three

I can strongly recommend Bow Finishers to the South of London - the original may have been a Bow finish?  Sei build some absolutely beautiful basses - real artistry and artisanal skill - this looks like a fantastic example

Wow, that looks to be in superb condition.  Wonderful instruments with a unique tone.  The last image appears to show strings running over the nut after the taper (not necessarily a problem in my experience).  Some short-scale strings aren't sufficiently long and medium-scale can be a better option (though other short strings work well).  I'm assuming it's a walnut top?  Beautiful and good luck!

I currently use an Aguilar head (DB750) with and Agi cab (SL112) or a Berg cab (HD210).  There's a slightly rounder and warmer tone to the SL112 and slightly more focused mids (upper and lower) to the HD210.  I don't really have a preference, both work beautifully with a range of basses from passive to active.  With a quality head and quality cabs, I doubt you'd have much of a problem (matched or not), though some pairings don't appear to work well and I'd recommend that you trial any combinations before handing over a lot of cash.  I remember there was some talk of the big Agi amps not working well with some Epifani cabs over on Talkbass years back.  My criteria with cabs are usually: tone (and compatibility in terms of impedance); size/portability (small doesn't always equate to easy to maneouvre); and, weight.  I tend to use reasonably small cabs - even with a very big amp - as their key purpose is personal monitoring, practice at home and recording.  I spent much of my youth with 4x12s, 8x10s and massive 18" bins (Cerwin Vega etc.) - all mix and match with a variety of amps... and with a wide variety of results!  There's something very exciting about moving a ton of air and I still love it now.  Unfortunately, lugging such gear around is not so attractive these days.  I'm going on a bit here - back to topic - I'd really spend some time trialling the combinations, and in the types of situations that you're going to be using them (if that's at all possible).  My personal preference would be to go down the Agi route - SL or DB 112s or 210s (with whatever Agi head suits you and your budget) 

Utterly devastating news - a mad and beautiful force of nature

Wow, extremely versatile and very solid amps - looks like an absolute bargain!

19 hours ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

 

Wouldn't you actually want the body to be as havey as possible to at least counter some of the neck dive?

Basic physics would certainly suggest so, and as Mike indicates, a light(er) body can exacerbate dive.  That said, there are so many other variables: personal physiology plays an important part, so too strap length/width, and the 'stickiness' of one's clothes and the strap.  I've had several short-scale small-bodied Alembics, including two extremely heavy cocobolo versions (seriously, 11-12lbs) and I found little difference in the dive between the lighter and heavier models.  I tend to wear them fairly high on my chest and this seems to have the greatest impact on dive.  It also makes it easier (for me) to reach the lower frets in comfort.  In general, I prefer the convenience of lighter basses, hence the efforts with the Alembic - though there's a theoretical/actual increase in dive with a lighter body, it's not something that I find too noticeable given the other factors in play.

8 hours ago, scrumpymike said:

 

In addition to the dreaded neck-dive, you get this extended reach issue with any s-s bass that has the top strap button closer to the body than F12.  Having the bridge/string anchor a fair distance from the bottom strap button pushes the nut even further away - so your lovely bass qualifies on both counts 😊

Spot-on, the pin behind around the 21st fret implies quite a reach to first position, and the bridge - at around a third of the way in to the body - exacerbates the stretch.  As you can imagine, the bass 'feels' fairly long, though it balances perfectly on the knee and feels like a short-scale.  I rarely rehearse gig with the Alembic but it records beautifully (and around half of my playing time is seated anyway).  I have the Spector Shortys and the Wilcock for gigging (balance is perfect).  Mike, I know you had a brilliant solution for the stretch issues (relating to a SWB?) - I'm working on something similar in graphite with a couple of design engineers.

41 minutes ago, JohnDaBass said:

Oh my word that is beautiful, just hope there's no neck dive. 

Thank you - it's just fantastic to play and I love the look of it.  Fortunately, it's very light for an Alembic - I've been looking for ways to reduce the weight further and had a couple of celluloid tort plates made to replace the brass rear covers (a reduction of around 180g).  I've also removed the four batteries for the lights (another good few grammes).  However, neck-dive is a perennial problem on these given the placement of the strap pins.  In honesty, I tend to play this seated rather than standing.  The bass also feels like an extra long-scale on a strap too (sort of defeating the point of short-scale in some ways).  I've included an image of the plates - I was very pleased with the fit.  I discussed with the maker (Tiny Tone) and we agreed on a slight bevel as the plates sit a little proud - it's 4 ply tort and has produced a lovely little white edge. 

8 hours ago, barrycreed said:

Decisions decisions! About to get some upgrades done to an Epi EB0 and a Squier Bronco. Keep flats on the Epi or put them on the Bronco... 

Epi sounds good with the flats but curious as to how roundwounds would sound too...!

Worth a try in my opinion - I had an Epi EB0 with a DiMarzio DP120 and it was surprisingly bright and lively with light rounds (40-95 I think). To be honest, I find the EB0s to be a very useable bass in a lot of situations, though I think the DP120 made a positive difference

On 10/08/2021 at 22:17, MoonBassAlpha said:

Any recommendations for 24 fret shorties other than swb and Danelectro longhorn? They (shorties) mostly seem to be 19 or 20 fret with dubious top end access . I  have a Mustang and nearly ran out of frets the other day!

Balance on a strap isn’t great but playability and tones aren’t bad

Just bought a lovely short-scale from Jamie - incredibly easy deal, fantastic communications, lovely bass (exactly as described), superb packaging and fast delivery.  An upstanding and honest member of our community - deal in complete confidence!

The comments above say it all really. I just bought a Mesa pre from Matthew in an extremely easy transaction. Really fast shipping, absolutely beautifully packed, exactly as described (superb condition), tested prior to despatch, and really friendly and prompt comms throughout with extra images at each step. An absolute pleasure.  An upstanding star of our community! Thanks!

Lovely bass and lovely interpretation and playing!

I use a microfibre duster most of the time but take the strings off occasionally and wipe them thoroughly with a duster dampened with surgical spirit.  The surgical spirit appears to lift some of the gunk from roundwounds 

PM’d

Really enjoyed the one I had - lovely 'produced' and polished sheen out of the box.  Overkill for me and I really prefer SS pres.  However, certainly one of the nicest valve pres that I've tried (and that's an embarrassing list).

Really beautifully crafted basses - fit and finish is just superb.  Really well thought-through too.  Viv has clearly paid attention to every detail in the design and production of these instruments.  Ergonomics are lovely (certainly on the short-scales - I acquired one a few weeks ago) and the range of tones is really surprising for a passive bass: all very useable too.  The finishing is undertaken by Bow as far as I'm aware - certainly my favourite of the UK finishing shops (glass-like and again, fantastic attention to detail).  GLWTS and I'm surprised that this is still around - Viv's basses appear to be gaining some serious traction in the US market with a number of big names on the user list 

Possibly Mensinger?  I had this until recently - whilst not fully chambered, it had a lovely rounded tone with some acoustic content

16 hours ago, aeo_77 said:

still available?

Yes, the amp is safely in storage and remains available

Thanks for the video Police squad - love it. I learned to play on a Mustang (probably a very early 70s one with the competition stripes – candy apple red faded to bronze – it was beautiful) that was loaned to me by a very generous friend. I’ve never really been back to Mustangs but this one has me very excited. I play short scale almost all of the time and everything about the JMJ just looks perfect, from the lollipops to the relic job. I’ll start looking around

Truly versatile, solid and beautifully built amps - great specs and exceptional core tone (thick, rich, bright and defined). This one looks to be in really good condition GLWTS

Looks like Coco or Ziricote to me - utterly beautiful. Stunning instruments

On 05/07/2021 at 22:46, KiOgon said:

That tone comes through really sweet, (my PC with Creative monitors), sounds superb 😎

GLWTS

Agree entirely, I'm listening on good cans and the bass sounds absolutely lush - 'could float away in it.  I don't play long-scale any more but wow, if I did...

Lovely bass and these really don't appear very often.  Does the price include the DS-5 power supply and cable?

4 hours ago, silverfoxnik said:

Now there's something you don't see every day!! 

Very different indeed.... 

GLWTS 👍😊

Absolutely, quirky but brilliant - those old MkIV and V TE amps are superb too!