BetaFunk

Ah yes, the hilarious Monty Python sketch. I did see this on it's first airing in the late 60s and although found it slightly amusing i've been trying to avoid it ever since which can be difficult as it means that you have to have the tv remote control in your hand at every waking moment ready to switch channels immediately. It was all a bit too much jolly grammar school / university chaps humour for me although it did have it's moments with Bicycle Repairman being one gem. Very funny.

[quote name='theyellowcar' timestamp='1401559751' post='2464787'] OLP MusicMan - these were revered amongst my bass playing friends whilst I was growing up, I always wanted the blue one with a maple neck and a matching headstock, low and behold a few weeks ago there was a used one sitting on a rack on Denmark Street. I gave it a go, and granted it was fitted with 'ex-strings' [/quote] [quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1401572856' post='2464957'] What are 'ex-strings'? [/quote] Anyone going to tell me what 'ex-strings' are?

[quote name='theyellowcar' timestamp='1401559751' post='2464787'] OLP MusicMan - these were revered amongst my bass playing friends whilst I was growing up, I always wanted the blue one with a maple neck and a matching headstock, low and behold a few weeks ago there was a used one sitting on a rack on Denmark Street. I gave it a go, and granted it was fitted with 'ex-strings' and was going into a terrible little practice amp but it didn't live up to my (probably vastly optimistic) expectations. Let down. [/quote] What are 'ex-strings'?

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1401401982' post='2463403'] According to their current price list €941.06 [/quote] Thanks. Yes that's affordable alright.

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1401389751' post='2463213'] Only one g in dig, BTW. Bit of dumb spelling. [/quote]

It does look good but i think i prefer the Washburn Star Bass from 2003 which was more in keeping with the 1975 Larry Pless made original. I think the Washburn was limited to 100 and retailed at £1999 though. I wonder what Warwick class as 'affordable'?

[quote name='Nick Riffed' timestamp='1401382916' post='2463095'] I wanted a Bass case for the Bass I built with the grandkids. Got a secondhand one. Only problem is it had this in it! https//www.dropbox.com/sc/f3z5919jdg1xhsp /AAAS6w5kfybuxdZSBYIHUYjCa [/quote] Only problem i had was that the link didn't work.

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1401367349' post='2462843'] lots of people saying no-one plays them but I'm pretty sure Juan Aldarete played one with The Mars Volta, and they were pretty big weren't they? [/quote] Are they still going as a band though?

[quote name='3below' timestamp='1391815061' post='2361744'] Bad Company, Boz Burrell with fretless P bass on the early albums. Pretty far removed from 1980s fretless bass. Failing that, Jack Bruce, Cream re-union, again far removed from the 1980s sound. Fretless basses - great things, not a one trick pony. [/quote] I think that we've all got used to a Fretless giving a certain sound (like Jaco perhaps?) and have forgotten that they can be used in rock. http://youtu.be/uAPUxvjbdcU

[quote name='sblueplanet' timestamp='1401355573' post='2462672'] Basically, the fashion for fretless has waned. Not as prominent in music as once was. Time to bring it back? [/quote] Thanks, yes i see what you mean. I suppose it needs someone in a popular group to play one and then it will be a Fretless frenzy! I remember a friend of mine who was a Bass tutor moaning to me in the early 90s that every new pupil he took on wanted to play like either Jaco Pastorius or Jason Newsted.

[quote name='sblueplanet' timestamp='1401320244' post='2462531'] I played fretless exclusively for about 7 years but as the taste for it dropped do did my need for it and I haven't owned one for some time. [/quote] I'm interested in what you mean by the taste for it dropped.

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1401316729' post='2462509'] Nah, he's a one bass and one bass only kinda guy... [/quote] Ask him why he's excited then please....

[quote name='Diablo' timestamp='1401314829' post='2462483'] Cars and motorcycles are the same. How many 70's nasty, horrible handing rot-boxes with no power or brakes are now drooled over by middle-aged born-agains? Suzuki Kettles, Kawasaki triples, Honda CB's, Ford Escort Mk 3's, all truly horrible devices which were thrown in canals to get rid of in their time, now worth thousands it not tens of thousands of pounds. Very few are classics in their era though. What do we have now? Not a lot springs to mind. [/quote] Funny you should mention that. I had a Mk2 Escort RS2000 in the late 90s. Highly desirable now but awful to drive in traffic when compared to modern cars. No way would i want to drive that thing to work every day. I spoke to the proud owner of a Kawasaki H2C 750 Triple at a motorcycle show recently and he nearly cried when i told him that i had one brand new in the 70s and although it was fun it handled like a pig and the brakes were less than useless and it did about 15 miles to the gallon if you were lucky. The difference also is that no one rides the crap out of a classic bike and doesn't use it like it would have been used when new. Perhaps we look back at those classic albums in a similar way.

[quote name='basshead56' timestamp='1401314110' post='2462472'] I'm excited, to say the least! [/quote] Are you buying one?

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1400429021' post='2453727'] Isn't is great 'rediscovering' old bands/records that you'd put away? [/quote] Usually amusing rather than great. All the great ones are those i've never stopped playing.

[quote name='Nearly50!' timestamp='1401311321' post='2462435'] I am an amateur bass player who would love my guitar to be used by someone who would really appreciate it. Any advice/thoughts warmly welcomed...thank you [/quote] If you just want it to be used by someone who will appreciate it you could always donate it to a youth music group or a school.

[quote name='sykilz' timestamp='1401299420' post='2462242'] How disappointing, I speed read the thread title as " Sting " rant, and was looking forward to people saying that he was crap ever since the second Police album. Oh well. [/quote] Sadly it would probably have got a lot more replies as well.

Fantastic value basses that play and look great. Enjoy!!!

[quote name='rubis' timestamp='1401233061' post='2461602'] I saw Clapton at the Albert Hall a while back and he did Somewhere Over the Rainbow.........just saying ! [/quote] Did the audience start to clap and cheer after a few notes?

Although i've sold basses on BC i've had much more success selling on a popular auction site than i have on here. Some were 60s and 70s basses around the £200-£400 mark which were more for collectors rather than for pros so maybe that was the reason.

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1401219458' post='2461434'] The Fender bass, an illustrated history, says mid 60`s. I would assume 1965 as they introduced the paddle gear type tuner on the Jazz bass in 66. EDIT I`m talking rollocks! The man from Edinburgh is correct ish. The registered trade mark R was put above the Fender logo in the early 70`s and used on all bass models till 1977. [/quote] It's actually a 1974 Fender Jazz. The reason i posted the photo was because even owning a few 70s Fenders it's not always easy identifying them from photos and it seems to be getting more difficult.

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1401219015' post='2461423'] My Fender book says 1967 until 74. [/quote] Big difference in price between a 67 and a 74 and is it the real thing or a relic?

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1401215055' post='2461357'] Shiny=New Grimy=Old Falling to bits=Vintage [/quote] I take it that's a no then?

I put Status Flats on a Fretless, an Acoustic Bass and on two short scale basses and none needed any adjustment. I also put LaBella Flats on a Squier Bass VI and that was the only one that needed any adjustment.

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1401212313' post='2461281'] Please refrain from veering into off-topic, BetaFunk. CamdenRob was talking about sheep. [/quote] Sorry BT but i always get pigs and sheep mixed up and that's why my sausage making was never a success.