Shaggy

......'77 RD Artist. Huge heavy bar-room brawler of a bass

........'65 Thunderbird IV, usual neck repair and oversprayed. Just the best playing and sounding bass I've ever owned.

Glad to see some Gibson love going on here; after many years of whoring around with any old bass they're the marque I've finally come around to, in particular the "reverse" models for the reasons given here; [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=74502&st=0"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=74502&st=0[/url] Here's my Kalamazoo Kuties :

[quote name='Clarky' post='739501' date='Feb 8 2010, 10:33 PM']Alberto Y Los Trios Paranoias ... if I am not mistaken But yeah, agreed![/quote] Of course - my first thought was Half Man Half Biscuit, but you're right. My room mate in Uni used to play this continually, when he wasn't listening to taped radio repeats of "Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

Nothing that I can add to the legend that is Beedster that's not already said! We've been threatening to trade since the days of Bassworld, and finally did at a soggy services on the M11; my P for his Ric. ........might even buy it back when the inevitable sale thread appears

[quote name='retroman' post='734136' date='Feb 3 2010, 03:17 PM']There's a link to my issues with "The Thunderturd" as I now call it earlier in this thread.[/quote] Must have the "Dirty fingers" pickups Gibson used to make!

Bought a Ric strap off tredders; smooth deal, great communication, good guy

Sold Chris a custom bitza Sabre; top bloke - genuine, friendly, great communicator, real bass enthusiast Ta for a smooth deal! (Just hope you won't need a chiropractor after playing the Sabre, Chris...... .)

Went quite cheap, considering what these can fetch Been after one for ages, but they only turn up when I'm skint!

[quote name='Dom in Somerset' post='721944' date='Jan 23 2010, 09:25 AM']The T bird is all about the triumph of style over practicality. It's the bass that says "wake up , it's time to rock!"[/quote] Personally I think this is one of those myths that gets handed down to each successive generation of bassists. (second statement agreed with, of course!) I like to rest my right hand on the top body bout so you can really dig in hard and fast against the strings - like Thunderfingers (pic) - only wish I had an ounce of the talent! That's what makes my '65 T'bird IV the most ergonomic bass I've ever played, by a big margin. The well-known strap button re-position mod sorts out the balance issue.

Stephen broke into my house, stole my beautiful Trace Elliot Twin Valve head that I love more than my children, molested the cat, then made me write this feedback at gunpoint. Oh all right then, I sold it to him. Great guy, great communicator, fastest payer in the West, deal with in confidence.

On fretless a subtle amount adds a bit of acoustic quality; wouldn't use it otherwise

Definitely, especially those three in the OP title, also Ian Curtis (Joy Division) who I'd seen play Eric's in Liverpool just a couple of months earlier, and John McGeogh (Magazine, Banshees) The night George Harrison died (was it the night?) I woke up with "My sweet Lord" running through my head. Spooky.

No, but having recently bought a bright red Explorer bass on impulse I'm going for the ZZ Top "propellor spin"..........

I’m a big fan of DI: conceded defeat on the “power race” within the band a couple of years back when we bought a 2.5kW PA with full mixer, crossover etc, and got a volunteer sound guy at the same time. My Ampeg SVT-2 / Mesa 2x15 rig could cope with it, but the sound guy was pushing hard for me to DI so he could control the mix, so I grudgingly gave it a go. Everything else miked; drums (x3 mics), guitar amps (x2). I wanted to keep valves at the front end at least; so initially used an all-valve Retrospec Juice Box active DI also feeding into a small digital head (Yamaha BBT-500H) / 2x10 cab on an amp stand acting as a stage monitor; pumps out enough for the whole band to hear it on stage, which is crucial. Now using Molan’s old Eden VT-40 with built-in Demeter preamp; nice fat DI sound, bags of on-stage power (still with the 2x10 / amp stand), and almost as compact as the digital head. I probably get more good comments about the bass sound now than when backline-only – the PA definitely throws it deep into the audience and the crossover helps keep it defined. Biggest beneficiary has definitely been my back! Transport easier too – all fits in the back of the crappy small family hatchback. The 2 guitarists are still using their 4x12 full stacks though even though they’re miked up, as it “looks right”!

Lindy Fralins are [b]really [/b]nice: got a J model in my '73 P/J fretless. SD Antiquity II's also highly recommended and look the business in an old Jazz. Neither cheap, but they do pop up on the 'bay and here now and again.

Some info on this recent thread: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=71270"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=71270[/url] and I guess the mods will probably move this to the amps section too. I'd say around £300 in good nick (what I'm selling mine for if anyone's interested!). These cope with the average pub gig fine, but I guess would be underpowered for anything much bigger. Plus points are the tone - gives me a gorgeous buttery tone on fretless I can't get with any other amp; it's really compact and portable for an all-valve head, and of course it's vintage Trace.