EssentialTension

[quote name='Soulfinger' post='586721' date='Sep 1 2009, 06:20 PM']Damn! I´ve been GAS free for over a year, but I really want that fretless. If it sounds good, that is. Don´t see myself spending that kind of money on an Epiphone though...[/quote] So there's a few of us waiting for someone to buy a new one, not like it, and sell it to [s]me[/s] us for £300.

[quote name='RussFM' post='586279' date='Sep 1 2009, 09:38 AM']Same here, but I'm not sure I'd spend that much on one. £300, maybe, but not nearly £600.[/quote] I agree it seems a little pricey.

Old standards like Fender Precisions and Jazzes are readily available second hand and will hold their resale value better than many other basses as there is always demand for them. And if this is your first bass you may well want to change it not too far in the future. As has already been said you need an appropriate rig to go with it. No point spending £1000 on a bass if you're not going to spend £1000 on a rig to power it. So adjust your money accordingly. Good luck.

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='586147' date='Aug 31 2009, 10:57 PM']I've always thought that someone should go back and re-mix all the great songs from the 80s and bring them to life without all that dreaful over-worked, synthetic production..[/quote] I'd certainly like to hear the Robert Palmer 80s stuff remixed. I'm a big fan of his but some of that production - oh dear.

[quote name='Les' post='586045' date='Aug 31 2009, 08:38 PM']Thanks for the info guys. Never really been in to flats but I might give them a go if thats the consensus. One more question. Were am I going to get a case for it ? Too big for a guitar case and it rattles around in the Stingrays case. I've had a quick trawl through here and on the net but apart from the fender one at 170 dollars had no luck.[/quote] If you give the TI flats a go and don't like them you might well find someone here to take them off your hands. I can't help on the case.

[quote name='Golchen' post='586030' date='Aug 31 2009, 08:24 PM']ELO were my first 'favourite band' as a kid, and Out of the Blue was the first album I ever bought. It's full of classic songs![/quote] What made me go back and listen to them was hearing the Beautiful South version of [i]Living Thing[/i].

Start here: [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Musicians-Guide-Reading-Writing-Music/dp/0879305703/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251745728&sr=1-1"]The Musicians Guide to Reading and Writing Music[/url] and here: [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inside-Music-Musicians-Composition-Improvisation/dp/0879305711/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251745728&sr=1-2"]Inside the Music: The Musician's Guide to Composition, Improvisation and the Mechanics of Music[/url]

[quote name='chris_b' post='585671' date='Aug 31 2009, 11:27 AM']Many people didn't like "pop" Motown in the 60's, now you can't say a bad word.[/quote] Loved it then, love it now.

More 70s than 80s but I never liked ELO at the time but have now come to think they were a rather great band.

[quote name='leftybassman392' post='584175' date='Aug 28 2009, 11:37 PM']Do you happen to know whether these are modern recreations of ancient instruments or modernised versions? My feeling would be the latter (unlikely to be both as that would mean the instrument has not changed significantly in over 4000 years which seems very unlikely, and some of the sites you've located appear to view them as contemporary), but I'd be happy to be wrong.[/quote] I think I read on one of the sites that the Sihtar originally had three strings but a fourth was added in modern times. Couldn't find it when I checked again. [quote name='leftybassman392' post='584175' date='Aug 28 2009, 11:37 PM']If there's a downside to this result it's that we're still not really close to knowing why the Greeks used a variation of this name to identify what is clearly a different instrument [url="http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/kith/hd_kith.htm/The"]Check this link[/url] - actually I don't entirely agree with this description, in particular as to the number of strings, but it give you a good idea what it would have looked like. Ah well, the search goes on...[/quote] I could be talking rubbish here but ... according to Liddell & Scott ... and if I'm understanding correctly ... the Greek verb [i]kitharizein[/i] was used to mean 'playing music' on any of several instruments including the phormigx and the lyra as well as the kithara. I'm not clear though what the relationship between these instruments was, e.g. how they differ.

[quote name='bentdice' post='585274' date='Aug 30 2009, 06:09 PM']Wasn't having a go (apologies if it read that way),[/quote] No apology necessary. [quote name='bentdice' post='585274' date='Aug 30 2009, 06:09 PM']but there are obvious similarities with the (now out of production) BEX & some of Rob Allen's models.[/quote] I agree about the similarities. [quote name='bentdice' post='585274' date='Aug 30 2009, 06:09 PM']Really like the look of this - I'd love a [url="http://www.roballenguitars.com/Deep2.html"]Rob Allen Deep 4 bass[/url], but it's way over my budget - looks like the Epiphone could be a decent substitute.[/quote] Certainly more affordable, I'm quite keen to hear one. [quote name='bentdice' post='585274' date='Aug 30 2009, 06:09 PM']If only the fretless came in black...[/quote] +1 on that.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='585161' date='Aug 30 2009, 03:32 PM']Or you can get a rubber gromet thing to fill the hole, used for blanking holes in precut panels. f its the one knob look, you could put a tone switch on a push-pull, so you can cut the treble if you want. I miss tone knobs on my P though.[/quote] Or you could have a single stacked vol/tone pot/knob.

And which makes them £100 more than a Jack Casady - by which I could also be tempted.

[quote name='Mickeyboro' post='585240' date='Aug 30 2009, 05:20 PM']Somehow the matt finish of the p/g doesn't work with the gloss of the body. For me, anyway.[/quote] The white p/g would have to go back on - or maybe a tort. I'd say the price is quite good once you've resold the pickup, pickguard, and case.

[quote name='Eight' post='585237' date='Aug 30 2009, 05:14 PM']Thanks for posting. I really want to try some full scale semi-hollow/chambered basses at the minute and this Epiphone looks very interesting.[/quote] I fancy the fretless version. They are on the Thomann site at £550.79 for fretted and £590.20 for fretless. [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/search_dir.html?xsid=21f508ffe8d02896ab120348c256823c&sw=epiphone+triumph-II+bass&x=5&y=7"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/search_dir.html?x...amp;x=5&y=7[/url] Not in stock yet however.

Here's the [url="http://www.shadow-electronics.com/web/service/nanoflex_technologie.html?lang_id=2"]NanoFlex[/url]. Here's the [url="http://www.shadow-electronics.com/web/service/nanomag_technologie.html?lang_id=2"]NanoMag[/url].

[quote name='bentdice' post='585019' date='Aug 30 2009, 11:20 AM']There's always the [url="http://www.yamaha.com/guitars/products/productdetail/0,,CNTID%25253D60047%252526CNTYP%25253DPRODUCT,00.html"]Yamaha BEX-4 bass[/url] - mixes magnetic & piezo pickups with active EQ in a semi body with a flamed top. I love them & have two (in Gretsch-style orange & dark blueburst) - having a clearout at the mo so might have one of these up for grabs soon actually... B.[/quote] Well, I was only posting Epiphone's claim and I don't want to be defending them but... If you read the blurb in the link it's not a piezo and the magnetic pickup is unusual too. [quote]Stereo Electronics: At the heart of this bass is the revolutionary NanoFlex(tm) and NanoMag(tm) pickup combination. Custom-made for this bass by Shadow Germany, these pickups provide a wide range of tones suitable for almost any type of music. Under the saddle, the NanoFlex senses the vibrations of the strings AND the body of the instrument simultaneously. Not a piezo, this exclusive, low-impedance 7-layer element has active electronics and 100% shielding to ensure no sound is lost and no hum is introduced. The NanoMag is located right at the end of the fingerboard - just like in Epiphone's award-winning Ultra-II guitar. Positioned at this sweet-spot, the NanoMag captures all the subtle nuances and harmonics of every string. Like the NanoFlex, it too is low-impedance with active electronics on-board but it features a tiny air-coil, 3 samarium-cobalt magnets and silver-platinum shielding for a hum-free output. Both pickups are controlled by an active electronic system featuring a Master volume, pickup Blend and individual bass and treble controls for each pickup.[/quote]

I don't have a Mustang but if I did it would be wearing TI JF324s.

[url="http://www.epiphone.com/news.asp?NewsID=1624"]Triumph-II... You Won't Find Another Bass with These Features![/url]

[quote name='bythesea' post='528236' date='Jun 29 2009, 10:59 PM']I was going to ask where you were as there is a [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ultra-rare-Gordon-Smith-Gypsy-bass-guitar_W0QQitemZ160345225135QQ"]Gordon Smith Gypsy[/url] on ebay at the moment, but you are a little far away to go and try it [/quote] That's a heavy bass - 6 kilos says the seller, about 13.5lbs.

Well done, keep going!!