dlloyd

Andy Rourke's precision was a 1964 and that is a strap button, as Cosmo said. Fender put strap buttons up there for upright players... I can't remember ever seeing one used that way. My 62RI Jazz has the strap button at the back of the headstock and I can report, having tried it, that it really doesn't work!

I imagine that tonally the bass is not a million miles away from any other ESP/LTD bass with soapbars. ESP should be able to give you details of any specific details such as preamps, pickups etc. A lot of what makes the tone is in the recording and mix... I think the bass is very likely to have received special attention in this case.

[quote name='Painy' timestamp='1368569379' post='2078791'] One of these models in particular also has an 'FM' suffix (FunkMeister?) [/quote] 'Fraid not. It stands for "flamed maple".

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1368535481' post='2078090'] I guess I'm refering to how you commit the song to memory rather than the transcription or "working out" process. In other words - what knowledge are you relying on when you come to play it in the band ?. [/quote] Transcribing and learning are one and the same.

It depends on the song. And why I'm learning it/how precious I am about getting it "right". Most I'll just play a couple of bars on a CD/MP3, then play what I think the original bassist played. Then play the next few bars and do the same. Repeat till I get to the end of the song. Then I'll play the whole song along with the CD and all's well. 10 minutes work. If I'm learning a bunch of songs for a specific gig, I'll learn a couple of tunes a day, then build up a "set list" of them and play it through with the CD a couple of times a day. Easy. For more difficult tunes where the bassline is integral to the tune (eg. Rhythm Stick) I'll pop them into Audacity and slow them down a little and maybe loop them, both for transcribing and learning the song. Sometimes I'll watch videos or listen to live recordings (official and bootleg). I never bother with online tabs... they're invariably wrong.

[quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1368526846' post='2077946'] D'you know, there was something niggling me about that name, and now it's clicked. And now I've read the whole thing. I think what fooled me was that it isn't funny... [/quote] I don't know if it is genuine Berra, but I think the problem here is that we're not automatically as exposed to jazz (or rather jazz journalism) as its intended audience. I find it funny, but that's probably because I read the stuff that he's satirising.

[quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1368522988' post='2077897'] There's a fine line between impenetrably deep, artistically significant guru-speak, and simply talking bollocks. And I think yogi's well over that line. [/quote] As he intended to be. It's satire.

The photos might not be working... Photos of the bass in question here: [url="http://www.glennhughes.com/makingoffeel.html"]http://www.glennhughes.com/makingoffeel.html[/url]

I don't think there's any moral issue here. If I was to "win" a Stingray on ebay for £450 (it does happen, but not to me), I'd have no qualms about advertising it for £850 with the full expectation that I'll be haggled down to £650 to £750. Which is the going rate for them... If I had a bass that should go for £900 I'd advertise it for £1050. I'd probably take a few more months than Marcus did to sell it on, and I only buy with the intent to keep them, but that's just me. There is a cautionary tale in this though... if you're buying to sell on and make a profit, or to try something out for a while and not lose out financially, you've got to do your research. If you search for Stingrays on ebay, you'll often see ten to twenty of them, most priced BIN at £850 to £1100. They don't sell. It's [i]completed listings[/i] you need to check for an idea of actual market value. You've also got to have an idea of whether there are rarer models or options that give it extra value. What's the going rate for a Copperhead Bronze stingray, or a single H Martini Green Bongo?

Photo taken during Feel sessions: Another publicity shot taken at the same time:

[quote name='Painy' timestamp='1368259286' post='2074933'] Just wondering if anyone out there could help me with this - nothing more than curiosity but been kinda bugging me for years. I've always liked the bass sound on Glenn Hughes' Feel album (very warm sound especially given that he plays with a pick) and the sleeve notes say the bass he used was an ESP Funkmeister 6 string. Now I'm guessing it's long been discontinued but I can't find so much as a picture on line and wondered if anyone on here knew anything about them or had a picture they could put up? [/quote] I don't personally know anything about ESPs, but would this be what you're after? It's taken from here: [url="http://www.glennhughes.com/ghtvor.html"]http://www.glennhughes.com/ghtvor.html[/url] which states that ESP had just completed making it and the two parties were considering an endorsement deal (hence publicity shot). So, probably a custom shop job that's never been available commercially.

[quote name='dlloyd' timestamp='1368444444' post='2077041'] There was an article in Guitarist magazine a few months ago about the history of vintage reissue Fenders. There was a discussion of the lack of quality of 70s and early 80s Fenders... the factory black "refinish" over a flawed original paint job was discussed... if I remember correctly, black was by far the commonest colour in the late 70s as half the instruments they made had flaws in their finish and had to be redone. I'll see if I can't dig it out tonight. [/quote] Yep, it was Dan Smith from Fender, who was saying that when he got there in 1981, black was their biggest seller despite not being the most in-demand colour. The problem was that so many instruments were being rejected at QC and repainted that all you could get was black.

[quote name='Rick's Fine '52' timestamp='1368436414' post='2076917'] Fender did use sunbursts (Normally one's that failed the QC), for custom colours (Particularly black), certainly in the 60's, and from your link maybe into the 70's too. I've seen many examples of this. I've even seen Olympic White over sunburst. I'm sure some have been done by the owners since they left the factory also, but many were done in the shop, and are considered 'original' finishes. Rick [/quote] There was an article in Guitarist magazine a few months ago about the history of vintage reissue Fenders. There was a discussion of the lack of quality of 70s and early 80s Fenders... the factory black "refinish" over a flawed original paint job was discussed... if I remember correctly, black was by far the commonest colour in the late 70s as half the instruments they made had flaws in their finish and had to be redone. I'll see if I can't dig it out tonight.

Fender Mustang Bass

[quote name='marcus bell' timestamp='1368286855' post='2075334'] I'm not making money, simply using it as a way of saving! As if I have cash I spend it on rubbish. Hope that clears it up. [/quote] I'm concerned you may have been ripped off if you're putting a value of £1050 on it. A Stingray like that is worth £650 to £750. Tops. A bass similar to this one (maybe the same one) was on ebay recently and didn't sell at a BIN of £900, which is no real surprise. You might get £900 for a 2H or a piezo in an unusual colour, but for a bog-standard honeyburst 1H from 1992... that's spendy... unless you're a shop in London.

[quote name='marcus bell' timestamp='1368215683' post='2074654'] im actually really really rubbish at saving money, so i try to buy and sell gear until i reach what i want again The Kingbass... this is quite cool as it allows me to experience playing a lot of different basses as well as not losing any value [/quote] It doesn't always work like that though. The price you're asking for that Stingray is pretty ambitious.

[quote name='Jimryan' timestamp='1368208185' post='2074552'] My personal fav is the DOD FX25B. Dead simple, and a fantastic little pedal. [/quote] I had one and yes, they're great little pedals. They're particularly good for setting so the envelope doesn't open, giving that Bill Laswell dub sound.

[quote name='tredders' timestamp='1368178164' post='2074053'] this is the kind of colour scheme / result I'm after: - Will update the thread in the coming weeks. [/quote] Nice... but I'd be going for black/tort

Or two Fender VIs alongside bass: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuI7KZ5Pch0[/media]

With the Cure, the Fender VI was usually used as a guitar alongside a four string bass. For example in Pictures of You: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-_GM_FOr60[/media] ...and Lullaby [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfeZ3u0bZYM[/media]

Looks like it might be a 1987/88 Stingray, assuming all parts are original to that bass. B prefixed serial numbers could be found as late as 1988, and the 3 band preamp and that logo design both came in about 1987. But, a previous owner has shaved maybe £200 off the value along with the Ernie Ball part of the logo.

Is it a Yamaha BB series bass (or similar?) that someone has modified?