synaesthesia

Am based in Notts, depped with a band that played Carlisle. It was OK, have played the Isle of Wight myself on a day return trip from Notts before.... that band that did the Carlisle gig, DROVE to Hamburg, Germany for a one off gig from Notts the week before for the same money as the Carlisle gig. They got a weeks' worth of confirmed bookings in Hamburg this coming December though out of that one off gig. We will be playing Reading for decent money on New Year's Eve. My pianist lives in Rotherham.

[quote name='7string' post='94339' date='Nov 25 2007, 11:35 PM']DHL and FedEx will deliver first, then send you a bill later so don't spend the money in the meantime !![/quote] That's better than parcelforce though, they didn't inform me about a fretless moses neck I was waiting for that arrived, now it has gone back 'return to sender'. Parcelforce have on the whole been good but I have had 3 mishaps - the missing moses neck, they informed me but then lost a preamp that arrived and it took them weeks to locate it, further I had to pay to extra to extract it, and they wrecked a compressor I sent to Sweden (if you have seen the damage you'd be wondering). But I have also sent loads of stuff and recieved many many items without problems. Cest la Vie?

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='94398' date='Nov 26 2007, 08:46 AM']Slightly off-the-wall thought but one worth considering. If you're buying something a bit special and second-hand, e.g. a 60's Jazz with original case which is going to cost you £2000, the postage to the UK will cost £60-£80 and the 22% duty on the whole lot is going to set you back >£450. For that amount of money, you can get a return ticket to New York and pick up the bass in person. If you carry an old guitar case through Customs as part of your luggage, no one at Heathrow will bat an eyelid. Bin there, dun that. You'll save on the US postage, too! If the old bass does NOT come with an old case, no worries. Take an old case to New York with you. That makes the return trip even easier, since you'll be able to prove that the case (and presumably the contents) were yours to start with.[/quote] That's do-able and have done that. You can also consider dismantling the instrument if it is a bolt on. It will fit in most suitcases. Stuff large instrument cases, you can always get one here if you really need one. And this is also another way to save on shipping if you are buying from a source who is willing to help: get them to send the instrument via USPS dismantled. That way it comes as parts and will fit in the USPS regs for parcel sizes. I've done that with a 62 reissue MIJ telecaster and a bolt on neck bass.

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='87799' date='Nov 13 2007, 11:45 AM']'bassplayer magazine apaprently didn't believe jaco's portrait of tracy was a bass guitar when they first heard it' I thought bass player magazine didn't exist when Jaco released Portrait of Tracy?[/quote] You thought right. Bass Player came into existence some 15 - 16 years after the release of Jaco's first album.

[quote name='MB1' post='91831' date='Nov 20 2007, 09:21 PM'],not sure Bruce Foxton has a signature model.[/quote] He doesn't. The signature basses were the CS and the Lemmy. The rest of the signature series were guitars and RIC no longer makes Signature instruments, at least for now. They are a very stubborn corp. and will remove dealership rights from a dealer if they get crossed. BTW, there were only 50 Lemmy signature basses made and I do imagine he gave them some grief in the production process.

[quote name='Old Horse Murphy' post='91967' date='Nov 21 2007, 07:42 AM']Well, after a bit of a clean up, the bass is as good as new. It was built in 1999 (although I'm still waiting to confirm what number it is out of the 1000 made). It sounds classic Rickenbacker and plays reall quickly due to the thin neck. The fretboard has really unusual white flecks running through it (I'm not sure if its the same wood as the wings on the headstock; if it is, then its Vermilion.) The horseshoe pickup looks amazing and the condition is excellent (a few tiny dings on the back and a mark on the upper and lower edge but I think you only notice them because the body is light coloured). The official colour is Cream Colorglo and the pickguard is clear plastic which has been painted on the back and had Chris Squire's signature too. Unlike most modern Rickenbackers, there's only one input jack (a mono one) and there's no binding on either the body or neck. It body size is a fair bit smaller than a normal 4001/4003. Whenever I used to see Chris Squire playing this bass in photos I used to think he was a giant with hands the size of plates! It's actually quite a small bass that tucks neatly under the arm (very comfortable).[/quote] EMAIL RIC with the serial number, they should have the records. They are very standoffish people though, you have been warned. The serial number is on the jackplate (of all places). John Hall has gone on record to say they have never used Vermillion on a fingerboard. The body size should be the same. The model with the dots and no binding was a Rose Morris import request in the 60s to be competitive in pricing in the UK market then. So it originated in the UK, though the model 4000 with a single pickup was similar. The standard 4001 then being bound and blocked (sharktooth) necked. The model in the UK was known as "1999" and 4001S in the US. I can tell you that for the colour, and the signature pickguard, there is no difference between my dot necked , no binding, jetglo 4001sV63 and the CS, though the headstock wood for the black instrument may be different (I can't tell). The fingerboard is similar though and is a rosewood variant. Mister Squire's bass was refinished in Soho by a Chinese repairman. Mr Macartney's bass was painted in the Sgt Pepper era, and cleaned up later, with some vicious sanding which actually changed the shape of the horns. I don't know that the Squire bass was sanded viciously or not when it was refinished, probably... BTW, Chris Squire is on the RIC forum.

[quote name='BB2000' post='92618' date='Nov 22 2007, 11:24 AM']Neutrik do a silent jack (NP2C-AU-Silent) that usually retails for about £3.50.[/quote] That's a wholesale price I get from a wholesale company I deal with, I'd really like to know where you get these at £3.50 retail. FWIW, re: mutes, this is what I do: I use an Ernie Ball Volume Pedal. Have used one for donkeys years. I always gig with a vol. pedal. You can mute, you can swell, you can get a bit of boost by setting your max vol. and stepping off a bit, and you can feed your tuna fish. I understand the niggly feeling about running anything inline, in deference to running direct to your amp. input, but seriously - with active preamps on several basses, if yours has one, it'll drive through a floor tuner if you use one. Live, the negligible difference in tone (viz. if you can REALLY AND SERIOUSLY hear a difference such that your performance will be affected) is not going to matter much. You might worry if you are in the studio recording but if you play different stages and don't play the same stage every gig, then I'd say there is no really worry feeding a tuner in line. I run a wireless into the Vol pedal, and feed the tuner; or run the wireless into the preamp in the rack and feed the tuner off the vol pedal which is in the efx loop. Swap basses in perfect silence, tune up in perfect silence.

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='92606' date='Nov 22 2007, 11:14 AM']I've been looking for a headless bass that is passive. Can't seem to find one, apart from various custom jobs. Anyone know of any? cheers![/quote] get headless instrument of choiuce, strip off active electronics, run passive wiring to pickups. voila. Most of the popular branded headless have pickups that will run in a passive set up, unless they are EMG active pickups like in the Steinberger bats. I may be wrong but I think a Status pickup will run in a passive set up.

[quote name='Old Horse Murphy' post='90928' date='Nov 19 2007, 04:39 PM']Thanks for the info. I always fancied the Susanna Hoffs model (in more ways than one!) It's a shame it doesn't come with the case and candy and I think I've got a really mission to find them separately from the bass. Still, in my opinion I've got the important part in my possession. I'm really looking forward to trying it out tomorrow, but if I do keep it, it will definitely have to be for using rather than keeping it safe. Because of that, I'm not sure I'll be the right person to keep this long-term. We'll see though.[/quote] Cool. A note about selling Ricks... you may need to be patient to sell it at the asking price, and you may have to alert the non musos. My CS went to a fella in the US who doesn't play at all, just someone who collects Yes paraphernalia.

[quote name='Old Horse Murphy' post='90901' date='Nov 19 2007, 03:56 PM']You lot are going to get me in to so much trouble at home...[/quote] Good on you. It's a good bass, you'll get a decent return on it if you sit on it and hang on for a while. I had one of the 4 lefties ever made and sold it to a Yes collector about 5 years ago. It didn't sound any different to my 4001v63 though. Ric signature guitars hold their value, and will go for more if you have the tags etc. As I type I am selling a lefty 360/12v64 to a collector Chicago, and that is not even a signature guitar... but all I will say is I will get a good return on it despite selling it for less that what I can get if I flog it on the bay. FYI, there were 1000 4001CS 's made, and 4 were lefty. The most elusive of all signature models, and the one that fetches the best prices (averaging $10K USD) is the Susanna Hoffs model.

I always gig with two basses not because I might break a string (I have never in 30 years broken a string in a performance situation) but if something goes wrong electronically or tonally one bass might work better than another. (To date only one battery failure and that's due to me not checking) I always travel with two cases, and have a useless Fender badged double bag..., so I am ordering this: [url="http://www.thomann.de/de/ibanez_double_bag_trolley_ebass.htm?partner_id=47692"]http://www.thomann.de/de/ibanez_double_bag...artner_id=47692[/url] They are available in the UK now, I think Dolphin's are the cheapest. £60 or thereabouts

My X2 cuts out at soundcheck when I am obscured from it - line of sight issue - particularly as it is on the pedalboard on a raised stage and I am out 'there' checking out stage projection/mix from the back of the hall and there are some columns in the way. I have never had a cut out on stage though. If yours is occuring regularly and you and your transmitter are not far way from or obscured in relation to your receiver , its probably time to get wired again or find something else. I cannot think of an electronic or transmission explanation of why you are getting a cut out.

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='88355' date='Nov 14 2007, 12:43 PM']I don't think i could stand a season. Its not the camps. spending that long with the band would drive me nuts ;-) we are very new to this, only done 7 this year (all in our late 30's early 40's so not new to gigging) and i think it would be very soul destroying doing more than a few at a time but we have enjoyed them. I look forward to hearing the stories as well.[/quote] I don't have a band that does this but I've depped a bit at Holiday camps. Hard to work the crowds, and when you have to play to a bunch of 3 year olds and the song is "It's raining men" and the singer's going "Girls, you are going to get wet now...." it all gets a tad surreal. If you treat it as paid work and you are not looking for re-affirmation of self esteem, they are nice welcome breaks for me. The again I don't do it week in week out. But if you have to then it's a job.

[quote name='obbm' post='87985' date='Nov 13 2007, 05:51 PM']I regret to say that any form of compression introduces delay. Just have Freeview and Analogue Terrestrial TV on together. Live TV will be a thing of the past when analogue switch-off happens because it will always be delayed. Long live analogue.[/quote] Yeah it was wierd last World Cup. You could hear shouts of "goal" in the neighbourhood and then my digital TV showed that the ball went in..... Well we are in the digital age and the analogue dinosaurs will get less and less. I can hear a delay in my wireless though most of the believers will tell you there is no latency.

[quote name='obbm' post='36484' date='Jul 24 2007, 04:45 PM']Dave single conversion. Bass to mixer to earphones and it's much too long. Trying to play along with a drum machine or a disc is impossible. Shame. ped - I don't think even a pod can give negative delay. You are asking for the string to sound before you've plucked it. Edit - opinion on the web gives the audio delay through the system as 1/2 a second.[/quote] Been there done it bought the bluetooth thingys. See post in talkbass sometime ago. The data rate is not good enough..... [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?p=4056795#post4056795"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.p...795#post4056795[/url] What is curious is that these things are normally in the computer gamester's arena.... don't the fingers, the audio and the visuals need to sync CRUCIALLY in video games? I look forward to a higher spec implementation of Bluetooth.

Thanks for the Heads Up. 4 Dec it is for me. Ask him why he was holding a butchered RICK witha Precision pickup in the recent bass guitar magazine cover.

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='58893' date='Sep 11 2007, 06:02 PM']The music is sh*t [/quote] It's the Age of Aquarius for this century, featured flute and pretentious big chorus line and all. Except that the Age of Aquarius had stonking Joe Osborne flatwound bass licks.

[quote name='SJA' post='86852' date='Nov 11 2007, 01:10 PM']in my old Yamaha catalogue from around 1991 the BB300 listed looks exactly like your new bass on the right (no tuning fork logo either). it's funny how Yamaha keep changing the split coil P-style pickup between reversed and non-reversed config on the BB basses- the recent Mike Anthony sig. BB3000MA started off as reversed P, but the ones he plays live now are non-reversed. is there much tonal difference? (ie. E and A sounding tighter with the reversed-P, D and G fuller?)[/quote] Ibanez are like that too, little details change but the instrument keeps the model number. I suspect the changes really occur when production shifts from factory to factory. In Asian MI biz, the large OEM factories make the insturments for various badges, and Fujigen Gakki made many of the Ibanez and Fender Japan models in the 80s. Matsumoko made the Arias and several other brands. Yamaha, FWIW , tend to largely have their own manufacturing facilites as opposed to contracting OEM factories. Somewhere between the late 80s and the early 90s, some Yamaha production, particularly for the 'budget models', shifted from Japan to South Korea briefly and settled in Taiwan.

[quote name='rohan' post='82766' date='Nov 2 2007, 01:54 PM']Fender make one too if thats any use to you.[/quote] I have an old Korg racked one in the studio - it doesn't have the big alphanumeric readout, live I use an Akai Floor box so I can see the big LED alphanummeric. I must say I've seen a few of the newer ones and though they must do the job, they seem to be competiing in flashing lightshow entertainment. I am hoping you can turn off the lightshow if you want to...?

You can get replacement grub screws, and you can probably find a replacement screw to fit the saddle assuming the saddle itself is not damaged. If the saddle threads are damaged, you could recut and re-thread if you are willing to put in a bit of elbow grease. Cut the thread to the type of screws you need. I've not seen the particular Gotoh you have in question upclose but I don't recall Gotoh to use too many non generic screws and such. If your saddle itself has cracked - possibly you could get a set of replacement saddles or one.

[quote name='The Burpster' post='85640' date='Nov 8 2007, 08:05 PM']Great suggestions so far..... Keep 'em coming.....[/quote] I've pretty much stopped looking into muso biographies now... you lose respect for them very quickly and the magic of the music dies! I cannot listen to Paul Simon track anymore without thinking 'what an ar*ehole'. Bruce Thomas? What a sad fella lost in his own universe. Art Pepper? Sicko or what....etc etc etc Best muso bio I've ever read is "To be or not to Bop" - Dizzy G. He tried to run for president in the 60s --- Phyllis Diller was to be vice president, Miles Davis - head of CIA. Secretary for Agriculture? Louis Armstrong ! ..."cos he KNOWS about dem cotton fields.."