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A few months ago I moved to a house with a cellar, so I finally have a space where I can use some tools that's not a) my work desk, or b) the kitchen 😆 This gives me an opportunity to try some of those DIY things I've always wanted to have a go at, and I decided to start with learning to prep and oil finish a guitar body. I figured a good way would be to get a cheapy body to mess around with and worst case it's firewood. Gear4Music had a sale on natural precision bodies for about £35, so I bought one - keeping my expectations low! Although listed as "finished" I assumed it would be finish sanded or some kind of light sealer coat for that money, anyway turns out it's got a poly coat 😳 In case anyone has looked at these, I can say that nothing looks like it lines up, the blank was cut at an angle, and it may be an optical illusion but I don't think the neck pocket and pickup route are on the same plane!! Still, it was £35. And it's not a bad colour. I have no desire to sand off the poly but I'm keeping the body to try out another idea: For a while I've been thinking about a cheap hybrid Fender/G&L bitsa. There's something about trying to cross-pollinate the two that appeals. I snagged some MFD humbuckers recently so this seems like a good opportunity. Basically I want to try L-1000 electronics in a P body, implementing the parallel/single coil/OMG switching. A poor man's Wunkay, if you like. I have two MFDs so I could try a different arrangement if I felt more ambitious - perhaps add a bridge bucker in the L-1500 (i.e. roughly Stingray) position, rather than the conventional J position in the L-2000. To source a neck I may just buy a Harley Benton P kit. That would give me another body I can have a swing at an oil finish, and also attempt to carve an early 80s G&L headstock 🙂 These fellas on YouTube make it look so easy 🫣 I was measuring string spacing on the MFD today and as best as I can tell the poles are 23/32 apart (18.25mm), so 2" 5/32 from E to G. So something to ponder will be an inexpensive 18mm spaced bridge. (I think a genuine Saddle Lock bridge is out of scope for this budget!!) Or maybe it will be okay to fudge it with a standard 19mm bridge. Anyway, this is probably a bad idea for reasons I have yet to realise, but we'll see.. what have I missed? Why will this be doomed? Experienced builders please look away now!

I’ll throw the Vanderkley MNT 212 into the mix. Light enough to be a one hand carry, narrow enough to pass through doors without scuffing your knuckles, and chucks out an amazing sound.

I thought that too until I realised that would put the feet on the bottom on the top.

Just got in from first rehearsal of the year, last being over a month ago. Was really good, a few hiccups here & there as none of us have really played any of the material in the downtime, but no big issues, especially as we’re not a gigging band. Was great to just be in the rehearsal room playing some great songs and having a laugh. Used my Sandberg Lionel into the studios Ampeg SVT450 & 810 and it sat very nicely in the mix, very pleased indeed.

Sorry, but the original Music Man 2EQ preamp is boost only and I know what I'm saying owning an original 1978 and having made my own clones of this preamp.

I use the D’Addario 45-107BT and for me they make a difference over the standard XL’s. it sounds strange but to my fingers it makes them all feel as if they are one. no big jumps between sting thickness, tension, although obviously there is. I was worried 107 would be too thick, but it feels natural next to the other strings in this set. Could be a placebo effect, but the end result is i find my basses more of a pleasure to play, so job done in my book. Not the be all and end all, but given a choice ill stick with the BT set.

Just got back from a rehearsal with the Lionel which is now strung with 45-100 nickels (D’Addario) and using a 1mm pick rather than 0.73mm. Seems to have worked ok, it’s not as full sounding as my Precisions or my JMJ Mustangs but it sits in the mix better, so the tinkering will stop.

Just got back from a rehearsal with the Lionel which is now strung with 45-100 nickels (D’Addario) and using a 1mm pick rather than 0.73mm. Seems to have worked ok, it’s not as full sounding as my Precisions or my JMJ Mustangs but it sits in the mix better, so the tinkering will stop.

Nothing but great experiences with Ashdown here. Have had a couple of very pleasurable telephone conversations with Dave Green. Sent my 12 band 600 for a service because Sound was fading in and out, it came back six days later with new input Jack new input gain knob, new fans, and sent back to me with absolutely no charge, they didn't even charge me for the shipping

New simplified layout. Just got the Source Audio Aftershock and it sounds pretty good, it replaces 3 seperate drive pedals. Not got into the software side of it yet as I don’t have the right cable but it’s good so far.

Yup, re. that pain, bet your back is cussin' you every week!

Ordered these bad lads on Sunday. Winged their way over the Atlantic from Canada in four days. What a time to be alive! Plunge Audio Dynamics. They'll get a run out next weekend...

So my bass was attempted delivery today... 3 days after it should have been delivered. Had it redirected to a post office tomorrow, that I'm hoping will work out! I also had multiple delivery windows today which was also frustrating. I did a little research into the mail centre where it spent its vacation and it seems like a blackhole for parcels that go in and never come out. So I'm glad it's finally in a working system!

So many great albums with great bass on them and many I'll check out. If I go right back to the start of my bass journey, Level 42 got me interested in the bass guitar but from there I remember buying three albums quite close together around '87/'88, three albums with great bass playing from the '70s. I bought Heavy Weather and Black Market by Weather Report but the one album I would listen to the most was Stanley Clarke's School Days. It's not just the title track, the whole album grabbed me by the doo doo and I would listen to it over and over again. I was into Stanley's music for a while there, it was a bit hit n miss but School Days, for a mostly instrumental album, BOOM! Just gorgeous.