RhysP

He used to play bass for Echo & the Bunnymen?

[quote name='Lenny B' post='1190633' date='Apr 6 2011, 04:16 PM']I haven't found the Hamer forum yet, I think it may have shut...?[/quote] They just don't like strangers...... [url="http://www.hamerfanclub.com/forums/"]http://www.hamerfanclub.com/forums/[/url] It can be a bit temperamental - sometimes it'll say you are not permitted to access the site, other times you can get on there fine. Patience is needed. It's a great forum (VERY US-centric though). I haven't been on there for a while since I sold my last Hamer guitar.

Might be worth a look here too: [url="http://www.12stringbass.net/"]http://www.12stringbass.net/[/url] Also, Mark Egan used to play a fretless Pedulla 8 string - might be worth looking for some info on that.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='1190579' date='Apr 6 2011, 03:11 PM']Isn't the gauge of the octave strings going to be an issue? I wouldn't like to have to stop notes on two Es at once with a single fingertip with the difference in string gauge.[/quote] I was going to mention this too. There have been some people on the Hamer forum who have had custom 8 & 12 string fretless basses made & they all say the difference in gauges with the octave strings was a real problem.

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=130571"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=130571[/url]

I've been a member of the Gretsch Discussion Pages for years & have quite a few friends who play rockabilly & country music. The ones that don't use a double bass (which most of them do) all use Precisions.

I use them pretty much to the exclusion of all the other notes.

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1182163' date='Mar 30 2011, 01:31 PM']I'm not seeing anything referring to Christina Aguilera[/quote] I think he means it's [i]Really Dirty.........[/i] but not in a positive way.

[quote name='SS73' post='1180860' date='Mar 29 2011, 03:03 PM']The new 2010/11 4003's are said to be really excellent, nice neck's etc, now they have the full width inlays....[/quote] The full width inlays are a step backwards aesthetically - the smaller ones look MUCH better IMO. Having owned both I think the full width crushed pearl inlays on my checkerboard bound 4001 looked tacky as f***.

The 4003 was meant to be used with roundwound strings, the older 4001 to be used with flats. I remember reading an interview with Chris Squire where he was invited to visit the Rickenbacker factory & he got a telling off for popularising the use of roundwounds on the 4001 because Rickenbacker were getting loads of basses back with neck problems. I don't really know why this should be, as the 4001 has twin truss rods so should be able to cope with a change between flats & rounds. I only ever used roundwounds on my 4001's & didn't have a problem (apart from the basses being badly made sh*t that is!) I remember when the 4003 model was released the reason they gave was that it was better suited to the use of roundwound strings. Strange really, as roundwounds tend to have lower tension than flats - they certainly did at the time of the 4003's release anyway.

It's not Graham Mabey on the video the OP is talking about; Mabey was touring as part of Marshall Crenshaws band at the time so couldn't do the shows with Joe Jackson. The bassist on the video mentioned in the thread is Rick Ford. I think the 6 sting he was using was a Ken Smith.

I started a similar thread last year - I've posted a link to it here as there was a lot of useful information given to me which will probably be relevant to you too: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=92143&st=0"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=92143&st=0[/url] Hope some of that helps.

It looks like the Steve Bailey signature model, but I thought those were only available a 6 string basses.

[quote name='Dubs' post='1172264' date='Mar 22 2011, 04:20 PM']I'm not sure that anyone other than a musician would 'invest' in the vintage Fender market.[/quote] The large majority of vintage guitars sold in the USA over the last 15 years haven't been bought by musicians, they've been bought by non-players with high salary jobs. Most of the really desirable Fenders & Gibsons are out of the price range of your average player, and the crap you couldn't give away 20 years ago is heading that way too.

[quote name='Dubs' post='1172144' date='Mar 22 2011, 02:34 PM']This is OT, but I think there are 3 reasons why people pay the money for a vintage Fender: For a lot of people it's about buying a piece of history. For others it's about image and the peer approval that comes with owning a vintage Fender. Others, rightly or wrongly, believe they're the holy grail of electric bass and anything else is a compromise. A lot of people buy them for a combination of the above, but essentially they are the reasons.[/quote] You didn't mention what I think is one of THE main reasons - the fact that people see vintage Fenders as a risk free investment that will reap them serious dividends if they hang onto it for 10 years or so.

Peavey Cirrus (not the BXP ones, the expensive ones). He's been using them for ages now. Lovely basses.

Interesting..... [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120701072485&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...e=STRK:MEWAX:IT[/url]

I did when I bought my first "proper" bass thirty years ago. I was a huge fan of Chris Squire & Geddy Lee so I bought a secondhand Rick 4001. Found out pretty quickly that hero worship is not a very good criteria for buying a bass......