Cairobill

I've had two near misses with Nirvana... 1) I had a ticket for the London show in 1994 and was disappointed to hear that Kurt had a Rohypnol issue in Rome and wasn't making it to London (rescheduled). Needless to say the ticket for the reschedule was eventually refunded. 2) The second (in '89) was a friend at university exhorting me to go and see Tad with a little known band called Nirvana touring their new album, Bleach. Couldn't be bothered, mainly because I thought Tad were awful and wasn't really switched on to Nirvana at that point. Said friend ended up on the town with the little known support band who slept on his floor after a very jolly night out. He thought Nirvana were 'very nice and were definitely ones to watch' Aha ha ha...

Ah that's sad news...RIP Martin aka MB1

Gallup is great and so central to their sound...which is great too 👍 Shame if he left on bad terms...

I might be picking up a fretless J with a rosewood board but if I do I will want to have the fingerboard coated. Any recommendations for a luthier who has done a good job on their fretless? i.e get a v hardwearing, shiny result that would stand round wound strings without marking up/ wearing out... Cheers!

That bass looks like a thumpatron. V nice!

Thanks for the amp Jim! A lovely chunk of wattage

Thanks - northwest look quite inexpensive. How's the quality? Anyone used one of their J bass bodies in a build?

I'm entering one of those 'find a purpose for those nice jazz bass bits and pieces in a box under the bed' phases. I will likely go for a status fretless neck but where do I get a high quality, finished, ash, jazz bass body in the UK? There are a bunch of obvious sources but I'm looking for the good stuff Cheers, Nick

It's not just me then. 8 jazz basses and counting... My issue is that I also play Stingrays and Js seem to have 'booty issues' when I use both types of bass in the same context. I think I need to figure out how to get the best bounce out of jazz. I will definitely be getting one soon and I love the AVRIs (I bought one of your AVRI 75s back in the day). That looks gorgeous!

Indeed. The trouble with Wal basses was that they had a lot of deeply shonky attributes. They also had a whiff of the mid 80s muso (complete with mullet, very short strap, black polo neck and dubious slap skills) which scared a lot of us off in the mid-nineties. I was on the cusp of buying one a few times in that price band but in the end spent my money on other instruments (mainly Stingrays)...which is a solace nowadays when I realise I can't afford one! I really, really should have bought a fretless Custom though. I've become deeply obsessed with Mick Karn of late...

Ha ha...indeed. The number of times I umm'd and ahh'd about buying a Wal for 600 quid in the late nineties.

Both of mine were early (skinny necks and long headstocks). I strung them with TIs but I imagine the damage had been done by the time they got to me. In contrast my 4001 was a ‘78. Neck was even skinnier. Straight as an arrow (and much missed).

When I say 'warped' I mean the neck thru has collapsed 'just enough' to make a low consistent action unachievable. Playable, but pretty much no fun. I've had two with identical issues. My 4001 basses have been AOK in comparison. Which is a shame, as I really liked the V63s I've had but they were weak in the neck department. They sounded great with flats...

Rickenbackers are a pain in the derrière, but I love them. I just wish I could find a V63 that a) didn't cost a fortune and b) didn't have a warped neck. I would ask someone to hit me up if they had an unwarped V63 that met those criteria but a) it's not allowed and b) it probably doesn't exist