theplumber

Having an idle browse on Gumtree today,I found a Musicman Sub Bass for sale at £200............1 hour later it was making its way home with me. Then I had to tell the wife..........

That white SUB with the red scratchplate....that was mine! I bought it off e bay,had it for about 2 years and sold it to a guy from Northern Ireland,about 2 years ago. It was ''reliced'' by the previous owner,hence the worn paint. There is no way anyone would wear the paint off these with normal use!! I loved the guitar,but was really broke at the time and had to sell it! Oh,I also sold the rest!

Pointless.....next!!!

Just used interparcel this week,great service. Guitar picked up and delivered to my door all within 24 hours,£11 ! I did value the item at around £50 as it was that price on e bay. They use UPS as carrier,in fact you have a choice of carrier. Similar item posted with parcelforce at local post office is around £18 and takes around 48 hours.

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1359855934' post='1961344'] Interesting thread................but I often wonder if there are any sh*te basses or just sh*te bass players? I've heard sh*te bass players make decent basses sound like sh*t, but give them a Precision with flats and they sound OK. I believe a good player can make anything sound good, provided it's set up reasonably. And can make something half decent sound great. Come on guys, everyone knows modern Stingrays are a million times more consistent than the old ones and to list a bass in here because you think the neck looks anaemic makes it sh*te - bloody hell next someone will be saying Rics are sh*te because they have strange styling! And I'll have nothing said against an Encore P copy - they even do a lefty. When fitted with flats makes a great impression of a Precision at a fraction of the cost - just what you need as a starter bass - plays in tune - decent action - quite playable - trusty Precision bass tone. A real P sounds so little different you start to wonder what all the fuss is about!! My lad graduated straight to a Stingray from an Encore - but has fitted it with flats and still gets it out occassionally to get a 'vintage' sound! So my take is there are few sh*te basses! [/quote]The early made in India ones are the best,made in the same place as the Sunn Mustang basses and American Squiers. I changed the pickups in mine for Fenders and it's great!

I believe Martin did one tour with them,not too sure....He was out of the band after the first album,which was a shame,but I still remember playing that album over and over as a kid on my wee record player..plus my dad's reaction to Ron Mael!! What the ffffff!!!!!! It's bloody Hitler on piano!!

Good to see a blast from the past,well my musical one at least,Martin Gordon on here. As I said before,when I was starting out playing,I heard Sparks and Kimono My House. The bass player stood out a mile (maybe my record player was faulty!) Anyway,I found out when Radio Stars came on the scene,it was the same guy on the bass!! Recently I have bought some of Martins solo stuff off the net and was surprised at how well crafted and catchy a lot of the stuff was...(showing my age..does anyone use the phrase catchy anymore!!) Have a listen or have a look in at his web page....he must have learned something from those old Mael sisters......

Propaganda!....also a very good album!!

Radio Stars were a really great live act....I say them back in the day at the Glasgow Apollo. Martin did seem to have a stand out bass playing style,check out the Kimono My House album by Sparks. Just recently got in to his solo stuff and its pretty bloody good! Have a look for his web page.

[attachment=126407:martingordoninte_i000011.jpg]Recently I have been listening to Sparks,Kimono My House. It was one of the first albums I bought and really has some perfect bass playing,by Martin Gordon...This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us was the hit single,but every song is a stand out! It seems that the producer,Muff Winwood managed to capture the sound of the Rickenbacker perfectly! In fact I would go as far as to say,that album got me in to playing bass! I also followed Martin's other bands,Jet and Radio Stars! It seems since then he has been very busy with a series of solo albums,featuring some very catchy clever pop tunes and also producing other acts. Have a look at his website! He is currently releasing another solo album,using crowdfunding,which seems to be the way forward these days as the old style record company way of selling music falls away....worth checking out! Any other fans of Martins music and bass playing on the Sparks album out there.....

Up late and watching BBC 4 .....Bob Marley,Ken Booth..loads of Fender basses....check out the guy playing for Ken with a rather nice p bass...I love his wee dance lol...

Sorry to hear about this..its deffo a fake and deffo an Encore... I recently sold one of these on ebay,hope it wasn't this one!

[quote name='FlatEric' timestamp='1334833157' post='1621976'] Mmmm, Nice! Happy with the sound/feel of it?? Cheers. [/quote]What a sound....very Rickenbacker!! Really chuffed with it! A couple of wires came off during the sanding,I really should have removed the pickups rather than covering them up,but I soldered them back on,then renewed the jack socket.

Jesus...this is pretty bloody awful!!

It lives!!![attachment=105143:DSCF7114.JPG][attachment=105144:DSCF7115.JPG]

[quote name='louisthebass' timestamp='1333456673' post='1601915'] Started a gig a few years ago and wondered why the bass didn't sound in tune for the first few numbers.... The tuner I use has a facility for tuning the instrument a semitone flat and I'd tuned up in a hurry - felt a right Muppett! [/quote]Did the very same thing at a gig in Glasgow a few years back,I noticed in the second song something was not right,putting it down to cold guitar coming in to hot venue.....picked up spare guitar for next song,the very same thing happened with that guitar,our guitar player sussed it and said,that new tuner...have you set it up right! Red face time,specially when I made some smart remark through the mike about the sound from the bass cabinet to the guy mixing the sound and a few of the punters shouted back,just tune your bass ya dick!....

[quote name='GeeCee' timestamp='1333582744' post='1603999'] I think Wilkes called both of the models shown in this thread BI Supreme basses. The BI Standard bass had one Schaller humbucker in the P position. If these are both passive, there was also an active version (B/T). Not sure if the bridge is original on the black one. The only ones I can remember picking up had Schaller 3D bridges. Schaller hardware seemed to be standard throughout. My local shop used to carry the full range of Wilkes bases. [/quote]Could be an early one,it looks to be the original bridge,but not the same as any pics I have seen of the range,also I think the bass dates from 83.I removed the pic ups to sand down and the foam pads underneith had crumbled to powder! Date on pick ups indicate a date/year 1983.

[quote name='FlatEric' timestamp='1333557531' post='1603557'] When you've finished sanding, should look like this with a finish on it. Please ignore the holes!! When I went to see Doug, I took this one with me as well, hoping he would say "this is the scratchplate for it" What he actually said was "dunno what the holes are for, none of the ones I made had a plate on 'em" Nuts! When you have finished you will have a very fine sounding and playing bass. Lucky man! Cheers. [/quote]Thanks for that...yeah,the original finish was like a coat of primer..not a great finish! I have started rubbing it down,no major dinks on the bass,I may try finishing with an oil for the time being.I had a look at the pickups,there seems to be some sort of date which looks like 83...would this be right? I think I will stick with the original brass bridge,though I do have a chunky chrome one that looks similar...think it came from an old Hondo.

Not wasting any time,it's currently in wee bits at the moment,although the stealth black mat finish was ok,I noticed the body is made of mahogany........so sandpaper time!

Go to e bay and do an advanced search for completed listings or have a look for e bay member wingmusic1972 they say they have more stock to shift.....you never know!!

The seller said that it was stock from a music shop venture that was closing down...the listing will still be up on e bay,and on the neck is a bar code label and the price marked on it is £29.99......I think they might have been in the wrong business! Its very dusty and has traces of mold on it plus manky strings but thats nothing! Oh and I didn't get the usual moan from the wife when she found out I bought yet another piece of sh*t from e bay!

It seems Doug Wilkes turned out a fair few guitars in the 80's,I googled the brand to find out...thumbs up all round and good enough for the likes of Pink Floyd to buy some from him.He is back on the go building and repairing guitars. This is a total bargain,hard to put a price on as the brand is not well known.I think this one is late 80's early 90's,a wee bit like a Jay Dee bass....sounds a lot like my Musicman Bass,The body is mahogany,Di Marzio pick ups,Schaller machine heads,nice straight neck,electrics work find,but the pots need a tighten up.Goes to show that there are still bargains to be had on e bay,as I mentioned,buy now price,£25.......the funny thing was,someone had been before me and made an offer!!!!

Just passing the time of day on Sunday evening,looking around e bay.....fell out of my chair when I seen this,at a buy now price of.....£25!!!! It has just arrived,in need of a good clean and some new strings,but I have had a wee go on it......bloody hell!! wow!!

Maybe some sort of memorial gig in her memory at a later date would be better.

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1331985204' post='1581696'] Looks really nice. Always fancied a Sandberg and for Mexican P bass price range looks like a winner. Jez [/quote]Could this be the Sandberg version of the Musicman Sub range?......