NancyJohnson

Music aside, at 20 I just wanted to distance myself from my parents. Right now (and recently orphaned), I wish they were still about. My only regret from that period is that I didn't at least try and live in the United States or Canada for a while. I was obsessed with the idea.

Get Rob to break out the termites and put some LEDs in it.

Current offers for the shootout below. I've added my old beater P at #15 but will withdraw it if we get a regular Jazz or a Jakes or Elwood (perhaps their owners are bricking it). BASS SHOOTOUT These are the basses lined up to test against your ears: i) Rickenbacker 4003 (Chis/ezbass) ii) Wal Mk1 (Trev/TrevorR) iii) Aria SB700 (Trev/TrevorR) iv) JR Bass JM4 (Jabba_the_gut/Jez) v) Spector NS2 (Cetera/Gary) vi) Epiphone Thunderbird - one of the new ones I think (Cetera/Gary) vii) Gibson Thunderbird (SilverfoxNik/Nik) viii) Fender Precision (GraemeR) ix) Fender Jazz Deluxe (GraemeR) x) Sire Marcus Miller V7 (GraemeR) xi) Mike Lull JAXT4 (mine!) xii) Warwick Streamer DoubleBuck (rodfunnell) xiii) 1978 MusicMan Stngray (rodfunnell) xiv) xv) Aria Pro II Primary Bass (P-Bass) (mine!)

I'm sorry, but this. When I had no money, it was all about boiling up strings to give them a bit more life, but then I was just buying crap strings. Elixirs are brilliant. The set on my Aria have been on there - because I keep a log of these things - since 13th February 2017 (17 months) and they still sound zingy. Just buy better.

This is where we are so far. Want to avoid five stringers at this juncture (thanks for the offers though); I'd love if we could have a non-deluxe/regular Jazz as well and a Stingray. We also have provisional offer of a 60s or 70s Rickenbacker (unconfirmed what/which at the moment). I might throw my old Aria Pro II P in as well. BASS SHOOTOUT These are the basses lined up to test against your ears: i) Rickenbacker 4003 (Chis/ezbass) ii) Wal Mk1 (Trev/TrevorR) iii) Aria SB700 (Trev/TrevorR) iv) JR Bass JM4 (Jabba_the_gut/Jez) v) Spector NS2 (Cetera/Gary) vi) Epiphone Thunderbird - one of the new ones I think (Cetera/Gary) vii) Gibson Thunderbird (SilverfoxNik/Nik) viii) Fender Precision (GraemeR) ix) Fender Jazz Deluxe (GraemeR) x) Sire Marcus Miller V7 (GraemeR) xi) Mike Lull JAXT4 (mine!) xii) xiii) xiv) xv)

Sorry, but there was no leading on or inference of this in the OP. As I've mentioned, I've been aware of this bass for many many years and the price (at $8k was a tad speculative) isn't an issue either. My main point was how the guy was just sweetness and love when he could smell a sale, but did a 180 and became accusatory when I said 'no' to him. The message about being a time waster and just wanting pictures was something akin to the reaction of a seven year old on the playground. All we're trying to do here is share and discuss our experiences both good and bad.

Good grief. I'm sorry, but generally that's how I roll, I'll take photos and send them over. If a deal falls over, it's very unlikely I'm going to start shooting someone messages accusing them of being a tyre-kicker, just wanting photos of the bass. Then a couple of weeks later to send over another message saying it was on sale elsewhere. The seller is a knob. Plain and simple.

"Mr Cadwallader"

BASS SHOOTOUT These are the basses lined up to test against your ears: i) Rickenbacker 4003 (Chis/ezbass) ii) Wal Mk1 (Trev/TrevorR) iii) Aria SB700 (Trev/TrevorR) iv) JR Bass JM4 (Jabba_the_gut/Jez) v) Spector NS2 (Cetera/Gary) vi) Epiphone Thunderbird - one of the new ones I think (Cetera/Gary) vii) Gibson Thunderbird (SilverfoxNik/Nik) viii) ix) x) xi) xii) xiii) xiv) xv) I have provisional offers for a Sire Jazz, Fender P and a Fender J from a guy attending who doesn't post here so much. I had a coffee with prowla/Paul on Saturday, he's kindly offered to throw one of his vintage Ricks into the fray. It would be good to get a Stingray into the mix, along with a Maruszczyk or two. Dependent on how many offers we get, I may need to cull some and just keep it to the more well known basses with a couple of wildcards. Don't hate me for this. I'd like to make the list final the day before, just so I can produce a final list and something we can all fill in and mark. PLEASE BRING A PEN ON THE DAY. If you want to be included, please add your bass(es) to the list. We don't need dozens, let's try and limit it to 15 as time is limited and we're all easily bored. Just to confirm, we'll push everything through my gear (racked pre/power and the Barefaced). We'll be doing clean/dirty and pick/fingerstyle. A couple of minutes for each bass. I'll be hosting, the wonderful Gary PB will be behind the curtain picking his way through 80s AOR classics like Journey's Don't Stop Believin' or Carry On Wayward Son by Kansas. Please note, there will be no slappin' or a poppin'. Requests directed to this rock god for this abhorrent playing style may lead to a punishment of standing in a corner for 15 minutes.

In addition to the Barefaced and TKS cabinets above, I'd be interested in an opinion of the Vanderkley 112MNT-Neolite cabinets. This would do:

Sadly, sometimes it does. It's funny...the early Nancy Johnson guys, well, we all get on famously, despite the hirings and firings, in fact two of the first lineup of that band are also in Lutz, the new project. I guess that the standard operating procedure early on was more about having a hoot than being too serious. That said, what the band eventually evolved into couldn't have been any more different. I doubt whether I'll ever speak to any of them face to face again.

OK, just an update on the bass shootout, confirmed I have: Gibson Thundrbird IV Rickenbacker 4003 Spector NS2 Epiphone Thunderbird (one of the new ones) Mike Lull JAXT4 I have a provisional nod from a mate who is attending (who doesn't post here) that he'll make a Fender Precision, a Fender Jazz and a Sire of some sort available. I'll bring along some other stuff. It would be nice to have a couple of Warwicks, a Stingray, a Wal perhaps.

Just watch this and Gypsy. Neil Finn looks pretty comfortable in the role really and it'll no doubt help him to shift more Crowded House albums. I know you probably all know me for doing the punky stuff, but Rumours and Tusk hold a very special place in my heart (I may have to listen to these tomorrow). Still cracks me up that Mick Fleetwood still wears the balls.

Reinterpretation, my friend. 😄

Well, two weeks after the seller offered me this bass for $8,000, then accused me of being a tyre-kicker and just wanting photos of his bass, he's just sent me a message saying it's up on Reverb if I'm interested. I just checked and the price is now $10k. Jeebus!

I've never really felt I needed a Stingray, but the new range is making me a bit moist to be honest. The roasted necks look beautiful, the bridge looks a whole less clunky than the old model. If I was on the market for one, I reckon an HH, stealthy black, ebony board. Stingrays aside, the stealth St Vincent HH is a beautiful thing to behold.

Ok, time to weigh in. I've owned about a dozen Gibson Thunderbirds over the last fifteen years, although none were 60s models. While I'd say a couple were probably keepers, they were in general all great basses except for the NR, which took an age to sort out. I eventually moved them all on as I moved over to Mike Lull basses a couple of years ago (see elsewhere). As per BigRedX, please do not for one minute think that just because the Epiphone models look like the Gibsons that they're identical, especially as they have the Gibson pickups. Honestly, this view turns my stomach, much in the same way owners of Rockinbetters (or whatever they're called) or Chickenbackers insist their basses play and have that growl like the real thing, because they don't nor will they ever. The Epiphones are just copies and putting a Gibson truss rod cover on it doesn't mean anything...it'll still be an Epiphone. Now I've got that out of the way (and relax), for little more than the price of a new Epiphone, you could buy yourself a used Gibson and probably recover your money on it when you decide to sell it on. Just go the whole piggy and get a Gibson. End of.

Gary has agreed to show off his chops...

Yep. Turn everything off and turn all the volumes down. Just in case you felt like skipping over this, I'll repeat. Turn everything off and turn the volumes down. Plug your bass into the pre-stage and then plug the pre-stage into the effects return on the Ashdown. Next (and this might sound weird), if you have a spare jack-plug or even one of those headphone mini-jack to 1/4" jack-plug adaptors, plug this into the normal input jack socket on the Ashdown (where you'd normally plug the bass in). Turn everything on. This should work. There you go.

Ooh. Why don't they include these in their line up? (I guess they're ZZ Sounds exclusive models.) The Moderne is lovely. I don't think that I'd be able to get away with playing one though. Would love an Explorer with the Moderne headstock. Or better still a MusicMan St Vincent HH.