Dingus

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1395235838' post='2400010'] In or on ? [/quote] That mainly depends on you...

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1395227648' post='2399883'] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mMoeWkDhqA[/media] [/quote] I remember Graham Edwards had a reputation at that time as being the cleanest bass player in London in terms of his flawless technique and he played that very busy 1980's style which proliferated at the time exceptionally well. For aspiring bass players of the time like myself, Graham was one of the people you would see on T.V and think "That's what I want to be like!" He's a very successful record producer and songwriter in L.A now, and was part of the team behind Avril Lavigne's breakthrough hit "Complicated", as well as working with artists like Shakira and Katy Perry. The boy has done good.

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1395155532' post='2399268'] No, I need two of those [/quote][quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1395155532' post='2399268'] No, I need two of those [/quote] They usually come in pairs...

Sold some strings recently to Martin and he was an absolute gentleman to deal with throughout in every possible way. Friendly, courteous, and very prompt payment. A pleasure to do business with.

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1395159536' post='2399323'] Congrats to Muzz and simon, enjoy [/quote] A big +1 on that. These look to be really lovely basses that will no doubt become collectible in years to come, and I am looking forward to hearing first-hand what they are like.

I pay a lot more more than £25 an hour for therapy, and I don't get an extra hour of bass lesson at the end. I don't even get that much therapy, when I think about it.

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1395152091' post='2399220'] It's a shame. They are stunning and sound superb. It must be the last of taper...something I could probably get used to but I'm a Stingray/P Bass neck fan through and through. [/quote] I think most folks, myself included, would get used to the Rick neck profile if they played it exclusively, but switching from a Fender/MM ect will feel pretty weird to the majority of players , I think. I have heard varying reports on Basschat about the construction quality of Rickenbacker basses , with some people having various issues with new basses they have bought, but I had previously always been under the impression that Rickenbackers were a high quality guitar.

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1395137890' post='2398987'] I think as its limited, that is a good price...eg the normal Ric price...nothing more. I have my eye on one elsewhere but I'm still not 100% sure I can bond with the ergonomics. [/quote] Exactly my problem, Gareth. I love the sound of Rickenbackers, and they are surely one of the most beautiful basses ever in terms of overall design, but I just can't get on with playing them! The lack of taper to the neck feels very weird to someone raised on Fenders, the strings seems to hit the pickup polepieces all the time when I play them, and the action never seems that good on any Ricks that I get to have a on. Definitely a bass that like to be played hard .

[quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1395131222' post='2398923'] Mine's in at GAK, it'll be coming out to me in the next day or so. But they have only got the one...or so I'm told. The competitive price is £1639...everywhere...the traditional Rickenbacker supply and demand... [/quote] I'm surprised that they are so readily available at any price, given the waiting times for standard Rickenbacker basses in recent years. To give Rickenbacker credit where it is due, there was a period for most of the 1980's where their basses ( and guitars too, I expect) fell out of fashion, and their sales must have suffered, but as a company they just kept doing what they do and making their instruments the same as ever. Now they have come back into fashion they still refuse to compromise, even if it means two year waiting times on some orders.

Freddie Washington knows how to slap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SVMgOwtwvk ..and I always really liked Guy Pratt's bass playing on this track: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrKtrIxn4XU In all these examples, to my taste at least, slapping, whether it is busy or simple, sounds great and works really well as part of the song, .

Back in the 1980's it was bad taste [i]not[/i] to slap! Of course slapping can sound good, but just like any other technique , it has to be used judiciously. The best slappers tend to be the players with the best brains, and that means that they are not necessarily the guys on the front cover of all the bass magazines. One very tasty slapper who knows how to use that technique well is Alphonso Johnson. I know he's not the first name that springs to mind when it comes to slap bass, but his formidable skills extend to this much maligned technique and he knows how to use it to great effect: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16jfNEift6o[/media] On this track, strictly speaking he is popping rather than slapping on the verses, but it really works well and, as we would all agree , popping is the ying to slapping's yang [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGzY60YbeKs[/media]

Told you he was a role model:

[quote name='jazzyvee' timestamp='1395077198' post='2398387'] + 1 Any advice on how to get that clean Benny Hill Tone :-) [/quote] You need one of these

It all depends on how good the lessons are,what kind of level you are at, and what kind of help you need. I used to give lessons to relative beginners, ( two of whom have gone on to become very good pro players, I am proud to say) and I used to charge £3 in the mid-to-late 1980's and then eventually by the early 1990's £5 an hour. During the same time in mid 1980's I paid £8 an hour for lessons myself with a top pro player who had lots of teaching experience and a very impressive C.V of artists he had worked with. That £3 is the equivalent to £7.71 , and the £8 is equivalent to just over £20 nowadays, and seems about fair given the disparity between me and the top local pro. However, it has to be said that nowadays you can glean so much information for free off the internet and from You Tube in particular that a lot of what you used to have to pay to find out is available for nothing if you know what it is you need to look for. A good teacher is invaluable, but by the same token, if you are motivated, there has never been such a good time to teach yourself as much as possible under your own steam.

[quote name='Old Horse Murphy' timestamp='1395008311' post='2397777'] I'm fortunate enough to own this one. Weight-wise it's just under 9lbs. They look even better in the flesh [/quote] That is a very lovely bass, Sir!

[quote name='EMG456' timestamp='1395012566' post='2397831'] I see the shoes have the old checkerboard binding... [/quote] So they do !

[quote name='JuliusGroove' timestamp='1395072446' post='2398304'] This was definitely the highlight of the class.. [/quote] Bloody students!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1394997666' post='2397590'] I find all this fear of affecting the value of the instruments a bit perplexing. Partly because if I bought a bass and it was stunning in every aspect except the finish, I would have no hesitation in sending it off to be professionally done the colour I wanted it. In fact I have already done this with a bass which was worth a lot more than the average US-made Fender. I've also considered having the paddle headstock on my Warwick Star Bass reshaped into something more aesthetically pleasing and it's only the lack of spare cash that's stopped me so far. And secondly in real terms compared with the synthesisers I was buying in the 80s nearly all bass guitars are very cheap, and even back then I had no hesitation in customising or modifying far more expensive and more complex pieces of musical equipment. IMO if you're always looking at the resale value of your gear, unless you are very lucky you will never be completely happy with the instrument and you will end up selling it in the never-ending search for "the one". [/quote] What you or anyone else chooses to do with their own property is, of course, entirely their own affair, but surely you can see that your attitude and approach is not typical, BRX. You have a rather idiosyncratic aesthetic ideal in comparison to most folks on Basschat, myself included, and also a far more cavalier attitude to making such alterations to your gear . Your Warwick Star Bass is a perfect example of this, because to myself and most other folks I suspect, that bass is absolutely beautiful just as it is, and suits you very well . I am amazed and even a bit upset that you think that headstock is ungainly and can be "improved" in some way by alteration. To me and nearly everybody else that is an act of vandalism. I suppose it's also important to recognize that, reading between the lines, men like you and I probably have a lot more disposable income to spend on basses and other such fripperies than most other folks,not least of all because we don't have children and all the financial responsibilities that come with them .To the vast majority, any bass is a significantly costly purchase that they want to get the maximum value for money from, both in terms of purchase price and resale value. In light of that, it's not surprising that people don't want to buy a bass and then spends more money on it taking a course of action that ultimately decreases the potential value in the long-term.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1394987209' post='2397407'] That seems to be very naïve on Fender's part. Since Fender instruments are so easy to dis-assemble, buying one in any colour and then getting the body resprayed the colour you want is going to fairly trivial and probably quite a bit less than the price difference that Fender charge for their more "upmarket" models. [/quote] Yes, but that would still make the standard models rather more expensive, considering a good quality refinish costs in the hundreds of quid range, and then if you add that to the depreciation in resale value that the refinish inevitably causes then it makes no sense to take that course of action, unless the colour is incredibly important to you and you want to throw money away on a whim. I would argue that it is possibly quite savvy by Fender to recognize the commercial potential of their typically most desirable finishes, but at the same time I wonder if it would be more profitable to make those colours available for the intermediate priced basses and sell those instruments in greater volume as a result.

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1395059376' post='2398090'] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU28GHMcYxM [/quote] Benny Hill = role model.

[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1394989679' post='2397442'] Here is my ideal Fender! [/quote] You could probably still sell that on Basschat. " Plenty of mojo ..."

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1394987209' post='2397407'] That seems to be very naïve on Fender's part. Since Fender instruments are so easy to dis-assemble, buying one in any colour and then getting the body resprayed the colour you want is going to fairly trivial and probably quite a bit less than the price difference that Fender charge for their more "upmarket" models. [/quote] On the face of things, yes, it's not an insurmountable problem , but it is always detrimental to resale values to refinish any USA -made Fender. Implicitly though, you have hit on the Big Question regarding Fender as a whole, which is, why, if everybody likes the old ones, don't they just make them like that now? A Fender bass is a pretty simple and straightforward instrument when all is said and done, and the idea that there something so precious that has been lost in the mists of time between 1965 and the present that means that the older onesl have an unrepeatable magic that cannot be recreated seems just plain ridiculous to me. If Fender revived what was so appealing and what has become so sought-after from their American Standard ranges of yesteryear , not least of all the colour choices, then I am sure that they would be fighting customers off with an unhygienically soiled stick.