DGBass

I don't think you could go wrong with a standard stingray, 2eq or 3eq and used or new. I've never seen a badly built stingray and there's a wide range of finishes to choose from. I've owned two, a vintage sunburst pre-ernieball with rosewood neck and current eb stingray in creme with all white fittings and a really nice satin finish all maple neck. They both had/have that 'stingray' sound. Backing of the mid knob on the 3eq makes for that classic 2eq sound sort of. Bongos sound great but the shape never has been my cup of tea. Sterlings are interesting basses Any standard versions of aforementioned sell well secondhand. Custom or anniversary models will likely have a more select audience to sell to.

black/black/maple is a classic combo on a P or a J. Tort for me works with sunburst/cream/natural wood finishes,and maple/rosewood or ebony fingerboards

I found similar problems re-soldering wiring in fairly modern basses...my 25w iron was taking ages to melt solder. I've also tried several types of lead free solder and not been impressed with the results. Luckily I have a supply of high lead content solder thats probably quite toxic! It really solders up easily and joints don't fracture or crack like some lead free soldering work I've done. I suppose getting a more powerful iron would help, or get your hands on some old school leaded solder.

I've only ever owned one P-bass( in 20 years) and it suited rock/metal/indie/punk/blues and just seemed to fit in with any musical genre. A bit of an all rounder to be honest. I've owned six different jazz basses over the years and only in the past few years have come to appreciate how versatile a Jazz can be. The P-bass was gigged more than all the Jazz basses put together but these days a Jazz in my go-to bass. A usa standard jazz with rounds or my battered old MIM with flats cover any eventuality. For the most part I use the jazz basses for prog rock/prog metal these days.

Thanks for the history leftyyorky. I looked at quite a few photos of older and newer versions and saw that more recent models had the triangles the 'right' way around but not sure what year that happened. Is it same story with the dot markers on the side of the fingerboard?!

I have the 2 x One10's and use them in a similar setup, 3 piece band, noisy guitarist and a loud drummer. They work very well and I have no problem hearing myself or the band hearing me. I also use ear protection. The biggest plus for me having two cabs is the flexibility of being able to take just the one if thats all thats needed. Also, at 8ohms each, they are ideal extension cabs to other ( 8ohm) rigs if you need a bit of extra monitoring. If I remember right, the 2x10 is either 4ohm or 12ohms. If in any doubt I'd drop BF a note.

These amps don't show up for sale that often and as they are getting on a bit now, value is probably quite condition dependant. The last few I saw for sale on line were advertised between £400-£800. The vertically stacked input knob versions are I believe more saleable. I also have one and use it occasionally. It's a great sounding amp, and also works well with my modern lightweight cabs. I'm hanging on to mine and I suspect there are a good few other players with an old superbass tucked away with no intention of parting with it soon.

Recently I bought and old EB180 combo that looked very 'road worn'. The black carpet had mould growing on it, unknown species of animal hair, and the previous owners cat had scratched off the carpet entirely on one side. It had genuine mojo through hard use over a long period of time. I paid £30 quid to take it off the owners hands as he perceived the wear as excessive and had trouble selling it on. After a re-cover in new black carpet it was transformed & looked like new. I had no trouble selling it on for £120 within a few days. The point is amps and cabs that look beat up usually have had hard use, been neglected and are less desirable. Relic'd instruments are fashionable these days but I suspect a lot of players prefer well kept and good overall condition amps and cabs and will try and protect them from damage. Good condition usually increases resale value. There are exceptions though, something like a road worn SVT and 810e with no tolex on the back and sides might appeal to some. Also, how something sounds can sway a decision in my experience but if it looks good it generally does help. I can't think why someone would want to spend a lot of money on a deliberately road worn bass cab for their rig at new retail prices. It would be interesting to gauge whether relic'd amps and cabs was more of a guitarist thing than a bassist thing. I feel a poll coming on

I've done the same with and ABM500 on its end ( the case comes with rubber feet on the side as standard) when cabs used were small or narrow and I wanted to avoid bass amp overhang. No gravitational,geometric or electronic ill effects noticed

Hi Kevham, apologies for the late reply, I've been a bit busy for BC recently. After a bit of tweaking over a few days the neck sort of straightened itself out and the bass settled down. I think you are right, the fretting looks like it has been molested/dressed at some point but with the neck stable it seems to work ok. I set the action and decided to keep a standard 45-105 string set. My client was very happy with the work done. The bridge was a bit fiddly to adjust but I got there in the end. The status in question was a right-handed one in that sort of dark emerald green colour; very fetching. Your lefty one sounds interesting. The downside is I now have some GAS for a Status type bass. As a fellow lefty would be good to see one in the flesh before I get carried away with the chequebook.

[quote name='mike257' timestamp='1502521890' post='3351934'] Stingray straight in, no preshape and bypassed the graphic. Sounded absolutely bloody lovely. [/quote] My only experience of Trace Elliot gear was just this from an old GP7 1x15 combo in the Barrowlands rehearsal rooms in Glasgow many years ago. I secretly liked it but played Peavey gear at the time. Incredibly loud and industrial strength clang. It was all to green for my liking but I wouldn't mind acquiring an old GP7 1x15 combo to mess around with. For nostalgic purposes of course

my first bass was a s/h lefty Ibanez law suit Jazz Bass. Three colour sunburst with maple neck and black block inlays. Loved it!

this a nice R**k One thing, my OCD is flaring up! Are the block inlay triangles on the fretboard upside down compared to a righty R**k?

I occasionally dable in setups and small repairs for fellow bassists and can usually get a non working bass back into a playable state. One of my regular customers gave me something quite unusual today, a Washburn S1000 Status headless bass. It had been stored for a few years by the previous owner and on inspection had a serious back bow on the neck. Headless technology is something I've never really had any experience with and this bass is not quite the usual fender style bolt on type that I am used to working with. The fretting looks quite odd as well as the 6th to 10th frets seem to be much lower and wider than the rest. I thought at first it was graduated fretting like a vintage overwater bass but I'm wondering if it has been previously filed down because of a neck issue to stop fret rattle? For now, I've released a large amount of neck tension by backing off the truss rod( a lot) and the bass is now reasonably playable and sounds really nice. The electronics at least sound in excellent condition. However the neck seems to be on the move since its last adjustment and it looks like there is a mild twist towards the headless bit. I've googled around and it seems that the composite fingerboards can be troublesome with the wooden necks and need a bit of care if you are storing them for any length of time. Just wondering if any Bass Chatters have had any experience with setting up these basses and any recommendations for adjustments? For info, the owner will be looking to use a very light gauge set ( maybe 35-90). The current strings are 45-105's. The rest of the bass seems to be in good order.

I currently own a 2015 EB Stingray 4 left hand and was lucky enough to find it new in the shop and try first before buying. The build quality on mine is flawless, fit and finish exemplary. And it sounds great to boot. I only owned one other lefty USA stingray from the early 1980's and even back then I was impressed by how well that one was put together. I wouldn't have any hesitation ordering an EB MM bass from scratch, in my experience, they really do know how to put a bass together.

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1495482908' post='3304134'] I think it is timing. I started bass in the 80s and the prevailing wisdom was 'don't touch those recent mid 70s Jazz basses as they are all rubbish' [/quote] Same time period and I owned a late 70's Fender Jazz (serial S830880 - there's a pic of it on the forum somewhere) which wasn't that great to be honest and it put me off Jazz basses for years. The build quality was poor, it was extremely heavy, and didn't sound any better than an Ibanez lawsuit copy i had at the time. I wish I had been aware of the prevailing wisdom!

my ocd is flaring up..not sure if its the reverse headstocks or position of the knobs. As a leftie these basses confuses me! But...they are all things of beauty

Overwater custom for 34 years... haven't really ever considered parting with it.

[font=Helvetica][size=3] I’ve dropped down to one bass on several occasions over the last few decades, its an Overwater custom I’ve now owned for 34 years. Mostly it was due to spells of not gigging regularly or using ‘extra’ basses as an easy option to raise cash for other projects. Ironically, I’ve always justified buying another bass again to use as a day to day instrument so that I don’t need to use the Overwater all the time. I’d be gutted if it got damaged and it has some serious sentimental value. I have however realised over the years that dropping down to one bass of each of my favourite type has worked very well. One P-bass, one Jazz, and one Stingray. Not sure if that actually counts as dropping down to one bass, but it works for me. No plans to part with any of them, and no GAS now for several years. The Jazz seems to get most use these days probably because i’ve owned more Jazzes than any other type of bass and always go back to it as a regular everyday 'one bass' option. [/size][/font]

If you can find one, a Marshall JCM 800 bass head will weigh in at around 20.5kg. Old school 100w vintage sounds comes by the shedload, especially if you use a cab with at least a pair of vintage 30's or 70/80's. It will go very very loud indeed but is more of a low mid/mid/toppy tone in my experience. Price wise around a third of the cost of a Stoneman for a decent JCM800. I have a version with the 5881 tubes and it sounds great with a 2x12 cab.

I like the sound of the early ABM's, I currently own an EVO 500 with the white buttons ( before the II/III/IV models) and find it brighter and snappier compared to newer EVO III versions I've tried at my local rehearsal studio. The early ones don't have compressors etc and the tube preamp is more like a presence control rather than a grind/distortion. They can also be picked up fairly cheaply for such a powerful amp and in my experience are very well made and robust amplifiers.

[quote name='Merton' timestamp='1489755955' post='3259506'] If it were me I'd get an Ashdown ABM [/quote] +1 very versatile amps.

I owned a pre-EB stingray for many years and loved it. I regretted selling it on and vowed to get another at some point. Today there is a vast choice between subs, rays and USA stingrays and I guess being a previous owner of the 'real thing' it wasn't as difficult for me to justify the extra wedge for another USA Stingray. I was lucky enough to chance over one that just felt right when i picked it up and played it in the shop last year and I bought it! There is reasonably good churn in the second hand market for quality Stingrays and may be worth considering a late 90's or 2000's Ernie ball stingray if you can find one. I'm sure there are many fine examples of subs and ray34's out there and every bit as good as the 'real thing'. There is some thing nice though about a proper Stingray. For me the build quality, playability, sound and feel of the USA Stingrays are what differentiates them from other models.

i've been very good in recent times and narrowed my ownership down to just two amplifiers: 2001 Ashdown EVO 500 ABM 1981 Marshall JCM800 Bass Amp (Superbass 100 MKII) The Ashdown pairs with an upright Peavey 210TX The Marshall pairs with a Musicman RH212