chriswareham

[quote name='gsgbass' timestamp='1391374975' post='2356506'] A bit of a Rickenbacker body shape, and PG on it. [/quote] I think it might qualify as the first Rickenfaker as this model seems to have been made between 1971 and 1973.

If I was you I'd play safe and buy a Squier Jazz. They can be had new for around the £200 mark, or a little more if you go for one of the fancier "vintage modified" ones. The neck is narrower than a Precision, and should be much easier to get used to. The quality of the Squiers I've played has been excellent.

Despite the occasional dalliance with other basses, I keep on coming back to my Musicman Stringray. It has what is for me a perfectly proportioned neck, and I find the whole bass comfortable to use either sitting or standing for a considerable length of time. Sound wise, the EQ means I can get it to fit well in most of the rock related contexts I play in. I have tried Fenders for extended periods, and while I like the Jazz neck I found the one on Precisions feels like a tree trunk. As for the tone control(s) on a Fender Jazz or Precision, I found myself wondering what they're for as anything other than fully clockwise sounds awful!

I've actually had this bass a couple of months, but it had a couple of issues that I only recently sorted out. It arrived with a bridge cover, but on closer inspection it wasn't the original but a Fender style one that was hiding an equally unoriginal Jazz style bridge. Since this had wider string spacing than the original Kay bridge, the E and G strings were precariously close to the edge of the fretboard. The other problem was that the pickup surrounds were cracked, as the pickguard was such a bad fit that it was exerting pressure on them. I managed to snag another K-20B, and proceeded to put together the best of the parts from the two. The result is a completely original one in "tobacco burst": The scale is 30", and it now has a set of roundwounds rather than the rusty flatwounds it arrived with. The pickups are frankly amazing - I was hardly expecting a great sound from such a clearly budget bass, but it sounds extremely punchy with both pickups engaged. With just the bridge pickup it has more of the short scale sound I remember from my Gretsch Electromatic, and the neck pickup on its own is deep without sounding muffled. The body is some kind of plywood laminate, while the neck looks to be a single piece of wood. Thankfully it hasn't warped unlike many of the necks on these early far Eastern instruments. The bridge is extremely primitive, with two screws to adjust the height and another two to adjust the intonation of all four strings. The intonation is fine though, so I'm not sure why someone felt the need to put the Jazz bridge on it. I'm now left with another K-20B in blue, but minus a suitable bridge and with two broken pickup surrounds. Not sure what to do about the pickup surrounds, but I'm going to try and find a more suitable bridge - Googling around suggests a Bronco one is a good fit.

That's shaped exactly like the cat egg that one of the furry feline babies deposited in my slippers this morning.

In the building industry it's typical for the big building firms to stave off paying the small subcontractors until they go bust. Questions have been asked in parliament about this, but since the building firms give so much money in donations to the political parties bugger all has been done, That's why I didn't follow in the family tradition and go into the building trade, as my parents were determined I wouldn't have to put up with the late payment shenanigans. And that's before you even consider the Kafka-esque rigmarole of retention payments ...

Could be a Greco, as they seem to have had dot inlays. Japanese made, and appear to be more common in the US rather than Europe.

Type O Negative - My Girlfriend's Girlfriend The Chameleons - Souls In Isolation Motorhead - Killed By Death B Movie - Nowhere Girl

I think the Shetgold I played for a while had the E and A strings split from the D and G strings when using the "stereo" socket. I certainly remember sticking one half of the output straight into an amp and the other into a chorus prior to going into another amp. Makes sense as I used to do a lot of Peter Hook style stuff with chorused melodies and double stops on the higher strings over a drone on a lower string.

Loved the Dali's Car album. Didn't he also play saxophone in Japan as well as bass?

Stingray for me. I find Precision necks feel too chunky, and Jazz necks too narrow. The Stingray feels like it has the width of Precision, but with less depth to the back of the neck. Suits my hands perfectly. Sound wise, I find I can leave the EQ flat on rehearsal room or shared back line amps and just use the three band EQ on the 'Ray. Never had a problem with the scooped mids, even with my previous two band EQ 'Ray, although I do find myself boosting the mids on occasion now that I have the option.

Interesting bit of Jap Crap here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1960s-JAPANESE-BASS-GUITAR-SILVERTONE-GUYATONE-TEISCO/181303806222 Strikes me as overpriced, but the seller is open to offers. I've now got two cheap and surprisingly not-nasty Kay short scale basses, otherwise I'd consider giving it house room.

A recent listing for a Hondo copy which had "Rickenbacker copy" in the title was pulled.It was immediately relisted under the same eBay account but with no mention of Rickenbacker, and it then ran to completion. I was surprised, since other people have said that their accounts are locked when a listing is pulled for selling allegedly "counterfeit" goods.

Robert Smith of The Cure really liked his Top Twenty guitar, insisting on using it against the wishes of producers and studio engineers. Later on he transplanted the pickup into a more upmarket guitar that he still uses.

That cabinet is an utter bargain, and only a couple of miles from me. Too short of cash to buy it though :-( The SVT 450 isn't so great though, I had one before getting a CL. The solid state 450 was very aenemic and surprisingly quiet.

[quote name='lowregisterhead' timestamp='1389448767' post='2334262'] As a young boy, I was always hankering after a 'Top Twenty', the Woolies brand. Not sure if they did a bass, but here's the guitar version, perhaps only slightly less hideous than the Satellite and Kay offerings... same factory, perhaps? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Top-Twenty-single-pickup-model-from-the-sixties-/290870375530"]http://www.ebay.co.u...s-/290870375530[/url] [/quote] Found one of those guitars in a junk shop when I was a teenager. Paid £20 for it in 1991 or thereabouts. Took it round to a guitarist friend's house, all excited at the prospect of learning lead guitar, only to be told that it had a neck so warped as to be unplayable. Gave it to another guitarist friend who had built his own guitar at sixth form college, and he cannibalised it for the electronics.

Something a bit left field, Vengeance by New Model Army. But there again I find RHCP and Jamiroquai utterly tedious.

Try Terminal in Londonbridge. Great equipment. soundproofing and facilities.

Not my cup of tea, but I know some on here lust after these: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ned-callan-gigsaw-bass-guitar-early-70s-rare-/321286767730"]http://www.ebay.co.u...e-/321286767730[/url] I believe there was a connection between Ned Callan and Shergold, as well as amp manufacturer Simms-Watts.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1389009157' post='2328629'] As a bass player unless I was expected to just double up the guitar part an octave lower (in which case I probably wouldn't be in the band) I find not matching the guitarists tuning to be far more versatile as it makes you think more about the notes you are playing, and allows you to come up with far more unexpected bass lines. [/quote] For most metal with drop tuned lead guitars, having the bass drop tuned as well is pretty essential. Without it your not going to be able to add the low end when the guitarist needs it (when soloing for example). For a lot of metal riffing, you bass parts will sound like they've got missing notes if you have to go for a higher note just because you're in standard tuning rather than dropped.

[quote name='spacey' timestamp='1388928862' post='2327678'] They did not as they were not invented, but comparing them to other instruments of the time, they were comparable. It's more about the brand, where next Fender from Koesung North Korea ? There is always a market for the best, come on Fender ! [/quote] I used to own an industrial model PDP-11 computer that came from a 1970s CNC machine, so they definitely existed back then. Peavey actually undercut Fender and others by offering an extremely high quality, US made bass guitar (the T40) at a very low price thanks to the use of CNC machines. The CNC machining meant they were quicker to make, with much better consistency than Fender could manage.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1388959518' post='2328231'] That is nice, and it's already at a quite healthy price after two bids. If it hasn't finished yet, there's also a Kay which is a very poor copy of a bass by a well known litigious American company as well. [/quote] And a Hondo. It's been listed before, but got pulled for mentioning that word. Listed again minus the offending word, but I'd not be surprised if it's pulled again.

[quote name='Oopsdabassist' timestamp='1388942226' post='2327886'] Love the paintjob, not so happy with the Jacksonesque pointy headstock [/quote] My feelings too. If it had a nicer headstock I'd seriously consider getting it to match my snakeskin tattoo:

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1388949930' post='2328042'] There seem to be a number of not very nice looking Kay basses on ebay at the moment. E.g. this. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-KAY-Bass-GUITAR-/161190918422?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2587ba3916"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item2587ba3916[/url] Now, where's that 'Do not want!' image when I need it? [/quote] That's one of three of those Gibson EB type Kays on eBay at the moment. But there is a nice looking later model Kay bass on there as well: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KAY-Bass-guitar-Thru-Neck-Vintage-Japan-/121245668282

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1388945686' post='2327954'] DDDDFDFDF-G-F Or at least that`s what I play and it fits. [/quote] Listening with headphones I get this: [size=3][font=courier new,courier,monospace]VERSE G|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------| D|------------------------|-2--2--3--3--2--2-------|------------------------|-2--2--------2--2-------| A|-0--0--2--2--3--3--5--5-|-------------------3--3-|-0--0--2--2--3--3--5--5-|-------3--3--------3--3-| E|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------| CHORUS G|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------| D|-------2-----2--3--2----|----------------2-------|------------------------|------------------------| A|-5--------5-----------3-|-0-----3--0--5-----5--3-|-0--0--2--2--3--3--5--0-|-0--0--2--2--3--3--5----| E|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------| CHANGE G|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------| D|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------| A|------------------------|-------------------2--2-|-3--3--3--3--5--5--5--5-|-------0--0--0--0--0--0-| E|-1--1--1--1--3--3--3--3-|-4--4--4--4--5--5-------|------------------------|------------------------| ENDING G|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------| D|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|-------------2--2--2--2-| A|------------------------|------------------------|-2--2--2--2--3--3--3--3-|-5--5--5--5-------------| E|-1--1--1--1--3--3--3--3-|-4--4--4--4--5--5--5--5-|------------------------|------------------------|[/font][/size]