BigRedX

[quote name='markdavid' timestamp='1487597779' post='3241020'] Wow I had no idea Fender were so much in debt, seems strange considering how popular their products are , literally everyone I know that plays bass or guitar has a Fender, knowing this I am glad that the majority of my bass purchases have been Fender made (basses,strings,straps) , I may not be the biggest spender but it is nice to know that I have supported them in some way however small [/quote] But looking at it another way, it could be said that you purchases have helped them to buy up and run down far more interesting competing brands such as SWR and Genz-Benz...

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1487454993' post='3239994'] it is odd isn't it - I wonder how influenced we are by American forums and press that the US versions of our luthiers are revered but ours less so. Some of it is the size of marked I guess - but if I compared Sei to Fodera, or overwater to sadowsky would I find a massive difference in the end product? [/quote] Being a Sei and Overwater owner, and having tried Fodera and Sadowsky basses, I would say that they are completely different instruments aimed and different players. IMO once you go beyond the budget Fender copy market, you really can't compare different instruments to say what is best. Only what is the most suitable for YOU.

Happy Jack, I'm assuming that the only difference between the Lull T-Bass and the T4 is the body shape? Do they sound significantly different in the band mix?

The 80s spans a vast range of sounds and styles from Post-Punk, via Synth Pop, New Romantic, Indie Guitar all the way to Baggy/Madchester and Acid House. Which style/era(s) are you covering? For early 80s pop you can't go far wrong with an Aria Pro II SB 1000 and a fretless Wal through a Trace Elliot amp.

IMO too many of the bands mentioned in this thread are far too well known - especially those from the 70s and 80s who were all fairly regular fixtures on John Peel's shows. So in the interest of featuring some bands who you really won't have heard of, but who all had records available to buy, I present some of my favourite bands from Nottingham in the early 80s: [b]Medium Medium[/b]. In the early 80s this was the band who were tipped to put Nottingham on the musical map. Post-punk white boy funk. Got signed to Cherry Red and released a couple of singles and an album "The Glitterhouse" and then singer/sax player Rees Lewis left to form C-Cat Trance (who IMO are far too well known for inclusion here). The rest of the band soldiered on with a succession of guitarists and keyboard players as less than successful replacements until finally calling it a day in 1983. [b]23 Jewel[/b]s. Their debut single "Playing Bogart" was a regular on John Peel's show, made Single of the Week in the NME and was covered by Any Trouble, but none of this was enough to make them famous. Two more singles followed to almost complete indifference and they split without releasing their 4th single "The Bomb Party"/"I Can't Think Of More Than One Thing At Once". Singer and songwriter, Nick Simpson is now a classical composer and conductor. [b]One Million Fuzztone Guitars[/b]. Developed over the course of 2 singles and an album from a rather weird Stylophone and drum machine two-piece to a full-blown rock band. Very favourable coverage in the music press and Julian Cope was a fan, but still they got little interest outside of Nottingham. [b]None So Blind[/b]. Debut single "My Favourite Eyes" was produced by Dave Stewart of The Eurhythmics and recorded in the same studio where they made the "Sweet Dreams" album, but it took almost a year from the recording session until the record was actually released, by which time the band had all but split up. Their record distributor going bust and all the unsold pressings getting destroyed didn't help either. [b]The Howdy Boys[/b]. Started off life as a bunch of art students cavorting about to backing tapes dressed in charity shop suits covered in flour. Eventually morphed into complex improvised drum-machine driven post-punk funk pop. Regular fixtures on the Nottingham scene and released two singles, but like many bands of the era, their recorded sound failed to capture to energy and anarchy of their live show and by the time the second single had been released, the band was pretty much over. [b]Splat![/b] Imagine The Birthday Party as a jazz-funk band if you can... These days they are far better known for running Ron Johnson Records (who brought you Stump and many other better known artists) than for any of their own music.

Excellent! Is there going to be a CD version as well?

I think the reserve price stems from the days when your listing fee was based on the start price that you set. Therefore in order to minimise the listing fee, you started low and put a reserve price on your item. These days when everyone seems to have more than enough free listings - I've been selling on eBay for almost 10 years now and have never paid a penny in listing fees, the reserve price is somewhat redundant. Simply start your item at the minimum price you would like to get for it and go from there.

The fuse in a detachable mains lead is there to protect the lead, not the equipment it is attached to which will have its own appropriately rated fuse. The difference between a lead for a kettle and a "kettle lead" has already been adequately explained in previous posts. Surge protectors/power conditioners and similar are only really required in places like the USA who have a considerably less than robust electricity supply compared with the UK. IME when there have been mains problems in this country nothing less than a properly spec'd UPS would have been suitable.

I have no problem buying and selling musical gear on eBay. In fact for a selling PoV it has been a lot less painless than selling on here (or anywhere else). Also I think that eBay's fees are very reasonable considering the size of the audience you are going to reach compared with all the alternatives. Remember in the "good old days" before eBay your local musical instrument shop would sell stuff for you, but they would take at least 15%, it was likely to take to months to actually sell, and maybe even longer before you actually got any money, and during that time it was subject to abuse from anyone who wanted to to "try it out" in the shop. And if you just wanted to PX against something else in the shop, then good luck getting more than 50% of what you were selling was actually worth.

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1487238255' post='3238217'] This bridge was enough to put me off them. It may be pretty and retro looking but who wants to play with a guitar where you can't get your intonation straight? [/quote] You will be able to get the intonation right, but only with standard string sets. If you favour something a bit more esoteric like light top/heavy bottom, you are going to be struggling and if you want to use it permanently in a non-standard tuning with the appropriate string gauges for that tuning then you are going to be sh*t out of luck.

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1487237381' post='3238206'] Traditional Fender nitro doesn't wear like that...at all. In fact, the new Johnny Marr Jaguar has the thinnest layer of nitro and it will wear quicker than you'd expect. It was spec'd like that by the artist. [/quote] Why on earth do they do that? It's not like an acoustic instrument where the finish has a major impact on the sound. If I buy an instrument with a finish on it, I'd like that finish to be robust enough to cope with normal playing wear.

Also if you've got no tone control at all in the circuit at present, then it will sound different as soon as you wire one in, no matter what value or type of capacitor you use, as some top end is always filtered off even with the tone control set to 10.

[quote name='owen' timestamp='1487154146' post='3237500'] BRX - this might be your telecaster [media]http://youtu.be/f3FUuLkU-mI[/media] [/quote] Haha! Unfortunately IMO there's nothing you can do to a Telecaster to stop it from being the world's most boring guitar.

[url=http://www.gizmotron.com/buy/bass-wheel-kit-standard]Replacement wheels are here[/url]. It might be worth sending them an email.

Only insomuch as the tolerances of the sorts of capacitors used in guitars (and basses) are not very tight, ±15% IIRC. Therefore two different capacitors of the same supposed value might have quite different actual effects.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1487174114' post='3237764'] I've got an original Bass Gizmotron, unfortunately the wheels are all snapped off. The rubbery plastic they used to make them out of went really brittle as it aged. [/quote] You can buy replacement wheels for the Gizmotron V2. I wonder if they would fit?

[quote name='Low End Bee' timestamp='1487176908' post='3237796'] I wonder if basses are on the agenda? [/quote] From the FAQ: Q. Will you make Shergold basses? A. Give us time! We’ll get there. I'll reserve judgement until I've had a chance to actually play one, but based on the photographs and descriptions on the web site I can't help but agree with the comments above. Design-wise they appear to have little of the quirkiness that made the originals so interesting and appealing. I wonder if they are going to make any modular double-necks?

And the only photo of a Kiss member wearing a watch ON STAGE, it appears to be hidden under a wrist band. And it's the drummer, who IME always seem to be uncooperative and unconcerned when it comes to getting the band image right.

[quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1487113564' post='3237306'] This is why I can't take anything BRX says seriously... [/quote] You don't need to take anything I say seriously. But if I have made you think, then my work here is done.

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1487120852' post='3237338'] No. Wasn't sure if this was the one you meant. I can't believe it was still playable in that condition. [/quote] Apart from the missing 13th fret and the rather bent 14th, I don't think that there is anything that would actually get in the way of being able to play it. It did come up for sale a few years ago, but the price was too high for me to buy essentially as a joke.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1487152536' post='3237474'] Thousands stay away as Kiss member wears the wrong watch shocker! [/quote] I'd find it hard to believe that a band so involved in their image as Kiss, would even consider wearing a watch on stage. I challenge you to find me a photo of one of them wearing one.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1487151265' post='3237460'] Surely it depends if you wear it on your right or left wrist? [/quote] If you must wear one, it goes on the wrist of your fretting hand. On the other wrist it just gets in the way of your playing.

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1487150167' post='3237448'] I get it. It's just that for [i]most[/i] bands a wrist watch wouldn't impact the style in any significant way [/quote] For me, getting the details right is just as important. In fact if your band does have an "image" the wrong details will be much more noticeable and detract from the overall picture. There's nothing wrong with wearing the right watch as part of your "look", but IME most mens watches are ugly over-sized random lumps of plastic and metal.

[quote name='radiophonic' timestamp='1487147018' post='3237409'] Didn't Mick Karn play one for years (pre-Wal)? [/quote] He didn't get his Wal until just before recording "Tin Drum" so the majority of his bass lines in Japan were recorded with the TB2000, and IMO sounded better for it.

Relicing aside, how do these basses get in such a state anyway? Up until I sold it last year, one of my main basses was an Overwater Original made in the mid 80s. From when I bought it in the early 90s until I bought my first Gus some 15 years ago it was getting played at least a hour every day, taken to rehearsals twice a week and gigged every other week. I was careful with it, but never precious. I'm also a pretty "physical" player and energetic performer on stage. It might have picked up a ding or two on the way, but nothing noticeable without a close inspection. In fact the most significant wear was that the chrome plating had started to come off a couple of the machine heads. That's for a bass that was over 30 years old and had been well used for the majority of those years.