henry norton

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1317911657' post='1396121'] Go to bass bashes, try custom basses. ENJOY trying custom basses. I'm sure Jon could make you something that you would love (probably the guy I would consider making the closest to stingray type basses). You know exactly what you like in basses tbh. Tell whoever to base it on a Stingray. You like solid finishes too which would bring the price down usually. [/quote] Thing is, only MusicMan are going to be able to make MM20 a proper MusicMan. A custom is a custom, whereas a production bass with a particularly rare spec often has that extra....... character? It's disappointing when it doesn't go right but you can always draw some comfort from hearing what most US Fender buyers have to go through to get a good one

If a bass costing £680 is that bad I can't imagine what one of those £350 cheapies would sound like. That's if you could get any sound out of one in the first place....

Mm, I never tried one of their basses but I can tell you the guitars (well, the Japanese reissues) are very nicely made but like some Fender and Gibson reissue guitars, the pickups and construction aren't always the same as the originals (actually no bad thing when so far as Gretsch construction goes), but that may not apply to the basses in the same way. TV Jones do a Gretsch bass pickup if you find you like the look but not so the sound. That said, they look the mutts nuts, which is half the battle anyway

+1 on all that. I would definitely try playing with your amp eq before selling a vital organ to buy a Fralin.

You mean to say it's not carved out of a shark and preserved in formaldehyde? I'm disappointed.....

Hmm, I agree with Lawrence. The sound quality on stage is all too often too rubbish to get your intonation right. I play lined and unlined fretless and like them both so if Bobby prefers the idea of a lined fretless (just like Jaco Pastorius and Mick Karn did), who are we to tell him different? You're looking at about £100 to have the board slotted, veneer filled and smoothed back. It might be a few quid more if you want dots too but the good thing about lining a fretless this way is you can have it filled with darker veneers, dots, blocks, whatever you want. I guess the rub is, if you can find the same bass but as a lined fretless in the first place then you'll save yourself a hundered quid, but that's [i]if[/i] you can find one and want it bog standard. PM me if you want and I can talk you through the process without boring the t#ts off everyone else here

Could be 4 wooden Steinberger copies.......

[quote name='witterth' timestamp='1317333810' post='1389723'] I used to rehearse next to them and (dont know about records ) but live they sounded great, its all them, great band I thought too. post fairlight though most likley Akia s1000...(well I know it was) [/quote] Fair enough. I like them no matter what sampler they used!

[quote name='witterth' timestamp='1317315814' post='1389438'] Carmel in the 80s was a three peice vox,D bass and drums does that nearly count?.....being a trio and all? worth a listen though ( sorry about that!) [/quote] I really like(d) Carmel although like allot of acts from back then, I'd imagine a fair portion of their music was played on a Fairlight

I always wanted a 2 pickup Tele bass, although I would put the bridge pickup in the sweet spot like a Stingray. I think it would look and sound better that way. They look too widely spaced with the bridge pickup that far back and that mounting ring looks a bit like an afterthought. I wonder why they didn't use the big scratchplate that custom shop version used?

[quote name='lemmywinks' timestamp='1317209801' post='1388045'] I wonder how much mammoth tusk is. It should probably be illegal seeing as ivory is, what with mammoths being [i]slightly[/i] rarer than elephants.... Just think - each time you file the nut slots you're taking hundreds off the value of the bass! [/quote] Ha! About a quid per speck of dust! Actually mammoth tusk is used on some very expensive string instrument bows. It's used because you don't have to kill a mammoth to get the ivory whereas you normally have to kill an elephant if you want elephant ivory.

"After all, the German luthier’s expensive basses are made with some of the same techniques used to make Stradivarius violins." Hmm, could this technique involve carving bits of seasoned wood into the shape of a musical instrument??? Edit: ...or does he wind his pickups slightly hot like Strad used to....

That's quite a gap but I would sand the heel to fit rather than mess around with that fantastic finish on the scratchplate.

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1316811884' post='1383375'] Nut files. £Scrillions from Stewmac or buy a set of welders nozzle cleaners for £1.85 as here: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Welding-and-Cutting-Torch-Tips-Nozzle-Cleaners-Set-/160642401568?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2567088520"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item2567088520[/url] [/quote] You fekkin' genius!

I had a Tokai Jazz very similar to that one but it was a lined fretless with a rosewood veneer fingerboard and no scratchplate. I remember it was quite heavy but had a good sound. I think the odd machine adds a bit to the mojo - I guess a part like that is one that comes along once in a blue moon but it probably wouldn't be that expensive.

Musica Nuda - They span classical through Jazz to Disco Diva covers. They're very good (and the singer's very nice looking too)

Thanks for all the replies and PM's. Most appreciated

The strings can get a bit floppy when tuning down but if you don't mind raising the action and tweaking the intonation and truss rod (or just playing with a lighter touch) they don't work too badly. Most of the complaints about short scales come from people who've never played one

Yeah the Japanese reissues are particularly nice. I'm getting one just so I can hang it on the wall and look at it whilst I play my Precision.

+1 on that but if it really is thin and weedy sounding there might just be a problem with the pickup itself rather than the type of pickup or its position. If you're happy with the neck pickup and you're handy with a soldering iron you could try swapping them over to see if the pickup is at fault. That asides, you can get some fairly bassy, high output Jazz bridge pickups so don't go digging holes in your bass to get more bass (if you know what I mean). Humbuckers are to all intents and purposes two single coil pickups, meaning they're generally more expensive so if you're looking at really cheap humbuckers (in comparison to single coil Jazz pups) the chances are they won't be very high quality in build or in tone, so you might just be giving yourself the same problem again. Maybe you can call in the favour from your drummer by asking him to "PLAY QUIETLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

OK, well for a start why did you want to replace your current bridge pickup? Routing out the body for a different pickup is quite a radical mod considering how many direct replacement Jazz V pickups there are already out there that will drop in to the current route. If you want more tonal variation you might want to look at an active circuit before replacing pickups. Let us know your reasons. Welcome to the forum by the way

Well in car terms 'vintage' is a car made in the period from 1918 to 1945. Before 1918 it is called 'veteran' and after 1945 (or 1949 depending on who you ask), is called 'classic'. Classic officially applies to any car over 25 years old nowadays. How this applies to collectable electric guitars? Fecked if I know........

+1 to all that. Oil/wax will mellow and generally never look beaten up but you do need to give it the odd coat of wax whereas a satin lacquer will age and wear, but once it's on you don't need to do anything else with it. Also, if you decide you want to go back to a lacquered finish, you can't lacquer over a body that's been oiled and waxed as the oil sinks in and the paint won't stick.

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='1370039' date='Sep 12 2011, 01:46 AM']I always thought teak would be an oily and heavy wood to use in luthery but this article has made me think again. I have potential access to a lot of Burmese teak and amboyna burl if I can make it to the sawmills in Myanmar next time I'm over there...[/quote] I think teak has always come under the same heading as oak when it comes to instrument making. It'll probably make a really nice - if heavy - guitar/bass but because it's not swamp ash, alder or mahogany means it doesn't really figure with guitar manufacturers. Taylors pallet series guitars were made of American Oak (from a pallet!) and apparently sounded just as good as a mahogany or rosewood Taylor. I'd go for it but be prepared to make the body small or get a wide strap to take the strain

[url="http://www.luthierssupplies.co.uk/"]David Dyke[/url] [url="http://www.touchstonetonewoods.co.uk/"]Touchstone[/url] Both do mail order and in spite of being in business for decades, they don't charge the p#ss taking prices you often see for tonewoods on the internet (unless you want South American rosewood ) They can give you some advice if you need it too.