matski

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1178267' date='Mar 27 2011, 12:48 PM']also some of the basslines I play use open/drone strings against fretted melody played on another string.[/quote] Likewise - I am partial to the odd bit of droning too.

[quote name='tom1946' post='1183180' date='Mar 31 2011, 12:05 PM']So out of politeness I do the rounds of the companies and very often the cheapest I can get is £68 insured for £50![/quote] DHL, right? They are usually the most competitive on price. I've investigated how much it would cost to arrange a pickup in the UK from Europe, and was told it would be much more expensive than if the seller in the UK were to arrange the shipping. Actually only last week I enquired with DHL how much it would cost to ship a bass to the UK fully insured (value ± £1500) and was quoted roughly £125, so I'm not sure where people have got £25 from.

[quote name='Sibob' post='1183132' date='Mar 31 2011, 10:16 AM']Thats very nice Si[/quote] Send me some cash and I'll go and buy it for ya!

There's also a 1979 StingRay up for sale here in Poland for roughly £1400 (!) - from the pics it looks to be all okay, but there's a bit too much mojo for my tastes! [attachment=76298:1514034403.jpeg][attachment=76297:1514034403_3.jpeg][attachment=76295:1514034403_1 .jpeg][attachment=76296:1514034403_2.jpeg]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1181090' date='Mar 29 2011, 04:58 PM']Have you put it in my pre EB thread Matski? And nice 5'er in your picture it looks just like mine [/quote] I just have... My SR5 is pretty much the same as yours - teal with birdseye maple neck - just almost 20 years older!

Ok, to keep the ball rolling, here's my '79 StingRay - my main gigging bass for the past 25 years. [attachment=76293:79_StingRay.jpg] I bought it second-hand in 1986 from the Soho Soundhouse in London. The only thing that is not 100% original is the scratchplate - which comes from a transition-era StingRay and is matt black as opposed to gloss black - as when I bought it there was no scratchplate on it. Anyone got an old gloss black scratchplate they don't want....?

Yep! There were 2 Cutlass models produced: the Cutlass I (StingRay with the Modulus graphite neck) and the Cutlass II (Sabre with the graphite neck). A fretless Cutlass II is what was famously used by Tony Levin for the bassline of 'Sledgehammer' by Peter Gabriel.

Here is my 1983 Cutlass I for your viewing pleasure. I bought it back in 1990 from the Bass Centre in Wapping - it was fairly pricey, but I just had to have it... [attachment=76038:DSC02125.jpg] [attachment=76037:DSC02134.jpg] [attachment=76041:DSC02132.jpg] [attachment=76040:DSC02130.jpg] [attachment=76039:DSC02127.jpg]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1179866' date='Mar 28 2011, 05:46 PM']The age for the pre EB 83 is a bit odd really the serial puts it to about 79-80 but I guess the bridge could of been from the bottom of the pile, 83 with a 3 bolt plate cant be right though surely?, It could be a bitsa IMO. Also it says a mute is missing, I can see all four thumb screws but not the springs which isnt too bad as they can be got along with the pads for £25 , Im not sure what he meens? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PRE-ERNIE-BALL-MUSICMAN-STINGRAY-BLACK-1983-/180645146945?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2a0f4a3141"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PRE-ERNIE-BALL-MUSIC...=item2a0f4a3141[/url][/quote] Something's not right somewhere.... My Cutlass is definitely from '83 as it has date stamps both on the neck and in the pocket from Sept '83 - but it has a 4 bolt neck, and the bridge is different as it's not the through-the-body type. My StingRay is harder to date as it has no date stamps at all. I remember that years ago (probably around 1987 - before the days of the Internet) I contacted Strings & Things to see if they could help me to date it and they reckoned it could have been made anywhere between 1979 - 1981. This was basely purely on the serial number. I do remember them telling me that the serial numbers were renowned for being all over the place though. Check out the following serial numbers from Gav Townsend's excellent www.musicmanbass.org website, they are not exactly in chronological order: 1980 > '83 > '79? > '81 > '83 > '79! B021601..1980. Black with Maple. 4 bolt. Top load bridge. Tilted headstock logo. B021613..Neck and Body Sep 1980. White with Maple. B021621..Body 2 Feb 1983. Topl load bridge. Hollow saddles. Bridge now fitted to a 1978 White refin Bass. B021635..Owner says 1979 (?). Black with Maple. Black pg. Top load bridge. 4 bolt neck. B021642..Volume pot dated 8th week of 1981 ("1378108"). Other two pots dated 2nd week of 1979 ("1377902"). Pre-amp has protection resistor in White lead to jack ( a 1982 factory upgrade). B021656..Described as 1983. Sunburst with Maple. Black pg. 4 Bolt neck. Top load bridge. Tilting headstock logo. B021684..Neck date 21 Mar 1979. "Powder Blue" with Maple. No pg. Black PUP. Owner advised by ex MM employee that finish is rare original and original as to not having a pg. After much reading through of the different changes made to StingRay parts over the years (hardware, preamps, logo design changes etc) I concluded that mine is a '79er.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1178541' date='Mar 27 2011, 05:10 PM'][url="http://www.auerswald-instruments.com"]Auerswald[/url] There web site doesn't show any instruments at the moment and has been in various states of flux for years.[/quote] *pantomime voice* "Oh yes, it does!" The bass in question is called the Adam Clayton Bass. Who'd have thought it, eh?

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1177591' date='Mar 26 2011, 09:13 PM']I saw Bauhaus live several times in the early 80s and he had some sort of effects device stuck to the front of his bass. Small case with a single knob and a slide switch - Electo-Harmonix something?[/quote] [attachment=75899:Screen_s...47.47_PM.png]

[quote name='MattM' post='1175652' date='Mar 25 2011, 10:56 AM']Wee bitty on the rich side for my tastes[/quote] That guy's basses are always a little bit on the rich side... As for having a specialized Pre-EB MM porn thread - I'd post my 2 on there. But they are BOTH black though...

[quote name='dlloyd' post='1172806' date='Mar 23 2011, 01:16 AM']Well, yes... but you wouldn't be able to buy a set for a Warmoth project, etc. (as I understand it... maybe I'm wrong.)[/quote] I had no problem at all ordering the tuners - at the time I was living in Amsterdam, there's a music store that was just around the corner from my office that stocked a few MM basses so I simply asked if they could order a set for me. I was expecting some hassle as I wanted the full set of 3 + 1, but they assured me it would be fine. There was no mention of having to send back my old tuners, in fact I still have them stashed away in a bag somewhere.

[quote name='Clarky72' post='1172697' date='Mar 22 2011, 11:27 PM']Sorry mate, what was your question?[/quote] Was the scratchplate you bought gloss or matt finish?

[quote name='Clarky72' post='1172325' date='Mar 22 2011, 06:14 PM']Nice lineup of gear there![/quote] Thanks! But you didn't actually answer my question.....

[quote name='dlloyd' post='1172240' date='Mar 22 2011, 04:58 PM'].... but you won't be able to buy a set of MM logo tuners ...[/quote] Er, yes you can actually. I know this for a fact because I ordered a new set of 4 tuners for my Cutlass a few years ago - the originals had tarnished and gone all creaky and stiff. Mind you it did take a year from making the order to receiving a delivery - but I suspect that was down to the store that ordered them for me being slackers. [b]Question for Clarky:[/b] the new black scratchplate you got - was it a 'glossy' black one or a 'matt' black one? [sub]edited for question that I should've put in the post in the first place... Doh![/sub]

[quote name='Muzz' post='1172013' date='Mar 22 2011, 01:51 PM']Jim Dunlop Nylon .88s - tried zillions of others over 30-odd years, and they're the ones which work for me. I find them a nice compromise between feel and resistance.[/quote] Same here.

[quote name='Jerry_B' post='1171489' date='Mar 21 2011, 11:59 PM']You don't have to play a bass chaotically for them to appear. Play the strings in a normal way several hundred times and you're going to get some marks being made by the plectrum below those strings once in a while. It adds up over time.[/quote] This man speaks the truth! [attachment=75482:scratches.JPG]

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='1160998' date='Mar 13 2011, 09:39 PM']Reading through the later posts on this made me think probably the problem is having any kind of gathering of bass players.[/quote] Collective nouns: A flock of sheep A murder of crows A gaggle of geese A pod of whales A slap of bassplayers

[quote name='Beedster' post='1154272' date='Mar 8 2011, 07:58 PM']OK guys, here's the left-field question I like vintage I like MM I like HH Should I be thinking about a Sabre?[/quote] Just so happens this one is for sale: basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=94845&hl=Sabre It's also in Essex - not so far away from you - maybe you could go and check it out to see if it ticks your boxes.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1151475' date='Mar 6 2011, 03:20 PM']Leo may have even added the extra pup himself if he had kept MM longer?[/quote] *AHEM* aren't you forgetting the MusicMan Sabre...?

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='1152409' date='Mar 7 2011, 01:51 PM']It's pointless comparing fretboard woods unless they're on the same bass (or at least two identical basses) as there's so many other variables some of which have much more impact on the tone.[/quote] I concur! I have a Kubicki ExFactor which has an ebony fretboard, but and it sounds VERY zingy - but that's generally how Kubicki's sound anyway...

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='1097292' date='Jan 21 2011, 12:40 PM']I now know about a luthier I previously knew nothing about. Sharing information like that can only serve to enrich the amount of information available on basschat.[/quote] Hear hear! In the spirit of sharing information of not so well known luthiers, here is a link to a luthier fairly local to me in Polska: www.nexus-guitars.com To be honest, I'm not much of a fan of exotic-wooded coffee-table sperm whale basses - but one man's meat is another man's poison and all that - but I have seen one of this guy's 6-string singlecut basses and the workmanship was brilliant. He does like a fairly outlandish design though. Here's one he's produced - the ideal bass for those who want a 4 string fretlees and 5 string bass all-in-one: [attachment=73643:front.jpg] [attachment=73644:detail1.jpg]

Doh! Whatever was I thinking of!