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Over in “ugly”, I put a heap of Cinderella siblings all from the same seller. And yet, they offer this very nice semi for only $290:
http://thumbs4.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/m2U-aD7TPfm4vraIpb5Er4g.jpg
OK, the headstock’s not my cuppa and the clear pickguard – while I can see why – makes the gold bracket look like a spare prick, but hey – $290. I think it’s purty.
OK, over in the bass forum, I put up a pic of a “Maestro” bass, the only lefty MM5 I’ve seen for reasonable money (the Ernie Ball going for what I consider unreasonable money) that is heading my way.
I also mentioned that the seller also has some utter frighteners on the books. Time to put pics to the claim:
Another Maestro. Been on this thread before, IIRC.
And after I’d finished the garden fence…
If I looked like this, I’d also want to remove my head
Place this on your lap to counteract any excess Viagra intake
This is an old fave of the thread but, remember, all of these are from the same seller. Can you imagine their home decor?
Bought to match the nickname of the guy in the band who bought one. They call him “Stupid”
Oh dear, another “axe”
Comes with a useful handle for throwing it onto nearby waste ground
Words? You want words to describe this ❓
Even Cincinnati residents want this banned
I can’t see the point. Oh wait, there it is
I’m feeling nostalgic for the 80s, headless look again
It’s called “The big, white K”. As in
“What the [big, white] ***K is that?”
Another one meant to be put on your lap that even a priest would have 2nd thoughts about. Talk about a cardinal sin😯 These are all from one seller’s current listings 😯
Yet, apart from my (hopefully) more aesthetic bass, they also list some very pretty guitars for reasonable money. One of which I shall put in USGold’s other thread.
I think Squier Jazz, Precision or – what I’d place above the standard P or J – the Precision Special. These are P shaped bodies with a bridge J pup and the P in the middle giving more flexibility in tone and, IIRC, come with the Jazz profile neck that I think you’ll find less of a handful. A new Squier Affinity is around the $130-170 range but I think a new SX bass from Rondo gives them serious competition.
One potential solver for your “bass or Telecaster?” problem is to go for a Squier Vintage Modified Telecaster bass. They come in two flavours; both having a 32″ scale neck which is mid-way between the feel of a guitar and the full 34″ of a standard bass. I know a few bassists who’ve picked one up for the looks but also found them fun and decent players.
There’s the single-coil, using the ’51-’55 unsplit SC of the Precision and a 3-way switch that uses passive resistor trickery to give deep bass, normal and a baritone sound. Then there’s the other which has the “mudbucker” at the neck for Jack Bruce thump and a Jazz single coil at the bridge.
Both can be found used around the $200 and you can listen to Squier demos by typing “squier telecaster bass” into youtube.
For around that money, though, I would keep a lookout for Squier Japans of the ’90s and, sometimes for very cheap dough, a Korean copy by Cort or Samick. The same factories made Squiers in the 90s but their own brands were often better quality and, lacking the family name, can sell very cheaply on the used market.
As for amps, I continuously find Peavey bass amps bland and unlikeable. Roland’s Cube 30 is certainly worth a look for fairly small money although it won’t get you gigging. To gig with, there are bargains around with big, solid state gear that many bassists are getting rid of because of the new, 700W jobs that are the size of a box of chocs.
Just read your “who are we?” and I see you have combos so an amp does need sorting (I thought you had valve heads, must have been someone else). OTOH, with your acoustic experience, you might not find a standard P neck such a club. How much would you consider spending? Almost any price range is do-able and would you consider a used bass off the ‘bay or prefer new from GC, MF or Rondo (who also have a returns policy)?
Sorry to take so long. Bass won’t damage a valve head, only the speakers possibly. Consider a used bass cab from Craigslist or local ebay collection only, often for peanuts, or an empty 2×10″ and put bass speakers in. I’ll leave amps for now though.
I wouldn’t go for an Epi EB bass as my only. The EB0 is a bit limiting in tonal variety and I think Epi EBs are a bit crummy quality, TBH, and short scale isn’t my thing although the familiar guitar size can initially appeal.
A P or J type bass seems the most obvious choice (or, a good versatile option, the PJ combined). I have a Squier Mike Dirnt, which is a good P bass although that star on the body might be off-putting. The neck is the old-style, ’54P with a square heel instead of the later rounded heel. They’re only semi-interchangeable, in the same way as a Tele and a Strat. Like a lot of Squier sort-of reissues (the Classic Vibe P and the Vintage Modified P tb), the neck is thinner at the nut, more like a Jazz than a Precision’s clubbier neck. A lot of players, and as a guitarist you might, find the Jazz profile faster.
Used Squiers made in Japan are excellent instruments and often don’t fetch the money they should. Even Fender-badged Japanese don’t:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fender-P-Bass-Carbon-fiber-pick-gaurd-MIJ-T-serial-number-/271174584494?pt=Guitar&hash=item3f2343c8ae&nma=true&si=Wo%252BAzGM0Iow1nJtS3%252FpXgYR3SEM%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557In Britain, a Japanese Fender would have gone for considerably more but a lot of Americans think they might be inferior. I would also investigate new and used Squiers and new and used SX from Rondo.
Congrats to US Gold on his 100+ posts, and congrats to me on my 4000th post 😀 . Just think, if I hadn’t gone quiet for a coupla years…
Anyhoo, I have a new bass coming over from the States (Land of the Cheap, if not exactly Free) and it’s this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=121083927555
😯 , massive pic, sorry. I shall be ripping this up (genyooine Ernie Ball MM5 pup is just the start) but I’ll un-hijack and bore you elsewhere. Incidentally, check the seller’s other items for some ugleee guitars.
Point is, I’ve recently been buying for me and my righty son so, FWIW, I have a bit of recent purchasing advice and, you know me, I always go cheap but good.
Firstly, though, got to ask you some bassics (see what I did there? 😉 ) that could make this a longish, but very useful thread.
1) Consider whether to go with 4-string or jump right in to 5-string (I advise against more, unless freeform jazz is a must). I’ve come to depend on the thick-string, and not just for sub-E notes; it’s handy for certain runs around the mid-neck without having to swoop down. The flipside is that having E as your low string is just so much easier to get your head round – especially a you’re a seasoned guitarist and have the knowledge, as far as guitarists go. Secondly, 95% (may be more, better check with Youngwasp 😛 ) of the tunes you hear are done on a 4 so a 5th B can become just a long thumbrest.
Speaking of which, if you go five, string spacing is an issue and depends on…
2) Playing mostly fingerstyle, plectrum or thumb diddy dum. Wider string spacing is preferred for fingers and thumbs. I play mostly plec and prefer narrower strings, but mostly not to worry with 4s anyway.
3) What’s your muzak? This has a big say in looks and pup position/type.
4) New or used? OK, I’ve just bought a new but, like Tim, I’m always ears-up for a good used. Buying new, I would stick to a “trad” looker for max resale if you move up. Used, ditto unless you don’t care and can benefit from some ugly, dated, pointy thing costing you a shedload less than a recognizably P, J or MM shaped bass.
5) Active or passive. I like active, even if I keep eq flat, but there are passive basses I’m happy with, too. If you can solder, and read a diagram, moving a passive up to active is pretty easy whereas cheap actives can be a right plate of pasta to upgrade.
Without getting your answers yet, I would say spending $250 is absolute TOPS. Aim for less – plenty of good places in that region. Brands I’d be looking at are:
SX and other marques from Rondo Music, either new or used:
http://www.rondomusic.com/bassguitars4.html
the used ones have a nicer headstock but buying new from Rondo is solid as Kurt refunds well if unhappy; even with people who act like a-holes, IMO.
Squier. The Indonesians are coming up with great looking and sounding basses recently. Forget the basic Affinity (go SX) but the Vintage Modified, Artist Series and Classic Vibes are great value – maybe used at <$250. I have bought the Mike Dirnt and the VM Precision tb (mudbucker @ neck) and they're great. Indonesian necks are a bit soft, though, and take a little while to settle into the setup you want. Fine afterwards.
Also, used Squier Japans still sell for paltry money (not the JV, SQ or E serials, though). A 90/91 MIJ Precision over here attracted no bids at £125 – I had to stop myself from buying it. Mid 90s Korean Squiers are often ply-bodied; sound fine but ply 😳Going to stop now. Need to know what you think looks good, and what you want to play, muzakerly. Amps? IIRC, you have some nice valve amps. Keep the vol low then, maybe, get a bass cab. I can talk bass amps another time.
It’s very good to see you back here. I got evicted from the PC room once my son was old enough to barricade himself in but I had the idea to keep a little netbook handy in the lounge.
Tim still pops in but old chum LeeUK hasn’t reappeared. Knowing his ego and search engine, maybe it’d help if I type “Land are a great band” 😆
I notice I’m only one trivial post away from the 4,000 landmark 😯
The headstock logo for Chicago Musical Instruments can be seen in this auction for a typical, 80s-looking bass:
EDIT: just noticed this Cleartone, block logo LP copy is not bolt-on neck and could be a bargain with a bit of techwork:
1) Sometimes cheaper to replace the bass than the strings.
2) Playing jazz? Still a few years left in them strings.
🙂Good to see you back, with some gold again. Live busker shot – must be a first for the ‘ugly’ thread, surely?
Happy to help. I hope the link helps you get a good tone. If so, it would be great if you could post back here with an update so that anyone who does a similar search doesn’t have the trouble you’ve had to get the answer.
Best of luck 🙂
Can’t help you directly; a key part of EVH’s “brown sound” was to use a Variac to alter the potential difference of the mains voltage supplied but the Valvestate amps have a solid-state power section, so that’s unlikely to work.
You could try contacting a guitarist called Bash whose band “Flaming Monkey” plays VH amongst other stuff and he uses the same amp.
http://www.bandmix.co.uk/bash/
there is a “contact” button in the above link.
The picture would be helpful. AFAIK, genuine Gibsons did not have prominent reference to Chicago in the form of a CMI logo. Unfortunately, a lot of the image links here have died over the years but I should be able to load up the two styles of Cleartone and one type of Chicago CMI logos known to me and a pic of your logo should clear that up.
Just to let you know, Cleartone CMIs have varied from very ‘loose’ copies (incorrect, parts-box hardware and thin ply or nato bodies) to more convincing lookers right the way up to proper set-necks etc on the LPs and SGs. A very common mod, when I was a youngster in the 70s, for the fairly serious players was to buy the good Japanese copies (many argued, better made than the US realities of the 70s) and fit Dimarzios. No-naming the headstock was also common.
This Tele (from the start of the thread, IIRC) features what I consider to be the later Cleartone logo – as seen on their 1976-80 range of amps:
This bass logo has what I consider to be earlier Cleartones that tend to be less accurate (I have a very similar early 70s bass). Note the thinner, 3/8″ tuner shafts and mini keys. I doubt (but would be very interested) if a set-neck had this logo.
I can’t find, by searching, the CMI logo used by Chicago that I’ve seen usually on 80s, pointy guitars but I’ll recognise it on yours if I see it. If yours turns out to be one of the better Cleartones, you’ve still done well for £60.
Good to see you’re still announcing here, Dale. That is a great tutorial; patient, never assuming anything of the watcher, attention to detail yet the pace of the lesson doesn’t flag. Almost made me feel like I could play it – and that would be something.
Your son must be frighteningly old by now 😯 – still drumming?
