Rayman

I have [i]got[/i] to see your ZZ top band Doc. Is Dr Blue involved in the Colne festival this year? Why don't you go in a new direction Al? Dub reggae? Metal? You could wear a wig.

Awesome, I can't wait to hear that.

[quote name='bremen' post='388948' date='Jan 22 2009, 07:46 PM']No disrespect to Burnel, but dunno about single-handedly. J. Entwistle, C. Squire, B. Foxton and others all did their bit to make it an instrument fit for heroes.[/quote] Yeah, I wouldn't say single handedly either, all bass players over the years have coloured modern music in some way, even Sid Vicious. Bruce Foxton is another very influential player from the [i]early[/i] punk era.

Walk On By, I [i]love[/i] that song. Along with Shipbuilding by Elvis Costello, maybe my favourite songs ever. Honestly, bollocks to Marcus Miller style lead bass, give me Jean's chugging, simple powerhouse bass on 5 minutes and I'm in heaven. UK punk at it's all time best. In [i]my[/i] opinion of course.

[quote name='charic' post='388898' date='Jan 22 2009, 07:05 PM']played my first gig with the fellow. Honestly i thought he was alright but never understood why people rave bout him.[/quote] Because he's one of the most influential bass players this country, with the help of france, has ever produced. Did he not play some amazing lead bass solo to stun and amaze you with his lightning fast technique? What a surprise.

Everyone's entitled to their opinions of course, and yes I'm 43 and the late 70's early 80's were my apprenticeship, but all I'd say is, have some respect for someone like Jean, who is a very talented and influential bass player, regardless of if you know about him or not. It matters not if it's Charlie Mingus, John Paul Jones, Mark King or Robert Trujillo you're into, they're all top class musicians who deserve some respect. Jean and others like Tina Weymouth and Colin Moulding were my inspiration to start playing in the early 80's, and I love them all dearly for that.

[quote name='tombboy' post='388589' date='Jan 22 2009, 02:56 PM']Please let me have first dibs if you ever decide to move this on Rayman............. [/quote] No problem mate. Many of the regulars on here know how many basses I go through. Will this one be a keeper?? Who knows? It's certainly the most [i]valuable[/i] bass I've had, and probably the most unusual. Personally I could just sit and look at it all day.

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='388567' date='Jan 22 2009, 02:34 PM']Awesome, what does the pot on the horn do?[/quote] That's the master volume. There's individual pup volumes and a tone pot, three way pup switch of course and a master volume.

You're very welcome Steve mate, anytime.

A few iffy pics of my new aquisition via my phone, as my camera seems to be Kaput: It came with short scale flats fitted, which on these basses are too short as the silks come back over the nut, damping the strings. So, it's now fitted with a set of [i]medium[/i] scale Pro Steel rounds, and [i]man[/i], what a difference, it's come to life. BIG thump from the TV Jones neck pup, somewhat like my old Thunderbird I'd say, and when it's flicked over to the bridge pup the output is lower, and played over the pup itself you get a fabulous funk tone. It's [i]very[/i] comfy to play, light because of the hollow chambers, and sits nice around lower waist height. Can't wait for Saturday's gig, and I don't think the jazz will see a lot of action this week, except for the slappy poppy stuff, the Gretsch kind of falls down there, but that's not what it's designed to do let face it, but then I'm not much of a slapper anyway. Big thanks to Vern for letting me have it from him, top chap.

28 grand for an old feckin bass. The worlds gone mad.

A mate of mine is going to the Manchester gig. I haven't listened to Kings X for ages, I must dig (or should I say dug) some out.

To throw another angle into the ring, I spent some time trying basses in PMT yesterday, I picked up a red MIA Precison and had a noodle on it for a while, yep, nice enough, then saw a nice blue one, picked that up, and though hmm yes, I prefer this blue one. Nice build, nice tone, sold to me if I'd got the cash, and it was Mexican. I have a Highway One jazz, and it's been my number one for a couple of years. It's seen [i]countless[/i] basses come and go in that time, and it's the only one still here. I can't recommend it more than that really.

Some basses look fine with ramps, some don't. In my opinion this bass would look a bit strange with a ramp on it. The more I look at it it Kubs, the more I think it looks great just as it is.

I had one, it was brilliant. In my opinion it never [i]quite[/i] sounded like a standard precision, but was very versatile, and very easy to play. Great build quality too.

Wicked bass that. I'm not generally fan of the flame top thing, but that's a cracker, nice one.

EB Stingray = EB Super Slinkys. I've used SS's on all my basses for a while (apart from the shortscale Gretsch), and IMO they're excellent. Nice tone on a stingray, and and I've found the life to be decent too, and I sweat like a glass blowers arse live.

Oh cock, I was planning on seeing the band at some point. Hang on to your gear though Al, something else will turn up, it usually does. I've tried jacking it in a couple of times but missed it so bad I couldn't bring myself to flog me stuff. We need to meet for a pint mate, it's been too bloody long.

[quote name='Kubs' post='387063' date='Jan 21 2009, 01:08 AM']iam not sure if it would be ok to put pickuguard on such "topped" bass[/quote] I'd put a clear one on, like Bacchus do with some of their bases. It does look amazing as it is though.

[quote name='Biggsy' post='387517' date='Jan 21 2009, 02:00 PM']JJB drinks at my local[/quote] Oh, I bought a pair of trainers at one of his shops yesterday.

[quote name='OldGit' post='387365' date='Jan 21 2009, 12:05 PM']Gosh, I hope so [/quote] Me too. I mentioned the Clash the other day to my mates 18 year old daughter while she raved about various new bands, "never heard of them" was her reply. I felt faint.

Thanks for all the suggestions......... Anyone reading this who's in the same boat, I plumped for D' Addario Pro Steel medium gauge strings. Bright, but that works well with the woodyness of the Thunder Jet's natural tone. When I recieved the Thunder Jet it had flats on it, which didn't work for me at all, the rounds have lifted the tone nicely. Word to the wise, don't put short scale strings on a Gretsch Thunder Jet. It's a shortscale bass, but requires Medium scale strings because of the break angle over the bridge. The flats that were on it were shortscale, and the silks overlapped the nut, thus damping the tone somewhat. Lovely bass, top notch, looks a cool as f***. I'm looking forward to gigging it.

Why thank you sir, great to meet you to mate, I'm fitting a new set of strings as we speak. Thanks for the coffee too.