martthebass

I'm depping in a Glam Rock band for XMas Eve and NYE gigs this year. Quite a departure from my normal 80s covers band. Should be fun.

[quote name='lowregisterhead' timestamp='1481495785' post='3192752'] A very good point, and not one I had really considered. When I bought the bass, I just stuck on a set of my favourite make and gauge of strings - D'Addario EXL170-5 Nickels, 45/65/85/100/130. Status's own Hotwire string range doesn't even include Nickel strings, only steel. Perhaps I should try a set in a lighter gauge... [edit]... but I remember now trying some years ago when I had a headless and I didn't care for them, they felt rougher and much more 'grabby' than the D'Addarios. [/quote] Try a set of the Hot Wire 'Half Rounds'. I find the Hot Wire Rounds a bit aggressive and moved over to the halfs on my Streamline a few years back (40s - 100s). I find them a fair bit smoother but they still have plenty of top end. I've since put these on my MM with similar good results.

I've lost more friends through the years through working in bands than in any other walk of life. For some reason, musical 'rejection' can hurt more than most criticisms and grudges can last a long long time. In recent years, I've tried to be more pragmatic, take a moral high-ground and not rant (or only rant under my breath, to myself, once I've left the room)about it. I've found this usually works better and opportunities with guys you would have punched out can open up again on a professional level. This doesn't mean allowing yourself to be treat like a dishrag, so I'd leave, on as good a terms as possible and chalk it up to experience. If you can leave with some 'compensation' for your efforts all the better, if not, don't let it eat away at you, move on.....

If I were looking at the bass 'used' I wouldn't pay less for that than one without 'the beauty mark'. Unless the mark really offends your eyes I'd stop thinking about it.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1481180706' post='3190238'] £25 might seem a bit expensive now, but weren't vynal albums about £14-20 back in the 70's and 80s? CDS were £14 when they first came out. It's only in recent times that prices dropped. It just seems expensive now as we've got used to low prices for recordings. [/quote] Can't remember paying more than about £6 for a single album just before I moved over to CDs in the mid/late 80s. I still love Vinyl but after the daft prices of new and ebay I decided to buy a nice Naim CD player and pick up vintage CDs (i.e. 80s stuff) off the bay for about £2-5 a pop. My equally nice Rega deck gets used but that's on my 400+ plus collection of vinyl I bought in the 70s and 80s.

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1480690470' post='3186465'] Above the 12th fret? It's a bass, for heaven's sake, man. Get a grip... [/quote] There are notes above the 12th?

From a sound point of view.....where I've been able to compare what is essentially the same bass in both neck types I can tell a difference. For example, I found the Warwick neck-thru Thumb Fretless to be softer (less attack) and have better sustain than the BO version. When it comes to basses that come in one type or the other though I don't think I could say the same. For example from a neck thru perspective my Rick 4003 is hardly the smoothest, most sustaining bass out there and neither is my Status Streamline. On this basis I'm inclined to believe that electronics and wood/graphite materials (in that order) make a bigger difference to the sound than whether it is NT or BO.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1480601719' post='3185761'] Roughly 0.24 days. Happy to help. [/quote] Is a day 24 hours or 23 hours and 56 minutes though?

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1480408751' post='3184041'] I concur Mart. I still have that one and it's a beauty. Some say that the 30th is the best of the "modern" Stingray's; I'm sure some might disagree. Having said that, the Gilded White I just picked up is very close to the 30th in sound and feel. I now own more Stingray's than any other bass and I'm not quite sure how that happened. If you had asked me about 5-6 years ago, I was Fender through and through, flirting with other brands occasionally. I just don't play Fender in the Bowie band as it doesn't feel or sound like the right instrument in that context. [/quote] It is a peach H, still have slight pain sometimes over moving that one on but it was just too beautiful to gig and I was too precious about it. The 4003 that replaced it is still in the stable though so all ends well I guess. I'm back to 2 MMs (that's if you class the Sterling Sub USA as a proper MM - it certainly sounds the part) in the fleet after a bit of a swap out and ZERO Fenders.

Well, phase one of the transformation is complete, turning my ugly duckling Sub Sterling USA into a swan. The black lacquer on the neck had started to degrade, peeling and very sticky. Treatment with scotch rite pads etc only lasted a couple of gigs before the stickiness came back so something more drastic was in order. The back of the neck has been stripped back to bare wood and a vintage gloss tint applied. It was good to see a nice piec of maple under there. The back of the headstock has also been stripped, the serial sticker was carefully reapplied and all glossed over. The front of the headstock was left black, I'm not trying to pretend this bass is anything other than a sub, but the black was sprayed over with gloss. Phase two will commence next year, something to replace the 'artex' on the body to complete the transformation to swan.

I've had a few, but never a preeb. My first was a 1990 2eq, kept that for about 15 years, a very nice bass if a bit heavy. The nicest one For sound and playability was a 30th Anni. My current is a 2001 2eq which is very nice and has a highly figured neck. My conclusion is that there are good ones from all decades but you don't usually find a bad one.

[quote name='T-Bay' timestamp='1479659130' post='3178204'] Looking at the supplier you mentioned I can see why you would want to see the exact piece as there is so much variance. I haven't really thought about this before but do love that green birch burl finish. What sort of money are we talking about to do one? And how long does it take? I won't be able to afford it in the short term but would be interested once I have collected all the other bits I need. And you are close to me too (I grew up in Spondon and still visit my Mum yo there at least once a month). Feel free to pm me if you don't want to put figures on an open forum. [/quote] Same question from me Andy

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1479376063' post='3175992'] After all isn't that the point of further education, that you should learn how to think for yourself rather than simply regurgitating what you have been taught. I was on one of those 9-5, five days a week university courses in the late 70s and the information overload was a significant contributing factor to my failing the year and leaving. [/quote] Not entirely BRX, a degree like most other qualifications also serves to inform prospective employers and other bodies of your state of metriculation. We're you able to thrive and demonstrate your capabilities when put under time and academic pressure. I did a 9-5 degree in the early 80s, hardly any continuous assessment and lots of timed final exam summative assessment. I was lucky to get a Desmond. 7 years later I did a higher degree that was modular and got a first. I didn't get any better or cleverer in the intervening years.....

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1479147572' post='3174338'] Believe it... http://s1167.photobucket.com/user/FairfaxAikman/slideshow/Alembic-esque [/quote] Now that's just taunting! The bass is currently in Advanced Guitar Solutions in Sheffield having phase one of its beautification treatment....the horrible black gunky varnish is being stripped and the headstock sprayed over. The rear of the neck is having a vintage gloss tint applied. Not cheap, hopefully it will be worth it. Phase 2 will be removal of the 'cinnamon artex' that passes for paint on the body. I expect final cost will be more than if I'd bought a full fat Sterling but the sub is basically a 3 band stingray with the pup in series - a much better sound (to my ears) that the stock US Sterling.

Watching with interest Andy. I Think you could really help turn my ugly duckling MM usa Sterling sub into a swan.

My main gigging bass at the mo is a mm sterling sub usa. Been through a few full fat Stingrays and a US sterling but the sub just seems to have 'it'. Missing it badly as it is currently in the shop being transformed from an ugly duckling to a swan.....

[quote name='cd_david' timestamp='1478454042' post='3169136'] I love this bass. [url="http://s519.photobucket.com/user/cd_david/media/Basses%20To%20View/F7A6B436-72F3-4D86-A67A-9BF4B4ED0535_zpspu9kj68y.jpg.html"][/url] [/quote] I can see why.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1478463499' post='3169234'] I've felt like this and I'm nearing that age, the trouble is I think it might be me that makes the bands dodgy! [/quote] I wish there was a like button for this sort of post lol.

I've got a Sterling Sub (USA) that's apparently wired in series....unfortunately it's in the shop having the neck refinned....sorry no help there then.

[quote name='MoJo' timestamp='1476707472' post='3156446'] I've been giving this some thought this morning. I've often thought that my apparent need to swap gear every few months was GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome), but I realise now that it's just boredom or familiarity and wanting something new to play with. I've never had a lot of disposable income and have, in the past, owned basses that cost around the £200-£300 mark. A few years ago, I came into a little bit of money and decided to treat myself. I ordered a brand new Rickenbacker 4003. Once it arrived, I played it at a few rehearsals and one gig before coming to the conclusion that I fancied something else. I traded it with another BC'er for a 30th Anniversary Stingray, a great instrument but after a few weeks, I regretted letting the Rick go and got in touch with the guy I'd traded it with. Happily, he wasn't feeling the Ricky love and was happy to swap back. A few weeks later, I'd grown tired of the Rick (again) and agreed a trade with another BC'er for a beautiful US Fender Custom Shop Jazz. That was sold a short time later to a BC'er in Belgium IIRC. Each sale since that has resulted in small losses, until most of the £1800 I'd invested in the Rick had disappeared. I now sit here, looking at my Squier Jazz and think to myself, "What on earth did I think that I was going to find that was better than that Jazz? Why didn't I just hang onto that?" Even now, I have searches set up on Ebay and Gumtree, looking for the 'next bass'. When will I learn Has anyone else gone down this road? [/quote] Hi M, I was the guy with the Ray 30th if you remember. The irony of the story is that about a year or so later I traded another bass for a Rick 4003 and it turned out to be your old one so we ended up reunited. I've still got it and it gets used for the odd gig in my 80s covers band, All the best, Mart

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1476735563' post='3156862'] I love the band I'm with, but my situation , musical wants and needs are different than the other members. If I find something great if not I'm stuck in the 4 hour $125.00 a man world. Blue [/quote] That's my point Blue, you're ignoring comments from members you believe are in a different place to you. If you only recognise/take notice of comments that agree with your own then the request for comments is pointless.