molan

I've played both the prototype and the first fully finished one and was really impressed. The first thing that struck me, after the funky look, was the weight - must be just about the lightest bass I've ever tried. Feels great on a strap because of this and kinda makes you want to start chucking it around and digging in because of this Sounded really nice to me, although I was only playing at low volume. There was one at the Yorks Bass Bash and I think a few people tried it there. I also think at least one BC'er now owns one so he'll be a good sounding board. Build quality seemed really good to me, I don't know Jon Shuker is able to make something like this by hand, and with quality components, yet still sell at a price that competes with the, higher end, Far Eastern manufacturers! I'm sure Phil from BassGear will be along soon to give some more background

[quote name='BassBus' post='1185622' date='Apr 2 2011, 10:20 AM']And what about the hat the singer is wearing. [/quote] What on earth made him think that looked even remotely good - even in 1967!

Obviously going to sound a bit over the top, but for my last gig I took my Fodera Monarch Yin Yang as the main bass and my '86 Monarch as a back up - this was a for a small hotel birthday party gig paying me about £75. I do also have an 'interesting' Fodera Russian clone that I recently picked up so will probably use the '86 as main bass & the Russki clone as back up I often have 2 very similar basses on the go as I sometimes have to leave one at the rehearsal rooms.

[quote name='sifi2112' post='1177131' date='Mar 26 2011, 12:33 PM']I'll try make it as I've enjoyed last few but can't promise .. assume Barrie likes the Aggie cabs Keith ? cheers Si[/quote] Yes he does Not bringing them back up with me though. . .

OK - I'll have with me: Fodera Yin Yang Fodera '86 Monarch Celinder J Update Performance Louis Johnson Sig May bring the Thumb & Fender J fretless as I'm planning on selling these

One of the first things I spotted was that you said you'd only had 8 rehearsals yet had a massive list of songs & then chose 20 to play. My tip would be to pick your best 20 (or at least an agreed number that will fill a set) and then stick to them until they are totally nailed. No use part-learning 40 songs if you can only fit 20 into your time slot as the audience won't ever discover you've got another 20 that you could possibly play. Could even always play them in the same order every time you rehearse so you'll start to get faster between changeovers. This can sound a bit boring at times to be just banging out the same songs week after week but, unless you've got one really strong MD who can hold everyone together, it's just about the best way to get really tight. Once you've got these in the bank then you can start adding a couple of new songs each week and build the list up, have 'spares' for that elusive 3rd encore etc.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='1170754' date='Mar 21 2011, 03:09 PM']It's looking more and more likely that I'm going to get to this...[/quote] Me Too! Long way to travel but sounds like fun & I can get to meet some more faces I haven't seen before Keith - you can definitely count me in, organised my car about 10 minutes ago so I'm all set now. . . Also - if anyone wants me to bring any of the basses listed in my Sig then gimme a shout, the car will fit a good few if anyone wants to try something out

Good to have more people from sunny Oxfordshire I'm in Henley - only in Oxfordshire by about a mile, but it makes all the difference, lol.

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1170884' date='Mar 21 2011, 04:47 PM']Contact these guys. Pat knows everyone and everyone knows Pat. His son, Dorian Kelly, is also over that way. All great players. [url="http://www.pendulum-byjo.co.uk/education.htm"]http://www.pendulum-byjo.co.uk/education.htm[/url][/quote] Brilliant, thanks Bilbo - I did think of contacting you first but thought this was a bit of a distance off your 'patch'. Should have known you'd be 'connected' all over the country when it came to all things jazz

Not sure if this is the right forum but I thought I'd start off here and see how I get on I know of a jazz guitarist who I'm told is very good (I know his partner). He's been looking for either some other people to play with and/or maybe put a band together or just some good jam nights that are jazz focussed. Apparently he's tried a few places but the quality has either been a bit poor or the focus has almost always ended up just playing 12 bar blues and he'd like something a bit more challenging. Unfortunately I have no ability to play jazz whatsoever so I'm not much use to him! I think he's based somewhere near Ascot / Windsor so I'd think there must be some people from here that might be able to help with some ideas?

Phil is going

[quote name='bubinga5' post='1167869' date='Mar 19 2011, 01:23 AM']Jeeeez Barrie.. forget this thread..what you Gassin for? most of your boutique basses, are not that flashy, but very expensive.. i always loved that Louis J bass you had.. i can only think of 2 bass companies that may have a deposit of that sort of money..Alembic and Fodera... i dont think your an Alembic man, so im guessing Fodera... i bet my pants on its a Fodera.. you should really branch out and try a Sukop or STR.. and let me know how the Sukop went...[/quote] Actually I'm not really gassing for anything much at the moment, lol. But if I did have £5K to spend only on bass then I'd absolutely try out something at the very highest end of the market. Fodera basses still slay me on sheer playability so that would definitely be my favourite - maybe a custom build with much 'darker' sounding woods than my Yin Yang