The Last Bass Outpost

I also agree with PBG's comparison of SVTs vs. 400PSs--I've got an old SVT, an old V-9 (the 300 watt guitar counterpart to the SVT) and a recent SVT-300 (tube amp only, no preamp stage) running with an Alembic SF-2 & an F-1X).  All sound different to my ears...I do like the 400 PS.  Unlike a Bassman, note that the "Normal" channel is like the the "Vibrato" channel of a 60s blackface Twin Reverb with reverb, speed, and intensity controls (uses the same footswitch of a Twin, as well).

Amazing--I have one just like it, also with the Lipham Music badge.  I got it for way less, though--either $250 or $350 (don't remember which) at the 2010 Orlando Guitar Show.  Here it is, just photographed here at Chez Feces...I mean Chez Elig:



Another bit of Oakley amp harmonic convergence: in '70 we shared a 4 set bill with the Bros.--we played  sets 1 & 3 & they played sets 2 & 4.  The acoustics in the club sucked big time, so after set 2 the Allmans proposed that they reconfigure the amp setup in order that sets 3 & 4 sound could be improved.  So, I played through Berry's amp & our guitarist (we just had one) played through Duane's--Berry & the sound guy tweaked the knobs as I was noodling around on my bass getting ready for set 3.  Very nice guys, plus they had gallons of Thunderbird and Bali Hi cheap wines.  Since my memory was dimmed by the Bali Hi, I don't remember what amp Berry brought, I vaguely remember it to be a Sunn rig.

I've not messed with mine very much.  It's a pain to tune & even more to keep in tune...the wooden pegs are the same friction pegs as on a traditional sitar...chalk helps but still tuning is a touchy deal.  Also, I'm always worried about breaking a string...I'm not sure it all sitar strings have a ferric component that are needed with the magnetic pickups.  I've not yet tried electric guitar strings to see how compatible they might be for installation.

I've got a Jerry Jones & a Raja Zeetar.  The Zeetar was made in Japan in the '60s and was designed around the traditional sitar.  I had mine restored in the late '90s & really have not used it much...the gourd bodies on these things are fiberglass, not a real gourd.  They have seven main strings & a series of sympathetic strings running under the arched frets.  When I had mine restored, I had the screw mounted arched frets removed & replaced with tie-on frets.  I also had it set up in E to E guitar tuning with the 7th fret being an additional high E running next to the low E.  The electronics are stereo, so that you can split off the sympathetic strings & send to another amp.

I've got one of these--my guitar player has a shop in Ft. Myers, Florida & when he first got one in a couple of years ago he called me because he knows I like the odd ones.  I bought it & took it home & realized that it that the pickups had some issues--he sent it back, & got another that looked like it should have been a second or a third, at best.   A misplaced side dot (how would that have happened $$) was covered over with opaque stain, plus a few other cosmetic issues) and it had a pickup selector toggle and a master volume & tone instead of the two volume pots & tone on the production basses--not a big thing, but it was not what I wanted.  This one sounded & played great, but it should have been maybe used as a demo & not for retail sale as a factory new bass.  That one went back & the next one that came in had at one of the fret positions a crescent of maple and rosewood board had been grafted in, apparently to fix some damage before it left the factory and some other cosmetic issues that should have also made this a second or third.  That one never got sent back, but my guitarist got in another one that was perfect.  However, by this time I was frustrated & got my money back.  About a year later, I got a really great deal on the imperfect one that didn't get sent back.  I use it frequently because it is light weight, it plays & sounds great as well.  The rest of the band loves its sound & the way it sits in the mix.  The neck on mine is not excessively wide--not as wide as a Precision--it is very comfortable to me.

If they could have gotten their quality control & consistency together, they would have had a winner IMHO.   The pickups are great.

Quote from: ilan on March 08, 2011, 10:48:31 PM
4005 Jetglo - great color for 4005s IMHO. $13,500 starting bid.

It's hard to be sure, from the photos, but it looks as though the bridge is not original--it looks identical to the bridge (also not original) that is on my '66 4005 WB--larger saddles, thumbwheels for bridge height adjustment, etc.  Again, I might be wrong, but that's the way it looks on my monitor.

Here's mine for comparison:

Quote from: leftybass on March 20, 2009, 12:01:40 PM
For my gig my faves are:
Come Together
Hey Bulldog
Day Tripper
I Saw Her Standing There

Yes, to all of those.   When I'm checking a bass's intonation--or, my own intonation on a fretless--I like to do both of the basses on "Walk on the Wild Side"; "Silly Putty", or the guitar hook from "3rd Stone From the Sun"--i.e. the root on the 4 & the 3rd on the 1.

I also like to roll a G pentonic around the neck a la "Tighten Up" or the Beatles "Two of Us".  Start off low on the E string & then roll it up to the octave G on the A string.  Either of those make me smile every time.

Willie Dixon's original line on "Backdoor Man" and the guitar patterns to the Beatles "I Feel Fine" are also smile inducers.

Quote from: Barklessdog on March 28, 2009, 04:48:56 AM
I dont think I can ever except anyone else as the three Stooges, although I did enjoy the mini series awile back (by Mel Gibson?) about their story. That was pretty insightfull

I remember that one, too.  I was never a Stooges fan--although I'm well entrenched in the demographic--but for me, the press around this latest remake is going to be great, much better than the movie itself could ever be.  What would be better, IMHO, would be to go with Moe & Larry as cast, but for the Curly role they should do as a CG character, along the lines of the Hulk. The idea of this movie is so dada that they might as well go full bore to the total ludicrous.

I've had a bunch of these over the years--right now I have a Bodine (antediluvian version of the Eagle) & a shorthorn Mockingbird.  This time I'm hanging on the them.  The necks on every one that have owned are consistently wonderful. 

When speaking of bass backbones & Love in the same thread, I'm surprised that "7 and 7 Is" wasn't mentioned.  That was one of the songs that really impressed upon me what a bass can do to a song.  "Rain" by the Beatles, along with the other side of the 45: "Paperback Writer" were also totally bass driven (BTW wasn't that like the 1st 45 that was released with two "A" sides?), oh, and "Lady Madonna", etc. etc.  Don't forget Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" & "Tighten Up" by Archie Bell & the Drells.  I always feel compelled to point out how much the bass serves as the backbone in Jimi Hendrix's stuff--e.g. "Manic Depression" & "Fire".  Sometimes I think that the basslines that Jimi composed (& often played on the recordings) were nearly as much a legacy as his guitar work.

"Fresh Garbage" is one of the tunes that I run through just about every day to check my tuning & when I check out a new bass.  Very cool to know that the 360 had a connection with that song.

Reminds me of a Medium Sulfer-crested Cockatoo, Sydney, that I used to own--very sweet bird, but she never had her wings clipped nor did she like to have her toenails trimmed.  Her vet recommended that we leave her wings unclipped, but of course we did need to trim the old talons.  After a couple of really traumatic (for all parties) toe trimming session--we were pleased to see a bird and tropical fish shop open nearby & offer reasonably-priced nail & wing clipping services for parrots. 

So, I took Sydney in to the shop & one guy took her into the backroom to work on her.  Very shortly, he asked for his partner to help him out.  I watched through the door to the backroom & watched as one guy tried to pin Sydney down with a towel over her head as she was screaming & beating him with her wings while the other guy tried to unclench her feet.  Sydney managed to free her head and bit a finger on the guy holding her down.  When I say "bit" his finger, I mean she laid about half of his finger open and there was blood (his) all over the place. 

Sydney ended up not getting her toenails trimmed that day & within the month, the shop was only doing tropical fish.

Quote from: PhilT on February 19, 2008, 11:28:38 AM
Naah nah nah etc - I can do that bit.

Good point...I was doing that at age 2.   

At age 3 that kid remembers more of the lyrics than I do....& probably sounds better than me, too.