WHUFC BASS

Last three digits will be month / year / year. You might want to open it up and check any QC stickers that might be dated in there but if it's really old then they might have faded considerably.

There was something about Status basses along with a Trace Stack back in the 80s which was the pinnacle of bass gear excellence. There was a connection between the two companies too both being based in Essex, UK. I remember going up to Witham in Essex to get my Trace Elliot head serviced and in the factory were a number of Status basses that they used to test the amps out. At the time, I'd go as far to say Essex was the centre of the bass universe - certainly in Europe!

I remember the interview with John Entwistle in which he explained some of his techniques on what I think was a black Buzzard bass (could be wrong). He reffered to slap bass as "that thing" and proceeded to launch into a killer riff. I also remember Ian Paice form Deep Purple on there giving a drumming demo like a boss. I'm assuming you didn't check out Bros and their Status bass offerings from Craig Logan. I don't think I ever saw it plugged in!

Thanks for that! I remember Rockschool really well as it goes and watched it when it was on TV - I was about 13 or so at the time. I remember Henry Thomas and his Westone Thunder III as I had a Thunder IA at the time. They interviewed some great muscians at the time. Shame there's nothing like that on TV now as it was really popular.

I think Trace heads had "no user serviceable parts inside" which I think was a deterrent to stop people tinkering or trying to fix stuff themselves.

I had two of these back in the day - mid 80s to be precise. One black and one pink which were bought for a stupidly cheap price off a guitar teacher I knew who wanted shot of them. They were very light with a unique string arrangement. Ball end of the string went into the bridge and the string was pulled through a small hole at the other end and secured by a grub nut. The excess string was simply cut off so you always had sharp string ends at the top. They were extremely light with not a massive amount of bottom end. The necks were quite comfortable from what I remember and finger and slap playing was quite easy on them. They had two volumes and a tone, but I can't remember if they were active - I'm assuming not as I don't recall changing batteries on them. They came with a leather gig bag which had hardly any padding and fitted the basses extremely tightly. I gigged with them for a while but moved them on when I got a '62 Precision.

^^ I don't know how TE rate their amp sound-wise but they do underestimate their outputs, especailly on their 80s models. I defy anyone to tell me that the max output of an AH250 is 250 watts. They're much louder.

Me too. That was the ultimate status symbol for a bass player back in the 1980s and when I finaly got one, it was like I'd made it. The weight was immaterial, knowing what I'd have on stage both looks and soundwise.

That is hideous. I'd rather play air guitar than that monstrosity.

Lovely bass ^^^ I think Spectors really are the best kept secret in the world of bass. When I got my Euro and plugged it in for the first time, it was like a revelation. Everything just fell into place, MASSIVE sound, great ergonomics and everything just felt "right". Believe me, I've gone through 30+ basses in the 35 years I've been playing and they really are the best basses I've ever played. I'm currently on the lookout for a 4 string Spector too, which I think will be my final bass purchase. The 4 and 5 sting Euros really are all I'll need for the 4 bands I'm in at the moment.

I had a 1x15, 4x10 and an AH500 back in the 80s and played all the main venues in London back then (Fulham Greyhound, Mean Fiddler, Powerhaus, The Cricketers, The Half Moon, George Robey etc.) and thought nothing of humping it around, in and out of a Mark I Escort estate. The thought of doing that nowadays would give me the creeps. My back (which is flaky at the best of times) would give out straight away. I love the sound of Trace amps, they're the only amp you can plug straight into and you get an instantly great sound and I would absolutely love to own another but the weight is what's putting me off.

Well, this is a new one on me. Never seen one of these before ... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Super-rare-Status-6-string-graphite-and-exotic-woods-headless-guitar-for-sale/132640758092?_trkparms=aid%3D333200%26algo%3DCOMP.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20180409081753%26meid%3D3cc9ebe9fe3b4d6dac48daeada1f4a7b%26pid%3D100008%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D264123492862%26itm%3D132640758092&_trksid=p2047675.c100008.m2219

Oh without a doubt it will be. Annoying to say the least !

Well, I bit the bullet and ordered one today, in anticipation of a 4 string Spector Euro4 LX which I'd won on eBay, only for the seller to message me saying he'd just dropped and cracked the neck joint and refunded my money. Grrrr!!!! I'm Gutted.

No, I was the first to sound check so I was the sacrificial guinea pig. I can't remember for definite but I think everything cut out - no lights, nothing. Certainly don't remember a purple fault light. As for your second question, we did change power outlets which didn't have any affect, the fault was still there. I do get the thinking behind a dry joint being culprit, but even a cymbal crash - which to my ears didn't really make any noticeable vibration cut the amp out. It's possible that it could be the straw that broke the camels back and was enough to separate the connection.

Yes, the PF range from Ampeg are renowned for the protection circuit kicking in, but I had the limiter on which safeguards against overload supposedly. Must admit, I didn't have the volume on ten and was playing a passive bass too.