Rayman

What do the experts ( @cetera ) think of the Ethos series? Made by Cort in Korea…. they look really nice, but are they “Proper” Spectors? I’m considering one…..

I had an identical one….. maybe 20yrs ago? Fabulous thing it was. I had that and an N2. Stupid to move either of them on.

I’d like to see that!

Do you have a bass, that might not be your most valuable, might not be your number one choice of gigging instrument, might not even be your favourite particularly…… but it’s the bass you pick up and play the most, it’s the one you generally reach for when you’re learning new stuff or just noodling at home, it’s your number one basically? I do…. Sire V7. It plays fantastic, sounds fantastic, looks fantastic…… it does everything with bells on. I didn’t expect to like it quite so much when I bought it (in a sorry state) last year, but it’s become my “go to” for almost everything. I’m considering gigging it in place of taking two (differently tuned) Thunderbirds to gigs. It’s not quite the right aesthetic for an original rock/metal band, but…… who cares right? A surprisingly great bass.

I’d like to try one, I just hope it’s a better offering than the OLP Tony Levin and the Fleabass from a few years ago. Both budget signature basses and mine were both dreadful.

I got lost in Maida Vale while waiting to record my vocals for a BBC session in the 80s. I wandered off looking for food, but ended up in some kind of office area. I found the drummer, and we wandered up and down various corridors before finding our way to the studio. A slightly irritated producer was waiting for us.

Oh man, this happened to me and a band I was in during the 80s. Our van was fully loaded overnight ready for a gig the following day. In the morning, it was gone, with all our gear in it. Heartbreaking. I hope this has a happier ending.

Fleabass “water bass”, the blue one with the orange pick guard. Described by Flea himself as “not a toy”, that’s exactly what it was. A terrible little thing, cheap components, cheap wood, and it sounded crap.

I only buy via strings direct or from Newtone directly. Amazon and EBay are an absolute no no in my experience.

I have. I’m lying in a hospital bed with a new knee 😣

Yeah agreed, this finish the best one.

Ooh, I haven’t seen another one for a while. Nice basses.

Schwiiiing! Nice

Yeah, the best active jazz sound I ever had was with a Hohner B bass, which regrettably sold. So I was hoping this one would be close to that…. it kind of is, but kind of isn’t too, but it sounds really awesome. No need for any pointless “upgrades” here.

So it’s been a while since anything new came into Rayman towers. So between Xmas and New Year I treated myself to a new project….. a Hohner Pro JJ bass. It was dirty, set up like a dog, terrible action and most irritatingly (after I specifically asked the seller if it all worked as it should, he told me it did, he lied), the active electronics weren’t firing on all cylinders. So, after a deep clean, a new CTS pot for the neck pup and a new trim pot for the circuit board (that was fiddly, but a relatively straightforward fix), new strings, new gold control knobs and a nice setup (lovely low action), this thing is an absolute joy to play. ‘90/91 I’m guessing, Cort factory in Korea, it’s a quality instrument. Lovely frets, very comfortable and I think it looks awesome. It’s easily as good as anything sub 1K new, easily. Very impressed indeed. A really really great bass, and it sounds killer too, massive dubby low end and sparkly highs, what else do you want? My plan was to flip it on, but I dunno, I think I’ll keep it for now. I haven’t put it down since it was finished.

Electrics are a bit of an enigma. You can chase your tail trying to figure out why things are not as they should be, especially on active basses. I had similar issues with an active jazz, and after much head scratching and a couple of new parts I figured it out. Make sure that nothing is touching something it shouldn’t. The pots touching the shielding can throw things out of kilter, and all it takes is a tiny stray wire touching something it shouldn’t to cock it all up. Was the new pot a linear pot or audio taper? All this stuff makes a difference. As always, a “good” tech will be able to figure it out for you.

Gotta love Van

Mrs Rayman couldn’t care less how many basses I have, she “likes them being around” apparently. They don’t get in the way of her vast collection of trainers. Although with 18 of them currently in Rayman Towers, space is running out. Paradoxically, for gigs I’d rather only take one, but with a new song in drop D, I currently take 2, but by choice I’d have one and travel as light as possible.

I’ll ask him later

Smashing Pumpkins just after D’Arcy had left, Machina tour, Manchester Apollo, absolutely dire. Honourable mentions, Alt J (Bluedot), Future Islands (Bluedot), UFO (last gig at the Manc Apollo), James (Kendal Calling), Caribou (Blue Dot), Uli Jon Roth (Manc Apollo) Level 42 (Blackburn King George’s Hall) …… oh there are so many…..

lol…. I’ve never known a guitarist with any less than 3 guitars for gigs. Our guitarist has 4, even in small venues.

What gauge strings are they? Is the string sitting snug in the bottom of its nut slot?

Yep, they’re nice basses indeed the IGB68s, enjoy.

Active/passive and series/parallel I believe. Nice bass, I’d have been all over that if I’d seen it, especially fretless.

I did a cartoon of him a while back…. Fantastic bass player.