thisnameistaken' post='437426' date='Mar 17 2009, 03:47 PM']But they were never cool. The only British manufacturer who had a distinctive shape was Status, and that literally was "too modern". It looks very dated now, not in a good way.[/quote] Define 'cool', define 'dated'. It's in the eye of the beholder.