molan

I wondered if anyone here had used any of the SIT string range? [url="http://sitstrings.com/strings/bass"]http://sitstrings.com/strings/bass[/url] I did a quick search but the last time this seemed to come up was back in '08 & it seemed distribution was pretty sparse.

Isn't that surf green rather than sonic blue? Looks great - I think the 5 string LG is very much Jimmy's 'sweet spot', no-one else really covers this area in the way he does Good on Phil at BassGear for getting it for you - he seems to be able to 'coax' stuff out of Jimmy that other people aren't able to do

I've also heard a lot of good things about Lava cables. Quite a few 'name' players in the States seem to use, and recommend, them.

[quote name='pietruszka' post='1301435' date='Jul 12 2011, 07:02 PM']Im very keen to know how it compares to the AG500. Is it the same or are there noticeable difference in sound. Im tempted by one to reduce my baggage. Dan[/quote] Definitely smoother and 'warmer' than the AG500. I think the AG is a much cleaner amp (with everything set flat) than the DB750 as well so I'd think the TH is closer in some ways to the DB. Unfortunately it's a while since I've had a DB so I can't remember exactly how close they might be. The drive circuit feels 'softer' than the AG's saturation channel. Bit more expressive and sounds very nice with a P bass. I was playing my '63 through it into a pair of Bag Ends yesterday and it sounded nicer than the best sounds I've managed to coax out of either the AG or the Thunderfunk I have at the moment. I'm not sure it works as well when used with something like my Fodera. Both the AG & TF really come into their own here. Could be that the AG 7 TF are more 'immediate' sounding so maybe I need to spend some more time on this combination. Haven't gigged with the TH (I only have it 'trial') but a couple of us wound it up to some pretty serious volume yesterday through three different rigs. It goes pretty loud but does, unsurprisingly, start to break up a bit at near full whack. In most cases the cabs started to lose definition before the head though and the break up from the TH sounded quite 'musical' and not at all harsh like an older tranny amp might sound. I would say that both the AG & the TF seemed to go louder than the TH (all three rated about the same power) but I think that's because the other two were able to retain their clean volume higher up the volume scale. We were testing in a smallish room so couldn't really tell which amp/cab combination had the longest 'throw'. We did think that at one point the TH on near full whack prompted either the neighbours to bang on the wall or for something like a picture frame to be rattled loose so I guess that's some sort of recommendation It also weighs nothing and is a great little size. Would be perfect with my Bag End 1x10 for rehearsals and small gigs as I could carry the complete 'rig' plus a bass in one simple trip. . .

[quote name='Vibrating G String' post='1325523' date='Aug 3 2011, 12:27 PM']I love Barts, they look different so they'll never sound right to the vintage crowd but they don't click when the string hits a pole, they're shielded and hard to break. Also the original EMG P has been amazing in my experience but is now way out of fashion.[/quote] I forgot about Barts! My old Performance P bass had a Bart replacement & it sounded great. Modern EMG's seem to be a lot brighter than the older ones. I have an '86 in a Fodera Monarch that is very sweet sounding but the one in my newer Fodera is a lot more modern and 'hi fi' sounding.

[quote name='bh2' post='1324365' date='Aug 2 2011, 03:25 PM']All these are just overpriced, over made, over engineered fender jazz copies. Buy the real thing and save yourself some pennies. Here's a nice custom shop jazzer... Guitar Village have one sans pickguard and covers for £2379 [url="http://www.guitarvillage.co.uk/productdetail.aspx?pid=10740&c=173"]http://www.guitarvillage.co.uk/productdeta...10740&c=173[/url][/quote] Isn't the Guitar Village one a re-make of a '64 Fender Jazz? If so, wouldn't that make it the epitome of an overpriced, over made, [i]under engineered[/i] Fender Jazz copy

For a vintage 'look' that has some nice wear-in marking the Duncan Antiquities are nice and not crazy money. However I have heard that the SPB vintage ones sound more like an original 60's Fender. The Duncan site is full of useful stuff including a tone comparison chart: [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/comparetones"]http://www.seymourduncan.com/comparetones[/url] Irritatingly it doesn't include the Antiquities here. I did speak to someone last year who fitted one of Jimmy Coppolo's hand made P pickups in a Fender '62 USA and he said it 'transformed' the bass. I think they are about £125 - £150 in the UK.

Thanks for all the help and pointers guys - I'm a real novice at this! I have managed to source some pics of the headstock before the recent refin - not nice at all. . .

My favourites are Celinder, Alleva Coppolo & Fodera NYC with Sadowsky & Sei following just behind. They all sound & feel quite different (certainly the ones I've played anyway). My very top-line summary would be: Celinder - just a great all round J bass, love the Greengrove pre-amps (although I'm playing my passive one more than the active at the moment). Able to nail a surprising array of sounds. Alleva Coppolo - perfect vintage vibe but with some nice more modern touches via the pre-amp. My absolute favourite onboard pre as it happens, near impossible to get a bad sound from one of Jimmy's pre's. Known mostly for replicating '60's basses but he has ranges that span '70's as well which are just as good. Fodera NYC - epitome of a 'modern' super J. Some stunning tops make them look gorgeous too. Decent onboard tonal options depending on which pre is installed and a great 'snap' & sizzle' to them. Duncan dual coils deliver a very different sound to the single coil J's and are very flexible indeed. Sadowsky - another very modern sounding bass with a unique tone from the boost only active pre. A really good one sounds great but there are some out there that can be a little 'antiseptic'. Sei - impossibly to generalise because they are all made to order and Martin will build whatever is ordered. His necks are pretty much always fabulous and a dream to play. Obviously this is a purely personal view based on basses I've actually owned (or had in my possession for a decent amount of time) and, let's face it, everyone's view is going to differ from everyone else's! Also - shameless plug but I'm probably going to sell one of my Celinders if something like that takes your fancy

[quote name='Rick's Fine '52' post='1323049' date='Aug 1 2011, 01:34 PM']Pics look great, been looking forward to seeing this. Is there any of the date stamp left at all? I´m a sucker for sunbursts, although it may look odd on this, if the grain shows through too much on the finish, as its a 3 piece body, which is probably why it was Oly white in the first place. Depends how good the repro guard is, but if it looks good, then you can´t go wrong with oly white, also you can be satisfied at restoring it back to its original appearance. Difficult to date accurately, without stamps, but from what you say, and the pot codes, late ´64 seems right, looks like the decal was replaced during the neck refin also, so hard to tell from that, although its right for a late ´64/´65. The tuners are also correct up to early ´66. Good luck with the rest, if i see anything around that may be of use, I´ll let you know. Nice project.[/quote] I haven't removed the neck yet Previous owner said it had been mostly obliterated with the first refinish which was, apparently, really very nasty indeed!

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='1323112' date='Aug 1 2011, 02:20 PM']For a late '64/early'65 I would have expected the neck to have pearl dots. And maybe the 'tighter' headstock logo. Any neckplate/number?[/quote] Good point, totally forgot the neck plate number it's L64953 which I think would be a '65? I have to admit I don't really know how to tell the material of the dots but the restorer in the USA said they were clay. Maybe this is why he thought the neck was a late '63 or early '64? He also specified the logo and said it was the correct one for the year - in fact I think he said it was a '63 - '65 logo but can't remember offhand.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='1322563' date='Jul 31 2011, 10:14 PM']Lovely! Looking forward to this one. If it were mine, I'd be tempted to forget about the tort guard and go with mint instead.... I've yet to see a repro tort guard that looks right. But that's just me. [/quote] I'll get some pics and see what you think. From what I can make out it was made in the '70's and fitted to a bass until quite recently so it's got a bit of a worn-in feel. I've looked at original guards with back plates but they are kicking around the £375 - £450 level. I won't own up at the moment how much I paid for the parts I've bought but a £400 pickguard would represent a pretty hefty percentage of the total cost

[quote name='JimBobTTD' post='1322519' date='Jul 31 2011, 09:29 PM']Very nice fingerboard! I understand why you want to refinish the body. I'm a sucker for white, but sonic blue isn't really a million miles off the original colour. I'm looking forward to seeing your choices and watching this one progress.[/quote] I must admit it was the 'board that really sold me on this one. Previous owner fitted the neck to a black MIJ P bass to make sure it was working nicely under tension with strings and that dark board looked great against the black body

Having taken the plunge recently into the world of vintage Fender P basses, and buying both a '72 (for the second time) & a '63, I've decided it might be fun to restore a bit of an old wreck of a '64 (or possibly '65) P that really needs some care and attention It had a really nasty wood stain finish to both neck and body and the previous owner put the neck in for a complete 'as new' refinish. Unfortunately he ran out of money at this stage so the body still needs some serious work. Luckily it's all original apart from the refinish without any additional routing or screw holes. The neck and fretboard are really, really nice - especially the very dark brazilian rosewood board with clay dots Original parts that came with include: Tuners, ferrules, string tree, neck plate, control knobs, thumb rest, brass shielding plate for the pickups, intact wiring harness with cloth wiring and some other mounting screws (including some for parts which are long gone!). Missing parts include the pickups, pickguard and shield, pickguard screws, pickup and bridge covers, strap buttons (including the headstock button) bridge and bridge screws. The original case came with it as well & is just beautifully knackered! Really no use other than as a storage item but it's great that it's still, mostly, in one piece and lived with the bass for so long Precise dating is complicated as the neck date stamp has been mostly erased from the first refinishing project. The guy who recently refinned it is a real vintage Fender pro and he says he thinks it's late '63, early '64 (God knows quite how he can tell this but he's been restoring vintage Fenders for years and seems very genuine). The pots are Stackpole and dated Dec '64 and the neckplate is also dated '64 so I think it's a safe bet to place this as a '64 bass, although it's possible it wasn't finally sold until '65. Either way it's definitely pre CBS sale. For the time being I've already sourced a Fender relic'd vintage bridge replacement and an old ('70's I think but designed for a '60's bass) aftermarket celluloid tort pickguard. Neither cost a huge amount and both look 'period correct'. Next stage is to get the body sorted and to think seriously about pickup replacements. Ideally I'd like to source something from '63 - '65 but prices for these are often crazy. May fit some modern vintage replicas for now and then watch out for something original. The next big decision is about body colour. It was originally Olympic White and I do quite like this colour. I had been thinking of trying to build a bit of a Pino replica in vintage relic'd Fiesta red but now I've seen how the neck has been refinished I may re-think this. The neck looks like how Fender describe NOS so the body obviously needs to be sympathetic in finish. Sonic blue has always been my favourite old Fender colour but Oly white would certainly look pretty cool - especially against that, very dark, rosewood board So - here's some pics as it currently looks:

[quote name='Bloodaxe' post='1308297' date='Jul 18 2011, 07:33 PM']Alas other prior commitments mean that I can't make it again. Bugger. Pete.[/quote] Looks like I'll be away again this year - almost always off end of Sept into early Oct

I see Phil has announced the new location now Short walk to Twyford Station which just happens to be about 20 minutes from me - hooray! He told me that quite a lot of business had come from overseas customers who flew into Heathrow so he'll be really close for them. Also got a fair bit of business out of London, & Twyford is only about 40 minutes from Paddington (it's where I have to change to come home from town on the train) and should be under an hour driving from central London too Looking forward to the shop opening & hoping some of the 'relocation sale' stuff is still available He's just lent me a Tone Hammer 500 to try out against my Aguilar AG500 & Thunderfunk TFB550 - spent an hour or so this evening playing them back to back with a series of different basses. Great fun and the TH500 at £600 for such a good tone from a small package is pretty tempting. . .

The AG 500 comes with a handle designed for it to be stored vertically - I don't see how this can have caused a problem? If it is then I'd get on to the 'two Daves' at Aguilar and ask their opinion. In fact, I'd email them anyway and ask for some advice: Dave Avenius is usually pretty helpful [email protected]

Always quite fancied an old Ray but some of those old 'clubby' necks really put me off. Just spotted this one has a 'smaller jazz bass neck' I didn't even know such a thing existed on a Ray! Of course I have no idea about prices on old Rays - is £1,550 a good price or just general 'market value'?