LukeFRC

[quote name='Bobo_Grimmer' timestamp='1353089429' post='1871615'] Ok so your saying the amp and cab are the over kill bit? or all of it? The rack effects and the pedal board are all stuff for sounds we use..... The good thing about the amp is that it goes loud enough for playing big venues like the O2 and is tonally lovely at a lower volume in my local [/quote] I wonder how many bits of kit make a big difference in the band mix- and how much makes a difference for the audience? But from the players perspective I don't think that that is primerally a physical thing as much a mental thing- how little would you/me feel comfortable using? Personally I have a bass amp I like the sound of (with a nice compressor on it) and basses that sound nice - and for me unless I need OD of fuzz or chorus or something thats enough. When I did use more effects I built something with 3 effects in the same box- fun but ... often not needed. I think sometimes gear can become a crutch - all this fancy gear makes up for a lack of confidence in our playing.

I had 3 basses once and sold one cos at the time it fitted my head better having just two. Life's too short to be worrying - and if that means changing the rig so be it. I wonder if it could be made more modular so you can take bits of it.

[IMG]http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee497/LukeFRC/DSC03081.jpg[/IMG] now sporting Bartolini pups. it took a while to grow on me.

[quote name='Rick's Fine '52' timestamp='1353078568' post='1871399'] I'm down at Andy's next Tuesday or Wednesday, for a spot of trading, so, if its still there, I'll try and have a whirl on it, and let y'all know how it plays. I just hope it doesnt draw me in too much. As has been said, it should be on display at MM. Looking forward to seeing it though! [/quote] involving a bass starting with R? It did strike me today - we talk about ground breaking bass design - and getting it right first time etc etc and the fact Leo seems to have done it right so many times - it strikes me that the important thing he designed wasn't the bass in itself - it was the pickup and where to put it. Thinking how a 51 and 57 P, a Jazz and a Musicman all have a distinctive pickup - in a certain placement that gives it it's sound. My guess would be that many of the other design decisions after that were let by economy and marketing as much as engineering. (sorry Luthiery) Expand that outwards - what else has a "classic" sound - and it's not so much basses as the pickups -Rickenbacker, Wal, and so - all with their own pickups. I wonder with the tendancy for many builders to use the existing designs if we miss out.

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1351879481' post='1856586'] here are the 2 together, the Funder Jeff Bass signature range [/quote] how come you have all the luck? 3 bodies, 3 good bodies and they come out well. I get one body and it turns out to be a dog of plastic coated basswood! looking good! (what's your plans for the blue stripped body btw?)

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1353030018' post='1870838'] Now I know why I never attempted to respray any of my basses. [/quote] yeah it's not worth it unless know know what you are doing. I should have just bought a new body and waxed it! it's together and plays ok, memory tells me it sounded better before i messed it up

So attacked the thing with wet and dry - it's not a good finish, but it'll do, it's kinda a dull satin now. Bolted the thing back together. Set up and it's alright, too late to plug it in. here's a wee photo.

yeah, that doesn't seem really stupid for what they say it is. Interesting looking through their other items - great looking lake placid blue jazzmaster (would need to learn to play with 6 skinny strings!) - the vintage stuff I can understand how there is a market and so on that drives the prices - so £6k for a 60's bass, I'm not buying but I get it. £7k for a brand new PRS???? why?

[quote name='Selrak' timestamp='1353021127' post='1870752'] Buzzard JE Signature from Selrak, bassist of catalonian brutal drone doom band [url="http://entropia.ppcc.cat"]Entropia[/url]. [url="http://youtu.be/e8yTEgLXT28"]View buzzard videoclip[/url]. [/quote] did you mean Caledonian????

P bass wise.... I would go for... well I don't know much that would top my current P bass, so we'll keep that... Jazz bass.... my dream jazz would be a dakota (or candy apple) red with maple neck, white pickguard. Dunno why- the 50th anniversary jazz looked pretty nice. Part of me thinks though that if I did go the custom route and I wasn't too hung up on it saying fender on the headstock I would go for a local UK or EU builder.

[quote name='Rick's Fine '52' timestamp='1352989914' post='1870223'] My slab body is all finished, packaged, and with USPS mid-Atlantic as we speak, should be with me in the next couple of days, so I can start the assembly of my 'slab'. Will be interesting to see how [i]it[/i] sounds! All components are as the original, with many of them from '66, so we'll see! [/quote] quite exciting that!

Bugger Was meaning to start this thread for a while... but just been getting on with it. So picked up this bass in a trade which was supposedly a 1994 japanese squier jazz with a 1994 japanese squier body, well it still might be, who knows? But I picked it up as it was a good japanese neck to base a project on. More or less going to keep the neck and change everthing else. Got the thing home though and man - it's amazing sounding and playing - it's not quite a trad jazz sound more authoritive- and really really fun to play. So plan B is keep the bass as it is- I can't think of much that would defiantly improve it. Except someone had wrecked the finish- and oddly the chips are really sharp when you play - so strip it off and refinish in nitro! Price up Nitro nooo, poly finsih! So sand paper and paint stripper are bought and I set work on the finish- and it doesn't really do much. The paint stripper does nothing and the sand paper.... well lets just say that is sat sanding the same 2 inch square section for an entire film and still didn't get to the wood.... super hard finish - which would explain why the chips left sharp edges. I don't have a heat gun but I do have a gas cooker (you can see where this is going can't you?) but as it came off I found a really off thing. The body was basswood and had a thin laminate of plastic/wood stuff stuck on around it with a hard shiny finish - the thick hard paint had then been laid ontop of this - I guess it makes sense to give a good painting serface. ended up taking them both off. the top and bottom... first annoyance... where the plastic has been stuck with the grain it peels off easily - where it is against the grain, like on the sides, it doesn't - it just won't shift, doesn't really sand off and arrgh. So out comes the chisel and its all slowly chipped off leaving a ragidy edge to sand back. So that's all done and sand and reshape the body, sand the radius's by hand copying my JV p bass. Mistake number 1 - get so into shaping the edges I forget to give the front and back a good going over. Mistake number 2- see how the bottom horn looks too big? well trying to cut bits off is not a good idea. so then go to paint it - I go for Molotow graffiti paint- this stuff is amazing - great coverage, looks good and is cheap. It shows up all the inperfections (and holes) but hey ho! Mistake number 3 - I should have got a good finsih with cheap paint and left it at that. But go and get some poly clear coat gloss finsih for on the top. Mistake number 4 - graffiti paint is dead easy to spray and doesn't run - this comes out supper fast and before i know it is running everywhere leaving big white patches- Probably I could have left them to dry clear but... Mistake number 5 - I wipe them off with some kitchen roll and start again. And unwittingly get some moisture somewhere - leading to big cloudy patches. Sand back to get rid of them, a few rub throughts and then run out of paint. bugger. Ignore it respray - again it likes coming out fast. Ignore it, leave it to dry it's going to work whatever it comes out looking like now cos blowed if I have any more money to throw at it, and not sure I could do a better job anyway - next time pay a pro to do it. I should have sold this body as it was for £20 and just bought one already painted. Pictures soon

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1352896585' post='1868943'] 1960 stack knob Jazz Herbie Flowers model in Lake Placid Blue with Fiesta Red undercoat & heavy relic finish with a tort guard. [/quote] I was going to say this.. but then I would try and convince Wes to make one as he had made a brill looking copy.... then realised that you own it! oh well!

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1352896585' post='1868943'] 1960 stack knob Jazz Herbie Flowers model in Lake Placid Blue with Fiesta Red undercoat & heavy relic finish with a tort guard. [/quote] I was going to say this.. but then I would try and convince Wes to make one as he had made a brill looking copy.... then realised that you own it! oh well!

cheers... I seem to not be working this week so inbetween the job apps I may try and write the first thing in 4 years eek

when's the closing date? is it the end of the month?

[quote name='Warwick_Official' timestamp='1352851792' post='1868546'] The Katana is still very much in existence! In fact, Scott Reeder just custom ordered one not long ago, and had it out on tour with him! They may not be out there in big numbers, but they are out there....there is nothing quite like the tone and playability of the Katana! [/quote] Hey! slightly OT but I was thinking I hadn't seen you around much lately.

and having just got to the "solo" - it was awful - see guthrie's face looking at the other guitarist trying to work out what's going on - what was the relation to the previous music?????

[quote name='Schnozzalee' timestamp='1352809710' post='1867618'] I'm talkin' bout the bass solo, not the guitar stuff. Asian musicians always practice too much [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=ozbZeZZwSIw"]http://www.youtube.c...1&v=ozbZeZZwSIw[/url] [/quote] Asian musicians, and essex boys...

[quote name='BluRay' timestamp='1352583869' post='1864967'] There's no "just" when it comes to GAS. [/quote] doesn't your Westone Thunder 1A in your sig have a P pickup on it? doesn't that get close?

enjoy playing it btw, my previous response was a bit short! I'm sure the neck is lovely, to tell the truth I'm a wee bit jealous of your bass there- not cos of any possible value it may or may not have - but cos I know it will play amazingly!

Don't see why they wouldn't be. Costly by the time you add VAT and import duty though

aww that actually looks nice, they had a white one with white scratchplate in a local shop to me a while back - i couldn't stand the sight of it - but that looks great!

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1352686809' post='1866211'] The BB400S is waiting to be shipped to The Bass Doc for control jack and battery routs and a bone nut to be cut and fitted. I'm also having him make a white pearl Stingray type pickguard for it too. I'm working in China at the moment so it's on hold for a couple of weeks. As soon as I get back I'll be fitting the bridge, pickups and tuners so Howard can do his bit. The 300 body is still only half stripped and is waiting for more work to get it back to the wood, I'll work out what to do with it then. I've got another project about to start and Jon Shuker is going to start that for me but I'm keeping it under wraps until it's done as I feel there'd be a few and a few and not to mention a few and even some and possibly some if they saw it before it's done. What paint did you use? Have you got a link? I might give some cheaper paint a go on the 300 just to see. [/quote] http://www.molotow.com/products/artist-line/premium-relaunch-2011/ intrigued about the Shuker! let me guess have you integrated a full size leslie speaker into it?

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1351495010' post='1851674'] I've now asked for a quote for the routing, pickguard and a new nut. [/quote] how are these going? I got the first coat of paint on my jazz body today - was going to go down the proper sanding sealer/primer/colour topcoat route in nitro- then costed it up, primer/acrylic/topcoat also seemed to be a bit much - top quality graffiti paint however - designed to give good colour and coverage - and £3.50 a can!