BetaFunk

[quote name='ash' timestamp='1380477136' post='2225899'] That's a nice early one - the body will be Hayman stock [/quote] Looks like the neck is too if that big hole in the headstock is anything to go by.

[quote name='risingson' timestamp='1380396295' post='2224796'] I wouldn't actively relic an instrument unless it actively relic'ed itself by me dropping it down a flight of concrete steps accidentally. But I love wear and tear on old basses, instruments with history are far cooler than stuff rolling off the production line looking brand spanking new, probably only really relevant to Fender, Gibson, Musicman etc. [/quote] Yes i can see that. In the BBC Four 'Totally British: 70s Rock' Nick Lowe was playing a semi-acoustic bass (a Gretsch i think) which has obviously been gigged a bit, had loads of wear but looked good. I have a 74 Jazz Bass which has buckle rash and a few dings and bumps and it looks great but what i fail to understand is those that appear on ebay with large gouges in them and a lot have filthy dirty metal parts. It just proves to me that they don't get it as no guitar would ever have ended up like that. What's more amazing to me is not that people make them but people actually buy them.

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1380365192' post='2224287'] and some stupid genius with a fag in his mouth. [/quote] Not a John Scofield fan then?

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1380393517' post='2224755'] There wasn`t any "reliced" basses but there was a few "stripped" P basses. I believe that in the late 60`s early 70`s, this was the fashion, relicing is the fashion at the moment. [/quote] As you say there were a few and nowhere near the current relicing craze has produced. It was less of a fashion and more of a 'how can i make my battered and chipped Precision look decent without spending any money on it'.

What's it suppose to be a relic of? Something that's been rescued from a bonfire?

[quote name='Fat Rich' timestamp='1380362003' post='2224227'] I think I read somewhere that Rory Gallagher had very acidic sweat that ate the finish off his guitar. Plus he probably played it a fair bit too. The 70s were before my time as I was still a kid, but I get the impression that was when guitars from America became more available in the UK, maybe thanks to people like CBS' distribution? Getting these instruments in the UK maybe wasn't so easy in the 50s and early 60s so perhaps everyone was rushing out buying all this new gear? [/quote] American guitars were relatively easy to get (compared to the 50s and early 60s and as long as you had the money) since the mid 60s in the UK so no one was rushing to buy them because of that. It was purely that everyone wanted a nice shiny guitar in those days.

[quote name='Len_derby' timestamp='1380360661' post='2224205'] At a (much) lower level of skill I remember that most of us playing guitars and basses back in the 70's had bought them new on the 'never-never'. Usually with their mum having signed the H.P. agreement. That was the most common way for a kid to get an instrument. Probably the cheapest in terms of cash needed up-front. Before the internet the second-hand market was miniscule (certainly in small towns). [/quote] In the mid 70s i went with a mate of mine when he took his battered early 60s Lake Placid Blue Stratocaster to a music shop to part exchange it for a brand new Gibson SG. The guy in the shop pointed out every single chip and ding on the Strat before offering him £90 because he said that it was so worn and no one wanted guitars in that condition. How times change eh?

[quote name='Len_derby' timestamp='1380359835' post='2224190'] Interesting observation. I remember seeing Rory Gallagher for the first time, in about 1973. As an impressionable teenager I was genuinely stunned that he was playing such a beaten-up guitar (sunburst Strat). I'd never seen anything like it before. [/quote] Yes, Rory and Paul Kossoff were always mentioned in the press for the beaten up look of their guitars. They stood out so much in the shiny world at the time.

[quote name='D.I. Joe' timestamp='1380359621' post='2224186'] You're right, but those instruments that were new at the time are the ones which today show 40 years of wear and battle scars. I'm sure that the relicing process is more about making a new instrument look like one of that age as it is today, rather than replicating how it would have looked at that time. [/quote] That's true but all of those groups could have chosen to play and early 60s version of practically all of those guitars and basses. Some of which at even 10-15 years old would have had a lot of battle scars but they nearly all chose to play new ones. In fact the an early 60s Strat or Jazz Bass would have cost a lot less than a new one in the mid 70s. I suppose again it was the that it was the fashion to play a new shiny guitar in the 70s just as it is to play an old relec'd one nowadays.

Just watched 'Totally British: 70s Rock' part one 1970-1974. Lots of old BBC sessions of SAHB, Heavy Metal Kids, Humble Pie, Family, Status Quo, Faces, Babe Ruth, Nazareth etc and there's hardly a worn guitar or bass in sight. Nearly every one looked as if it had just come out of a shop window. I can imagine the Beeb's dressing room floors were full of discarded Fender, Gibson and Ricky tags and hangers. I wonder what any of today's relicers thought as they sat in front of the telly watching this with their orbital sander by the side of their armchair?

Very moving but also uplifting. Excellent programme.

Beautiful music indeed and up there with this which is a favourite of mine. Just goes to show that the devil doesn't have all the good music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYpVGBSS65o

I can see in the future that there's going to be a big market for guitars and basses that have been fortunate enough to have avoided the orbital sander.

[quote name='mtroun' timestamp='1380124058' post='2221199'] For Steve Swallow I'm quite partial to his playing with the Paul Motian electric bebop band (Try 'Flight Of The Blue Jay') and his work with Jimmy Guiffre. He was also a fabulous acoustic bass player back in the 60s, his work with Art Farmer really shines. There's also some Motian albums with both electric bass (Steve Swallow) and acoustic bass (Larry Grenadier) such as 'Trio 2000+1' (though the piano player on that record may get on your nerves!) One of the reasons I think Steve Swallow is a good jazz electric bass player is that he's got his own concept on the instrument, rather than trying to make it sound like a double bass. He doesn't tend to play a lot of totally straight ahead music anymore, perhaps because he's aware that the only sound for that kind of music is the acoustic bass? In the end they are different instruments. The electric bass doesn't really fit into the sonic space that the double bass does, so it can be hard to make it work in a jazz setting. I know which instrument I prefer to play. [/quote] I totally agree about Swallow's acoustic bass work in the 60s. I did mention his 60s work when someone asked if anyone could recommend some of Swallow's recordings. I've seen him live on numerous occasions and have always been impressed. You obviously know what you are talking about so i need to pick your brains and wonder if you could answer this. Whenever the question about electric bass v upright acoustic bass comes up in a jazz context most people mention that the electric bass doesn't 'swing'. I suppose most peoples idea of jazz is just that but i've seen enough jazz to know that a lot of it doesn't 'swing' and even in those groups that don't 'swing' the choice of bass is nearly always upright acoustic. Is it just the sound it makes or is it also that it fits in better with the usual jazz instrumentation?

[quote name='hamfist' timestamp='1380000434' post='2219234'] I think my general point is not to anyone in particular but just a general rant that Westones are not appreciated or trendy. The build quality and parts on many is right up there with the equivalent Aria models. However, without the links to Cliff Burton and John Taylor, Westone stay firmly in the perceived "Japcrap" division. [/quote] I think that you're spot on that they are not seen as 'trendy'. They also stand well above the earlier Teisco's etc in playability and quality but people seem to love the kitsch appeal of the Teiscos. I have a 1980s U.S. made Guild Pilot bass that is far better made than any U.S. Fender i've seen of the same period but goes for about a third of the cost of a Fender bass. Why? Because they aren't trendy. Most people in life are like sheep and go with the crowd (do have a few Fenders as well). It's just great that we aren't like those sheep and know how to spot a bargain!!!

Already mentioned in the 'eBay - Weird and Wonderful section' funnily enough because it's on ebay. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/217893-eyecatching/"]http://basschat.co.u...93-eyecatching/[/url]

Good, they were the obvious people to ask.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1380049503' post='2220166'] Stop it, the pair of you, or I'll start deleting posts [/quote] Sorry Bilbo. I promise to be good.

[quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1380050520' post='2220180'] I'm not the one doing the attacking -- only responding to it. But I stopped. : ) [/quote] Priceless.

[quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1380029026' post='2219744'] What you really mean to say is you think anything you disagree with is irrelevant. [/quote] Perhaps you could tell me what i'm going to have for dinner so i can buy the appropriate bottle of wine on the way home.

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1380012573' post='2219360'] Why don't you ask Overwater themselves? What's the worst that can happen? [/quote] I agree. That seemed like the logical place to me too.

[quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1379983299' post='2219217'] And I don't care what you think. What a coincidence. It's a message board pal. People give their opinions. It creates discussion. No need to be an arse about it. [/quote] Oh it's a message board alright. It's just that some messages are totally irrelevant and aren't worth reading but thanks for reminding me pal.

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' timestamp='1380021839' post='2219571'] True enough. EUBs cover a broad range of designs, sounds and playability. Some nearer to DB, some nearer to BG. Mine sounds like a very big fretless Bass Guitar with stupid amounts of sustain.... [/quote] I should have said the Weber's was obviously one of the first and would think that EUBs, pickups etc have improved a lot since then but his had a really distinctive tone.

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' timestamp='1379874644' post='2217687'] EUB for when you just can't choose? [/quote] That's a good point but one of the first EUB players i ever saw (in the 70s) was Eberhard Weber who sounded more like an electric bass than any upright bass.