RhysP

I'm surprised to hear this actually - I've always found Musicman gear to be very good & very consistent, far more so than Gibson, Fender & Rickenbacker. Having said that, I haven't tried any Musicman gear for a good 18 months, so maybe they're going through a crap patch. Typical, I've been fancying a Stingray lately......

So that pointy metal bit is meant to stick in the ground? I thought it was an aerial of some sort.......

Ignore me then - I always thought they were tuned the same as a violin GDAE.

Edited because of talking uninformed sh*te.

[b]What [/b]made you the bassist you are today? A combination of laziness & clinical depression, which meant I wasted a lot of years not playing when I should have been. [b]Who [/b]do you think had the biggest influences on how you play now? The people I decided I DIDN'T want to play like. [b]Where [/b]do you think you want to go from here? I really don't know. I joined the forum partly in the hope it might push me in a definite direction od some kind, even if that means giving up playing. I figure that would be better than floundering around in a mire of indecision & inaction. What I think I'd like to do is learn some serious musical theory, as I've always felt like a fraud for not having the first idea about any of it. [b]Why [/b]do you think you want to go there? To give me more options on the instrument (or any instrument for that matter). [b]Do you believe[/b] you have a "personality" on the bass? People have told me that I have a distinctive style, so I suppose I must have to a certain extent. [b]Specialist question:[/b] [i][b]What [/b]is it you love about that 1971 P-Bass?[/i] That I could get a good price for it & buy something decent instead.

What's the bass?

It's an ash body.

I used to lust after Tobias basses until I played one. The necks are unbelievably skinny & I just couldn't get on with it at all. (That was a pretty old one mind, don't know what they're like since Gibson got their mitts on 'em) No matter how gorgeous you think a bass is make sure you try before you buy, as there's always a chance you won't get on with it. I wasted a lot of time & money on Rickenbacker 4001's before I realised they're just not for me, even though I love 'em. Same with Wals - beautiful basses but I didn't get on with that V neck profile they used.

Bass collection or possibly a Tune Bass Maniac (which the bass collection basses were modelled after).

[quote name='Zoe_BillySheehan' post='458965' date='Apr 10 2009, 12:19 AM']I completely love the Eat Em n Smile album Z x[/quote] Hey there Zoe, Have you ever heard the Spanish version of "Eat 'em & smile"? Dave Lee Roth recorded a version with all the lyrics sung in Spanish - a friend of mine has got it on Vinyl Billy really is a lovely guy, he couldn't be any more down to earth if he tried. I've got a copy of "Sink your teeth into that" that he signed "To Rhys from William"!

I think the body may be smaller than a Fender Jazz - I've never compared it with a Fender side by side but Fenders always feel much bigger when I play them.

[quote name='Stingray5' post='458044' date='Apr 9 2009, 03:05 AM']Yeh, nice finish. Is that an original Blade neck? Or maybe a retro-fit? I only ask as it doesn't seem to have the usual Blade headstock I remember. Steve[/quote] It's the original neck (one piece rock maple with an ebony fingerboard) - they had the Fender shape headstock before Fender made them change to a different, more pointed shape. I've got an old Blade Texas Standard Str*t with the same headstock too. The bridge pickup does look a bit off in the photo, I've never noticed it before! I checked the bass & I can safely say that the bridge & pickup are both as they should be. The control knobs look weird as well - must be a trick of the light (and the fact that I'm sh*te with a camera). It's active & the pickups are the original Levinson ones. The little switch is for bringing in the active tone circuit - there's a three band EQ circuit in the bass that you can preset. It's also got a hum cancelling pickup in the back & the tone control is an active low pass filter rather than a standard passive type.

Here's my wonderful Levinson Blade B4, bought new from the Bass centre in Wapping on 30th May 1989. Bloody great bass, a real workhorse & the build quality is superb. I actually part exchanged a custom built Jaydee Supernatural for this - some people thought I was nuts but I've never regretted it for a second.

[quote name='Stingray5' post='457014' date='Apr 8 2009, 02:07 AM']Might we see the Blade now? [/quote] How can I possibly refuse the request of someone who has "In the court of the Crimson King" as an avatar? I'll put some Blade piccies up in a new thread.

Some pictures for "Jam", who mentioned on my Introduction thread that he wanted to see my Zon. (and of course for anyone else who wants to see it too!).

[quote name='Jam' post='456309' date='Apr 7 2009, 12:20 PM']Welcome! Am curious to see your Zon..[/quote] I'll post a couple of piccies in the Gear Porn section then...... Hello Zoe! Thanks for the Hello. Ooh, that rhymes!

Hello there, I've made a few posts so I thought I'd better put something in the introduction section. I've been playing bass for 30 years, though certainly for the last 10 or so the basses have been in their cases for 99% of the time. I used to gig, but got fed up with the whole interpersonal bullshit that seems to be inevitable in any band situation so I tend to just do the odd bit of recording now & then. To be honest one of the reasons I signed up to the forum is I seem to be at a "sh*t or bust" time for the my bass playing. I fell out of love with playing a while back & play much more guitar & keyboards these days. I'm basically trying to work out whether my interest in bass is just dormant or stone cold dead. I've invested so much time & money into playing over the years I can't really bring myself to knock it on the head permanently. Anyway, this is starting to so like a therapy session so I'll shut the f*** up! I've owned loads of basses (& a Chapman Stick) but am currently playing just two - a 1989 Levinson Blade B4 & a Zon Legacy Elite four string fretless. Amp is an Ashdown ABM 300-C110 combo. Rhys.

Yes, that's the same maker. Did yours have the little brass logo on the headstock or the decal logo?

The promotional guff from Attila Balogh stated that the pickups were Bartolinis, though I've never been able to find any evidence of Bartolini making passive pickups like this. I took them off once when changing strings & there was nothing to indicate any make. Either way they sound really great, and that is a fine bass. I bought and sold many a high end instrument whilst always hanging onto that one. That actual bass was reviewed in Sounds and they raved about it.

Hey, that's my old Odyssey - How you getting on with it?