molan

Of course, if the marked, & insurance, value is lower than the final purchase price then the duties charged will be correspondingly lower as well. Not that I'd ever recommend this practice but I have heard of people doing it. . .

I've always struggled a bit with Mars Volta but I saw Juan A with Big Sir last year & really enjoyed them. Alderete's bass sounded great live. They opened with this: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPIbuu39_j4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPIbuu39_j4[/url]

Check the groove & playing on this little baby. . . [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-35kGSwajEE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-35kGSwajEE[/url] From Los Charly's Orchestra

Mmmmm, interesting, this bass also came with a black guard & someone's just offered me a pair of original '78 creamy white DiMarzio pickups that would slot right in. I've always preferred tort guards on a black body but the all black with white pickups sounds kinda funky for a 'hot-rodded' late '70's P bass. Just the kind of thing someone would have done at the time

[quote name='gary mac' post='1361302' date='Sep 3 2011, 08:51 PM']Really like that Molan, you just can't beat the real road worn look.[/quote] I think it's certainly had some playing in its time I really quite like the fact that previous owner simply covered some wear marks with stickers & when they came off the fading on the body was different. My '72 P bass has a similar 'sticker mark' on it which just screams 'keep music live' which I seem to remember seeing on loads of Fenders back in the '70's.

Bought this as part of a double deal with [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=152397"]this '79 P[/url] but it somehow got lost in the postal system for a few days. After a quick chat with a super helpful, no really, chap at my local postal storage unit they tracked it down for me & I got it today. Really nice '73 Jazz : Previous owner reckons it's all original apart from bridge and possibly the pickups (they certainly look pretty old so have been in there a while). It came with an older bridge which a different owner reckoned was the original one but it's a dull brass finish so sounds unlikely. I was chatting to a fellow BC'er about it today and we wondered if the finish really was original as the wood isn't as figured as many natural finished '70's J basses. We also wondered if an original natural '73 would have had a white guard but I've had a hunt around and found other '73's in natural with white guards so there's a decent chance it is original. Interestingly I spotted that some seem to have the 'tug bar' above the E whilst others, like his one, have it below the G. Not sure if there was a point in Fender history when they swapped these over or if both were in production? Been playing it through my Thunderfunk / Aggie rig this evening & it sounds really fat

[quote name='Clarky' post='1360854' date='Sep 3 2011, 12:05 PM']Hey Barrie, any new Alleva's arrived? [/quote] Waiting to hear from Jimmy - he often gets cancelled orders and stuff just sometimes 'pops up'! Jus the two walnut J basses & the cherry sparkle KBP4 here at the moment. The new '73 J that I picked up today is currently getting the most play through a MarkBass 2x10 combo

Phil, the owner of BassGear has a gig up in Yorkshire tonight and asked if I'd be around to keep an eye on the showroom today. So here I am surrounded by multiple Foderas, Alleva Coppolos, Zons, Boulder Creeks, Bag Ends, MarkBasses and various other pre-owned basses from Warwick, Ibanex, ESP, Fender etc. To cap it all I picked up a lovely old Fender '73 Jazz on the way here! So, the big questions are, which bass to try first though which amp / cab combinations? Phil still has his relocation sale on (although I think it's going to end soon as he's now mostly set up in Twyford) - this could be an expensive day. . .

Excellent I finally cracked and sold my J Update 4 this week & am missing it already

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1353162' date='Aug 26 2011, 11:00 PM']Gotta agree with this.[/quote] The thing with Simenon was not only that he looked great in stills images but he just moved brilliantly on stage. I saw The Clash 7 or 8 times and they were such great live band, Strummer pumping crazily, Jones zipping back & forth (also looking ultra cool, and Simenon this brooding 'presence' on the left hand side of the stage just oozing cool and with that great left shoulder dip

La Bella light gauge flats fitted too - great strings, really like them

As part of my recent interest in old Fenders I recently put down some money on a nice looking '73 Jazz & a '79 Precision as a joint purchase. The '79P was a bit of a 'makeweight' in the deal for me as I really fancied the natural '73J but realised I could get a better deal on the pair. I got a message from customs that one of them was due to arrive today but didn't know which one. It turned out to be the '79P and it really is a cracking bass It's been professionally routed for an additional J pickup at the bridge and this 'P bass with J pickup' isn't something I've tried before. It looks super cool in black with a maple board and the deep red tort guard (it also came with a black guard) and the pickup combination works really well. Roll off the bridge a little and back of the master tone and it retains a great '70's P thump and growl but adds that extra crisp bite from the J bridge pickup. It also has a slightly different neck profile than I've seen on a Fender before & the nut seems to sit bang in the middle between a J & P (I'm sure someone here will know if this was a common late '70's option). Here's some pics from the previous owner:

Let Martin take a look and go on his recommendation - if it's a 'player' then I'd definitely go for the full re-fret & health check option Having said that- if it's all 100% original and you picked it up specifically because it's a YOB bass then maybe keeping it 100% original and living some idiosyncrasies might all be part of the charm

When it comes to 'cool' I'm with the Simenon brigade:

When you say 'precision with jazz neck', do you mean just the nut width of 1.5" vs the standard P with 1.75" or are you looking for a much 'skinnier' profile overall? Reason for asking is that I have a couple of vintage P basses with J type nut widths but neither is quite as slinky as a J from the same era.

[quote name='Rick's Fine '52' post='1351663' date='Aug 25 2011, 07:24 PM']I think you've over analysed. I think he simply meant (Correct me if I'm wrong Molan!), if you have an instrument that inspires you to pick it up and play more frequently, with added enthusiasm, then it will improve your playing. As with anything, the more you do it, the better you will become.[/quote] That's exactly what I meant - well interpreted I definitely stand by this and have heard many, many people agree with this broad concept. Often it's the people who are less experienced and with less technical playing ability that would agree most. Some of them will find playing some things very difficult indeed but having something that generates that enthusiasm can help them break through a 'learning 'barrier'. As for playing the same riffs and patterns repeatedly I have to say I can't see an issue with this either. In my experience, the more you play the more fluid your playing becomes, the more you want to pick up an instrument = the better player you become

I'd be wary of the guy that says "looks good playing". . .

[quote name='flyfisher' post='1350996' date='Aug 25 2011, 08:42 AM']Of course not. What does matter is people thinking a £10k bass is 'better' than a £1500 bass or that it will make them a better player. It's just more expensive, that's all, and is often just a means to proclaim to the world how rich the buyer is. Like personalised number plates or 'designer' clothing.[/quote] I don't understand why this 'matters'? If someone wants to blow £10K on a bass because they 'think' it's better than a £1,500 one then surely this only 'matters' to the guy/girl who's spent the money? Why would the rest of us care what he/she thinks? I'm sure having a more expensive bass that a player really loves, appreciates and wants to simly pick up & play al the time [i]will[/i] make them a better player too. Also - I'm pretty sure that the rest of the world has no idea how much a bass costs and wouldn't think any more of a player with a £10K bass vs a £1.500 one. In fact, if the £10K one isn't a Fender a lot of people are going to think it's a cheaper alternative anyway My answer to the OP is 'whatever I can afford at the time' - if pushed for a figure then I'd say less than £10K but more than £5K. I guess that makes me a £7.5K kinda guy

[quote name='bassman7755' post='1350857' date='Aug 24 2011, 10:53 PM']Sounds like the song is in the key of G, The Bb C D being the 3rd 4th and 5th degrees of G major. The F# is the 7 the degree, kind of hard to see how a natural F ever would have fit - would change the character of the song to more of a country feel.[/quote] Thanks for this - here's the original version: Of course, with my limited knowledge, it's entirely possible that I'm not 'hearing' this right!

Saw a band recently in a fairly small venue where the bass player ran an Ashdown 500W head through a pair of 4x10's stacked vertically. Band starts playing = cue thud, thud, thud, boom, boom, boom from the bass corner