Rayman

Well it's nice to see I'm not alone.....anyone want to buy my Kinal??

Hi, my name is Russ, and I'm......addicted to Gear Aquisition Syndrome. I genuinely believe I'm addicted to the feeling of finding and aquiring new basses. I love the excitement of having a bass to trade, or better still cash in my pocket, and that few days of hunting for, and then choosing a new bass. Then, a few days later, the urge is back, and out goes the new bass, sometimes within [i]days[/i] of getting it. My problem is I'm skint. All I have is my gear, so if I need to satisfy my cravings, I have to sell or trade out, something I've done endlessly over the last handful of years. It's always been (or so I thought) part of a search for "The One", that perfect bass that you yearn for. Trouble is, I've had some beautiful basses over the years, Overwater, Stingrays, Fenders and now the Kinal, which is the best of them all, and still, I get the urge to let it go to satisfy my craving for GAS, it's madness, and I'm driving myself crazy. I really believe, that if I was rich, I'd have dozens and dozens and [i]dozens[/i] of basses, guitars etc etc, most of which I'd never touch, because I'd be always on the lookout for something new to satisfy the GAS. Anyone else want to stand up and confess their addiction too?

great mate, great. I'll make a concerted effort to get to a gig, and come and say hello.

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='593554' date='Sep 9 2009, 08:05 AM']Can't seem to place you, Russ. A great deal of lager has washed over my brain cells since then. Any more info?[/quote] Not really mate, I'd known Brian and Julie for years, and a mate of mine Mike Rawsthorne used to give guitar lessons there too. I'd had dozens of guitars from Jones's over the years, a beautiful Ibanez AS120 semi in particular, maybe the best guitar I've ever had my hands on, and a nice black DeArmond Starfire special with a bigsby on it. In the end, I traded in a purple Fender Telecaster and got my first bass in years from Brian, a burgandy MIM Precision, very nice bass that was. Can't say much more than that, how about a picture: Taken a couple of months ago, best I can do.

Pete, I've only just put 2 and 2 together and worked out who you are. I used to see you a lot in the Jones Music days when Brian and Julie owned it and I was first and foremost a singer and guitarist. I remember having a conversation with you about bass back then when you were flogging a red Peavey bass in there. I've since made the jump to bass myself. I really must get to one of your gigs. Russ.

Awesome, love it, both in terms of looks and tone. Peter described it to me earlier today, so I decided to have a look, love it. That thing must have just about every tone most people could ever want rolled into one, a bit like the Bongo I guess.

Yes well after a knee jerk idea to trade for Peters MM plus some cash, I realized the error of my ways, and we reversed the deal today, and I'm very grateful to Peter for that. Having got the lovely Marcus Miller Jazz home, I soon realized that the narrow neck and lack of a B string were going to be a problem, hence, the Kinal is back in my hands. I made the jump to 5 strings a year or so ago, because I play a lot of hip hop and Jazz, and find the low B absolutely vital for that kind of stuff, so much so, that I've now unloaded all my 4 stringers and ended up with a couple of 5ers only.

Quality.

My Tony Levin was very middy too, I think your bass is fine, it's how many OLP's sound.

I've noticed that Yolanda Charles has been playing one recently.

[quote name='Ricki_Bass_DK' post='582653' date='Aug 27 2009, 05:01 PM']Oh yeah?! On a gig or just as a tourist ( if there is anything to see at all i Kolding????)[/quote] Nah, working, the factory that makes the material we sell is near there. I got driven across a large part of the country while I was there though, strangely reminded me a lot of England. Strings? I'd highly recommend DR Low Riders, very nice low B.

Beautiful, [i]beautiful[/i]. More pics please. I was in Denmark recently, a place called Kolding, that has nothing to do with anything mind .

[quote name='Dave Dubya' post='581826' date='Aug 26 2009, 08:12 PM']I was told the quality of the the OLP basses depended on age. The early ones were fine, then the production quality dropped halfway through, then got way better before the OLP brand was dropped. Musicman did say they were going to re-try the idea once they found a new company to make them that could gaurantee consistancy.[/quote] I've had a few communications with Tony Levin re: his sig bass, and he told me that consistency was definitely a problem. He had originally insisted OLP use a particular Alnico pickup that was similar sounding to his original one, which they did at first, but subsequently they started to drop in other pickups that weren't as good in terms of tone. Also, he had taken delivery of one that had been wired up wrong , not good when you're sending an example to the artist to check over. Anyway, most people I know who have had/tried OLP instruments have loved them, and I have no problem at all having one with me at gigs.

Well said that man.

Out of the box, my OLP Tony Levin was a nice bass straight away. It played well, had loads of bottom end, but just lacked a little top end sparkle. Compared to my Musicman Stingray the build quality wasn't brilliant in some places, but for the price I was very happy. Then I gigged it. Again, nice playability although the strings are a bit close together at the nut for comfortable slapping, but I adapted to that no problem. The big issues were 1: a horrendously cut nut, 2: an awful hissy treble pot, and 3: the lack of top end. So I decided to pimp it, because the EQ was pretty poor, and I couldn't live with that pathetic nut, I did the following; Nordstrand 5.2 pickup, John East 3 band EQ, Brass nut, Musicman battery box (the OLP one was terrible), 3 way switch fitted. It cost a bomb to do, but as I've said in other threads, the bass was a gift from the Mrs, so I don't mind. The Nordstrand was a luxury rather than a necessity, but the other upgrades were vital IMO. Having said that, the Nordstrand has transformed the tone immeasurably.

Superb gear there, I'd be over the moon with any one of them. I'm a big BB fan, but the Jazz is my favourite.

Brilliant basses, I'm yet to find one I don't like. Clarkys is an animal, awesome bass, those Villex pickups are outstanding.