| Author | Message | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 3179 Registered: 7-2004 |
The twice-a-year (is that "bi-annual", or is "bi-annual" every other year?) World Guitar Show will be at the Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael this weekend. A warehouse full of guitars and some basses too! Anyone else planning to attend? Bill, tgo | ||
| dadabass2001
Senior Member Username: dadabass2001 Post Number: 938 Registered: 6-2002 |
How about semi-hemi-annual? Mike | ||
| byoung
Senior Member Username: byoung Post Number: 1068 Registered: 12-2004 |
bi- means two, bicycle. semi- means half, semi-automatic gun. And while the latter gets used pejoratively, it really is supposed to be diminutive (i.e. half-automatic). But hey, I'm a firm believer in the old adage: when the going gets tough, the tough go cyclic. | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 3180 Registered: 7-2004 |
Bradley: So, does "bi-annual" mean twice a year or every other year? And what the heck does "semi-annual" mean? Bill, tgo | ||
| cozmik_cowboy
Advanced Member Username: cozmik_cowboy Post Number: 338 Registered: 10-2006 |
Bi = two, ergo biannual = twice a year. Semi = half, ergo semiannual = half as often as yearly, or every two years. Peter | ||
| tbrannon
Senior Member Username: tbrannon Post Number: 841 Registered: 11-2004 |
I'm feeling semi-confused and slightly bipolar reading all this.... | ||
| richbass939
Senior Member Username: richbass939 Post Number: 956 Registered: 11-2004 |
I looked it up in my Funk & Wagnalls and found: Semiannual=issued or occurring twice a year. Biannual=occurring twice a year;semiannual. Compare BIENNIAL. Biennial=occurring every second year. Hmmm. I didn't know that. Rich | ||
| cozmik_cowboy
Advanced Member Username: cozmik_cowboy Post Number: 339 Registered: 10-2006 |
Neither did I (obviously). Thanks, Rich. Peter | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 3181 Registered: 7-2004 |
My head is spinning! lol Bill, tgo | ||
| byoung
Senior Member Username: byoung Post Number: 1070 Registered: 12-2004 |
Websters 1913 has bi meaning two; as in biannual and biennial being the same thing. For modern usage, Funk and Wagnalls is correct (i.e. usage has changed from two years to 6 months over the last 100 years or so), but I prefer to use semiannual due to the (empirically shown) potential for confusion. And Bill, you always complain about big words, but you're the only person I know (and I'm related to a doctor) who has *EVER* used the term self-titrating in casual conversation. Then again, maybe your head is spinning because you were doing some type of self-titrating behavior?  | ||
| mike1762
Member Username: mike1762 Post Number: 93 Registered: 1-2008 |
Bisexual = sex twice a year? | ||
| dfung60
Advanced Member Username: dfung60 Post Number: 348 Registered: 5-2002 |
I went up to the Guitar Show in San Rafael today. No Alembics up there (Guitar Showcase from San Jose was there, but did not bring Alembics this time). No dictionaries on sale either. But that didn't mean there wasn't some interesting stuff. There was the normal array of vintage Fenders ranging from $1800 for those piece of crap 70's Fenders that you wouldn't have spent $250 on back then up into the $20,000 range for cherry pre-CBS Jazz basses. There were a lot of Gibsons including quite a number of Thunderbirds (mostly the '76 reissue, but they are very nice too) and a lot of EBs. By far the most interesting instrument for this crowd was a very, very rare one:  I've seen a lot of guitars in my time, but this is only the second BecVar for me, and the first bass. The hardware and pickups are all pretty much Alembic as is the body construction. The inlay is pretty wild:   It's powered by an Alembic power supply, which the owner didn't have anymore (more about that later). He popped the back open to change the batteries, and there, it was quite different than an Alembic - there were a number of small circuit boards and at least six 9-volt batteries (most of them removed in this picture):  I believe the top and back of this instrument are cocobolo. The neck appears to be wenge or walnut, maple and an ebony center laminate. It weighs a ton (over 11 lbs, for sure). It plays perfectly (I didn't plug it in) This instrument is being sold by the original owner, for whom this was custom built in 1980. He's a very nice guy who owns or has owned a number of Alembics and Alembic-related instruments including this BecVar, a Doug Irwin bass which was never completed (and you thought you couldn't find a rarer instrument than a BecVar), and Dolan instruments. He even had the original BecVar "catalog" brochure from when he purchased the bass. It shows a similar triple omega BecVar 8-string bass that was built for John Entwistle simultaneously with this one. The Entwistle bass has a marquette mandala on the body - the owner told me that BecVar asked him if he wanted the same body inlay, and he told him to do something from Star Wars instead... He's asking $4500 for the instrument, including Anvil road case, but no power supply. It will be at the show on Sunday 7/27 if you want to see it in person, or contact me here and I'll pass on his contact information (he lives in the SF Bay Area). Not good enough? OK, here's a couple of shots of the booth of a new exhibitor called Bassmint/Guitar Cellar in Kansas City. More exotics than in an issue of Bass Player:   I have more pix of the BecVar in higher resolution on Picasa: http://picasaweb.google.com/dfung60/VintageGuitarShowSanRafaelCA Enjoy, David Fung | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 6842 Registered: 5-2002 |
David; thanks for the report, and for the pics of the BecVar!! | ||
| dela217
Senior Member Username: dela217 Post Number: 903 Registered: 6-2002 |
The electronics inside of that BecVar are definately Hyak. That is quite interesting indeed! It takes 4 nine volt batteries wired in series for a 36 volt system. Mine works just fine with the 18 volt Alembic power supply. It's set up just like Alembic series basses except the pickups are not single coil. I've seen all kinds of electronics in BecVar's instruments. Alembic series 1 electronics, Hyak, EMG's, passive setups, etc.. I guess he just used what he could get his hands on. Thanks for the pics! | ||
| elwoodblue
Senior Member Username: elwoodblue Post Number: 502 Registered: 6-2002 |
thanks David, It's gotta be one of the only high end instruments with a starwars inlay. ...Love the 'darkness' of it's recipe. | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 3184 Registered: 7-2004 |
The Becvar was definitely very cool. The seller has had it out at his booth for the last 2 or 3 San Rafael shows. I picked up what was IMHO the most interesting and rarest instrument I saw. A prototype (?) custom Bond Electraglide made in 1983 and sold at auction at Christie's in 1993 (it came with the Christie's Auction Catalog!) Bond Electraglides were manufactured in Scotland in 1984-1985, during which approximately 1400 were built before the company went under. They were made of carbon fiber with active electronics that included a digital readout and rocker switches for pickups, polarity, volume, bass, and treble. They used a stereo cable into a power supply, similar to an Alembic series set up, and then a regular 1/4" mono to the amp. Perhaps the most unusual feature was a black anodized aluminum fingerboard that sported "steps" (kind of like overlapping roof shingles) rather than frets! The prototype I found at the show is marked #014 and, unlike the production model, is made of wood except for the shiny silver fingerboard with steps. The body shape is quite unusual and it has two humbuckers with coil splits (The production Electraglides had three single coils, ala a Strat). I'm out of town, but I'll take some pics and post later this week. Bill, tgo | ||
| artswork99
Senior Member Username: artswork99 Post Number: 405 Registered: 7-2007 |
Bill, Congratulations on the Electraglide. Look forward to seeing your pictures. Play it Healthy! Art | ||
| eligilam
Intermediate Member Username: eligilam Post Number: 119 Registered: 2-2006 |
Thanks for the guitar porn. I always thought Elricks looked pretty cool, but I've not played one. |
