Shaggy

Just bought a lovely Warmoth bass neck off Brian- really smooth deal with great communications; the neck arrived almost immediately in bomb-proof packaging. As posts above show, Brian is definitely one of the good guys on BC 👍

If weight isn’t an issue there is only one cab to rule them all...... Mesa Boogie Diesel 1516

As has been said frequently on this forum; for sheer portability and sublime tone I reckon it’s impossible to beat the Mesa Walkabout (a hybrid I know, rather than all SS). I’ve tried so many others, and keep coming back to it. Like you my main gigging amp used to be a Fender 135 (acquired for a princely £50....), also been through Ampeg SVTII, Orange 100W valve, Trace Twin Valve, and Mesa D180 (which I still have). Try the Walkabout, and I think you’d find the 135 would become the backup - it’ll drive your cabs with ease. if I didn’t already have 3 Mesa’s I’d be pulling the trigger on this;

I wouldn’t regret it - they’re rare and “collectible” now, and like most ‘80’s British built gear it’s bulletproof. When the range came out the cabs and amp cases were clad in rather natty pale grey tolex; not sure why they later changed to the more boring black. A guitarist mate had the Silver Jubilee 50W all-valve combo (in the pale grey with chrome facia) which was probably the best sounding guitar amp that I’ve ever heard - hence my later acquiring the 3530 on likewise rather an impulse!

I recently bought a set of pre-cut markers via their eBay shop, but just checked the listing and as you say; they’re no longer shipping to UK. I don’t suppose you’ve a relative or friend in another country that you could order through?

I’ve had the 300W 3530 head for many years; it’s currently my rehearsal amp, but have gigged it - only replaced it in that role as I needed a head with DI out and more power. The bit of research I did when I got it suggested that they’re put together with very high quality components and sound really nice, but are rather underpowered for their rating. Which I’d agree with - the 3530 feels more like a 200W head, my Mesa Walkabout (also nominally 300W) absolutely stuffs it. However, I’d imagine the 600W version would have plenty of power! Good score 👍

Loving that - I have an Antoniosai mandolin; decent enough as an instrument, but the MOP / abalone inlay work is just incredible.

Aesthetics is a priority for any bass I acquire, but the only one bought purely on looks alone - a mid ‘60’s Vox Wyman Bass; I’d always loved the teardrop shape and funky “f” hole. Fairly horrible playing ergonomics, but surprisingly big, punchy sound.

Aw, end of an era....... I know your list of basses in the OP wasn’t exhaustive Chris, but you missed out the 1957 Precision and a couple of Wals! Good luck with the DB mate, also with the house move of course. I was getting right back into my fiddle playing during lockdown and didn’t expect to pick up a bass guitar again, but a new band project means I’ve been sucked back into it - for a while anyway. So no more trades at “The Harbourmaster”. Maybe. To paraphrase Carl Perkins; “You can take the boy out of bass.......”😉

Another vote for TI flats; lovely strings on any semi 👍

One comes to mind; a few years back I was in a band that regularly played outdoor summer fetes in the local towns and villages; quite a big scene in the S Wales Valleys. We arrived at one place we were booked at and hadn’t played before, found the stage where we were to set up, and asked the organiser where the electric power supply was. He helpfully pointed to a single socket connected to a long, long domestic grade cable trailing across the grass. We followed it back to a tiny wooden shed, and found the other end plugged into a mains adapter connected into several other mains adaptors plugged into a single socket, along with at least 4 other cables trailing elsewhere. I should add that our PA was rated at 2.5 kW, never mind the stage amps and lighting. Without saying a word, we quietly went back to the van and drove away.

I believe the term applies specifically to the English 😉

Mine was a mid-‘60’s Kalamazoo KB-1, bought in 1977 (when I was 16) for £25. Like in the pic below, but mine was rather badly sprayed black and previous owner had added a Hofner mini-humbucker in the bridge position. Kakamazoo was Gibson’s US based budget brand in the 1960’s. The KB-1 was a short scale budget model in 2 body styles; one like an EB-0 / SG, the other vaguely like a Fender Mustang (as mine). Body was made of a kind of compressed MDF (subcontracted to a manufacturer of toilet seats), neck was very decent maple / rosewood, and the hardware (except for the Japanese tuners) was Gibson, exactly the same as on the EB-0. So not a bad starter bass, and being in a punk band it really looked the part too. The hot output and low frequencies from the mudbucker blew the driver in my puny first amp the first time I used it. Dismantled when I acquired my first long scale bass a couple of years later (a vile Columbus Jazz bass copy), with a kind of notion to lake a custom out of it with a Ric shaped wood body - I really wanted a Ric. I put the big mudbucker on the Jazz copy in the neck position to make a kind of dub-monster (which got swapped for a bike). The rest stayed in my parts drawer until very recently; mini-humbucker went on a bitsa fretless, neck and bridge went on BC, still got a few bits and bobs from it all these years later.

Gobsmacked 😮 Never thought I’d see an eBay seller that actually makes that German Music Outlet Shop look sane. Even they listed a Wal Pro neck at 10% of that price a few years back. The sad thing is there are actually a few nice instruments on that site that no one will ever own.....😕

True. If it were mine (which it ain’t!), to honest I’d leave the current one on there rather than change to black, but if making a new one I’d still go for a quality sheet of proper celluloid tort, eg: https://www.wdmusic.co.uk/pickguards-c62/blank-pickguard-sheets-c95/wd-music-brown-tortoiseshell-celluloid-thin-non-laminated-p608 Bass doc used to make custom ones to order on here (pretty sure also sourcing from WD Music), not sure if he does any more?

I’d def go for tort, you’ve probably already checked out: https://www.wdmusic.co.uk/pickguards-c62/gibson-miscellaneous-c87/ripper-c266/wd-music-ripper-single-ply-070-1-77mm-semi-transparent-tortoise-shell-no-bevelled-edge-p6714 Plenty other options: https://www.wdmusic.co.uk/search/pickguards-c62/gibson-miscellaneous-c87/gibson-ripper not cheap, but great quality, and with a Ripper the p/guard is a big part of the aesthetics.

That L6S is proper lush - even has the “harmonica bridge” sported by early ‘70’s Gibson’s - and so much nicer than the endless Les Paul copies of that era 👍. Makes me wonder why Kimbara were never as big as Ibanez or Aria?

Fantastic score Maude; I remember Kimbaras as being at the top of the quality scale of late ‘70’s copies, and they always seemed to use nice tonewoods. From the dim recesses of my memory I think most of the “natural” bodied guitars / basses were made from Sen wood, sometimes called Japanese ash (being very similar to ash). Never owned a Ripper / Grabber, but those I’ve tried were quite thin bodied, so not unduly heavy. I have owned quite a few RD Artists which being maple and thick bodied are......heavy. There used to be someone on eBay in the US who would make up custom engraved Gibson TRC’s - I had one done, I’ll see if I can dig up contact. Enjoy the new bass! 👍

PM sent 🙂

Damn shame - always to sorry to see any examples of top-end British craftsmanship coming to a close. 😢 I so nearly pulled the trigger on a beautiful Enfield Cannon that was FS on here a few years ago - the one with the 2TSB figured sycamore top / translucent blue body. But it was just to similar to my Wal, which I think was part of the problem; the Sims pickups and electronics are quite amazing (albeit with far more tonal switching options than any of us would probably ever need), but the Instrument designs were maybe just a tad too safe and derivative.