Captain Bassman

That’s one sexy bass, congratulations. Pangborns are as rare as the proverbial rocking horse p… I used the Warlord as inspiration for my custom built Jaydee GA24.

Oooh that’s a mess… I’m 99% sure this is my old bass. From memory it was unusual to have the black painted hardware, which wasn’t ideal due to risk of chipping off. It appears to be be in really good condition after all these years though. Nice catch! And if you ever fancy moving her on give me a shout 😉

Fab! I had one exactly the same as this - in fact the serial number rings a bell… Maybe it’s the same bass? I bought mine new from the Soho Soundhouse in ‘89/90 I think for £895 on interest free credit. Came with a proper flight case with moulded foam interior that weighed more than the bass. The body is resin, hence the weight, but it sounded great. Can’t remember but I think I px’d it for a Warwick Fortress… idiot..!!

Very sad news indeed. John built this custom GA24 for me in 2007/08. It’s exquisite. God bless JD…

Same here. My oldest one was bought in 2011 and has never gone wrong. I purchased a second backup 750 a couple of years ago when they were going for half price - presumably as they were being discontinued. My only beef with them is the poor quality of the knobs and sourcing replacements. It’s been discussed on a separate thread somewhere but several knobs on my original head simply split in half. In complete contrast to the rest of the amp which is built like a tank. Since Music Tribe acquired the brand the level of after care service has been zero. I got so fed up with trying to source replacement knobs from MT (via one of their ‘authorised’ UK service agents) that I sent Uli Behringer a private message of dissatisfaction on his LinkedIn profile. He replied within 20 minutes and I received 2 full sets of spare knobs within a week. Such great amps though and I’ve never been tempted by anything else.

My workhorse for the last 25 years…

Saw them in Guildford last Monday. The sound in the theatre wasn’t brilliant unfortunately, a bit boomy and undefined (O2 Indigo last year was far superior) but not the band’s fault. The band was so incredibly tight and put on an energetic show (let’s not forget that MK and ML and now in their mid 60’s and even Nathan King is past 50…). Mark’s voice struggles a bit nowadays but I thought it was improved over last year. Maybe they’ve detuned a semitone to ease the vocal strain? The horn section adds an extra dimension and showmanship and the set list had a couple of nice surprises (e.g. Micro Kid and a shortened Love Meeting Love). The standout for me, alongside his much overlooked finger style capabilities, is just how hard and accurately he hits the strings. There are no fluffed or half-hearted slaps. Every strike is pure conviction. Years of gigging and muscle strength/memory (plus a large dollop of natural talent). Even though we can never experience the original lineup again (for obvious reasons) it’s still a privilege to be able to see 2 original members, backed by outstandingly talented musicians, performing these songs live over 40 years later.

Same problem but add in 2 broken encoder shafts (following a small drop…). MT referred me to a UK ‘repairer’ who I contacted last October. As of 2 weeks ago they were still trying to source these replacements but were getting nowhere. So… I dropped MT’s CEO (a certain Uli Behringer) a stern private message via his LinkedIn profile thinking it was a long shot. He replied within 20 minutes and from then on put me in email contact with a couple of people in the Customer Service Centre in the Philippines. Basically the 750 and 450 were discontinued in 2019 and ‘due to COVID’ spares and their shipment became depleted. Long story short, within 1 week I had received 20 new knobs (10 of each type), 10 new encoders with shafts and a fully loaded new circuit board ready to drop into my broken amp. All gratis. It took 10 months and I wish I’d done this earlier. I was on the verge of ditching both my 750’s and looking elsewhere. Apparently they are ‘now ramping up’ the supply of spare parts for these heads. Give Uli a shout. You never know…

Thanks Dave. They’re a great bunch of lads n lassies. Sadly we were missing 2 horns for the event but I don’t think it detracted too much. The arrays were tethered securely to anchor points on the base plates that the bins were stood on, and again the whole thing was tethered to strong ground pegs. They’re a professional PA hire company so I think we can safely assume they know what size rig is appropriate to each event. The sound was crystal clear and well defined at the back of the park, which would have been c. 150 metres away.

Brief camera phone footage taken by one of our singers from Sunday’s headline slot at a local music festival in Banstead, Surrey. Great turnout - on a par with last year’s 30+ degree weather - despite the preceding days’ weather threatening a damp squib. Fantastic line array and subs sound system courtesy of local chaps Sound Solutions (soundsolutionssurrey.co.uk). No affiliation btw… IMG_0082.MP4

I regularly see plates with the last 3 letters FKU. Seems they’ve let them through any checks. Not bass related but clever anyway, former snooker ace “Whirlwind” Jimmy White lives around these parts and has had the plate CUE 130Y on his cars for many years. Currently adorning a white Bentley Continental.

My Series 3 is due for another airing soon…

Same problem here. I need a full set of replacement knobs and a couple of encoders (broken shafts following a rather short fall..). Music Tribe are completely useless. After a long wait they eventually sent me the names of 2 ‘authorised’ repairers who can source the parts. One said they didn’t work with MT so couldn’t help and the other (Ampman Audio) has been very helpful but the process is so slow. Not their fault as they have to get the spare parts from MT… Why on earth MT can’t just send the parts directly to me I don’t understand. So far it’s taken me 6 months. I paid the invoice for the spares on 28th February and am still waiting for Ampman to get the parts in. Totally ridiculous scenario for such a simple fix.

Does this count?

It was Julian Crampton on that album, I believe.

Snap… almost.. 20th anniversary HH.

Lovely collection there @woodyratm I used my headed Series 3 last October for a 25 night Halloween residency on an outdoor stage. I brought it home each night (admittedly) but it spent the best part of 6 hours per night exposed to varying temperatures and degrees of damp/ humidity but I didn’t have to tune it or tweak the action once. Incredibly stable, fantastically built and versatile basses.

Even better if it’s a recent reissue, looks fantastic. I thought the woods looked too ‘modern Status’. The case threw me too as they’ve shipped with Hiscox cases for the last 20 odd years. When was it made, out of interest? Yes, my bass is number 4 of 14. And it’s not going anywhere, especially now that Rob isn’t making any more new basses!

Stunning example, congratulations. Looks like a late 80’s/early 90’s Series 2 to me with the original 2 band eq, by which time the cricket bat neck had been slimmed down and set into the body and the brass hardware was gold ‘painted’ (don’t know the correct terminology) rather than clear lacquered brass. My 30th Anniversary Series 2 for retro comparison.

EWF September… The bell was ringing Ar$eholes were singing Not really misheard, just written differently, so it’s exactly what Maurice sings.

Tonight sees the end of our annual residency at Tulley’s Shocktoberfest. 25 shows in 35 days, 3 sets per night so something like 56 hours total playing time. Despite the tiredness I have lost half a stone and feel much fitter so it’s all good stuff. It’s been a pleasure and honour to share the stage with my core band friends from The Audacity plus the rotating cast of very talented backing vocalists and brass players we’ve had joining us each night. Will miss the gigs and the backstage giggles a lot but looking forward to getting my evenings back for a while.

Gorgeous. My 30th Anniversary re-boot for comparison.