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MattM

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Everything posted by MattM

  1. MattM
    Great deal with Chris for my ‘78 Tony Franklin Precision, good comms, fast payment and delighted it’s went to a Basschat stalwart who’ll love it.
  2. MattM
    Just sold and en route to a well established Basschatter. Thanks for all the interest folks. Cheers.
  3. MattM
    Reluctant sale owing to post Christmas finances and change in family circumstances is this incredible fretless Precision. Calling it a bitsa does it a massive disservice given quality of components. Consists of a 1978 ash Fender Precision body, beautifully aged/mojoed with almost satin patina with only a small amount of tiny surface marks just above the P pickup (pictured). Tony Franklin fretless P neck with ultra comfy B neck nut width, undoubtedly the finest fretless neck I’ve played, fitted with a Hipshot detuner. Finished off with an EMG passive Geezer PJ set with VVT control configuration so you can fine tune the blend to a much greater extent than a standard Tony Franklin. Comes with a serviceable, non-branded hard case. £925 shipped in UK, which is way less than the sum of its parts. I don’t want to part out. Bass is south of Glasgow in Central Scotland, handy for all major motorway networks. Please feel free to check my feedback from my 17 years on here. Cheers.
  4. MattM
    Bought my first bass with my student grant in 1985 in Sound Control in Glasgow. The nice sales guy let me try a Stingray and a Wal, both at around the £800ish mark then. Loved the Stingray, immediately got a great sound however the Wal to me sounded like a goose farting in the fog (to paraphrase Billy Connolly). Could afford neither so left with a Westone Thunder 1A which served me well for the next 15 years or so. I now own a 2EQ Stingray Classic
  5. MattM
    Did a great deal with him on (surprise, surprise) a Stingray. Nice bloke, real enthusiast, thoughts are with his friends and family. RIP Nick 😔
  6. MattM
    As an ex-Limelight owner, can confirm the pickups are hand wound by Mark at Limelight and are excellent, probably the most versatile in terms of tonal variation (in conjunction with the tone control) I’ve ever had in a P bass. I can also highly recommend dealing with @ead - had a brilliant experience buying (oddly enough) a PJ fretless from him a couple of years back which I still have, great guy to deal with and very flexible and friendly with meet up and handover.
  7. MattM
    String type has a big influence for me, a P with flats sounds better finger style, rounds with a pick. Jazz neck pickup pretty identical IMHO. Having said that my current P fretless is equipped with an EMG Geezer and flats and I love a pick with palm-muting.
  8. MattM
    Wow, fabulous original 70s P, instant Dee Dee Ramone or Paul Simonon. GLWTS.
  9. MattM
    Martyn Casey’s from the Bad Seeds 60s Precision is a thing of beauty IMHO. Non original white pickup, and beautifully beaten up.
  10. MattM

    What's your #1

    MattM replied to Rayman's topic in Bass Guitars

    Think the Tony Franklin has a DiMarzio J pickup as this was his original preference? I’ve got a reverse of this as my go-to fretless, a Tony Franklin neck on a 78 P body with EMG PJ set. The neck is hands-down the best P neck I’ve played (think it’s B width or 40mm-ish at nut) and the ebony fingerboard with flats plays amazingly.
  11. MattM

    What's your #1

    MattM replied to Rayman's topic in Bass Guitars

    I’m a 2-band Stingray guy and this Classic is the best I’ve owned in my 37 year playing career…
  12. MattM
    I have an EMG Geezer in my ‘78 P Franklinstein fretless, and I concur, great P sound, particularly with Chromes flats. Instant David J from Bauhaus if that’s yer bag…
  13. MattM
    This. Here’s another photo of Martyn’s aforesaid early 60s Precision
  14. MattM
    I’ve recently acquired my first PJ, a 78 P fretless fitted with EMGs and tbh love the P sound so much I rarely ever blend or use the J. Was never a fan of Jacos tone (heresy!), too nasal but ideal for what he did. A good P with flats is one of my two favourite bass tones alongside a 2EQ ‘Ray so would be happy enough with just a P pickup.
  15. MattM
    With the stunning birdseye maple neck, mutes, 6 bolt neck plate, chrome battery cover and 2 band EQ, that looks like a Sterling Classic? Rare as hens teeth and an amazing bass
  16. MattM
    I’ve been fortunate to have had a couple of fretless ‘Rays in my time, both Pau Ferro, one lined, the other unlined and I’m fortunate to be enjoying a fabulous Tony Franklin Precision neck on ‘78 P body bass (bitsa kinda insults it as it’s so goddam good) courtesy of a great WTB response by @eadof this parish. A ‘Ray would’ve been my first choice but, like yourself, decent fretless variants are thin on the ground. My second favourite bass sound after a 2EQ ‘Ray is a decent Precision with flats, and this delivers that in spades. The combination of Chromes and ebony fretboard is incredible, easily the most playable fretless Ive ever owned. The fretless P/Chromes combo was, of course, beloved by David J and I’m literally going to get killed by all my family if I play ‘Bela’ one more time…
  17. MattM
    I’m one of the resident ‘Ray geeks, and would concur with the USA and 2 band EQ route. I worked my way up from a USA Sub, got *very* lucky with a poorly photographed ‘88 2EQ on eBay and eventually traded up to a USA Stingray Classic (now discontinued) which I got on here. Still kicking myself 6 years later for selling a 2EQ ‘Pino homage’ fretless. Fabulous basses all.
  18. MattM
    As I said in my post, it’s the surface that’s smooth. This is down to the glossy lacquer (which rosewood doesn’t have). Rosewood does feel slightly rougher under the fingers than maple, I notice this frequently when bending. I’ll qualify this with I tend to play more vintage guitars with small frets and more rounded fingerboard radii, so high frets are kinda outwith my purview. By all means, go down the jumbo fret and even scalloped route, your mileage may Yngwie…
  19. MattM
    Less so if you’re a bassist. I play guitar also and the differences are more notable, particularly with string bending. Maple a *lot* smoother for bending owing to smoothness of surface (hence why e.g. Gilmour and Clapton are maple dudes), the thing about maple being brighter than rosewood is moot, you can always adjust any brightness using your tone controls anyway. I have however, courtesy of @eadof this parish, just taken custody of my first ebony fretless and it’s fabulous. Had rosewood and pau ferro fretlesses previously and, similar to maple for guitars, ebony is brilliant for surface smoothness and slides.
  20. MattM
    Lozz, been on here for years mate and whenever I see you post I think “black and maple P”. Rosewood just ain’t you dude…
  21. MattM
    Fantastic deal with Alain following his response to my WTB for a fretless. Great communication, happy to meet up midway to avoid courier hassles, nice chat at Carlisle during handover and most importantly bass is fabulous - he probably underdescribed how good it was and priced it very fairly. Deal with confidence and thanks Alain for a great bass and smooth deal!
  22. MattM
    Love this, you and the Precision were clearly meant to be, don’t ever let it go again dude. My son (and no-one else) is getting my ‘Ray when I’m gone…
  23. MattM
    I’d advocate a white Precision with rounds and a pick a la Dee Dee and Simonon all day long, however don’t discount how good a maple necked ‘Ray can sound in this context, I give you the legendary live version of Waiting Room…
  24. MattM
    I’ve got a set of what I presume were factory original rounds on my ‘Ray Classic and TBH never felt the need to switch them for flats, as I can get pretty much almost there tone wise with judicious muting, hand position and use of tone controls. Conversely, I love Labella flats on Precision’s, think I had them on an old Limelight and USA P and they were brilliant - could get them reasonably zingy with a pick and again judicious tone control usage, particularly on the Limelight.
  25. MattM
    Nothing better looking than a beaten up sunburst Precision IMHO, and this is probably the only reasonably priced route to one that looks this good without resorting to vintage or Custom Shop. Nash uses bought-in parts, as do Limelight who don’t do sunburst as a rule, this is handmade and different gravy therefore.
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