99ster

Had a brand new SWR SM400 head (this is late 1980's when £1,200 was an awful LOT of money) - managed to connect it up wrong to cab so the [b]+[/b] and [b]-[/b] connectors on the bridged output were reversed (actually quite easy to do if you're not concentrating)... A huge amount of smoke started to come out of the amp together with a nasty burning smell - & it was well & truly shagged.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='565011' date='Aug 10 2009, 02:20 PM']From memory (and I have a very good memory) this is a reasonable transcription of a conversation at lunchtime today with the owner of a reputable guitar shop in Denmark Street: [color="#0000FF"]HJ: That’s quite nice, it’s a ’67 Jazz, right? Him: Yes – nice isn’t it? HJ: Interesting wear pattern on the bottom of the body, it’s gone through to the wood but it’s really shiny there. Is this a re-fin? Him: No, no, no, that’s what they call the[i] [I think he said “base varnish layer” or something, could be wrong] [/i]and that always buffs up nicely. HJ: Hmmm. This patch here looks a bit strange too. Are you sure this hasn’t had a re-fin? Him: Well, we had to do some work. HJ: Oh? Why was that then? Him: The previous owner painted it black in 1971 and we had to get it back to the original finish. HJ: You’ve done a great job, then. How on earth did you manage to get all the black off without ruining the paint underneath? Him: It was really difficult, and in the end we had to strip it and then re-build the original finish working from contemporary photographs. HJ: [i][Desperately trying to keep a straight face][/i] So what’s the story with the fingerboard then? Him: [i][Clearly getting rattled][/i] What do you mean? What story? HJ: Well it’s in such great condition – it could almost be new. Him: No, no, no, we removed the frets and then … erm … sanded the board level. And then we replaced the original frets.[/color] He didn’t actually say “[i]Honest[/i]” at the end of the last sentence, but he might as well have done.[/quote] The Robbing Bas***ds.

[quote name='LukeFRC' post='560791' date='Aug 5 2009, 12:02 AM']more glaringly obvious: did they do three tone sunburst in 1959? I thought at this point it was two tone[/quote] Yes - they did do three tone sunburst Precisions in 1959.... But this bass certainly isn't a 1959!!!

The warping on that pickguard is actually pretty bad (the pickguard on my '62 P bass has no warping like that) - so his "[i]ABSOLUTELY NO SHRINKAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/i]" claim is pretty worthless + many of the screw holes are badly opened out & distorted because someone has forced this shrunken guard to fit on a number of different P basses with great big wood wood screws - so the correct screws would now be too small to hold it in place. AND then he expects to get £500+ for it without the aluminium shielding plate.... Yet another eBay c**k.

[quote name='bythesea' post='551335' date='Jul 25 2009, 07:28 PM']Sounds good - let us know what it is like with the cable. Be useful to have a good tuner available easily. [/quote] I'll do a full 'review' when the cable arrives...

[quote name='bythesea' post='551235' date='Jul 25 2009, 05:37 PM']Don't know if anyone has this yet, would like to try it. They have been mentioned a couple of times in passing but I think it's getting hold of the cable that has stopped people so far. Thomann do one [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/peterson_iphone_ipod_touch_adapter.htm"]here[/url].[/quote] I've just ordered the cable from the Peterson online store (didn't realise that you could get them from Thomann) - was about £10 (comes from the US - will probably take a week or more to get here) + £5.99 for the app. The app does look very cool - did a quick test using the built-in iPhone mic & it was pretty impressive... £15.99 for a Peterson tuner seems like a good price & well worth a punt.

[url="http://www.petersontuners.com/index.cfm?category=150&page=1"]get a Peterson tuner on your iPhone![/url]

[quote name='TheButler' post='550446' date='Jul 24 2009, 05:50 PM']I'm seeing him at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh, in September, looking forward to it![/quote] Nice one! I have to say I wasn't a big fan until I saw that last night - but I'd love to see him live now...

Caught Ray LaMontagne on BBC HD Sessions last night - great band with some lovely bass playing from Jennifer Condos (LA session legend - also played with Whiskeytown, Ryan Adams, Don Henley)... She was playing a very cool looking & fat sounding semi-acoustic (though an old SWR rig I think). Anybody able to ID the bass? Would love to find out what it was. Not having any joy on Google... Thanks! [u]Edit:[/u] The bass is an old Harmony H22. Looks like there is [url="http://harmonyguitars.com/ProductLine.asp?pl=vintage&pid=61E62DFCFFD7998ABC0BAC15C8E2C96A07192F90E9D5FAA3"]even a new re-issue version[/url]...

WOW. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=260429966937"]Mint 59 Precision[/url]

Wilco are big fans of these I believe... [url="http://souldier.us/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=32"]Souldier vintage bass straps[/url] Some great designs.

[quote name='joegarcia' post='507630' date='Jun 7 2009, 06:19 PM']Hi there. Does anyone know of anywhere in the UK that sells Ampeg style blue/grey grill cloth? Could get it from fliptops.net but would rather find somewhere in the UK if possible. Any suggestions would be gratefully received. The two UK websites that Google suggested seem to be down. Thanks.[/quote] I think Fliptops.net is the only place you'll get the proper stuff from - I've bought a number of things from them & can highly recommend them. Even just for advice on vintage Ampegs - Bruce is 'the man'... And the £ has regained a fair bit of it's value against the $ recently - so not a bad time to buy from the US. And if you did find any in the UK for sale - they will have probably bought it from Fliptops anyway!

[url="http://endlessknobbing.com/shop/article_EN-TBK-0001/Telecaster_Bass-Knob.html?shop_param=cid%3D2%26aid%3DEN-TBK-0001%26"]Hallmarked Solid Silver Telecaster/Bass Knob[/url]

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170339629115"]Very cool...[/url]