Hi to all my visitors. :)
This is my last entry for 2011 and 2012 may see me complete
the collection - there are lots more to come!!!
Bit of a delay since my last post - what with all that is going on
and Christmas, I have been a bit busy.
Cryer at The Asylum.
What a great night!!
The support was from a band called Quartz, who are now all in
their sixties, apart from the singer.
They Rock!! Brilliant show - would go and see them again.
Slightly odd to see Derek, one of the guitarists, looking like he was
off out to a meal but when the band struck up - powerful drums,
thumping bass, Jeff on guitar and keyboards (had something to do
with Sabbath, in his career) and clean crisp vocals, Derek launched
into some truly great shredding - Top Job!!
Quartz and Derek, doing their stuff!!
Cryer were just brilliant!!
Fez had given me a CD with some of their recordings on, which
was listened to a lot - So, when they got started, I knew all the songs!
All of it, just damn good "Brummy" Rock!
Solid, powerful, melodic - another one of those bands you see and think
how come they never stood alongside some of the more well known
Rock Bands??? You have to be in the right place at the right time!!
Simple as that!
Anyway, here are some of the pics I took, showing Fez and the Jaydee.
A truly great night.
If I have this correct - both bands are doing some recording, so
Watch this space!!
I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year and look forward to
seeing you again in 2012.
If you would like to drop me a line - telling me about your experience
of some of the instruments I have listed so far, or if you have any
questions, it would be great to hear from you. contactflateric@gmail.com
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Bonne Année
Guten Rutsch
Godt nytår
Feliz Año Nuevo
Felice Anno Nuovo
Feliz Ano Novo
akemashite omedetō gozaimasu
xīn nián kuài lè / gōng xǐ fā cái
Blwyddyn Newydd Dda
Athbhliain faoi Mhaise Duit
С наступающим Новым Годом
Selamat Tahun Baru
υτυχισμένο το Νέο Ετος
Gelukkige nuwe jaar
Щастлива Нова Година
helol alseneh aljedīdah
Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku
Quick Edit. Message from a regular in Finland - I missed out
the Finnish greeting, so Carl - Hi, this is for you and anyone
else in Finland. Onnelista hyvä vuotta. :)
Cheers. :)
If you have landed on this page and you want to go to the
latest post, go here:
Latest post.
Lots of interest in the Jaydee - really looking
forward to the gig on Friday. :)
Ibanez Musician
I have already listed the other one I have, some time ago
but this is the one I had first and for some reason have
never got round to taking any decent shots of it.
I can't say that this is a decent shot but for the time being,
this is all I have - taken at last weekends gig - it was, erm
- a bit compact in there but we had a great night.
Looks messier than it really was!!!
This one seems to have earned it's living and has a few
small battle scars but what a bass!!!!
If you ever get the chance of having a go on one, jump
at it, I'm sure you'll love it.
Passive, it sounds great - active, even better - so much
you can do with it.
Not too heavy, nice balance, just nice to play - very much
an "alive" bass, if you know what I mean.
Controls are Master volume, Master tone, Active/Passive
balance and Treble, Mid and Bass boost and cut.
So much fun.
Will get some good shots another time and show him in his
true glory.
Cheers. :)
Jaydee Bass Guitar. . . . . . .
With a difference!!
Eight on the top - Four on the bottom.
This is a unique Jaydee Twin Neck Bass Guitar, that is almost
34 years old!!
It was made by John Diggins - Jaydee, in 1978, as confirmed by John,
for Richard Ferriday of "Cryer" - a Birmingham based, that were
around in the late 70's and early 80's.
The serial number is 0027, making it, I believe, one of the first
few instruments that John made as Jaydee.
I bought it almost 3 years ago and have tried for some time
to track down the original owner.
After some digging around, I have now managed to find him
and he is still playing.
Richard Ferriday, or "Fez" was in the 70's band "Cryer", who were
very much a live act - pyrotechnics, the lot!!
The Twin Neck was gigged extensively until the band broke up
in the 80's, at which point Richard sold the bass.
According to my research, it surfaced several times and then
disappeared again.
After tracking down Richard, I found out, that as one of their band
members, Stuart, had passed away, they did a re-union gig last year
and they were were going to do another one this year.
Richard and his good lady met up with me, a meal was had with some
very nice beer - Mmmm, Very nice - and the Twin was was left for it
to be re-acquainted and rehearsed with by it's original owner.
The gig is at "The Asylum", Hampton Street, Birmingham, Friday
16th of December and the Twin will appear, with Fez, at the gig -
where it belongs - up there, rocking!!
http://www.theasylumvenue.co.uk/index.php
I'm not sure who is more excited!!!!!
Cryer were doing the circuit over 30 years ago, so it will be
great to see them in action again.
Lots more about Cryer on Facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cryer/458676295083
http://www.birminghamroundabout.co.uk/2009/cryer/
More to come about the Jaydee, how it came about and what
it is like to play, after I have been to the gig and seen the beast
in action.
Cheers, :)
For those who pop back on a regular basis, to what's new,
I have been a bit busy recently, so blog content has been
lacking a little. Sorry!
Anyway. . . . . as I only have a small amount of time today,
I will put up a couple of images, just to whet your appetite! :)
First up is a GUITAR!
Yes, it's true! For those who have mentioned there seems
to be a lot of basses but not many guitars, this is for you.
Burns Brian May Red Special. A lot more detail when I have
a bit more time.
At last, after several times of mentioning it, here is a pic
of my Jaydee Twin. What a truly great bit if kit!!
I managed to track down the original owner, who currently has
a loan of this beast and is rehearsing with it for a gig on the
16th December at The Asylum in Birmingham.
Lots more pics and details on the next posting.
Mmm, Very Nice!!
Back as soon as I can.
Cheers. :)
Just 17 weeks since I had hit the 20,000 hits landmark, another
10,000 visitors have dropped in.
10,000! That's 588 visitors a week!
To all of you who have dropped in, Hi. :)
To celebrate the occasion, I thought I would do a few more "Guess
what it is", as that created a bit of fun a couple of posts ago.
I you want to have a go, I'll be putting the answers up as soon as
someone gets all of them correctly, or after four weeks if no one
gets them all.
Answers to: contactflateric@gmail.com
Here's one to get you going. This one is to be listed as "Easy"
The rest of them are a little harder but they have all been featured
in the blog, so you may have to do a bit of research! :)
Look forward to reading your answers.
Cheers. :)
Rehearsal last night and I took the "Parkinson" which I have
covered before, in a previous post.
I still marvel at how good it sounds and how nice it plays, for
something that is clearly "Hand Made" - there has been no attempt
to disguise the fact that it was fashioned by someone making a
bass to play, without going into fancy detail.
The sound is so very close to a Ric - more so than the Precision it
is modelled on.
The pics in my previous post show it without strings, prior to being
set up and serviced. I will put some up as it is now, as soon as I can.
The Mystery Bass. . . . . . . . .
Yamaha SB500 "Super Bass".
Now, you don't see many of these!!
I've not played it for a few months, so next rehearsal it will have
an outing and I will do a feature on this rare, early Yamaha Bass.
Cheers. :)
Edit: Forgot to mention, no one got the correct answer!
Bit of fun I will repeat another time.
If you have landed on this page and you want to go to the
latest post, go here:
Latest post.
Went to London on Saturday night, to meet up with Peter
at the Venue! Great place!
What a great night!!
I have to confess that until I met Peter, I had never heard of July.
Having looked more deeply, they were rubbing shoulders with some
groundbreaking act of that time.
More pics of July here:
Pictures of July - Then and nowAbout JulyWhat really surprised me was the average age of the audience!!
There were a LOT of 21 to 28 year olds and the place was packed.
A lot of them were dressed in clothes of the period - 1963 to 69, at
a guess and even more surprising, when it came to the chorus lines,
it seemed like all of them joined in, knowing all the words. Amazing!
Peter play a modified Strat - he likes to keep it simple - one Vol and
one Tone. He is also a bit of a harmonica player. Nice!
Alan James did a sterling job on the bass, Chris Jackson at the back
with some great drumming, James Newman (Tom's son?) doing a
cracking job on the guitar, Charlie on bongos and keyboards, adding
to the myriad of sounds and up front, Tom Newman, who amongst
many things he has been involved in, co-produced Tubular Bells,
for Mike Oldfield.
Tom did a great job of setting the scene, almost to the point that if you
squinted, you were back in the 60's!!
He also brought out a couple of hand made electric Sitars.
What a great sound - really added to the atmosphere.
All in all, just a great night.
Because of how late it was, I only spoke to Peter for about ten minutes
but it was long enough to find out he has a lot of passion for July and
that they are working on more new material for an album that should
be out in the new year.
They played some of the new stuff, which went down very well.
That's about it - Peter and July - Something I would definitely travel
to see again.
Back next time with the solution to the mystery bass.
Cheers. :)
Just a quick entry today.
I am off to meet up with Peter Cook tomorrow,
who is gigging in London on Saturday evening.
Peter and July will be at The Venue, Great Portland Street.
I look forward to seeing him and hope to have a bit of a natter.
On the "Guess the Bass" item, on my previous post - so far I have
had various wrong answers, several that have identified the maker
but as yet. . . . . no correct answers on the make and model!
Come on, have a go!!
