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Little-known makes that deserve to be better known?


josie

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I was lucky enough, when I went to buy my first bass, to be offered a 2nd hand GMR stupidly cheap, and fell in love with it with no idea just how good it was. I now know... and now have three (fretted 5, fretless 4, and a single-cut fretted 5, which is too heavy for me, but I sit at home and play it in my lap with the biggest grin in the world on my face). I wouldn't swap any of them for a Maruszczyk for love or money.

Any other suggestions for really good makes that aren't as well known and respected as they deserve to be?

 

 

 

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Vintage - I`ve been very impressed with the Tony Butler Signature Precision I picked up recently. Just think the name makes looking for instruments a bit difficult, vintage bass, vintage guitar etc, end up with any old pony bit of gear.

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Vantage - I have a fretless one from the eighties that I got to replace a month old fretless Squier Jazz.  The Squier had a dead spot midway along the fingerboard.

It has a P/J pup configuration and when I replaced the chewy roundwounds (as supplied with the new bass) with nylon wrapped flats it got even better.

Edited by SpondonBassed
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Shuker Bass. One the UK's little gems.

How he manages to charge the prices he does for instruments that easily stack up against the very, very best costing much more never ceases to amaze me. 

I also know that many UK luthiers say the same! 

I've been playing  Shukers for over ten years now and like you Josie, when you find your brand, it's a beautiful thing!

Edited by dood
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2 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Vintage - I`ve been very impressed with the Tony Butler Signature Precision I picked up recently. Just think the name makes looking for instruments a bit difficult, vintage bass, vintage guitar etc, end up with any old pony bit of gear.

+1 for the Vintage stuff. Had a V4 as a spare which I regret selling - was a bit heavy though.

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On 18/06/2018 at 13:49, Lozz196 said:

Vintage - I`ve been very impressed with the Tony Butler Signature Precision I picked up recently. Just think the name makes looking for instruments a bit difficult, vintage bass, vintage guitar etc, end up with any old pony bit of gear.

 

On 18/06/2018 at 16:14, casapete said:

+1 for the Vintage stuff. Had a V4 as a spare which I regret selling - was a bit heavy though.

+2 - I haven't tried their basses, but I've had a Vintage VS6 for donkey's years now. I'm sure it's partly down to familiarity, but I've gone into shops and tried out some of the "real deal" Gibson SGs (admittedly the cheaper end of the series) and Epiphones, and come away feeling quite underwhelmed by the difference.

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On 18 Jun 2018 at 08:20, T-Bay said:

I have an 80s Aria Pro that is fantastic, light, great sound and one the best necks I have played. Bought for peanuts.

Sorry to be pedantic, but Aria are hardly 'little-known'... They were massively popular back in the early 80s. I still have one from 1983.

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1 hour ago, matski said:

Sorry to be pedantic, but Aria are hardly 'little-known'... They were massively popular back in the early 80s. I still have one from 1983.

Possibly but are Jowett, Riley, Belsize still well known car makes? I still have a James Captain motorbike but I doubt 0.1% of the population would have a clue what one was. The world moves on and the 80s were several decades ago now. As such Aria seem pretty much unknown to every bass player I meet. I always get comments on how good it sounds and then a non plussed look when I say it’s an Aria. Sadly the new ones aren’t up to much from the ones I have played.

Edited by T-Bay
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18 hours ago, T-Bay said:

Possibly but are Jowett, Riley, Belsize still well known car makes? I still have a James Captain motorbike but I doubt 0.1% of the population would have a clue what one was. The world moves on and the 80s were several decades ago now. As such Aria seem pretty much unknown to every bass player I meet. I always get comments on how good it sounds and then a non plussed look when I say it’s an Aria. Sadly the new ones aren’t up to much from the ones I have played.

I had a James Captain, 197cc villiers engine and it was a great bike along with my Francis Barnett Plover 150 too. I've played an Aria 12 string since buying new in 1983, small world.

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3 hours ago, tom1946 said:

I had a James Captain, 197cc villiers engine and it was a great bike along with my Francis Barnett Plover 150 too. I've played an Aria 12 string since buying new in 1983, small world.

I used to have a couple of Cadets, the James versions of the Plover, a J5 and a J15. Good fun bikes but incredibly rare now when you think they were the workhorses of many working people for decades and sold several hundred thousand here and overseas. I saw a plover a couple of years still in daily use outside the police station in Kusadasi Turkey.

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I once played a Matt Pulcinella - ash body with maple neck and board and EMGs and it was lightweight, very easy to play and sounded fantastic. I think it was £750. Having passed it up I bought another one sight unseen and it was distinctly average. Still, qualifies as little-known make!

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Let's not forget Goodfellows.....

I sold my Rumour so I could buy back an Overwater that I'd sold a couple of years previously. Beautiful and very playable bass - TBH I was very precious about it - I didn't want it to get damaged. 

Image result for goodfellow rumour bass

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On 18/06/2018 at 13:49, Lozz196 said:

Vintage - I`ve been very impressed with the Tony Butler Signature Precision I picked up recently. Just think the name makes looking for instruments a bit difficult, vintage bass, vintage guitar etc, end up with any old pony bit of gear.

Gotta agree with this, I have the same Tony Butler signature model & a standard V4 & they both perform exceptionally well. Better than both Epiphone & Squire, even on a par with lower end Fender p basses.

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2 hours ago, Jonny Boots said:

Gotta agree with this, I have the same Tony Butler signature model & a standard V4 & they both perform exceptionally well. Better than both Epiphone & Squire, even on a par with lower end Fender p basses.

+1 - I've owned a few different models and they seem to be built (fit and finish etc.) to a higher standard than a lot of the alternatives for similar money. Hardware is nothing fancy... but more importantly, neither is it compromised to the point of useless.

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On 24/06/2018 at 09:14, Bleat said:

Tanglewood, specifically this one.

This is my second as I always regretted  selling the first one I had. It has active pickups and sounds fantastic..  cost to me : £40 :D

 

312088827_DSC01138(2)(640x243).jpg.0eedbf9b0737cd2603a0bc691c1b76dc.jpg

1322026643_DSC01144(480x640)(2).jpg.e1009988633acb9e9e9677bfc5ff166b.jpg

I like very much...very Spector/ Streamer-like.

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Just going back to the OP, how does one quantify 'aren't well known'?

The motorbike remark was pretty succinct as the marques have disappeared apart from an enthusiast perspective.  A few of the names mentioned (Vintage, Tanglewood) are produced in huge numbers aren't they?

I love when I gig when I pull a Hamer or a Lull out of it's case.  Hardly anyone I've knows these names...I played a place in Kent once and took my £3k Hamer FBIV, I delighted in overhearing this exchange:

'What bass is that bloke playing?'

'It's a Thunderbird thing.  It says Hammer on the head.'

'No, look.  Hamer.  H-A-M-E-R.  Sounds like a Chinese guitar.  My friend has an Epiphone.  It's like that.'

Much chortling.

 

 

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