Happy Jack

Roll the clock (calendar?) forward a few years, and I bought this: [URL=http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/media/Basses%20CURRENT/Westone%20The%20Rail%201985%20CURRENT/The%20Rail%20-%20body%201_zpsxs96b9au.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/h4ppyjack/Basses%20CURRENT/Westone%20The%20Rail%201985%20CURRENT/The%20Rail%20-%20body%201_zpsxs96b9au.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Because it's is still as cool as f*** and I already knew that the slidey-pickup thang actually works. Only now I knew what I'd learned in the meantime. This one had the original pickup still in place, and sounded good enough that I actually gigged it, but there was plenty of room for improvement. When The Rail was being designed, the Japanese guys responsible have long since admitted that they did it as a gimmick, never expected it to amount to much, so they skimped on the electrics. What this bass needed was new and better electronics.

Back in the dim and distant past, in the days when I foolishly owned far too many basses (as if I would still do such a thing ... ahem), I bought this: [URL=http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/media/Basses%20SOLD/Westone%20The%20Rail%201986%20SOLD/DSCF4244.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/h4ppyjack/Basses%20SOLD/Westone%20The%20Rail%201986%20SOLD/DSCF4244.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Because it was cool as f*** and I was interested to know if the slidey-pickup thang actually worked. Well the answer was yes, it did work very effectively, but that wasn't enough to salvage a truly crap-sounding bass. There was nothing [i][b]wrong [/b][/i]with the bass, as such, it was just really dull and dreary and gave me no reason to ever pick it up and play it, let alone gig it. So I sold it. Stupid of me really, because some fairly simple research would have revealed that my Rail had been retrofitted with an after-market Schaller pickup, and what's more a pickup designed to be fitted near the bridge where the string spacing is at its widest. Played in my preferred neck position, the E and G strings were not centred over the pole pieces, and the Schaller seems anyway to have been pretty low sensitivity.

Good Lord! Anyone would think that £955 was a lot of money. Oh very well then ... buy this instead: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/What-Duck-Done-Study-of-bassist-Donald-Duck-Dunn-/201550914584?hash=item2eed5ee418:m:mH75R9A8SAznefibKcPXkBA

I've now been reading threads like this for longer than I care to mention, and I still don't get the whole "sustain" thang. I routinely play in a bunch of different bands, and I tend to play different basses in each ... electric 5-string fretted, double bass, EUB, fretless 4-string, etc. As you might guess, each band plays a different style of music. How many times in the last year has it been important to me that a bass note rings out and sustains, i.e. lasts a bit longer than all the other bass notes I play? Well the number is definitely greater than zero. But not much greater. Certainly nowhere near enough to warrant spending more than 50p.

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1459331027' post='3015434'] Serious mix 'n' match bodgefest, that looks to me. I don't know a huge amount about these, but this (mostly) looks MIJ to me, am I right in thinking these are not particularly sought-after by Voxanistas? Neck & body definitely don't look related so the hardware (which I'm 99% sure is MIJ) may be donated. Might be an interesting project for £125 or so but this price is a joke. Jon. [/quote] As far as I can see, except where the ad states otherwise, all the hardware is original. Have a look at http://www.voxshowroom.com/us/guitar/vg4.html I've dealt with priscillasnake many times in the past - completely straight.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1459284704' post='3015196'] Made to resemble Jim Rodford's Strat IIRC. [/quote] Shurely shome mishtake? Russ Ballard, maybe?

https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-musicians-wanted/bass-player-to-play-trevor-bolder/1161513201

Nice bass but surprised at how little info Priscilla gives. That's a short scale hollowbody with fairly narrow string spacing. It would originally have had a small white pickguard. Judging by the pickups and their positioning, I'd expect that bass to sound really quite Hofner-ish. A wrecked example needing restoration sold here on BC a few years back. This might even be the same bass.

I do a smallish number of multi-band charity gigs each year, but almost invariably with King Ralph. The significance of that is that in King Ralph I am a mere sideman ... I arrange nothing and book nothing, I bring nothing to the gig except me and my bass, if I get paid for [u][b]any [/b][/u]King Ralph gig I see that as a nice surprise, and King Ralph is strictly a local steam-punk outfit so the gigs are always in nearby pubs. It follows that I don't really care how late we start, how long we play for, or how thin the crowd is. It's just a bit of fun and (allegedly) it's for [i][b]CHARIDEEEEE[/b][/i]!!! It helps that every King Ralph gig, without exception, is a giant leap into the unknown. The only guarantee is that every song will be as much of a surprise to those playing with Ralph as they will be to the audience. Set list ... Choice of key ... Tempo ... Structure .. all are entirely optional and up for grabs. It keeps me young.

I assume you already have a copy of http://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Duck-Done-Tim-Tindall/dp/0970138903

It's a bit embarrassing, but I haven't had my '57 Precision from new ...

The only way to introduce The Band is to start by saying, "On drums, Mr. Levon Helm!"

Well that video hasn't uploaded at all well ...

I'm very happy with this: http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/library/Basses%20CURRENT/Dean%20Edge%208-string%202006%20CURRENT Prices vary, but most dealers will haggle. A lot.

Are you actually Japanese? Or are you aware of mortally-offended Japanese bassplayers on whose behalf you are being offended? Or do you just like being offended? There's more than enough stuff going on in this world that is genuinely offensive to keep people busy. If you don't like the topic title, read another topic.

You clearly know nothing about the origins of this expression (motorbikes of the 60s and 70s), or the fact that it is deeply ironic and a reflection of the fact the Japanese were making "our" inventions far better than either the Brits or the Yanks ... omigod, more racist epithets. The expression in connection with bass guitars results from the observed fact that Japanese copies of Fenders were better than US-made originals. So much so that Fender actually bought the Japanese factory and had them build the first Japanese Fenders. All of the above was easily researched without tossing the word "racist" around. Get a life.

Someone has put in a bulk order?

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1458645317' post='3009300'] (though I've yet to go grey, which is a bonus). [/quote] Shave it. Sorted. Works for me, anyway.

Where's Sue Ryder when you need her?

Headless parts supplier? Are ISIS involved?

In bridged mode that will certainly drive the cab, but (as many other threads here on Basschat explain) the number of Watts an amp is rated for is actually a very poor way of measuring how "loud" your rig will be. Although that JB power amp claims 400W, and may even deliver it measurably, how "loud" it will make your bass depends on SO many other factors. By way of comparison, one of my rigs uses a W-Audio Horizon amp very similar to the one you're looking at, only it's rated 1100W in bridged mode. I play through Barefaced cabs which are (by general agreement) very sensitive, i.e. loud. That 1100W doesn't sound anything like as loud as you might expect from the rating alone, and that amp is simply not as "loud" as when I use my Aguilar Tonehammer 350 which in theory only has one third the output. If it's at all possible, I'd recommend trying that amp before you buy it. If you have no choice but to buy it unseen, then my advice would be to pass. If you're anywhere near Acton, you're welcome to come and try my W-Audio and TH350 back to back, to see what I mean.

[quote name='darkandrew' timestamp='1458377300' post='3007015'] On the flip side, I also once had to play that Slade Christmas song (Merry Christmas Everyone?) and I thought I was going to hate it but actually quite enjoyed it in the end. [/quote] [i][b]Merry Xmas Everyone[/b][/i] was by Shakin' Stevens. [i][b]Merry Xmas Everybody[/b][/i] (a completely different title, I'm sure you'll agree) was by Slade and largely written by Jim Lea, the bass player, which is why the bass line is so prominent and such fun to play.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1456769601' post='2992085'] Is that book in English? My German is a bit too primitive to understand a whole book on guitars. And I may just take you up on that offer some time. Thanks again! [/quote] That book is in both German and English translation. In truth, so much of it is strictly factual (photographs with legends etc.) that even schoolboy German would be pretty much sufficient. Any time you're in London, give me a bell.