molan

[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1328821514' post='1533365'] Caravan are great: check out Waterloo Lily, If I Could Do It All Over Again I'd Do It Over You and their brilliant In The Land Of Grey And Pink. The common thread with these albums is bassist Richard Sinclair - I can't recommend him enough, and his voice is perfect for the band as well. You'll also find him in Hatfield And The North, look out for their eponymous album and follow-up The Rotter's Club. I saw Soft Machine a few times in recent years when Hugh was still with us - wonderful stuff. I once ended up sitting a few feet away from him when they played downstairs at the Pizza Express on Dean St. A big lesson there. [/quote] You have to pop into BassGear & play on his old fretless - Phil is more than happy for people to play it. It's just not for sale!

My '86 Fodera Monarch has volume control for each pickup and master bass/treble controls. I use it in a soul / disco band set up to simply flick the switch forward for neck pickup only on the old solu/funk stuff for a P bass sound & then to both pickups, with the bridge pulled back a shade for the more 'modern' disco material. Works really well for me

I have three tort guards sitting next to me right now, '63 original J, '72 original P & early 70's repro on a '63P. Each one is slightly different with the '63 definitely much more orangey than the later ones (which actually works well on the seafoam green body). I think Jeannie's has two different classifications - red tort & brown tort. I'm sure if you contacted them they could help

So this made me think - I reckon there's a hierarchy by age for each broad type of bass based on model changes. For a Jazz it seems to be: 60-62 - Early 60's stack knobs = holy grail, very big money if all original 61-64 - Post stacker but pre-CBS = still big money if original but more of them around & a lot of refinished bodies so prices are lower 65-66 - Transition era, prices vary a lot & many examples of partly pre CBS / partly post & some completely post CBS 66-69 - Post CBS, blocks & binding, less than the pre-CBS & transition models but a little more than early 70's (simply because they are from a different decade?) 70-74 - Generally referred to as 'early' 70's with four bolt necks, good examples can command a pretty decent price 75-79 - 'late' 70's with three bolt neck & patchier build quality. Some very heavy. Really out of fashion for a while until Marcus Miller started raving about them. Nice ones can be very nice indeed but need to be aware that there's some not so nice ones out there (obviously this is true for all eras!) 80-83 - pretty much the same as late 70's, definitely increasing in value now - considered by some to be the last of the 'classic' Fenders 83-89 - 4 bolt necks with dots and even patchier build quality, New American Standard introduced in 89 = definitely beyond 'classic' definition. So there you have it - classics either stopped in '79 at the end of the 2nd decade, or in '83 when the bound & block models stopped production or at a push in '89 when the American Standard came out (which is already over 20 years old now!) Of course - to a lot of people it's just "gotta be pre-CBS or maybe just 'transition' but then again "the late '60's bound & blocked in custom colours are nice", etc, etc. Repeat ad infinitum until you reach 2012. . . Changing anything from original will damage value eventually - my '63 P bass had a replacement pickguard in the early 70's, to get a genuine article now would cost me over £500!

Phil at BassGear.co.uk has a genuine 'Canterbury Scene' bass hanging on the wall behind his desk. A nice fretless Fender J in sunburst. It was previously owned by Richard Sinclair of Caravan, Hatfield & The North and Camel fame.

Apologies if this has been posted before but I've only just spotted this. Starts off with Wyman on bass but he moves over to percussion about half way through & Keef takes over on a nice old P bass: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcxE_iEDW7k[/media] and here's PArt 2 with Keef up & grooving a bit more: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd3458C-LjY&feature=watch_response_rev[/media]

Well - after Madonna mimed her way through her entire show Guitar Squid have just published their view of the best & worst recent shows. Prince picture quality is poor but he was really rocking, some other good stuff in here too: http://guitarsquid.com/Latest/the-best-and-worst-super-bowl-halftime-shows.html

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1328659805' post='1530955'] [color=#222222]I suppose that by a proper biker I mean someone who has always ridden bikes - from their teens / 20s to their 40s / 50s or whatever[/color] [color=#222222]No offence meant, but as someone who has never had a bike I am merely repeating the prejudices of many of my friends who have always been bikers![/color] [color=#222222]I would agree with your statement about old Fenders being similar to a Harley compared to a Fodera / Ducati[/color] [color=#222222]From my point of view, the best bass I have ever played was a Fodera – however I would have to have a lot of spare cash before I would consider buying one as you can get a bass that comes awful close if you can spend £1k to £2k![/color] [/quote] Funnily enough I think there's even more snobbishness in the biker community than amongst musicians. Ducati guys look down on anything Japanese, the Japanese bikers think Ducatis are over-rated and slow, BMW owners think they are superior to everyone whilst everyone thinks Harley riders can't ride more than 10 miles and just ride around town to show off - meanwhile the self same Harley riders laugh at all the 'crotch-rockets'! I think it's all a bit sad really and that all bikers should have a bit more respect for each other. I often delight in turning up at a Harley meet on a Ducati, Aprillia or Suzuki GSXR and watching people I know as their faces change when I get off the bike and take my helmet off In terms of the late arrival to biking stuff - I think it's just brilliant when a 40+ person discovers the fun of biking. Some of them can be dangerous at first as they pass their test and jump on 200mph Honda/Yamaha/Suzuki etc. but I love the new found enthusiasm they have Bilbo - no tattoos here, however I know a lot of bikers with a series of tats and piercings, one of them is known as 'helmet-bolt', I'll leave you to work out why. . .

[quote name='4000' timestamp='1328708277' post='1531412'] Was this on the trail of the Lonesome Pine? [/quote] I couldn't get that bloody song out of my head when I was there! Luckily the bike had an onboard iPod input so I could play other music once I was on the road

I think I enjoy the 'proper biker' conversations almost as much as the 'Fodera are too expensive' ones So what constitutes a 'proper biker'? I ride approx 300 to 400 miles a week, all year round, does this qualify me or do I get excluded because some of those miles are on a Harley? I've ridden from Miami to San Francisco, and beyond, all of it on a Harley. Also Miami to Washington on a zig zag route through the Blue Ridge mountains. All of this on a great big old Electra Glide in all weathers, probably not 'proper' biking though. Meanwhile I have an Italian sports bike that I probably ride less than 2K miles a year but it's seen as OK down the biker cafe because it looks like a race rep. For me, a big part of the fun of a Harley is that when you fling it into a corner you really have to work hard to come out the other side - the same cannot be said of my Aprilia or Beemer which sail through with little effort. Personally I think a Harley is way more similar to a vintage Fender and a Ducati is a Fodera. I'd be more than happy to own all four

I think 4 ohms plus 8 ohms together is going to give you around 3 ohms combined.

Excellent, thanks guys I tried workin this out by scanning the web and had seemed to have narrowed it down to post '83 (but only because of image sizes and stuff). The seller said the bridge wa removed from a '73 but has now acknowledged that it could have been added at a later date.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1328631227' post='1530349'] 3 bikes sitting in the garage? You don't have much luck... get the mechanic to work on them right away... [/quote] Well - I know the Beemer won't start because it hasn't moved recently & the Aprilia can temperamental, but the good old lump of American iron always starts first time

Cool - thanks for that. I have a suspicion it's an 80's design. Nothing inherently wrong with it other than I paid a premium for a 70's one.

[quote name='kerley' timestamp='1328612220' post='1529834'] Although the materials of the Fodera presumably cost more than a mass produced bass isn't most of the cost in labour. No doubt Fodera could reduce costs by [b]not being based where they are[/b] and also cutback some time in areas which may not be noticed by many. [/quote] Next time I speak to Jason or Joey, my main two contacts at Fodera, I'll let them know that, now they are more successful, they should give up their fancy New Jersey adresses (where they've lived for about 30 years+) and consider moving to the wilds of Nebraska so they can reduce their prices to the greater benefit of the bass buying / playing public. I'm sure they'll be most receptive

Uh oh - better watch out for the Harley riders coming after you Bilbo I was a member of a Harley club in the UK for many years and I've never known so many people put so many miles on their bikes in all weathers. In my experience the riders of Honda Fireblades and Ducati sportsbikes are more likely to be 'fair weather' bikers than the Harley brigade. Of course this isn't to say that quite a lot of all bikers fall into the higher income, middle aged bracket. After all, look at me - a 52 year old, twin Fodera owner plus a BMW K1200GT, Aprilia RSVR 1,000 Factory & a Harley mild custom sitting in the garage

Basically I've just bought a supposedly genuine Fender bridge for a 70's bass & it's turned up with allen key adjusters for bridge height. I know that a 70's Fender would have had screws so it's not as advertised. I'd also like to know if it's even a genuine Fender part - all my current Fenders have screw height adjustment (but the newest one is '78!). If they have had allen keys it would be useful to know roughly when they were introduced and/or if it's only on certain models etc.

[quote name='Toasted' timestamp='1328547877' post='1528875'] Foderas... Too expensive? Well they've been selling them for over 20 years, so it appears not. [/quote] The one that arrived at my house today is 29 years old later this year. Feels and sounds great, fabulous neck. It's obviously been well played and gigged. I know one recent owner was a guy called Mike Bendy who's played with a few pretty good people. Could easily become my number one gigging bass

The Foderas seem to have lasted well, in fact I'm not sure I've had to change any yet! I got mine through BassGear who are the official Fodera stockists. They are out of stock at the moment but about to order a new shipment - I was there last week and was talking about them to Phil the owner.

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1328536651' post='1528601'] That's a really good price, Molan. Tempted? [/quote] No idea - I just do the research and get a short list & my wife does almost all the driving, lol. I ride motorbikes most of the time

Just a quickie on the Range Rover stuff - some people will buy them because they hold value so well. I run a company car because we're pretty high mileage (for personal use) and I get my petrol paid for too. This has worked out a fair bit cheaper than having a private vehicle. My car is up for renewal at the moment & I've been looking at comparisons. You can lease a new Range Rover Evoque that's worth about £30K for a net rental of £480 a month. A Toyota Rav 4 would cost the same for a £26K car or something that's obviously a lot different like a £30K Alfa Brera Diesel would cost a frightening £660 a month. Buying something that will retain value is an important consideration (applies for a lot of people as far as bass guitars go as well). Oops - gotta go, a man is at the door with a Fodera sized package under his arm. . .

I swapped from DR Sunbeams to Elixirs and really like them. The coating has never bothered me, although when it eventually starts to go it can be a bit annoying. Over the last year I've been playing Fodera Wooten Signature strings a lot. Quite a light gauge of 40 55 75 95 but they feel really nice to me. I've also used their standard fit set of 40 60 80 100 which were also great but I slightly prefer the Wootens on the two basses I currently have strung with them. I don't play 5 string but a top session & gigging pro I know recently declared their B strings the best he'd ever played - and this is a guy who's more particular about strings and set up than anyone I've ever known

Snow permitting, I'm hoping for a new, to me, Fodera to arrive today It's an old one though, 1983, the 30th one ever built. In terms of supply & demand stuff the litte story I saw last year kinda summed it up for me. Fodera had a cancelled order for an Anthony Jackson Presentation. This was the full on top of the range model with titanium geegaws. They offered it out to their mailing list (which I'm on) and it sold in less than 24 hours at a frightening $22,500 (they have gone up to $24,000 now). Also they recently released the new Matt Garrison Signature Standard model of which just 30 will be made this year. They sold the lot in under a week at $8,750 each. I know that Phil at Bassgear has one on order so we'll be able to see one in the flesh when it arrives. I don't think there's anyone in the States that has the demand (with any sort of volume anyway) that Vinnie, Joey & Jason have managed to generate. Jason in particular has transformed the business and they are much more efficient with shorter turnaround times and fantastic customer service since he came on board. I won't get into the whole "is a Fodera worth the cost" argument but you can't blame them for selling at a price that fits their level of demand. Having owned 2 previously, an '86 Monarch which I still have and a '10 Yin Yang Deluxe then I do have to say that there can be something really quite special about them. They don't suit everyone (my YY Deluxe didn't have the tone I was after, hence why I sold it) but the people they do suit seem to love them passionately. For me, anything that inspires this kind of passion for a bass guitar can only be a very good thing indeed

If I had a spare $40K I'd buy the pair The seller has some great amps too!