chriswareham

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1397574681' post='2425283'] @chriswareham - what did yours sound like? I thought the youtube video up above made it sound OK, but not at all like a bass. [/quote] I used mine as a bass for several rehearsals with my old band, but we split before I got a chance to use it live. With a bit of tweaking on the amp EQ, I got a suitably thumpy bass tone and with chorus engaged it made a great instrument for Peter Hook style lead lines. At the time I bought it, I also tried a Schecter Hellcat and to me at least they felt the same to play. I eventually chose the Gretsch based on aesthetics, and I now regret selling it even though it would only get home use at the moment since I currently play in a heavily detuned metal band. I'd say that the bridge conversion on the one in the eBay listing is actually a bonus, since I foud the Bigsby trem a bit pointless.

I had one of these for a couple of years. It arrived tuned E-E but the guy in the music shop I bought it from thought it was an ordinary baritone and tuned it *up* to B-B, trashing the strings. A set of La Bellas later, and it was back to being a Fender VI scale six string bass. Despite the Gretsch branding, they're made in China. Build quality on mine was great but it was exceptionally light. The tremelo was fitted as standard, but only really there for aesthetics as far as I could tell since the bass would go straight out of tune with anything but the mildest pressure on it.

[quote name='Meddle' timestamp='1397420532' post='2423797'] Oh, I have a Retrovibe RV5 I can contribute towards this thread at some point when I get the camera out. [/quote] Would you be willing to provide a review for my Rickenfaker website (http://www.rickenfaker.info)?

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1397320654' post='2422813'] I thought the trouble was over Ric copies and not the real thing. There must be shops/dealers selling secondhand/vintage Rics and openly trading surely? Can't the BC rule be that real Rics are ok, sales of copies not allowed? [/quote] It's not just out an out fakers, if you can't categorically prove your instrument is a genuine Rickenbacker you run the risk of having the listing pulled on eBay or Gumtree. My suspicion is that RIC are trying to make it hard to trade real second hand Rickenbackers in order to restrict supply even further and push up the prices they can charge for new examples.

I wouldn't be happy to allow Rickenbacker sales on Basschat until RIC acknowledge that they are not legally entitled to block the private sale of other basses that bear a resemblance to theirs. Threatening legal action against the people who run Basschat really disgusted me, since RIC must know that their grounds for doing so are sketchy at best in the EU, and are therefore just using their greater financial resources to initimidate. That's my tuppence worth on the matter anyway.

I've got a set of black medical scrubs with the band name embroiderd across the chest where a hospital name would normally be. Thought they might make a change from the biker boots, leather trousers and black vest I normally wear. No conscious band uniform, but we wear black as a matter of routine and it does stand out amongst the surprisingly casual attire most bands seem to wear.

Headless basses aren't normally my cup of tea, but this is very nice: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hohner-The-Jack-Bass-V-Active-Passive-Headless-4-String-Bass-Guitar-Black/331167976140"]http://www.ebay.co.u...ck/331167976140[/url] I probably like them because they resemble the Status headless basses that the late Paul Raven used with Killing Joke: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znjRf1zh2fA[/media]

Could it be a Korean made one that was built from a different wood to the earlier Japanese ones? Just a supposition on my part that they used different woods, but it could account for the difference in weight.

[quote name='dudewheresmybass' timestamp='1396216603' post='2411159'] Chriswareham- the ex toilet on the edge of the park is the tunbridge wells forum. Played there a few times too! [/quote] Just checked, and that's the one. Great little venue as well - those Victorians knew how to build a toilet! Rereading this thread reminds me of another nightmare venue, but only because of what was going on elsewhere in the same building. It was a club in Liverpool, which seems to be a cursed place for me, in some sort of converted red brick industrial or warehouse building near the city centre. There was a fetish club on the first floor, and the bands were playing on the second floor. The dressing room was on the first floor though, which meant negotiating the length of the fetish club for a quiet pee or to raid the rider. Every time I went down there someone (male judging by the figure) in a gimp suit that inhibited their movement would frantically stumble after me all the time mumbling through their mask. Then I knocked our sequencer off the stage during the actual gig, but thankfully no one noticed as the sound man hadn't mixed any of our electronic backing into the front of house sound. The night was completed when we got to our digs at the promoters house, to find that her ex-boyfriend had broken in to steal the washing machine and panicing her dogs that had proceeded to crap prodigously all over the place.

[quote name='Back to Bassics' timestamp='1396186328' post='2410715'] What a great thread. And BTW, the Dew Drop in New Cross was a friendly little local. And chriswareham, was the Brighton gig upstairs at the Quadrant (RIP now, I believe)? [/quote] The Dew Drop was quite intimidating when I lived in New Cross in 1992-4 - the regulars included a bunch of crusty squatter types with a taste for heroin, hence the drug raid. Got threatened in there on one occasion by some dreadlocked cretin for wearing eye liner. Loved the New Cross Venue just across the way from it though, saw some great gigs there featuring goth and crusty bands like Alien Sex Fiend and Creaming Jesus. Brighton was a pub opposite the main railway station in 1998. I was in a band called Killing Miranda who had generated a bit of a buzz, which is probably why we had to play to two audiences in succession. I remember having blood running down the body on my prized Stingray bass by the end of the second set because I used to have an appalling playing technique with my wrist rubbing against the bridge until it blistered and bled.

There was a black Spoiler for sale on eBay a short while ago. Seriously tempted, as it was the same model of bass that Peter Steele from Type O Negative used for recording (he also used to use it live in the pre-Type O days). In his typically self-deprecating way he said he only used an Alembic because they're pretty much indestructible!

Assault and Battery - must include the massive keyboard sound though, and I could live without the annoying flute, but it's still my favourite Hawkwind song. Another vote for Hassan I Sahba as well.

Same body and headstock shape as my first bass, which was an Aria Pro II but would be 1990 vintage rather than 1981. Mine was passive, cost £225 new, and was awful.

Soreen malt loaves (guitarist brings them as well - they're great energy food).

Sorry to hear about the band ending. Only clicked through from the signature in one of your posts a few days ago and was impressed with what I heard - the Kate Bush comparisons are apt, as Kit has a great voice and the music is in a similarly experimental vein.

An Oncor synth guitar from 1979: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-1979-Oncor-sound-inc-Synth-Electric-Guitar-The-Poly-Touch-uber-Rare-/390798635373 According to the description it seems to use a fret contact system like the Vox guitorgan, which no doubt means some complex wiring but none of the lag associated with pitch conversion systems. What made me post this is the mention of a bass model, and Googling turns up some interesting pages.

I know what you mean - for instance in the mid 1980's it seemed like nearly all funk and pop bassists used a Stingray, but a few years later it was those Warwick Corvette things. Around the same time every indie, punk or goth bassist seemed to play a Precision. I seemed to be the exception with my Westone! In the last fifteen years I think the web's been a great leveller though, enabling people to indulge in all manner of basses via online shops where in the past they were limited to the handful of models their local music shop stocked. As a result, when I now go to gigs I'd would be surprised to see two bands featuring bassists with the same model of bass.

I had an AP100 Mk II back when I was a student. Best amp I've ever owned - clear, punchy sound with loads of volume. I now own a similarly designed Sound City 120 which is a cheaper alternative to both the Simms Watts and Hiwatt DR103.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1394625470' post='2393386'] Played with these last year... [/quote] Ooh I like that - psychobilly meets horror punk. The band name does bring back bad memories of a few nights at the Slimelight[1] though ... or the mornings after at any rate. [1] legendary goth and industrial club in London

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1394662264' post='2393906'] &--#60;p&--#62;You're correct - I didn't look carefully enough at the neck.&--#60;/p&--#62; &--#60;div id="myEventWatcherDiv" style="display:none;"&--#62; &--#60;/div&--#62; Edit: Why are my posts full of escaped HTML? [/quote] What operating system and browser are you using?

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1394650406' post='2393751'] I wonder how many players would just go back and be happy playing that first bass that they learned on. [/quote] First bass? No, as it was objectively an appalling instrument (Aria Pro II with a neck that couldn't be set up properly). But I'd be content with the the second bass I owned a year into playing (unidentified Peavey), which actually cost me less than the first one.

[quote name='lemmywinks' timestamp='1394617634' post='2393284'] It's just personal preference, I gig cheapys nowadays and they're actually very nice basses with nice pickups and comfortable necks. I really dislike bass snobbery and the whole "not good enough for me" ethos you get, especially for covers/function band players because obviously we all [i]need[/i] a new custom bass to play Good Times right? [/quote] Same here - I now gig with a "cheapy" with a wonderful neck that I got for a couple of hundred quid from eBay. The only difference I can see between something like a Squier or lower end Yamaha and basses in the £1000 to £2000 bracket is the materials - the Squier Jazz I owned was as nice to play as a US Fender for example, while the cheaper materials made it lighter and easier to move about with. The only reason I stuck with a Stingray for fifteen years was because of the neck, which had dimensions I couldn't find on anything cheaper and the only time I regularly see high end or custom basses (Foderas and the like) is in covers or function bands cranking out standards to a small room!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1394444513' post='2391277'] Or K-Log as he prefers to be known... [/quote] An Archer fan as well?

[quote name='Musky' timestamp='1394393574' post='2390991'] [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-x-BLACK-new-Washers-for-Swing-Top-Grolsch-Bottle-/281275947130"]http://www.ebay.co.u...e-/281275947130[/url] [/quote] And to quote from the listing: "[size="2"][font="Arial"]Now for you[u][b] gui[/b][/u][size="2"][u][b]tar[/b][/u][size="2"][u][b] players[/b][/u] out there [size="2"]i have been told that these make excellent guitar strap lock"[/size][/size][/size][/font][/size] [size="2"][font="Arial"][size="2"][size="2"][size="2"] [/size][/size][/size][/font][/size][size="2"][font="Arial"][size="2"][size="2"] [/size][/size][/font][/size]