Jerry_B

[quote name='karlfer' post='769836' date='Mar 9 2010, 10:14 PM']Try Aurora Projects web site. Custom cut in Britain, brilliant job on a tortie for my Geddy. Cheers, Karl.[/quote] I've had problems recently with Aurora. They made me a very nice mirrored plate for my Squier Jazz, but the black one they also made was very poor. I asked for a replacement and they just sent me the same one, but just retouched. It was very rough indeed! Plus the fact they scratched up the original Squier plate I sent as a reference template.

[quote name='thumperbob 2002' post='770122' date='Mar 10 2010, 10:01 AM']I cannot see how a vintage instrument with degrading pickups- warped neck-truss rod problems- + the old chestnut cracks around the tuning peg- can sound any better than my £750 2005 American Deluxe Jazz 5 string.[/quote] True - but what about the ones that are in much better nick, despite their age...?

[quote name='JTUK' post='769898' date='Mar 9 2010, 11:06 PM']And, I think there are MAJOR differences between feel, groove and riff... I don't get some of these examples... have to say.[/quote] How so? Surely groove and riff are part of the feel?

Nice bit of kit!

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='769430' date='Mar 9 2010, 04:57 PM']Of course, it's all down to personal preference, but now having done it and owned most other basses (a lot of Fenders included!), I wouldn't trade my Status basses for anything. [/quote] I think I've gotten to the same point - although about the Peavey T-40, rather than the Status. I've played all sorts of basses in a desperate search for that certain something, but only recently have found one that actually suits me and also has the sound I've been searching for for [i]ages[/i]. You do find T-40s for sale over here, but some people are asking silly prices for them, despite the fact that you can pick 80s-era examples in the US for $300 or less. In the end I think 'vintage' anything can be bandied about a bit too much in the wrong way - it's just spiel. That said, an older well-made bass is usually going to be worth something. I just get irked when some people try to play up factors that aren't (yet) something which affects a market price.

By 'vintage' I was thinking more in a sense of older basses, and the fact that they may be becoming rare in terms of their availability on the market. And whilst it's true that there is a faddish element, good, older basses will no doubt go up in price - especially the ones that are also a bit rare. And 'perception' clouds all things of 'value' - it's just a sheen of symbolism that adds (or perhaps detracts) from an object's worth to another person or a market.

As the basses get older, it'll become more apparent which vintages were the best. This is partly the case already. So just because it's an old Fender, it doesn't mean it's a good Fender (as has already been mentioned). And then we also have non-US Fenders, which also have their own vintages. I think this means that their pedigree will remain fairly wide ranging in terms of their value, so at the end of the day you'd have to figure out which ones will be worth more in future. I mean, how much will an early Fender be worth in, say, 30 years? 50 years...?

[url="http://www.highlystrung.co.uk/acatalog/Pickguards__electric_guitar.html"]Highly Strung[/url] are good for plates.

I think Motorhead are great. Always have done! And live that Rickenbacker sound certainly makes it's mark. That said, it's always been common even within the ranks of metal fans that Lemmy and co. aren't everyone's cup of tea.

Lemmy would've been the best, I reckon...

The Maya seemed quite solid to me, whereas the problem I always had with the aforementioned Aria was that it felt a bit too dainty and delicate. The neck seemed to warp just by looking at it. The Maya overall build quality seemed just solid and no frills, but good nonetheless. I was in a hardcore punk band at the time, and the Aria was lacking (in the end I went for a Westone Spectrum DX, which was waaaay better than the Aria). One man's poison, etc...

[quote name='RhysP' post='765913' date='Mar 6 2010, 11:02 AM']I have to admit I was disappointed with the programme. It had the usual sneery "Let's make heavy metal bands & fans look like thick w***ers" vibe that you always get in things like this. I don't recall any of the other "Music Britannia" documentaries being that condescending, or using comedy sound effects when people were talking. Still, nothing more than I'd expect from a bunch of middle class arty farty media w***ers.[/quote] There have been very few documentaries about heavy metal which take it seriously. Or, at least, they take the look of the bands too seriously, but not the music. I've always found that odd as the whole 'look' issue for metal bands has always been a bit showy and not always 100% serious - but their attitude towards their music is very serious. It's not just metal that falls foul of this - the same thing has happened with punk doc's too.

My mate Tom used to wear it 'just in case there are any birds there'... I think he'd taken the adverts too seriously...

I thought Maya's were pretty good. I actually preferred the Jazz one I tried to a Aria Pro II I had at the time (1988-ish). The Maya felt a bit more rugged.

[quote name='discreet' post='765884' date='Mar 6 2010, 10:32 AM']Yes! Or the BO, patchouli, vomit and smoke![/quote] It was always the aftershave fumes I remember. Some of the older metallers would even be as daring as to wear 'Denim' Me, I just smelt of 'Shield'

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='765863' date='Mar 6 2010, 09:52 AM']So many P basses on TV last night. Makes me feel proud to own one.[/quote] Quite a few Jazzes too. Check out the Judas Priest 'Rocka Rolla' bit - very nice sound from a Jazz there!

I thought it was pretty good. I was most interested in the gig crowd footage - reminded me very much of those time. Mind you, it always looks a bit grubbier than it actually was. I guess that's because you can't smell the Brut 33 and Old Spice fumes...

[quote name='BarnacleBob' post='765512' date='Mar 5 2010, 07:20 PM']Sky+ all set!!!! Managed to miss last nights Flight 666 BB[/quote] You can watch it on the BBC site in a web browser with their iPlayer. Easy!

My fretless (and my other basses) can be seen [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=78452"]here...[/url]

[quote name='iconic' post='763622' date='Mar 4 2010, 08:04 AM']fretless have my attention now...do they all sound like this VMJ fretless, or this going thru oodles of witchcraft boxes?[/quote] They don't all have to sound like that, no. To my mind that clip makes it sound a little thin and muted too much - but perhaps that's the just the video quality.

I'm the best bass player in the world, and so's my wife...