Big_Stu

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1392481110' post='2369261'] What, like these you mean? [/quote] Are you still here? as Tim says, trying to make some kind of obscure point - though clarifying one more obvious one. You don't read too well do you? or - for a [i]company director[/i] - are unable to connect the points throughout a thread. The incident I witnessed "can't be explained" for several reasons:- We don't know what other loads - or as you personally pointed out - how many other appliances or fires in the same house the guy had done the same stunt to - or were switched on it other rooms at the time. Or whether he'd doctored his fusebox in some way to prevent it tripping, We don't know what metal the bolt he used was made of. We don't know how long it had been switched on before I arrived to witness it. PS. You've already clarified that you're not clairvoyant, before bringing "ghosts" into your discussion. So in the absence of answers to even those 4 points above - just exactly how would you intend answering those variables in order to reach the explanation you so desperately seek?

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1392473583' post='2369151']I based that price( £1000) on my only point of reference, which was a very old feature in Guitarist Magazine about a vintage hot bubblegum pink B C Rich Bitch guitar that had originally belonged to the wonderfully-named Len Tuckey , who was in fact Suzi Quatro's guitarist and first husband . I seem to remember Suzy had a matching pink Bitch bass. In the article it mentioned that the original receipt was still in the case , and that the guitar had been ordered from a shop in the London, and it had cost £900 in 1979. I had figured that the basses would have been a bit more expensive. If your old price list says that the Bitch was actually a more expensive model then that explains my mistake. My sincere apologies to anyone who has overpaid for a B C Rich on the basis of my misinformation in the interim period .[/quote] Just a bit more context, at around the same time Dave Hill sold his custom Superyob to Musical Exch in Brum. It was spotted by Marco Peroni of Adam's Ants shortly later and he bought it for £600!! He still has it.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1392421764' post='2368729'] So if you related an incident about seeing a ghost, you'd get all indignant that someone might question it because they find it hard to believe?[/quote] Seriously that's a serious post? I mean - I don't see any s this time - from a "director" in [quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1392418542' post='2368687']Industrial datacomms equipment.[/quote] ?? I find that impossible to believe. Maybe you were thinking anecdotally.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1392420205' post='2368712']Now you're talking some sense[/quote] [b]I[/b] always was - by merely relating an incident as it happened, with nothing added, You're the one who's spent pages trying to argue many points and resorting to pedantry when you're shown to be wrong. [quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1392420205' post='2368712']If I'd wanted to call you a liar I would have done so straight away without bothering to qualify my comments, but that would have been ridiculous and is why I didn't. I'm sorry if what I wrote upset you but I that wasn't my intention and I can't predict how someone might misinterpret something.[/quote] I don't think you would, that's why you rely on little so much, such as [quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1392296698' post='2366888']I also find it hard to believe that a metal bolt could be glowing red hot while the consumer unit fuse had not blown or even the house wiring cabling to the socket had not burned through first. [b]But these sort of anecdotal stories abound[/b]. [/quote] or [quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1392395045' post='2368209'] I said I find it hard to believe, .................I can only go on the information you provided. [/quote] when you refuse to concede that you're wrong.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1392417169' post='2368672'] Where did I say I 'knew' it was steel?[/quote] Where you stated that it was steel, without qualifying that it might be another metal as I did. Unless of course - as I said - you're talking about another hypothetical bolt in another plug, rather than the one that I brought up. The one that you - while admitting you're not an expert as TimR does genuinely appear to be - are having such a hard time believing did glow red hot without tripping the house fuse. FWIW The house was a council owned, I know that much. It was long enough ago that it may have been one of the old fuse-wire boxes - in which case the guy maybe put something else in that too, instead of the proper fuse wire. IMHO there are too many possible variables to be able to know why something didn't stop the bolt in the plug, whatever it was made of - from glowing red-hot.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1392415852' post='2368645'] Interesting suggestion. What sort of massive current do y ou estimate would be required to cause an M8 steel bolt to become red hot?[/quote] Amazing that you know it was steel, I couldn't tell you whether it was steel, aluminium or brass. Unless you're now talking about a hypothetical M(edit)[i]6[/i] steel bolt in an electric fire's melting plug.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1392397408' post='2368251']A vintage Fender bass, whist it sounds good, is not worth several thousand quid in terms of its' material and build quality , if you see what I mean( yes, I have got my tin hat on already... ) . [/quote] Oooo you're going straight to hell for that one, they're coming for you! It was seeing the gigs and then this that was the clincher ................. I had to have one.................... Though It was a perfect John Birch example of his methods; said he in a feeble attempt to stop this thread hijack. John Birch was a lying sod and had nothing to do with the build of this bass - it was all JayDee while he worked for Birch. I found that out after John had died. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cIWBWunAGw

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1392395334' post='2368218'] I am shocked at that. I know his one-off pieces can command high prices, and it's not surprising either if you consider that he really the first bespoke custom guitar builder of much note in the U.K , and his guitars were the preferred choice of a generation of British glam rockers. When you think how retro instruments are in vogue nowadays and how revered that era is by various cliques of would-be hipsters, you would think John Birch's guitars would be rocketing in value and desirability.[/quote] I think it's just the way the market kinda circulates sometimes. Around the 70s/80s they rotated between "[i]everyone[/i]" wanting vintage Fender or Gibsons for a few years & then it went to exotics or customs for a while, then back to the vintage. These days it doesn't seem to have come back to the exotics or customs. My guess is that it's because there's a lot more of all of them around at varying levels & better prices. My bass was valued by Bonhams at £3000+, latest insurance valuation I had was £4600. I don't think I'd have a prayer of reaching either of those prices for it.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1392395045' post='2368209'] When did I claim to be an expert - I said I find it hard to believe, but at least I explained my reasoning. I can only go on the information you provided and "electric fire" is singular last time I checked and would not draw more than 13A would it? If the actual circumstances were different to what you described then all sorts of things are possible, but I'm not clairvoyant either. [/quote] They way you write, implies knowledge of the subject, spouting pseudo tech talk. I don't appreciate having it implied I'm lying (twice) . Maybe you're not clairvoyant - but nor were you there - I was. FWIW - I was at a gig in Leeds once, where the balcony crowd surged and knocked a roadie off the edge, who was operating an approx 7 foot long follow-on spot which went over the edge too, with him still hanging onto it. The only thing holding him up was the mains flex plugged into the wall. He climbed back up, hauled the spot up after him and carried on - as had the band. How the flex held, the plug in the wall, or any other strain point I have no idea. But it happened with quite a lot of witnesses who saw it, including the band, the sound guy & the lights guy. Sh*t happens sometimes that can't be explained, get over it.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1392392274' post='2368142'] His guitars are like gold dust nowadays, that is for sure. Highly collectable, with prices reflecting that. [/quote] John Birch SGs are because there's a collector in California that loves them, last I heard he had over 30 of them, SG style alone! There's a JB Les Paul, or is it a J1, onEbay just now, last I saw it was at £350.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1392391519' post='2368121'] It could only happen in real life! You can see how Tony had made that assumption, I suppose.[/quote] Yeah, John was a bit of a "lovable" rogue with some of his business practises, or so I've been told by a couple of his ex-colleagues so it was bit pot/kettle & Tony had gone over to JayDees by then anyway so he would have been out of touch. IIRC Guitarist even offered to do a huge article about John Birch guitars as compensation, so he really shot himself in the foot there. I've still got a print-out of the fateful i'view somewhere, but it would be a tad risky to put it up here

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1392391109' post='2368115']Regarding the the Tony Iommi/John Birch "misunderstanding" , as I remember it , the problem arose out of the fact that someone of the same name as that esteemed guitar builder had committed and been found guilty of a heinous crime in Birmingham around the same time that John stopped making guitars , and Tony had seen the story on the local news and for several years after that presumed it was the same guy.[/quote] Spot on! I spoke with the editor of Guitarist about it after John died & they wanted me to write about my bass. They'd printed a retraction and apologised profusely but he still went ahead & sued, so the magazine blanked him from then on.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1392390005' post='2368089'] He did indeed have an 8 string Martin Birch bass around that time, and some folks venture that he is playing it on "The Writ".[/quote] Are you mixing up Martin Birch their oft producer with John who built a few of their guitars? AFAIK no relation.

Plenty close-ups of the striped John Birch EB3 here - and what may be the Iommi's original John Birch SG, that "Old Boy" replaced. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYrq1UGFL-w[/media] [i]"Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath came to Birch's shop after having his ideas rejected by the major guitar manufacturers of the time, such as Gibson and [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Musical_Instruments_Corporation"]Fender[/url]. Iommi was looking for someone to make him a guitar with a 24 fret fingerboard and high power/low noise pickups. Iommi's red [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_SG_Special"]Gibson SG Special[/url] received some modification in the form of a re-covered Gibson [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-90"]P-90[/url] in the bridge position and John Birch's own Superflux in the neck position. This guitar is in the Times Square [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Rock_Cafe"]Hard Rock Cafe[/url]. In 1975, Birch built Iommi his black 24-fret, cross inlay SG Special. This was the main guitar used on the albums Technical Ecstasy, Never Say Die, Heaven and Hell, and Mob Rules. This guitar is now in the Miami Hard Rock Cafe."[Wiki][/i]

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1392384873' post='2367996']Maybe the guy had half a dozen of them plugged in?[/quote] Far more likely you're not the expert you think you are.

His first John Birch was a b/w striped EB3; they were commonly fitted with a Gibson style fuzztone though coupled with the very high output pickups (usually "Magnum" at 23 - 26 kohms) I'm not surprised at the "wooly sound" complained about. It's nigh on impossible to get a clean tone out of them since you can't switch the fuzz off completely. He's also here playing what looks like a John Birch "J1" bass at around 4:45, possibly "J2" (they had rounder horns) [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45xdQlw-R4k[/media] Tony's playing his Monkey SG there which was also "Birched" with a replacement "Simplux" pickup, though at that time it was still called the "Superflux" model & later renamed. Tony was so chuffed with his first JB SG that he financed John Birch to go into guitar production. But when JayDee left John Birch's employ in 1975 Tony had "old Boy" made which was the first guitar John Diggins made under his own brand, on his kitchen table because he still didn't have premises at that time. Years alter in an interview in Guitarist magazine Tony repeated some gossip about John Birch & John promptly sued fro £50k IIRC. JB was never featured in the magazine again until my piece on his last build before his death.

"The Definitive Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons", Had to go to Homebase & spotted it for a whole £3 on a rack. "The Night" is more than worth this on it's own. Bass like melted chocolate, fantastic horn section, wall of sound mix - amazing on the big system or headphones. Another case of "didn't know they did that, or that, or that" their having first recorded later hits by The Tremeloes, Bay City Rollers & Detroit Spinners. Fascinating sleeve-notes; apparently actor Joe Pesci was involved in their getting together & Frankie's first hit was in 1953 [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsSoDsxB7Yo[/media]

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1392306547' post='2367077'] I've just read a list of bass players to the lady in my local charity shop. To my astonishment she has never heard of Mark King, Chris Squire, Carol Kaye, Stanley Clarke, Victor Wooten or Alain Caron so now they must all go on the 'Less well known / low profile' list. She had heard of Macca though so he's off the list now. [/quote] Oh - you mean old Ma Baldrick?? ........... It was a cunning plan. When she said she hadn't heard of them you were supposed to leaf through the charity shop's CD shelves, dig out all the CDs with them on, stand there with a handful of CDs, realise what you'd done and feel morally obliged to buy them all at 50p a pop. Well done you for not falling for it! Need proof? When did you last see a Beatles CD in a charity shop?

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1392296698' post='2366888']I also find it hard to believe that a metal bolt could be glowing red hot while the consumer unit fuse had not blown or even the house wiring cabling to the socket had not burned through first. But these sort of anecdotal stories abound. [/quote] Not an anecdotal story - I was actually there, not a "I have a mate who knew someone who" - I saw it happen. Couldn't tell you why the fuse didn't blow. I think maybe you're splashing around a bit too much now in an effort to establish your case...................... erm ...................

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1391646135' post='2359823']You mean back in the good ol days when a total dick who should know better puts a nail in a plug for a fuse[/quote] I've seen that done! It was ......... interesting Sat in a mates house & he'd just put his electric fire on before I arrived. After a while I could smell burning, looked around and the white plastic cover off the fire's plug was oozing down the wall, and a metal bolt was glowing red hot in place of the fuse He couldn't pull the plug out because there was nothing to hold onto.

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1392291072' post='2366792'] There you go. Another underrated, low profile and less well known bass player. [/quote] Who's this McCartney bloke they keep banging on about anyway?

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1392213489' post='2365999']Mrs Dingus uses plug adaptors and plugs in American voltage stuff in the U.K and U.K voltage appliances in the U.S.A , and just trusts to chance the results! Her philosophy is if it blows up, it blows up , and if not it's a bonus.[/quote] It'll be a good way to keep her hands warm too - for as long as she's still got hands [quote name='icastle' timestamp='1392251418' post='2366592']I'm a disposable razor man myself, saves on bathroom confusion and foamy amps. [/quote] I knew I'd seen you somewhere before! [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUG9qYTJMsI[/media]

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1392158907' post='2365570'] Voltage wise, the RH450 is advertised as being able to run on anything from 100V to 230V without changing anything internally or externally.[/quote] Blimey, I've only ever had a shaver that could do that!

How good is there back up policy; will you get warranty coverage here? Main one is the voltage difference, is it switchable, if not can you have it hard-wired from the tranny for ours? - which will invalidate the warranty. Would you always remember the mains transformer if not. Or will they sell you a 230v model - in which case why isn't everyone doing it?

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1392154099' post='2365486'] I saw a documentary about the writing of Porridge. The script writers claimed to have invented the word.[/quote] The writers claimed the phrase "naff off" as an acceptable alternative to "F off" on TV. The word naff alone IIRC dates back to 1800s army or navy slang, so yeah, could well be HRH The Duke who started it - the old sod!