Basvarken

Yeah, I've heard of this guy. When I see him I'll whack him over the head with my fifteen string boutique bass with double pre-amp and bridge made of unobtanium.

Here's me with my band Superfloor.

Basses I've owned - [b]Ibanez Blazer[/b]. Nice Precision copy. Slowly but surely turned into one big hackjob... I should have let that poor bass the way it was. I sold what was left of it - [b]Ibanez Soundgear[/b]. Active bass. Race monster. Very slim neck. But the thing didn't have any character at all. I got rid of it after a few years - Music Man Stingray. Ernie Ball era. Wine red. Bridge with felt mutes. Birdseye maple neck. I made it passive at a certain point, which improved the dynamics. Gigged it a lot during the nineties. Sold it a few years ago because I hardly used it anymore. - [b]Gibson Les Paul Bass[/b] 1969. Shortscale bass. Big Mahogany body. This is the one without the impedance transformer built in. My favorite bass. Best sound I've ever heard. Period. Will never leave the collection. - [b]Gibson Les Paul Bass aka Triumph[/b] 1973. Shortscale. Big Mahogany body. With the built in impedance transformer and the big black plastic control plate. Sound very similar to the 1969 Les Paul bass. Sold it the other day because I needed some cash. And If I'm looking for that sound I'm always taking the 69 LP anyway. - [b]Gibson Les Paul Bass prototype[/b] 1968. Shortscale. Very rare. Scored it off Ebay. Sounds awesome. Post are scratchy though. Should take it to a good luthier to have them cleaned. - [b]Epiphone Newport[/b] 1963. Shortscale. Originally had just the one Mudbucker at the neck Mine has a mini humbucker added at the bridge. Lightweight bass with that typical Andy Fraser kind of sound. -[b] Epiphone Jack Casady Signature[/b]. Longscale with gold top. I replaced the Elektar pickup for a Gibson Lo-Z from a Les Paul bass. That was an improvement as i thoigh the original pickup was kind of bland. - [b]CBS LP Bass[/b]. Japanese copy of the Gibson Triumph. However, it is hollow and it has a bolt on neck. The pickups are not lo-z. Neck is plywood! - [b]Pearl Export Bass[/b]. Made in Japan. Identical to the Epiphone Genesis bass and built in the same factory. Extremely heavy bass. I took out the humbuckers and placed Gibson Lo-z pickups in it. A bass Lo-z at the neck and a guitar Lo-z at the bridge. - [b]Greco Thunderbird[/b]. Japanese bass. Set neck. Pickups are great. Very similar to the original sixties Gibson Tbird pickups. Awesome bass. Very chunky neck though. - [b]BaCH Non Reverse Thunderbird.[/b] White. My first project with BaCH. Became quite a success. The one that I have has a rather thick body. All the other series that followed after the first had thinner bodies (more like the orginal sixties Gibson ones) I've changed the pickguard. And I've added a Gibson Tbird pikcup at the bridge. I've also replaced the pots. - [b]BaCH Semi Acoustic Bass[/b]. Prototype. Should have been a shortscale bass but they accidentally made it long scale. Which turned out to be a beautiful mistake. I told BaCH to make a shortscale series AND a long scale seris of this bass. Still hasn't happened though... - [b]BaCH Telecaster Bass[/b]. Shortscale. With Spalted Maple Top. I've been gigging this bass a lot lately. Sounds very fifties Precision-like with the single coil. When I switch to the humbucker at the bridge it sounds more like an EB3. Best of both worlds :-) - [b]BaCH 50-s P[/b]. All mahogany with just the one single coil. This was actually my first BaCH bass. It had an oiled body and oiled neck. I replaced the two saddle bridge with a STB type bridge woith four individual saddles. Sold it because it was uncomfortably heavy and too "Fendery" ;-) - [b]Guild M85 II.[/b] Short scale. All Mahogany. Bought it after seeing a Sheryl Crow DVD. But I don't look as good as she does. Which left me with a tame bass. So I sold it. - [b]Brooks Bass[/b]. Built this one myself. Shortscale. Identical shape to the Gibson Les Paul bass. But with flamed maple top. Two G3 single coil pickups at the neck. And one Mudbucker at the bridge. And just one volume pot on the frontside. Plus a chickenhead 6 way rotary switch for all kinds of pickup combinations - [b]Acoustic Bass[/b]. Short scale. Fretless. A work in progress. Hope to finish that one soon...

Dankje Bert, ik ben voornamelijk bassist. En ik vind het leuk om deel te nemen aan discussies / verhalen over bassen en basversterkers. Ik ga er geen reclame zuil van maken ;-) Thanx Bert, first and foremost, I'm a bass player. I like to participate in discussions / stories about basses and bass amps. I won't turn it into one big commercial ;-) cheers, Rob

[color=#330000] [b]My name is Rob van den Broek. I live in a village called Velp (near Arnhem) in The Netherlands. I was born in 1968. I've been a music lover since I was very young. My first recollection of enjoying music was when my mother was vacuum cleaning the house, I crept under the cupboard where the speakers of the hifi installation stood. With my ears pressed to the cloth of the speakers I tried not to miss a single note. I think I was three years of age. When I was twelve I started with a classical training on the spanish guitar. And I have been playing (bass) in bands since I was fifteen. And I still perform and record. Mainly with my band Superfloor and another band called Definition Of MadMen.[/b][/color][color=#330000] [b]I am not an average bass player with a Fender Jazz bass. I am a Gibson fan. I own 13 bass guitars. None of them are Fenders.[/b][/color][color=#330000] [b]But it was a copy of a fifties Precision bass that caught my attention of the Czech brand BaCH. This wasn't a slavish copy, but an all mahogany version of this iconic bass. A nice hybrid between Gibson and Fender. That got me thinking… about a Non Reverse Thunderbird. So I got in touch with BaCH and they told me they'd build anything if I'f order 25 pieces or more.[/b][/color][color=#330000] [b]I gave BaCH drawings, specifications, pictures measurements etc. I and coördinated the Non Reverse Thunderbird project just for fun. Because I wanted a NR Tbird myself. The result was stunning. The craftsmen form Czechia got very close to the original. I was impressed and so were the 50 participants who bought a "BaCHbird" as it was soon baptized. My email box started to fill up with questions from all over the world about BaCHbirds and other BaCH instruments. Guess you could say it got so successful that I decided to take it to a professional level.[/b][/color][color=#330000] [b]Later I initiated another project with BaCH; the Fenderbird. After the legendary bass of the late John Entwistle. Plus we've been working on a semi acoustic bass, inspired by the EB2 and Rivoli basses from the sixties. I've been getting orders for other bass guitars -and six string guitars too- from all over the world. So it's slowly but surely getting out of hand a bit, haha.[/b][/color][color=#330000] [b]Another hobby of mine is building my own bass guitars myself. The knowledge and skills that I've gathered over the years help me with my business as a bass and guitar retailer. I check every single guitar or bass that arrives here. And if necessary I give it a set-up, intonate it, etc. If it doesn't meet my standards I send it back. Simple as that.[/b][/color][color=#330000] [b]My "real" profession is Graphic Designer. That is what pays my mortgage ;-)[/b][/color] [color=#330000] [b]If any of you guys ( and girls) have questions about BaCH basses, don't hesitate to send me a PM or email.[/b][/color] [color=#330000] [b]cheers, Rob[/b][/color]