Gibson EBO. . . . .

Just got back from 'avin' a beer with a friend
of many years, who follows my blog.
"Why no mention of the EBO???"

I have a 1963 Gibson EBO, which I have had for
around 33 years!!
Next to a beautiful old 12 string I have, this
old bass is the one I have had longest.
Have I got any shots of it. . . . ??
No. Never really got round to it!
So, as soon as I am able to, I will get some pics
of the old fella.

There you go - short post, no pics, with a promise
of something different.

Cheers. :)

Ibanez RS 800. . . . . .

I had a lend of one of these and enjoyed playing it, so when
I found one. . . . Well, why not?
I don't have it anymore, after a couple of years ownership
and the fact that I have it's bigger brother, the 900, meant
that after having some fun with it, I it found a new home.

Roadster Basses are really nice! Nothing more to say - never
played a bad one.










Played one of my Sunburst T-40's last night - first rehearsal with
the mended hand. I felt not too bad - mainly three fingers. . . .
bass sounded great.

I think I will come to some of the guitars next time - still some
interesting Six Stringers in the collection.

The e.mails have gone a bit quiet - always nice to hear from fellow
owners, so if you fancy dropping me a quick line, it would be great
to hear from you.

contactflateric@gmail.com

Cheers. :)

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Cintioli Music. . . . . .

I keep coming across old photos and I thought I would share
this one with you.

I was in the USA a few years ago and one of the stops was
in Philadelphia PA, where I found this place.



http://www.cintiolimusiconline.com/index.php?do=page&id=74





Now, I've been to a few guitar shops in my time. . . . . . . .
but never seen anything like this!!!
Such a great place, really friendly people, who made us feel
really welcome.

If you visit their web site, click onto Customers Photos and scroll
across the thumbnails, you will see the extent of the shop.

Amazing!!!

Cheers. :)

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. :)