Rayman

I have to admit, that live, I really struggle to stay calm and focused with my bass playing. Yes, I’m the singer/frontman, but, in rehearsals I’m calm and enjoy my playing a lot more than during a gig, where the adrenaline kicks in and frankly my technique goes to s***. How do the rest of you control your live playing?

“Redstar”? Was the brand on the head…. literally never heard of it. *edit “Redsub” ….. still never heard of it

Buxton “Old Clubhouse” , actually a nice little venue, I honestly cannot remember what the amp was, I’ll try and find a photo. It was a head and 4x12 DI’d into the PA, so out front it was ok, but onstage it was really quiet. We were support, so I didn’t want to start changing the settings on it, but I did turn up the master, which made no real difference to me. I really missed my Ashdown, but of course it makes life easier at the end to pack up and leave. The band, “Crisis’, we’re celebrating our 40th year this year, original heavy rock, 3pce, I’m the singer too. Three old men masquerading as relevant 40 years later.

Good one last night, although it was a shocking on stage bass tone via a house rig, but apparently it sounded fine out front.

Ahh well, we like talking amongst ourselves

Ok, I’m in contact with House Of Tone, who tell me they can absolutely fix the pickups and wiring. So, I’ll make the decision after the quote.

I travel all over the country for work, so nowhere is out of the question, unless it’s Cornwall or Aberdeen …. Y’know. So any suggestions are welcome

Stunning bass

Macclesfield, Cheshire

This is a Tokai….it cost me £150 (originally). Original pickups but I added a James’ Home Of Tone EQ, Gotoh tuners and bridge. The build diary is on here somewhere. It plays and sounds absolutely amazing. The band love it. I have never found a better example made by anyone else. I couldn’t justify a Gibson at all.

Thanks very much for all that, it gives me hope 👍🏻

Yeah, that’s an option, I need to take some measurements, I also might get a quote for the repair of the original ones, but I fear the worst.

Mudbuckers…… 🤔 …… I hadn’t thought of that, nice idea, I love the sidewinder in my Epiphone Newport. Shame though, I really like the look of the original pickups. I just think getting those up and running will be way more than the bass is worth.

Ok well, bad news, for me at least. The pickups are not well. The output on the neck pickup is very low, around 2.2, but the bridge pickup with that stretched wire, is unresponsive. My guy says the whole lot needs re wiring including opening up the pickups to see what the craic is under there, something he doesn’t want to tackle, but has suggested Matt @ House of Tone in Chester for the work. Also…. is it worth it, spending considerable money to get it fixed…. Back to the drawing board.

It’s going in to my tech for exactly that later today. We decided between us that for one thing those electrics look sketchy at best, but also this isn’t a faithful restoration, I just want it to work by any means necessary. So new electrics are going in, crossing fingers that there’s no issues with the pickups.

I have to agree. The Gibsons I’ve looked at recently have been poorly finished and very overpriced. Sound wise I prefer my Tokai too. I would love to own a Gibson TB, it’s been on my list a long time, but so far I haven’t been overly excited about the ones I’ve tried. Maybe the vintage ones are better? I mean why make (an expensive) Rex Brown signature model, that doesn’t have his preferred pickups in it? Gibson are a conundrum for sure.

Thanks, yes, getting there, once the electrics are sorted I’ll be looking for some suitable knobs.

I use a blunt round metal object like a screwdriver shaft, and very gently go over the edge of the fretboard, gently rolling it back and forth between each fret, pressing down with a little pressure , just enough to take the sharp edge away and give the wood a radius. I wouldn’t attempt this on a massively expensive bass though

So here’s where we’re up to…. The neck is on, a lovely old set of tapes fitted (just) thanks to @eubassix, and as far as playing it, it’s absolutely ace. The action is decent, with a little more wiggle room to adjust if needs be…. really happy with all of that However, mixed results from the electrics… Both pickups kind of work, but the tone control does nothing, and it’s pretty quiet…. also I’m obviously not the first person under there as you can see. More investigation to do

https://instagram.com/homeoftonejames?igshid=c2ZsYWhheWdtNG5w

I highly recommend “James’ Home Of Tone” pre wired EQs if you’re staying passive, his Thunderbird pre transformed my Tokai Thunderbird while leaving the original pups in it.

Nice, I like the look of it as it is

I have one of these with flatwound strings on it.... absolutely love the thing as a shortscale option..... not without it's design flaws, but at the price I rate it... https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/epiphone-newport-bass-pacific-blue?&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=2203_PMT_BAU_Search_Google+Ads_Performance+Max_Product_Zero+Sales&gclid=Cj0KCQiAr8eqBhD3ARIsAIe-buPEPERF8AKp19VaRXknhKFQhHS_cMauhqL8KpHUYKcP5Q_IO0oENLkaAs3EEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds Otherwise the Gretsch in your short list is hard to beat.... I had one for a while, great bass indeed. At the end of the day, you can take advice, but the most important thing is what feel, looks and sounds good to you. If that's a Hofner, go for it. Don't take what others say as written in stone.

I have many regrets throughout my life.... I, like many of us have many "I could have been a contender" stories, missed opportunities, record company interest, A&R scouts etc, but blew them all through naivety and acting like a d**k. I wish I'd taken the bass more seriously in the early days too. I regret selling many many basses..... beautiful instruments I wish I still had, hundreds of them, but GAS and the misguided idea that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence has plagued me for 40yrs. Let me tell you, the grass on the other side is exactly the same colour as it is on this side. If you have an instrument you love, hang on to it with both hands, and don't be tempted to trade it out for other shiny things.... you'll regret it. I also regret not telling my dad that I loved him..... more than I did.