Friday 26 August 2011

Electra, Yamaha, Aria, Seiwa, Ovation, Jaydee, Guild. . . . . . .

Friday again!

Just a quick post today - no pics, sorry!!

For anyone who is eagerly waiting for the feature on the Jaydee
Twin Neck, sorry - I really must got round to collating the info.

There are loads more to come, I just can't get round to getting any
decent shots - finding the time and getting the right type of light!

So, I thought I would whet your appetite and run through a few
that are perhaps next on the list.

Electra Outlaw - Mmm, Nice!
Yamaha SB500 - So "Old School Yamaha!
Yamaha BX-1 - So different for Yamaha!
Seiwa Jazzman - So rare, never seen another like mine!
Aria: Still to come - SB 1000, SB1000 MkII, CSB450 SB900, Elite 1
SB-R60 (the other one) YS 500 and a few others lurking in their cases.
Brian May Red Special and it's twin Brother!
Ovation Magnum - For the Jah Wobble and Kim Gordon fans!
Guild B-301 - Mahogany, fretted!
Kay Hatchet - Tiny little thing!
Doug Wilkes - The other one, Fretless!
Peavey T-60 - Way too many of these but I just love them!
Peavey T-40 - More of them to come, as well as Project T-40!
etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc!!!!

Anyone with an interest in any of the above, drop me a line - let
me know about yours, what you think of it.
Always keen to hear from other owners.

contactflateric@gmail.com

See you next time.

Cheers. :)

Sunday 21 August 2011

Fender Urge, AcoustiPad and Project T-40. . . . . .

After all the instruments I have covered, some rare and some
unique, the feature on Peter Cook and all my other ramblings,
it still fascinates me why the Fender Urge feature gets hit every
day, several times!

I had this for some time, enjoyed it and then decided to let it go.
I wish I had kept it now!
Maybe I missed something - don't think I did.
One thing is for sure, it had a great sound and with the 32" scale,
was very fast to play.

Anyway, for all you Urge fans, here's a couple more shots of the beast!





I am going to dig out some others and post them up later.

Here is a link to the first post I put up.
As you will see, it was nothing fancy, it was just a standard post
but for some reason, there must be an awful lot of players that
are interested in the old fella.

http://flatericbassandguitar.blogspot.com/2010/09/fender-urge-1-stu-hamm.html


Acoustipad!

Well, that's what I call it.

I have covered this in a previous post, so this is an update.





Like most musicians, you always want to sound you best when
playing live.
Sometimes it doesn't work!

Wooden stages cause all sorts of issues and after one particular
"boomy" gig, I decided I would have to do something about it.
The are stock, off the shelf items that insulate your cab from
the stage. The standard one was too small and the larger one
was a little over sized.

So, I bought the correct Platfoam and made my own, for not
much money and not much time.

Tried it a couple of weeks back.

Does it work?? YES, it does, very well! Very pleased with it.
It does a very good job of separating the bass frequencies from
the stage and gives a much better projection of the sound you
hope the audience will hear. Result!


Project T-40 is still on the go - I have decided that as this is
a Project, I am going to go with a middle pick-up option.
Still trying to figure out the wiring but I'm sure I'll get it sorted.
Will keep you posted.

See you next time.

Cheers. :)


Friday 12 August 2011

Vicar's T-40. A Peavey in Punk!!. . . . . . . .


Another T-40?? Yep!

This all started off with this:

Hi all. I have a renewed interest in the T-40 thanks to posts and
pics by Flat Eric.

My name is Kirk Matthews and I was the founder member and
bass player in the 1970's Punk Rock band "The Vicars"
based on
Canvey Island, Essex, England.


He had seen some of my ramblings about the Peavey T-40 and
was very keen to get his hands on one of the same period.
I do have a '79 Natural, which is what his was but mine is
staying with me.
A friend of mine and a fellow T-40 player, had lusted over one
of my other T-40's, for far too long and I finally gave in.
I took his as part of the deal, so although I only had it for a very
short period of time, it was still mine for a while, so gets a mention.

It is now with Kirk, a very happy Vicar.

This is Kirk, in action - back in the days of Punk Rock.



I just love see pics of instruments being played in their era.

This is how it left me. . . . . . . .



These were taken by The Bass Playing Vicar, once it was in his hands.







Sweet!!


A few words from The Vicar.

Here is a beaut' that I have just got from Flat Eric.
Cant thank the guy enough............
This baby sounds as bright as she looks......... I'm well made up.

http://www.myspace.com/vicarsthe

3 songs on the myspace site were recorded using the T-40.
"I'm Going Mad" (NOT the Alf version) "Simple Minded" and
"Come Back"

I was 19 years old and they were recorded in 1980.

Result!!

Another Peavey T-40 player back in the fold!


Project T-40 will resume shortly - need to make final decisions
on how complex or simple the electrics will be. . . . . . . .

See you next time.

Cheers. :)


























Monday 1 August 2011

Post One Hundred and One - Project T-40 - To Infinity & Beyond. . . . . .

Hi to all out there.

I thought that for the start of the next 100 posts, I would do
something a bit different.

Project T-40.

I have had the "victim" for several years but had it hiding in a
corner, as it wasn't quite what I thought it would be!

Long ish story but it goes something like this.

I already had this one - Maple neck.




Then one of the same period came up for sale, with a Rosewood
finger board - bit of a rarity, in T-40 Land!
So, with the images looking good, I decided to do the deal.
To be fair, I don't think the guy who was selling it knew much
about it, so no sour grapes there.

When it arrived, I could see that it had had a light coating of
hand brushed varnish!! Oh Dear! Disappointment!
Nothing major, no huge drips but it was quite obvious closer
up, as some of it was starting to peel off the neck.
I will say at this point, there was none on the board and none
on the face of the head - thank goodness!
So, not keen on playing it, as I had several others in prime
condition, it sat there.

A few weeks back, I plugged it in and played it.
Nice, very nice - even with the varnish on the neck.
Then, in a fit of madness, I thought I would not only restore
it but make it Better, Faster, Stronger. . . . "$6,000,000 Man!!"

So, I stripped it down, carefully bagging up the components and the
proceeded to sand the varnish off the neck, very carefully.
I am now down to a "flatted" original finish.









The body is in good condition and I don't think it will take much
to get the hand painted finish off.







You can just see some of the brush marks, just below the ferrules.



The pick-ups will be re-used but as I am going for wiring
modification, I will carefully remove all the circuit and store it
somewhere safe.
I think the scratch plate will also be put to one side, as I will
probably get a new one for the project.





As Chip Todd advocates cutting the red wire, to let the pick-ups
show their true light as a Humbucker, I shall include this feature.

I also love the Single Coil sound, so I am going to fit Push/Push pots,
in order to select coils and go to full Humbucker.
I am going to call this mod a "Toddification!"

Also thoughts of adding a Stereo feature.

Finally thought on the addition of a third, central pick-up but I'm
not entirely sure about this and may not see it through.
The reason for the thought? I have a T-45 and the position of the
pick-up is in a "Sweet Spot"

The centre of the nearest coil to the bridge on a T-45 is 80mm
from the edge of the bridge - a central one on the T-40 would
have the centre of the nearest coil at 90mm. Mmm?

The T-45 has a different circuit to the T-40, could something
like that be a benefit?



Mmmm, a lot to think about!

In the meantime, here is the patient!!



Back next time with more on Project T-40 and "other stuff"

Cheers. :)