Big_Stu

I've shipped a couple of valve heads internationally, one to Australia, one to USA. The one to the USA - a Hiwatt 200 - was double boxed, firstly in a box bought from HiwattMG (£26 for a cardboard box ) with poly corner protectors & the gaps filled with Quavers. Gaffa'd to hell, then put into a specially made to size cardboard box with a 4" gap on all six sides that was filled with polystyrene wall tiles. It was the size of a medium sized coffin when it was done. When it arrived in the USA it still had the mains indicator lamp smashed!

[quote name='silddx' post='1097026' date='Jan 21 2011, 12:45 AM']Thanks Adam [/quote] Bass AND Sax, multi-instrumentalist? V impressive!

[quote name='Protium' post='1116850' date='Feb 5 2011, 07:05 PM']A hard case provides more protection than a cardboard box. The bass has turned up in described condition. I can't see what you want to seek compensation for, other than to try and rip off the seller.[/quote] This! .... and yeah, me personally I would have put a sleeve of cardboard around the case, but since you've already said yourself that it was a [quote name='Dusty' post='1116783' date='Feb 5 2011, 06:09 PM']Pro Level bass .................... the case ( a covered thin chipboard variety)[/quote] then surely you weren't going to keep that level of bass in that kind of case anyway???? So ... I'd let it slide.

[quote name='witterth' post='1116430' date='Feb 5 2011, 12:31 PM']Oh God,.. Its only supposed to be a laugh!! I hope you dont fall off that horse Mr D it seems like its long way down for you [/quote] [size=7]+1[/size]

[quote name='blind pilot' post='1115014' date='Feb 4 2011, 10:26 AM']I will be taking my towel![/quote] Something about that phrase has tickled my funny bone, I'm now looking for a chance to use it.

Fantastic! many thanks for the reply, even as I type - by coincidence - my other half is on the phone to her parents sorting out a date. It'll be either May or October at a jazz festival in the Lakes.

I've been "strongly recommended" by my future father-in-law to catch a gig by "Spats Langham & his Hot Combination". Which is, as many married guys will know, akin to a royal command. This could well be along with him & my g/f's Mother. I've checked out a couple of tracks on his site which are OK/great & his style is apparently in the style of New York 1920/30s jazz. Anyone able to tell me any more? Educate me if you can?

They were distributed by Barnes & Mullins, whose website appears to be down just now. I'm guessing that the neck pickup is passive & the dodgy pot is a blend between the active & passive pickup. If you lift the rear access plate over the pots is there two stacks on the middle pot rather than the normal one; & presumably a connector for a 9v battery or two?

I rarely look at Talkbass because the infantile threads of "What colour Jazz should I buy? What colour scratchplate should I put on my Precision? and the endless "Official black bass owners club, official jazz with a maple neck owners club, official maple neck but with a roseboard board neck owners club; yada yada yada that they have, it's too much of a PITA to search out the worthwhile threads.

[quote name='silddx' post='1112144' date='Feb 2 2011, 11:10 AM']Look, there is only one REALLY FAMOUS bass player anyway, and that is [b]Mark King v[/b].[/quote] What happened to the other 4? Sorry .......... I mean the other iv?

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='1108122' date='Jan 30 2011, 01:39 PM']ZOMG.. teh drummer is at teh RONG GIG!!! [/quote] I heard this guy is chasing Basschat for royalties for the number of times his video's been shown?

[quote name='BottomE' post='1106561' date='Jan 28 2011, 06:35 PM']Hi, how do you get the You Tube window and not just a link to appear in a post? Thanks B[/quote] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=10414"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=10414[/url]

Can't say as I've had any refin done by him, but this guy is very good with guitars & his history speaks for itself. I've picked out his page with a couple of his jobs on it. [url="http://www.rvguitars.co.uk/news.php"]http://www.rvguitars.co.uk/news.php[/url]

[quote name='Simon.' post='1097255' date='Jan 21 2011, 11:18 AM']There used to be a good one about halfway down Leith Walk. Not sure if it's still there anymore. Was always the place you went to if you had had some gear nicked and wanted to buy it back...[/quote] Bostons?? Just down from Poundstretchers??? It was a great place but closed by the police (indirectly) many, many years ago. The one on the other side on Elm Row was also great, Charlie something or other, he moved across to near where Bostons was, then onto Montgomery St for a while, then went altogether when Crack Converters opened down Leith Walk. He once had a 70's Recording Bass in, but the finish was like a smashed car window & he wanted £800 for it.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='1096443' date='Jan 20 2011, 03:16 PM'][/quote]"Um-hmmmm, I AM a tasty burger!" [size=2][i](in best Samuel L voice)[/i][/size]

[quote name='pietruszka' post='1085545' date='Jan 11 2011, 02:39 PM']I was thinking of doing mine with name, number, email and bass player written in lower case in pale grey on black card. Simple and clean, but I don't know if this is a good way to go in aesthetics.[/quote] It wouldn't be "grey" as such - it would be done as a tint of the black - and the printer would hate you for it because it would be hard to print & hold the tint with all the black around it. IF you had it done as a separate special grey then he'd charge extra for it. If you had it done digitally then it should be better but possibly expensive to get perfect. You'd need something that would look that bit different, maybe on a textured board, or coloured (dayglo even) plastic - I've seen a lot of good cards done in a thermo technique on plastic - though it's an oldish idea now it still stands out. You could also consider a cutter, for eg. a bass clef the depth of the card on the right hand side with the curve cut off rather than a square edge. You could do the cutting yourself after you get them done (cutting round a jam-jar on the kitchen table kind of thing) - it's expensive to have a cutter made by a printer. A foil block clef - or simple image, in gold or silver? It's extra cost - but not as bad as a cutter.

It might be a simple one but "Town called Malice" always pops into my head with questions like this. Can't beat it for the tone, the attack & the instant "chicken-heading" that it brings on every damn time you hear it.

[quote name='andysleigh' post='1083586' date='Jan 9 2011, 08:52 PM']thanks for the headsup. They look very nice. shall keep my eye on them[/quote] They're the new kind - PAF sized with hidden poles. I've heard they're good but haven't heard any myself. Not the old style P90 size that I pictured though.

You could check out the John Birch Hyperflux's on Ebay just now*; they'll cover the strings no matter what the spacing & have a very wide frequency range, he used them in guitars or bass. I've got JB Magnums in an SG bass - and an SG Junior. If you're interested check that they're the old style ones; P90 shape, not the newer PAF ones and that they have their rings/frames if you need them? They should look like this ..... * I have no connection with the seller or the auction.

[quote name='Shaggy' post='1081883' date='Jan 8 2011, 10:49 AM']Cheers for the info, and that's a really cool bass - I was tempted by a John Birch "Rickenbacker" a while ago (but I was at my default "skint" setting...... ).[/quote] I know the feeling well; a few years ago a guy got in touch with me because he was selling his John Birch "collection" His pics looked like a John Birch showroom!!! Many of them in mint condition. I had to pass for £ reasons but a poster on here bought a JB Rick in green sunburst (apparently identical to one Geezer Butler had - who knows!) - it had more knobs than a room full of Man Utd fans!

[quote name='Shaggy' post='1081364' date='Jan 7 2011, 06:06 PM']I'm a confirmed vintage Gibson fetishist, but these and the Ripper / Grabbers have never really done it for me. Some iconic players have played them though - my favourite would have to the great Jim Lea of Slade (or was his a John Birch "copy"?)[/quote] I had this built entirely because I was awestruck by the sound of Jimmy's custom bass after going to quite a few of their gigs. Two days after it was built John Birch died, so this here is the last ever guitar that John worked on. Re his Gibson EB3:- Jim mentioned to John Birch in 74 that he was thinking of having a white bass built. This was just after John had built the Superyob for H (Dave Hill) & Nod & H had had a couple of guitars customised. Shortly after Jim's red EB3 from the early hits videos went in for a set-up to John Birch. When he got it back John had removed the neck pup, resprayed it white & put a new fuzztone into it. Jim was livid, but got used to it. It was stolen from JB's workshop during a break-in a few years later. Shortly after that Jim had his sunburst custom built; though it was tagged "John Birch" it was actually built by JayDee who worked for John Birch at the time.

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1080266' date='Jan 6 2011, 06:55 PM']I know these aren't to everyone's tastes, but I think they are the most stunning basses on the planet.[/quote] Isn't that the bass version of the Bender Distortocaster?

[quote name='Johnston' post='1080361' date='Jan 6 2011, 08:07 PM']Personally and this could open the can of worms I reckon the PUPs and strings can have more of an influence on tone than what the body is made of.[/quote] John Birch (godfather of British custom guitars) insisted the same was true & was pioneering a new pickup right up to his death. He used maple on his guitars' necks & bodies because it was cheap to get when he first started. It was his default wood unless someone asked for another kind.

[quote name='Bigwan' post='1079641' date='Jan 6 2011, 11:23 AM']One of the things that annoyed me most about BGM, other than the spelling and layout balls ups, was the constant revisiting of the same topics. I, for one, thought I would scream if I saw another interview with Stanley Clarke... [/quote] Guitarist is the same with Gary Moore, I'm sure he must have some compromising polaroids of the Guitarist staff. That bloke starts gurning before he even plays a note, can't stand him & he got such a regular slot I stopped buying the mag full stop; in the days when it had a decent bass section.