Rayman

I’ve been playing 40yrs, and I’ve lost count of how many hundreds of basses and guitars have passed through Rayman towers in that time. This… is the first brand new bass I’ve bought…..

I should add….. of course…… I’m not saying that a bass made in India in the 80s is as good a quality as a custom shop US made instrument. All I’m saying is, that for skint or younger players, there are instruments out there that are really great basses at a fraction of the cost, if you know what you’re looking for. Yamaha RBX170 for example. I got one for a ton, for a friends’ son to learn on. To be honest I was reluctant to let him have it! Great little bass that.

I keep banging on about Sunns…. But it’s a good example. I had a conversation with Gregor Fris from Bass The World. He happened across his first Sunn (the white defretted one), and was blown away but it. He went to check out a Fender custom shop P bass he planned to buy….. but cancelled the order, because it wasn’t that much better than the Sunn, and would cost A LOT more, obviously. Sunn Mustangs are usually around a hundred quid ish. Of course, bought a few more of them, but none of those were quite as nice as the first one. Like any model, they vary, but sometimes it’s hard to put your finger on what’s special about a bass, or what sucks about another. I bought another Mustang, and again it was really nice, but, it doesn’t quite have the vibe of the first one.

I had a bit of a rant on SBL a few weeks ago, making exactly this point. Interesting to see that interjection by IMA, on that video. You know we all love to dream and aspire to quality gear, but while trying to inspire young players, while playing very expensive kit is just not thinking things through to me. There’s a couple of other YT channels aimed at a similar audience, and I notice them using Squiers etc. BassBuzz for example. Far more realistic and relatable in my opinion.

Just a little heads up really for the skint among us, and maybe some younger players who can't afford the expensive gear, but still suffer from THE FEVER that curses us all..... the need for more stuff. You don't have to have a healthy bank account, all you need is a healthy love for the bass and the music. I've spent the weekend playing my basses, doing some tweaking and just basically having time with them. As much as I adore my Reverend for its perfect tone and playability and my Warwick for how comfortable it is, I would still argue that my two Sunn Mustangs are still my favourite basses. One of them was 50 quid, the other, I really pushed the boat out and spent a ton, Admittedly, I dropped a new loom into each at an additional cost of about £30 each, but other than that they're stock.... tuners, bridge, pickup etc are absolutely fine as they are, and these were budget basses when they were new. In my experience, of having many P basses, you won't find better ones at any price IMO. The "cheap" pickups in these (the original cream coloured ones) are really awesome, especially with a decent loom in there. Don't waste your hard earned on "upgrades" (schmupgrades) My point..... you can have GAS, and you can find great and very competent instruments for affordable prices. Your Squiers, Yamahas, Ibanez' etc that cost a hundred quid on Ebay are absolutely awesome as they are. Make them your own, set them up (or get it set up) to how you like them and get going. Don't get depressed dreaming about that Dingwall, the funk's in the fingers not the lump of wood they're holding. Don't get depressed watching Scott Devine teaching his students on silly expensive instruments that many of us can't afford, just love the gear you can afford, and have fun.

I saw the Blockheads many years ago with Derek the Draw singing for them, they were absolutely fantastic. I really should make the effort to see them again. Norman is an absolute legend, up there with the best.

Yep. Unless you can’t afford it, or you like dead strings, or you’re tight….. but new strings.

Finally….. then I’ll shut up Is it worth spending time and money on a Squier bass made in Indonesia? It depends. If you like it, and you’re going to keep it (which at the time of writing a plan too, but you never know) then yes. I like it, I’m an old rocker and a Frank fan, so yes. If you’re planning to “upgrade” it and sell it for a profit, absolutely no. I’ve done this project as practise for my tech skills, not to make it saleable, because, it was great as it was, and buyers mostly prefer unaltered gear that they can pimp themselves if they wish, like I have. It’s great thing, despite Mr Wilkinsons intervention.

Thumbs up to the pups 👍🏻 ……but it’s a thumbs down to the tuners…. probably going to get Schallers when I feel the need. These feel very clunky to me.

Early impressions are good….. and yes I’m way too old to be playing basses with skulls on them, but **** it. Anyway, Frank and I are exactly the same age, so….. Firstly, it’s heavier than it was stock. The pickups are very beefy, and the bridge is a chunky thing too, so that could be why. I don’t think the tuners are particularly heavy compared to the stock chrome ones. After the setup, the action is great, although I like a low action, and this is going to be my ‘rock’ option, so it’ll be slung low, and it’ll get spanked, so the action is a fraction higher than I would normally have it. Nice tone, higher output than stock, the Alan Entwhistle pickups are big. Very deep, with very powerful magnets on them, that wanted to stick to everything, including each other. The pickup covers are also unreasonably chunky, and wouldn’t drop into the existing routs. Thankfully after removing the covers, the new pickups fitted perfectly into the stock covers, and dropped right in. The new loom is fab of course, and probably would’ve been great with the old pups, but… I had these others kicking around, so in they went. They sound good to me. These basses are Volume/Volume with no tone, so I suspect it’ll just be all up full on everything. The Wilkinson tuners……. erm….. meh. Are they an improvement on stock? Not sure. To me they feel a bit crap to be honest. I bought some Gotoh 707s for my Epiphone Embassy, that feel lush in comparison. So I’m not feeling the love for Mr Wilkinson right now. We’ll see how we go with it. The necks lovely, frets are good, it sounds and plays great, but I need to spend time with it. However with another incoming project on the cards, it’ll be a while before I can do that. I’ve got basses coming out of my ears here.

So my Frank Bello pimp job is done. A fun project, just because. I stripped out everything basically. There was nothing wrong with it stock, but I decided to just have fun with it. The only original parts now, are the wooden ones. I didn’t want to throw silly money at it, so I was sensible on the spending, basically thinking that everything should be black. I think it looks better than the stock chrome hardware. Wilkinson tuners, black bridge, strap locks, knobs….. @KiOgon loom …. Alan Entwhistle (?!?) pickups, which seem well made and pretty high output. What do you think?

OOOF! Nice sir.

If it can tell you where the nearest coffee machine is… I’m interested

Testing a rehearsal room in what way?

Ahh Antoria….. I had a fantastic Antoria Jazzstar guitar in the 90s. Totally ruined it by putting SD pickups in it 🫣…. tool.

We’re Kimbara not made by Kawai or similar? I can’t remember, but I do remember them being decent, a bit like I thought Cimar (Ibanez) were decent.

Technically I’m not actually singing and playing here…. However, we’re a 3pce metal band, and I’m lead vocals/bass. I guess as the primary song writer I make my bass parts manageable while singing, but it’s never been too much of a problem. I bet it’s harder in a covers band?

A few from back in the day might remember me buying, selling, buying it back, selling it again….. I’m an idiot. It was easily the best bass I’ve ever owned, but I was so skint… I had to finally sell it, and I’ve missed it regularly since. A Kinal MK5. It was perfect. The perfect neck, and those Aero pickups….. sigh

I’m getting married in August. We can’t afford anything flash so it’s just a small modest ceremony with no plans for a honeymoon. My poor Mrs hasn’t been on holiday for 13yrs! My first thoughts after winning a grand? Reverend Mercalli 4 in metallic Alpine green. 👍🏻

I guess the above experiences are indicative of a small business, great service most of the time, but possibly a struggle when they’re busy. However to not acknowledge the purchase of a bass from the website is a worry. I’ve been trying (via email with pictures) to order a Nordstrand Stingray pickup for a while, to fit into one of my Arias. All done via email because of the required photos. However the conversation has gone very quiet, so I’ve given up for now. I’m another phone hater, I just don’t like them. Even talking to the Mrs from my hotel last night, I couldn’t wait to get off the phone, I’ve always struggled with it, dad was the same. SO, email is great for me. In this day and age, you have to be on top of your emails, especially in business.

What’s the first thing that springs to mind? A holiday? A car repair? A holiday? The wife’s birthday (😒)? An amp?? OR… A lovely new bass 😈? What bass? You’ve got a grand…. if you want a new Stingray, you’ll have to put some more in…. but how about a new Reverend Mercalli or Sire V10? What’s it going to be?

Am I the only one who liked Load? 😆