Big_Stu

I've said this to so many friends who become parents; last time was two days ago & he'd never thought about it but agreed immediately. No matter what point in their life your kids are at; for one reason or another "that" immediate point is the best one. As you grow older every new highlight becomes the best one. You'll find time for bass - or come back to it - I did. But there are few finer things you can do for your kids than to nurture a musical talent; I tried but my son became a drummer . As well as the birth, first steps, first day at school pic etc. I have one of him on Xmas morning when he was 5 & had his first drum kit, a toy one, three drums, one cymbal with Mickey Mouse pics painted on it. By 10 years old the Xmas pic is of a Philips electric kit. I was at his first gig at school when he was 14 & stood at the back while tears of "That's my boy!" trickled down my cheek. At 21 I bought him a silver Pearl kit and the next year took him to meet Don Powell of Slade & listened to them compare notes on Pearl kits. By then he was gigging so I was roadie, tech, manager, agent & minder for many of them until he left home. He's still playing in Edinburgh now, got a gig in Newcastle this w/e. Bass can wait - but you'll be there grinning ear to ear at whatever they do - and choose to do. Only down side is that it's rare to be able to sell old gear on - they'll always have a use for it.

[quote name='Starless' timestamp='1349528569' post='1827386'] Rightly adored and respected by the masses, and 43 years after ceasing to be, continuing to elicit derision and ignorant cynicism from the terminally cloth-eared. [/quote] Self-righteous indignation by proxy; I'm sure he'll remember you in his will. As has been requested in the past by a few maybe we should have pinned a list of any artist who is deified by enough BCers as to be in a category of "must like or else you're tasteless/cloth-eared"?

[quote name='Musky' timestamp='1349386054' post='1825761'] Or in a band that corrects 'you' to [i]you're[/i] instead of [i]your[/i]. [/quote] Or puts an unnecessary cap in "Will", misses a cap "I" for the 1st person "i" ref, misses out an apostrophe in "its" and misses out two sets of quotation marks. Not bad going for barely two lines of text.

Yeah, I sympathise. I don't know of any other techs in the Edinburgh area that you could go to with confidence. A buzz is often an an earthing problem; I've assumed that you had it away from all of the usual suspects, florescent lights, fridges, CRTs etc. I'm not familiar with the amp; does it have a headphone socket? If so, does that have the buzz? [quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1349464580' post='1826792'] [1] my dad had a mortar shell (empty) when I was little, from his military days. I was about 8 when I took it apart. I was not sure whether it was live or not, but I had seen movies where they deactivated bombs from the German bombers by unscrewing the tip etc etc and I figured it would be interesting to see whether these were anything like them. I was pretty nervous [/quote] When I was a kid the local bike shop had a shell as a door stop in the summertime; after quite a few years it did turn out to be live!

[quote name='hollywoodrox' timestamp='1349459088' post='1826676'] Im More interested in the rolling stones 50 year aniversary [/quote] Me too! But I think that was about 60 years ago.

I've known Dennis for over 10 years and his roster of clients can't be argued with; but he is still human. I've only known him once over the years to miss something on an amp of mine but would still regard him as a brilliant amp tech. With my valve amp he missed an incredibly hard to see clipped wire which had been done by a previous tech (Slade's Charlie) to kill the normal channel on the amp - why you'd do that I have no idea but that's what it was. This too was only spotted by using an instrument through the amp rather that meters so I take your point. He was more than happy to rectify it gratis. I've referred many people to him as a first port of call - and to be honest you're the first I've heard of to be disappointed. That's not to say I'm not believing you in any way; I'm just saying in my work too I try to achieve perfection, sometimes - but not often - I miss the mark.

[quote name='solo4652' timestamp='1349352636' post='1825118'] Hi Martin! Yep - that's the sort of thing! Something called "Spanky's", just opposite the train station, with a bin outside sponsored by McDonalds. [/quote] McDonalds sponsor bins as well now? Is that to cut out the middle-man, ie. the customer?

[quote name='Jonnyboy Rotten' timestamp='1349283105' post='1824293'] 1) Epiphone Toby Deluxe IV (probably my favourite in terms of how it looks)[/quote] [quote name='Jonnyboy Rotten' timestamp='1349283552' post='1824302'] I nearly wrote that I really don't like the look of Jazz or precision Fender/Squier bases. They look great for blues etc but they don't suit me![/quote] Hmm, to my aging eyes that Epi looks a lot like a stretched Jazz - and even has the pickups to prove it!

I use half/half of those two remedies. Wood glue and cocktail sticks. Wood glue takes a while to dry if you dab too much in so just wipes off with a damp cloth, and cocktail sticks are made of harder wood than matches. Once had a strap stud rip completely out of a guitar, made such a mess that I ended up drilling it out and using a wooden BBQ skewer. Gibson make a cherry touch-up pen which hid the fix around the edges of the stud.

[quote name='leftybassman392' timestamp='1344439657' post='1764540'][b]Custom build - Set Neck Tele (Left Handed)[/b][/quote] Sounds fantastic! Can't fault any of your choices; good use of the pots too to keep the two pots style. I really do like a Tele with a maple neck, sounds like the neck will be a two-piece?

[quote name='bertbass' timestamp='1349215443' post='1823578'] Add a .com to the band name and check them out. [/quote] Their version of Summertime Blues is damn close to the heavy metal version by Blue Cheer (1968) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU5uDozoSSM

I've had two of the Epiphone EB3s & would agree with most of what Neepheid has said. I got rid of my 1st one because I barely used it; years later thought I'd made a mistake so got another I saw going cheap. The headstock is massive compared to a Gibson & that together with the longer neck than the body was designed for makes it dive. There's also a massive colour variation in the manufacture so if you're going mail order you may end up with a fairly pink one, rather than a real cherry one that I found. I do want another, white one, but that's entirely because I'm going to extensively mod it. I've yet to find anyone who has one of the cheaper Thunderbird styles who's happy with the sound of it - as Big Red X said in another thread, they look like one - and that's all they've got, or words to that effect. In your position, 1st bass etc I'd have a really good look at the Les Paul shape one, I wouldn't have a violin bass given, but that's just me. Alternatively - and it pains me to say this - you should seriously consider one of the better Fender Squiers (not the basic models). They're pretty much an industry standard with good reason. As and when you want to upgrade the parts will be interchangeable with the higher spec Fender parts - or parts made with Fenders in mind by many manufacturers; buying a copy that looks like a Fender won't guarantee you those options.

Trawling through old paperwork yesterday I found the valuation that Bonham's did for my bass about 7 years ago; £3000-£3500. Even they weren't deemed "expert" enough for Musicguard to want to accept it.

[quote name='WalMan' timestamp='1349138879' post='1822395']elbow replacements are not as good as the shoulder, knuckles & wrist I have already had done over the years.[/quote] Do you make a noise like a metal mattress when you're playing bass? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkxywaZUA7Y

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1348943994' post='1820054'] That means we only have 8 years before Macca can perform the 50th anniversary of Hey Jude . . . . . [/quote] And it only feels like he has been with "Yesterday"

[quote name='Steve G' timestamp='1349094750' post='1821634'] going OT I know but it's hard to get a cup of coffee that isn't Nero, costa or starbucks. Can't even pop in tesco for a cheap brew and a bacon sarnie anymore as they're all bloddy costas too now.[/quote] There's a Texaco near me that has a "Subway" attached; they've only gone & installed a "Costa" vending machine in the place. Subway are well chuffed! In Blackburn they have what must be one fo the best coffee shops in Britain, "Exchange" that supplies a lot of cafe's & restaurants in Lancs. They've opened up a Nero & a Costa near me that only school-kids go in to be trendy.

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1349044498' post='1821160'] Not so much a bass that I'll never part with but a neck. It's been on (I think) 4 different bodies with various pickup configurations and is so lovely to play.[/quote] Now that I can understand and respect; it takes dedication to go to that much trouble.

I was told to use it on my hi-fi speakers, to keep the lustre. When it came to doing it I went to my nearest hardware shop & bought one that had been going since Victorian times, assuming there'd be a good reason they'd be still going now.

Best to get it checked out before then if it's still there midweek. I'm not aware of any UK insects who's bite alone would last as long as that, unless you've been handling someone's exotic pets? If you've got an infection there it's a diff thing altogether & a jab or poss anti-biotics should clear it in time. You can get after the event sprays that work well from any decent outdoor clothing shop.

[quote name='Wolverinebass' timestamp='1348949035' post='1820121'] No. He sold it to the Hard Rock Cafe afterwards............[/quote] Thanx; I knew I'd read something about that gig; must have been in the book of his basses.

Wasn't it there that John trashed his bass afterwards because it wouldn't hold tune?

[quote name='daz' timestamp='1348943639' post='1820050'] [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-1970s-Hyperflux-Pickup-by-John-Birch-RARE-Tony-Iommi-Old-Boy?item=221127292319&cmd=ViewItem&_trksid=p5197.m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D4%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D2245070649219219381#ht_2630wt_1207"][b]£620 !!!!!![/b][/url] [/quote] That's unbelievable! I expect it to reappear soon.

A would guess it's metric being German, but I've never come across a metric jack that wouldn't take a quarter inch one, a metric is slightly bigger than the imperial one. If it's an acoustic that's had acoustic pickups put on it I've seen a lot of those with a mini-jack connection but such a difference would be obvious.

In the doc, IIRC, they had Brian at home & someone walks in with a promo copy of the album, plays it & Brian goes into a nosedive.