All the King's Horses. . . . .

I came across this, a few days ago - It was something I sent to someone
after I described one of my basses as a "Road Warrior".

This was by way of an explanation and I must have saved the document.

When I worked in a music shop in the '70's, me and my mate had a rating
scale for guitars, in sort of a code.


A "Liz" was Untouched (as in the Virgin Queen) - Often bought as a whim,
pulled out the case and strummed a couple of times and then shoved under
the bed!


A "Fox" was Mint (as in Glacier) - Something that had been used but VERY
well looked after.


An "Annie" (as in Hard Knock Life) - was something that had worked for a
living, not abused but various dings and genuine wear.


A "Road Warrior" was something that had probably been around the world
several times and seen some hard graft but still very playable.


The last category was split into two.


A "Kings Horse" (as in all the Kings Horses etc.) - was something that would
have been a good instrument at one time but has seen so much action/abuse
there would have been little to salvage.
A "Plank" is as above but was never any good when new and has got worse.



As far as acoustics went, an "Albert" (as in Hall) - was a good one and a
"Shed" - Well you can guess for yourself!

Quick post for today, back soon with another one of the collection.

Cheers. :)

Peavey T-40 and Fathers Day. . . . .

Hi to anyone who lands on here today.Sun is out after a lot of rain over here!!

Fathers day, today and I'm off out for a walk, followed by a couple
of pints of real ale! Nice!
So, just a quick post of shots of one of my T-40 Peavey basses, which
is another one of those that I have recently found.

Thought these looked quite good, so if you love the look of a T-40,
cast your eyes over this one.






Cheers. :)

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Sore hand and some Fender Pictures. . . . .

For those of you who read my ramblings, a few posts back I mentioned
an issue with my left hand.
Operation now done and I am left with a sore hand! Ouch!
Not played anything for a week, so looking forward to a speedy recovery.

Typing is a bit slower than normal, so I won't write much today.

Found some more older images, so thought I would stick these up.

None of these are as red as they look - Fiesta Red is a little more pink.
This is the unholy trinity, as someone was called them.
All Fender Japan, all nice basses.




The one on the left is no longer with me but the other two are still going
strong and get exposed to some noodling every now and again.

I'll leave it there and give my hand a rest.

Cheers. :)

Peavey Zodiac. . . . . .

Peavey Zodiac!
Body, neck, two pick-ups, tuners and strings etc. . . .
A neat package - just a nice bass.








These are great basses to play.
This one was my "Fireside Bass" for at least 6 months.
"Fireside" because as well as having a great sound plugged in
to my Tascam BT, it has also got a great sound unplugged.
Bright and plenty loud enough to here it along with the TV.

Some decent tune comes on the TV, grab the bass and play
along to it, hoping to get the basics nailed.

It came with the std black pick guard but I managed to get
another one, which I think looks so much better.

Jazz type neck, nice balance, great feel.
The position of the back pick-up has been criticised and on
it's own, it is a bit harsh but blend it in with the other one,
it adds a cutting edge.


Index time.
As I have mentioned before, I have been asked if I could index
the features and had a go a few weeks ago.
No one has come back and said that with their browser it doesn't
work, so I assume it does.
So, here goes. . . . .
Back to the begining

The Story Continues
Keyboards killed the Guitar Stars
T-40, Chip Todd, Ibanez Twin, Ovation Breadwinner & Viper, Peter Cook
Aria Laser, Ibanez Blazer, Peavey T-60, Westone Rail, RD Artist, Kay, Parkinson
Ibanez 2626B Artist, RB 650 RS 900,SR900, Aria Basses, Fender Urge1, Reeve Twin, Peavey T-60
Status Groove & Shark, Hohner G3T, Hondo Professional, Doug Wilkes, Ibanez ST 824, Fender Jazz 62

Chalky, Kimbara Ripper, Peavey T40, Speedster, Ibanez SB-70, Gordy Headless
Columbus Tele Bass, Ibanez MC924DS, Aria SB600
Guild B301-F, Aria SB-R60, Peter Cook - Guitar Builder, Luthier & Musician


That should do for now.

Drop me a line on:

contactflateric@gmail.com
Cheers. :)

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latest post, go here:
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CMI Artist Model Fretless. . . . . . .

I have had this for some time but lent it to a friend on a long
term loan and only realised how nice it was when I got it back,
around Christmas time.









I had lent it out as it was, which could best be described as "well used",
with a couple of minor issues - pots slightly loose and needing a damn
good clean up.
When I got it back, that's exactly what I did.

I have never seen another one like this, although I have seen loads of
other CMI Guitars and Basses, so I asked Jon for his input.

Hi Eric,

Good to see some pics of this one, very classy old bass!

I think it's a late 70s copy, looks pretty accurate to me - in fact apart

from the logo & MIJ plate the only thing that would immediately ID it as

a copy is the 7-screw bridge.

Am I right in thinking it's a single-piece neck too, rather than having a

glued-on fretboard?

Anyway, the problem with later MIJ copies is that the more accurate

they got the harder it is to tell them apart, and CMI sourced from several

different factories.

This makes it pretty awkward to stick my neck out & name a factory!

Can you tell if the brass nut's original?

Certainly never seen this on a copy before but if it is original that would

definitely put it at late 70s, wherever it's from.

Neckplates are as always the best clue, and I can say it's not Matsumoku.

I think the bass is likely 76 - 78, and Mat plates would have either the factory

or a Steel Adjustable Neck stamp, as well as a dateable serial number by

this point. Probably.

Plates stamped on the lower half like this were very commonly used on
Fujigens - prior to the introduction of serials in late '75 they were all like this,
and I think non-serial plates were still used on the more generic off-brand
instruments.

So Fujigen's a possibility if not a certainty.

A few other factories (not all of which have been specifically identified!) used
this style of plate so the only way of making a 100% positive ID would be to
find an identical bass with a brand with a known origin.

Personally I'd love to be able to compare this to say, an Ibanez Silver/Challenger

Series of the equivalent Antoria - with enough attention to detail you could work

out if the neck, body & routing had used the same templates or CNC settings.

Anyway, I'm inclined to say it might well be a Fujigen build - I'll have a dig & see

if I can find some comparable Ibanez, Antoria or Greco basses from the same

approximate era.

It is surprisingly nice to play, has a great feel and a great fretless
sound, with me doing the best I can on an unmarked board.
It also has that "old school" feel to it, like something you would find
leaning on an old amp in a blues club, while the owner went out for a
smoke and another swig of Jack Daniel's.
Love it to bits.
This CMI reminds me a lot of my Hondo Professional.

Hondo Professional

After Jon kindly sent me the info, I came across this a few days ago,
which shows a great deal of interest in CMI, from certain quarters.

http://www.guitarsite.com/hotlicks/about1657-0-asc-0.html

One of the posts - SteveShark - tells of how he is a friend of Jim
Marshall's son, Terry, so I guess what he had to say was almost from
the horses mouth.

And finally. . . . . I went to have a look at one of my watchers sites,
which is in it's early days but has already got some great stuff on it.
Well worth a look.

http://torchsvintageguitarresearchblog.blogspot.com/

Anyway, that's all for now.

Back next time with something different.

Cheers. :)

Fender PB70-US/ASH, as it's officially known. . . . . .

I have an on/off thing with Precision Basses - I will play one until
my fingers are sore and when finished, will be wearing a large smile
and then, for some reason, won't pick one up for ages, choosing
something else instead.









I got this when I was on the hunt for a Black PB70, a few years back
and couldn't find one, so when I spotted this. . . . well, I just had to. :)
One owner, a guy from the USA, living in London - used it for recording
and I was told it had been very lightly used, as you can see from the
almost new condition.

This is the Ash one, making it slightly heavier than the Alder versions
and has a lovely sharp tone, fitted with DR strings.
This model has a nut width that is more narrow at only 40mm, which
is an in between size for Fender - Jazz 38mm Precision 42mm.
A cracking Precision Bass that is a joy to play.

My other current favourite is a white PB70, that has been round the block
a few times - Badass bridge and cream DiMarzio pick-up, making it all very
70's - will do that one another time.


Welcome to Jason, my latest Watcher - he has a very good blog on Aria Pro II.
Well worth a visit.

http://ariabasses.blogspot.com/

Back next time with something different and the start of my "Link to the past"
directory links, so wherever you land on this blog, you can explore other posts.

Cheers. :)

Links to the past. . . . .

Hi to all of you out there.

I have had several e.mails, asking if I can put some links to
the older posts, sort of a directory.

I have attempted this in the past but not managed to sort
it, without having a massive URL sprawling across the page. :(

Anyway, I think this will do the trick and if it seems to work
OK, I can then put a directory at the bottom of each post,
so that if you are looking for Status Shark - Reeve Twin -
Greco Ric - Ovation Viper, etc, you can click onto the link.
Simples. :)


Peter Cook, Guitar Builder and Musician

Back to the begining

The Story Continues

Keyboards Killed The Guitar Stars

More T-40.

T-40, IbanezTwin, Ovation, Peter Cook Axis

So, click away and if I don't hear from anyone, I'll assume that
it works on all browsers.

Any problems, drop me a line.

contactflateric@gmail.com

More Fender coming soon.

Cheers. :)

Fender Jazz and Peavey Foundation, fretless. . . .

I have a Yamaha RBX 270FL, which I haven't done yet.

I bought it new - Yes I know, not something you hear from

me very often but I was in a city centre and saw a music shop.

Like most of them these days, it is now closed down!

I wandered in to see what they had and most of it was just

the usual run-of-the-mill stuff, apart from the Yam.

After half an hour of Shall I, Shan't I, a deal was down and

I was out the door!

I will come back to the Yamaha, later on but it was what got

me into lined fretless, as my prowess on a blank board is

not something to envy - I get by and I enjoy the challenge

but it is not something I would like recorded!! :)

Anyway, back to the plot.

I bought the Fender Jazz, some time ago and had lots of fun

with it but not long after, I managed to get hold of a Peavey

Foundation and being a big Peavey fan (must do another T-40

soon!) I thought I would give it a go.

I soon found myself playing the Peavey a lot and after so much

previous attention, the Fender was left feeling a bit lonely!

The Jazz is a great bass and I was very impressed by the quality

of the components and the build, lovely to play but I kept reaching

for the Peavey, so after a couple of years of this, I decided to let

the Fender go to a new home.

The Peavey foundation, like a lot of USA Peavey instruments of that

period, is often overlooked but if you manage to get your hands on

one, that has been loved and set up correctly, it will bring a smile

to your face.

Nice weight and balance, lovely neck - very comfortable and the

Super Ferrite pick-ups are brilliant.

When I'm in the mood, I stick on my Tascam BT, pop some

headphones on, bit of chorus and compression and stick something

like Paul Young's, "Where ever I lay my hat" and I'm well away.

If you spot one, or the fretted version - grab it. . . . . before I do. :)

EDIT: I knew I had seen this somewhere - Quote from a fellow owner.

A Foundation with Super Ferrites is a bass that can hang with even
the best Seventies Jazzes, IMHO.
I cannot imagine a better four string bass

As I have had a few e.mails saying "how come you don't have many

Fenders", next time - another Fender!

Cheers. :)

Any input, info, questions you may have - drop me a line.
Always great to hear from fellow owners, players and
collectors.

contactflateric@gmail.com

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