Rich

Did the review bass(es) happen?

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='441955' date='Mar 22 2009, 07:42 PM']The amps get stuck on a sturdy shelf unit: [/quote] I should bloody well hope it IS sturdy too, with that Strategy sat on the top...

Has he changed the price or summat? Cos now it's a 99p start and I can't see anything wrong with it.

My favourite J colours are CAR/pearly white, but not sure how well that would go with a maple neck.

Oh pants. Of course the Factor is American. My mistake. Still a classic though.

[u]Tune Bass Maniac[/u] The bass that launched a thousand imitators. One of the first, if not [i]the[/i] first, of the lightweight 80s superJap basses. [u]Kubicki Factor[/u] Like it or loathe it, it's a radical design that works brilliantly. Sounds fabulous too. Look, no coffee table.

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=44488"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=44488[/url]

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=44488"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=44488[/url]

Yup, I have 40TWs in my Shuker 5-string. My favourite setting at the moment is with the bridge pup on full and the neck pup 'tapped'. Lovely tight sound. The only thing I don't like about them is that there is a very noticeable difference in output between the single and double coil settings.

[quote name='lee4' post='440617' date='Mar 20 2009, 08:28 PM']Er,Status Groove(my precious). [b]A classic?[/b][/quote] Only if the OP likes it.

Not a chance.

Well, like I said before, define "cool". If you can demonstrate who the Official 'Cool People' really are, as recognised by absolutely [i]everyone[/i], then maybe I'll have to reconsider. Actually, I've just thought of another more accurate title for this thread of yours. It should be 'All The Stuff I Like Is Great, And The Stuff You Like Is Crap, And That's A Fact'. [quote name='WalMan' post='439553' date='Mar 19 2009, 06:39 PM']Blimey! If you were buying from an advert not a shop that might have been mine, in which case it would have been the silver burst one above. It was quite hard work as an 8 string. Not one to be used for a whole set!![/quote] Nope. It was back in the late 80s, sitting in the window of Amen Corner Music near Bracknell. Sort of a baccy sunburst. It looked like a real beast, but the first thing that attracted me was how similar the body shape was to my Wal! I ummed and ahhed and then walked away. Idiot!

Years ago I nearly bought a Shergold 8-string for £150... been kicking myself ever since for not grabbing it. [quote name='thisnameistaken' post='438263' date='Mar 18 2009, 01:57 PM']Are you serious? Anyway, nothing with a figured top is going in this list. This is for [i]cool[/i] basses.[/quote] Sorry, I must have missed the bit where you were made the ultimate arbiter of taste & coolness So I guess this means that the accurate title of this thread is "Not-American Classics (But Only If [b]I[/b] Like Them)"

So, at what point does an expensive bass become too expensive to comfortably take to a gig? Let's say an ordinary gig at the Dog & Duck, rather than a big gig on a proper stage. Actually, to partially answer my own question, I guess the key word is 'valuable' rather than expensive. A £300 bass bought for you by a loved-one could quite easily be far more personally valuable than a £1000 piece of exotica.

You think using 'gay' as an insult is funny, but you're all sensitive about calling someone an idiot (rather than using 'gay' as an insult again) and you think 'chav' is offensive? Oh please.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='427808' date='Mar 7 2009, 03:02 AM']it pisses all over your Alembic and doesn't look as gay.[/quote][quote name='EdwardHimself' post='428064' date='Mar 7 2009, 03:59 PM']For a start it pisses me off so much people who use the word "gay" as an insult it suggests to me that you're homophobic.[/quote][quote name='thisnameistaken' post='428129' date='Mar 7 2009, 05:42 PM']I thought it fit the rant quite well, that's why I used it. Most of my friends work in theatre, if I was scared of gays I'd have nobody to talk to.[/quote][quote name='EdwardHimself' post='428218' date='Mar 7 2009, 08:48 PM']Yeah but what maked you think it would. You could have just said it looked crap or terrible. I just don't understand because you don't hear people saying something looks "n******" or "Paki" or "Spazz" so why the hell do you call it Gay? I just really don't get it.[/quote] I am firmly with Edward here. [b][u]The word 'gay' is not a term of abuse and should not be used as such[/u][/b]. If anyone wants to call something crap, say it's crap. If you want to call someone an idiot, call them an idiot. But if you simply [i]have[/i] to use 'gay' rather than crap or idiot, go to a Big Brother discussion forum with the other 14 year olds where you can type "OMG u r like so gay" to your heart's content.

[quote name='Russ' post='437959' date='Mar 18 2009, 04:54 AM']I was thinking of just bringing it onto the plane in its gig bag as hand baggage and getting them to stick it in the coat locker or something, since you're now allowed to bring more than one piece of hand baggage again. Plus having it in its gig bag would make it easier to carry around with me when I get there. Anyone got any experience of doing this? The flight is from Newark (USA) to Heathrow on BA.[/quote] I did this once on a BA flight, many years ago, with a bass I bought in Jakarta. They stuck it in the coat locker and it was fine. But that was 1994 and obviously things have changed. If you turn up at check-in with your gig bag and they say you've got to check your bass as hold luggage...

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='436826' date='Mar 17 2009, 01:20 AM']Aria SB range - Bit plain, but the best suggestion yet.[/quote] So the Aria SB isn't a classic, but the Yam BB is? Hmm. This is all very subjective. [quote]Manson - Does he even make basses? Another boutique nobody - NO![/quote] Boutique [i]nobody[/i]? John Paul Jones would disagree! The Mansons have been making basses for decades. I would suggest that the Kestrel bass from the early 80s is something of a design classic: [quote name='thisnameistaken' post='437426' date='Mar 17 2009, 03:47 PM']But they were never cool. The only British manufacturer who had a distinctive shape was Status, and that literally was "too modern". It looks very dated now, not in a good way.[/quote] Define 'cool', define 'dated'. It's in the eye of the beholder.

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='437060' date='Mar 17 2009, 11:43 AM']I think the quantifiable 'success' of certain named individuals is no indicator of the best route to take. It is no more sensible than using blind chance as a justification of the validity of choosing to take the wrong route to get to your chosen destination because others have found it by chance. Relying on the good fortune of others to inform your decisions on how to best manage your own career seems a fools errand to me.[/quote][quote name='Eight' post='437114' date='Mar 17 2009, 12:23 PM']The argument that so-and-so never read/learned anything/practiced etc. doesn't mean you don't have to either.[/quote] No, you missed my point. What I was getting at was that with the viewpoint Jeff B appears to have, re: playing an instrument if you're not a reader or learning to read, means that Messrs. Karn and Palladino should not be playing at all. Which of course they can, and should be. It's not a case of "if it's good enough for [i]X[/i] it's good enough for me" at all.

Beverley Knight, 'Shoulda Woulda Coulda' Aretha Franklin, 'House That Jack Built'

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='436186' date='Mar 16 2009, 03:16 PM']Also, Jeff Berlin seems to have the view that if your not learning to read then you shouldn't be playing an instrument.[/quote] Yes I always get this impression from him too. Well, I believe I'm right in thinking that neither Mick Karn nor Pino Palladino can read a single note. This being the case, Mr.Berlin can take his view and cram it sideways. He's the Clarkson of the bass world... says the occasional sensible thing, and then makes a cods of it all by coming out with some fatuous blethering crap or other.

I'm not wild about the plate shape, or the sloping-back tuners, but that's just personal preference. Overall it's a cool retro look. Very nice!

[quote name='escholl' post='435676' date='Mar 15 2009, 11:45 PM']what about using the cables you already use, wrapped in something like [url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=26849"]this[/url]?[/quote] Or [url="http://www.rapidonline.com/Cables-Connectors/Cables/Sleeving/Expandable-braided-sleeving/71513/kw/braid"]this[/url]? This is what I'm going to be using for my pedalboard send/return/power cables.

So if I played three basses all strung with DRs and all fitted with EMGs, they'd sound the same whether they were made of mahogany, ebony or balsa. Hell, why does it have to be wood if it has so little impact? So they'd sound the same if they were made of mahogany, ebony, balsa, concrete, fibreglass or jelly babies. Rrrrrright. Finally I see.