Grand Wazoo

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1335381906' post='1630313'] OMG... that is very nice.. i had to redo my post... GW how do you find the position of the pups when playing fingerstyle over them... from a thumb to finger position, they seem quite far back... [/quote] To be honest I have never noticed any difference to any other bass, I am still able to anchor my thumb over the edge of the pickups and still manage to pluck the strings as I do with any other bass, after all the strings as I've said in another thread are still perpendicular to the bass so no matter what is the inclination of the pickups and bridge the way your hand falls on them is the same.

[url="https://www.dingwallguitars.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2330"]https://www.dingwallguitars.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2330[/url]

they are lovely, I'd get a candy apple red with maple fretboard any day of the week.

Got an email from a friend informing me that BMC are back in business having found premises in a Disco/DJ warehouse somewhere near Thurrock, Lakeside (Grays, Essex) [url="http://www.bassmerchant.com/"]http://www.bassmerchant.com/[/url] I assume they are either flogging whatever was left of their gear after their solvency closure. [i][b][size=2](read bankruptcy) [/size][/b][/i][size=2][size=4]or they might even have been taken over by new management / owners, who knows? I wouldn't be the one to speculate till I see it with my own eyes. I hope that the issues other forum members had with them i.e. ordering and paying for stuff which never arrived or arrived well dodgy are behind them if it is a new management.[/size][/size] But hey, you never know a bargain might be lurking in there and they are only a stone throw from my work, so I'm gonna check them out tomorrow and report. [i][size=3][b]WATCH THESE PIXELS! [/b][/size][/i]

From wikipedia: In the late 1990s, the demand for cheaper versions of Music Man instruments had increased and other companies had begun to exploit this market-gap by producing replica instruments, built from inexpensive woods and components in various East-Asian countries. Music Man responded by licensing its designs to HHI/Davitt & Hanser, launching [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLP_Guitars"]OLP[/url] (Officially Licensed Products) to give Music Man market coverage in this price point. As a replacement for the overseas line of [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLP_Guitars"]OLP[/url] Music Man instruments the company developed the 'SUB' line of [url="http://www.music-man.com/specs/instruments_subguitar.html"]Guitars[/url] & [url="http://www.music-man.com/specs/instruments_sub.html"]Basses[/url] (listed both online & in print and other media as well as physically on the headstock first as the acronym "S.U.B." for "Sport Utility Bass" and then as the non-acronym "SUB" due to the fact that two versions of guitars were made under the "Sport Utility Bass" banner, and that a "S.U.B. Bass" repeated 'Bass' twice). This midrange line (in which the typical cost was typically less than 1/2 the price of their "standard" instruments) was launched in 2003 to prove that a quality instrument without the bells and whistles could be made in the USA. A non-angled "slab" piece of wood to which a textured paint that didn't call for any polishing was applied, as well as necks with a matte painted back instead of the "Oil & Wax" finish applied to the higher-end models made up the bulk of the changes between the lower and higher model lines - quite simply, "Production Hours" were reduced as opposed to the quality of the wood, hardware, or electronics that allowed the 'SUB' line of guitars & basses to be made at their price-point without a loss of their trademark quality. The product was a success and helped Music Man when its main price point was in a slump. Sterling Ball has commented that, due to the quickly growing $1,000+ segment of the guitar industry, there have been fewer and fewer SUBs in production each year. This line was made at the same plant that makes the higher priced models, but was discontinued in September 2006. Used 'SUB' guitars & basses are in high demand and have held their prices even years later on the used instrument market such as [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay"]eBay[/url] and private forums due to their quality and "Made In The USA" production status. "Music man is a great guitar brand" Quoted Mr. Les Paul in 1999.

Yeah I am a maple lover, me. It doesn't just sound better to me, it feels better at the touch

Iffy... 90% of the time, anything that has been modified from whatever era would hide a moody story to tell.

Never too many, put it this way can you ever tell your missus she's got too many pair of shoes? I rest my mother****ing case! Yewza!

Oh and there's a minter on ebay in a metallic blue colour [u][b]with a not scratched headstock!![/b][/u] but it's an auction and it starts at £805 [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Musicman-Bongo-4-HH-Bass-/110865660102?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item19d01bb8c6"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Musicman-Bongo-4-HH-Bass-/110865660102?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item19d01bb8c6[/url]

The Gallery in Camdem has a HH 4 strings in Rolls Burgundy one of the most sought after colour, I've played it and it's fine but not fine for your standards Gareth cause it's been played (sniggers hehe) and has a few marks on the body and the infamous headstock chipping off marks.

Let's all agree: no bass is one trick pony otherwise what would a standard Precision bass that has scored the history of popular music from 1950 to this date, be classed as? The way you play can get lots of different sounds from one bass depending on how far or close you play to the bridge the neck and the pickup itself, then let's not forget that the amp you play it through can help you shaping different sounds in addition to what you can do with your own personal touch and feel. Having said that... £200 for a Flea bass depending on the very good conditions is the top I would pay for them, especially considering that only 5 months after they were introduced the Bass Centre was offering a deal on some of them (there are 2 models if I remember rightly one with better specs and than the other) I believe it was the lesser spec'd ones for £250 new. Yes I have had a thorough go on one of these and I thought not a lot about them, my negative judgement was intended at the built and consistency of them, they did feel like the mass produced, lowest end possible copies of Stingrays as you can get. I believe £200 quid can't get you much these days but as mentioned above you can get Yamaha's, Squier's and other with more tonal variations. I wouldn't go as far as saying they are sh|te but they didn't fair well with me to even consider them as a bargain.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1334829380' post='1621864'] You should be able to adjust your pickups as each should have its own volume control. [/quote] Exactly, it will be very difficult to compare with other basses, passive or not, in fact you can't even be sure the amount of winding from one pickup to the other, Tokai would have bought the pickups from an aftermarket manufacturer and these will most probably been buildt to be sold singularly as opposed to "matching twins" which might explain the reason for one to be less powerful than the other.

I would like to introduce to you a new young and talented musician from my home town of Naples in Italy. His name is Alessandro Stellano and has a new album outr called "At Home" Alessandro plays a mean bass and I though you might be interested to check him out. I was able to obtain Alessandro's latest Album "At Home" which is a collection of 8 fantastic tracks, that mix his solo virtuoso bass style to a medley of "mediterranean feel" jazz tunes in a style all of its own. The link below from youtube is for the track "Mare Nostrum" which is the first in the album and it is also one of the most complex and challenging, enjoy: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgruMMGnOLQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgruMMGnOLQ[/url] and this is a preveiw of the rest of the tracks, check it out [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo7uQ30e_kQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo7uQ30e_kQ[/url] This highly recommended album is available on amazon [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/At-Home/dp/B007PLOM6A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334925650&sr=8-1"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/At-Home/dp/B007 ... 650&sr=8-1[/url]

[quote name='MB1' timestamp='1334869446' post='1622795'] MB1. If this is For Sale here it requires a Price you would be willing to accept. if no price is added it will be deleted... if this is purely a link it will be moved to Ebay links? Please Advise.. [/quote] Yeah its an ebay link, not mine, gee did I posted in the wrong section? Sorry move it where it belongs I just thought it be an heads up for someone cause I played one and they are very good, and this one so far is at £145 or something, cheap!

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330717947908"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330717947908[/url]

[quote name='BluRay' timestamp='1334773414' post='1621100'] I inadvertently clicked on the link and outlook tried to email w@nkhalen. Just thought I'd share that. [/quote] I lol'd!!

I have owned a MM 25th Anniversary 5 strings model HSS which is what the Reflex was renamed to after the 25th anni period ended. What it is, it's a very nice bass, heavy, but with loads of sonic variants, you can have active / passive / series / parallel and a wide number of pickup combinations because every single pickup has an on off button. The neck is not different from a stingray 5 and it has 22 frets not 24. The wood for the body is ash with a centre mahogany tone block that runs from the pickup cavities to the neck joint. Things I disliked about that bass was the string retainer on the headstock which made string changes a real pain in the rs and the weight of it. Things I liked were the smaller body with no top horn looks like a single cut eddie [email="w@nkhalen"]w@nkhalen[/email] type of body the lack of a top horn made it real comfortable but it need to be at least 2lb lighter as it is a ship anchor. Personally I preferred the Big Al which was a lot lighter, and with a very nice and resonant mahogany body. Ed Freidland demo'd a few of them check them out. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dg0lcR5njo[/media]

Nothing wrong with the intonation on the 2 saddles bridge. Don't believe the hype. But if you're flash get a Badass 2 on it that'll fit perfectly. The Badass does string through body and 3 screws but I am not sure if the ashtray cover fits.

[quote name='TommyK' timestamp='1334645371' post='1618914'] Still hopefully the Stingray5 will be fixed soon and then [size=5][b]the Dingwall 5 swap can be completed[/b][/size]...Yay! [/quote] oh... does that mean you're about to join the "dark side"? [IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r200/xt660/bbffd73b.jpg[/IMG]

Yes agreed In that case I can consider myself lucky cause if mine wears out like that it's natural ash with no colour stain to get rubbed off. [IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r200/xt660/d3ca6e77.jpg[/IMG]

Oh but I have an ABZ Dingwall in the same finish an had it nearly 2 years now, it happens to be the one I play the most and it hasn't deteriorated with popping, just gone a bit shiny over the matt texture and you can only tell if you hold it across a light source.

In my case 5 strings make my life easier on some songs, and if I was to make a radical exclusion choice between a 5 and a 4 I would go for a 5 but having said that, except for the rare usage of notes beyond the Low E note there are very very few songs that I play on a 5 wich I couldn't play on a 4, mostly reggae tunes.

Nice bass indeed but... what's with the pickguard, meaning it's hardly functional, is it, what's the point of it?

Can I add that I can get a Miller sound out of my bog standard, no preamp, American Standard Jazz with no effects and straight through a Mark Bass Little Mark Tube 500W amp (the other thing I reckon that also helps me getting such a close sound to that of Marcus must be the maple fingerboard)

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1294751738' post='1085437'] "Signature Series"? How are they planning on getting him to sign them? [/quote] We should ask Fender... how did they get Jaco to sign this, (the signature is on the back of the neck plate)