Big_Stu

I've found this set to be the bollox, & it was a fine excuse to buy mine from GuitarGuitar. [url="http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Gibson-Vintage-Reissue-Guitar-Restoration-Kit/CQM"]http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/...oration-Kit/CQM[/url]

[quote name='tayste_2000' post='1356229' date='Aug 30 2011, 01:15 PM']Got invited by a friend to the Great British Rhythm and Blues Festival on Friday to see Jack Bruce and the Norman Beaker band.[/quote] There's a "best of" of Colne on Paul Jones Radio 2 at 7pm tonight; lasts for an hour, Bruce, Trower & Cropper are said to be on amongst others. edit; Doh, got the time wrong!

That's the 3 pot job isn't it? If so I'm [i]guessing[/i] L>R from the front; tone, vol, & pickup pan (instead of a switch) But it's fairly cheap cost wise as basses go, so in that case the electrics are always one of the places they cut corners at. The tone pot would be easy to replace with one of same spec but better quality; WD are good for pots.

I've got or had guitars from all those places. IME the only things I'd be wary about - after taking the price into the "what can you reasonably expect" scenario is that on almost all Chinese and some Korean I'd be half-expecting at least to have to replace the machines with something that could actually hold tune - and probably be looking at putting decent pups into them. Things may have improved in recent years, and my Korean Bo Diddley hasn't needed anything doing, but in general I've always had to do some tinkering with them.

[quote name='Immo' post='1366582' date='Sep 8 2011, 04:08 PM']Damn, that's a beauty! [/quote] Thanks! I think so too! [quote name='BigRedX' post='1366366' date='Sep 8 2011, 01:30 PM']Not at all. I think that's rather elegant.[/quote] Seriously?? I'm also thinking it must have been quite a big guitar, looking at the positions of the hardware I reckon a "normal" sized body would have ended around where the decorative black curved line is underneath the two knobs in the middle???

I don't know much about Gibsons, but from what I've heard because of the pup position & the scratchplate that's more likely an early 70's bass. I had a '69 EB3 with the DiMarzio & the pole switch. I hated it & put a mud on it ASAP.

[quote name='noirpunk' post='1350836' date='Aug 24 2011, 10:23 PM']Bump - any more John Birch love out there?[/quote] Another guitar, but this went up on Ebay a few years ago, with a BIN of £25K Called "The Bat" it was built by John Birch for Dave Hill (again) when he was going through an appreciation of the Native American phase. It didn't make anything near the BIN (surprise!!) Is this really the ugliest guitar ever built?

[quote name='flyfisher' post='1366143' date='Sep 8 2011, 10:38 AM']Why would anyone do that?[/quote] Mason's mental about Ferrai's. Maybe they paid for them and/or paying him to use them?

[quote name='Shambo' post='1365547' date='Sep 7 2011, 06:26 PM']I always know what I'm looking for and never look for an opinion on what product I should or shouldn't buy. I visit a shop to either price, try or buy. That goes for all things, not just music shops. I don't like to be approached by the shopkeep and asked questions, I'll ask the questions when I need to know something.[/quote] Couldn't have worded this better. I do understand there's a "tradition" of kids trying guitars out on a Saturday afternoon with very rarely any intention of buying. But the instances that have been mentioned here; the drummer "trialling" the electric kit for the past two years? And folk helping themselves to what's on show is taking it too far. I couldn't work in a music shop, I'd chuck too many folk out. Though I get on very well with all the shops I go into regularly & with used gear they'll often stick stuff to one side for me to get first option.

[quote name='Hutton' post='1365391' date='Sep 7 2011, 04:02 PM']McCormacks in Glasgow ........... have now closed.[/quote] Jeez! That's the end of an era then!

[quote name='Bassman Sam' post='1358121' date='Aug 31 2011, 09:24 PM']Guys, some great choons on there, subscribed. Cheers.[/quote] Au contraire, two pages in & no Booker T & The MGs? This is a non-thread.

[quote name='ceilidhswinger' post='1358776' date='Sep 1 2011, 01:39 PM']Calum has the uncanny knack of able to feel com-[i]fart[/i]-able in any musical style[/quote] Does Calum play wind instruments then? Good luck with the case; I remember the years of MusicMart magazine there was a company that sold all the parts needed for full flight cases. I'd be very interested to see how this goes.

The Colne festival is excellent, it's a pity the crowds can be disappointing. We were there 24 hrs after you, to see Steve Cropper & we weren't disappointed. He's also hovering around 70. A really nice guy to talk with, he was asking ME when his album gets released!! He remembered us from seeing him on tour three years ago & still flirted with my other half like he did then. It's plainly obvious that he really enjoys playing with Micky Gallagher of the Blockheads on keys & their interaction is superb!

Aaah OK, Naah a sticker is a sticker, it's the patchwork quilt look that I don't like, wouldn't occur to me what it's made of. Stickers like that belong on cases, not instruments - IMO of course - but I am very precious about my babies

[quote name='gothpugs' post='1354235' date='Aug 28 2011, 12:12 PM']... but what about vinyls?[/quote] I've only seen the ones that Rick parfitt was doing; which I wasn't impressed with, and also the "photo-flame" finish that Fender was doing years ago, I think that was the name, they were printed finishes under a poly finish, which looked good from a distance.

[quote name='BB2000' post='1354056' date='Aug 28 2011, 02:31 AM']Don't slacken the strings, if you do the neck could be damaged due to the unbalanced force exerted by the truss rod.[/quote] You do slacken the strings, but not right off, down a couple of tones should be about right. Battery out in an active should be a given.

Tasteful paint-jobs like the one in the pic, yeah, usually look pretty damn good; but I do really hate to see a bass covered in stickers, I always assume the player to be a kid trying & failing to make a statement or other, such as "I'm rad", or "I'm individual".

At our first metting he told me he got sick of seeing so many Les Pauls around, so he bought one & cut another cutway into it to balance the look - and that's where he got the idea for the J1. There was a guitar shop in Blackpool that had a "Not For Sale" JB Strat on the wall, thru' neck. The owner said he'd been offered £10k (which I took with a pinch of salt) & he'd rejected the offer. [quote name='ash' post='1347015' date='Aug 21 2011, 11:22 AM'][url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/250877637733?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/250877637733?ssP...984.m1423.l2649[/url] I wonder how long it will last before the Rickenwaffe snipe it?[/quote] Some time in the past hour; & yet still the cheap copies are up there. Definitely a pattern there.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1348075' date='Aug 22 2011, 03:33 PM']Greenburst seemed to be a very popular John Birch colour. Any idea why?[/quote] Beauty in the eye of the beholder I suppose I've seen some strange ideas of his over the years, the "cooker knobs" that he liked to use always look awful, worst was possibly a sky blue, flat bodied J2, with a bolt-on neck (only JB I ever saw with a bolt-on) which had 12 old pennies let into the upper bout. Rod Vaughan, one of his ex-employees remembers it being made, he remembered the name of the band too; which I don't right now.

[quote name='Knucklechuck10']Height quality[/quote] Really? Excellent, I'm 6 foot 4, so I could do with a Rick specially suited to my size.

[quote name='mart' post='1348086' date='Aug 22 2011, 03:46 PM']+1. Are you [i]sure[/i] it's the cab that's the problem? Can you try your bass and amp with a different cab?[/quote] + another; these kind of eliminations should be first tests to do. There's more ways for speakers to fail than blowing. Detached cone, seized magnet, broken solder, loose joint, elimiate all the rest before looking at the speaker.

On a US site there was discussion of Geezer Butler's basses, especially his customs & apparently he had a Green Burst JB Rick. It could be out there somewhere!

I had a custom EB3 built by John Birch, but he died soon after (almost) finishing it. JayDee finished it off & I wish I'd gone to him in the first place. Last I heard he starts at around £1400 & has an 18 month waiting list. +1 on sticking to the UK; you could well be hammered by extra duty when it's shipped in.

[quote name='umph' post='1342986' date='Aug 17 2011, 12:25 PM']It's not gonna stay on the opening bid, my guess is it'll go for about 400 - 600. These pa amps are still awesome for the money.[/quote] The 100watters I'd agree, but there doesn't seem to be as much call for the 200s in PA version. I saw one go for £150 about two/three years ago, so we'll see.

It says it's working so the valves alone would be worth more than the opening bid. If you've been looking for a cheap 200w Hiwatt you could do worse than this. I've NO conection with the seller - HOWEVER, I'm not too impressed by the feedback, so if it was me I'd be collecting in person. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hi-Watt-hiwatt-pa-200-guitar-valve-amp-/130563651319?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL&hash=item1e663336f7"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hi-Watt-hiwatt-p...=item1e663336f7[/url]