chriswareham

Gretsch is owned by Fender now, so that would explain the pickups in the Coronado. I just sold a Gretsch Electromatic short scale that had the same pickups. It sounded great, very twangy and surprisingly bassy. Would have loved to have kept it, but I have a "three bass" rule and another short scale (semi acoustic like the Coronado) that was my 21st birthday present which I'll never part with.

It's not exactly bass related, but the description in this listing for a Solina String Enemble is incredible: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EXTREMELY-RARE-1973-EMINENT-Solina-String-Ensemble-Ver-2-NM-BIN-or-Make-Offer-/231044253444?pt=Keyboards_MIDI&hash=item35cb4f8704"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item35cb4f8704[/url] Firstly, ARP never took over Eminent - in fact Eminent outlasted ARP by five or six years. All String Ensembles were made by Eminent in Holland, and simply exported and rebadged for the US market with an ARP sticker on top of the Solina one. Secondly, the case of all Solinas were made from chipboard (or particle board as the Americans call it) with a veneer. The claim that what the case is made from affects the sound is utter cobblers - this is a completely electronic insturment and the case could be made from plywood without affecting the tone! Judging by the photos, the top and end panels have been replaced at some point but the front panel under the keys is the original light brown chipboard and veneer. Finally, it's worth $1,000 tops. I paid £250 for my version one Solina earlier this year, in poor condition but fully working. The only difference between a version one and version two Solina is that the latter has a button to switch off the ensemble effect - which I doubt anyone ever uses. I'm seriously considering reporting this listing, as it strikes me as deliberately misleading rather than just ill informed.

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1377551300' post='2188827'] Chris, I was at last years' bash - held in the same school - and the place is [b]huge[/b]! There will be no space problems, I'm sure. I've added you to the list [/quote]Brilliant! I hope to get a go on the Shergold that one of the other attendees is bringing. Never seen one "in the flesh" before, let alone had the chance to play one.

I'd love to attend, but just want to check that there will definitely be enough space if everyone brings the equipment they've listed! If space isn't an issue, then I can bring an Ampeg SVT CL with 1x15 and 4x10 cabs for amplification. On the bass front it would be a Stingray Stealth in drop Bb that people are welcome to play. Effects wise, I could bring my board which has Compulator, Darkglass B3K, EH Clone Theory and EH Electric Mistress.

[quote name='Les' timestamp='1377468887' post='2187992'] Any one fitted a push pull coil split to one of these ? [/quote] You could always ask Mark D Philips to do one of his bespoke pickup conversions .

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1377467277' post='2187957'] Well the clip is in California [/quote] I have to admit I was going off the video title, and had assumed it was shot in South Korea . I do seem to recall that the US ranks below South Korea (and a surprising number of other countries) in the corruption league tables though.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1377438729' post='2187492'] Also take a minute to think that it is a surprise this clip exists really as in the countries involved often free speech is not exactly an option is it? [/quote] Err, that's South Korea, not China or some other dictatorship. It's actually a pretty liberal place with decent democratic institutions and low levels of corruption. Now China on the other hand ...

Picked up my new baby today, and I'm thoroughly delighted with it. I travelled all the way from North London to Exeter on a nine hour round trip to collect a Hondo II Rickenbacker clone. It was briefly listed on eBay before some eagle eyed Rickenbacker snob presumably had the listing pulled. The seller got a notification that he was selling "counterfeit" goods, and that his listing would be removed. Fortunately I'd already sent a message to the seller, and subsequently arranged a price and to collect in person. On getting to Exeter, the bass proved to be completely original, even down to the set of strings that it left the shop with (light gauge flat wounds that you wont be surprised to learn are now completely devoid of tone). It also had protective cellophane on the scratchplate, which surprised me as I though this was a recent innovation. It's a 4001 copy, with the more delicate lower horn than the later 4003, and "button top" pickups. It also has a string damper, but the rubber has perished with age. The major difference from the Ricky 4001 is the bolt on neck, but apart from that it's surprisingly well made for what I understood to be the bargain end of the Japanese Ricky clones. It'll be off to a good luthier later in the week for renovation and a bloody good set up, but I can hardly wait to try it through a 1979 Clone Theory pedal for that authentic Peter Hook experience. The only question now is what to do with the Rockinbetter clone I recently bought, having despaired of ever finding a Hondo like Hookys!

As others have said, CNC milling has lowered the cost and increased the quality of budget guitars. The Chinese and other far Eastern factories are also a factor, as the exchange rate (deliberately kept low in some cases) makes exports cheaper in the destination markets. If I compare a Squier Jazz that I played recently with the horrendous Aria Pro II that was my first bass, the quality of the Squier is nothing short of amazing - for less than the Aria cost regardless of inflation!

Ian Marsh and Martyn Ware are great musicians. I absolutely love the first two albums they did with Phil Oakey as The Human League - and the sleeve note on the second album always amuses me; "contains synthesisers and vocals only". Kick started my love of analogue synths, and when I could finally buy one I got a Roland Jupiter 4, which was the synth used on not only the first two League albums but also on Dare.

The Ibanez Tone Lok series includes at least one fuzz pedal with a multi position switch that introduces increasing amounts of "speaker damage" into the tone. Not used one myself, but the bass player from London band Generation Graveyard uses one of the Ibanez Tone Loks to get a great distortion sound.

I can thoroughly recommend the Darkglass B3K. Check out the You Tube videos to see what it's capable of. I'd previously tried various things such as EH Muffs, a Rat and a Companion Fuzz clone with mid scoop control added to it. They all sounded awful on an active bass, but the Darkglass sounds great.

Hmm, tempting. The first decent bass I owned was a Thunder 1A, but mine was the one with the Precision style "split" pickup. Great action and tone, although it was surprisingly heavy. Traded it as a deposit on my first Stingray, but it would be nice to get another one for the nostalgia.

Irrational dislike? Anything made by Yamaha. I blame it on the Yamaha DX-7 synthesiser - sounded utter pish and was completely unprogrammable by the mere mortal. It started the trend for using naff preset sounding synth sounds that has continued to this day, and every synth manufacturer followed Yamaha's lead by producing digital synths with awful interfaces. I guess that's a reasonably rational dislike, but the irrational part is that I now consider anything made by Yamaha to be crap - even their basses, which by all accounts are great.

Here's my bedroom rig: Ampeg SVT Classic, 1x15 and 4x10 cabs. It's my gigging rig as well, and boy is it a sod to carry downstairs from the bedroom ... (The six string Gretsch Jet Baritone - same scale as a Fender VI - has now been replaced by a Rockinbetter). Some of the other junk that inhabits my bedroom studio: Roland TR-77, Roland Jupiter 4 and Oberheim OB-X - all with MIDI retrofits. I was inspired to get the Oberheim by the haunting synth sounds on Killing Joke's Night Time album. ARP Omni II and Solina String Ensemble - the main two synth models used by Joy Division, who used a Solina for Atmosphere before getting their ARP. Powertran Transcendent 2000, same model as the first synth owned by Joy Division. Melos echoes - the same two models as used by Martin Hannett. Joy Division also owned a Melo Echo Chamber that can be seen in some on stage photos. If you hadn't guessed, I'm a bit obssessive about Joy Division :-)

[quote name='iiipopes' timestamp='1375108654' post='2156763'] Good replacement pickups will cost more than the bass is now worth. Please save your money for a real Rickenbacker. [/quote] As I mentioned in my post, I didn't really like the neck on the real Ricks I tried. Even if I put the most expensive replacement pickups I've seen onto my Rockinbetter, the combined cost of bass and pickups would still be less than half the cost of a real Rick. For example, the Gemini pickups are £150 for a set, while the rather nice looking Classic Amplification ones are £175. The only other modification I'm going to make is to get a replacement truss rod cover that has nothing written on it (in the meantime I've taken a fibreglass pencil to the Rockinbetter one, which now says f***inbetter).

[quote name='martthebass' timestamp='1375098643' post='2156601'] TBH I think it depends on how authentic you want it to sound compared to a Rick. IIRC from my JD tribute band days I loaded it with so much effect I could have been playing a violin bass. I can't get any of my other basses to sound like my 4003 - If I could I wouldn't have bought it! But having said that I would've thought for the JD stuff you should get pretty close with your Ray - I did. If the problem is that it doesn't look like a Rick....sorry can't help yer there. [/quote]I'm not bothered about an authentic Rick sound, since most of Hooky's sound seems to be down to the Clone Theory chorus and a valve amp cranked up to overdrive. I can get those from my Small Clone and Darkglass pedals. I suspect Hooky's Hondo didn't sound all that Rick like anyway, as they seem to have been the bargain end of the Ricky clones. Towards the end of JD the Yamaha BB1200 put in an appearance as well. I just like the look of the replacement pickups, and the justification for buying the Rockinbetter was the fact my Stingray is tuned down to drop Bb with suitable neck adjustment for my main band. The RB gives me something in a conventional tuning.

Hi folks! I've just acquired a Rockinbetter bass, having failed to find a Japanese lawsuit era Rickenfaker. I'm a massive fan of Joy Division, and always liked the look of the Hondo that Peter Hook used for much of their existence. I have considered a real Rick on a couple of occasions, but both times I played new ones the necks were very awkward to play and they felt remarkably cheap considering the price tag. The Rockinbetter has a neck more like the Stingray I normally play, without the horrible laquered fretboard of the Ricks I've tried. [attachment=140009:rb.jpg] Anyway, I was wondering if any other owners on here have replaced the stock pickups. I'm considering the ones available from Classic Amplification, but I'm unsure how easily they will fit to a non-RIC bass. Cheers, Chris

[b]Overall Rating:[/b] 9 out of 10 (nothing's perfect, except my wife if she reads this). [b]Sound Quality:[/b] Transparent in use, you only really notice it if you crank the compress knob right up or when you turn it off after playing with it switched on for a while. If you don't want a compressor that colours yiour tone then this one is great. No noise apparent when used on it's own but it doesn't like sharing an unisolated power supply such as a 1 Spot with one of my other pedals (most likely an issue with the other pedal, but I thought it worth mentioning). [b]Reliability / Durability:[/b] Very solid steel chassis, with the controls and sockets securely fastened to it. Mine has survived numerous gigs over the lasty two years without showing any wear and tear. [b]Ease Of Use:[/b] Only two knobs - compress and level. I basically dial in the required amount of compression and then adjust the level to match the volume when the pedal is not engaged. There's also a recessed trim pot on the side to adjust the input level, but despite using a very "hot" active bass I've never needed to touch it. I felt no need to understand exactly how it worked, I just set the compress control to the mid position and tweaked it until it sounded right. [b]Reviewer Background:[/b] Been playing bass about twenty years, in bands signed to indie labels and with a number of commerically released album to show for it. Didn't start using compression until a couple of years ago, but now wouldn't be without it. [b]Purchased From:[/b] Bought new by phone order from a Demeter main dealer (Charlie Chandler's in Bath I think). [b]Price:[/b] £200. Not cheap, but not a silly boutique price either in my humble opinion. [b]Additional Comments:[/b] It uses a silly power connector - a bit like the "big box" Electro Harmonix pedals - rather than the more common Boss style one. Not a big deal as I just bought a regulated power supply from Maplins that came with a suitable adaptor. If the pedal broke, then I'd definitely get it fixed, and if I lost it I'd definitely get another one.

I tried a bunch of fuzz pedals recently, looking for a very specific sound. I tried an EH Double Muff, EH Bass Big Muff Pi and a BYOC Shin Ei clone with a custom mid-scoop (bit random that last one, but I fancied building my own pedal and the BYOC kits looked quite easy to put together). None of them gave me the tone I was after, which was something highly distorted but wihout much sustain. The fuzz pedals all seemed too buzzy and had no way to dial down the sustain. Then I saw a YouTube demo of the [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21ovdJJwjg0"]Darkglass B3K[/url]. The second example of the effected sound ("heavy distortion") was exactly what I was looking for. It can also do fuzz sounds, but it excels at the kind of distortion I associate with Motorhead. It also keeps the attack and bottom end intact, so I can even use it for fast parts played low on a detuned bass. May be what you're looking for, and the build quality is excellent - they're no longer made in Finland, but by a guy in the US who seems to have [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u02mNByC3s"]a thing about durability[/url].

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1373366125' post='2136650'] Definitely black! Can't you find strings with appropriate silk windings? [/quote] It's currently tuned for drop Bb, with the heaviest four strings from a five string set. I'm going to use strings designed specifically for detuning from [url="http://circlekstrings.com"]Circle K[/url] next time it needs restringing, and I don't think they have any silk windings at all which will look better than the red silk on the current set.

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1373326465' post='2136359'] See? I didn't even know they made a bass Electromatic! Its great! (imo much more worth than even a copy of a bass beginning with 'R' but I'd do nothing to discourage their purchase.) [/quote] From what I can gather, Gretsch are still owned by the founder's family but their guitars are now manufactured under license by Fender. As well as the high end stuff, they have some affordable models, including the solid body that I own as well as a rather nice semi-acoustic.

Hi folks, Been lurking here for a long time, but finally decided to join up and posted a few pics in the black bass topic. I've been playing bass for twenty years, in a mixture of punk, goth and industrial metal bands. Currently I play in a heavily detuned (drop Bb), female fronted industrial metal band called Inside The Circle. Always had a soft spot for chorused bass parts played either with double stops or over open strings, so I'm looking to put a fair bit of that into our songs. As well as an Electro Harmonix chorus, I also use a Darkglass B3K, which is quite simply the only distortion or overdrive pedal I've ever managed to get a good sound out of. Actually, that's doing it a disservice, as it's more than just good - it's bloody brilliant. My main bass is a Musicman Stingray - the third one I've owned, as I personally feel they're the best bass ever made. I also play a semi-acoustic sometimes, although the first time I used it live it fed back so badly it blew my junk shop valve amplifier up! Since progressed from the junk shop amp (which was a now very desirable Simms-Watts head) to an Ampeg SVT Classic and matching speakers. Was sorry to read the recent threads about the Rickenbacker woes, as I was hoping to buy a copy of the 4001 bass at some point. Always loved the look of them, but the genuine Rickenbacker ones I've played have always disappointed me. Since one my greatest bass heroes - Hooky - played a copy I tried out a few of them and liked one in partcicular but they now seem impossible to get hold of. Anyway, here's hoping I can pick up a few hints and tips from people here - particularly on getting specific tones. Cheers, Chris

And finally, a recent acquisition. Short scale, and very enjoyable to play. Probably going to part with it in the near future, since I want to buy a copy of a well known bass that begins with R ...

One of my other basses. It started life as a banana yellow colour, but was rebuilt a couple of years ago by the great guys at The Gallery in North London. It's medium scale in length, and has a surprising range of quite distinct sounds. I particularly like it for heavily chorused Peter Hook style stuff, which is a bit of a coincidence as Hooky started playing his Eccleshall semi-acoustic about a year or so after I got this bass.