Dr.Dave

I just haven't got round to having the work done on this that I intended when I bought it and I've finally decided I never will - so it's for sale again.

I bought it used 2 years ago and most of the following is what Jon told me.

He made it for a customer who ordered through a shop in the early days of his bass making. He remembers it quite well. The bolt-on neck is ebony on some sort of fancy maple. It has side dots in the usual place and fret lines scribed in. They are very light so could easily be removed or filled in so they can be seen better.

The body is solid wenge and quite dark with an oil finish. The pup is a Kent Armstrong originally made for Goodfellow basses.

Aside from the vol knob the guy wanted a strange combination of mid shifts. I've never worked out what's really going on but it does make for a huge variety of excellent sounds. 3 of the 4 are clicked in the mid position , the one that isn't doesn't seem to do anything much but maybe it's me being cloth eared. The electrics are Jon's own and are powered with a single 9v battery.

It came to me with a Wilkinson bridge , over complicated and sold on - the brass mitey mite in the pic has been changed for a chunky black no-name job but you can have both.

Condition is very good , no dings . You can see evidence of bridge replacement , ie the screw holes from the Wilkinson though I put 2 small screws in the holes for neatness.
In a certain light you can see a small patch on the fingerboard by the heel end that looks to me like it was cleaned with wire wool or similar. Sure it would t-cut out. I never bothered because I was going to have the scribe lines sanded out. Fingerboard wear is minimal and mostly on the A string.

I'm cutting my losses on this one so wanting a bit less than I have tied up in it - £300 would be nice and I'll include delivery though you're quite welcome to collect.

That's a living,breathing Shuker for the cost of a Fender Mex folks.

Audio Technica 1400series reciever and 1451 unipak transmitter. Adaptor , rack ears , manual , all in a placcy tool case for your delectation.
Had very, very little use and when it did it was racked - bought maybe 6 months ago. I think it's a discontinued model now but I bought it new. Works great.

I'm after some Jazz bass pups - see my ad for a Line 6 POD I'm flogging. Same deal - pups or £70.

I have a Line 6 POD , minty condition , with the transformer and the instructions that's not getting any use.

I want some passive Jazz pups. Wizard or SD's for example but I don't know what else you may have. Happy to do a swap here but otherwise £70 so I can buy some Wiz 84's with the cash.

Funnily enough , I've just been writing my memoirs - catchily entitled 'Famous rockstars I've shared a bag of onion bahjis with outside a pub in Wakefield'

Chapter 1 is called 'Neal Schon out of Journey'

Run out of relevant material for the rest of the book though!

It's great , isn't it. Bet they're into fits over on www.statii.com

I wouldn't worry about stickers too much - they come off.

I had a vintage 60's Jazz that had been wasted with penknives and cig ends. The timeless phrase 'Your Mabel's m*nge box' was scratched deep into the front. Not much I could do to that beyond a value destroying re-finish so I sold it on for vast profit through V+R.

[quote name='Pedro1020' post='147244' date='Feb 26 2008, 01:52 PM']Can anyone tell me if this neck is straight or bowed? can't quite tell, but strings are damn high.

will it need to be adjusted?[/quote]

Looks to me like the action's too high and the pup will need dropping a bit , hard to tell from a photo though.

I currently sing lead vocal in about a third of the set and backing vocals on the rest.

I've always thought a bass player , and any other musician , should support the song first and foremost. A song , to me , is melody and lyrics. If you're singing I think you get a good feel about where to place fills etc to support the song better - just as important is when not to.

It can be very hard trying to sing and play a recognised bassline that often seems at odds with it. One I've had bother with is ZZ Top's 'Cheap Sunglasses' that we now play in both bands.
I practised hitting the Bflat that was giving me trouble by highlighting the words in the lyrics that I sing over those Bflats with a highlighter pen - then hiting the Bflat and stressing the word at the same time - after a while it sunk in and it's quite natural now.

Good for any musician to sing the song they're playing anyway while they're practising- I always did.

And remember - if you practise bass for an hour a day , but never practise singing at all - why would you expect to be as good a singer as you are a bass player??

I believe I'm right in thinking the pickup cut out is a Strat fit.

Endless sounds to be had there then , given the number of after market pups that drain the cash supplies of our more widdly friends.

Strat Humbucker?? Gibson sound , Gibson look , Gibson scale (I think) - all in a much nicer and better looking bass to play (IMHO) than an EB.

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[quote name='Soulfinger' post='144904' date='Feb 22 2008, 11:25 AM']And I´d probably be happy with any of the basses niceguyhomer has owned over the years.
[/quote]

Doubt you'll have to wait too long

[quote name='David Nimrod' post='141683' date='Feb 16 2008, 07:50 PM']Beautiful... I've always thought a bridge cover really finishes off a 'P' [/quote]

Well....it finishes your set early should you need to change a string in a hurry. Can't even get the old one off never mind the new one on.

None of which matters in this thread though which is about Alan's Precision. Looks well cool to me. Simple,clean lines , a kick too from the Wiz pickup I should think. Been wondering how they would compare to the Dunc QP on mine which I always think is a bit over aggressive.

It wouldn't break my heart to walk into my spare room and see Wateroftyne's row of sunburst Fenders or Rich's crafty,versatile collection.

[quote name='spinynorman' post='144329' date='Feb 21 2008, 12:58 PM']It puts the "proper bass players use their fingers" debate in some sort of context.

I wonder what sort of market research Leo did for that design choice. Does anyone play bass like that?[/quote]

Part of his thinking was that jobbing guitar players would use his invention enabling them to get more work - I suspect they may have played that way at the time. Many will have been used to a wrap round thumb pick rather than a loosely held plectrum.

BTW - proper bass players use their ears , whichever bit they choose to sound a string with doesn't really matter much.

[quote name='tauzero' post='143050' date='Feb 19 2008, 01:50 PM']Ah, perhaps you should try [url="http://www.subservientchicken.com/"]http://www.subservientchicken.com/[/url] instead then. See if he'll sing...[/quote]

Nope

He didn't 'go f*** himself' either !

[quote name='Peaty' post='56036' date='Sep 5 2007, 03:18 PM']Just a thought, you could finish it with a montage of those 'escort service buisness cards' that can be found in many of the phone boxes of london you know the sort of thing 'all tastes catered for'.[/quote]

I read somewhere that Guy Pratt did exactly that to his Steinberger - 'busty black bitch' as I recall that he peeled from a phone box.

I bought half of one of Jon's stock basses , the whole of which was advertised on his site at £850.

I had the pup changed and a complete diff. spec neck made to fit the existing body. I also had LED side dots so the vol pot was changed to push/pull to switch them on and off.

I paid £950 - the extra hundred quid being purely for the LEDs as Jon could use the other new parts I didn't want. That was 2 1/2 years ago.

The new spalted top and glossy body finish on my Status cost £250 - last year

The changes to my (bought used) fretless ( ie.re-positioned side markers - pickup move - new top , oiled finish - new simplified electrics - mono bridge installation) is going to be about £350

I had one years ago , as a spare to take to gigs , but I found the shorter scale a prob swapping it about with a 34" P.

It was fun , it would suit many folks , and it's a 70's Fender for not a mint. You might play it and love it.

You say it's a 'friend' that's selling. Fair enough , but if it was an 'aquaintance' and I could get it for £200 I would , and sell it straight on for a bit more.
£200 is what it's worth I reckon as an instrument (certainly £200 would get you a choice of better instruments) but because of the name and the vintage market it should be worth twice that without too much trouble and maybe a little more on a good day.

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='127750' date='Jan 25 2008, 02:07 PM']I'll see if Cameron (Wayne 58) fancies a pint. It's an 'upstairs' gig with no lift so don't take anything too heavy! Mind you, they sometimes have bands on downstairs too I believe but they always shove us upstairs.

Alan[/quote]

Dave hasn't got anything too heavy - he manages very well with a little GK mb150 combo and extension - walks in with the full rig slung over his shoulder!!

I gig regularly and if I were to list last years cock ups alone you'd all still be reading at Easter.

How many cups of tea have you ever made yourself? Tons. Bet you still drop the spoon , miss the cup with the sugar , run out of milk etc etc.

Same thing with gigging - sh*t happens - all we can do is...

a) prepare ourselves by having spares of everything we can carry and focusing on the job in hand

accept we'll still f*** it up at some point and learn by experience to deal with it a seamlessly as poss.

Both are part of adopting a professional attitude and are as important as honing our musical skills for the gigging musician.

It's a stunner - and the changes/upgrades are perfect for me.

Sadly I already have a Shuker fretless that's midway through a few changes itself , making it unsaleable to raise funds for this one. If it wasn't for that, this would have been mine weeks ago.

I sincerly hope it stays amongst the BC community giving me a chance to maybe aquire it at some future point.

I'd had a cheapo spanish guitar kicking about since I was about 10 - but really only started playing when I was 16 , when I bought a Hofner violin bass after going out looking for a telecaster guitar. Did my first gig at 17 just after buying my Precision from a guy at work.
I got a good sense of timing very quickly but it was pretty much root notes and the odd riff. I started to copy folk like Geddy Lee and that helped me build more technique and I started to figure out my own runs to fit into the songs I wasn't able to play 'properly'. I also decided I wasn't going to be a clone and largely rejected bass 'hero's' in favour of great bass performances.
I got better over the next few years and I honestly can't remember what it's like not to be able to play.

I bought an electric guitar for the first time in my 20s. I could play chords but taught myself to solo using simple blues scales. No doubt in my mind that doing that helped me become a better bass player , partic when it came to jamming with others.

I was into my late 20s when I really felt I was halfway decent , and no longer in awe of many players I saw.

I'm 46 now - no idea how many gigs I've played but it must be in the thousands.

I'm not a 'natural' - wish I was , then I wouldn't have to practise.

[quote name='wotnwhy' post='103220' date='Dec 12 2007, 01:29 PM']"Though John Entwhistle.... looking a bit rough!"

true, but if what i heard was true, he left us doing coke in a hotel room with a hooker in las vegas yes?

pretty good going for a man of his age![/quote]

I know - I , by comparison , will more likely meet my demise under a 189 bus in the pissing rain of Wakefield town centre by rushing across the road because my chips are too hot.

True enough

Though John Entwhistle , Phil Lynott and Jaco are looking a bit rough!

My limit is 4

Fretted 4
spare/alternative fretted 4
fretted 5
fretless 4

So obviously I currently have 5 !!!!

Fretted 4
spare/alternative fretted 4
pride and joy 73P that I'm too precious about to take round the toilets of northern England (so it doesn't count)
fretless 4
Pointy thing I got for the trib band - making it a stage prop so (that doesn't count either)

Because 2 of those don't count I really only have 3

And because I included a 5 string in my 'ideal' list and haven't got one I can minus that from my 'actuals' - leaving just 2.

Which means - if my maths is correct - I can still buy 2 more making 7 but still only have 4 as long as one of them's a 5 string.

Anyone fancy a nice game of cards??!!

[quote name='Krysbass' post='101061' date='Dec 7 2007, 06:42 PM']Hope your new 715X is OK.

The basic 715 happens to be fairly near the top of a shortlist of combos I'm currently GASing for. I have to say that story has moved it a little higher. There are a few manufacturers whose products have a worse reputation for going wrong than Trace Elliott, but I guess it's how far they'll go to put matters right that counts.[/quote]

I understand what you mean by this - and I'm pleased the Trace was replaced - but imho at the top of my shortlist would be he one where posts say ' dropped it down a lift shaft and it still worked fine'.