From Garry Beers / INXS / AshenMoon.. Re Chris Squire..

[Tim de Martino]

I'll lay odds the Greco will win.. Mine sounded amazing on arrival- so much better than my 74 4001.. The only reason I swapped out the pickups with a Horseshoe/ Toaster was to replicate a "Squire"..

Yeah same here, the Greco sounds hands down more Rick...

My 74 arrived with a seymour duncan in the rear (which is how it sounded haha!) and a hi gain neck which was okay. Replaced with Retrovibe hi gain copies, it sounds better but still not awesome. I'm tuned CGDA so there's a bit of wool on the low string but I set it all up with custom Newtones so maybe further experimentation required....

Greco completely awesome straight away. Might just swap the truss covers and be done with it!

 

[woodyng2]

I have to be honest- I've never heard of this album.. It's a great new surprise !..
Australia is not huge on Christmas music- It's summer there. !
Funny thing tho- I was asked 2 years in a row - 2019 / 2020. to be a judge on a Christmas Carollers contest- which ended up being fun as I obviously had no idea about Carols- they really don't exist on OZ. We're all at the beach !!

Glad to have brought the album to yours (and Spiritbass’) attention!
Love the idea of going to the beach in December! It’s been in the mid 60’s Fahrenheit here in Portugal,
but the Atlantic is still (too) cold!

 

[garrybeers]

I'm on the fence re swapping the truss rod cover.. I have a Ric one but I do love everything that Greco has done so I might leave it. I have collected Japanese guits over the years- the Japanese Fenders are better than most Fenders of the time and have aged perfectly, Greco has made some great guits- I have a 70 Greco Gold Top that is very real feeling- I had a 57 Gold Top back in the day, I try not to think about why I don't have it today.. The Greco Gold top is a very real replica. Also have a Greco small bodied 335 (336?) from 80 or so- Sounds very Malcolm Young like.. I also had a Greco copy of an Ibanez 2 pickup neck thru Musician bass and the companion 6 string- weird to have a Japanese copy of a Japanese but seemed like a good idea at the time..

 

[jcburn]

I'm on the fence re swapping the truss rod cover.. I have a Ric one but I do love everything that Greco has done so I might leave it. I have collected Japanese guits over the years- the Japanese Fenders are better than most Fenders of the time and have aged perfectly, Greco has made some great guits- I have a 70 Greco Gold Top that is very real feeling- I had a 57 Gold Top back in the day, I try not to think about why I don't have it today.. The Greco Gold top is a very real replica. Also have a Greco small bodied 335 (336?) from 80 or so- Sounds very Malcolm Young like.. I also had a Greco copy of an Ibanez 2 pickup neck thru Musician bass and the companion 6 string- weird to have a Japanese copy of a Japanese but seemed like a good idea at the time..

Interesting that Greco made their own version of a Musician bass. I've owned 2 Musician basses over time. They are very well made and sound unique to my ears. I actually don't know why I didn't keep one of them.
Do you still own the Greco Musician style bass @garrybeers ?

 

[Wood and Wire]

I'm on the fence re swapping the truss rod cover.. I have a Ric one but I do love everything that Greco has done so I might leave it. I have collected Japanese guits over the years- the Japanese Fenders are better than most Fenders of the time and have aged perfectly, Greco has made some great guits- I have a 70 Greco Gold Top that is very real feeling- I had a 57 Gold Top back in the day, I try not to think about why I don't have it today.. The Greco Gold top is a very real replica. Also have a Greco small bodied 335 (336?) from 80 or so- Sounds very Malcolm Young like.. I also had a Greco copy of an Ibanez 2 pickup neck thru Musician bass and the companion 6 string- weird to have a Japanese copy of a Japanese but seemed like a good idea at the time..

It was only years after the fact that I noticed both Lou Barlow, and Bruce Foxton had used Ibanez copies (as well as real Ric's).

If I'd only noticed that at the time, my younger self wouldn't have felt so self conscious about playing a copy - as stupid as that sounds

 

[RedVee]

I'm on the fence re swapping the truss rod cover.. I have a Ric one but I do love everything that Greco has done so I might leave it. I have collected Japanese guits over the years- the Japanese Fenders are better than most Fenders of the time and have aged perfectly, Greco has made some great guits- I have a 70 Greco Gold Top that is very real feeling- I had a 57 Gold Top back in the day, I try not to think about why I don't have it today.. The Greco Gold top is a very real replica. Also have a Greco small bodied 335 (336?) from 80 or so- Sounds very Malcolm Young like.. I also had a Greco copy of an Ibanez 2 pickup neck thru Musician bass and the companion 6 string- weird to have a Japanese copy of a Japanese but seemed like a good idea at the time..

Just leave it Greco I reckon.

BTW I better look for one of those 335s, I’d rather my guitar playing sounded like Malcolm Young’s than my playing

 

[garrybeers]

Glad to have brought the album to yours (and Spiritbass’) attention!
Love the idea of going to the beach in December! It’s been in the mid 60’s Fahrenheit here in Portugal,
but the Atlantic is still (too) cold!

I'm actually at the beach up in Pismo CA- one of our favourite places... My 11 year olds do not feel the cold and will be boogie boarding sans wetsuits etc- I will be watching from the shore as my "never too cold" days of surfing are now kinda behind me..

Interesting that Greco made their own version of a Musician bass. I've owned 2 Musician basses over time. They are very well made and sound unique to my ears. I actually don't know why I didn't keep one of them.
Do you still own the Greco Musician style bass @garrybeers ?

No, it went with the "why don't you sell the stuff you don't use to make room in the garage" suggestion- I regret selling pretty much everything I sold immediately- especially my 80's / 90's Ampeg stage rig..
I've been on the lookout for a single pickup 80's musician but they are pretty rare. Craig Bloxam from Spy vs Spy had one and he had the best freaking rock sound live- They'd support us in the pubs and he would literally blow me away with his playing on that bass and a combo fender amp on a chair. His sound live was never replicated on their recordings in my opinion. I built a replica musician bass in a P bass in 84-85. I found the electronics somewhere and matched them with some white humbuckers, can't remember what brand- Duncans maybe. It's the bass I used on some of Listen Like Thieves- the title track is that bass with a thumb. I loaned the bass to a mate and never saw it again..
youtube.com/watch?v=znWwKSn-xTY

 

[jcburn]

I'm actually at the beach up in Pismo CA- one of our favourite places... My 11 year olds do not feel the cold and will be boogie boarding sans wetsuits etc- I will be watching from the shore as my "never too cold" days of surfing are now kinda behind me..


No, it went with the "why don't you sell the stuff you don't use to make room in the garage" suggestion- I regret selling pretty much everything I sold immediately- especially my 80's / 90's Ampeg stage rig..
I've been on the lookout for a single pickup 80's musician but they are pretty rare. Craig Bloxam from Spy vs Spy had one and he had the best freaking rock sound live- They'd support us in the pubs and he would literally blow me away with his playing on that bass and a combo fender amp on a chair. His sound live was never replicated on their recordings in my opinion. I built a replica musician bass in a P bass in 84-85. I found the electronics somewhere and matched them with some white humbuckers, can't remember what brand- Duncans maybe. It's the bass I used on some of Listen Like Thieves- the title track is that bass with a thumb. I loaned the bass to a mate and never saw it again..
youtube.com/watch?v=znWwKSn-xTY

That interesting to know re Listen Like Thieves. I always thought that the bass line to that song was well thought out even though quite simple.
I really like the bass tone and playing on that whole album. The bass is bright and prominent in the mix. Definitely my favourite INXS album.

Also interesting to me, but a bit nerdy is I had to learn that song recently for my cover band. After living the album and band fir so long I didn't realise the song is played in drop-D!

 

[woodyng2]

I'm actually at the beach up in Pismo CA- one of our favourite places...

Mine too. I love that area, including Nearby Morrow Bay, and San Luis Obispo (SLOtown).
Yes did their “classic lineup” live concert debut reunion for 3 nights at a theater in SLO, I suppose because
Jon has his home there. (Still does). Would have loved to have seen those shows in person, but I was still living
2000 miles away in Memphis. Still love this updated version of Revealing Science of God,the first side of TFTO.
On that recording, (keys to ascension), I noticed Chris using a chorus effect on his Rickenbacker,
never really heard him use that before.
Really sounds great on the basslines under “talk to the sunlight caller”, etc.

 

[Wood and Wire]

I love that area, including Nearby Morrow Bay

It's lovely, but too many sharks, and sharp rocks, for kids surfing.

I once happened to stop there on a day when the entire town was having a garage sale - literally every house.

I immediately went into "find the vintage bass" mode (you'd have thought there'd be an abundance of neglected StingRays, being right next door to SLO...), but my girlfriend had enough pretty quickly, and all I'd found were a couple of beat to hell cheap 60's Japanese guitars, and a busted uke - and as many novelty ashtrays as any town could ever need.

 

[garrybeers]

Finally put together a basic video of my babies... everything takes so bloody long these days. !

 

[Jeff Scott]

Very nice video, Gary, and, especially, the music.

 

[woodyng2]

Great looking and great sounding basses! I especially liked what you were playing during the green bass presentation.

 

[garrybeers]

This is the released version of that song - called Ashen Moon - by AshenMoon.. I built the Tangerine 6 string also.


Our other videos are there too. (Covid lockdown vids..)

 

[Tim de Martino]

So going back to one of the original topics (haha), so far my own Greco PMB800 has had a neck shave away from the PLANK it was, seems to hold, up okay, and a bit of zhoozhing of the body contours - my whole take on this bass is its like a very well executed but unfinessed Ric. All sharp edges, big slab-o-ebonyish fretboard etc., so i am finessing it to my liking and sealing with raw linseed as i go.

Btw, any chance i can buy a GGB pickup on its own?

 

[Jv-d]

So going back to one of the original topics (haha), so far my own Greco PMB800 has had a neck shave away from the PLANK it was, seems to hold, up okay, and a bit of zhoozhing of the body contours - my whole take on this bass is its like a very well executed but unfinessed Ric. All sharp edges, big slab-o-ebonyish fretboard etc., so i am finessing it to my liking and sealing with raw linseed as i go.

Btw, any chance i can buy a GGB pickup on its own?

Those pickups seem to be pretty innovative...
Really expand the potential of passive p-ups!!
Can breath new life into an old bass!!

 

[coronado3]

This is the released version of that song - called Ashen Moon - by AshenMoon.. I built the Tangerine 6 string also.


Our other videos are there too. (Covid lockdown vids..)

Great track! Very cool, and your bass (and the guitar) look fantastic!

 

[Jv-d]

Mystify: Michael Hutchence playing right now on AXSTV...
I wish it was more about you guys, the whole band, because, I thought Michael was great as a frontman, really worked it... It was the band as a whole that impressed the crap out of me when I saw you live in Albany, NY...
And, as much as a good frontman helps sell the band, you have to have a band that has the goods to sell ( in my book anyway)
You guys look like such a tight unit, solid friends... Michael was lucky to be part of what you had together, and vise versa!
Its a good docu, excuse me, rockumentary!!

 

[Tim de Martino]

Yeah yeah, old thread. might help someone with something along the way, who knows.

So l ditched the Greco. Neck shave, body finessing etc, still felt wrong.

The 74 4001 is nice, but just landed a 4001c64, pretty much a 60s 4001s replica with an (!) upside down headstock... I actually like it. The Seymour Duncans which get a ragging, sound deep and full.

Goodbye 74 4001.

BTW, Garry Beers, I scored your old Steiny L2. not cos it was yours, sorry... FKN AQWESOME bass, had an XL2, not the same.

 

[Jv-d]

A good thread to revive!!
How is Ashen Moon doing? Recordings, bookings?
The music on the u tube of the GGB line is really nice to listen to!
How are the GGBs selling?