NBD - Controversial beater!

[dogload]

Well for the princely sum of £21 (!) I got myself one of these beasts:



Yep, a Marlin Sidewinder (not the horn!). I know they don't find much favour on these pages, and I think if I was looking for something I had to lug around every night to gigs I'd have doubts- it has a hundredweight of prime ply for a body. But otherwise it plays nicely, sounds brilliant (no, really!) and came with a brand new set of strings!
It seems pretty similar to my Hohner Arbour (which is my favourite bass for recording) although the bridge pickup is much clearer and punchier.
Not sure I'm keen on the single volume, but I can live with it for now.
So, scoff and jeer if you will, I think: 'Result!'
Pity about the fish on the fretboard.

Sorry about the huge picture btw- it's the only decent one I could find on the web that wasn't on Gumtree or Ebay!

Edited May 9, 2012 by dogload

[Horizontalste]

Nice one, I like it. And 21 quid too.

[MarkG3]

Nice,can't argue for £21!

[luckman67]

My first bass was a Marlin Sidewinder KB-24, with the single J pickup at the bridge. Mine was the white one always wanted the red one though,for £21 you can't lose I liked it as a first bass if I could get one at that price I would if only for nostalga.

[dogload]

Hehe! I was actually looking for a fuzz pedal, saw this and stuck a bid on and forgot about it.
The chrome's wearing off the tuners and there's a bit of rust, and i's got a couple of dinks and scrapes, so maybe I should list it on Ebay as a 'rare 80's relic'...

[BigRedX]

I hope that £21 included postage...

[dogload]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1336549425' post='1647178']
I hope that £21 included postage...
[/quote]

Ahhhh, well... that was extra. Doesn't seem like such a bargain if I say it was [i]31 [/i]quid.

[stingrayPete1977]

My mate had (has?) the guitar version, we called it the cod winder, It had some kind of active circuit with green and red leds, they did nothing!
Still for £21 anything playable is good in my book.

If it were mine Id take it to every gig waiting for the too cool for school mop haired youf to stroll up, "yeah man I had to come straight here on the tube, can I use your bass and sh*t?". "Certainly sir"....Ta-da!

[ahpook]

finally got tired of my old bass eh ?

[Ou7shined]

[quote name='dogload' timestamp='1336549138' post='1647169']
..... maybe I should list it on Ebay as a 'rare 80's relic'...
[/quote]

Don't forget to mention it's a "lawsuit" bass.... it's all the rage you know.


Hey if £21 gets you something you can play and make folk happy then it's all good in my book. NIce score.

[dogload]

[quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1336552104' post='1647233']
finally got tired of my old bass eh ?
[/quote]

Surely when one is tired of Hohner, one is tired of life? Anyway, I needed new strings, and these ones came with a free bass!

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1336552142' post='1647235']
Don't forget to mention it's a "lawsuit" bass.... it's all the rage you know.
[/quote]

Oh yeah! Mustn't be as cynical as I thought...

[Grassie]

I had the very same bass only a couple of years ago. I even used to use it as a back up, and it would often get a couple of songs. The other band members christened it "Spandau"...

[Sean]

[quote name='Grant' timestamp='1336570926' post='1647681']
The other band members christened it "Spandau"...
[/quote]
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Why? Because they wanted to escape from it?[/font][/color]

[luckman67]

IIRC mine cost £87.50 secondhand back in August 1987, it was all I could afford back then.

[Grassie]

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1336590968' post='1648149']
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Why? Because they wanted to escape from it?[/font][/color]
[/quote]
No, because it was very red and shiny and 80's looking...you had to be there...

[CBbass]

If that's solid wood I'll be very impressed! Congrats anyhoo.

[lee4]

My first bass.I miss it still(sob)

[EssentialTension]

My strings cost more than your bass.

[EskimoBassist]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1336687494' post='1649680']
My strings cost more than your bass.
[/quote]

+1

[JimBobTTD]

The first bass I ever played was a Marlin. I seem to remember it as being shell pink with a scratchplate, but it might have been more like your bass. It was heavy. It also made me want to play bass.

[dogload]

Heavy is the word! Lovely big lump of resonant plywood!
Thanks for the love guys

[chrismuzz]

Looks cool to be fair, nice find!

[johnDeereJack]

I have a very similar one currently stored at my singer's house (along with an amp of course) for impromptu rehearsals! The only difference being mine's white (well off-white now!) and has a single JB pup at the bridge.

I had it lying around gathering dust for years so I decided to dust it off, put a new set of strings on, set it up and it plays and sounds great!

[Roland Rock]

My first bass! Just like that, but silver. It survived many gigs and even sounded good on some recording! I won't hear a bad word against it.

[dogload]

Sorry to resurrect this thread but I just wanted to report that I've been doing some recording with this bass lately and it does in fact sound very good. Quite tight and more 'hi-fi' than my bass of choice (Hohner Arbor); less growl on the front pickup but fuller on the bridge pickup and it takes effects better.
Probably down to crap pickups and all that plywood

Edited May 31, 2012 by dogload