hiram.k.hackenbacker

Yes, they are indeed string through instruments.

Yes, not a straightforward endeavour by any means. I did see one of the early ones for sale in Italy many years ago and it did look very good, but the price wasn't so appealing 😂. I might have been willing to pay the ticket if I could have given it the once over in person.

Yes, I still have the two NAMM 100's. I think are a few other owners lurking here too. Fantastic basses they are. Yes, I can understand that some don't get the LK and that's just fine by me. Some of them are really quite darkly oiled which gives them a different look.

Thanks Martin. I’m very lucky and have a very patient and understanding wife. Regarding the ‘purple one’, if you managed to sell any of your body parts, you would be some way back in a queue of interested parties.

I've just had a look through the inventory and I seem to have quite a few signature models at the moment 😳. I can't really explain why I've ended up with so many as I play hardly any material related to the artists in question. I just like the look and sound of the instruments 🤷‍♂️. All I'll say is that I wouldn't keep a bass that I didn't get on with and all the ones I still have stand up as great basses (to me) and that's all that matters. There are also a few that I have bought and then sold for one reason or another including: Alembic 'Mark King' - weighed an absolute ton and the body was just too large for me. Superbly constructed though and sounded wonderful. Modulus 'Flea' Bass - I bought this as I wanted a purple one and couldn't find one for sale. Just after I did buy it, @Chiliwailer offered me his purple FB4 which I still have. The blue one went. Fodera Yin Yang Monarch Standard - I guess this qualifies as a Victor Wooten sig. An absolute cracker of a bass which I only sold after buying a Deluxe Monarch which was even better. Fender 'Pino Palladino' Precision - A lovely bass with a deep neck that I personally couldn't get on with. Nothing else bad to say about it. Limelight 'John Deacon' Precision - A very nice replication of JD's Live Aid bass. Nice and light, but had to go to fund another project. Warwick 'Adam Clayton' Reverso - The only Warwick I've ever owned. You can't sit down and play these basses comfortably. Nice bass, but had to go. Dingwall 'Lee Sklar' Signature - These are fabulous basses and I fully intend to replace this one day with a Mk2 three pickup version. These are the ones I still have, in no particular order: Rickenbacker 4004LK - As soon as I became aware that these existed, I went all out to get one. There are only 60 in existence and Lemmy had at least a couple of them. There was a guy in the USA who had three of them, including one with a pick-up position variation. I think he ended up selling all of them and put his daughter through college with the proceeds! I've had a few Rics over the years and apart from my first one which I stupidly sold (for a guitar no less!) I've always found myself moving them on for various reasons. Not knocking Rics, but as you can see, the LK does not have the archaic (IMHO) Ric bridge - a big plus for me. The wings are hand tooled and no two are the same. Probably not for some, but it makes me happy. Fender 'Geddy Lee' Custom Shop Jazz - I'm not sure there is much I need to say about these. Just a superbly put together Jazz bass. Again, relics aren't for everyone, but the work on this is just outstanding. 1 of 50. Fender 'Dusty Hill' Custom Shop Precision Gold Top - This is an absolute joy. Insanely light with a very narrow neck and a single coil pick-up. It's almost effortless to play. There are three top colour variations, black, blonde and gold. I do quite like the black version, but the gold wins for me. 1 of 50. Mike Lull BBM5 'Bryan Beller' Signature - I'm probably more picky about 5 string basses than I am about 4's. IMHO, there are basses with 5 strings and then there are 5 string basses. This is one of the latter. I met Bryan when he was last touring with The Aristocrats and he kindly signed the control plate for me (both sides). Fender 'Flea' '61 Jazz - The bass that has given me more headaches than any other. Short version - truss rod went and Fender dragged it out so long that I put a Status neck on it - or should I say Rob Green did. They then sent me a replacement neck 🙄. Modulus Flea Bass 4 - The replacement for the aforementioned blue version. Absolute belter. Music Man Stingray Sledge - I'm not sure this is really a tribute, but the model is linked to the fabulous Tony Levin. I've had a lot of Stingrays and recently sold many of them. This one stays and wears flats. Superb. Fender 'Flea Jazz' Active - This was a bit of an impulse buy as I love J basses and I love Stingrays - the best of both worlds! It's actually not far off the Modulus without the graphite zing. Ridiculously low action and the pre-amp is nuts! Alembic Spyder - Some years ago I came close to ordering one of the few remaining Spyder basses from Alembic, but for one reason or another it just didn't happen. This one popped up a couple of years ago and it seemed like fate. It a bit on the heavy side, but it does exactly what you would think it does. It also has the heaviest case I've ever come across. Lakland 44-64 USA Series 'Bob Glaub' - I'm not sure if these qualify, but it has name in the model title. A fairly recent acquisition from @three and what a lovely bass it is. Fender 'Adam Clayton' Custom Shop Precision - Another fairly recent purchase from @molan. 1 of 60 with hand wound pick-ups by the now retired Abby Ybarra. I do love a sparkly finish on a bass, but I especially love a narrow neck on a Precision body. You may have noticed a trend here 😀. Yamaha BBPH 'Peter Hook' Signature - 1 of 5 personally signed by Peter at PMT Manchester. This is a really nice player and my first Yamaha. Probably not my last if this is anything to go by. Lakland 44-64 USA Series 'Bob Glaub' Precision - Another purchase from @three. A belter of a P bass. I'm definitely a fan of Lakland. i don't know why it took me so long! Finally, one that I don't have a photo of as it hasn't been finished yet. It's a Shuker 'JJ Burnell' Signature Precision Lite. I ordered this before I bought the Lakland above. Honorary mention to 'Marilyn' which is a Stingray I've added a custom pick guard to as per Gail Ann Dorsey's late 80's model of the same name. I use this solely for Bowie gigs and it's a great example of a late 'Ray. Not quite 4000 words @martthebass, but some nice pictures.

Not knocking Ric's, but I was on the hunt for a 4001CS some years ago and finding a good one was particularly difficult. I gave up in the end. I think I'm right in saying the earlier ones were deemed more desirable? The ones I saw/played that were up for sale had issues with their finish despite being most of them being case queens.

I’m going to have to revisit this thread later 😂

Here's another one that springs to mind. The film actually opens with "Waiting For The Miracle" by Leonard Cohen which you can just hear the end of in this clip. Then there is this scene which is the introduction to the carnage that follows throughout the movie played to L7's 'Sh!tlist". Just brilliant.

Great thread. Not much joy to be had from this clip, but the music fits brilliantly....

I wouldn't and I don't really understand why anyone would who isn't a lefty. Bonkers!

One of my bands does Tom Sawyer. It went down very well the one and only time we’ve had a chance to play it.

I had a feeling this would happen. I have a gig on the 25th. Guess which one my date has been rescheduled to 😡

Lakland Skyline.

Ah the enduring myth that Quo songs are simple 😂. My rock covers band tried Never Tear Us Apart by INXS on Sunday and even I would say that attempt #1 was spot on.

Ha ha, yes that is rather good. Not sure that level of heaviness would have fit in our band though. My reaction at the time had more to do with the person suggesting it than the song itself. It just seemed like an easy route to take (which was a recurring theme) rather than doing something a little more challenging. Definitely should have had a go at it though. A chorus that everyone would have been singing along to.

Really? 🤔

I did think at the time it was a bit of a storm in a teacup. Glad he’s back and I hope whatever caused it has been properly sorted.

I think you're taking this all a bit too seriously Paul, so I'll say no more on the subject. 'Sit Down' has just been suggested by my rock covers band 🙄. My only thought on that will be (when we get together tomorrow) is that yes, let's try it (I've never played it) and see what the response is like. I think the only reason we don't do Mr.Brightside and Sex On Fire is that they have been done to death and even the punters are a bit 🙄 with them now. Love playing and listening to both though.

It wasn't meant to cause any distress mate and I apologise if it did. It's just all this talk of 'hate' and throwing the toys out of the pram if asked to play something one doesn't like. I just find it ridiculous....laughable in fact. There are few things I actually hate in this world and none of them are pieces of music. It could be that I'm just lucky to be in bands that don't tie themselves up in knots over what not to do. I do remember having a disagreement over a song called 'Cake By The Ocean' some years ago when I was in a function band that has since folded. That had more to do with the person suggesting it than the actual song itself in all honesty. Looking back at it, I should have handled that differently, but he was the band leader and in my view looking for an easy add-on of a song that his kids liked that had (IMHO) a limited lifespan. Life's too short to worry about these things. I'm trying to think of some songs that would provoke the sort of reaction that you have described. I can't. Sure there are plenty of songs that I would question whether they would fit in the sets of the bands I'm part of, but refusing to play something that would fit doesn't really compute with me. Steve H and I regularly have a laugh every single 80's gig about 'Walking On Sunshine'. We would both drop it in a heartbeat, but it's not our call and even it was, it always goes down so well it would almost be criminal to do so. I wasn't really a fan of 'Relax' but have played it for years until it was recently replaced with 'Two Tribes' which I was over the moon about.

Yes, he’s not been great for a while. Quite sad really as he’s a nice bloke with a great songbook.

Given the cause of your condition, I believe the correct antidote would be to go and see him perform live now. His voice is completely fooked and Pino isn't playing with him any more.

It's a good job you're not playing for money then as you'd get your marching orders fairly swiftly for refusing to play songs by a particular artist. I really don't understand this 'hate' of certain music. I can understand not liking artists; I think a few would agree that Liam is a bit of an acquired taste, but refusing to play any Oasis? The songs of theirs that I have played always go down very well indeed. Happy punters = happy hackenbacker. I've not played any Shadows material, but I'd to. I've mentioned elsewhere that I'm not a fan of Marc Almond, but I've played several Soft Cell songs over the years. There might be the odd occasion where I would argue the inclusion of a song wouldn't work with the band configuration or fit in with the existing set, but a refusal because you don't like it vs. everyone else being up for it? You've just got to put your big boy pants on IMHO.

How utterly depressing.

Have you actually tried learning any of the stuff you don't like? I've learnt loads of stuff that didn't float my boat musically, but they have been fantastic learning experiences and some really great bass lines. I doubt there are many cover bands where every member is happy with every song. AHA, Prince, Abba and Marley sounds great to me.