Big_Stu

Not so long ago my brother posted some much needed car parts by ParcelFarce to his father-in-law at a remote village in Eire. After two months my brother got a card through the door saying it was to be collected from his local sorting office. It had been marked as "no such address" even though - as he pointed out in the phone call - he'd been married for 18 years, posted dozens of items to the f-i-l over the years & he hadn't changed address. The RM also wanted extra £ for bringing it back!

[quote name='risingson' post='1281652' date='Jun 24 2011, 11:15 PM']Wow, that is really, really smart. What is it? EDIT - a John Birch! Could just about make it out on the headstock.[/quote] Yeah, the last guitar he ever worked on. Scared of denting the bloody thing at the best of times. It has one ding in it, beat myself up for days about that one.

My first bass was a '69 EB3. I remember something I read at the time about the number of coats of colour & nitro they put on them was incredible. The finish does have real depth.

This one, my only one righ now. It took me long enough to get it!

[quote name='gsgbass' post='1280453' date='Jun 24 2011, 02:59 AM']I just really like the the finish on this one. [attachment=83379:DSC_0345_1.jpg][/quote] I'm not surprised; it looks like you could swim in it.

I'd be surrpised if these guys can't help you; [url="http://www.johnhenrys.com/"]http://www.johnhenrys.com/[/url] I've used them a couple of times & recommended them to friends & they've been great so far.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='1280733' date='Jun 24 2011, 11:29 AM']Or, could the pickups have mellowed with age, or something...?[/quote] and [quote name='paulflan0151' post='1280848' date='Jun 24 2011, 12:26 PM']A lot of it has to do with the pups, every time you hit the string the magnets demagnetise a little bit. After 60 years it makes quite the difference to the sound.[/quote] It's certainly the belief among a lot of Gibson users, that the magnets drop a bit over the years and how "there's no way to replicate that" etc etc. [i]Not so sure that it's anything to do with hitting the strings though.[/i] My SG hasn't had it's "proper" pickup in it for years, but I could kick myself for not keeping the P90 for it. It's on "my list" to get a new Gibson one if I don't find another vintage one at bargain price. I did however get a SD "Broadcaster" replica bridge pickup for my Tele years ago & that's the dog's!

I'd be more inclined to decide what you wanted to use, which is where the fun comes in in trawling all the gear shops, pawn-brokers, crack converters etc. looking for it. If it means buying s/h to get the bass you want do you know how to check it's good. Then start all over again with the amp, though I'd be less inclined to buy amps from a junk-shop unless you factor into your budget the price of a check by an amp tech. Bottom line, decide what you actually want by trial & error, with an eye on what your budget limit is, rather than looking for how to blow the lot on whatever.

The first Rockinbetter Rick I saw in GuitarGuitar in Edinburgh. It was £299, they're now about double that. I already know what I want to mod one with; but I can bide my time.

[quote name='bassman2790' post='1276617' date='Jun 21 2011, 07:41 AM']I've always done my own setups in the past, but I'm a little nervous about having a go on my new Ric with it's fragile double truss rods in case I end up with something resembling the Corkscrew at Alton Towers or end up snapping something off. Can anyone recommend someone in the west midland area that I could entrust this work to? The nut needs a little work too (slots not deep enough) Thanks in advance[/quote] JayDee does everything, not just custom builds, depends how stacked with work he is for a turnaround time. Though I guarantee you'll leave his workshop with a bad case of GAS.

[quote name='Jerry_B' post='1279870' date='Jun 23 2011, 05:20 PM']I may at some time refinish the neck on my Squier P/J - I don't really like satin finishes and would like a darker, glossy look - so this seemed like a good source.[/quote] One of my Tele's came with a satin finish, but a fair bit of playing made it go glossy fast. Also found the same if polishing new gun-stocks with WD40.

[quote name='Johnston' post='1278968' date='Jun 22 2011, 08:02 PM']Check out the nut too.[/quote] Well spotted, those holes have been drilled so far out you'd need a calendar to measure it.

[quote name='PTB' post='1278697' date='Jun 22 2011, 04:34 PM']As you will know, blues comes in many guises. It's worth trying to find a style or two that suit you all. I play in two bands, both blues but both very different. One plays west coast & Chicago blues doing tunes by people like Hollywood Fats, Kim Wilson, James Harmony, John Nemeth, William Clarke, etc. The other plays stuff by Little Milton, SRV, John Mayall, Otis Rush, Cream, etc. Find your own slant on it, get a good mix of tempo & grooves - not too many mid tempo shuffles - and make sure you have enough tunes people can shake their booty to![/quote] +1, depends on so many things. What kind of voice has your singer got? Would your crowds appreciate/recognise/want it? Short 'n sweet or extended breaks. Personally I prefer (R&)blues songs with a bit of history but which has had a vibe put onto it; such as Originally by Muddy water (???) but also covered by The Stones (with Muddy) Aerosmith, Ted Nugent .......... and Gary Glitter ......and which has also been extensively covered

Do you think they charge extra if they have to ship to the mainland?

Ooo Tippy Tonguey ...... Stevie Wonder???

Even though I don't like the damn things I would say that because of it's dominance of the market you could do worse than the book "The Fender Bass - an Illustrated History". It's going for a tenner on Amazon.

Fabulous, I did the same with a beech counter top I made for the kitchen. Looks great but not a good move to have the kettle on it, hot water splashes lift it off again no problem.

I renovated & rifin'd a couple of gunstocks years ago. At the time you could buy borassic acid crystals from a good old fashioned chemist. You dilute them a lot & it's fantastic with wood grain. I dunno if they're still allowed to sell such stuff over the counter but it's well worth an ask.

Presumably you'll be using something about the size of a scratchplate screw so you don't need to use anything bigger than a 1mm drill, the drill should be the same width as the middle part of the threaded part of the screw (shank) NOT including the actual thread, use anything bigger & you could strip out the hole & get no grip off the screw. As said already, using the masking tape will be great for stopping the drill from slipping. You could also wrap some tape around the drill bit about 1 cm from the tip so that you don't drill too deep. Using double-sided sticky-tape to put the covers on first to get a correct position, measure so that the gaps are equal eitherside of the strings for eg. I'd also recommend buying a new drill bit for the job, that size would be a couple of quid at most - any decent DIY shop will sell you a single one. When you're putting the screw in start off by holding the tip of the screwdriver as well as the handle; to avoid the screwdriver slipping off & gouging your bass finish.

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='1272848' date='Jun 17 2011, 03:35 PM']I don't think it's a Fenix, the shape is sorta similar but the ones i remember had a chamfer along the hooked part of the headstock:[/quote] Not that it matters in this, but I think that was the later ones. The original Fenix's were flat; I heard at the time that they were made in the same factory as Squiers, but that was a story often used to give cred to copies. When the Fenix brand became popular they changed the headstock to be a bit more individual - or as much as copies could be

[quote name='LiamPodmore' post='1273956' date='Jun 18 2011, 05:56 PM']And on the 6th day, God created MANchester. Welcome to Basschat, another manc here. Liam[/quote] Just back from that Manchester.............loads of promo marketing dolly birds in Market Street!

[quote name='Norm' post='1273534' date='Jun 18 2011, 10:33 AM']IIRC Steve Hackett of Genesis used to use them too back in the day?[/quote] As did Marc Bolan for a lot of his recording. Vamp amps were used for image, though he only used them briefly I was told, but he loved his HHs.

Looks like a Fenix headstock to me; if I'm right it should still be worth the BIN, assuming it works.

With the Hiwatt box I added padded corners that I had from an amp that had been sent back from Marshall after a service. So Hiwatt was in a proper box, padded - I then put it into another box that was a fair bit bigger, I had polystyrene chips on all sides about 4" deep, used two rolls of gaffer tape to wrap it all.......... and it still managed to have a smashed mains light when it got to the other side. No other damage - just that. Still can't figure out how. Buyer was still happy as a pig in sh*t cos it had belonged to Dave Hill from Slade.

[quote name='Stacker' post='1272341' date='Jun 17 2011, 06:53 AM']F*** John Hall!! WyTF is he emailing you and not John Birch who, AFAIK, is still in business last time I looked? Those pant-wetters over at RicResource - who take it on board as self-appointed RIC Police - are always on the hunt for fakers, copies, WHY, and are more likely, since JH emailed you, to have been the ones to get your ad taken down. John Hall, IMO, should spend a bit more time on quality control of his instruments instead of firing off nippy emails to people who didn't manufacture the instrument he's moaning about![/quote] John Birch himself died over a decade ago; but the business under his business partner John Carling is still going, tho' I believe in semi-retirement. Ash's bass is an old JB, pre-John Carling's days so I don't think they could touch him for it. The last I heard is that John Birch did used to get hassle from Rick but as has been said before the Rick copyright doesn't carry as much strength in the UK, Ash is getting this trouble because Ebay is a US company with it's HO over there & is playing safe. AFAIC, I do seriously think that a lot of it is because John Hall knows that the JB is a superior product.