The Last Bass Outpost

A guy at Höfner's told me they will release a new 500/5 President Bass in 2011! On the Facebook of Höfner a prototype of this bass was already seen being played by Klaus Voormann. It will be a Chinese Contemporary Series bass, so with the same price tag as the violin bass of that series.

I also asked if it would be some kind of Stu Sutcliffe tribute. They answered that it won't be the case. If they make one, it will be a German produced one. Does that mean they are considering that too?

Hi guys,

We are in the middle of recording some songs for a supposed album. You can find some very short ambience vids at http://vimeo.com/user3303554

We also demo'ed some songs. This ones called Song For Melanie. We weren't entirely happy, so we changed the solo, the pre-chrous is much shorter, the whole song is shorter, catchier, better, better guitar sounds, some new lyrics. Unfortunately I can only let you hear the old demo one, but we bought a very cheap cam and we shot a vid for it ourselves:) No help, no budget, half a day..  Hope you like it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_Bv6KIZrhs&feature=channel

Doug Fyghter hasn't returned. At the moment I'm very busy reviewing basses and amps, so I have some nice stuff at home, like an expensive Yamaha BB2024x, a Trace Elliot stack, an EBS combo, an Ibanez combo, two Ibanez basses and this Explorer bass, which I used for some gigs, some recordings and this vid. I thought it was rock 'n roll:) And very Doug Fyghter-ish:D

Kinks-bassist Pete Quaife passed away at 66. I was searching for him for years to ask some questions. Too late...

Love his playing.

A new article on Gibson.com

http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/pete-townshend-0519/

Today I bought the new British Guitar and Bass magazine. It's the one with 'Fender: The CBS Years' on the cover.

Every issue of this magazine Phil Harris (a very big UK instrument rental company) talks about some guitars and basses out of their collection. Last time all kinds of different ES335s from the beginning until now. Another time he gets his Teles or Burns out. Very interesting read.

This time he uses his two pages for Gibson basses. He talks (+ pics_ about:
- 1961 EB-3
- 1959 EB-2
- 1959 EB-0 (LP Doublecut)
- 1963 EB-0
- 1969 eb-2D

It's an interesting read. He talks about EB3s sounding good with thick strings (like Rob said in Barend's topic). His conclusion is that if you have a good EB3 and a modern amp, you don't want anything else.

Buy it if you see it in a shop.

Guys,

You know I have a Warwick Buzzard for a very low price. And I like it!:D
I don't have any deal with Warwick, though, so I mean this Star Bass story underneath, ha ha!

A couple of weeks ago I got a Warwick Star Bass as a review bass for Musicmaker magazine. It was a maple one with satin finish. Normally I am not into modern basses and Warwick wasn't high on my wish list (except for the Buzzard), but this one's very EB2-ish, passive, so I was very curious.

What a bass! I know it is expensive, but if you want a really good sounding and looking EB2-kinda bass, without the cons of a vintage instrument, this is the bass to go!
At first the bass is very well crafted. My reissue Rivoli looked like a toy, when compared to the Star Bass. It's very sturdy, longscale, well built and good looking. The satin finish gives the idea it's years old and the satin neck plays like a dream. The bass is all passive and the big chrome singlecoils do their job very well.
Soundwise it's very fat and warm, but it still has the typical Warwick growl. So it's vintage sounding, but not too woody or muddy. Vintage, with a modern touch. It still cuts through mixes. It was nice to play with at a La La Lies rehearsal, but it really suited the melodic Boilersuit lines. I never played a bass before that was so even sounding on al positions on the neck. Even the D and G strings were fat, sweet, ...
Loes and Bart normally don't say anything about a bass, only when I'm too loud. Both started talking about the sweet sound after two songs! I want one, but I won't buy one soon, ha ha! Very expensive!

The last couple of years only two basses sounded this sweet: The TV Jones equiped Gretsch White Falcon Bass and this one. Try one out if you see one around.

Hi guys, I need a little help.

A good friend can buy a Fender Jazz. The guy who sells it bought it second hand like 15 years ago and nobody knows if it's Japanese or US.

The serial nummer is V007200 and it's a stacked control Jazz '61 or '62 reissue. I searched on some sites. In 1996 there were Japanese basses with a V and six digits and maybe the guy is a bit wrong with his 15 years. The same site states there are Vintage USA reissues with V +6, but from 2000 and up.

Anyone?

Anybody seen It Might Get Loud? It's a new movie/documentary about the electric guitar with The Edge, Jack White and Jimmy Page.

Somewhere in the movie there's some footage about an old guitar store called Stuyvesant guitars. It's about The Edge buying his first Explorer, IIRC. In the shop window (remember, old footage) is an Explorer bass with one mudbucker! The one which is discusses a lot here.