BigRedX

Wow! Back from the dead... I exchanged several emails with Bas Extravaganza, as I was looking for a luthier to build me my ultimate fretless bass and I liked a lot of his designs. One thing that became very clear during this was that his basses were all pretty much one-offs and he wasn't very interested in revisiting an idea once he'd done it. I would imagine that even if he was still making basses, the chances of getting him to make another Jigsaw would have been pretty minimal, so even then your only opportunity to own one would have been to buy the one he'd already made. Do you know who owns it now? Some of his other basses are (or have been) owned by Basschat members (IIRC the single sting bass and Punk Rock bass). BTW the massive list of links to other luthiers that was on his site went a long way to providing the source material for this thread.

I'll see your out of control guitarists and saxophone players and raise you out of control drummers. I know that noise problems mean that it's not easy for them to practice between rehearsals, but IMO these simply no need to bash away at your kit while the rest of the band are trying to sort out the arrangement - especially if what you are "playing" has no relevance to the songs being rehearsed.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1459440364' post='3016625'] They made 45 of them? Why? I mean, Devo, yes, I get that. I imagine that looked quite good against a white boilersuit in a video shot on location in Akron Ohio. But who were the other 44 who thought this was a good idea? [/quote] The original La Baye instruments pre-date Devo by many years, as they debuted at the Summer NAMM 1967... More info [url=http://www.vintageguitar.com/3681/la-baye-2x4/]here[/url].

Eastwood re-issue of the La Baye 4x2. The originals are massively rare since a total of 45 guitars and basses were made. Popularised by Devo. Edit: The re-issue isn't as rare as the seller suggests. Unless the original custom shop run have anything special about them. You can now buy this model as a standard from Eastwood for $599.

Firstly everyone is different in what they find musically fulfilling and how much variety they want from their musical endeavours, but this is what I have found and maybe my experiences will be helpful to the OP. 1. If I find myself contemplating other musical avenues it generally means that either I am not sufficiently enjoying what I am doing musically at the moment, or I am not busy enough with that band/project etc. That generally means I need to step up and take control of the band and make sure that they are doing enough of the right things to keep me interested or it is time to move on. 2. When it comes to music, I am very much a "serial monogamist". I like listening to and playing lots of different kinds of music, but I find it best if I concentrate on just one musical project at a time. I've tried being in more than one band simultaneously, but I find that I either do a half-arsed job for all the bands, or that one takes precedence at the expense of the others. Both situations I think are unfair on the other musicians I am working with, so I won't do this anymore. Maybe if all you do is turn up and play your instrument at gigs/rehearsals/recording sessions, or you have a strict hierarchy of importance to your various musical projects that your fellow musicians are aware of, then you can make the multiple band thing work. My experience is that it very rarely does to the satisfaction of the other musicians you are involved with. Also no band is going to last forever. At 6 years and counting The Terrortones are the longest-going regularly working band I've been involved with. Before that 5 years was a good life-span for a band. Of course the duration of a band is no real indicator of how much they do. I've been in bands that managed to achieve more in 9 months than others did in 4 years... 3. Finally I have never bought into the complaint that people can't find other suitable musicians to work with. Maybe if you live out in the sticks with no transport, then you have a case, but IME i's mostly down to inertia on the part of the person doing the complaining. As I've said before if I (as a musician of considerably less than average technical ability, with some fairly strict rules about the kinds of music I want to play, and living in a city that while it has a healthy music scene IMO punches considerably below its weight compared with others) have been to find interesting bands to be a part of for the last 35+ years, then anyone who is prepared to put in the effort can too.

Shouldn't Fender humbuckers have split pole-pieces (bottom 3 towards the neck and top 3 towards the bridge) or are these particular after-market models?

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1459334980' post='3015494'] Shurely shome mishtake? Russ Ballard, maybe? [/quote] Your are quite right. The perils of trying to use a phone for bass chat instead of a proper computer... [IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/RB%2020_zpsojzp8saa.jpeg[/IMG] More photos of the original Strat in question can be found [url="http://www.umumusic.com/artist_gallery.php?artistId=6#start"]here[/url].

Made to resemble Jim Rodford's Strat IIRC.

I'm liking that as well. Have grabbed all the photos so I have some reference in case I'm ever flush enough to commission a custom-made 5-string version.

It's made of wood. Every piece is different. If you want an instrument that is a consistent weight from one example to the next it will need to be made out of a material that is consistent such as carbon fibre/graphite or aluminium.

Out of all the modern budget 8-tring basses IMO the Schecter one is the best. Apart from the body shapes they are all pretty much the same bass in terms of hardware etc.

I can't stand it. If you are an unknown band then no-one gives a f*** and if you're not then everyone already knows who you are anyway.

+1 for Hiscox.

[quote name='colgraff' timestamp='1458866174' post='3011774'] Forever Autumn by Jeff Wayne? [/quote] But the actual performance was by Justin Hayward, who was hardly a stranger to the charts.

"Egg White" - is that literally the whites of eggs? Doesn't it go off? Do you need to add anything?

[quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1458819795' post='3011166'] Lovely as it is, the Mike Lull isn't a Fenderbird...just saying... [/quote] It kind of is though, on account of it being a bolt-on rather than through-neck.

How do the DDT strings work? Do you buy a specific set for a specific tuning?

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1458764523' post='3010714'] I'm a little confused. I was under the impression a 5 string would take care of all turnings , except maybe low g or something . [/quote] Sometimes you need those "unconventionally tuned" open strings in order to be able to play the bass lines.

Two ways you can go on this IMO. 1. Whenever I've played with guitarists using different tunings, I've always stuck in standard because it opens up more possibilities for doing something less obvious with the bass line instead of just following the guitar part. 2. However if the bass lines are better if they do follow the guitar and matching the tuning is the best way to do it I'd be looking at a custom set of strings to achieve this.

[quote name='Marc S' timestamp='1458741706' post='3010401'] From what I've heard, and of course it's only hearsay The newer Tokai instruments are not as good as the 1980's equivalents But then, I've heard of a few people who like their relatively "new" guitars too [/quote] It depends where they are being made. In the 80s all Tokais were MiJ and the quality was exceptional. These days they are made all over the place. The MiJ models are still exceptional but we rarely see them in the UK and they are no longer the relative bargains that they were back then. Most of what turns up here (especially the basses) is from the cheaper end of the range, mainly made in China, and unfortunately of about the same quality as any other half-way decent instrument from that country.

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1458733630' post='3010248'] Where is our Beatles loving colonial cousin? He never gets tired of telling us how old he is. [/quote] Probably asleep. It is night over there right now.

I have a couple of right angled plugs but they are all made so that the cable exits either top or bottom which is generally the most useful as normally a sideways exit would obscure other sockets. However I do have some really old DIN plugs that I got from the army surplus that might allow sideways exit, but I'll have go and check...

Do you need it to rotate after it has been made up? And what angle do you need the cable to exit - sideways or up/down?

If you time your auctions carefully you shouldn't have to pay any listing fees. I've been selling stuff on eBay for about 10 years now, And I don't think I've ever had to pay a penny in listing fees, as there are always list for free offers.

I've managed to snap a low B. It can be done. Although IIRC the one that gave up on me was quite old.