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We've all seen photos of the outrageous Magnum I & II basses with the bizarre body shape and the Jah Wobble connections. Well I have one of those too so I'm finding it hard to justify hanging on to this lesser-known Magnum III. To explain why they reverted to a more 'vanilla' body shape you really need to persuade @FlatEric to put in an appearance, but the two designs share more-or-less exactly the same electrics & sound, not to mention the very significant weight. That bridge gives new meaning to the concept of 'high mass' and was a one-off design by renowned engineer & inventor Charles Kaman ( https://www.kaman.com/our-company/our-founder-charles-kaman ), a man who is well worth reading up on. Not many people design & build helicopters for the U.S. Army and start up a top-notch musical instrument company in their spare time. That black strip up the back of the neck isn't a skunk stripe, it's carbon fibre. Less obvious is that there are another two such strips under the fingerboard. This isn't a neck that needs much truss-rod tweaking. The bass will be 40 years old this year, but is in remarkably fine condition. Very little by way of buckle-rash or random scratching. The hex socket is part of the bridge adjustment. Even the neckplate looks like it was designed to withstand combat in an armoured division. The neck is decidedly more Jazz than Precision, and it's 41mm at the nut. The immaculate decal hints at how well looked-after this bass has been. Shamelessly pinching the specs from another website: - Mahogany body and neck (but reinforced with carbon). - Ebony fretboard. - 34" scale. - Neck pickup: individually output-adjustable coils for each string! - Rubber damper - bridge vol + tone, neck vol + tone - Pickup selector switch Like all my sales here on Basschat this instrument is priced to sell, but the very low asking price also reflects the bass's one flaw - which is very hard to photograph. That very-slightly lilac hue that you think you can see is actually there, and it's more visible than these photos show. In the flesh, it's quite obvious that the finish (on the top only) has suffered some sort of 'bloom' which has stained the lacquer. It's not offensive, it's not in-yer-face, it is quite invisible from a distance or under stage lights ... but it's definitely there. That was factored into the price when I bought the bass, so I'm factoring it into the price now. Quite apart from all the on-going quirkiness, though, what makes these Ovation basses special is their truly astonishing bottom end. That enormous mudbucker at the neck does NOT sound like an uber-muddy Gibson EB0, it sounds like The Humbucker Of Doom and yes, you really can see individual volume adjustments for each string. With the neck p/u only selected and the tone rolled off, even strung with rounds (as it is now - my Magnum II has the flats) you get a magnificent dub tone. Re-string with flats and the dub becomes truly righteous. The long rail across the top of the pickups is an original fitment (even though it looks like an afterthought) and obviously provides a perfect thumbrest in every position. The bass is in Harrow (NW London) and I am perfectly happy to drive or tube a reasonable distance to meet in person. I am always reluctant to entrust high-end basses to a courier, any courier, but I will if I have to. My experience is that you should allow at least £20 for that. In storage I have the original hardcase for at least one of my two Ovations ... but I can't remember which! Hopefully it's for this one but, if not, I'll provide a good-quality semi-rigid gig-bag instead.9 points -
Once you find YOUR tone, sound, etc etc then that's all that matters. It will make you feel happy, play better and rejoice in the connection you feel through your instrument of choice and amplification. I made my bass connection early on when I discovered Spector basses. They work for ME and to my ears sound, look and feel superb. My amp connection took much longer. I played Vox, then Trace, then Ampeg, then TC (with dabblings into Mesa/Peavey/SWR etc) but finally, after 30 years, found my 'sound' using GK (preferably 80's/90's 400RB & 8000RB heads but the new Legacy range do it for me too) and 12" speakers. That's MY experience, they make me feel a positive musical connection and I wouldn't expect anyone else to feel exactly the same. If it's a decent bassline with groove then people will dance... regardless of whether it's through an old Peavey or a brand new D-Class micro head. Anything else is just argumentative b*ll*x....7 points
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Fir those who use lemon oil to clean / nourish your rosewood and ebony fingerboards, you know how a small 1oz bottle of lemon oil polish from Dunlop is around £5-6? Well, you can get a 16oz bottle from TK Maxx for £5.99!! Bargain or what??? I've just grabbed a bottle from my local branch.6 points
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Hey gang! A couple of years ago I played two shows at Newcastle Arena, as part of the house band for Sunday for Sammy. It was lots of fun - two sell out shows of 5,000 each, and I got to play with the likes of Trevor Horn and Ralph McTell. Here's the last diary thread if you're interested. With it being a biennial thing, the time has come around again: 23rd February is the date - afternoon and evening shows, and a slightly larger crowd (7,000 at each show, I think). The shows have basically become a Tyneside equivalent of the Royal Command Performance, with music and comedy lots of local slebs (the Auf Wiedershehen Pet cast, etc.), visits from AC/DC's Brian Johnson, Mark Knopfler amongst others, and more 'national' faces (hence Trevor Horn, Ralph McTell). This is the 10th show in 20 years, and the second to be held at the Arena after 16 years at Newcastle City Hall. It's a HUGE production, which is also shot for DVD release. By nature of the show, plans can be a bit liquid which means it can get interesting, so I'm going to post a diary sort-of thing here as it all unfolds. To complicate things, the line-up is top secret until the last minute so I can't post any details of the show, songs, or names of guests. Apologies in advance. The core band for 2020 is largely the same as 2018 - Bass, drums, guitar (John Ashton, who worked with Arctic Monkeys and The Last Shadow Puppets), 3x female BVs (Including Lorraine Crosby, who duetted with Meat Loaf on 'I'd Do Anything for Love', brass section (headed up by John Waugh from The 1975). One change to the line-up is that Jamie, the usual keys player and MD, isn't available so Alan Clark (Dire Straits) is taking the reins. The band don't exist outside of these shows - I play with the drummer and other sax player occasionally, but that's it. With 3 weeks to go, I'm aware of 13 songs that are in the frame, in keys that are subject to change. I've familiarised myself with them already - some I knew, some I didn't. No nightmares so far. One of the tunes might even need a bit of slap on it. I'd better remind myself how to do that. What I don't know is any specific arrangements... yet. We've got a solid week of band rehearsals before the show, so I'll post more updates & pics etc. when it begins to happen. In the meantime, here's little video from the last gig, and a photo of my little bit of the stage.5 points
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Old Skool head/ lightweight cabs5 points
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Follow-up from the refin pics I posted above. Here's the finished beast. David Wilson did a very excellent job - it's nitro so he took a good while allowing the many coats to harden. Finish is absolutely as good as any factory nitro I've seen. And another plug for the rather overlooked 90s USA basses - really good build, full gutsy sound - affordable old Precisions at their best IMHO 👍5 points
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I love that this was edited by one of the mods As a flag waving, T-shirt wearing techy I'll bite. Mic that rig up and pump it through a really good Class D, Neo speakered, festival sized PA rig and it'd sound just as good. So it isn't class D or lightweight neo speakers, it is something else. I'll tell you my theory, in the olden days speakers and amps were designed to enhance your bass sound (guitar sound even more so but this is Basschat) They didn't need to be clean and undistorted they just had to sound good. People built cabs and tried them out with bass and the ones that sounded best or most popular got made and sold. Theory wasn't really worked out until the 70's and didn't get through to instrument amp design until much later. The truth is we don't much like uncoloured sound for bass and most of us aren't very good at finding the eq to achieve it so a nice old Trace that gives us the Trace sound sounds better to us than our own attempts to recreate it. The second thing is that we like things that are loud, too loud to be sensible but there is joy in just cranking up an old monolith of a speaker with an amp with the frequency response curve of the Cairngorms. Sensibly we'd scrap the backline, use in-ears or at least floor monitors and let the PA do it's job but for some that's no fun. There's also a lot of self delusion, I used to have fun in my old rear wheel drive cars with cross ply tyres sliding round bends double declutching because the synchromesh was rubbish but I can't really pretend those cars were 'better' than those I drive now. One day soon the computer modelling will be so good we won't be able to tell the difference but that is still a little way away. Until then if you love an old Peavey stack and don't mind shifting it then the important thing isn't technical perfection so go for it and enjoy.5 points
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Thought I would share my latest new bass day, it’s a bit late as I actually picked this up in late November ... but it’s taken me a while to get used to it... my first ever five string a Lakland 55-94 classic from 1999 I think in candy apple red you know when Facebook shows you adverts for basses and you see one that’s at a great price which get snapped up straight away... well then imagine it’s still there three weeks later, and in the next village from where you work... so you explain you probably aren’t interested but can you try it please... and it’s pretty well played and beat up, but it’s as light as a four string, and the neck is just a natural feel and effortless, even with that extra string ... ... and later that week the fella comes over and money is exchanged ... new strings and knobs come from Lakland in the US (hence newer style knobs) and I practice with it and gig it once so far. Mentally harder to play 5 compared to 4 ... but fun oh it can kinda sound like a jazz, or it can kinda sound like a musicman, or it’s own sound with both. The preamp is very very coloured, I need to test out the different mid options and the whole thing is kinda on the darker end of the spectrum... sounds a bit rubbish actually, till you hear it in the mix and it just *fits* perfectly so learning curvd having a fiver, but lots of fun!4 points
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NOW SOLD: For sale is my immaculate Fender Japan 51 Reissue Precision in Butterscotch, made in the Fuji-Gen plant in 2008. I only bought this a month ago from NoirBass on here but I have bought something else which is probably the best bass I've played and so something has to go. I can't see me playing this now and so it would be good if someone else can give it some love. It is immaculate, not a mark, scratch or dent on it. It came fitted with a Jess Loureiro 51 Pickup which gives it a more authentic sound. It does sound fantastic. The original pickup is also included. Here is a link to the installed pickup. https://www.jlguitars.com/index.php?id_product=31&id_product_attribute=0&rewrite=p-bass-51-replica-envejecida&controller=product&id_lang=8 Weight is 4.75kg. I collected it in person and paid £650 which included a gig bag so I would like the same back for it. Happy to courier at buyers cost. Any trial is welcome, I am based in Camberley, Surrey. Any questions the please ask.4 points -
Pete Steele, a man of such proportion that he could play a doublebass on a strap, guitar style, and it not look that odd. Of course there's Sir Lemmy of Kilmister, and I'll add Fat Mike from NOFX, Phil Lynott and Blackie Lawless from Wasp for the amazed/inspired party, and nominate Mark King and (shhh whisper it) Paul McCartney as candidates for the annoyance party. I would throw Geddy Lee under the wheels as well but I never accidentally have to hear Rush. But I do have huge respect for any lead singer who plays bass at the same time, it's all I can do to breathe and play together.4 points
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The late Mark Sandman of Morphine who died as fast as he was living. A great singer and an astouding bass player. Saw them loooooong ago with Moondog Junior opening for them. Fantastic concert, still in my memory. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Sandman4 points
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Whatever backline I bought last is the best evvah!!4 points
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Taxi... Just some proud dad photos of #16 finished. Big thanks to Stevie, Phil, Chienmortbb and all involved in the design. Also thanks to funkle and all the other posters on this thread enabling me to actually have some idea how to build it! My build was pretty much as described. Finished with 4 coats of Tuffcab pro, Grille background is 3 coats of Fascinating Finishes Aerosol Grey Acid Etch primer. Final weight came out at 14.5kg per the bathroom scales. Artwork for the grille courtesy of my 11 year old daughter.4 points
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Well..yeah, that's it! 😊4 points
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Bit of a Marmite bass, but I saw the Crickets at the Albert Hall, and they used one, and it blew me away, so.......... these are so much better basses than they should be ! however, this is a Korean reissue, in near to as new condition, short scale, really light. Always gets attention ! Collection only from Worthing or Chichester3 points -
Super rare Fender Japan Hollow Boby Jazz Bass. Very good condition. Plays and sounds awesome. Very lightweight (3,7kg)! Would trade for a Strandberg Boden Prog 4- String or a Wal MK II 4 String + Cash Price Update £16993 points -
PRICE DROP £750 Up for sale is my Nate Mendel P Bass Candy Apple Red nitro lacquer finish It's a light roadworn finish but I believe its acquired a few more marks in its life ! Plus there is a bit of rash on the back too but it's only cosmetic, this thing still sounds and plays great, I got it second hand from PMT and the strings are still relatively fresh and the setup is great. I believe they have switched now to a fender hi mass but this is one of the originals with a badass 2 bridge. Included in sale is a hard case. I'm willing to ship at buyers expense or deliver/meet half way kind of thing within reason. Very reluctant sale to be honest but I got caught up in the heat of the moment in a music store a few months ago and now the reality is dawning on me that I never use a four string and it's just going to live its life in the case and im looking to fund upgrades on another bass ! Open to offers. Please message any questions or requests to try it out !3 points -
Hey all, expect to get a bit of stick for this but hey ho, its bothering me So 20 yrs as a Bass Player, I've been very lucky and successful, most ambitions achieved, (played every major venue in the UK)and open minded too modern ideas etc, had to play a successful event last night (*sold out last November) and in rehearsal my modern ish Bass amp packed in ,,quick ring round, and the drummers brother came to the rescue with a large 80s Peavey tank and an Amp peg cab OMFG, The frequency's were amazing, used a couple of basses, the active cut through , the passive was great I loved it, the engineer loved it, the audience went mad, and even a world class engineer in the audience gave praise, annoyingly this rig has stood unused for 20 yrs, it was far better than any of the rigs I've owned since my Trace Elliot days in the early 90s, I have do desire to be a dinosaur, and no disrespect to the modern light stuff, but cannot these amazing sounds be reproduced, yes I've done the massive 8x10 stuff at festivals, but to get a punch like that in a venue was phenomenal, are we on the right track ?3 points
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Trace Elliot AH400SMX in fantastic condition. Everything works, no issues. It’s big, it’s green, it’s heavy (26kg) and it’s unfeasibly loud! Price is £340. Collection from my home in South London preferred. Postage is possible, but will be expensive due to its weight and size.3 points
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On a more positive note, the amazing Gail Ann Dorsey, with some help from the dodgy-looking geezer in the green shirt.3 points
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One of my favourite fretless player and better lead singer than his partner in Cream (got it ?) : the amazing Jack Bruce. No, I never saw Cream live...3 points
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Ms E Spalding3 points
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Sting, obviously. One of the most irritating people on the entire planet.3 points
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I would like an old school monster tube head with a 4x12 cab. I'd also like to play prop forward for England. Some things are simply out of reach.3 points
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This is my ESP PJ bass I brought in from Japan many moons ago. My go-to bass when my back gives out, as it's well balanced, and light. I swopped the hardware for gold, including the Baddass, as the original black hardware didn't look so good. Not sure of the pickup maker ( it has been suggested they were Seymour Duncan, ). But certainly good sounding. Slight wear on frets, but plenty of life in them. Condition is consistent with age, note chip near neck pocket, and top clear lacquer missing in places, but you have to look close to notice it. Collection only from Worthing ( or Chichester ) , West Sussex. mike.3 points -
If my lightweight class D head and neo cab are robbing me of some 'heft' or other such thing, then to be honest I'm willing to play that price. The best sounding cab I've had was my old SWR Triad. It weighed nearly 100lbs... I was recently looking with some keen interest at an old Trace RAH600SMX, until I looked at the specs -- it might be an absolute sonic monster but it's 15 times the weight of my current class D minnow... I simply can't go shifting those sort of weights around any more, my back would be destroyed within a month.3 points
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Good god, that's much better value. Now, I have been warned that you have to be careful about the type of lemon oil you wipe on a fretboard - apparently if it's too concentrated it can damage the wood - but judging by the label on that bottle, I assume it's safe to apply to your basses. I might have to take a trip to my local Tk Maxx - in the meantime, do let us know if your fingerboard shrivels up and falls off, there's a good chap.3 points
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Then again, they were all trying to follow Chas and Dave...now there's a Led Zep opening act... 😀3 points
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You could buy it as a project. Needs a new nut (& strings!). Replace the bridge, pickups, scratchplate, neck, tuners, maybe the body, too.3 points
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I'm a product of the 60s & 70s. I wish my band could afford IEMs and I wish I could sell my band mates ( all half my age ) on the value of what IEMs could bring to the band. Blue3 points
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I've made some progress on the fretboard and neck. First I cut the holes for the mother of pearl blocks. I marked the edge of the blocks by using masking tape, no need to temporarily glue them down. I then routed up as closed to the tape as I dared before using a chisel to go all the way up to the tape. It worked really well, and was much quicker than the usual method of using super glue to glue the blocks down then score round the edge to make the outline. This is really quicker and easier. I mananged to get some pretty clean holes. Here's the first put in for a test fit. Pretty good. I then used a wooden stick to try to push furniture powder into the tiny gaps around the blocks then dripped in superglue. Tomorrow I'll sand everything flat so I'm not sure yet how well it's worked. For the moment it looks like a right mess, but I'm hopefull! I also glued on the binding for the fretboard. I taped the binding on once I was happy with the mitre joints, then used a plastic pipette to wick in super glue to do the pale veneer and the binding at the same. Worked really well. The key to using superglue for binding is to make sure it is water thin. Loctite from the pound shop will not do. The best I've found is from Bob Smith Industries. It really does a great job on binding. Because of the curves on the headstock, I couldn't do all the layers of the binding at the same time, so I glued in each one seperately. First a 0.5mm black venner, then a 0.5mm maple then the rocklite binding proper. Doing the layers seperately made it super easy and ended with a really really neat job. I was really please with how it turned out. I wiped on some shellac around the edge of the headstock first to hide any superglue leakage. Here I've just done the black and pale line..... And the headstock once the binding itself is on and sanded back.... And cutting the slots.... Tomorrow I'll sand the fretbard flat and we;ll see how neat my MOP blocks are🙄3 points
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Back out treading the boards last night (yes, we actually had a stage!). It's been a month since our last gig on New Year's eve so a few amnesia-induced fumbles were expected - and duly delivered. At least I wasn't the only culprit. Good gig though with a decent venue on the water's edge and a good crowd who were more than up for it. Come half-time, the stunning young lady who's been dancing energetically in front of the stage unexpectedly sidles up for a chat. "That bass is beautiful and I love your sound! I'm a bass player myself - a bad one though. I really LOVE the bass - tonight I'm here just for you." This is the point where back in the day I would have thought my luck had surely changed, but last night a quick reality check reminded me that a) she had been dancing with her boyfriend and b) I was old enough to be her grandad (and may even be 😉). However, this mattered not one jot, and the spring I have in my step today will be with me for some time. OK, the three encores were a factor too.3 points
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Been saying it for ages - class D just doesn't compete with your vintage A/B...3 points
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Mark King. Sings over some of his most fearsomely fiddly fingerstyle lines and quite frankly I don't know how he does it.2 points
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I bought a bottle a couple of years ago - though I don't use it regularly I still have loads left. You may find a large bottle is a life time supply.2 points
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Yep thats what I use too. I think Aldi and B&M bargains actually had it in too.2 points
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Heads up! @Happy Jack has just put this up for sale! Oooo.... IF I could spare the cash, and IF I could physically lift that bass -- I would sound immense!!! Now THAT is a reggae bass... 😬2 points
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Oh delicious extended goodness. Steel Pulse - Handsworth Revolution, one of the greatest albums of any genre imho. Here with several dub versions and BBC sessions, thirty tracks of heaven...2 points
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Hi all, attached the first pictures from my manufacturer of my new 4 String Bass Bridge in progress ....2 points
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Scorpions supporting Judas Priest at Hammy O. Priest dialled it in and Rob Halford prowled the stage looking at the floor. Only gig I've ever left early... Tyketto supporting White Lion at Town & Country Club. Energy, songs and amazing vocals put a pedestrian White Lion to shame....2 points
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Ive gone back and forth between my MB800 and L800, and the hiss seems to be about the same, and ive never worried about the MB800 at gigs. In a dead quite room its always going to be noticeable, but tomorrow night will be its first outing. If i find it a problem ill get it changed, but im pretty sure its normal. Even at this volume its a very powerful tone. With the Trim almost on max (as suggested) the volume is so loud all i can do is to turn the master until i can hear something, and then have to stop there. Love the Bump switch. I think ill have that on most of the time. The OD channel is very nice. With the master on 0 on both heads the hiss is the same so im sure all is working as expected.. Its strange how GK suggest using the two heads quite differently. Ive read that quite a few people say GK's sound a bit ugly on their own, but fit so well in a band mix. Ive always found that, but the L800 seems to sound a bit nicer compared to my MB800 at home.2 points
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The OP has obviously found a sound he likes (which is good), but has fallen into the trap many players do, deciding it's better than other gear. . . . . for everyone else. If the thread was about valves then an equal number would be jumping in and decrying non valve gear. People go all "black and white" when they start comparing the old days. Amps didn't sound better when they were all valve or SS. Some sounded good but many didn't and the cabs we had to use with those amps could reduce the quality of their sound significantly. Also, there are a lot of players with fantastic gear that sound very average and even just plain bad. So you've still got to make good gear sound good with your EQ choices and technical ability. I have a Thunderfunk which is SS and sounds magnificent, but I also have a D class Aguilar AG700 which is equally great sounding. The last valve amp I owned was a Mesa 400+. If you put all those amps in front of me I'd chose the Aguilar, because IMO it makes such a great sound. Better than the others? Don't know and don't care. It sounds good enough to be my main amp for the last 3 or so years.2 points
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I had the MB 121 Combo with ext cab and it was loud enough for a 70's covers band. I def wouldn't say it wasn't loud enough but i always had the feeling that it lacked something. That something would be "heft" Dave2 points
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Says more about the mindset of those that use tab than anything else.2 points
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Three short sets at the local open mic with my old school R&B / 60s Garage band The Jimmy Sixes. My weakest band but always loads of fun & last night we were absolutely on it. Dusted down my Ric 4003s which sounded great through the house rig which was a tiny Mark Bass combo.2 points
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I thought that the whole point of this thread was that it was 'bothering' you...2 points
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I've only got space for your books Dave so get a move on mate before i put something else in there.2 points
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When I saw Squeeze at the Sage in Gateshead a couple of years ago, they put the legendary John Cooper Clarke on first. Hard to beat that.2 points
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A quality hybrid should hit the mark. My Mesa M6 certainly does, but it's 25 lbs. The new GK Fusion S series looks to be seriously promising on both the weight (just 5.5 lbs) and sound fronts, but comes with a hefty price tag. Check out the clean grit sound at 037s. Lush!2 points
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But Rommel liked jazz. He was always saying ‘Wes Montgomery.’2 points
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