Kiwi

well we're all extreme noobs now, so welcome aboard

Shrewd? Thats setting someone up for a fall, innit? I think there are some basses that achieve a certain iconic status through a combination of band associations and general availability so I'd say they're the ones to go for. However its important to bear in mind that the pre-CBS boom was driven by baby-boomers with a severe case of nostalgia and a bucket load of money thanks to the 80's stockmarket boom. Obviously Wal basses are a classic in the making in that they look set to attract huge sums for the forseeable future. If we don't already own a Wal then we've probably all missed the boat on that one. I remember there was a bit of a blip in the prices of Jaydees for reasons of nostalgia a few years back too. However, it looks like they might have settled back down again in the last year or so. At the height of the madness I even saw a refinished flat pink Supernatural Mark King with pink neck LED's go for £1300 on one Ebay auction. Ibanez Musicians are probably worth investing in if you can get them for less than £300. There's a nostalgia thing going for them at the moment. Similar fallout effect for anything early 80's and japanese really, particularly Ibanez basses. Steinbergers are probably worth getting if they're below £1k, too. Particularly white ones which were relatively rare. Trouble is, because they're graphite, there's not as much mystique attached to them over aging etc. So although I would've backed them a few years back, it looks like the 20 year window of desirability has passed them to a large extent. It could be argued that 70's Alembics are potential investment with their high standards of build quality and iconic status. But I don't think they were ever popular enough in the way that preEB Musicman's or Fenders were for them to accrue a lot of value to anyone but an Alembic collector.

Good grief, OK then. If I didn't have a conscience and had loads of money and room to spare, then this is what I'd be diving for: Alembic Series 2 (5 string with standard point body and 5A maple facings in black cherry 'burst) AGC Custom 5 (fretted and fretless) Carl Thompson Scroll Bass Fodera Beez Elite 5 (quilted redwood facings) Jaydee Calibas 5 (fretted and fretless) Jaydee Supernatural Classic (if I could ever find one of the originals) Ken Smith BMT bass (pretty much every single example I could get my hands on) Michael Spalt custom 5 (fretted and fretless) Modulus Quantum TBX 6 'Andy West' (fretted and fretless) Musicman Cutlass II Musicman Cutlass (without the I on the headstock) Pedulla Hexabuzz Pedulla Pentabuzz (in greenburst) Rainsong Graphite Acoustic bass guitar Sandberg Basic 5 (fretted and fretless) Shuker headless 5 (fretted and fretless) Status Stealth 6 headless custom (fretted and fretless with redwood tops) '79 Steinberger L2 prototype (or 1980 early serial #) Steinberger XL2 Transtrem '83 Strata bass (one without a banana shaped neck) Spector NS-5XL (fretted and fretless) Preamps: Alembic F-1X Eden WT1000 Navigator preamp Custom preamp/mixer/Alembic power supply + Stereo rack mounted valve compressor + Peavey DEC1400 or BK Electronics Mxf 1200D 1u Class D power amp Amps: Burman Pro4000 (whatever I could lay my hands on, in good nick) Eden WT1205 Fender Bassman Gallien Krueger 2001RB Mesa Boogie 400+ (again) Trace Elliot V8 Trace Elliot Hexavalve Walter Woods Ultra Cabs: Aguilar 4x10" x2 (for the Mesa Boogie and Walter Woods) Fender Bassman 4x12" and 2x15" Schroeder 4x12 neo x2 Trace Elliot V type 4x12 to match the V8 Burman 4x12 to match the Burman heads I reckon it could probably take me a lifetime and a half to accrue that lot!

Well, I'm just looking at my smacked up pre EB Stingray and comparing it favourably to my Smiths and Celinder, thats all. There have been some gorgeously muntered 70's and early 80's P-basses I've played as well. They've got fag burns between the tuners, stickers on the body and rusted pickups and bridge parts. Plugged in they sound like they've spent 20 years inside and have been on a regular course of steroids. A reckon a bit of moderate abuse over a long period of time mellows an instrument out.

[quote name='OldGit' post='6517' date='May 25 2007, 02:25 PM']I think Rich has a Senheisser 172 now ... I had a Trantec s2000 and was happy as larry for a while. but it's VHF and the sound way way inferior to a cable.[/quote] Does he? I was going by his photos in Bass Porn and I thought he was showing another Trantec... ...maybe it was his old one. Anyways, in all honesty, I'm hard pushed to tell the difference between cable and wireless on my units. All three sound pretty crisp and full to me during an AB test - maybe I just got lucky?

To be honest, I don't know that age is the factor per se. But there's definitely a difference between a heavily gigged bass and a new bass in terms of feel. I like heavily gigged basses because they feel more broken in and supple. Having said that, there are some manufacturers who do a pretty good job of getting a broken in feel on new basses, Ken Smith and Celinder to name but two.

Andy, how much of a cliff williams fan are you?

Madhouse? Nooooooooooooooooooooo. Everyone in here is very very sane. Its the rest of the world that is mad, we've set this forum as a way to keep the rest of the world out.

[url="http://www.strangefates.com/StrangefatesSLvideos.html"]http://www.strangefates.com/StrangefatesSLvideos.html[/url] I just saw this vid on the band site for strange fates. Hmm. They need to work on their moves a bit more, don't they?

hi hippy, welcome aboard!

Sounds like y'all need to get some advice from the amps forum, and keep an eye on the reviews forum too. Hopefully that will expand so if you need advice on gear in the future, you can get it easily.

hey duney, do you rehearsal at the Premises at all?

Welcome aboard keiran, you'll have no problems fitting in. Where did you get your avatar from?

welcome aboard Philli!

Croikey! Another member, Bassaussie, is an Aussie living in Portugal!! [i]SPOOKY POSSUMS!![/i] Have you two met yet?

[quote name='lukeward2004' post='6327' date='May 25 2007, 10:34 AM']Hi Guys, My 5 year old Shure T series wireless died last night - well, it didnt die, but over the last few weeks, its been "farting" somewhat and I have tracewd it back to the bodypack. It has been through many gigs and has been knocked around a lot, so its seen a fair bit fo abuse. Ive been through the usual troubleshooting of checking cables, batteries and power, and its definately the bodypack... ...Any recommendations appreciated, im looking to buy something soon - but my GAS is for the Senheiser at the moment. Any Freeport owners?[/quote] Rich and I swear by our old Trantec systems. I've got three of them secondhand off Ebay and they were each about £100. I can use them all at once as they occupy different frequencies, so in principle I could have the Alembic running wireless in stereo and have the Pentabuzz ready as well. Build-wise they're almost bomb-proof with sheet metal cases. The only downer is that they're not rack mountable but given that I run combos now, its not a great inconvenience with the use of adhesive velcro gripping pads.

[quote name='Bass Culture' post='6465' date='May 25 2007, 01:34 PM']I dropped you guys a small donation by Paypal yesterday, realised my Paypal account was still set up to take funds from my Bank Account rather than my credit and that, being the day before pay day, said donation would take me over my overdraft limit! Spent the next 20 mins on the phone to the bank sweet talking them so they wouldn't hit with a unarranged borrowing charge. Oh, how we laughed![/quote] Well thanks for making the extra effort

[quote name='dabootsy' post='6000' date='May 24 2007, 08:04 PM']HI I AM 42 AND HAVE BEEN PLAYING BASS FOR 26 YEARS MY PASSION IS DISCO GROOVE AS IN CHIC ETC I HAVE A FEW BASSES WARWICK THUMB THROUGH NECK 4 STRING FENDER MARCUS MILLER JAZZ STATUS SERIES 2 SCHECTER BARON FENDER JAZZ WITH A JD SUPERNATURAL FRETLESS NECK PRECISION DELUXE TYPE NOT NAMED WITH ALNICO PICKUPS AND A CHEAP AND NASTY WESLEY OFF EBAY THAT PLAYS LIKE A DREAM LINE 6 BASS POD XT LIVE ROLAND LOOPSTATION ASHDOWN MAG 200 I JUST CANT STOP BUYING[/quote] Great stuff - a man after my own heart. Have you got any pics of that Fender Jazz? Did you consider getting a stingray just to complete the tool kit?

My G.A.S. has been plugged for the time being now I've got all the sounds I want. However, one of Skelfs headless basses but with a wider and less offset body would do me very nicely. The tone of the instrument was... ...perfect. Crisp, warm, full and growly.

Sigh This happened a couple of years ago - in 1 week in June 2005, there were so many famous bass players gigging in London that I couldn't see them all through exhaustion, even if I could have afforded it! Mike, for those of us who are really lazy is there any chance you could post ticket booking links?

Yeh, I had a good long chat with the head tech at Charlie Chandlers about it a few months back when I fancied getting my Smith 6 done. He reckoned it was the biggest waste of money they ever spent because the machine can't deal with the curve of the neck under tension. It wil do an 'ok' job but he recommended I don't get any expensive instruments done on it. Reckoned I could get a better, cheaper job done by a good luthier.

My deep impact tracked my old Modulus Sonic Hammer 100% perfect with no glitches at all so I'd guess that it prefers single pickup basses if anything.

You know what? With all the business with Gerard and WoW and other stuff, I thought I'd check out Eve - stunning graphics but my goodness me, the anxiety that could be raised by the prospect of missing out on something, given the game runs in real time. I mean, you could come home from work and find your ships all destroyed!

[quote name='Alpha-Dave' post='5319' date='May 23 2007, 08:30 PM']CK: I can see where you're coming from and with a pair of single coils, or 'buckers in parallel you may be right, but stick a pair of high output EMGs on there and it might as well be made of plastic and cork because it'll sounds like any other with those p'ups (ok maybe not that extreme, but you get the gist ...)[/quote] LOL, you don't sound like you're a fan of EMG's [quote name='BeLow' post='5325' date='May 23 2007, 08:53 PM']CK's experience with his dark sounding ebony maple Alembic bass just reminds me that although I have started to get a feel for bass construction, I am a long way from knowing it all.[/quote] Just turn up to a bassbash and have a thrash . You can test stuff out - like comparing jazz basses, or neck laminates or pickups. I've found talking to luthiers who have experimented really helps clarify the folklore from fact. LIke Rob Green was the first luthier who said to me don't believe all the bollocks about tonewood characteristics. You can find that sometimes different woods will give similar characteristics if they have similar qualities. To my mind, that makes manufacturers such as Ken Smith or Ernie Ball who can maintain consistency despite often unseen variables in tone wood characteristics that much worthy of respect (at least in terms of their materials choices).