RhysP

I've been using Labella Slappers for years & love 'em.

[quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1341777623' post='1724070'] I actually got to number 72 in the charts (with a classical group I was with) for one week in 1989 aged 15 following a performance on Blue Peter before I went on my tour of China. [/quote] Did you get a Blue Peter badge?

It would be about 25% - it's VAT at 20% & the import duty (which is around 3-5%). This is added to the combined cost of the item & the shipping cost. The other things to bear in mind, especially with electrical items, is that you'll need some kind of transformer to use it in this country (unless it has user switchable voltages) & also if it's made for the US market then the warranty will probably not be valid in this country, and even if it is shipping the amp back to the US for any repairs will be pretty expensive. If it was me buying this & I was only saving £50 I'd just buy one over here & save myself all the potential hassle.

Personally I'd far rather see somebody looking at the neck of their bass or guitar than watch them cheesily gurning at the audience in some pathetic attempt at being an "entertainer".

[quote name='Stickman' timestamp='1341404687' post='1718368'] .....I also found I was never using the higher notes. [/quote] This is the very reason why I'm unsure about getting a 12 string Grand Stick - I found I didn't use the really high notes on my 10 string so I could well find the extra two string don't get used & I'd also have the narrower string spacing to contend with as well.

This is the poster from the last gig I ever played, which we did to celebrate what would have been Chris our guitarists 40th birthday (he died from a brain tumour when he was 36). [IMG]http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k120/RhysP/shokcroc.jpg[/IMG]

Nice playing! That looks just like my old Stick - I've got to get another one, it's my main priority at the moment. I can't decide whether to say with 10 strings or take the plunge & get a 12ver. What pickup has that got - a Stickup? Definitely the best sounding of the options IMO. What gauge strings do you use for the baritone melody tuning? Why did you settle on baritone melody BTW? It's the tuning that I'm thinking of going for but I'd just like to hear your opinion if that's OK.

[quote name='Chris2112' timestamp='1341244718' post='1715653'] ....check out the [i]Animal Logic[/i] records, they are fantastic. Great, intelligent pop music that should appeal to musicians. [/quote] I thought the lyrics on the first album were the most godawful mawkish Moon/June crap I've ever heard. Didn't bother with any other stuff as a result.

[quote name='Johngh' timestamp='1339537552' post='1690335'] 65 SQUID !!!! I'd want Stanley to come and play in my living room for that. [/quote] I'd want him to suck me off for that sort of money. While Copeland watched. And then give me an Alembic afterwards.

Bargain! The best guitar I've ever played was a Dean - an early 80's US Cadillac in blueburst.

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1340963772' post='1712036'] Anybody inspired by the Stairway to Heaven vid? [/quote] The only thing "Stairway to Heaven" could inspire me to do would be invent a time machine so I could go back & stop Led Zeppelin from ever happening.

You might also want to find out from Dingwall if your bass is covered by the USA warranty in this country - it might not be.

That's a lovely looking bass.

[quote name='debwilliams' timestamp='1340645595' post='1707533'] Rhys ...just say "yes", it's that easy! [/quote] I've got myself into far too much trouble in the past by just saying "Yes"......6 months of meticulous planning before doing anything these days means life isn't so exciting but it's a lot safer.

[quote name='debwilliams' timestamp='1340623118' post='1707044'] Introducing Debs to Marcus Miller was another high spot. [/quote] Bloody hell, was he in the car as well? Sounds like a great day was had - wish I could be that spontaneous!

There seem to be a lot of people on here that seriously object to non-university educated minimum wage underclass scum such as myself being on the forum.

Puke red wine over them - that'll really f*** them up.

There's this as well: http://www.deanguitars.com/content/imagelib/basses/edgeimprov/2.htm

It looks like an Improv 5 - any pictures of the neck/headstock? Has it got the "Talon" inlay at the 12th fret? Dean still make some lovely instruments but unfortunately, like BC Rich, they get classed as low end heavy metal guitars by people who have never seen or played the older US models.

GHS Boomers (they make a Flea signature set) are great strings. The ones I use are made by Labella & are called "Slappers", so they might be OK for you too. Lots of people would say you need really light guage strings for slapping but I use 45-110 & they sound & feel fine to me. I used to use incredibly light guage strings on my Jaydee (30-90) but I just found there was no "oomph" to them at all, they sounded really weedy. If you're just starting maybe going for a set around 40-100 would be a good choice (assuming you're playing a four string). (Stringbusters online are the best place to get the strings mentioned above - great prices & fast delivery too. Hope that helps.

[quote name='cameltoe' timestamp='1339543121' post='1690473'] I must stress though, that the sound does not transfer through the amp. It's a lovely and warm, woody sounding bass when plugged in. [/quote] Surely what it sounds like through an amp is the important thing? [quote name='alyctes' timestamp='1340095927' post='1698881'] Just wondering (and based on guessing about the physics) - this might be to do with the way the frets are attached. If they were glued in at each end of the fret but not in the middle, you might get a "ringing" of the fret itself - which the strings wouldn't affect, so you could change the strings without affecting the sound. And since this might allow the manufacturer to halve their fret glue budget, it's the sort of thing they might try. As I say, that's a guess. [/quote] I'd expect that sort of cost cutting, poor quality construction from Fender US, but I'd be surprised at that approach being taken with the Japanese models.

I'd pretty much decided that five strings weren't for me - until I got my Spector Euro 5LX. I'd owned others, including what a lot of people recommend as a benchmark five string, A Musicman Stingray, but just didn't like it at all. I found it big, bulky & very underwhelming sound-wise. My Bogart was great, but still not enough to persuade me that I wasn't missing anything by not owning a 5ver. The Spector is now my main bass, to the extent that I'm seriously considering selling my Zons. I guess what I'm saying is that there is probably a 5ver out there somewhere that will have the same effect on somebody that my Spector had on me - I was 100% sure I was a dyed in the wool (or is that stick in the mud?) four string player until I got it, now I can't imagine playing anything else.

Looks like a mixture of a Precision Elite II & one of the original Precision Specials (that's what the bridge looks like it came from to me). Actually, looking at the bridge baseplate again it could even be a Kahler bass trem.