noelk27

Bought one. Used one. Sold one. Sh*te pedal. Best of the bunch was the Shred-O-Matic.

[quote name='markstuk' post='1065612' date='Dec 21 2010, 01:07 PM'][T]he third puzzles me since grand pianos don't need restringing every few months and some of the strings are under much higher tension than bass strings.. Number 3 also seems to be pushed by string manufacturers who of course have no vested interest in us changing our strings frequently.[/quote] It's not so much that the core wire stretches, although the core will stretch, it's that the mechanical adhesion between the core and the inner wraps, and the inner wraps and the outer wrap, will fail. The degradation of the string is the result of it being under tension, of the number of impact positions, and environmental and player contamination. If you think about a piano string, this is struck by a beater, where the strike point is localised, and the intensity is mechanically controlled, and the string is not exposed to the variety of contaminants a guitar/bass string is.

[quote name='tauzero' post='1065598' date='Dec 21 2010, 12:55 PM']That would account for it being under the bed for 35-40 years.[/quote] Fair point. Well made. And that bridge cover might look industrial, but that's nothing compared to the bridge itself - a real hand-gouger!

[quote name='oksocialbass' post='1065662' date='Dec 21 2010, 01:51 PM']Anyone evr tried a set of these on their electric?[/quote] Steel and nickel outer wraps are favoured because these metals react better with conventional magnetic pickups. Bronze and Phospher-Bronze are less responsive with conventional magnetic pickups, hence why electro-acoustic instruments favour the likes of piezo technology. You also have the issue of the tension required to bring bronze strings up to pitch (around 17% over steel and 11% over nickel, assuming a .045 gauge and similar construction - and some 6% over a steel flatwound construction). There will also be a wear issue, given the more abrasive nature of bronze wraps.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='1065194' date='Dec 20 2010, 09:48 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/KAY-KJP-1B-Bass-1970s-Time-Capsule-Condition-orig-box-/190481747221?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2c5998cd15"]Weird looking Taiwanese Kay[/url][/quote] If this plays anything like the guitar version my mate was using late 70s/early 80s it's best avoided. Truly horrendous.

[quote name='Marvin' post='1060115' date='Dec 15 2010, 10:29 PM']I'm thinking of jacking it in. I'm not sure I enjoy playing, I like the idea of playing and being in a band but not particularly fussed about the reality. Although I think the main reason is my playing is so poor I struggle with simple straightforward stuff regardless of how much I practice, I just don't enjoy it as a result.[/quote] Ever given any thought to the idea you might be playing the wrong instrument - that your talent lies in another instrument?

[quote name='bigjohn' post='1060584' date='Dec 16 2010, 02:14 PM']It's different probably because he "can't" play it like the studio version, or "can't be arsed" learning how. I saw a long documentary once on Duran Durun. GF is a very, very big fan... John Taylor often did / does so many overdubs on his basslines he has to learn how to play them before they play live. Some of them he admitted to finding impossible to play if I remember correctly.[/quote] Rio, Seven And The Ragged Tiger and Powerstation are when he did this most. He doesn't make any attempt to disguise the fact that many of the lines on those albums are impossible to reproduce, as these are composites, both in terms of overdubs and transitions. When you listen closely to Rio you can hear particularly that many of the popped sections are overdubbed.

Graphite powder is the best for curing nut rattles.

[quote name='Machines' post='1058144' date='Dec 14 2010, 07:03 AM']£25 discount for fundamental QC flaws ? Sounds like they don't want the hassle of sending it to Yamaha. You can't make the Distance Selling Act apply if they're outside the UK can you ?[/quote] The Distance Selling Regulations were implemented by the UK government to consolidate the previous law and introduce a European Directive, so the short answer is yes, you can, citing the Directive. The Directive is primary law, the UK measures secondary law, so the Directive takes precedence. [url="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31997L0007:EN:NOT"]http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUri...997L0007:EN:NOT[/url]

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='1055386' date='Dec 11 2010, 08:33 PM']SB Elite. I presume this is Matsumoku as claimed. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300503664041&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...atchlink:top:en[/url][/quote] Still no idea what he means when he says the neck is slimmer than an SB1000 - it's narrower at the nut but wider at the 12th. And trans black isn't a rare finish either - a standard finish available for the eleven years the SB Elite II/SB-ELT was in production. Being five-piece neck, and manufactured in '84 in one of the stain/trans finishes it will be Matsumoku.

[quote name='dood' post='1053277' date='Dec 9 2010, 07:59 PM']Ahhh I'm all confuzzed![/quote] Perpetual state of confusion here!

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='1052072' date='Dec 8 2010, 08:22 PM']I'm not sure how much this should be: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1984-Aria-Pro-II-SB-Elite-Matsumoku-bass-rare-/320627927558?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4aa6e9ea06"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1984-Aria-Pro-II-SB-...=item4aa6e9ea06[/url][/quote] A few potential pitfalls with this particular SB. The first, being post '83, is that this may not have been made by Matsumoku, as claimed. With the introduction of new lines, and parallel models, Aria located manufacture of various SB and RSB lines with other factories - so, unless it says Matsumoku the assumption should always be that it's not Matsumoku, unless the seller can prove otherwise. Another issue, particularly with Elite models, is that this may not feature a five-piece thru-neck, instead having a three-piece thru-neck. The premium models, with clear finishes, certainly do feature five piece thru-necks, but Aria were cost cutting as well as increasing production. The final point is rarity - not something you can really claim with Elite models. Aria had significantly increased production, and was making large quantities of this model, and the contemporary Elite II model. The Elite I was in production for circa five years, as opposed to the SB-R60 which was in production for circa three years. If the description rare is to be applied to any of the SB700 alternatives it should be the R60 and not the Elite I.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='1049904' date='Dec 6 2010, 09:36 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-PRO-II-TSB-350-THOR-SOUND-Bass-MIJ-JAPAN-MATSUMOKU-/120656752428?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item1c17b3ef2c"]Aria Pro II TSB-350 Thor Sound[/url][/quote] Seller states short scale, which I always take to mean 30". Worth noting that these are, in fact, 32" scale length. [quote name='Bloodaxe' post='1052844' date='Dec 9 2010, 03:01 PM']Seller doesn't state if the case is branded ...[/quote] Seller says that it's the original factory case, and Aria cases from that time would have a green fur interior, like the one pictured. [quote name='Bloodaxe' post='1052844' date='Dec 9 2010, 03:01 PM']Mats from this era are unbelievably robust, not so sure about the later models from 1983 onwards ...[/quote] The reason might very well be that post '83 not all Aria production came out of Matsumoku, so differences in quality and construction can often be encountered.

Yea, fronted three bands. Lead vox and bass in one (circa six years) and lead vox and guitar in two (circa seven years). Mostly performing originals. Mostly written by me. I've always learned my vox and bass parts separately, then combined section by section. Maybe because I also play percussion I've never found any problem combining rhythms, tempos, etc. Saying that, I'd often structure parts when composing with performance in mind.

[quote name='redstriper' post='1050128' date='Dec 7 2010, 02:33 AM']OK I stand corrected - could you give some examples cos I'm interested now ?[/quote] Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988, Chapter II - use the search function on BAILII (www.bailii.org) to identify judgments related thereto.

[quote name='redstriper' post='1050062' date='Dec 6 2010, 11:40 PM']AFAIK you cannot stop someone using your material in whatever way they want, once it is out there.[/quote] Not so. If a prospective user material alters an original work permission must be sought from the copyright holder for use in the altered form. Material has been interpreted to include altering "she" to "he" in a lyric.

Used G&L as my main recording and gigging basses for almost 10 years (after years using Yamaha BB series basses). My main instruments were El Toro models, but also played L1000 and L2000 models. For me, US G&L production post 80s has always felt somewhat plastic. Saying that, I've owned and used a number of US G&L, Japanese Premium and Korean and Indonesian Tribute models. Tribute models built in Korea are the equal of contemporary US production. Tribute models built in Indonesia are of a lower quality - using timbers which feel too new (unseasoned) and finished to a lower standard - but still significantly better than many other makers' diffusion lines. As I've said elsewhere the Japanese Premium models (the range, in theory, between US and Tribute lines) are the cream of the crop - and what I'd have in preference to anything produced in the US (since the 80s), Korea or Indonesia. As to the feel of the neck on current L2000 models, in the standard width/profile, this is slightly wider than a P bass, but a little shallower. Using Fender terminology, what I'd describe as a modern, soft C shape. In the narrow width, this is between a P bass and a J bass, and is the more comfortable of the two G&L widths.

The OP's contract is not with any third-party courier, but with the Belgian Post Office, so that is whom he should be communicating with in respect to this matter. It would also be advisable for the OP to report the matter to the Belgian police, as the lose occurred to a package which originated in Belgium, and in theory, until appropriate delivery is effected, is in the custody of a Belgian corporate body under a contract signated in Belgium. It will be for the Belgian police to communicate with any other police force with respect to the investigation of the matter. If placed in the OP's position I would not be considering issuing any refunds until the facts of the matter and the veracity of the buyer's assertions can be ascertained. Personally, I would not be issuing a refund until any insurance claim against the corporate body which had care and custody of the item were resolved, with full and final settlement concluded. Hard on the buyer, I accept, but private individuals cannot be expected to go beyond the specific performance of corporate bodies, and no corporate body would effect immediate issue of monies under any contract of insurance, without proper investigations.

[quote name='Musky' post='1042916' date='Nov 30 2010, 08:42 PM']Err... If Lady GaGa is manufactured, she's manufactured herself.[/quote] Lawsuits, both settled and pending, would suggest otherwise - including, but not limited to, the authorship of the moniker Lady GaGa. Interesting, if all claims against Ms Stefani Germanotta were found to be substantiated, there would be very little about the construct Lady GaGa that was Germanotta's original creation. It might go some way to explaining the somewhat schizophrenic nature of the album, The Fame, and why Germanotta is spending so much money, via private bargain and at public auction, buying up copies of her privately pressed prior commercial releases.

[quote name='4-string-thing' post='1038208' date='Nov 26 2010, 07:52 PM']Thanks Iconic, that looks quite comprehensive, but I've just looked at the bass again on my ebay and there is a picture of the neck socket with the date stamp 88.10.12. So I suppose assembled end of 88, sold 89?[/quote] Really do hate to rain on someone else's parade, but putting my money on your BBG dating to 16 November 1999 (P = '99; Y = November; 16 = day; 132 = unit/lot number). Leaving aside that Yamaha don't use a date configuration in line with the information in the neck pocket of your bass, if the date you were quoted was correct it would mke the BBG a contemporary of the BB1200 and BB2000, and a forerunner of the TRB series! There certainly were "jazz" configurations in the BB series in the late 80s, notably the BB-V and BB1300, but these models had the original BB body shape and four-in-line headstocks. The BB2000 was dropped from the Yamaha catalogue, and the TRB series introduced, circa '89. In the following years Yamaha started development with Nathan East on his signature model - East having used both original BB and first series TRB basses. Alongside East's signature model Yamaha devised the BBN and BBG series models, which appeared after the BB1500, the first of the BB models to combine a revised body shape with a "jazz" configuration, but still retaining the four-in-line headstock (a catalogue model between '93 and '96). Compare the body shape of the BBG to the BBN; compare the 24 fret neck of the BBG to the BBN; compare the offset two-and-two headstock of the BBG to the BBN; compare the design of the pickups of the BBG to the BBN. The East signature model, and the BBN and BBG models filtered in to the Yamaha catalogue during the mid 90s.

[quote name='Rich' post='1037343' date='Nov 26 2010, 07:59 AM']Did Yam ever make an 'official' f/less RBX five?[/quote] Yes.

USB2 previously (Rocstor 225). Mostly likely use Firewire 800 now.

[quote name='4-string-thing' post='1033030' date='Nov 22 2010, 06:38 PM']Got the model wrong, its a BBG-4A II made in 1988.[/quote] Thought the BBG first series was introduced in the 90s, and the second series in the 00s?