W1_Pro

Just bought a Steinberger from Loz. Excellent in every respect. A thoroughly nice chap, a pleasure to talk to and deal with. The bass arrived a little late (Loz was already chasing the courier) and turned out to be exactly as described and amazingly well packed. Deal with confidence.

I just wanted to record for posterity, what a wonderful product the John East MM (3 knob) bass preamp is. My old Wilkes Stingray has had wobbly, grinding pots for some time. I wrote to Doug and asked him to reccomend a replacement, he suggested the John East pre. After a rather unfortunate experience with a Glockenklang pre from Thomann ( quite obtuse wiring instructions but excellent customer service), I contacted John who obligingly shipped me an MM pre. I installed it yesterday afternoon - in about ten minutes with no soldering😀...And it works like a dream. Bass sounds miles better. In fact, it sounds better than my actual Stingray, but there you go. Highly reccomended.

Anyone know what that thing that looks like a tailpiece is on the Greco? I've noticed that all Greco's seem to have them, but they all seem to have three point bridges which make them superfluous. Unless of course, I've got the wrong end of the stick...which is possible....

The 415v active circuit was a joke. Please don't try this at home.

I suppose it's what you as the player/buyer, feel comfortable/happy with, eh? If I macassar ebony fingerboard, 27 LED's in the neck and a 415v active circuit make you feel good, well hey, you're paying for the thing, so have at it.

I say. Ding dong...

Righto then. Pre 73. I'll keep my eyes peeled. I quite like the idea of that as it goes, they were the ones with the crushed oyster shell position markers I think? Very tasty.

Heres a pic of mine. Found it in a music shop in Swansea in about 1984. Needed a refret. The star markings on the fingerboard are well glam rock I've always thought. The pickups are John Birch's own model. What later became known as the hyperflux I think. The electronics are idiosyncratic to say the least, but it plays well, and I've just restrung it with some tapes, and it sounds very pleasing. Much better with light gauge or low tension strings, as theres very little mass behind the heel of the neck, so it does tend to sit forward a bit.

Mine is very playable too! I have absolutely no idea what it's worth. It's beautifully built and the pickups are truly wonderful.

Well, with regard to neck shape...I have an John Birch Rick copy from 1973 and thats really lovely. It's more or less the same width as a P but there's much less weight in the 'shoulders' of the neck- if thats the correct term. So the profile is like a shallow U as opposed to a C. I think I shall take your advice and try and play as many as possible. It's finding C64's and C63's that seems to be the killer. Not very common.

Yes, brand new. It sounded fine to me- admitedly I was in a shop at low volume, but it was cool. So, with regard to the 'c' ones...I really fancy a c64- I love the reverse headstock - so would that have a shallow neck do you know?

So I'm looking for a Rickenbacker. I tried a 4003 in Guitar Guitar (Camden) before the lockdown started and was thoroughly underwhelmed. I'd always been led to believe that Ric's have a thin, shallow neck, this one was like a baseball bat. So is there a Ric with a thin shallow neck? A particular vintage of 4001? I've also looked at the C63/C64 basses. Anyone got either of these? Would welcome some advice.

words fail me. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/80s-IBANEZ-MC-800-BASS-made-in-JAPAN-/174236392541?hash=item28914c5c5d

So theres a lot of love for chunky necks! Im in the minority....again. Funnily enough the Gibson NR reissue I have also has a chunky neck, but, as far as I know, this was again not so in the originals. I do wonder why they changed it. Was it to make the headstocks harder to..erm ... displace? Or was it simply a move to appeal to the (obviously substantial) numbers of potential T bird owners who like chunky necks?

I got one. Its a nice enough bass. The neck is the issue for me. I have an eighties US T Bird, and that has a lovely thin, shallow neck which is really fast. The Epiphones neck is much more chunky. Don't know why this is. As far as I can remember, the one 60's Tbird I played (in a shop), had a similar neck profile to my eighties one. Maybe they are trying to stop the headstock falling off? Anyhow, IMHO it turned a potentially fantastic bass into one that, for me at any rate, is a bit 'meh'.

Didnt know that! Where from if you don't mind me asking?

where did you get the aria knobs? They are like hens teeth....