Dr.Dave

Couple of hundred quid for the cab. Few pints to your mate to help you lift it. 25 spots for a folding sack cart if he can't make it. 2 quid for ibuprofen. Tenner for some casters off ebay. 5 mpg less if your car's big enough and a couple of grand for a berlingo if it's not.

If you look at the price of 70's Fenders in Vintage and Rare , then you factor in it's history , the fame of it's previous owner , it's provenance and it's likely value in future , baring in mind the seller is a collector rather than a musician - I don't think a start price of 3 grand is too terrible at all. If I'd won the lotto last night I still wouldn't buy it , but I'm not interested in owning rock memorabilia. Some folk are. Re. the comment about the credit crunch.... there are plenty of folk out there looking for a safe investment . I'm not sure this is one but vintage guitars - partic at the current deflated prices - seem a reasonable investment to me at the mo.

Bridge and nut embuggerances remain favourite - but a longer shot could be the pickup is angled too high towards the E string. Drop it a turn and see what the affect is.

20 past 6 last night , CK , when you posted. You must have gunned it home !!! As ever , the quality of that build looks first class , you must be very pleased. Esp like the little Kiwi. I love personal touches like that. Has Mr Shuker got anything better than that ratty old Trace Commando for his clients to try their new aquisitions out yet? It's been 18 months since I saw him and I said , tactfully , that folk coming for a trial of his stock basses are less likely to be impressed hearing the sound through that pretty inadequate practise amp. I take it he's out of Sheffield and into the peaks now - I want him to cast his eye over most of my basses and have a fiddle here and there. I'd like to try and tie him down to 'while you wait' for the couple of hours it's take but reckon it's unlikely. Still - walking country - I could have a couple of days there.

here it is - had a Jazz fretless neck on at the time. Looking at the pic I wish I still had it , but I was so frustrated after years of trying to get it how I wanted I broke it and sold it for parts. It was a 72 , serial 384915 if anybody here ended up with the neckplate!! Come to think of it - was it you who bought that badass or did I buy it from you?? Christ knows - my memory's a piece of crap these days. Just found this too and scanned it. This must be about 1990 so I can't have got the bridge off you. My mae had just done the routing and I'd put the J pup in that day. The pup cover was just painted white. There was no switching at this point , just the two pups wired together. The pic makes my hair look dark rather than the colour I was born with - grey !!!

Ahhhh - you're wanting a bit of definition to go with the front humbucker. Well - I stuck a Jazz pup (something like a dimarzio) on mine , and being a telebass I wired it through a telecaster 3 way switch. I had problems. I could never get the pickup vol levels anything like equal. The J on it's own was too out gunned and the two combined sounded like.........well , nothing to be honest. Just a bit piddly. I had a guitar sparky mess around with it and he managed to reduce the humbuckers output which helped a tad but all it was really doing was taking away rather than adding. I'm sure you've better ideas than I had but thought I'd mention it. Got a pic somewhere , I'll try and dig it out.

It won't sell for that - guaranteed - because if it's going to I'll have it myself on general principle !

[quote name='nick' post='416173' date='Feb 21 2009, 02:51 PM']Some info here [url="http://www.bobbabbitt.com/smf/index.php/topic,316.0.html"]Bob's bass in SITSOM film[/url][/quote] Thanks Nick - seems like folk on that forum think like me but , sadly , no answer. Even more sure it's not stock. Doesn't look like a Badass or a Schaller. I sound nerdy now , I'll shut up!!

You see , Chris , what happens. You will insist on playing these new fangled Jazz bass things. If you'd have stuck with the P's............ I knew there'd be tears

[quote name='simon1964' post='416117' date='Feb 21 2009, 01:24 PM']My honest opinion? - it looks plain wrong! I quite like some headless designs, and have a hohner steinberger copy which is a great little bass. But headless = modern designs like Status, steinberger etc IMO. Sorry![/quote] Hmmm. I think it runs a little deeper. The reason Steinberger 'sticks' faded is exactly because they don't have a trad feeling body. You need a taxi to reach the first fret too. Even in this thread it talks of headless basses being '80's. My headless Status is an updated Jazz bass - nothing more. Why is it '80's? The thought of a Jazz bass that wouldn't hit the wall or the harmonica player in many of the places I play is fantastic. Why do you need that head up there? Why? What advantage can it possibly give you? Go for it , my son. I'd love to see your project.

Reading the original post - you've already answered your own question. If you want a bit of confirmation that a used Jap is the way to go , you already have it several times and I'm happy to chuck my hat in too. I have 2 Jap Fenders , a 54P and a Strat. Both excellent.

[quote name='Hamster' post='415940' date='Feb 21 2009, 02:38 AM']If anyone has an accurate tab of Heatwave the way Mr Babbitt plays it then I for one would be very very happy to have it![/quote] I doubt I can write that quickly!! I'd only ever seen the film in part before - I was knocked out by Bob Babbit. Q for the more anoraky of us - I could see he was using a foam mute by the bridge but because of it I couldn;t make out the bridge itself. Didn't look like the stock Fender bridge from what I could see. Any ideas?

Bojangles - a wine bar in Pudsey , Yorks. Beware - it has a killer staircase surrounded by glass panels. There's a small vocal PA upstairs and a stage/gantry but no lights. PA might be getting expanded. Forget your big gear - take friends - or plain give it a miss.

Bit of Macca?? [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_jRxD2k79w&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_jRxD2k79w...feature=related[/url]

[quote name='Josh' post='414630' date='Feb 19 2009, 07:17 PM']Why can none of you married players seemingly ever put your foot down?[/quote] Maybe I'm lucky.If Mrs Doc ever questions why I want something it's because she knows me well enough to figure there may be an element of 'whim'. She's likely to say 'wait a day or 2 then see if you still want it'. Good call. As for 'needing' multiple basses. That's down to the individual and the jobs he or she has to do. To be fair there's not many sounds you can't make with a Jazz , something more 'active' and a fretless.

Someone gave me some ibuprofen gel called 'Fenbid'. I'd never have paid for it in a thousand years , not because I'm a tight wad................rephrase.....not JUST because I'm a tightwad but because I have zero faith in such things. Anyway - it works - reduces swelling and pain without necking tablets. I often find myself stiff on a morning....................... OK - enough Hawtreyesque guffawing - esp my neck. I also have a long term prob with my right ankle. Can barely walk on it first thing. This Fenbid gear sorts it out no bother. I think - not sure at all - it may only be available on prescription or , like many things , from the nearest pharmacy to your Greek or Spanish holiday hotel for a third of the cost.

All together now..... weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee're off to see the WIZARD The wonderful WIZARD of Wales because because because because because of the 84 jazz set he does that doesn't cost a bomb [url="http://www.wizardpickups.co.uk/shop.asp?category=Bass"]http://www.wizardpickups.co.uk/shop.asp?category=Bass[/url] Dont recall a bad word being said about them. Piece of piss to install. Good service. Sound fantastic. Search the site there's loads of refs.

Other than giving it a rub with a clean cloth I'd change the strings and see how it plays. Unless it's been stored in a damp cellar or something I doubt much harm will have come to it. No battery to go wrong , give the knobs a twist and see if they crackle through the amp (if they do , check back for instructions) , check that the tuners work smoothly , dab of wd40 if they don't. Just trying to save you a few quid ,mate. Though knowing a decent guitar tech in your area is no bad thing and hope some of our midlands based members can tell you that if there's nothing in the sticky. BTW - I service my own kit most of the time - but one of my basses is covered in pansys , does that count?

[quote name='liamcapleton' post='411208' date='Feb 16 2009, 03:31 PM']That's a good point but do you ever think that Jaco could have been put in that position? That wasn't Jaco's selling point, if you wanted someone like that then hiring Jaco over someone like Chuck Rainey or a decent session musician would have been insane... sort of like asking for trouble.[/quote] Your point's a fair one too. I suppose what I was really saying is that someimes I think Jaco played what he could play rather than what he should play. I've read that he described himself as a very musical player - a lot of what I've heard goes more towards the technical. Maybe Jaco wouldn't play Waterfront - but would that be because he considered it beneath him? The challenge to me is about being part of something greater - not having the greatest part. I'm not really a fan of the virtuoso I suppose. I can listen with interest and take enjoyment from anothers ability or from what I may learn. I'm not so sure I feel 'entertained'. Sadly I'm not aware of a lot of Jaco's catalog , as many of you are. I'm only really able to give my thoughts on the Jaco I've heard which , other than parts of Shadows and Light has left me with an impression of 'player before band' - not my thing I'm afraid , even regarding such fine playing.

[quote name='bremen' post='411000' date='Feb 16 2009, 12:59 PM']Maybe. I just wondered where he'd been the last few years when he wrote: 'Well, here’s a blast from the past – I haven’t seen this type of 1970’s style bass for many years and back in the 70’s they were usually accompanied by a pair of wicked side burns, a pair of ludicrously wide Birmingham bags (trousers to those who weren’t around back then) and completed by some 4 inch platform shoes that caused the owner to totter around like Frankenstein.'[/quote] I've always had a soft spot for Jazz basses and probably because the first ones I saw were big , cumbersome looking things with block markers played by blokes on telly wearing platforms , flappy trousers and big sideburns. I think he's just making the point that this Jazz is styled on the Jazz of a particular era in a reasonably light hearted way in order to flog a few to those who might like a 70s retro vibe - which I presume is his job.

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='410555' date='Feb 15 2009, 10:34 PM']Haven't enjoyed a Jaco or Weather Report album since I was 16 and I was told I needed to like them to play bass. Load of nonsense - both the advice and the music![/quote] The advice is certainly nonsense , the music's a matter of opinion which, in the main, I share with you. I like to watch bits of Jaco on you tube etc but I could only really listen to W R with my notepad out rather than for entertainment. To a point I can enjoy the Shadows and Light stuff . I'm really grateful Jaco raised the profile of bass playing and it's fantastic that he continues to inspire so many. In no way could his technical abilities be questioned. The guy was able to push the boundary of the music he wanted to play in ways most of us could not. If he were doing what he so often does on a guitar though , how many of us would just accuse him of fret w**king. I wonder what he'd have done with Waterfront , had Simple Minds asked him to help out? Would he have had enough humility to realise the bassline was already perfect for the song or would he have felt compelled to do more?? The guy's a legend in many ways , I suppose I'm just not that interested in those ways. His music remains to be enjoyed , to inspire , to critisise , to learn from. There are worse epitaphs.

Which bit's wrong? I can't fault the article at all. I presume the reviewer was comparing the Jazz to other more modern basses rather than comparing this model of jazz to other jazz basses. Maybe we just read it differently.

An ad is an ad. When did you last see one that said 'don't buy my product - it's rubbish'. A lot of the ads you see will be keen 'improvers' like yourself and not next weeks chart toppers like they say. If you def. don't want to join a gigging (or preparing to gig ) band - look around for local 'jam' nights. You'll be expected (rightly so) to fit in with other players of various levels of skill/talent so no point in going only to play stuff you like or know. Go there and learn stuff you don't know and you might end up liking it. You may also meet folk interested in having smaller , less public get togethers for the purpose of getting to know how to play with others better. If that's a no no ....You express yourself pretty clearly here , why not write your own ad ? There's be other musicians down the next street in exactly the same position as you. I'm willing to bet too that there's loads of opportunities to join in with other players at colleges in your area without having to join the degree course.