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Andy is a top guy and I never expected to see the bass again after 2 years - to say it made my week would be an understatement! My lesson learned is always unload the car post practice and gig regardless of whether you're knackered and it's chucking it down and get insured..... the other guitar, an ACG, was returned in similar circumstances a year ago by a great guy in Hebden Bridge As Andy says bass players are a fantastic community of like minded souls - my faith in human nature is reaffirmed! Cheers Justin

Hi everyone, I'm posting this story because it reinforces what a close-nit community that we musicians, and in particular, bass players are. Some of you might have noticed recently I advertised on basschat a lovely Paul Everson Caiman bass for sale. I acquired the bass through a trade about a year ago with a guy who advertised it on Facebook. We met in a service station. I swapped a very nice 4 string Shuker bass for the Everson, had a nice chat with the fella who bought it and returned home. Whilst we were talking the lad confessed to me that he had found the Everson Bass in one of those second hand chain stores that have 'cash' in the title. He knew next to nothing about basses but had liked the look of it and bought it. He then tracked down Paul Everson on Facebook to get some info about the bass. I loved the bass. It appeared to have been treated quite badly. The electrics were shot and it was covered in a weird thick dust. I had it cleaned, sorted and set up and quickly picked up another Everson that appeared on Facebook. That was around a year ago. I recently decided to sell the caiman. Id always had a little niggle in the back of my head about 'Cash _________' and wondered if I'd been a little naieve in my trust. So to put my mind at ease I contacted Paul (Everson) who told me he had sold the bass through the great British bass lounge. I then contacted Drew who was running the lounge and asked them both if any Everson basses had been reported stolen. They both did some digging and came back with a resounding no. Drew had a record of a sale to a lad called 'Justin' who lived near Bradford (I'm in Macclesfield). So back to present day. After advertising said bass on Facebook and BC I received a message from a lad called Justin who explained to me that this was his bass and that he'd had it stolen in early 2016. I immediately phoned him and we discussed at length what to do. Now the dilemma. Justin hadn't been insured and had lost the bass along with a whole heap of equipment. He had been scouring the Facebook sites to try and recover the bass for the last 2 years. I had essentially swapped a 900 quid Shuker with it. The lad who had bought the bass oringally had moved the Shuker on. We were all victims of crime and it was a difficult puzzle to unravel. Justin had contacted Yorkshire police for advice and they had said it was a civil matter. Anyway the final result is that we met the following week and Justin got his bass back. It was a great end to a saga and needless to say Justin was chuffed! Just a big shout out to Paul Everson and Drew for caring enough about this story to help me with my clumsy detective work and a big shout out to Matthew who contacted me on behalf of (current) BBL. The photo below is of Justin (on the left) recieving his beloved bass back! Moral of the story. Cash ___________ are a store I like even less now and Bass players are awesome folk. Andy

The OP made a comment in reference to politics, but it does bring up some interesting parallels. On one hand you have uninformed opinion based on 'belief' and a lack of ability to comprehend simple facts (about compression), and proudly shouting about it. Meanwhile on the other you have a rational explanation (of compression) from people who know what they're talking about, which gets completely ignored. It's an interesting reflection of divisions that exist elsewhere.

3 to 5 coats in and things are looking satiny

I think from a legal perspective you’re okay with that statement unless it’s leopard print

Only just received this 92 thumb.

I can only see your fingers

Sure it's overkill if you only play at home, but if said 800 watt amp is still cool to the touch at bedroom levels, then there's no reason why the cooling system couldn't be designed to be as silent as possible up to a certain temperature threshold, only kicking in the loud fan when it's really needed. I need to store my amp and cab in my room regardless, so I use it for low volume practice instead of having to buy a separate practice amp that takes up more room and doesn't sound as good!

Oh man I laughed so hard at that, a worthy choice for quote of the week methinks!

Saw this one for sale in Chichester on Gumtree. Under @Elfrasho's budget and looks like a lot of bass for the money but more importantly has a slimline neck...

Please lay off the politics and religion, folks. Ta. 👍

I thought of adding some inlayed swifts instead of the dots but then figured life is too short...

well, I changed my mind. I'm keeping it. It's just too nice to play. The Yamahas have an interesting look and sound good but they've never felt "right" when I tried them.

Why would you say such a thing!!!!! The example looks nice......

One Control pedals are built by magic elves. I don't know how else to explain how they can cram in so much into a 1590A enclosure and still have room for a 9V battery!

Ive said it for years - change the names of these pedals from 'compressors' to something like 'sound balancer' and people would get it more and know what theyre aiming for. Ps i know sound balancer is a terrible name, but you know what i mean. The name compressor immediately gives the image of squashing and squeezing the tone, which it doesnt need to be used for.

Just teamed up with a great vocalist who is also a voice coach. She proudly claimed she could teach anyone to sing and I couldn't resist. No band I've ever been in would let me near a microphone unless there was a fire and we needed to clear the room. I sing like a cow with a throat infection giving birth to a tumble dryer. However she has taken up the challenge. All of the work so far has been around understanding my body, breathing properly, hissing and humming. Not a word has passed my lips in three lessons and I am amazed to find the process fascinating. I'm actually excited to continue and while I still doubt her chances of getting a noise from me which wouldn't startle passers by and cause the dogs to hide, I am enjoying finding out just how a real singer goes about their business. Turns out that they actually practice every bit as hard as we do. The voice really is an instrument which requires work. Who knew? My respect for vocalists will of course never be more than marginally higher than that with which I esteem guitarists, but I do feel slightly less contempt for them.

You should probably just think that

same way that a flirty new girl at work makes you horny for your wife again wait, what?

To this... The new board is already full, so I think (hope?) that should mean this is now going to be a pretty 'final' incarnation. For a little while anyway! (I suspect @Skol303 may be surprised to see a particular type of pedal on both boards; a direct consequence of too much tilting at windmills )

Just getting started on my next build a pine bodied Streamer style The blank is all glued up just got to sand it flat, template done aswell I’m going to buy the neck off eBay as this is going to be another budget build..... Hopefully the finished build will look a bit like this....., But it won’t have a 2 part bridge..... Also I’m going to be remaking the body on my Ibanez GSR205 modification build to a Fortress style as the body shape and size is too small (It doesn’t feel right to play) but I’ll resurrect that thread and post the progress on there

I recently received this little pedal in the post and last weekend managed to give it a run out at a gig. First thing I noticed, before even plugging in, was the excellent build quality. There are plenty of these micro pedals on the market and it seems that most of them are at the more affordable end but this feels very much a premium product. The controls in particular have a nice resistance when you turn them but are still very smooth indeed. I also love the rich metallic green colour with the gold lettering. Another difference from almost all the other micro pedals on the market is that this actually allows you to run it off a 9v battery should you want to where everyone else's only seem to allow them to be run plugged into a mains supply. Somehow One Control have managed to cram all the circuitry into just the top 1/3 of this tiny little enclosure. Now I've seen and heard demo clips on YouTube of this pedal so I already had a fairly high expectation of how it would sound. When I plugged it in at home after receiving it to test it out though it wasn’t really what I expected at all. Just to explain, a big feature of this pedal is that the designer claims it doesn't require a blend to retain the low end that is normally lost when overdriving bass as the inherent EQ'd sound of the pedal is designed to compensate for this already. Should you want more lows though there is a trim pot on the side (fortunately accessible without having to open the pedal up) that allows you to boost the lows even further. As soon as I clicked the pedal on I thought the speaker was going to leap out the front of my little practice amp there was just so much low end. Rather than the warm but articulate overdrive I was expecting this was a thick, Subby, synth-like and almost fuzzy sound – even with the treble on full. Fortunately though it seems the trim pot was already set on full and after turning it right down it was a little closer to what I was expecting. After a bit of experimentation and very subtle tweaking of the trim pot I soon found a sound that kept all the lows intact but without over-blowing the bottom end. Once that was set I had a bit of a play about with the main controls and was very pleased to find that the full range of both the treble and drive controls yielded a good variety of very usable sounds. The treble control seems to act like a tone control on a bass/guitar so cut only rather than any kind of treble boost but this makes sense as excessive highs can often sound fizzy with bass distortions (typical wasp in a tin can sound). As I generally like a bright and articulate bass sound though I ended up keeping the treble on full. Drive sounded great all the way from a very subtle break up when digging in at the low settings through to a much fuller, distorted overdrive on full but I found a nice sweet spot for what I was looking for at around the 12:30 point. There I was getting a nice smooth drive with really strong harmonics giving good note definition and a full, warm, rounded low end but all with a nice, subtly aggressive bite. All well and good at home but – as is always the case with all things bass tone related - it's all about how it sits in the mix. So, after having played around at home to find a sound I thought would work with the band I took it to last week's gig to put it through its paces. I'm happy to say that it didn't disappoint. No problem with the lack of a blend control here – it sat loud, proud and fat in amongst the 2 guitarists drums and vocals with no problem at all. I also found it played very nicely alongside my other drive pedals when I wanted to push it over the edge by layering it up during big song endings etc. Overall though it just has a really sweet, creamy sound which is exactly what I've been looking for and it still sounds fantastic in a band situation. These things are always subjective obviously but personally I love this pedal!

Since you're already familiar with EBS, how about the EBS Reidmar 750. These are excellent amps, at a good price. The compression and drive knobs add a lot to the sound which can go from clean and bright to fairly overdriven. They are VERY LOUD too. Frank.

Yep the Fender MGT-4 footswitch comes with the Stage 800 and is an optional extra for the Studio 40. I'm still working my way through that one too...

One day, students of history will wonder how the great knob wars of the 21st century started...

I followed up @RichardH 's supplier leads from the previous build thread (Thonk is SUCH a great name for a company) and some of @Norris and other kind folks' suggestions and have made myself some knobs! Got the inserts from Thonk and a cheapo diamond hole/plug cutter from ebay: Then, after a few trial runs to work out the best sequence, started with a 9.5mm hole in some scrap oak: Then used a Forstner for the nut relief in the bottom: Then the plug cutter: And added the screw access hole before filing out the bore to a very slight interference push fit for the insert: Then took some macassar offcut and drilled a 6mm hole: Then plug-cut that: Then glued the two together, added a MoP dot, and rounded the sharp edges: Well pleased! Thanks for the tips and encouragement, folks. They are a fraction of the weight of the normal powder-coated brass ones I usually fit. When I get a moment, I'll make some more and replace the three on my own build

I’ve also boughy my gear 2nd hand. I think its only reasonable way to go through different gear. In my case, it takes lot of gigs to say if somethin works or not. Really cant compare if test somethin in musicstore... Also doesnt hurt my economy so badly, when you get almot every penny back selling gear away. 😁 And thanks for friendliness! p.s. Sorry my bad english

Our first gig for a few weeks last night, it went well right from the start , the sound check got a round of applause so we dived straight in . We blooded 3 new tunes all went down well, so a good night. A busy March for us as the next 4 weekends are all booked 👍

Comp > Harmonist > Bitcrusher > OD > Chorus > LS 2 Delays + Loopers in Loop 1, Phase 90 in loop 2. Stereo volume pedal controls input to delay loop and expression control for either El Cap or PS 6. Mono volume pedal is expression control for the filter on the Scrutator.

I intend to use different sounds for different songs and you can create your own setlist (see graphic). Playing in a typical pub covers band we have to play a wide variety of songs from funk to punk so having that versatility will be invaluable. I just haven't had enough time and practice yet to tailor it to all my preferences so I picked a preset I liked that worked for most of the set then just used the tonal and pickup variations on my Sandberg for each song.

Great story & a 'most excellent human being' award for Andy.

Saw The Stranglers the other night, JJB's still up there.

I had a MS-60B and found it a bit too, I dunno...one-button-y? The B3's a bit easier for me to work on a gig...and with a few more practical options, too... I have a very short attention span when it comes to the zillion possibilities of pedals

You know when someone bakes you a birthday guitar cake and that person hasn't got a clue what the difference between a Les Paul and Double bass is, this bass looks like that cake.

So it's passive right now, with " high output pickups " I'm wondering whether active is the right way to go with high output pups, since most factory active basses have lower output pups, due to the boost of a preamp Still, wouldnt do any harm i guess. Just turn your current amps EQ down when you first plug in. Personally, i'd leave that gorgeous bass alone.

@NancyJohnson philistine

But anyway, last night we played that gig. Slide guitarist hadn't done any rehearsals drumming with us, just went in cold. It was bloody excellent. There's another gig in a week which the slide guitarist will drum for again, then we'll try and recruit another full time drummer. The BL happened to find out from someone who'd played with the ex-drummer before that he was prone to occasionally having these tantrums. Still, it's an opportunity to find a better drummer.

An ex demo Protec Contego for £69 delivered here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Protec-CTG233-Electric-Bass-Guitar-Gig-Bag-Padded-Shock-Frame-Black/273082121499?hash=item3f94f67d1b:g:OG0AAOSwATxakEQg Worth spending the extra money IMO.

Those are uglier than Fenders. Which is not something I say very often.

If you email Adrian he usually replies pretty quickly. I'm certain he'd help any way he could.

I do have ongoing GAS for the previous generation of BTBs - Nordstrand pickups and Mahogony bodies, particularly in the finish I think was called Midnight Purple Flat? I think @Machines had one and it looked stunning from the photos.

This sort of mismanagement isn't confined to younger bands. Some of the oldies I play with are as poor in their organisational and communication skills as this. I find throwing the toys out even when perfectly entitled to do so rarely get any results, never makes a good impression and never makes me feel any better. I usually put it down to experience, moan like hell to the wife and move on. IMO never leave on bad terms, always be the professional one and leave a positive vibe behind you. Sometimes people will remember this and it could be you who gets the phone call when an ex band member is looking for a bass player. Edit. . .. hey Cat, we're on the same page.

I am not a PA nut but I have used very little equipment as nasty sounding as that Bose system. I really do think the Markbass system must sound better than that. As an aside it feels a bit off for Bill to told to "go start another thread" by someone with a commercial relationship with the product being discussed. Seems a bit rude.

I like the sound of that! Do you find that changing the drive setting alters a lot the volume? I mean, yes, it will affect the volume but is it so much that small changes in drive will make you change the volume too? I have a Joyo Ultimate Drive which is based on the OCD as well and sounds nice... but when I need to adjust the drive, the volume either drops or increases a lot even for relatively small changes in drive... which makes adjusting it while playing live a little more complicated. I'd love it if the volume change weren't as drastic. On the video the changes in volume sound reasonable but there could be a lot of compression going on... What do you think?

+1 for the ‘buy to try’ approach. Bought many basses online that would never appear in my nearby guitar stores. Some I keep for a while, others get moved on much quicker, but Ive learned a lot about neck profiles, pickup placement, body wood tone and scale length.