Dave Vader

[quote name='Jonnyboy Rotten' timestamp='1394628080' post='2393433'] So its almost like I feel I haven't outgrown my 'beginners' bass but I want to treat myself anyway. I know it shouldn't matter but you know what snobs musicians can be like - even some of my best mates (mostly guitarists) talk about each others musical short comings behind their backs and in one sense I don't want them to think I am 'too big for my boots' or that I have an over inflated picture of my capabilities but I try to just look at it that the more I enjoy playing the bass the better I will get and quicker! [/quote] Herein lies the problem, the worry over self-image. Musicians are mostly arses, we look at someone with a very cheap chinese P-copy, and assume him to know nothing and have only just started playing. Equally, we see an accountant wielding a fodera, and we are equally disparaging of him. I have been guilty of this on many occasions, no matter what instrument the musician is holding, the other musicians in the room will silently judge him over it before he has played a note. Worth pointing out that back in the early 90s we snorted at those who played Squiers, JV squiers... see how well that worked out. Play what you like, someone will hate you for it whatever it is.

You "outgrow" your cheap instrument, buy a lot of expensive ones, playing lots all the time, then pick up that old cheap one again after a lot of years, and find you are more comfortable playing it, it sounds better, and you like it more. (It's a Sunn Mustang, it cost me £30 25 years ago, it has had a fair bit of work done on it as well) You have now outgrown the expensive stuff, and cured your GAS forever. True story, but YMMV IMHO etc. etc.

Rehoused in the barn at my neighbours until I can make a new studio space somewhere, looks neater than it used to...

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1394554241' post='2392611'] Nowadays it's just a question of going onto one of the join my band type websites and hitting reply to any advert that takes your fancy without thinking in advance of the consequences. [/quote] That explains why I'm in so many terrible bands these days....

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1394548943' post='2392541'] Presumably AFTER he's finished mixing? [/quote] Skol doesn't like people working for free

Fine thanks, never realised people got so obsessed before I came on here. In fact all I played before that was my crappy old P-bass copy which the tone control had fallen inside the plate on. It sounded fine, I've fixed the pot now, and have more gear, but I still sound the same, kind of low and thumpy.

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1394063508' post='2387670'] Here you go - [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=dansette+tempo&LH_Complete=1&rt=nc"]completed listings on ebay uk for dansette tempos[/url]. Mostly around £200. A red one went for £511 [/quote] Oh my, these might get lost from the house in the next big tidy.... Although I do enjoy the drunken nights stacking 45s up on them and upsetting the kids with terrible singles.

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1394034363' post='2387171'] Apparently they sell on the Bay for £100+, twice that for the rarer Red / Cream or Royal Blue versions. [/quote] You are joking me? I've got one each of them. Well, i say I have, they're the wife's and she won't sell them. Bugger....

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1393969901' post='2386528'] If i had £350,000 to spend i'd buy an old Dansette and a pile of 45s and still have £349,950 left to spend on far better things than some fancy hi-fi. [/quote] I can help you there, I've a couple of those knocking about for drunken comedy DJ nights at home. You can have them for 350,000 the pair. I am not an audiophile, though was pleasantly surprised to find my old Wharfedale XP2 speakers (that my Grandad gave me 20 years ago when he went into an old folks home) and NAD 3020 amp (got for £20 off a junkie in a record shop around the same time) are in fact highly regarded. It certainly explains why I am always defending my cheap gear. I apologise to them constantly for having them hooked up to a soundlab turntable and an old DVD player.

I've got my heavily modifed Rockinbetter (the Rickenbastard) half Rockinbetter, with Hondo electrics, and Hipshot bridge. And custom TRC from Jon (Bassassin). Oh and a gaffa taped pickguard. Don't know it you want pics of anything like that though.

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1393959580' post='2386323'] I am very much liking those lyre-topped tuner plates. The rest of it too, mind. But there's something quite charming about them. [/quote] Oft seen on the sides of older cheaper classical guitars they are. Which lends creedence to the japanese providence of the thing. IMHO Thanks Skank.

You will need extra arms. And to be as cool as this guy.

it is also extraordinarily light, with an uber-thick scratch plate. Both of which I like.

Right, inside the label says manufactured by Yamar Guitar Musical Industrial Co. whatever that means, here are more pictures, in the vain hope that it is identifiably Japanese at least.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1393546342' post='2381876'] a free pair of good shoes because they're made by a big company who likes to know how you use them. [/quote] I believe the new Nike Air "NSA" have trackers implanted in the soles to do just that. I have spent the last year realising that a proper website is no longer something I need, so I redirected my domain to go straight to my bandcamp page, which has links to the facebook pages etc. etc. Mostly because I am now working with a bunch of kids, and they just look for bands on FB or twitter or Soundcloud or Youtube, and are almost unaware that there is another web out there with actual sites on it. it has made my online life much simpler now I don't need to keep websites updated all the time. I appreciate that this is not true of all situations. Btw, if you do have a website with music on it, turn the &*(^ing autolaunch off, my boss might be in earshot, and he doesn't want to hear your band blast out of my office by mistake, and neither do I. I'll hit play if I want to hear it.

A clip on tuner in your case saves a world of cables. I use a Harley Benton promethean clone for most gigs with just the 1x10 speaker. It's pretty good, and the head comes out for bigger gigs where I need to (alright, just want to normally) use my big seperate cabs, and its full 500w.

damn it, someone else can...

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1393429985' post='2380212'] With Ebay, surely you can beat the addiction just by bidding ridiculously low sums on instruments. Here's a Japanese Fender for you. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MIJ-Fender-Jazz-bass-guitar-/301107782355?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item461b6c22d3"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item461b6c22d3[/url] All you need to do is bid, say, £25 on it. Much of the fun of actually seriously bidding, without the risk of large pieces of carved wood arriving in the post. [/quote] Thanks for the heads up, that's near me, and i can't afford more than 25 quid.

[quote name='spinynorman' timestamp='1392948692' post='2374652'] Does it say anything useful on the label inside? [/quote] Just the model number, and reiterating the makers name again, which is probably an importer. Will try and get a closer upper (yeah that's a real word) photo of it, and the other bits sometime this week.

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1392719697' post='2371873'] - I won a bottle of wine in the raffle [/quote] And that is what is important here. Well done. Are you sharing?

And here's a picture.

Mystery this is, I picked it up for 60 quid in Crack converters today, lovely thing, but I have never heard of Yama. Looked like a yamaha from a distance, but isn't. I walked past a Yamaha FG410 to get to this one, it is utterly lovely, but I would love to know some of the company. It looks 70s and Japanese, but the sticker on the back of the headstock has been removed, it may say Taiwan, it may say Japan. I will never know. Will maybe post pictures later, but have only seen one other on the net in Singapore. Any ideas (I'm looking at you Bassasin and Noel, please?)

Can I go for a mix of all the above? I've got a couple of guitars on the walls, some on a triple stand by the sofa, a few leaning against amps and stuff in the spare room, a pile of cases in the studio, with a bunch of things in there, and I've probably forgotten a few (I think I left one in the boot of the car last week...) I voted the last option.