Cosmo Valdemar

VERY tasty... bit out of tune though.

31 minutes ago, Jus Lukin said:

Gibson or Epiphone, I'd like to see a non-reverse 'bird (Thunderbird II, even!) and EB-2/Rivoli. I do have a cherry Rivoli, as it happens, but with an EB-2d or Rivoli II I might be able to get away with using one in more situations.
My tastes sometimes don't jive with what would actually sell well though!

I'd love to see a reissue of the Rivoli.

20 hours ago, Beedster said:

Not my usual taste in basses, but once brought to my attention by Andy and John, I couldn't resist, especially given that it - or an instrument very very similar to it - was responsible for the bass parts on my fave album of all time, parts that I have been learning for about 10 years!

What do I love? The nut is close to 45mm, the board is pretty much flat, the PUPs are light years apart, and it's bloody light.

What do I not like? The colour

Should be strung through, so a Badass III is going on at the weekend. The board is going to receive a damn good oiling at the same time. At some point in the future the finish may come off also. But in the meantime, I'm going to Graceland

Excellent! I've always liked that shape.

19 hours ago, Beedster said:

I'm warming to it already, and although it's probably in my head, it feels very easy to play Diamonds on this compared to my other FLs

I wouldn't have thought it would be suited to Jet Harris stuff, but there you go.

That's...odd.

I'd be surprised if they have actually got rid of the Thunderbirds - surely that's their flagship model? Very successful too.

Some very nice tones in here... the lower drive ones in particular.

Honestly, the only thing stopping me from buying one right away is the price. 

Kayak -  Dutch 70s prog band that I discovered via the Cardiacs group on Facebook.

@4000 will feel very comfortable with the bass tone...

SOLD

Excellent condition, a few minor marks to the casing.

Open to interesting trade offers!

Price includes postage. 

On 27/02/2020 at 10:12, Wolverinebass said:

I got one for my studio. In direct comparison to the Tech21 Dug Pinnick I'm going to do a comparison because only by doing that will it make the review seem fair. 

The Dug has a fixed crossover so it should be the inferior pedal. It isn't. The Darkglass by having an adjustable low and high pass makes everything too fiddly. You'll get a wider variety of sounds, but it'll take you longer to find them. In itself it's a great pedal, but not the most intuitive thing. The EQ is great as is the adjustable cab sim. It honestly depends on how many sounds you need to get out of it as it does take a while.

Having played @Wolverinebass 's X Ultra, I agree with this, although unfortunately I struggled to find a tone I was happy with.  But then, me and Darkglass have never really got on.

The Dug is pretty much there straight away.

1 hour ago, dannybuoy said:

 

I'm not bowled over by Orange's solid state drive sounds from these demos though.

I'm interested in hearing a demo with some lower gain, edge of breakup tones. If it can do that of course!

4 hours ago, solo4652 said:

Just got a useful email from them:

I've been trading emails with keys player. Covers band, playing ska, reggae, northern soul. Been together 3 months.. Sax, drums, keys vocalist, (new) guitarist, ages 40 - 60. Going to telephone keys player later today. 

Together three months and two members have already left?!

+1

I love my Longhorn (!) but the tuners are hopeless. I'd never gig with it.

On 07/02/2020 at 18:16, Happy Jack said:

Most people who try to sell one of these on eBay will claim that this is a Monkees bass or a Peter Tork bass. Well it ain't. Tork played a Model 6073 with in-line tuners (in Bergundy) before moving on to a Guild Jetstar. The current Gretsch G6073 Electrotone seems to be a generic Far Eastern bass with 2-a-side tuners but very little resemblance to any original Gretsch model.

Of those who don't make the Monkees claim, most will instead call this a Gretsch Country Gentleman bass. Well it ain't. The Gretsch Country Gentleman was only ever a guitar, and a mighty fine one at that. Just because they made some basses with a strong family resemblance does not mean that they ever marketed any bass under the 'Country Gentleman' label. In all fairness, so many people and so many articles have referred to the 6070 and 6072 as Country Gentleman basses that there's little point arguing any more.

This is a large-bodied bass. It's a 34" scale, but the sheer size of that paddle headstock and generous body mean that you can forget using any normal gigbag. These things are usually kept in keyboard cases. Seriously.

Did I mention that all the hardware was originally gold-plated?

Amongst the many unusual features, the bass comes with a 30" brass peg-end which slides inside the bass, allowing you to play it like an upright bass. If you're completely mad. This feature still exists on some current basses, including my much-loved Takamine TB10 which I sold last year. I took the peg-end out as soon as I bought the Gretsch and used the thumbscrew (with a 3" leather punch inserted) as the strap button. Speaking of strap buttons and unusual features, the top strap button is a screw-in type that you'll never see on another bass.

Staying with the unusual, the bass features a single Supertron pickup with a 3-position flick switch (upper bout) to select different tones. The three are essentially dub, Precision, and fairly nasal. The large knob on the lower bout is the volume control. The flick-switch at the lower rear of the bass is an on/off switch. More accurately the low/mid/up switch is on/off/on. This is all mad as a box of frogs ... and yet, and yet, it all works remarkably effectively.

Unfortunately, the final unusual feature can only really be admired, rather than used. The bass has a muting knob (near the tailpiece) which, if physically pulled up from the body, operates a convoluted system of levers inside the bass, in order to clamp lightly against the strings that large rectangular rubber ... erm ... thing that you see by the pickup. As you can imagine, this feature  needs regular maintenance and adjustment, and this is facilitated by the large, round, leather cover on the back of the bass (you thought that was to prevent buckle rash, didn't you?) which is held on with big poppers.

I'm not making this up, you know.

Well I had the system checked and adjusted by Andy Gibson in Denmark Street when I bought the bass. He told me that the system still works, after a fashion, and all the bits are there, but that vigorous use of this feature on a 50-year-old bass (as it then was) would be counter-productive.

Despite the sheer scale of the whole thing, this is a very playable bass with a truly majestic sound and of course huge stage presence. The neck is more Precision than Jazz, the bass hangs very comfortably on a strap, you barely notice the size of the body when playing though the paddle headstock is always a surprise when you catch a glimpse of it from the corner of your eye.

The bass was clearly played a lot at some stage in its history, and the amount of wear on the upper side of the neck (first five frets) is surprisingly a good deal less than on the lower side. Either this bass was played by a lefty and upside down, or it was played by a righty who favoured lots of big rings. The fretboard has an odd finish too; it looks more 'painted' than anything else, but that also seems to be original and very hard-wearing.

 For the discerning bass connoisseur wishing to look and sound a bit different and attract informed attention, this bass is an excellent choice.

The bass is in Harrow (NW London) and I always prefer to meet Basschatters face-to-face when selling (or buying) basses. It's always good to have the opportunity to play the instrument, reassure yourself that all is as it should be before parting with any dosh.

That said, I am happy to explore ways of doing business with Basschatters wherever they are. However, please note that I do NOT have any case suitable for shipping this bass anywhere. A lot can be achieved with copious amounts of bubblewrap and a bicycle carton from Halfords but that's not the same as having a proper, fitted case. Just saying ...

https://www.vintageguitarandbass.com/gretsch/bass/6070.php

 

One day, all For Sale ads will be this good.

On 19/02/2020 at 19:58, Beedster said:

I met Nile, what a f*****g lovely guy. I’d have him in my band any day. To date he hasn’t applied 

He's probably waiting to be invited.

Sol Invictus, the last Faith No More album. I just didn't get it at all, but knew that anything Patton-related is worth the effort. After a few listens it suddenly clicked, and now I wonder what caused me such bother in the first place.

Also, Guinness. Took me years to understand it.

2 hours ago, prowla said:

£1k for an Epi?

Hmmm.

I posted that before they were released.  Luckily the projections were inaccurate!

Fender seem to be pretty standard... I fitted a decorative tug bar to my Thunderbird and research suggested that Gibson in the 60s screwed them on at random.

Mr Tumble knows.

29 minutes ago, peteb said:

Perhaps I haven't explained this well. The pot itself isn't scratchy when you turn it, it just sounds unduly harsh when wide open. 

However, I will give it a good clean with switch cleaner to see if that helps... 

It's probably not the bass that's the issue. I've never been fond of playing bass through headphones as they do tend to emphasise the more unpleasant upper frequencies. Does it happen with other basses? Tell us more about your setup.

10 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

Yes, it has certainly put me off one of these. I think the thing about the Gibson's (and the last epiphone classic) is the size of the neck, so completely un-fender like, disappointing that they have made it chunky, although I guess not for a lot of people..

I certainly wouldn't describe it as chunky, just chunkier that the old ones. Narrow but deep.

I have purchased a cheap stereo Y cable for budget Rick-O-Sound adventures, but something isn't quite right - the Rick's pickups are being split as you would expect, but the signal from the neck pickup is ill--defined and seems to be lacking a lot of top end. I've tried different amps, preamps and pedals and the result is the same. So I've decided to lay the blame at the cheapo lead.

Now, the official Rickenbacker box is no longer made, and the Rickysounds Stereo-Rama is £70, which seems a bit much - can anyone recommend a more cost-effective box or quality lead? Links appreciated

I thank you.

Just now, ped said:

Tbh he was one of my first influences. I actually really like his percussive technique and think his tone really works in Korn, with that clinky treble overriding everything else. Probably one of the first bass players I ‘noticed’ along with Mike Porcaro 👍🏼

I always found it to be irritating beyond belief - I was a young metalhead at the time, and Fieldy's tone was the antithesis of what I considered to be a good metal bass tone.

However, having heard it live, it finally made sense. It didn't turn me into a Korn fan though 🤣

DRs are very soft on the fingers for rounds, and slightly lower tension than most. I use the Fat Beams.

They are a bit pricey, but they last ages!

John Wetton was an absolute wah monster.

And a little obvious, but a classic.

2 hours ago, TheMaartian said:

Happy you found a copy. Wish I could read it! Two of my three dogs destroyed that issue before I had a chance to read it.

 

Fieldy is a very divisive player.