Kiwi

[quote name='The Burpster' post='321290' date='Nov 3 2008, 08:22 PM'].... anyone do a 4 string with 17+mm spaging at the bridge and 9mm spacing at the zero fret and I'll have one, why....?[/quote] Status standard string spacing for 4 strings is 18+mm at the bridge, I don't know about the zero fret string spacing though. [quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' post='321292' date='Nov 3 2008, 08:24 PM']I have a few basses , but this has been the main bass most of the time. I managed to get a Steiney custom xm2 a few years back , from a German evil bayer. After a small repair it may be my fave bass now. I really want the Trans trem /whammy bar one tho'.[/quote] I've seen one on Ebay recently, but it was the XL2 rather than the M-series. The transtrem basses are very uncommon, not many were made. I would be VERY careful about buying a transtrem as the string anchor jaws are known to be brittle and you need to be careful about wear on the arm and pivoting parts. However its possible to buy replacement parts but at a cost. There is one company in Korea who are offering a replica TransTrem for guitar but, because the original units have been going for $700, they've priced theirs at only slightly less.

I've tried calling Jon quite a few times in the last 7 days and his phone isn't taking incoming calls and he's not answering his mobile. Rob's been off sick with a sprained ankle too so I'm wondering if Jon has battened down the hatches and is steaming through as much of the order back log as he can right now.

I was all set to take my Smith 6 down there a couple of years ago and Chandlers talked me out of it! Apparently the plek machine they have cost them thousands of pounds and they don't use it. Although it takes into account the neck relief under tension, apparently it doesn't take into account HOW the neck bows under tension. Its calculations are based on an assumption of an even curve along the length of the neck instead of allowing for the flat spot we all know exists above the 14th fret. Consequently they've found that plekked instruments don't play very well in the upper frets. Chandlers say they can do a better job by hand.

[quote name='spinynorman' post='320615' date='Nov 3 2008, 12:40 AM']Surely some of this is due to associations with star players. Would anyone in their right mind want a Framus Star Bass or a Hagstrom 8-string if it weren't for the Wyman and Hendrix/Redding connections? Also eBay and the Internet generally has opened up a worldwide trade in used instruments, which has pushed up prices. It'll be interesting to see to what extent it survives a protracted recession.[/quote] Definitely, in fact it has been suggested that nostaligic baby boomers were responsible for driving the demand for vintage gibson and fender instruments in the first place during the early 80's.

[quote name='Dr.Dave' post='319466' date='Nov 1 2008, 08:33 AM']It's something like Lancester or Lanchester - bet CK knows. My mate in Palmy,North Island has furniture made from it and was going to look at a body for one of his Precisions.[/quote] Yep, the Langcaster instruments are made from the same acrylised ancient swamp kauri. I remember the original asking price was fairly astronomical as well, but nowhere near that Spector. The prices seem to be a bit more reasonable now.

We played our last gig, a wedding, until early December at Wolsey Hall in Herts. Great venue, the staff were really helpful and had obviously been working together for a long time. A stark contrast to the bitchy golf clubs and chain hotels we've played at. The load in was reasonably easy although a long walk. The set up was reasonably easy too, lots of space although no stage as such. I also took the opportunity to give the Smith one last go before shipping it to its new owner. The first dance was one of the best we've seen because the couple knew how to dance properly and the song they picked was a great choice. When we started the first song, everyone was on the dancefloor which was an excellent sign. We also had a last minute drum dep who is best friends with the percussionist's son and he faced the prospect of learning about 34 songs in a week. All things considered he did an outstanding job, there were a few fluffs but we've had a lot worse from other deps who have considerably more experience under their belts. As the night wore on, the crowd were very entertaining to watch. There are occasional gigs we do when there's so much love in the air, that its palpable and this was one of them. Everyone was friends and dancing inhibitions were left at the door. There was one couple who trotted out every single disco cliche in the book and were just grinning from ear to ear while doing it. They could have probably danced more conservatively but they were going to have fun and clown around instead. Watching the punters do that is great, it makes the job of performing that much easier and enjoyable. Occasionally we get a cracking crowd like that and we know the nights going to go well. There was a free bar as well and, although we didn't go overboard it was nice to have a glass of decent red between sets and free run of the cheese board too. Our band also sold out tickets for our only public gig in January on Friday afternoon in about 3 hours. Turns out that 7 of those tickets were bought by another band who are effectively in competition with us. Hmmmm! Hinteresting.

Headless makes so much practical sense to me as well, especially for 5 strings or more. For me its mainly the balance. The lack of a headstock makes the instrument feel much more comfortable to wear. The looks aren't such an issue, although some body shapes work and others don't. There's definitely a modern aesthetic associated with headless instruments where the body shape is that much more important, its not just a question of whipping off the headstock on a p-bass and saying there y'go. However I don't believe they're making a "comeback" as such.

[quote name='dood' post='320675' date='Nov 3 2008, 08:56 AM']I think Steve (crazykiwi) said that Jon is a perfectionist and wont rush a job just to get it finished, which is very true. I'd rather he was happy with his work, than just lobbing stuff out the door! - It's his reputation on the line after all and anyone who has seen his work, knows it is stunning. Stunning takes time![/quote] I think its fair to say Jon's probably astute enough to know that his reputation isn't ultimately going to be based on how well he meets deadlines, its going to be based on his instruments. It will be 12 months next week since I placed my order on an original build time of 3-5 months.

I'm ambivalent about the specific influence of age. What I do like is battered basses though because in my experience well worn instruments don't put up so much of a fight when you play them. My stingray is a result of 2 different basses but because the donor instruments were both heavily thrashed the instrument still has that mellow growl.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.de/Schack-Carbon-B2-400-Headless-E-Bass-4-Saiter_W0QQitemZ220300017997QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item220300017997&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A1|39%3A1|240%3A1318"]http://cgi.ebay.de/Schack-Carbon-B2-400-He...%3A1|240%3A1318[/url] Kai Eckhardt was playing these basses IIRC.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='319433' date='Nov 1 2008, 12:50 AM']JOIN A BAND Or, more specifically. JOIN A GOOD BAND Bass player - band = bored musician. Or anorak musician.[/quote] +1 join a band that pushes you. Not excuses for not being motivated if you risk public humiliation

the degree to which its thumbnailed depends on the screen real estate of the person viewing the image and whether you've linked the image or attached it. All attached images are thumbnailed. Linked images are thumbnailed if they're bigger than the size of the window they're being viewed in.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1978-Fender-Jazz-Bass-Mint_W0QQitemZ350063701145QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item350063701145&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A3|39%3A1|240%3A1318"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1978-Fender-Jazz-Bas...%3A1|240%3A1318[/url] Seller is in Thailand, but having been there and seen Sadowsky basses in two of the three shops I visited, I know they appreciate their boutique basses. There's also a thai equivalent of basschat too. But anyway, does anyone know whether stack pots were on late 70's instruments? Its a new one to me.

+1 on the transferrence of technique from Shamizen playing. I spotted this vid last week while hunting for gospel players on youtube. I wouldn't be inclined to criticise it from a Western perspective any more than I'd be inclined to criticise any other world music. Or at least if I was going to criticise it then I'd at least take the time to discover what the point of the music was. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of that style of playing is about the space created between the notes and the textural effects created rather than the notes themselves. Still not to my personal taste but I've heard a LOT worse from Western avant garde players.