Rayman

It’s the only time I can ever remember actually shaking while meeting someone.

I was a fan back in the day….. “Do you wanna hold me” “what’s the time hey buddy” “I want Candy” were always on in the house…. I was in love with Annabella Lwin ❤️ I saw Mathew Ashman (guitarist) play with the Chiefs of Relief supporting Big Audio Dynamite at the Haçenda in Manchester. Paul Cook (Sex Pistols) was on the drums. I was lucky enough to meet them all outside the club before the soundcheck, Mathew, Paul, Don Letts and Mick Jones (Clash)….. I don’t get star truck…. but I was that day. Sorry, that’s all gone off topic I loved the bass tone, that style of pick playing was my thing back then.

TI flats on everything….. Jazz, P bass, Stingray, Fodera, Encore, Firewood….. everything.

💯%

Are they still going??? Holy cow, I saw them decades ago with all the original members apart from the guy from the tribute band on vocals instead of Anderson who was on hiatus. My brother was the Yes fan, not me, but it was cool to see Mr Squire play, and to listen to Wakemans’ wondrous stories.

I always have respect for artists who use their own signature guitars….. and I don’t mean just on one song in order to promote sales, I mean actually use it during most of a gig. I think it validates the instrument. Of course, they could just be skint and have no choice!

I stood next to Norman and Chas Jankel at the bar of the Waterside in Sale, the last time I saw them live. I nudged my brother and whispered should we say hello? We decided it was weird, and totally ignored him….. 😒

My particular example wasn’t that great in terms of craftsmanship. Maybe they’re better than they used to be, but I wasn’t impressed with mine at all.

Yeah I found the ebanol on a GWB35 marked really easily with roundwounds. Tonally I couldn’t hear the difference to an Ebony board on another bass. What I did notice was half the white fret lines started to lift out of the ebanol on the Ibanez…. I had to get them glued back in. Probably more down to poor craftsmanship than materials though.

Thanks all One last thing….. nothing needed changing on this bass, despite reviews saying the contrary. The tuners were smooth, bridge works…. You know? This is not a Fodera…. it’s old school! And by the way, the pickups are ace, both of them. The mudbucker, especially with flats, sounds like an upright to me. Beefy tone from this bass, typical of a shorty. There’s no need to do anything to this bass, just plug an play.

You can see the stock tuners are little less substantial than the Gotohs, but honestly they were fine really. Fretboard was pretty dirty while applying lemon oil. Apart from an annoying crackle from the blend knob, all else seems pretty good. After changing the tuners, and setting it up with a set of short scale TI flats (that are still too long btw) I’m happy, that it’s a cool, old school vibe addition to my basses.

So, a couple of minor things…. the mudbucker screws are not all tightened down, one is, three are still considerably untightened. The nut, as per all the reviews is cut high. I’ll sort that too, so no big deal. It really plays nice, feels nice and honestly the tuners are fine really? Lobster wasn’t impressed with the tuners, but, they’re ok. Very nice tone, but the weird out of phase thing with both pickups on the central indent is a bit odd, but, back up slightly towards the bridge pup and bosh, it sounds ace. So far so good

It really is….. it was either this or the orange…..

Out of the box, it’s a really lovely thing. Actually nicely set up, I assume by Andertons QC, it play’s really nice…. the nut is cut a bit high, but that’s easily fixed, and I already have a set of Gotoh tuners here, but the rest will stay stock. I’ll post some opinions on sound later

I feel like you’re going to say “oh……. right” 😆 It ain’t no F Bass

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.