chriswareham

[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1481203153' post='3190473'] How much are they typically? I've told Mrs Knob to get me one if she's ever short of present ideas. [/quote] There are lots of listings on eBay selling new sousaphones made in India. They look great and are affordable ... but the intonation is almost invariably out and they're really nothing more than a display item rather than a usable instrument. Second hand sousaphones pop up occasionally, sometimes they're for very high fixed prices upwards of £800 but they don't end up selling. Then there are the few at affordable prices or auctions that sell in the £200 to £300 bracket. I missed out on one when was outbid with seconds to go :-(

Harmonium and Tubon. I'd love to learnt to play the sousaphone, but I can't find an affordable one :-(

[quote name='1970' timestamp='1480754848' post='3186871'] Yep I picked up a 80s GK 800RB for a decent price. [/quote] And I've just had the pair of SWR Big Bens. Flightcased, and used to belong to Simple Minds!

I do have a mild desire to own this Orfeus, which makes a virtue of it's laminated construction:

By the way, Pearl is a Japanese musical instrument company that are most famous for their drums. They probably didn't make this bass guitar themselves, as there were a number of factories that made them for various other companies and foreign importers. I have seen very similar, possibly identical versions of your bass guitar with other brand names - such as "Seville" for example:

Looks like an early 1970s, Japanese made copy of a Fender Jazz Bass. There should be a metal plate with screws on the back where the neck meets body, and it often has "Made in Japan" engraved on it. I'd say it's early 1970s since the pickups (the metal covered things under the strings) are not like Fender ones but are typical of earlier Japanese and other far Eastern made copies of American designs. It could be a very good instrument, but quality was quite variable at this point in Japanese guitar building, and they don't fetch very high prices. They do have their fans though, who refer to them affectionately as Jap Crap - not in a derogatory way, more of a tongue in cheek way. We have a member who goes by the name of Bassassin, and he's the expert on these kinds of instruments - he'll probably notice and post a reply soon, but if not I'll message him.

I love eighteen inch speakers, and when Alex asked in a Basschat thread for ideas I suggested he try his hand at a cab with one. I didn't think he'd really do it though!

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1480039210' post='3181267'] I agree and more. Cumulatively I think they never quite nailed what customers expected after Level 42 broke up and Britfunk was replaced by grunge. [/quote] The association of TE with "Brtifunk" was what put me and other bassists I knew off of their kit. We assumed it was designed solely for that slap sound, and never realised they actually make for great "rock" amps. Same problem with Hartke, although in their case those foil cones on the speakers really did make for a sound with more punch than bottom end. [quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1480039210' post='3181267'] Trace Elliot were fantastic in the late 80's. Cool looking amps, innovative, the Series 5 offered a great PA based sound. Series 6 was my least favourite range - the amps were both underpowered and lacking warmth. I liked the SMX range, particularly with the dual band compression but by that point they were too limited in terms of patching potential to use with my other gear. [/quote] I use an SMX series head when I'm not bi-amping, and it's very, very loud. Not sure what you'd want in the way of more flexibility since it has effect loop sockets and the tone controls are capable of a lot of sound "sculpting".

[quote name='mattjones_81' timestamp='1479028750' post='3173330'] Sorry to resurrect a very old thread but just saw this and wanted to say that I was the enthusiastic Bath based bassist who collected Witterth's 2x18 trace elliot cab. I do still have it - Here is the most recent version of it! [url="http://s298.photobucket.com/user/mattjones_81/media/doom%20rig.jpg.html"][/url] It has been around the country with me, played many gigs, been used in recording of two albums and been a reliable monster of a cab. Would also like to say a big public THANK YOU to Witterth for his incredibly generous act of letting me have the cab - it really helped me further my playing and experience at a time when I had no money and needed help. I hope one day in the future to pass it on to someone else who could use it one day! [/quote] Wow! That's similar to my valve rig - a somewhat modified Sound City 120 Mk IV coupled with either an SWR Big Ben 18" speaker or Ampeg 810E. I'm actually on the hunt for another Big Ben and then the Ampeg will be retired in favour of the two 18" speaker cabs.

[quote name='pete.young' timestamp='1479832442' post='3179662'] It's been quiet in here for too long! Reasonable looking Maya, respectable price, collection from Sandhurst: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Maya-electric-bass-guitar-uk-only-/272453042984?hash=item3f6f778328:g:vg4AAOSwPCVYBQ3e"]http://www.ebay.co.u...g4AAOSwPCVYBQ3e[/url] [/quote] I've just bought that (made an offer of £100 that was accepted) as my brother lives local to the seller and can collect. I've now ordered the following replacement parts, all in black: Machine heads. String retainer. Bridge. Strap pins. Control panel and knobs. Single ply scratch plate. If I don't like the pickups then I'll stick a Di Marzio DP123BK set in, which have black covers and pole pieces. Now to find someone who can strip the body and refinish it in a satin matt finish like my old Stingray Stealth!

I bought Steve's SWR Goliath II cabinet. Great guy to deal with, who provided a much needed cup of tea when I arrived to collect the cab on a bitterly cold evening!

I don't think these come up often, a Trace Elliot 8x10: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322330217855"]Trace Elliot 8x10 Bass cabinet[/url] Being sold by the bass player of an excellent band called "The Men That Not Be Blamed For Nothing", who are well worth checking out.

The Peavey mentioned above was the 1810 which was later renamed the 1820. It was an 18" Black Widow and two 10" Scorpions. I used one for years, and Peter Steele of Type O Negative used a pair of them. There was also a 3620 which had two 18" Black Widows. One came up for sale on eBay last year and I was tempted, but sanity prevailed. As for the Trace BFC, there's one in the storage room at the rehearsal studios we use. Looks mint condition, probably because they don't have the head to go with it so it's sat unused for as long as I've been going there.

[quote name='ZilchWoolham' timestamp='1478986816' post='3173211'] Surely everyone recognises the mighty tubon! Actually, I used to be a big Kraftwerk fan, and Ralf Hütter played one on their first record (the closest thing to a synth on that album), and I also have a bit of a penchant for analog synths and old and arcane musical equipment in general. I had thought, for some reason, that the tubon also had some type of connection with Harald Bode, but it appears I was wrong on that one. [/quote] I never knew about the Kraftwerk connection! They were popular with Swedish folk and pop bands, and there is a backstage picture of Paul McCartney mucking about with one that belonged to a Swedish band that were supporting The Beatles. Some people claim The Beatles actually used one, but I'm not sure that's certain - it's probably a myth that grew out of that picture of McCartney with someone else's Tubon. They're basically a monophonic organ, and sound very haunting when put through effects such as an analogue delay. The guy that sold me mine claims that the broken one has "bassy" tones, whereas the working one has high pitched "fluty" tones. My working one certainly doesn't sound like the ones I've heard on YouTube, but perhaps it's a consequence of some further modifications that may have been done to it's circuitry.

[quote name='ZilchWoolham' timestamp='1478890457' post='3172558'] Good lord, is that a tubon? [/quote] Yup! I own two of them that I acquired from a former member of a folk band. The one in the picture is completely original and in immaculate condition - but doesn't work. I plan on getting it repaired at some point, plus the 4 pin DIN audio socket converted to audio on two of the pins and power on the other two (the second pair of pins were originally meant to be shorted out to turn the battery power on). The other one I own is working, and has been modified with a conventional 1/4" jack socket. It also has had vibrator depth and speed controls added at some point. Now I'm intrigued to know how you recognised it :-D

A few months ago I bought a Hondo Precision copy to experiment with new strings. It's the HD830B model (D for DiMarzio pickup, B for bass), which is a very faithful copy of the real thing and from the era when the owners of the Hondo brand had people from the Japanese manufacturers improving the quality at their Korean supplier. Shortly after this model, Hondo switched to the more pointy "Fame" era headstocks and some production switched to Japan. So apart from being on the rather heavy side, these are actually great basses - so much so that I snapped up another one as a backup. That one looks like it's never been played - complete with DiMarzio sticker, pickup handrest and bridge cover.

1. Hondo Precision copy 2. Greco Rickenfaker 3. Jolana Rickenfaker

"How does your bass make you feel?" Moist.

I sold my favourite bass in a moment of madness. I was going through a divorce and not thinking straight I guess. It eventually found its way to Paul S, and he reunited it with me about a month ago as he mentions in his post above. It even acquired a nice case in its travels! So what is it? A Jolana D Bass, which is a mid 1980s Rick 4001 shaped four string with P/J pickups.

Wow, "Marlin" and "Professional" on the same piece of equipment. Talk about an oxymoron!

The bass player from Mega City 4 was well known for disliking stage divers and other pointers who'd scramble onto the stage at their gigs. His solution was a large booted foot on the offender's arse and then shoving them into the wings.

I have gigged my Hondo Precision (the one with Fender style headstock rather than the later Fame series). Quite heavy, but it has the original DiMarzio pickup and sounds great. Cost me £85 including shipping.

I use their strings for a bass in drop Bb. They provide the tension of normal strings in conventional EADG tuning. No more slack tension or strings slipping of the sides of the fretboard!

I recently bought Chris's Yamaha BB1200 from him. Beautiful bass, exactly as described, and Chris was excellent to deal with.