Another new bass

[jgcable]

Picked up this old school 80's Kramer Forum III. Neck thru, Spector passive pickups, 1 volume, 1 tone, 3 way switch, bound neck and headstock. Lots of scratches but hardly any fretwear. Don't see too many of these around anymore. The majority of the Forum III's I found online are active with 4 controls and no switch. Kramer made Forum 1,2,3 and 4's in the late 80's from around 1987 to 1990.
Plays really nice, sounds really nice. This is a great bass for metal.
Now I own an Ibanez SR1200 and this one. I am looking at an OLP MM2 to add to the fleet. Its supposed to be a pretty accurate copy of the Musicman Stingray that is very popular for slapping and popping which is what I am studying.

[Codex]

I saw that one on CL and thought about it. Since I don;t play bass and already own 2, I passed :P

[jgcable]

I saw that one on CL and thought about it. Since I don;t play bass and already own 2, I passed :P

I bought it in the parking lot of Home Depot in East Haven. Neck had a pretty good bow in it from really heavy old strings and over tuning.
The guy knew nothing about it at all. It was his nephews bass. The truss rod cover appeared to never have been removed so I took a chance on it. He wanted $125. I offered him $60.00. He wouldn't go lower than $100.00 so thats what I paid. It had just hit CL yesterday and he had at least 5 calls on it. I took it home, loosen'd up the strings and tightened the truss rod. It was pretty hard to turn. Neck came back to flat but when I tightened the strings it still had a little too much forward bow. I tightened the truss rod a little more and I am going to let it sit for a day or so to settle in. I am putting 35-95 gauge strings on it which will also help out. Bass sounds and plays really well. I may repaint it. Believe it or not.. this was around and $800.00 bass back in the late 80's. Made in Japan. Its one of the few Kramer guitars made in Japan. It has a very well made super heavy duty bridge on it. The pickups sound a little like EMG Selects to my ears. Good but not great.

[jgcable]

I saw that one on CL and thought about it. Since I don;t play bass and already own 2, I passed :P

If you have any basses that you want to sell or trade for guitars let me know since we are both in CT.

[Codex]

If you have any basses that you want to sell or trade for guitars let me know since we are both in CT.

We're both in Milford

I keep the basses around for any recording I may do and to also have something hanging around for when my bassist buddy comes by so he has something to play (although he usually plays my guitars instead).

[jgcable]

We're both in Milford

I keep the basses around for any recording I may do and to also have something hanging around for when my bassist buddy comes by so he has something to play (although he usually plays my guitars instead).

Is your bassist buddy looking to join an established band in the Milford/Stratford area? My band has gigs everywhere and we had an issue with our bass player and we need to let him go. We do everything from Ozzy to Ted Nugent to old Aerosmith (the good stuff) to AIC to STP to Fuel to Zep. All high energy hard rock songs. We have a large following and generally pack every place we play.
We are attempting to fill the position immediately cause we have gigs coming up.

[markD]

john, i have a kramer forum bass also. i have had since 1992. mine came with EMG p+j pickups, a 3 way selector, and vol/tone for each pick up. it has a 3 piece neck with a bound ebony fretboard. it has a spector bridge stamped "kramer".

here's a crappy pic:

[Codex]

That type of gig sounds like it's right up my buddy's alley...if it were 15 years ago
Unfortunately he lives in Norwalk, commutes to Avon while his wife commutes to the financial district in NYC. They also have a 3.5 and a 1 year old. So between careers and family, he wouldn't be able to make that commitment.

[jgcable]

john, i have a kramer forum bass also. i have had since 1992. mine came with EMG p+j pickups, a 3 way selector, and vol/tone for each pick up. it has a 3 piece neck with a bound ebony fretboard. it has a spector bridge stamped "kramer".

here's a crappy pic:

Nice Mark. I am really considering bailing on guitar and focusing on bass. Guitar is just too easy and has been for too many years. I am loving the slap bass instructional program that I bought. Its amazing how much percussion you can get on a bass.

[markD]

bass is a lot of fun. i enjoy being able to write grooves that take my guitar playing to different places. if you enjoy the challenge, go for it! sometimes it helps us grow musically on our main instrument when we learn another. i am working on becoming a better drummer. i bought an alesis SR16 drum machine and mounted it to my drum kit. i play along with the pre-programmed patterns. it has REALLY helped my drumming, bass playing AND guitar playing because i look beyond the phrasing/rythymic patterns i would normally incorporate when writing...

as far as the OLP, try a sterling also. i find that the sterling is a little better quality-wise than the OLP. same basic thing: an affordable musicman stingray.

[straycat]

Nice bass that was a solid score.

[jgcable]

Nice bass that was a solid score.

Thanks... I put some super light 35-95 D'Adarrio's on it, lowered the action and this bass plays and sounds great.