Rayman

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.

LOVE that Dean bass, I need to get me one of those puppies.

Superb gig, JB's one of my all time favourite players, guitar royalty. I had the pleasure of meeting him once, very nice bloke, and he leaves the likes of Clapton in his wake IMO. As far as his band goes, I thought they were all top notch, including Tal, who's a very talented bass player, and backed JB up perfectly. That's what she was there to do, not show her chops off to other bass players.

I'm hoping to land a shortscale Gretsch Thunder Jet in the next couple of days, and having never bought short scale strings, I just wondered if anyone had any recommendations. I understand it's medium scale strings I need, because of the design of the bridge, short scale strings can possibly be too short, and I don't want to trim longer scale strings. I use Super Slinkys on my other basses, anything similar you can recommend?

I love Robert's tone, and I love his energy. Top bass player and a fascinating vid.