Not-American Classics?

[josh3184]

[quote name='Paul S' post='438045' date='Mar 18 2009, 09:27 AM']Until last week I owned a Hayman 4040 - cousin to the Shergold. I'd say it was giggable in as much as I did use it for a gig. Lovely thing, beautifully made but, for me, a pig to play. Moved on to a more appreciative owner now.

Here's some pics, anyway.[/quote]

Sometimes when I see these old basses with these insane looks I get the feeling that we're missing out with the current crop of basses out there- it just [i]looks[/i] like its got all sorts of crazy features that I wouldn't understand

Edited March 19, 2009 by josh3184

[wizbat]

Gordon Smith produced a few basses under the 'Gordy' brandname.

[WalMan]

[quote name='josh3184' post='438831' date='Mar 19 2009, 12:43 AM']Sometimes when I see these old basses with these insane looks I get the feeling that we're missing out with the current crop of basses out there- it just [i]looks[/i] like its got all sorts of crazy features that I wouldn't understand [/quote]
The Shergold Marathon (which is what mine were) came originally with a stereo jack, and later (as on my fretless) with a pair of jack outs. Both would operate with a normal jack, but if you used a stereo jack (or a pair of leads on the later ones) you would get E & A strings on one lead/side and D & G strings on the other.

When I first got them I had an old Selmer Treble & Bass amp (or Tit & Bum as they were known in the band at the time) so I ran E&A to the bass channel & D&G to the treble - can't say I noticed any difference though

As I recall the Shergold Modulater basses had a volume/tone section that you could pull out as a single unit and plug a different modules in - see [url="http://www.shergold.co.uk/modules.html"]HERE[/url]. Bizarre!!

Is that crazy enough for you

[Rich]

Years ago I nearly bought a Shergold 8-string for £150... been kicking myself ever since for not grabbing it.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='438263' date='Mar 18 2009, 01:57 PM']Are you serious? Anyway, nothing with a figured top is going in this list. This is for [i]cool[/i] basses.[/quote]
Sorry, I must have missed the bit where you were made the ultimate arbiter of taste & coolness
So I guess this means that the accurate title of this thread is "Not-American Classics (But Only If [b]I[/b] Like Them)"

[WalMan]

[quote name='Rich' post='439273' date='Mar 19 2009, 02:32 PM']Years ago I nearly bought a Shergold 8-string for £150... been kicking myself ever since for not grabbing it.[/quote]

Blimey! If you were buying from an advert not a shop that might have been mine, in which case it would have been the silver burst one above. It was quite hard work as an 8 string. Not one to be used for a whole set!!

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='Rich' post='439273' date='Mar 19 2009, 02:32 PM']Sorry, I must have missed the bit where you were made the ultimate arbiter of taste & coolness
So I guess this means that the accurate title of this thread is "Not-American Classics (But Only If [b]I[/b] Like Them)" [/quote]

Well when was the last time you saw a "cool" band swinging a quilt-top super-jazz or similar? They went out with mink coats in the '80s.

If you can demonstrate that The Cool People are using them then maybe I'll have to reconsider.

[Rich]

Well, like I said before, define "cool". If you can demonstrate who the Official 'Cool People' really are, as recognised by absolutely [i]everyone[/i], then maybe I'll have to reconsider.
Actually, I've just thought of another more accurate title for this thread of yours. It should be 'All The Stuff I Like Is Great, And The Stuff You Like Is Crap, And That's A Fact'.

[quote name='WalMan' post='439553' date='Mar 19 2009, 06:39 PM']Blimey! If you were buying from an advert not a shop that might have been mine, in which case it would have been the silver burst one above. It was quite hard work as an 8 string. Not one to be used for a whole set!![/quote]
Nope. It was back in the late 80s, sitting in the window of Amen Corner Music near Bracknell. Sort of a baccy sunburst. It looked like a real beast, but the first thing that attracted me was how similar the body shape was to my Wal! I ummed and ahhed and then walked away. Idiot!

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='Rich' post='439971' date='Mar 20 2009, 07:42 AM']Actually, I've just thought of another more accurate title for this thread of yours. It should be 'All The Stuff I Like Is Great, And The Stuff You Like Is Crap, And That's A Fact'. [/quote]

Don't cry, Rich.

[Rich]

Not a chance.

[neepheid]

Someone mentioned Hagstrom already, but I'd say specifically the H-8 8 string is a non American Classic. As well as being one of the earliest (if not the earliest) commercially produced 8 string basses, it's got the celebrity user angle with Noel Redding/Jimi Hendrix and others.

[lee4]

Er,Status Groove(my precious).A classic?

[skankdelvar]

I recall a pair of Shergold double-necks in natural, sat in Chris Bryant's shop off Charing X rd, about 10 years ago-ish

One was a four + eight, the other a four fretted + four fretless. £700 a pop, unprovenanced but scraping association with Rutherford.

Sigh.

[Rich]

[quote name='lee4' post='440617' date='Mar 20 2009, 08:28 PM']Er,Status Groove(my precious). [b]A classic?[/b][/quote]
Only if the OP likes it.

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='Rich' post='440653' date='Mar 20 2009, 09:25 PM']Only if the OP likes it. [/quote]



The Groove came out in the '90s. I do like it but it isn't a classic.

I'm not appointing myself as the world's arbiter of cool, but I think there's no harm in excluding whatever boutique hand-made late-model dining table basses might've come along to fill the ever-expanding Bass Anorak market. If you can't understand the difference between "cool musician" and "bass spotter" then that's not my fault.

Edited March 21, 2009 by thisnameistaken

[Rich]

[u]Tune Bass Maniac[/u]
The bass that launched a thousand imitators. One of the first, if not [i]the[/i] first, of the lightweight 80s superJap basses.


[u]Kubicki Factor[/u]
Like it or loathe it, it's a radical design that works brilliantly. Sounds fabulous too.



Look, no coffee table.

[BigRedX]

Err... isn't the Kubicki Factor American?

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='441051' date='Mar 21 2009, 01:13 PM']Err... isn't the Kubicki Factor American?[/quote]

That's what I thought. Didn't Fender build them?

The Tune bass is a shoe in I think. Haven't seen more than a handful of them (except in the Bass Centre in the early '90s) but yeah they were cool for their time. A bit late though.

[Rich]

Oh pants. Of course the Factor is American. My mistake.
Still a classic though.

[Kiwi]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='436845' date='Mar 17 2009, 08:23 AM']My 2p:
Jaydees (anything other than a Roadie made before the Running In The Family album in 1985/86)[/quote]

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280333047945&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNA:GB:1123"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...E:B:WNA:GB:1123[/url]

Case in point?

[maxrossell]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='437109' date='Mar 17 2009, 01:21 PM']OK, so taking nostalgia as a starting point and projecting 20 years into the future where the teenagers who are currently making do with schecters, warwick rock basses and yamahas can actually afford something a little more high end, what noughties basses are they going to look back on and wish they'd really owned?

Warwick Katana?
Status Graphite S2?
Spector NS-5XL?

In the current music scene I can't see a lot of movement away from the vintage Fender market myself. I'm not aware of anything contemporary and distinctive which is drawing most teenage bass players away from that. Warwick was about as close as it got, in my view. But I'm sure there are some teen bassists on the forum who could describe what they think they'd like to own 20 years from now?[/quote]

Hmm. When I was a teen all I wanted was modern-looking eyesores. I actually had a really sweet Hohner fretless Jazz copy in white with a tortoiseshell guard, but I traded it in for a hideous Hohner B-Bass V just because it was active and had a through neck and five strings. But at the time I thought the Jazz bass was uncool, and modern basses were cooler. I didn't realise that ten years later it would be pretty much the only bass I'd consider owning.

I think people who know what they're doing stick with these vintage-looking Fender-style models because they're as close as you'll get to the original electric bass - The '51 P, the Precision and the Jazz, you can't really get away from how damn close to perfect they were to begin with - as with guitars, the only real alternative was the Gibson take, set necks, shorter scale-lengths, humbucking pickups and so on, but less democratic and more "luxury".

You look at what happens with basses today: The ultra-modern, "exotic-fish-nailed-to-ladder"-style custom 5, 6 or more strings and all that, ultimately what they are is the same notion as the super-strat, i.e. you take the principle that was established with the Jazz bass and you push it so far into nerdy tonewoods and active EQ gadgetry that you can't even begin to imagine a style of music complex enough to warrant it, just like when you get a guitar that has 10 pickup configurations and a coil-split and a massive whammy bar and locking this and that and the other, and a top that looks more like a 15th century French dresser than a musical instrument. They're second-generation variants that started out with the ultra-light super-japs and went from there. On the other hand, whatever Gibson started for some reason never really happened. A few people still play Grabbers and T-Birds and you might even see a Les Paul bass here and there, but Gibson isn't really a name that springs to mind when you think "what bass could I get".

Not sure where I'm going with this, but I guess that although the teen market is something that obviously needs to be catered to with the Yamahas and the SDGRs and the Rockbasses and so on, I think that most of the kids who stick with bass will eventually arrive at the same conclusion, which is that there's a good reason people keep going back to the originals.

AND might I add, when you look at the signature models that are coming out these days that are aimed at teens, the dude from Green Day, the dude from Blink 182, the dude from Fall Out Boy, they're Fender Jazzes and Precisions.

[Lfalex v1.1]

[quote name='ARGH' post='436841' date='Mar 17 2009, 04:23 AM']One word lads..and its a love or hate em affair.....

BURNS[/quote]

Why did it take 11 posts to get to Burns? First name to come to my mind.

[Lfalex v1.1]

[quote name='Krysbass' post='438201' date='Mar 18 2009, 01:51 PM']... but then beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I learned on a Thunder 1A and always loved the individual look of those basses. So when I upgraded to a more "professional" bass, it was the Thunder III that I still use now. Every time I open its case I'm pleased I had the will-power not to be lured by the chance to own a ubiquitous-looking Fender Jazz for almost the same money.

But aesthetics aside; I can confirm that my Thunder III has been an extremely well made bass that takes gigging in its stride.[/quote]

Oh... You've got me thinking "Matsumoku" now;

Aria SB700/SB1000
Ibanez Musician/Artist/Roadstar/Roadster
Westone Thunders.. +1

[Shaggy]

[quote name='maxrossell' post='469377' date='Apr 22 2009, 10:41 AM']Hmm. When I was a teen all I wanted was modern-looking eyesores. I actually had a really sweet Hohner fretless Jazz copy in white with a tortoiseshell guard, but I traded it in for a hideous Hohner B-Bass V just because it was active and had a through neck and five strings. But at the time I thought the Jazz bass was uncool, and modern basses were cooler. I didn't realise that ten years later it would be pretty much the only bass I'd consider owning.

I think people who know what they're doing stick with these vintage-looking Fender-style models because they're as close as you'll get to the original electric bass - The '51 P, the Precision and the Jazz, you can't really get away from how damn close to perfect they were to begin with - as with guitars, the only real alternative was the Gibson take, set necks, shorter scale-lengths, humbucking pickups and so on, but less democratic and more "luxury".

You look at what happens with basses today: The ultra-modern, "exotic-fish-nailed-to-ladder"-style custom 5, 6 or more strings and all that, ultimately what they are is the same notion as the super-strat, i.e. you take the principle that was established with the Jazz bass and you push it so far into nerdy tonewoods and active EQ gadgetry that you can't even begin to imagine a style of music complex enough to warrant it, just like when you get a guitar that has 10 pickup configurations and a coil-split and a massive whammy bar and locking this and that and the other, and a top that looks more like a 15th century French dresser than a musical instrument. They're second-generation variants that started out with the ultra-light super-japs and went from there. On the other hand, whatever Gibson started for some reason never really happened. A few people still play Grabbers and T-Birds and you might even see a Les Paul bass here and there, but Gibson isn't really a name that springs to mind when you think "what bass could I get".

Not sure where I'm going with this, but I guess that although the teen market is something that obviously needs to be catered to with the Yamahas and the SDGRs and the Rockbasses and so on, I think that most of the kids who stick with bass will eventually arrive at the same conclusion, which is that there's a good reason people keep going back to the originals.

AND might I add, when you look at the signature models that are coming out these days that are aimed at teens, the dude from Green Day, the dude from Blink 182, the dude from Fall Out Boy, they're Fender Jazzes and Precisions.[/quote]

Good post!

[ARGH]

My vote goes to the Ibanez Soundgear 800.

Great Active,mass produced,roadworthy bass from Japan.

Edited April 22, 2009 by ARGH

[ARGH]

[quote name='maxrossell' post='469377' date='Apr 22 2009, 10:41 AM']Hmm. When I was a teen all I wanted was modern-looking eyesores. I actually had a really sweet Hohner fretless Jazz copy in white with a tortoiseshell guard, but I traded it in for a hideous Hohner B-Bass V just because it was active and had a through neck and five strings. But at the time I thought the Jazz bass was uncool, and modern basses were cooler. I didn't realise that ten years later it would be pretty much the only bass I'd consider owning.

I think people who know what they're doing stick with these vintage-looking Fender-style models because they're as close as you'll get to the original electric bass - The '51 P, the Precision and the Jazz, you can't really get away from how damn close to perfect they were to begin with - as with guitars, the only real alternative was the Gibson take, set necks, shorter scale-lengths, humbucking pickups and so on, but less democratic and more "luxury".

You look at what happens with basses today: The ultra-modern, "exotic-fish-nailed-to-ladder"-style custom 5, 6 or more strings and all that, ultimately what they are is the same notion as the super-strat, i.e. you take the principle that was established with the Jazz bass and you push it so far into nerdy tonewoods and active EQ gadgetry that you can't even begin to imagine a style of music complex enough to warrant it, just like when you get a guitar that has 10 pickup configurations and a coil-split and a massive whammy bar and locking this and that and the other, and a top that looks more like a 15th century French dresser than a musical instrument. They're second-generation variants that started out with the ultra-light super-japs and went from there. On the other hand, whatever Gibson started for some reason never really happened. A few people still play Grabbers and T-Birds and you might even see a Les Paul bass here and there, but Gibson isn't really a name that springs to mind when you think "what bass could I get".

Not sure where I'm going with this, but I guess that although the teen market is something that obviously needs to be catered to with the Yamahas and the SDGRs and the Rockbasses and so on, I think that most of the kids who stick with bass will eventually arrive at the same conclusion, which is that there's a good reason people keep going back to the originals.

AND might I add, when you look at the signature models that are coming out these days that are aimed at teens, the dude from Green Day, the dude from Blink 182, the dude from Fall Out Boy, they're Fender Jazzes and Precisions.[/quote]
Guilty..and yeah I agree,Ive made similer mistakes (bought a 886 in 98,when I could have shelled another 200 and got a Alembic Spoiler)

BUT..Like Warwick..Fender hurl anything ,including cash, for people to appear in magazines holding their instruments....And I play Fenders too.