Captain Bassman

That's a real beauty sir!! Just to add my +1 to Bernie, my main gigging bass for the last 9 years has been my trusty GBIV. Build quality is fantastic and it's a rock solid bass suitable for all type of music. The output from the onboard actives is absolutely phenomenal, as is the range of useable sounds. I've never had to have it re-set up, never had to tweak the neck, nothing! Just change the batteries once in a while (you even know when they're going to pot 'cos of the flashing red LED visible through the smoked perspex cavity plate - class!). I've been seriously thinking of changing my 5-string Warwick and now have baaaad GAS!!

Oh, and "Fa fa fa fa fa - fa fa fa"!!! Well remembered Old Horse sir! It's great having a song named after you, ha!

Thanks for your interest and comments guys. I've been out with her a few times now and she's great to play. Really comfortable body size and neck dimensions and just the right weight too. The output is quieter than my other 2 main basses, both of which have 18v circuitry too, but a bit of fiddling soon balances this out (in fact my Radial Bigshot I/O switcher has an ideal 'dim' switch that allows me to reduce the input signal of the loudest bass to balance them out). Now, what's next? Hmmm, maybe a nice '67 P bass to commemorate the year I was born...

This all sounds quite familiar. I bought a 4-string Fortress back in '94 that had a wenge neck. The profile was odd - from the front it looked slim and Jazz-like but the depth was very chunky. Like a baseball bat! Not a bad bass at all but it did take a bit of getting used to, especially as I have smallish hands. I px'd it in '99 for a brand new all-maple Streamer Stage I 5-string...which I still have today and use at every gig. The neck on this is quite wide (I think the string spacing is 19 or 20mm) but the depth is nice 'n shallow. I have no problems switching between this and any of my other basses. Maybe it's to do with the virtues of maple vs wenge as well as the change in profile over the years...

[quote name='tiffen' post='198848' date='May 14 2008, 04:16 PM']I would appreciate a scan of the copy if u dont mind thanks[/quote] Here you go matey. The right-hand edge is a bit blurry but I'm sure it'll be OK. It's not a full start-to-end transcription, sorry, but it does cover the main sections and shows the all-important ghost notes. Ex.1 is the main verse line; Ex.2 is the chorus; Ex.3 is the sax / breakdown Hope this is helpful! David

Rio was transcribed in full in Bass Player magazine back in Jan/Feb I think. It's the issue with JT featured on the cover. If you can't get a copy I'll try and scan it for you.

Well, here she is, finished at last! 15 months from inception to delivery but worth the wait! The build quality and finish is absolutely first-class and everything I had imagined, but better. It was delivered yesterday morning and got its first outing last night - straight into action! Sound-wise, it's got a rich punchy tone off the mid-pick-up position and really honky (Jazz bass-like) off the bridge pick-up. Having played with the tone knobs a bit and adjusted the input gain on my amp I got a fantastic sound very quickly for gigging but I'm sure there's a lot more sounds to be found inside. The neck is gorgeous - just like a slender Jazz bass neck, especially around the first 3 frets - and much less clumpy than other Jaydee's I've played before. Balance is superb and weight is good too, considering most of the body mass is mahogany, albeit slimmed down in thickness to acommodate the cocobolo facings front and back. All-in-all, I love this bass! Big thanks to John Diggins for pulling this off and for being such a great bloke too!

[quote name='Huge Hands' post='184956' date='Apr 24 2008, 11:58 PM']...I just wanted to take the opportunity to reiterate the fact that Lequient "Duke" Jobe who played it originally with Rose Royce was a monster, and often under-rated, bass player...[/quote] Absolutely agree! I saw RR once back in the mid-80's and as well as laying down a seriously solid groove he did an awesome solo spot. As far as I can remember, it lasted for well over 5 minutes. He'd have given Louis Johnson a run for his money in the solo slapfest marathon stakes, IMHO. Sorry man, can't help you with the transcription though. Never needed to learn it...

OK, here's a picture that Andrew Diggins kindly just sent me of the neck in it's early stages of construction (hopefully by now it's attached to the body...). You can clearly see the revised headstock shape. All credit to John for allowing me to change from the usual Jaydee design! The finished headstock will be completely faced with the same Cocobolo as the body, so the neck laminates won't be visible from the front. The JD logo will be centred between the four tuning posts. The oval fret markers will have inset blue LEDs and I have elected not have the neck or headstock bound. I have a big gig at Stamford Bridge on the 13th April and am desperately hoping that she'll be born in time for that!! David

OK, sorry not to have posted anything new for a while, for those of you interested in a non-Shuker build! John's extremely busy, as always, so I don't like to keep bothering him for updates and pictures etc. He's currently on hols too! Anyway, the latest news is that my bass is now 2nd in line for completion - up from 4th last time I posted. So, the hope is that she will be completed within the next 4 weeks! That'll be 14 months from placing the order - good job I'm a patient chappie!!!! I've asked for another picture but it might just be that I'll have to post them when I've picked her up (at last!) Stand by all... David

I have a Bassbone, bought it about 2 years ago. Fabulous piece of kit! Primarily I wanted something to switch between two basses on stage (which it does!) but it also allows you to set additional EQ parameters for each channel, click a separate effects loop in an out and boost the output signal for solos. Add to this, it's an outboard pre-amp for DI recording. Anyway, it's now going spare if you're interested? Nothing's wrong with it, I have just re-designed my set-up and instead am using a Radial Bigshot I/O - just a passive A/B switcher, no twiddly knobs! I bought it new from the Gallery for £225. It's in great condition, no knocks, just some sticky stuff on the base from the velcro I used to stick it my pedalboard. Original box, instructions and Y-insert cable for the effects loop included. Please feel free to make me an offer if you're interested! Cheers, David

[quote name='Peaty' post='130056' date='Jan 29 2008, 03:12 PM']Really beautiful, please post more when you get it. Is it going to be a set neck or a bolt on? Pete[/quote] It'll be the usual JayDee thing - looks like a through neck but is in fact glued in. It's also going to have blue LEDs, just for a bit of fun...

The Wapping shop was the dog's bollox. I bought loads of stuff in there over the years, they were always willing to throw in freebies and the service from Nick Owen and co was always first class and friendly. It was never any trouble for me to drive up there 'cos I knew it was going to be a great experience, even if I didn't spend anything! Now to the City shop, hmmm. In my experience it was like Jekyll and Hyde. How the same name and logo transported less than 2 miles could result in such a wild difference! I stopped going in there because the service was indifferent, verging on rude. Stock-wise, it was OK if you wanted Warwick or Fender basses but there was none of the exotica. Anyway, thumbs up for Alex and co at the Gallery and Mike and co at Iceni Zoot - may they all live long and prosper! Top guys now pretty much alone in a niche market "darn sarf"! Anyone been down to Bassworld (American Guitar Centre) in Tonbridge?

Thanks for your comments guys! I'm glad not everyone's into the more modern ergonomic bass designs! It's been a long wait so far but will be well worth it. I'll get some more pictures soon, hopefully. I don't like to keep pestering Mr D 'cos he's a very busy man but watch this space... David

[attachment=5211:GA24_Custom.jpg] OK, here's the first sneak preview I received from John Diggins last week! I wanted something special to mark my 40th birthday last year and decided against a big party. They don't last long enough, especially if you can't hold your booze like you used to! So, I did some thinking bass-wise and narrowed it down to three makes - Sei, Status and Jaydee. Whilst I think Sei basses are fantastic, they're just not me - too "organicky" if you know what I mean? Status are fantastic too - very well built and totally practical but I already had 2 at the time (I now only have one...). So, I spoke at length with John about what I could do to his base GA24 model to make it unique for me. A few weeks, several phone calls and e-mails later and the order went in! What I've done is base my order on the 25th Anniversary GA24 he made a few years ago (there are pictures of this on the Jaydee website). The main changes John is making for me are; The headstock will be tapered like a Pangborn Warlord, instead of the classic forked shape that Jaydees are famous for (John had absolutely no problem with this!!) Both the upper and lower horns have been sharpened - they're quite blunt on the GA24 compared with his Classic model Face wood for the body and headstock is Cocobolo Gold hardware, knobs and individual string retainers Unbound neck and headstock (keeping things clean and minimalist!) Active electronics only - no passive switch or master tone control (again, keeping the lines clean and simple) She's due for completion by the end of March - not long now!! I must say that John is a great bloke. Nothing has been too much trouble, even me making last minute changes to the spec, and his opinions with wood choices etc has been invaluable. He's a very busy man so if you're thinking of ordering a Jaydee be prepared for a long wait - mine was 22nd in line when ordered and it's now 4th in line for completion, some 12 months later... Anyway, I'll post some more pics when I get them. Laters! David

...and fellow GB user Bass Ferret. Hey, but you've got two! Not fair! Well spotted on the Captain Caaaaavemaaaan bit Thunderthumbs - there's a story behind that nick-name, but that's for another time (no, I don't resemble that iconic, pre-historic, cartoon superhero physically!!) Nice to 'meet' you guys!

Hey there fellow fat-stringers! Well, after several months of viewing the forum as a guest (wantonly plundering reviews, opinions, etc!) I thought it was time to show my hand and sign up - maybe I can now lend some of my experiences and opinions to others...Seems like a great community on here! I've been playing bass now for just over 20 years, the last 12 of which I've held a regular gig with a 6-piece soul/funk/R&B covers band touring the South East's 'hot-spots' (well, there have been a few decent venues in all that time...) OK, let's get the 'look at me!' bit out of the way!!! My current basses are: Warwick Streamer Stage 1 5-string EB Musicman Stingray 4-string Status Series II 4-string (circa 1988) Goodfellow GBIV 4-string These are shoved through an Aguilar DB750 head and GS410 / GS115 cabinets - bloody good job I've got 5 other band mates and lots of castors to help lug this piece of kit around but the tone and headroom are to die for! Need it too, with 2 vocalists, keyboards, guitar and drums to battle with! I've also got Mr Diggins building me a substantially modded Jaydee GA24 custom. Should be ready by the end of March having originally been commissioned last February for my 40th birthday! Anyway, it'll be worth the wait and I'll try to post some piccies of work-in-progress on the new build diary section soon for those interested. It's still in two halves and in a 'raw wood' state but looks amazing already. Anyway, that's me. Good to be on here officially, at last! David