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East Tennessee Talkbass

Morning everyone! Well, I finally found the bass I was looking for. She is crusty and has been neglected. Who do we have in the Kingsport, Bristol, JC area thats doing quality tech work? And do we have anyone that’s doing resto-refin work?

pic for attention.
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Yes
 
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Morning everyone! Well, I finally found the bass I was looking for. She is crusty and has been neglected. Who do we have in the Kingsport, Bristol, JC area thats doing quality tech work? And do we have anyone that’s doing resto-refin work?

pic for attention. View attachment 4275088Yes

Lovely! What exactly is it? And what's up with that end pin?!?

I don't know about restore/refin - I might also be interested in that if anyone has a recommendation. However, @Thumpin_P is my strong recommendation for high quality tech work. He's just down the road in Chuckey!
 
Lovely! What exactly is it? And what's up with that end pin?!?

I don't know about restore/refin - I might also be interested in that if anyone has a recommendation. However, @Thumpin_P is my strong recommendation for high quality tech work. He's just down the road in Chuckey!

MTD Kingston Andrew Gouche Signiture 5.

Like I said, this bass has not been well cared for and it has been played hard.

MTD will sell me new bridge, knobs, tuners because they all have rust on them and there are mosses growing too! Fret spooge is thick and green. End pin clearly stripped at some point. Instead of repairing it correctly they just drove the screw in at a different angle. Sealer is starting to peel. It’s not supposed to be gloss. Barrel jack needs to be replaced.

needs a thorough cleaning and hardware replaced. A really good set up as these things can set up super low if tech knows what they are doing. Wooden dowel glued in and re-drilled for the strap lock.
Looking for someone that really knows what they are doing. If I wanted a crap job I’d do it myself. :)
 
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It's been quiet here lately.....too quiet.....

Funny story, a "white whale" of sorts showed up today. I had been looking for the mythical Kern Ip 777 preamp since before I got on Talk Bass. Every time I would get a glimpse of one for sale, it was gone. One showed up in the classifieds here recently and without hesitating, I pulled the trigger.

It arrived with the power switch damaged from shipping. No biggie, I can likely find something similar and replace it. In my searches, I found out there was a fan page over on FB. Hurray! I excitedly like the group and post a pic, asking if anyone knows where I can find the OEM switch.

Then I start looking around.....the group only has 125 likes.......the last post was almost 2 years ago.....then I notice Les Plopa, (the guy whose name is on the front of the pre as having designed it) had posted to the group.....I look him up and the last time he posted anything on FB was 3 years ago.....

In a way I feel like the guy who just bought the last working Magnavox 8 track player in existence.....furthermore, it was to be installed in his '77 Chevy Vega wood paneled station wagon, but the aluminum cylinder heads just cracked in half.

*EDIT*
One of the things I learned over on that board is there were only ever about 200 of them manufactured. Les was "gearing up" to start making them again according to a post several years ago, but like I mentioned he has gone quiet.

So, a dead FB group with 125 likes for a unit that only ever manufactured 200 is pretty good I guess.


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Well I am glad I’m not the only East Tennessean who went on a Kern quest. Took about 7 years to find one for me.View attachment 4285209

That looks completely different than the IP series and lines up with what someone with another BP 777 had to say about it. So these are much rarer than the IP (at around 15 units produced according to Les Plopa)

Very, very nice!
Kern IP-777
 
As an owner of 1RU preamps in the past (and present), I must say I am envious, you two! Those are such coveted tube preamps!

Something I didn't know until I started digging around, but Les was a doubler, and that makes so much sense after messing around with the pre. I'm going to take it to church and A/B it with my Demeter vtbp 201 next week (provided I find that switch), and I'm already pretty sure I know which one is coming back home with me.
 
That’s interesting, I didn’t know he was a doubler but I can totally get it now. I wasn’t sure how many of the BP-777s were made. I had always used the Alembic preamps then heard a Kern and started the chase soon after. I honestly haven’t got to spend much time with it since I got it but really is a nice pre.
 
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What the heck is a doubler?

Someone who plays both electric AND upright. Back in olden recording session days, you could get "paid double" if you brought both to a session and used them. I'm supposing that's where the term comes from. (applied to sax players too, tenor+alto, etc.)
 
There used to be (and likely still are) preamps that let you set a gain signal for your electric and one for your upright so you will have the same FOH volume no matter which instrument you play. And then there is the line out master knob:
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That makes it so easy to get your upright more in the mix on the fly.

I think it's been referred to as the axxhole knob by FOH sound engineers, but I don't see many of those....

Engineers, I don't see many engineers lol.....
 
Someone who plays both electric AND upright. Back in olden recording session days, you could get "paid double" if you brought both to a session and used them.

They did in the past, but nobody on our level gets paid double anymore for hauling an upright around as well as an electric and amp setup, so why even bother with traveling with an upright? (I drive a Prius these days, and couldn't get an upright in the back if I had to.)

Jeff E.. I just laugh at theatre music directors who want "real" upright bass and then they are not playing a real piano, just some damn synthesizer rhrough some crappy KB amp. That's such BS.. what say you? I've seen that so many times.

You can't get a full string section sound in a show from one upright bass with a bow.. doesn't work like that.

I lost a gig this coming July because my regular music director suddenly decided she wanted an upright bass for Invalid Link Removed she's MD'ing in Knoxville. This, after using me on many shows that have arco/upright parts and she was okay with me playing electric/fretless/whatever. Who Knows? and.. "Whatever." It will be in that Old City PAC space in Knoxville which does not have an acoustic piano, they are pretty low budget there.

It's Memday, trying to have a mellow evening in spite of all that, and succeeding! Hoping all you ETTB'ers are, also. Raising my glass to all my brethren! Let's get together, soon!

Anybody playing Rockin' the Docks in Lenoir City? Anybody gigging elsewhere this Memday weekend?
 
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Awesome..............the feature that sets FOH levels the same. I am a doubler, and let me tell you.....that is an awesome function....also....putting an upright 3/4 size Englehardt bass in a 1972 Dodge Charger is not impossible if you dont mind the the neck/body coming between the bucket seats and the headstock sticking out the window! Then you have a trunk big enuf for an SVT head, and a 410 cab! Many comments (good and bad) are heard while unloading this.