EssentialTension

[quote name='henry norton' timestamp='1324118860' post='1470929'] ... I've heard the Dark Stars sound is quite a way off the original Bi-Sonic sound, so maybe Fred just did it the way he thought was best rather than slavishly copying every detail. Let's face it, with Dark Stars it's as much about the looks as it is about the sound [/quote] The Dark Star sound is not that far off the Bisonics and I'd say it was the sound that mattered most, not the looks.

Kay Guitars today: [url="http://www.kayvintagereissue.com/index.html"]http://www.kayvintagereissue.com/index.html[/url]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1324074104' post='1470711'] I didn`t get a tracking number or phone call. But, they told me I would be contacted within 7 - 10 working days about the delivery of my item, and it turned up in 4 working days, so I have no complaints. [/quote] If mine arrives as arranged it will be three working days.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1324069283' post='1470642'] If Hammon's website is still up ... [/quote] [url="http://www.hammoneng.com/index.htm"]http://www.hammoneng.com/index.htm[/url]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1324067693' post='1470617'] One of the bits that makes them particularly complex and expensive to make is the polepiece adjustment mechanism, which doesn't really affect the sound AFAIK. Otherwise they're arranged like a guitar P90, except with a laminated steel core through which the polepieces pass. I wouldn't be surprised if someone started making a functional equivalent without necessarily copying the adjuster mechanism and cosmetics. They wouldn't have any problem shifting them if they did, especially if they were sized to fit in existing soapbar routes. [/quote] I'm not an engineer so I wouldn't strictly know if it was a functional equivalent but the Lakland/Hanson Chisonics were designed to replace Dark Stars in Lakland Decade basses because Fred Hammon couldn't make Dark Stars fast enough for Lakland. The Chisonics do have some of the sound qualities of the Dark Stars and the Bisonics.

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1324056814' post='1470451'] Again I wonder how hard they would be to make? ..... [/quote] Again, I'll take two when they are ready.

[quote name='bremen' timestamp='1324033220' post='1469953'] I [b]love[/b] Perfume. I only wish I could read it in the original German, though the translation is so beautiful. [/quote] [i]Perfume[/i] is a great book. I need to read or see [i]The Double Bass[/i].

[quote name='henry norton' timestamp='1324047584' post='1470255'] Looks like Dark Stars are approaching 'Wal' status - at least Wal before they started making them again! [url="http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dark-Star-Pickups-Legendary-Bi-Sonic-Replicias-/220913079137?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item336f721361#ht_744wt_1270"]http://www.ebay.com/...1#ht_744wt_1270[/url] Dammit, why didn't I buy a few sets when Fred was still trading - I could have covered all my Xmas bills with the profits [/quote] ... and why did I sell mine?

[quote name='jakenewmanbass' timestamp='1323999812' post='1469749'] Sorry to have missed the ensuing gents... Guess what... I've been in a sw***y London hotel earning a nice wedge for 45 mins of quality music with some seriously talented individuals... eg Pat Illingworth of Bass Day Marcus Miller accompanist fame on drums, head of music at Salford university Robin Dewhurst on keys and the dynamite Mark Crooks on Sax and clarinet, working for an old pal Simon Milner-Edwards who runs a few function bands, all long standing colleagues of mine. Last night I played at Newmarket Racecourse, tomorrow I'm at the same hotel, Tuesday I was teaching, at London Centre of Contemporary music... depping for Rich Brook who is on tour with ABC, I also taught in my home studio today and I have sessions happening in there and other places too... Earning a living from music is fabulously rewarding, I have been all over the world in my job, I have raised a family of three kids, (wife didn't work until the last child went to school) I have played in palaces, country manors, stadiums, (and muddy fields) for royalty, presidents and everyone else. I don't make a fortune but then I couldn't give a sh*t what car I drive, I meet and have met some fantastically interesting people... It's there if you want it... EDIT.. seriously mods... s_wan_ky gets asterisked? [/quote] Excellent, in every sense.

Sorted. You get a tracking number when it's someone like DHL, for a smaller parcel, but when it's a freight handler for a larger parcel then there is no tracking number. Instead you get phone calls. Monday is the day!

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1323978119' post='1469516'] I can assure you Jake certainly can [/quote] I thought so too Nig, but I didn't want to appear presumptuous.

[quote name='Mog' timestamp='1323974585' post='1469463'] Not trying to flame the thread but that one comes across a bit presumptuous lad. [/quote] It's not presumptuous if you can back it up, and I think Jake probably can.

[quote name='BassBunny' timestamp='1323893895' post='1468524'] There should be a link on the email sent when it has been shipped. There should be a link about 2/3 of the way down the page to check progress. Likey so: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/mythomann_tracking_13239533.html"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/mythomann_tracking_xxxxxxxxxx.html[/url] I got an order placed last Friday delivered yesterday, yet a 1st Class letter posted last Tuesday still hasn't arrived in Morecambe. [/quote] Seems strange because when I check the order at Thomann it says 'All items shipped on this order' but I've not had the email confirming shipping. They are obviously down the biergarten by now so I'll call them tomorrow.

[quote name='Johnston' timestamp='1323892413' post='1468496'] I got the emails everytime it was scanned too. But IIRC there was a box that needed clicked to get the info when you went through the check out. [/quote] Ah, maybe that's my problem.

I have emailed them but not heard back yet.

[quote name='Chris2112' timestamp='1323887951' post='1468341'] ... I say this all the time, but studying music at University has to be one of the silliest ideas going these days. It's a lovely thing to do if you have no aspirations to own a house or get a job, but in the real world, a music degree is as much use to an employer as as a wad of used toilet paper. You might enjoy indulging your hobby for a couple of years but beyond university and the meagre pickings of the music world you'll not have much to show for the colossal debt you've accrued. [/quote] I can't say I agree with this but, I'm interested, what subjects do you think are worth studying?

Well, do they? My recollection is that they do but this time I don't seem to have one. What do you reckon?

Brian Wilson shows how to use a tug bar: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNypbmPPDco&[/media]

I am now asleep.

I don't like thumb rests.

Fenders all had 'tug bars' until the mid 1970s, when it got moved above the strings and became a 'thumb rest'. Vintage reissues still have the 'tug bar'.

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/71067-nuts-bolts-bass-lessons-west-sussex"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/71067-nuts-bolts-bass-lessons-west-sussex[/url]

Fortunately, most people are honest and upstanding, especially when they are in community with others. Unfortunately, that's not true of everyone.