three

Dear me, what a collection.  This all makes sense - I used to see a lot of Sai cabs around Manchester, where I lived in the '70s and '80s - I've returned now, though not so many Sai cabs.  I had no idea that Sai was a Chorley firm.  I saw both the disco and band gear but never anything in Orange - a special order no doubt.  Those four ported bins look astounding.  I used to work with a very similar pair, though JBL loaded with on board horns (as the Sai design).  They were immensely heavy but sounded fantastic - great for smallish FOH use.  Lovely to see some of this vintage gear in such good condition, and hopefully still earning its keep.

On 04/11/2019 at 07:53, matbard said:

I would like to live in England...
 

Swap?

On topic, I have never played a rig that sounds anything like as good as the Hellborg (I don't use mine with the Hellborg cabs but it sounds pretty marvellous with Berg).  For me, this is off the scale, especially the preamp.  Everything is super over-engineered and beautifully designed to perform like high-end studio gear.  Just wonderful.  If you can carry it, £1300 is an absolute bargain in my view

I remember these from the ‘70s - I was a big bin user back then. However, I know very little about Sai. Gauss were as good as it got in those days. Fascinating find. Heavy I’d suspect?

1 hour ago, Am7 said:

Hi I am manchester based

? Able to come over to look

Hi, I've sent a Personal Mail

4 hours ago, Telebass said:

This was great, but stupidly heavy at nearly 14 pounds!

Was this the one that Andy Travis built?  I recognise that Celinder pickup - 'think it used to be mine

To continue the plexiglass theme, I was in a famous Manchester music shop late on a '70s Saturday afternoon.  A mate of mine that worked there offered me an original Dan Armstrong plexi bass for £40.  I just about had the money but wanted a pizza on the way home.  I'm sure the pizza was lovely but not the best decision

Thanks for all the very lovely comments - if there's any sun in the North this week, I'll try to get some further and more detailed images

What!!! Unbelievable... a stunner

An absolutely gorgeous instrument - fortunately for my bank, I don't play fives or 35" scale.  Otherwise, I'd be in trouble.  Astounding craft work and a bass to treasure

40 minutes ago, Clarky said:

Bargain now at new price £1300. 

Outrageous - some of the finest luthiery and carving I've ever seen for the price of production line instrument.  I play one 34" bass and the others are all 30" - weirdly, 32" doesn't suit me at all.  If it did, this would be on its way up north.  One of BC's finest sellers too... I'm starting to crack

I'm not a massive fan of singlecuts but this looks gorgeous - beautiful choice of wood throughout.  It looks like an utter bargain too.  I suspect that playability is guaranteed given the maker and provenance.  Is it a 1.5" nut?

My dream speakers and from one of BC's most generous and helpful sellers.  Currently well out of range for me but as Owen has implied,  this is as good as it gets

Booked Parcelforce collection for a bass last Friday - really urgent with Sat delivery (very expensive). No collection, rude response and a 450 mile round trip by train to hand deliver on Saturday afternoon. No more PF! In the end, pleased I delivered it to guarantee safety - quite an expensive instrument. I’ll be looking at Eurosender in future - thanks!

33 minutes ago, Marc S said:

Though I'm a fan of TI flats (on the right bass, of course) I found TI rounds even lower tension, and I just couldn't get on with them at all
For my playing, there was little or no "resistance" and "recovery" of normal string position was off-putting - at least for my playing
So I've a set going, if anyone wants to try them.... I tried them on a couple of basses, but just didn't gel with them at all

Not sure what the quietest rounds I've played are, but I seem to remember playing some strings (which may have been "Elites") which were quiet - but I've a feeling they were not nickel, and may have been chrome?

I’d agree re: TI rounds and tension. I play with a very light touch so fine for me. A more aggressive style may be more problematic. A very kind offer too - these are nearly £50 a set!

Possibly worth a look at TI rounds - by far the quietest I've played (low tension too if that's your thing).  I use them on fretless and have been very pleased with the results.  Alembic too are quiet as Jazzyvee suggests - possibly a function of the elliptical wrap?  Alembic don't supply the gauge that I'd prefer (very light) but they're high quality strings. 

As a Lakland player I can imagine that this bass plays beautifully and sounds wonderful. Davidak is a highly trustworthy seller (and Lakland expert) too! I don’t need a hollowbody but I’d love this and one of my favourite colours too. GLWTS, I doubt this will hang around 

Officially named and offered as a Brown Bass

A really beautiful bass and I'm surprised that it's hung around - an incredibly good price (IMO) and as Sibob says, these are constructed with the quality materials and all the care of the USA Series.  Having played countless Fenders and clones, I've not found anything as impressive as a US Lakland in terms of playability and tone (and the search has included CS, Masterbuilt, Alleva, Sei, Sadowsky and many more).  The necks, in particular, are superb.  The only Fender-type I've had that was in the same ballpark was an outrageously expensive Celinder.  GLWTS - not that it should be needed

A friend of mine went to see it and play it recently - very beautiful apparently but didn’t feel it was worth the uplift in price against his (new) Wals. I’ve owned a SI with the same body shape and point but 34” scale - I struggled with the balance but purely a personal issue. I’m sure that the new owner of the BD SII will be delighted. There appears to be a relatively small but buoyant market for top-end ‘bics

26 minutes ago, bassfan said:

Cat included? 👍🏻

lovely bass. GLWTS

Hahaha, thanks - you can have mine (wicked beast) - the one in the pic is the neighbour’s - beautiful and incredibly friendly

If you can find one, I'd try a Warwick Hellborg PR40.  I've been through countless pres, all with their benefits and plus-points, though it's the Hellborg pre that I've found to have the qualities that I prefer.  It's super clean, very responsive and has an extremely fat, almost slightly compressed tone.  It offers a sort of produced gloss to pretty much any bass that you use with it.  Horrendously expensive when released (around £1800 I think) but they pop-up occassionally at more reasonable prices.  Indeed, I think there's one on BC now (certainly on e-bay for around £400?) 

Really lovely - three purpleheart stringers is very unusual on a Series 1 (usually only found on the Series II) 

12 hours ago, BassAgent said:

So I'm going on tour to Vienna, Prague and Nürnberg this Thursday and I had a choice with the airline: either buy an extra seat (which would be kinda expensive) or check it in as "special baggage" for a smaller fee. I did the second thing and now I'm doubting: I have Mono M80 gig bag (the classic one) and I think the bass will survive, especially with the string tension off. I have to do the other gigs by train so carrying a big flightcase might be a bit of a hassle... Are there people here that have experience with flying a bass in a Mono gigbag or something similar?

I've had an M80 - a great gig bag for urban use but in no way a case that is designed for flying (as anything other than a passenger on the next seat).  Depending on where you are, you're very welcome to borrow my Hiscox (I'm in Manchester).  Again, not ideal and I'd prefer to use a full flight case but the Hiscox is very strong and light and far more protective than a M80

49 minutes ago, big rob said:

Any trades? 

 

Thanks very much but I'm not really looking for trades - I really need to pay for a very good fretless - and the Overwater is going in order to facilitate that 

Short-scales are often fairly light (obviously really).  I had a Danelectro Longhorn (one of the cheapish re-issues) and it was incredibly light - maybe 5.5lbs.  Very easy on the back and a dream to play.  I have no idea why I sold it

An Overwater PJ Custom with possibly the highest spec available and some extraordinary bespoke appointments.  Completed in June 2018.  Poplar Burl top on a two-piece centre-jointed alder body with black pinstripe (the second instrument I've owned with the Burl and from the same log as the facing on John Entwhistle's bass).  The burl is also used for the facing of the headstock.  Exquisite Birdseye maple board on a flame and Birdseye neck - the timbers used throughout this bass are some of the most beautifully figured that I've seen.  Black hardware including the Overwater bridge and string retainer unit.  The bass is passive (sort of) but has the Overwater/East buffer circuit.  This works extremely well to deliver with extreme clarity (and boost) the core tone of the bass/pickups.  The bass is supplied with two sets of pickups - the PJ set that it's currently wearing (in rectangular covers) and a humbucking set in similar covers.  The bass is also supplied with its certificate and spotless/as new Overwater branded Hiscox case.  

There's a story to this for those interested.  The bass was originally spec'd by an extraordinary aesthete of this parish - this man has an eye for detail beyond even mine (and I'm really picky).  It was supplied originally with a personalised logo at the 12th fret and the whole build was extended as the purchaser pondered multiple detailed additions and enhancements throughout the build process.  The result of the attention lavished on the bass by both the purchaser and Chris and his team was quite something to behold - the bass was also a seriously expensive investment (really expensive - somewhere around £3400 I believe).  This is where I entered the scene in late 2018.  The original purchaser had a change of heart and I picked up the bass at a good price.  I'd decided that I was in need of a 34" scale that could be a racing machine... (yes, I know).  I'm really a short-scale player but wanted a 34" that could play as easily and as fast as a shorty.  

The bass was everything that I'd hoped for, but in the search for absolute perfection (we're talking real margins here), I sent the bass back to Chris to have the logo replaced, have the frets dressed to facilitate a stupidly low-action, have the nut replaced with something really bespoke in connection with the latter, and have a set-up with super light strings (35-95) and an action down to the limits.  Chris did all of this to a superb standard and charged me accordingly.  I hate to think what the bass has had spent on it but probably somewhere around £3750 in total.  Now, after a change of heart myself and the need to pay for a fretless, the bass is up for sale.  I'm not particularly sentimental about basses but this is one that I really don't want to sell.  It's been a major investment of time and cash and does exactly what I want, and the body has the most beautiful contouring that I've seen on a P (something that is really important to me - take a look at the images - there's an organic quality to the carving, the body is like a pebble washed over tens of thousands of years).

So, that was quite a long way to go about it, but here are the basics:

Precision body with PJ or double humbucker configuration (both sets of pickups supplied)

Burl poplar top and headstock facing (with Birdseye scratch plate with a black laminate)

Alder body - two-piece, highly figured timber

Birdseye and flame maple neck with Birdseye maple fretboard - 22 fret 34" neck

Black hardware including Overwater bridge unit and hipshot ultralite tuners

Nut width approx 41mm (1.62")

19mm string spacing (adjustable)

Passive but with Overwater/East buffer circuit (1 x 9v battery)

Through body stringing

Weight is around 8.8lbs (I think, I have no easy way of weighing accurately) - superb balance

Supplied with Overwater branded Hiscox case, and original Overwater CoA

As above, the bass is set-up with an extremely low action and d'Addario nickel rounds 35-95 - I find these to have a fairly low tension (a particular favourite).  It is around 16 months old and in absolutely mint/as new condition... apart from one tiny, extremely shallow impression on the neck behind the 11th fret.  This is a short line and is impossible to photograph, though it can be felt by rubbing a finger over it - it has no impact on playability and is barely there, I just want to mention it for full disclosure.  I didn't do it and it seems to have been something that occurred when the bass was back in the Overwater workshop.  It doesn't bother me at all and is truly tiny/insignificant.

In sum, a beautiful, bespoke and custom bass with many really high-end and very well thought-through appointments.  The instrument has had a lot of money spent on it.  We all know about Overwater quality and this bass would grace any stage or studio (Overwaters record beautifully and thus are the choice of many pit players and studio professionals!)  I'm not a massive fan of hyperbole in adverts, though I think this bass probably merits it.  It looks stunning - it's my partner's favourite in terms of looks (and she's picky).  It's one that she doesn't mind seeing on a stand around the house (and I happily oblige).  The neighbour's cat also loves it (mine evidently couldn't care less).  I think that £1650 is probably a very reasonable price and I'm taking quite a hit at this, thus I'm pretty firm on it.  I'd prefer collection from Manchester, though I can ship at the buyer's expense and risk (I can check out insurance if necessary).  I can ship to the UK, most of Continental Europe and the US.  Any questions please just ask.  Apologies for the fairly poor quality of the images - Manchester is devoid of light this morning (indeed, most mornings).  If you need any further images, please just let me know.