hookys6stringbass

[quote name='neepheid' post='972104' date='Sep 29 2010, 09:29 PM']That'll be an interesting exercise with the carved top... agreed about the Supertone bridge being outstanding though.[/quote] Nah it's no problem.... I contacted the fellas at Hipshot and they sent me a few photos of a JC bass with said bridge on it and explained how they put it on.. mmmm got an idea for the repairs and tech area thread.

[quote name='Delberthot' post='971908' date='Sep 29 2010, 05:29 PM'] [/quote] Looking good mate - those hipshot bridges are the nuts, i'm going to get one for my Jack casady bass if it's bridge gives me any trouble.

[quote name='tedgilley' post='965839' date='Sep 23 2010, 05:10 PM']I ordered the Squier 77 jazz bass from online store Sweetwater. Cost: $285 (L182 or 214 euros). Bass arrived in good shape and tuned up nicely, very playable right out of the box. I have included some detail shots; you all know what a jazz bass looks like. Sorry, some of the photos are not so sharp. The bass is made in Indonesia. I was surprised; I thought these were being made in China. Body is agathis. The black finish is flawless and stunning, set off with a white-edged black pickguard. Neck is maple, satin finish; not my favorite look but part of the bargain. The block inlays are pearloid, and the neck is bound in white plastic. Very sharp. Truss rod adjustment is at the top of the neck. Everything is nice and tight: no knobs falling off. Frets are in good shape, a little too evident at the edge of the board, but all right. The tuners seem good, string tension is tight--well, why wouldn't it be? What I mean is, it feels good. Nice and responsive to aggressive finger-picking. There is not a dead note on this bass. NO dead spots. Plus, the tonal response is somewhat equal all over the fretboard (my P-bass had a lot of variety in this department). And all the lower notes--low E, F, G, up through B on the E string--are fat and full; no 'hollow' low notes. I am getting true notes all over the board as well. 'Duncan Designed' pickups: The neck pickup alone is pretty bland--solid, but unremarkable. But with the neck pickup at 7 to 9, dialing in the bridge pickup to 5 or above puts an edge on the tone--it's like the note comes into focus--while retaining the fullness of the neck pickup sound. I probably won't use the bridge pickup alone, but combining the two gives a very subtle and satisfying range of tones; with the strong edge the bridge pickup provides, the lowest notes really kick. I've heard very little noise from the pickups. There is considerable clearance at the nut; seems even a little too much. But I think this means the action could come down considerably without a buzz developing. I had intended to wait till I'd played out with this bass before reviewing it, but my trio won't have a gig for a month, so I thought I would send out some first impressions. I'm sure others will report on different aspects of the bass, and with different thoughts. Playing it through my Hartke 2500 & Schroeder light 12 cab, I am getting a powerful, even sound. As a rating, I'd have to give this bass a ten on value alone. But otherwise, I'd give it a 9.95 all around. Ted[/quote] Great review Ted do you have anymore pix?? I think the 77 is stunning and this is from someone who doesn't (or didn't) like Jazz basses. Perhaps I should explain - A while back I was looking for a cheap decent(ish) bass for away gigs where the venue might not be as wholesome as you'd expect i.e. I didn't want my decent basses getting nicked or damaged by some pissed twat! So I thought i'd have a bash on the Squire VM Jazz bass in natural - it's a Jazz bass I wouldn't worry about it getting nicked, anyway I had go on it and it knocked my socks off!!!! I couldn't believe how good it sounded! That was it I was hooked. Squire have really come on leaps and bounds since the first time I tried one all those years ago. Anyway I'm rambling. Please keep us up to date on your 77

Really good review that, and spot on tooo! The pros are fantastic basses black and sunburst look fantastic!

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='920724' date='Aug 10 2010, 03:26 PM']Yes, I had a couple of traders knocking around and picked up a 424 in a deal this past weekend. It's a very nice bass, you'll be glad to hear. The neck finishing could be a little better, but all in all it's a stonking P&J passive with massive output and serious playability. It's not as boomy as the BB714BS & has a much stronger and richer tone than the 614/5 series. The 45 degree mitre through body stringing is a nice touch & the sound is to die for. I particularly like the 5-piece neck construction. These basses come as standard with the 45-105 D'darrios with the multi-coloured ball ends, but the one I have is now set up with Elixir 40-95's. Highly recommended for the money you'll pay on the high street. [/quote] The 424 looks the dogs dangleys , I can't wait to try one out!!

+ 1 Ashdown customer service has been fantastic... they've always answered my daft question emails, and a couple of years ago built me a custom combo evo III cab with a 2u rack space which I bloody love..... wait a min they didn't answer my email about an amp sleeve for my combo amp..... mmmm i'll chase that one up.... apart from that they've been superb, and i've just seen they've posted a reply to a thread about the 'Little Bastard' and 'Spyder' amps...

any takers??

[quote name='gareth' post='900364' date='Jul 20 2010, 06:57 PM']These are cracking basses and severely under-rated. Probably as good/better than a lot of p basses.[/quote] You're spot on there Gareth.....

After a lot of thought i've decided to put my Spyder up for sale. It's a great amp but I should've thought about it more as i've realised I'm not going to use it as much it should be used .... I've really got to stop impulse buying! anyway the Spyder can be found [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160458137609&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT"]here[/url]

Yep i've been impluse buying again.... i'll never learn! This is one hell of an amp but i've realised that i'll hardly use it so it has to go. You can find the amp [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160466470840&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT"]here[/url]

I've got my Yamaha BB 300 on ebay [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160458129877&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT"]here[/url]

[quote name='Sean' post='890193' date='Jul 9 2010, 10:22 AM']Assuming the pups are Yamaha BB shaped, there's not a lot of replacements that will go in there, so I'd suggest contacting Wizard Pickups who will take your existing ones and do pretty much whatever you want with a rewind or whatever - give Andy a call for some no nonsense advice [url="http://www.wizardpickups.co.uk/contact.asp"]http://www.wizardpickups.co.uk/contact.asp[/url][/quote] Cheers for that Sean- i'll give them a shout. Looking at my old BB 1200s , it's pick ups are mounted on a pick up surround so maybe that's something else I can look into....

[quote name='walbassist' post='890164' date='Jul 9 2010, 10:06 AM']Did you have a tuner out added as well Hooky? And are these made in the UK?[/quote] Yes I did. As far as I know these are UK made.

I've just got hold of an old 80's MIJ Yamaha BB 300 like the one I learnt to play on all those years ago! I remembered why I changed the pick ups when I fired the amp up - the pickups were very thin and dont do the bass any justice. Back then I replaced the stock pups with the BB 1200s pups and circuitry which as you can imagine livened the old BB300 up no end!! Seeing as you can't get the BB 1200s gear anymore I was wondering what to put in...... think i'm going to leave it passive this time , any suggestions?

[quote name='MythSte' post='885511' date='Jul 4 2010, 03:16 PM']Props to ashdown for that, Did they charge you for it - if you dont mind me asking?[/quote] No they didn't charge me for it - I just had to pay for postage....

[quote name='Merton' post='885042' date='Jul 3 2010, 08:45 PM']Back from Ashdown?? What happened?![/quote] No no nothing wrong with it ... Just had the XLR DI put in. Newer rack Spyders will have the XLR in so i'm told....

[quote name='voxpop' post='867288' date='Jun 14 2010, 06:51 PM']No, I put in Mullard M8136 which is a rare military version of the ECC81 / 12AT7 which has a gain of about 60-70% of a ECC83. I like the lower gain, non overdrive, but very warm sound a Mullard gives. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2NOS-Mullard-M8162-Special-Quality-ECC81-Valves-Tubes-/230486276363"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2NOS-Mullard-M8162-S...s-/230486276363[/url] Check out Watford vales for gain advice..... [url="http://www.watfordvalves.com/products.asp?search=8137&man=&page=2"]http://www.watfordvalves.com/products.asp?...man=&page=2[/url][/quote] Just got my spyder back from Ashdown so i've not had a chance to experiment with settings yet. Have you discovered any nifty settings since you got yours?

The cheaper Yamaha bb 424 looks good well. Might get the sunburst version. Anyone got one? Any decent pix other than those crap Yamaha pix?

Has anyone tried the new bb bass from Yamaha? The 424 looks like a good bit of kit, well constructed and i'm tempted to get one. The sunburst looks stunning and reminds of of my old bb 1200. I'm a big fan of the bb's and I feel Yamaha are getting there with these new basses.