Steve Browning

SVT according to the stage sheet I was sent.

If it's any consolation. I concluded, pretty quickly, that it's not a great 'onstage' option because a degree of care is needed to lift the bass out of the case. For travel I suspect it'll be near unbeatable, but I won't be using it as any kind of stand.

That's a real pity. Mine gets its first proper outing this weekend. I'll be sure to post about about what a complete waste of money it was. 🙂

I have bought from Ishibashi a couple of times. They charge you for the bass and the shipping cost. The carrier will contact you to collect the VAT and other charges - roughly 25% of the amount you paid the shop. It's all pretty straightforward.

Unhappily we have to get into 'all that' to provide the answer. Hopefully the direction of travel is to make it easier but the basic rules will remain.

All very well while you're getting away with it. Knock yourself out but bear in mind that it is not just the smuggled goods that are seized if you are caught. The odds are with you but that's no guarantee.

Have a look at the process called duplicate list on HMRC. Similar to carnet but free.

Probably more about their contacts and how easily they get on with other people.

Have to say that would be my suggestion. Not too far away from the main bass and good enough as a spare. Bung in a Stinger pre-amp and you're even closer.

Glad he found somewhere to go. He cycles to the IoW ferry so quite a trek. I contributed to the fund. Steve's a great guy and the shop is a proper old-fashioned music shop.

I remember the UK line failing and they transferred to the US and we got George Thorogood and Albert Collins.

Of the current models on the website, I'd go for a Nate Mendel Precision.

Maybe but there was neither a definite article nor an indefinite article. Had he started the sentence with 'The' then you'd be quite correct. However, he didn't. He could have omitted 'A'. Still. Not the greatest issue of our times.

I think mine will be my Greco PB450. It's inexpensive, has got the wrong name on the headstock but it's a really nice instrument.

To be pedantic, it isn't claimed to be the definition.

That's no longer my address and no, I don't have any of them now. The 61 was a dog to play. The E string was dead no matter what I did, new strings made no difference. The 53 was ok but the pick-up was in the wrong place for me (I anchor my thumb on it and it was slightly forward of where it is on a later Pbass - I had the same trouble with the Stingray). The 62 was a white refin when I got it and had it sprayed black (I thought it was more rock'n'roll). The 66 was nice (awesome recorded tone) but was uncomfortable to play (the edge of the slab body dug into my arm). Bear in mind this is pre internet. The 62 turned out to be his first ever Pbass and I had no idea they only made 20 of the slab basses. Ho hum. I should add that the 66 and 72 basses are far better than any of those pre-CBS instruments.

I bought 4 basses in November 1986. 3 from John Entwistle (the 53 plus a 61 and a 62) and the slab 66. Got a bank loan for a whole 2k to get them.

Oh, I don't know. They're cheap enough. 🙂 (see next post - thought I'd deleted the wrong one and inserted the right one)

Despite what I said earlier, I always remember looking at the pair of Peavey Max heads, each on top of a 3620 cab, on the cover of Live Alive by Stevie Ray Vaughan and thinking 'I'd love to play through that'.

My two SVLs were £2,500 each (at artist rate). That is a lot to pay for what is, superficially, a fairly bog standard design etc. What I was happy to pay for was the craftmanship involved in creating them. For example,. how many Precisions have wiring of that standard in them? I doubt the Custom Shop are that meticulous. If I buy another bass, it will follow the trend that seems to have started. Both of my most recent purchases have been early Tokai or Greco basses at around £600 each. They are truly excellent instruments and so I am minded to look for Tokai/Fernandes/Greco basses, if one comes up.

My thumb has always been rooted to the pick-up cover. Fretting hand thumb is generally on the back of the neck but not exclusively.

I'm happy to let you think that.

Arriving damaged isn't a great start! Hope the replacement isn't too slow in arriving. I was thinking 'what's going on here' until I realised the foam at the top was removable. Mine are all Fender types and so the fit is perfect. I have never been a Thunderbird man (way too cool for me) but I never will be now. Overall, very happy, but I am not thinking it's gping to be on-stage, unless the audience is such that it's a sensible option!

Thanks for reproducing that. I remember that page so well. A far better read than Health and Efficiency. 🙂