discreet

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1433884643' post='2794916'] Perhaps they could be made with unobtainium like in Avatar, although that would make them even more expensive, and probably involve some kind of alien genocide. Or something. [/quote] It would be worth it.

[quote name='Pow_22' timestamp='1433865973' post='2794687'] IF you want the valve sound... then it HAS to be a valve amp. [/quote] I'd agree with this. Nothing matches the 'all-valve bounce'. I just wish they weren't so heavy...

[quote name='Bassmonkey' timestamp='1433873306' post='2794779'] I always struggle for space at gigs. I am last to get my gear in every time as drummer, keys, 2 guitarists set up. [/quote] Drummer, keys and two guitarists?? Good Lord. I find it bad enough with just one guitar and drums. The bloody drummer is the worst though, he insists on taking up the entire stage with his crap when he's setting up and has no respect for my gear at all. Twunt!

[quote name='Veils' timestamp='1433871795' post='2794752'] Forgive me people, I got over excited and also posted it in the bass guitars forum :/ [/quote] No worries, you can't have too many Limelight posts.

[quote name='Chiliwailer' timestamp='1433868365' post='2794716'] Good move... [/quote] [quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1433869111' post='2794726'] Wise decision... [/quote] [quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1433872384' post='2794758'] Good decision... [/quote] This forum makes me laugh. So if I'd gone ahead with the refin and the electrics mod you'd have all said the equivalent of the current mrs discreet's 'that's nice, dear' and just let me get on with it??

[quote name='Chiliwailer' timestamp='1433868365' post='2794716'] Good move keeping it virgin Mark, i'd hate to be the one to mess with it after all those years. [/quote] Quite, who would want to mess with a thirty-six-year-old virgin..?

UPDATE: Originally I had planned to refinish this bass in white (as I'm not actually that keen on black basses - though am coming round to this one because it's otherwise so good), but given the great original condition of the bass I've decided that this would be sacrilege, so I'm leaving it as it is. Subsequently I've also decided against upgrading the electrics to 250k pots and 0.1 uF cap and will be leaving the stock electrics in situ. So this Marathon will be keeping it's totally insane apeshit-banana faux-stereo barking-mad stack-pot double-output jack shenanigans. At least for a while longer.

Fantastic work!

[list] [*][i][b]Have you tried Elixir strings before?[/b][/i] [*]No [*][i][b]What other brands are you familiar with?[/b][/i] [*]Rotosound, DR, La Bella, D'Addario, Status, Ernie Ball, Pyramid, Fender [*][i][b]What bass(es) will you try the new strings on?[/b][/i] [*]Fender P Bass and Shergold Marathon Bass [*][i][b]What sort of environment will you be playing them in (e.g studio, gigging, practicing)[/b][/i] [*]Rehearsal, Gigging and Recording [*][i][b]Why do you think you'll be a good candidate to test the strings?[/b][/i] [*]Because I play many different styles, play for hours every day and have been playing since 1974. [/list]

More wiring shenanigans, this time upgrading the electricals on my Shergold Marathon bass. A solder-free kit produced to the usual very high standard including instructions and even a screwdriver for the use of! That's what I call service. Super-fast delivery too, as usual! Thanks John!

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1433801243' post='2794182'] Looks great. Would be interesting to see a shot of it next to the Hayman, for comparison [/quote] The Hayman is heavier than the Shergold, but not by much. Now I have GAS for a Modulator - the full triple threat!

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1433832650' post='2794257'] Nice one, Mark - the condition is remarkable. Spot on in all respects - how they sound, weight and neck. I have a similar one... But the wide neck was an issue for me - Andy Rogers posted a diary on how he slimmed down a nos neck for me from 43mm to 38mm... [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/261486-slimming-down-a-shergold-replacement-neck/"]http://basschat.co.u...placement-neck/[/url] It should be arriving today so hopefully by close of play this afternoon I should have mine back in action. [/quote] Thank you, sir... I have been following your thread with great interest. We'll need updated pics, of course!

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1433783204' post='2793932'] Nice sounds on that bass mark, looks a cracker too. [/quote] [quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1433785409' post='2793954'] Lovely! [/quote] [quote name='project_c' timestamp='1433791178' post='2794024'] ...the tone is amazing on these basses, and that maple neck feels really good. [/quote] Thank you, gentlemen... it [i]is[/i] an amazing tone and the neck is fantastic.

[quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1433784018' post='2793942'] What do you know! My Dad - in 1963 or 4 found me some wood to make my first bass - he was a carpenter/joiner/cabinet maker - but said he knew about wood for musical instruments anyway I clearly remember, he brought me home a piece of Obeche for the body & Sapele for the neck. With his craftmanship 'we' made a very nice bass out of that, my first bass long gone [/quote] Amazing! It's a close-grained wood that takes screws and nails well, apparently. It's generally considered a bit too soft for electric basses, but I think in the case of Haymans and Shergolds at least, it's stood the test of time quite well. I read somewhere that both Fender and Gibson have used Obeche at one time or another.

[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1433770830' post='2793782'] I know you are not keen on black but to me, that looks just great. Lovely combo with the maple. Surprised at the weight, it looks like it should be a heavyweight Very nice and sounds great too, well worth the wait. [/quote] Thanks, Gary - the general perception is that Hayman and Shergold basses are heavy, but my Hayman isn't and this isn't! They're both made from Obeche, an African hardwood used for making furniture.

[quote name='The Badderer' timestamp='1433757182' post='2793586'] ...May have to give one of these a look next time I can buy a bass... [/quote] [quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1433759249' post='2793617'] ...I'm definitely going to try and search one of these out... [/quote] Thanks for the comments... not sure how many were made - they weren't mass-produced. But you do see them sporadically on here, eBay and Gumtree. In fact I think there's a white Marathon on eBay right now...

[quote name='Chiliwailer' timestamp='1433762361' post='2793661'] Great review Mark, sounds lovely and big in the mix with some unique authoritative character. Nice grooves too No doubt these are real gems from the past, value for money and sweet nostalgia, really happy for you pal. [/quote] Thank you sir... very pleased with this one, even though it's the wrong colour... Obviously not going to be to everyone's taste, but very hard to see how you could get better value for money. Looking for a Modulator Bass now, got to get the set!

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1433769056' post='2793755'] thats more to do with where you live i think. [/quote] Yes... Planet Earth.

[quote name='theyellowcar' timestamp='1433761397' post='2793646'] Very cool. Look forward to the sound clip. What's the weight like? [/quote] Clip link in OP. It's a very light bass - around 8 pounds. According to my bathroom scales, anyway.

Nope, just went there with no issues.

[b]NBD - Shergold Marathon Mk 1A, 1979 *Audio*[/b] [b][url="http://www.mediafire.com/view/og8x13gr0efc8ov/Funk%20in%20Gm%20CLIP.wav"]Funk in Gm CLIP[/url][/b] [color=#000000]A bit of 70s-style funk noodling, which will hopefully demonstrate the lovely warm, round bounce you can get with a Marathon.[/color] [color=#000000]Direct into Edirol UA5 > FL Studio 11 with light compression. Rotosound RB45s played with a pick. [/color] ____________________________________________________________________________ [b][url="http://www.mediafire.com/listen/semkshl7ydgwknw/HotD_BC.wav"]Rock in E CLIP[/url][/b] Short clip of some RAWK. Marathon > Ignite Amps SHB-1 (SVT sim) ____________________________________________________________________________ The history of Shergold Woodcrafts Limited and the emergence, development and demise of Hayman and Shergold Guitars and Basses are well documented on their excellent informative website: [url="http://www.shergold.co.uk/index.html"]S[/url][url="http://www.shergold.co.uk/"]hergold[/url][url="http://www.shergold.co.uk/index.html"] Guitars[/url] ...now read on. This is a Shergold Marathon Mk1A Bass, which according to the serial number was made in 1979. It is in truly remarkable condition for a thirty-six-year-old instrument and the only real indication of the passing years is due to that which is universally known as 'The Shergold Peel' - characteristic lateral checking of the clear poly finish over time. Apart from this, there are a couple of very minimal dings, a small amount of scuffing, a few scratches and one 7mm-sized hole in the finish down to the wood on the back lower edge of the body (not pictured). The frets show little wear, the hardware is in excellent condition and in my opinion this bass hasn't been played much over the years. I had a small problemette with the electrics - some crackling from the volume pot which was sorted with a squirt of Servisol. There are dual jack output sockets for 'stereo' operation mode - the humbucker pickup is split between the two outputs, E-A and D-G - or normal mono mode if only one jack plug is used. This faux-stereo operation isn't my thing, really - in any case I'm waiting on a new (mono) P Bass-style loom from John (KiOgon of this Parish), known here for the high quality of his work... which will upgrade the original 100k pots and 0.047[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]uF [/font][/color]cap to 250k CTS pots and a 0.1uF cap. This is a known and common modification to Shergold basses. I'll keep the original guts, of course... The maple-with-maple fingerboard neck (34" scale) features a zero fret and is bound in black. It's straight, a doddle to adjust and very easy to play, though a committed Jazz Bass player probably wouldn't get on with the neck profile or width - but if you're a P man you would really love one of these. The sound is very chunky and comes in somewhere between a super pumped-up P Bass and an early Ric. Hefty, twangy, funky, bouncy, rocky... it's all in there... I'm very happy with this bass - I drooled over Shergolds in glossy magazines in the late 70s as a spotty teenager (when I was unable to afford one) and have had underlying GAS for one ever since - it will make a fantastic companion for my Hayman 4040 and, strung with rounds, will be a very useful addition to my existing armoury - which is currently wearing La Bella flats. Where else can you buy a genuinely hand-crafted, late-seventies vintage bass of this quality for hundreds instead of thousands of pounds? You can't, that's where. If these were produced today to the same standards they would be prohibitively expensive. So if you're into the vintage vibe and want a proper player's bass that is totally unique and sounds amazing, but don't have the funds or the inclination to opt for the usual suspects, then you know what to do. I thank you!

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1433746564' post='2793470'] People with those traits survived and the feckless died. [/quote] Really? It seems every time I leave the house I'm surrounded by useless, feckless bastards! How did that happen??