ZilchWoolham

Oh dear, the pictures are a bit wonky. Might be better to use an external host. More to come!

Last Tuesday, while doing my usual internet rounds, I happened upon a bass I've had on my watchlist for quite some time. There wasn't a whole lot of information supplied by the seller and only one quite muddy picture, but the price was reasonable, so I thought it best to pounce on it. Well, today I picked up a package: [attachment=247928:2017-06-26 14.47.52.jpg] It was very well packed. It wasn't empty either! [attachment=247929:2017-06-26 14.52.09.jpg] A nice leather gigbag. Looks a bit small. What could we find inside? [attachment=247937:2017-06-26 14.54.52.jpg] [attachment=247930:2017-06-26 14.58.31.jpg] Strung by a leftie! Will have to flip these around. Luckily, the body is symmetrical. [attachment=247931:2017-06-26 14.59.17.jpg] It's a [b]Riverhead Unicorn![/b] And it's a bit manky. [attachment=247932:2017-06-26 14.59.37.jpg][attachment=247934:2017-06-26 14.59.42.jpg] I popped off the (very dead) strings and the bridge and gave it a bit of a cleanup. Not everything came off. Lord knows what this is. Glittery nail polish? [attachment=247935:2017-06-26 17.20.01.jpg] I popped the strings back on, in the right order, but I haven't flipped the nut around yet, which I really should do as the E string is currently hovering about a foot over the first fret. Any tips as to how I can achieve this? Hair dryer and a lot of wiggling? Anyway, here it is in its current state. [attachment=247936:2017-06-26 18.49.10.jpg] I'll be posting some more impressions shortly, but I can say already that I'm quite pleased, especially considering the price. And, hey, if it's good enough for Dave Pegg, it's certainly good enough for me! Oh, and that price, by the way, was a princely £100!

[quote name='Fisheth' timestamp='1498422019' post='3324530'] Just can't wait to sit down with it and play it. [/quote] I think you'd be the first man on earth to successfully combine sitting and playing a V! Happy incoming new bass day!

Pro Bass all the way for me!

If we're just talking about a normal P-bass with a normal heel, then certainly a neck swap would be cheaper and more convenient. If the neck doesn't have the usual Fender dimensions and can't easily be replaced (or is a set or thru-neck) then a re-carve would be an option, but I'd really only do it on a bass that is otherwise perfect, and one that I'd want to stick with for a long time. I know Kev Hopper had his Wal trimmed to a neater profile. That's a pretty good example of when it could be a nice idea.

[quote name='T-Bay' timestamp='1497196250' post='3316459'] Thanks, most of the ones I will sell have never been played, many still in the shrink wrap with the goodies attached so easy to show they are unplayed. Sounds quite a complex game though. [/quote] In that case I'd say you're in luck! Unplayed and unwrapped records are the easiest to grade, and of course very desirable. I would also suggest eBay for convenience' sake. If you want to get a sense of the value of a record, do an eBay search of the pressing in question, and when in the results check the box marked "Sold Listings". This way you'll see the prices people are actually paying, as opposed to the prices people are asking, which aren't exactly always one and the same.

One peculiarity to keep in mind when dealing with records and grading is that Very Good means not particularly good at all, Excellent means just fine, but if you want to really enjoy an album you should probably only go for Near Mint or Mint. Mint is essentially reserved for unplayed records. Near Mint would mean no discernible loss in sound quality. But a lot of sellers do tend to rate their records a bit, or very, favourably. Oh, and sleeves and media are graded separately. So you could have a VG+ sleeve with a NM record.

Well, yes, (because his mother's maiden name was Hammond). Ditto Barrie/Barriemore. But in the context of the band, he certainly was Hammond-Hammond. And it's quite a nice name, I think.

[quote name='guitaradam' timestamp='1496649989' post='3312874'] If you believe Eric Johnson - you can hear a tonal difference if the cover is on or off. His signature strat doesn't even come with a cover or holes drilled to add your own!! [/quote] Does any strat ever? [size=1]ᵒʳ ᵈᶦᵈ ᵃ ʲᵒᵏᵉ ʲᵘˢᵗ ᶠˡʸ ᵒᵛᵉʳ ᵐʸ ʰᵉᵃᵈ?[/size]

Dirty Linen by Fairport Convention. The first two parts anyway!

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1496692132' post='3313283'] I think that could be the understatement of the week Apparently, Tony Iommi sat down at the same table as Ian to have breakfast and the rest of the band looked on in horror, as Ian sat a one table and the band at another. [/quote] I think it's all a bit exaggerated, really. He's a typical introvert and he ran a tight ship but he's hardly Don Van Vliet. Let's not forget that for several years the band consisted of four chums from Blackpool grammar school + Martin Barre. And for what it's worth, I think I prefer to eat breakfast alone as well! Peggy is indeed a fantastic player. For my money the best living bassist. Incidentally, he was actually with Tull for a longer period than Cornick, Hammond-Hammond and Glascock combined.

One could say I quite fancy him. He's my favourite bassist from my favourite band, my biggest influence as a bassist, and has recorded my favourite bassline (Journeyman) with my favourite bass tone (although certainly IA played a part in this as well)! Interestingly he is not, however, my first choice for profile pictures among Tull bassists.

SCHPLUNTSFK!!

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1495578169' post='3305099'] This is wandering of topic a bit, but does anyone have any idea where the use of "Thee" instead of "The" in band names comes from? I have always puzzled over this. It's a spelling that Genesis P.Orridge was fond of, but I don't know if it came from them. [/quote] I think it started with that stuckist bloke, can't remember his name though. I know Nardwuar is fond of it as well.

Take Three Beans Again Terry Seldom Seen

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1495467339' post='3303941'] It's a generic plywood or butcher block copy body - it's absolutely not 1969 because no such thing existed in 1969. [/quote] Can't have been a whole lot later they appeared, though, right? I suppose in '69 they were still a bit unshapely and not very Fender-like. By the mid 70's there were tons of them, though.

Siouxsie Sioux always looked both frightening and spectacular! Dave Stewart... actually looks a lot like Eric Clapton. [quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1495462470' post='3303906'] Although I've never heard of them, at least Central Line got their act together and colour co-ordinated [/quote] They look like they're about to play the Mos Eisley Cantina!

[quote name='el borracho' timestamp='1495304881' post='3302887'] Looks to be a lot of black around the forearm cutaway - ply body??? [/quote] Agreed - this is never a good sign. The body might just be from 1969, but if it is it's probably from Japan. And with the black around the contour, it's sandwiched at best, and could very well indeed be plywood.

On acoustic guitar I use a capo all the time, because I like to involve a lot of open strings, and I'd like to be able to do so in several keys. Also, open chords with a capo somewhere up high like the seventh fret have a very sweet and unique timbre. As for bass, sometimes you'll find yourself playing bits that really wouldn't be particularly playable if you'd have to fret every note, and if you have to transpose it a capo would certainly be handy, but I've never had to use one myself for that reason. I have used one for another reason, though. A lot of Andy Rourke's parts with The Smiths were played on a bass tuned to F#, to match Johnny Marr's guitars of the same tuning. Out of curiosity, I've sometimes placed a capo on the second fret to get a feel for how he originally fingered those songs. None of them really needs it to be playable, but a tune like Barbarism Begins at Home did feel a bit more fluid that way.

Very impressive! Did it have a [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfeyUGZt8nk"]buttery biscuit base[/url]?

You can indeed get a noise-cancelling J pickup, either two coils stacked or two coils next to each other, but like mcnach said it's not going to sound like a Stingray pup.

It's Hopper, isn't it? Wonderfully creative player!

I can't remember exactly what the circuitry actually did, but it came about because Moog and Gibson were both owned by Norlin at the time. Norlin also made the Lab amplifiers around that time, and I believe they had some Moog components as well.

Let it be known that I have a particular penchant for great song titles. They can be inviting, evocative, and poetry in their own right. A forgotten art form, in a sense. There are a few bands/artists who strike me as being especially good at this craft. Such as: [size=4][b]-Pavement[/b][/size] with songs like [b][i]Mellow Jazz Docent;[/i][/b] [b][i]In the Mouth a Desert;[/i][/b] [b][i]Frontwards;[/i][/b] [i][b]So Stark (You're a Skyscraper)[/b][/i] and [b][i]Lions (Linden)[/i][/b] [size=4][b]-They Might Be Giants[/b][/size] with tracks like [i][b]Which Describes How You're Feeling;[/b][/i] [i][b]When It Rains It Snows[/b][b]; I Am a Human Head;[/b][/i] [b]How Can I Sing Like a Girl?[i];[/i][/b] [b][i]Dead [/i][/b]and [b][i]Don't Let's Start[/i][/b]. I also feel that one of [size=4][b]Morrissey's [/b][/size][size=5][size=4]biggest strengths as a solo artist is his knack for titles like [/size][/size][i][b]In the Future When All's Well; Yes, I Am Blind; That's How People Grow Up; We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful [/b][/i]and the wonderfully depressing [i][b]My Life is a Succession of People Saying Goodbye[/b][/i]. He also had some great titles with [b]The Smiths[/b], like [i][b]Barbarism Begins at Home; Shakespeare's Sister [/b][/i]and [b][i]Oscillate Wildly[/i][/b]. What are some of your favourite titles, or favourite artists who consistently deliver the goods when it comes to the former?

Really, really liking that headstock shape!