tauzero

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1377344667' post='2186492'] In fact in the last week we've sold: Older Fodera to a high end gigging pro and session player Nearly new Fodera to another regular gigging player but not a pro Vintage Wal to a school aged player who's taking his future as a musician very seriously New F Bass to a touring pro Used Brubaker to someone who mostly plays at home New Wood & Tronics to a semi-pro Ritter Cora to regular gigger but not pro That's 6 basses in as many days with an average price of about £3K to people ranging from schoolboys to semi-retired and bedroom players to full on gigging pros. Doesnt feel like this signals the death knell of the high end business [/quote] I like your arithmetic. The next time you have a surplus bass, could you send it my way please?

Drummers deserve our sympathy over this (if nothing else). On a shared bill, it's generally them that will finish up with some sort of sharing. I have noticed that they're pretty good at sharing, though. Just trying to organise a charity gig for which I've volunteered to be musical contact point. Two bands have ben in touch,the other hasn't. If they don't talk to us about gear, they don't get to use the drum kit. I'm generally happy to share but if I'm using my amp (900W) with my little 1x12 (200W), I'm buggered if I'm going to risk someone wrecking the cab. Not so bothered if I'm using the 4x10 (1100W).

Thankfully I've never felt the urge to go back from my proper basses to some Fender thing.

In 1987 I'd been playing bass for twelve or thirteen years, had played quite a lot of basses, wasn't actually looking for a new bass, and happened to play a JD Thumb. It was just so good to play that I ended up PXing the basses I had at the time (Precision and Hohner B2) which still paid less than half of it and getting a loan for the rest.

Schaller straplocks on everything except the B2V (I use a locking strap on that). Put a DiMarzio pickup into my 1970s Precision. Didn't hear any difference. Put a home-made active circuit into it too and did a couple of other things (if it still has the scratchplate that I modded, it's got a brass section corresponding to the chrome control panel on a Jazz). Put a Delano Sonar preamp into my Sei because the original Bartolini preamp had partly failed. Just last night I put a Just-A-Nut I onto my main Antoniotsai 5-string, as I already had on another of my Antoniotsai 5-strings. That's about it.

[quote name='Dom in Somerset' timestamp='1377163370' post='2184063'] Reassured to see that it's unique. [/quote] Not just that, it's [u]very[/u] unique.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1376901403' post='2180406'] Following a sarcastic, over-defensive rant from the other party, it's now being suggested via someone else that the OP tinkered with the bass somehow. [/quote] AIUI (and I read all 94,375 pages of the TB thread) the OP (ie. the TB OP) tried to set it up, ie. did a truss rod adjustment as per specs supplied to him by JC. The neck would appear to be an S-bend rather than a bow, causing buzz from frets 4-10 or so (can't remember exactly, not going to go back there now). OP posted a video to Youtube privately for JC to watch which was later made public and linked to in the original post, and has subsequently been made private again. The reaction on TB with the flaming torches and pitchforks didn't help. I can understand the OP's motives in making it public as he'd just spent $5k on a bass which was nothing like AC's normal standards, which he thought was show-worn (which was how it was described to him) but turned out to have at least some issues in its actual construction, and then encountered a brick wall when trying to return it. It might have helped JC's cause a bit if he hadn't simply waded in and instead given a bit of thought to his response (or at least that's how I would charitably interpret his response). I'm one of the many who wouldn't be in the market for an AC anyway (hideously expensive clone of run-of-the-mill bass), so as far as AC's fortunes go, my opinion doesn't matter.

I'm sure I recognise the headstock of the one on the right. It's an Alleva Copollo innit?

I think two of us have asked questions so far - and yes, you should ask him why he's using your pictures.

[quote name='JXBase' timestamp='1376860439' post='2180145'] I've no real budget constraints (well, hoping to keep it under £1,000), I'm more concerned with quality/multi-use for guitar/bass and the fact I'm a girl so something that is portable for the likes of me. [/quote] Are you actually going to be using both a bass amp and a guitar amp at the same gig? If not, separate amps would make more sense as you'd need to go for a bass amp/speaker to ensure the speaker can handle the bass range, and that's going to lead to compromise on the guitar side of things. If you go for the one amp solution, you'll need a cab/combo with a tweeter as well as the main driver so you can get clear highs. There's an awful lot of lightweight gear out there now (add Tecamp and TC to the suggestions above) - if you go for separate head and cab, it means you can change one or the other at some later date.

Also reported. And just sent him the question "Why are the photos of the bass identical to those posted in the Basschat forum by someone who isn't you?"

I've got an Ashbory Mk II, of which there are (I believe) 73.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1376743952' post='2178576'] Do I win a prize or something? [attachment=141719:MeSLHMF.jpg] [/quote] First equal:

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1376694195' post='2178261'] Also I've never played a Thumb that wasnt heavier than a pregnant elephant, the Vester isnt as light as my Roscoe, but its still a lot lighter than a Thumb..... [/quote] Warwick - the sound of wood, the weight of concrete. I've never found the weight an issue, possibly because the Thumb's predecessors included a Hayman 40/40 and a 70s fretless P made out of a railway sleeper.

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1373874829' post='2142381'] Very frustrating. You certainly did your best! If you bought a £50 bass then you might expect something like that but Warwick, of all people, I would have thought could have been trusted to have got something as basic as that solved before going to the market. [/quote] Have you ever played a Thumb? Much as I love mine, they do like to swivel in a floorwards direction.

The B2 (passive) and B2A are very playable. The 5-string versions a little less so - the necks seem a bit fatter (not just wider but thicker too) while the 4-string necks are rather slim. I've got a B2V (passive 5) as a back-up bass - it takes up very little room and its very presence means I will never have to use it. I used to have a B2 but that went in px for a Thumb in 1987.

[quote name='gazgoldstar' timestamp='1376235628' post='2171120'] 8 String set! Great idea thanks Jeff, didn't think about that! [/quote] You might find a 7-string set easier to find - Overwater do them for a very reasonable price (and might even do you a 6-string set from E up).

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1376395293' post='2173231'] I've got the one people refer to as a thumb clone. Great bass easier to play than a thumb thats for sure, big solid brass bridge. I swapped the pups for EMGs. [/quote] I used to have the Thumb clone in fretless guise. Sold it when I got a proper Thumb for defretting, which had the nasty thick later Warwick neck which I had reprofiled to JD dimensions. So the Vester was nicer to play than a 2000 Thumb but not as good as a 1987 JD Thumb.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1376583854' post='2176492'] They all look like fender jazz basses with slightly different head stocks to me, dull [/quote] But the headstock is obviously lifted from that paragon of basses, the Teisco Audition: Who wouldn't want to pay out over £3k for such an epitome of dull?

[quote name='thebassman' timestamp='1376609752' post='2176949'] Bands, where all the members wear T shirts stating what instrument they play. [/quote] How else am I going to remember? I also leave a diagram in my bass case to remind me which end to blow it.

Irrational dislikes: singlecuts. I just can't find them attractive. Non-irrational dislikes: Fenders, Rics, Trace-Elliot, cheaper Ampeg amps.

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1376323732' post='2172132'] The benefits of playing Thunderbirds (lack of body weight, slender neck, that tone, the uber cool shape, the magical ability of it being able to transform me into a lithe 20-something), by far outweighs any issue with diving of the neck. Most people who talk about neck dive probably haven't even touched a TB. It saddens me. [/quote] Oh, there are far better reasons not to play a TB than the neck dive...

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1376306128' post='2171846'] I tire somewhat of the whole neckdive argument thing and I play Thunderbirds. [/quote] I play Thumbs. I was being curious, not argumentative.

If there's a reserve price on something that I really, really fancy, I ask the seller what it is. They may or may not choose to tell me. If it's above what I want to pay, it saves me bidding fruitlessly. Alternatively, if you happen to have a spare account, you could bid a big price which will then set the bid to the reserve, then cancel the bid (the spare account is in case the seller gets miffed by this behaviour and blocks you). The big advantage for me of ebay is that if I want to get shot of something and I'm not terribly bothered about how much I get for it, bunging it in at 99p and no reserve means it'll be gone in ten days. It's all very well bemoaning how much ebay take and how the BC marketplace is much cheaper, but if you're still waiting to sell your bass six months down the line then ebay's fat fees may become less relevant.