Bassman Steve

Just received (and fitted) two red tort 70's scratchplates for two of my basses. Just the same craftsmanship as before and the basses look stunning - he's added years to them!! Deal with absolute confidence.

That's certainly mine too. The Ishibashi site is also stuffed full of second hand Japanese basses. Unfortunately, John Blackman doesn't get very many basses at all these days. I have bought from him (and very successfully). Mark at Classic and Cool is another one to check out. He gets some very nice basses in too.

Very roughly - £500 for the bass, £100 for express delivery and £140 for VAT and Duty. That's against £1,200 for a new USA standard - absolutely no contest to me.

He's on here as The Bass Doc, that's how I tend to communicate. That's not the quickest way but I'm not in a hurry anyway. Extremely high quality stuff so a bit of a wait is fine - and no feet drop off either!!

That's very kind of you to say and it was a pleasure to meet you too. Glad you enjoyed the gig. We won't be setting the world alight but we seem to be pretty popular on the Blues circuit and have a good time doing it so it's worth the getting home at 4:30am. I'm back up your way in August with It's A Beautiful Day - not sure of the precise date or venue so maybe see you then. I may well be touring with the Aerodyne Precisions so no tort plates there!!

Just taken delivery (from our chums at Ishibashi) this 2nd hand 75 reissue. It's the ash-bodied version with US pick-up. These are simply stunning basses and this is my second one. They are both waiting on Howard to deliver a pair of his brilliant red tort plates to add about 4 years to their 'age' and then I'll post some better pics. You don't see too many of these around as people tend to favour the 62 reissue (which is another fine bass) but this model is my favourite as it is lighter and has a slightly thinner neck profile. [attachment=135592:DSCN0175.JPG] The red sofa is obligatory I understand.

Bored with tort? BORED WITH TORT?? Good job you didn't say that on Thursday night

If you attempt to relic that beauty you deserve a little light 'relicing' yourself. Beautiful looking bass.

Curiously the Mesa Bass 400 and 400+ can be run without speakers with the master volume on 0 - according to the manual. Not sure I'd actually do it but it says you can.

Good grief, come to think of it I've not seen James Joyce in a room with either of then either!! Maybe David Icke is right after all?

As you will see from my signature, I have one of the A/E Precision basses which is semi hollow (mine is a fretless). It actually works brilliantly and I thought that bass looks gorgeous - you're a lucky man Pier.

I'll add to the gear bit for 1978 then. I had that Precision and a Candy Apple Red one with a maple neck. Amp-wise (at that gig) I was using a Marshall 50 through a cab made for me with a single 15" loudspeaker. For other gigs I used another custom cab with an 18 in and a Sound City 4x12. That was driven by a Sound City 120.

[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1368346788' post='2075826'] Both of them are cool as.. Please give us the '78 story [/quote] That was taken at the Cumberland Tavern in Portsmouth (no longer there) when I used to play bass for a sunday lunchtime jazz session. Actually, that particular day is memorable because I only just made it after playing at Lampeter University the night before, grabbing about 2 hours sleep and then setting off to get there. The hair was chemically produced (I can't bring myself to say perm out loud) and my lovely friends immediately started calling me Phyllis. The bass was my first Precision (S749320 - I still recall the serial number) that cost £209 in Andertons.

[attachment=134618:Steve - curly in 1978.jpg][attachment=134619:29-07-12-015.jpg] 1978 vs 2012 - ouch!!

Good to see a shout out for Charlie Tumahai (BBD).

Ampeg PF500 and whichever matching cab takes your fancy (1x15 or 2x10). I use the 1x15 version of this for rehearsals etc and it's a perfectly good substitute for the Boogie rig I use live - even used the Ampeg for a couple of smaller gigs.

I have mentioned this before but I'll mention it again just so you know there's always someone worse off than you ............... I have owned (and let go); 1953 Precision #0189 (it cost £995 when I bought it); and An original 1966 slab body Precision (which cost me £895). Which one of us has the biggest regret. Hope that makes you feel better - I just feel more sick!!!

Hello from Waterlooville.

Naturally enough I use the Boogie gear for the big gigs but I have gigged the Ampeg at pub gigs and it's coped brilliantly. If I was ever to want a lightweight rig I'd probably just buy another 1x15 and be done with it. I was actually amazed at how good it sounded. I'd seriously give it a go.

I was once the lucky owner of a B15 (a 70's one). As you say, pretty much useless outside a recording studio (these days). I have a PF500 and the matching 1x15 cab and really like the sound. It doesn't sound very dis-similar to my ears at all. Nice and portable too.

I always work on the principle that the bst year for Precisions is the year they made the one you like most. I favour the immediate post CBS era (66 to 73) because they seem to be consistenty light and I have an aversion to reissue tort scratchplates that look nothing like an original one (so get the Bass Doc to make a replacement for you!!!). Pre CBS are usually nice but so expensive so I don't really count them. I've had plenty of those and there some duff ones out there for sure. The best 'new' Precision I have is a '75 3T ash bodied Japanese Precision which was stunning right out of the box. Im going to get another tort plate from Howard to replace the black one but it represents (to me anyway) the best value in terms of build quality/playability/weight etc. Must confess I haven't tried a brand new USA Fender so I accept any criticism for not mentioning those.