BassTractor

[quote name='sellisnba' timestamp='1333228262' post='1599075'] [url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/69165842@N08/6886957364/"]http://www.flickr.co...N08/6886957364/[/url] [/quote] What a looker! Couldn't make out the logo though. What is it? best, bert

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1333024180' post='1596299'] Even the best guitars and basses cost peanuts when compared to the best orchestral instruments (for example). It's all relative, YMMV, IMHO and so on and so forth. [/quote] This. Also, a good synth with 5 octave keyboard would set me back 2,000 quid or more in the old days. These days, most of the time it's more. A top synth may set you back between 4 and 8 thousand. In ten years time, this synth will virtually have no value left, and that is if it still works, which is not a given. Basses OTOH... But you all know that. My first bass was an AXL AP-800 at roughly £180. Mind ya: this was only last year - me be noob. I didn't have the intention of switching from keyboards yet, and it was bought for recording the odd bass tone. Though it taught me that I wanted to switch to bass altogether, I thought it sounded uninspiring, and I had trouble with its look of cheap components and cheap build as well as with its twisted neck that rattled all over the place. I lost some confidence, and brought it back. Maybe that was just undeserved; other AP-800s may be ok. For £170 (ten quid less), I then got a B-quality Hohner B2B. That one was perfect if you could forgive the 5 centimeters of slight discoloration of the fingerboard's side as well as the lack of a strap connector on the neck side. Luckily, I could! Sounds very well IMHO. Very little knob turning required, but turning a knob or two does make it versatile, which was quite a surprise to me. To me, it seems to play well, and it is my fave bass for travelling lightly. Lacks a leg rest thingie though, so I must either get one of those or forever play with a strap. Again, I'm a total noob, but I hope my experience may help another beginner. BTW, thanks a LOT for this thread! It helps me finding a bass for a friend who wants to start this year, and helps me to understand the subject matter better. best, bert

[quote name='Prosebass' timestamp='1332368700' post='1587500'] thanks to this song we were known as the 'White Dopes on Punk' [/quote] So _that_'s why the Rutles used that title! I naively thought they'd made it up. best, bert

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1332423354' post='1588091'] The Tubes are a great band - "Remote Control" is one of my all-time favourite albums. [/quote] This.

[quote name='nick' timestamp='1332176731' post='1584354'] [size=4][font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Is it a thru-neck?[/font][/size][size=4][font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif] Does look quite similar to a Vantage and even Washburn 'Scavenger', either way I'd guess it was related, in being Matsumoku origin.[/font][/size] [/quote] Thanks for the responses, guys! The ad is gone, so I can't confirm, but I found this Matsumoku bolt-on Aria from the seventies: [attachment=103073:Aria 70s by Matsumoku body.jpg] I think chances are the "Boogie" is bolt-on too. It doesn't strike me as a very expensive bass. Now I'm often wrong of course, being a keyboard nazi and all that. best, bert

Thanks, guys! Yeah, I'd seen the Thunder likeness. To me, the Boogie looks like a cowardly Thunder. :^) What struck me especially about this Boogie was the very special form of the body bottom (or whazzacalled). Never seen anything like it, and can't find pics of anything similar. best, bert

[quote name='dlloyd' timestamp='1332028944' post='1582423'] I know nothing about them, but the logo is identical to that used by Mesa for their Boogie amps in the 80s/90s. [/quote] Yeah, you're so right, and I hadn't even considered that, as the owner said they had _zilch_ to do with Mesa Boogie. So: either he was just wrong, or someone abused the Boogie logo. Thanks for coming up with that picture! best, bert

Hi folks, Anyone know anything about these MiJ Boogie basses? A guy who owns one, remarked they suspiciously look like old Vantage basses, also from Japan. Idunno. What sayest thou? best, bert [attachment=102798:Boogie MiJ all.jpg] [attachment=102799:Boogie MiJ body.jpg] [attachment=102800:Boogie MiJ head.jpg]

Hey, man! I counted two knobs and six switches, so this is a synth thread - not a bass thread! Anyway, great looker if I ever saw one amongst the elderly. Can you tell anything about how it plays compared to the J, and how it sounds? If this is well-known stuff to others, please give me a hint and I'll trawl the web. best, bert

[quote name='CPCustomdubwise' timestamp='1330604076' post='1560091'] As this is my debut non-transactional post and even though this is not the correct forum for this,Hi guys! Nice to meet you. [/quote] Nah, you only wrote that to qualify for your 5% forum rebate on my soon-to-be-sold and laughably cheap 2008 Nigeria X-pense 7.5 str. with Brazilian Rosewood body, neck and fingerboard (whilst I write this only to boost my postings #, so I get to sell it). Nice to meet you too, CPCustomdubwise. Bert

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1319932102' post='1420360'] We had one at school and the Science Teacher used to get us to shock ourselves with it.... [/quote] Damn you lucky bastards! All we had was a wimpy [i]Wimshurst influence machine[/i], which was used to raise the recently washed hairs of those damn clean rich kids.

Bliss! Never even thought VdGG would be mentioned here. Have been a fan since "[i]The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other"[/i]. To me the quintessential album is their "string quartet": "[i]The Quiet Zone / The Pleasure Dome[/i]", though "[i]Still Life[/i]" makes for more pleasurable easy listening. The song "[i]Theme One[/i]" in the version with the church organ (rather than the Hammond version) is played heavily in this family. bert

Great avatar indeed. We all know the guy on the left plays the bass, but what does the trickster on the right play? (other than 17-string guitar of course.) bert

The guy at the mixer getting drunk during the break, and the band asking a friend to step in, giving him the simple instruction to listen carefully and keep things balanced so he could hear every instrument. Simple, right? Slight detail: when all he heard were the background singers, he thought "we meant it to be that way" and moved zero sliders for the whole set.

Hey makaze, and welcome to the forum from another BC newbie. As to your losing authority, the following might just help. (Now, I'm not a bassist yet, but I do be a musician.) Did you by any chance play very loud? See, when playing at high volume, many tend to reduce the impact - not by turning the volume knob down, but by starting to play softer and more carefully. Result: timing errors and loss of authority. You may know this stuff better than I do, but I thought it best to mention it. Good luck! best, bert

Hi folks, Thanks for the welcome! @discreet: ...and “goedenavond” back to you. @Liam: Yes, do take the trip. Excrutiatingly expensive but worth every 10 grand you spend . Beeeautiful country, and very diverse. @clarkpegasus4001: Love the number in your name. Great number, that. @Frank: I’ve always enjoyed the bass each and every time I sneaked upon one and touched it ... there. As to Kristiansand: as you probably know, Soegne is just a 15 minute drive away. @Dan: Yes, thanks, I do enjoy. Lurved the “annoying non-muso speak” thread amongst others. The stickist you mention, might he be Dutch? Cynic did use some Dutch musicians during a period. @Andy: middle of North Sea suits me indeed, lol, but actually I’m between Mandal and Kristiansand in the extreme South. “Soegne” is actually written with that “o” with a “/” through it. I’ll try to keep learning and will eventually try to contribute. best, bert

Hi guys and gals, Greetings from a newbie oldy. My name's Bert. I'm Dutch, and live in the extreme South of Norway (yes, that expensive country) with my dog Frank. Though I just turned 55, I have almost no previous experience with the bass.Trying to change that dramatically though. Originally a keyboard guy, here on Basschat I read I was a real DICK - a "Drunk In Charge of Keyboards" - though I must say that "Dork In Charge of Keyboards" seems a more fitting term in my case. Started playing the organ as a nice little christian boy at age 8 or so, and eventually became a classically educated organist, and worked as one for a period, teaching as well as concerting and recording. Always loved the bass guitar (and drums) as well though, at least since hearing Chris Squire, and eventually adding Ray Shulman, Jaco Pastorius and Stanley Clarke to my list of heroes. Later, people like stickist Sean Malone (Cynic), Les Claypool and Flea were added to the list, but I do not pretend to actually know anything about the matter, so these folks are just whom I like to listen to. Growing tired with the cost of keyboards, as well as with my tendency to overcompensate for the lack of playing time by buying new expensive gear ("NOW I'll create time to play!"), I decided to sell every last keyboard related item, and concentrate on the bass guitar, finally taking the consequences of an old love. Helped by the bassists on the Gentle Giant list, I decided on a Squier Jazz Bass (or maybe a P Bass), but upon entering the shop, I saw an old fave of mine, the Warwick Corvette - here in its cheaper RockBass guide. The Honey Violin oil finish begged me to take her home. The Corvette sounded unbelievably awesome plugged straight into a little Beta Aivin BP35 combo without any form of electronical help, so I was immediately set, and poorer than expected. The (sadly soon ex-)wife and kids gave me a Zoom B9.1ut effects board that was on deep discount, and when I visited that particular shop, they had also deepdiscounted another old love: the Hohner B2B as well as an Ashdown MAG 300 Evo II combo with 4x10". My flesh was weak, and I am now the extrrremely prrroud owner of a totally empty wallet (litterally having no money for food) and no less than two basses I love and 2 amps I love. If music be the food ... This forum seems to be friendly and humouristic, which is much to my liking. I hope to learn here. Best, Bert