Bigwan Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1443681110' post='2876763'] Some excellent ideas here, thanks. I've thought quite seriously about the conversion idea, but I suspect there'd be worms everywhere. In particular I'd be worried about the tension on the neck, and about the pickup choice. Trouble is, it wouldn't really be possible to do a cheap "recce". By the time you've sourced & fitted extra tuners, replaced the nut, found a suitable bridge, and anchored the extra strings in the body, there's a pretty substantial investment gone into a mere experiment. On balance, buying a cheap bass that was designed and built as an 8 and then trying to improve it must make more sense. [/quote] All true... Doesn't stop me thinking about converting the Tokai Thunderbird I have hanging on the wall that I bought for peanuts. Big old neck on it, wide at the nut and with a strong truss rod (previous owner had STUPIDLY heavy strings on it - so much so they bent the baseplate of the bridge!). Only real issue is the frets are pretty knackered. Could be a goer though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 Before you go converting any basses, just remember that unlike a 12-string guitar, an 8-string bass needs a much wider neck to comfortably accommodate the extra octave strings. The Carlo Robelli 8-string bass had a neck width that was only a little bit narrower than a typical 5-string. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfretrock Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 Go for a twelve... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svPE59mkDQI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykesbass Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 A few mentions of the Dean - I had a go on one of the 12 string versions once at a jam session and was really quite amazed at how easy it was to play. Couldn't quite see the point but that's a whole different can of worms! Certainly in a friendlier price bracket than those Ebay examples. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 At one point they had pretty much all of the Dean 8- and 12-string bass range in Macaris Charing Cross Road shop. Might be worth having a look to see if they still do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1443627756' post='2876409'] OK, look what I've found now: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131615738395?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT"]http://www.ebay.co.u...K%3AMEBIDX%3AIT[/url] So yes, that really is all original. And 10.5lbs. Ulp. And it's a lot cheaper than the Japanese one I posted earlier, but will still come up to about £1000 by the time you factor in shipping, duty and VAT. [/quote] Jack, it's quite simple mate, a few weeks ago you woke up needing a pointy, today you wake up needing an 8er. The universe has decided, that is your bass, what's a few hundred quid on import duty between a man and his destiny? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted October 2, 2015 Author Share Posted October 2, 2015 [quote name='alyctes' timestamp='1443645497' post='2876640'] I don't know about 8-strings, but Thomann were selling Dean Rhapsody 12-string basses earlier this year. [/quote] Here's the 8-string: http://www.thomann.de/gb/dean_guitars_rhapsody_8_bubinga.htm If you ask them to fit an extra four strings, they knock £35 off the price: http://www.thomann.de/gb/dean_guitars_rhapsody_12_trans_black.htm Bass Guitar Magazine rates them: http://www.deanguitars.com/content/articles/pages/rhap.htm The reviewer wasn't so concerned about separate saddles, though I'm not sure I follow his logic. 8lbs 8oz seems remarkably light ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 [quote name='Beedster' timestamp='1443691724' post='2876876'] ... a man and his destiny? [/quote] Destiny is a terrible thing but perhaps inescapable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1443773662' post='2877518'] Here's the 8-string: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/dean_guitars_rhapsody_8_bubinga.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...y_8_bubinga.htm[/url] If you ask them to fit an extra four strings, they knock £35 off the price: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/dean_guitars_rhapsody_12_trans_black.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...trans_black.htm[/url] Bass Guitar Magazine rates them: [url="http://www.deanguitars.com/content/articles/pages/rhap.htm"]http://www.deanguita.../pages/rhap.htm[/url] The reviewer wasn't so concerned about separate saddles, though I'm not sure I follow his logic. 8lbs 8oz seems remarkably light ... [/quote] It's not you Jack, it's a bit boring and predictable. You'll buy it and hanker for the Yank [quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1443774819' post='2877530'] Destiny is a terrible thing but perhaps inescapable. [/quote] Exactly Dave, well put Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1443773662' post='2877518'] Bass Guitar Magazine rates them: [url="http://www.deanguitars.com/content/articles/pages/rhap.htm"]http://www.deanguita.../pages/rhap.htm[/url] The reviewer wasn't so concerned about separate saddles, though I'm not sure I follow his logic. 8lbs 8oz seems remarkably light ... [/quote] The review mentions the lack of individual height adjustment not intonation adjustment. Unless Dean have recently changed the design of the bridge (and that would be unlikely since this piece of hardware is shared by every other Korean-made 8-string bass) the bridge has separate saddles for intonation adjustment. IMO you shouldn't need individual height adjustment for each string since the bridge and the fingerboard should follow the same radius - especially on a bass that has specifically constructed for a particular design of bridge. IIRC Dean make several different 8-string models at slightly different price points. When I last tried them only the top of the range one was anything but meh. If I was in the market for an 8-string again I'd be holding out for a nice second hand Japanese Tune bass from Ishibashi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted October 2, 2015 Author Share Posted October 2, 2015 That Ishibashi website is not for the faint-hearted or the impatient. Hard work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acidbass Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 You should take a look at Waterstone Guitars, if you haven't already. Used by Tom Petersson from Cheap Trick amongst others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 [quote name='acidbass' timestamp='1443780843' post='2877599'] You should take a look at Waterstone Guitars, if you haven't already. Used by Tom Petersson from Cheap Trick amongst others. [/quote] Good call on Waterstone. I hadn't mentioned them because last time I looked they were only doing 12-string basses. Now I have GAS for one of their 2-string models! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1443779230' post='2877575'] That Ishibashi website is not for the faint-hearted or the impatient. Hard work. [/quote] I've bought 4 basses from Ishibashi in the past. Excellent service. The only drawbacks are that the Ubox is completely dependent upon what they get in second had and because of the time difference between Japan and here and the fact that they are a chain of actual shops by the time you've seen something that you like, made an enquiry and got a reply back it may well have been sold. However you can narrow down your search to just Tune by clicking on the appropriate button [url=http://store.ishibashi.co.jp/ec/srDispCategoryTreeLink/doSearchCategory/11933261000/04-05/4/1?c=treemain]like this[/url]. No 8-string Tunes right now though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted October 2, 2015 Author Share Posted October 2, 2015 Subject on hold ... watch this space ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 Did you find something you like at Macaris? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvia Bluejay Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 Right, this is another fastest-GAS-action-EVAAAH post. Look, we have another addition to the family! A close-up: Proper NBD thread to follow when we have had the time to take some good photos of the new baby. It sounds HUUGE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annoying Twit Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 (edited) [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1443779230' post='2877575'] That Ishibashi website is not for the faint-hearted or the impatient. Hard work. [/quote] What's wrong with the Ishibashi site? It looks quite straightforward to me with a few clicks to get to the second hand bass list and with many search filters. EDIT: I take that back. The English site is cr*p compared to the Japanese one. Edited October 2, 2015 by Annoying Twit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted October 2, 2015 Author Share Posted October 2, 2015 [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1443798875' post='2877842'] Did you find something you like at Macaris? [/quote] The only one left over ... since 2006! Seriously, this is the 8-string bass they have had on display for at least five years and almost certainly nine. I'm pretty sure these are the original strings too. As you can imagine, a certain amount of haggling was involved. I'm very happy with this as a toe in the water. Thanks for the tip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted October 2, 2015 Author Share Posted October 2, 2015 [quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1443815995' post='2878000'] What's wrong with the Ishibashi site? It looks quite straightforward to me with a few clicks to get to the second hand bass list and with many search filters. [/quote] It's mainly in Japanese (which you speak of course), the auto translate is really slow on my computer, specific searches (eg BC Rich) routinely return error messages in Japanese, little things like that. In all fairness, it's a helluva lot better than I imagine a British site would be at selling to Japan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annoying Twit Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 (edited) [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1443816531' post='2878006'] It's mainly in Japanese (which you speak of course), the auto translate is really slow on my computer, specific searches (eg BC Rich) routinely return error messages in Japanese, little things like that. In all fairness, it's a helluva lot better than I imagine a British site would be at selling to Japan. [/quote] See my above post. I clicked onto the English site and it looked the same as the Japanese one, so I presumed it worked the same way. Except, two or three more clicks in and it's not only in Japanese again but in some weird and unfriendly google search. I wonder if searching via google translate would be better than using their 'English' site. EDIT: Oh, Ishibashi takes you to google translate automatically, but much of the site is images which stay in Japanese. Sorry about that. A British site would sell to Japan fine. Pretty much everyone in Japan likely to be buying basses will have enough English to navigate a British site. It's part of the luck of the draw for people born in an English speaking country. 've always thought that Ishibashi may be a bad place to buy second hand Japanese instruments from, in the same way that Denmark Street isn't the best value place to buy second hand basses in the UK. What would happen if we tried some other shops? EDIT: Aria RSB600 for £219. Plus postage, plus duty of course. How much would one in this condition sell for in the UK? https://www.shimokura-webshop.com/products/detail.php?product_id=61556 Edited October 2, 2015 by Annoying Twit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 (edited) I always browse the Japanese Ishibashi site. The text doesn't really matter as I generally know about what I'm after, and if I really need to know what they've said about an instrument I'll copy paste the text into the translation widget. I have an email saved from my previous Ishibashi transactions that I use to contact them about anything I am interested in. I've always used Ishibashi to buy stuff that isn't available at all outside Japan - Yamaha BJ5B, Fernandes Pie-Zo Hello Kitty, Atlansia Solitaire. The only exception was the Tokai Talbo bass, but the second-hand one I bought was about half the price and in far better condition that any of the new ones I had seen in this country which all had terrible casting marks on the body. If you want to cast your net wider in Japan try using [url="http://www.digimart.net"]Digimart[/url] although I've had no success getting any of the shops it covers other than Ishibashi replying to my enquiries. Edited October 3, 2015 by BigRedX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annoying Twit Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 (edited) If/when I visit Japan again I'm definitely hitting local second hand shops. But, at the moment there's nothing I want enough to go through the whole import process. Anyhoo - we should probably go back to the 8 string topic of this thread. I started another thread on Japanese shops in general. Edited October 3, 2015 by Annoying Twit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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