Leaderboard

So, out with the super lightweight rig and in with two rather tasty, more old skool rigs....

My latest acquisition. An American Deluxe P, active/passive with 3 band eq and wearing La Bella black nylons. Really well made and it has a lovely grained slab rosewood fingerboard with mop dots.

Don't you wish they had covered a Supremes song as a single and it got to No1. Imagine Top Of The Pops .... 'It's number one - it's. ....... You Keep Me Hanging On by The Dooleys. I'll get my coat.

Folks, some sad news today. I visited our very own @ash this afternoon for our annual P bass exchange and to my horror it would appear that ash is down to his last 3 P basses. This is very worrying indeed and I have offered a much emotional support as I can. In order not to aggravate ash's condition could I ask for a short moratorium on posting any pics of P basses or indeed any listing of P basses for sale. It's a difficult time for ash and I'm sure the BC community will support. Thank you.

This is a pleasant surprise, I wasn't aware they had anything in the pipeline. Hopefully there's a full album coming after it.

My babies.

If you can find one, a Yamaha BBVI, early 80s Japanese.

I immediately ordered the shortscale DC when they became available , and then had to wait about ten months for mine to arrive. The beauty of the Longhorn is its size , the bridge is right at the body edge. This time they took the DC body and moved the bridge a couple of inches forward and put on a 24 fret short scale neck. So it’s similar in size to the single cut 56 Series. It is much larger than the Longhorn despite being the same scale. It doesn’t sound like the Longhorn , but it does have an interesting woody tone. I like it. I replaced the adjustable metal bridge with a Jerry Jones popsicle stick bridge (courtesy of a Dano friend on TB) , for me they sound better , and there is a sweet spot for the wooden bridge where the intonation is fine. (and it doesn’t take long to position it) I strung mine with LaBella flats. Still the original strings and bridge in the pic.

The thread is about playing in church, so can we please stick to the musical topic and leave the proselytising for the pulpit? Many thanks.

I'm in the cool as heck camp. Not everyone agrees though. 😄 I don't notice it being a short scale as much as other SS's probably due to the strap button position shifting the neck over to the left. I picked up a 56 for peanuts earlier in the year, I couldn't help myself. It needs some love but it'll great once sorted.

2 disc bulges here as well... The consultant at Gobowen told me years ago (15!) that I had 2 courses of action; either have surgery, with all the risks that entails and no guarantee of success, or build core strength in order to support the injured area (I got it attempting to lift a Triumph spitfire back end!). So every morning I do an exercise routine - some yoga to help keep joints moving, 300 fully supported crunchies (twist and straight), some Pilates/yoga back stretches (cat, upenarsinan or whatever it's called etc), 2 minutes plank, 50 press ups, lunges, hip flexes, Sun Salute (i.e reach right up then touch the ground with as straight legs as you can). It's kept me pain-free and able to mountain bike, climb etc, though it took nearly 6 months of exercises to get to that state. I shall continue with this regime until I'm no longer able to move at all!

I have a '98 Korean Longhorn, unusual in that it has no tape binding. It can do thump, it can do clank, and all sorts of other stuff. I love it, it weighs nothing and despite looking like it was made in the shed by your grandad, it's been indestructible. Setting the intonation is a big faff though.

I done one! Seeing the pic had someone with a gun in their hand, I thought it best to do a cover of Hendrix' classic "Hey Joe" 😁 Drums, EZ, bass and rhythm "guitar" , Wal. Vox, me (who else!), lead guitar, bashed up Strat. Bass through Ampeg SVT plug in, rhythm bass through BX Rockrack and Bias amp, Vox through Raum and Nectar, lead through Bias FX, all mastered with Oxone 9.

Just come in - 62 stack knob CIJ re-ish c2002 with pre-CBS terrier ! Sounds growly when pushed... and so does the Jazz !

It is a truth universally acknowledged that you cannot spell bass without a B.

China Girl - Iggy Pop

I just had a rush of blood to the head and bought a Maruszczyk medium scale off eBay, which means I need to sell my Jaguar H. I am going to be listing it pretty soon, just need to get a moment to take the photos and write the blurb. I have had the pickup rewired to give 4 conductors and potted to cut the noise. I wired it up with a 3 way switch to give series/single coil/parallel switching. That gives you two less bassy options than the standard series wiring. Also shielded and Fender high mass bridge.

About half the Dooleys would have loved to get mixed up with the Nolans back then.

I don't think I can do much more to this so I'll let it loose. I tried to get a feel of a theme/title sequence to a TV show that might have the photographed person as main character. Not much technical really, all bashed out on a digital piano , put together in reaper, smeared with a bit of reverb and rolled in a bit of ozone8 .

Haha! Correct, AO 60s… getting nothing else to replace it with I’m afraid! I need a new amp head (mesa WD800 on the way) as I’m returning the SVT 2 Pro in the pictures, it was lent to me. Sold the Ric 4003 Ruby red and the AO Jazz… the plan is to keep the Ray and the Precision and save since I have a baby coming and some overdraft etc, better to save for peace of mind this time. I do have dreams for a 3rd bass sometime next year, god knows what.

Considering he's still defrauding folk and his earlier activity keeping bands deposits from nonexistent venue bookings plus his conviction how can he just be getting away with it??? I will be speaking with a mate who is former police officer and asking how to complain to made the loudest noise on this so something gets done.

The pin assigment can vary on TE pre-amp sections. Seeing the front panel might be helpul to identify your version. The schematic applies to MKV GP11's. MK II GP 11's also had extra wiring for the ECI function ( earth continuity indicator ).The MKV GP11's were used on a multitude of different amps but mostly AH150 heads and AH250 heads. Both had different feed voltages from the power section tranformers. Basically they use a half wave rail voltage from the main power supply, a big step down resistor on the pre-amp main board, a voltage regulator and zener diode run the pre-amp on roughly 30-35V dc. On my AH250 the feed voltage to the GP11 MK V via the 6 pin connector is 65V dc. On my AH150 GP11 MKII it is actually higher at 71V but thats because it has a rare 50V transformer and not the usual 40V one. The step down resistors are the critical part as they drop enough voltage so as not the smoke the pre-amp🥵 Some of these pre-amp sections aren't really interchageable between different models even though they have the same 6 pin multi plug socket. Might or might not work and you might or might not get smoke! I've just rebuilt one recently ( a MKV GP11) that had been through the wars. The multi plug was missing, long gone on a dodgy amp service years ago and the cables were hard soldered onto the pins. See pic, the red and black are the power supply, the blue is tip/signal out and the signal out screen is on pin 6. A 2 core screen cable out to a power amp and a pos and neg from a supply voltage ( anything around 60v dc would likely do) and would most likely get your pre-amp working assuming its in good order.

My rig from last night.

If it sounds good and feels good, it is good! 🙂

I managed to source a pair of new 732A Mk4s for our band at a reasonable price with the assitance of @Pirellithecat, so I owe him an A/B comparison of my 912A vs the 732A. The 732A are about 40% dearer, but as @EBS_freak mentioned, the 3" horn provides a significant step up for vocals and mids over the 1" horn on the 912A in terms of articulation and power. If you can afford the extra then I think it's going to be well worth it. Link to a sound test comparison 912A vs 732A Mk4

It's not a lamp it's an electron tube/valve. No it's not safe to use. GZ34/5AR4 tubes are readily available and are simple to install. Pull the broken one out and push in the replacement tube in it's place rotating the tube as needed to let the key into the socket base. it's that simple. Edit: Apparently the two rectifier tubes are 5U4G. I beg your pardon. Same applies though.

Jack Bruce, and the Ox:

I've done the electronics which is easy enough, and am working on my idea of the Series pickups - there's no desire to clone them, but I'm coming at it from the idea of why Ron did what he did, and working from there and I know there are better ways to approach it now that was done in the late 60s. I have no desire to obsessively clone all of the hardware as I'm not convinced it will make a jot of difference and I have 2 basses that will be used as donor husks, and another couple without room to put all the controls onboard, but run a buffered output for each pickup through a 5 pin and do it in my own outboard rack mounted pre and power supply. I've owned several Alembics and apart from the electronics, really don't see anything that special about them, and there's a lot I don't like, especially the silly pricing. Unlike most people today, I have no desire to document all of it as I'm doing it for me, and who knows, I might decide to make some for others later. This thread is fascinating and I'm enjoying reading it very much, and it's given me a few ideas to pursue down the line.

You can see the size difference here.

In the old days it the guys playing Hammond organs that had the bad backs …

Here it is, with him. Grrrr. Maybe one day.

Mate, im not even saying it because i own it, but it is pretty much the punchiest P sound youve ever heard. Really pops and cuts through. Obviously bejng so tiny it plays super fast. I bought it when they came out thinking id have a super cool daughter one day who wanted to play it. I got the super cool daughter, but she has no interest. And she's left handed. Ive had many people PM me to buy it, but my wife wont let me sell. I also have the original pink gig bag. Its one of two basses i have left that are fully stock assuming a coupke of Ibys i have up for sale go.

🙈🙉🙊

at one time i pretty much had one of every major production brand there was (excpet warwick. never owned a warwick) this was my room in 2002. i had so many. nothing really over 2K at the time cost to me. i never went in for the high end fancy custom basses. now, bar a few exceptions, everything i have i either built or modified heavily i had a bit of a problem back then. more than one!

i like a P, and i like a J, but i've never been a huge fan of fender P/Js but it does really tie the room together

I used to be a regular Pbass kinda guy , and then started using Rics. When the first Dano reissues appeared I was excited because I had always wanted a Longhorn , but they were not common around here. So I was happy to see the reissues. The only problem was I wasn’t crazy about the short scale. I got one , and it was fun , incredibly light , and surprisingly versatile. The next thing I knew it had become my main bass. I don’t quite understand just how that happened , but I’ve come to accept it. Danos are weird little things , Nathan Daniel wanted to make cheap playable instruments that anyone could afford. He cut every imaginable corner to keep the costs down. These originals were made in the Neptune NJ factory , by New Jersey housewives with little to zero woodworking experience. They did ok. The reissues were surprisingly true to the originals , except they had adjustable truss rods , Daniel felt the adjustable truss rod was the weakest part of guitar design. He used two steel T shaped rods that were not going to shift. They did a great job of re-engineering the legendary lipstick pickups. And they made the body using a wooden frame and glueing Masonite to it. Genius! I’m still not sure if the Longhorn is cool as heck , or butt ugly. And I’m ok with that too.

Famous Blue Raincoat ～ Leonard Cohen

The seller's been trying to punt this for a while. Got discussed elsewhere - this was a 1981 Aria Pro RB700N (a properly rare set-neck 4001S clone) which the guy imported from a dealer in Australia & proceeded to 'modify' into this (IMO) fanboy junk. It had been a very well-preserved example - original case, tags & case-candy dating it to 1981 in the Japanese Showa calendar - but the orignal parts went in the bin & it got a respray & full makeover with Rickenbacker components. Which is a crime against vintage instruments and must've cost him an absolute fortune. And if you think £1000's a lot for a Faker, this earlier listing for it might raise an eyebrow... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aria-Pro-II-Prog-Rock-Copy-Tribute-Bass-Guitar-1970s-/255898424226

Showing my bundle of joy lately…: yep, I’m having it relic’d soon! Looks lovely as is but main to be my main gigging bass. Just advancing the unavoidable lol

I’m loving it - works for me