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Hey all. I sent the photo onto Fender Consumer Relations who have responded swiftly and advised (in writing) that it has been a "mis-build" - a rare occurrence but the second time they've seen it on a 70's spec Jazz. GuitarGuitar Edinburgh have also been fab (as usual) and offered me a straight swap to a replacement - they currently have these in stock and have spot checked a couple to confirm correct spec. With this written confirmation from Fender, I'm comfortable keeping this f*ckup. In fact we're becoming quite inseparable. Here it is with all the bling removed (much as I love the look, it does get in the way)...

They’re great strings, I’ve used them for years. I’m really surprised you’ve got a dead one, but that’s more likely to be because the bass was strung months ago and has been sitting in a shipping container at sea between Indonesia and here, suffering all sorts of extremes of temperature and humidity. One of the main reasons I’ve stuck with the EXLs for over 15 years is their consistency - all that time I’ve never had a dud. In 40 years of playing I’ve been through most brands, and some major makes (naming no names) have truly appalling quality control.

I've played a two set gig with no drummer when he fell ill and the replacement was my right foot on the wooden stage floor. I reckon I could do a gig as a bass player on anything with at least one string. It wouldn't be perfect, but it would be better than cancelling. The less you've got, the simpler the music, but I reckon that at least 90% of the audience won't notice.

@Ashdown Engineering you might want to follow this thread

Thanks. Something went wrong with an update. We’re on it!

OK OK. I finish work in a couple of hours and will take a couple of piccies then

It’s ok I got a Sharpie 😆

Better start going through all my Pink Floyd albums too and binning anything with imposter David Gilmour playing.

I play bass guitar alongside (usually) six other guitarists known collectively as "The Glissando Guitar Orchestra". We all bow our instruments with metal objects using a lot of compression and delay, creating fabulously rich textured drones. It sounds like this:

I’d better throw away my copies of Yessongs, Going For The One and 90125 then... I never realised they didn’t count as they’re just by some tribute band.

I attended a 'Zappa plays Zappa' concert a few years ago, with Terry Bozzio as guest. Just as he was starting his 'routine', his bass drum batter head split. After a couple of minutes 'kerfuffle', he moved over to the 'house' kit whilst a drum tech changed the head, after which he came back down to his own kit. Apart from extensive use of a whole raft of china crashes around his kit, there was no difference whatever in his playing. I reckon the bloke could have finished his spot with cardboard boxes (or even a Squier bass..! ) if he had to. He's good, is that there Terry Bozzio; very good indeed.

@BigRedX - I designed and printed the feet myself. They fit onto the helix using the same screws as the rubber feet and then some wood screws into the board. The board is only just big enough for the LT and some space behind it for cables etc so not much good if you use external pedals. I know @dood had a board that was big enough for quite a few pedals and the LT - he may be able to point you in the right direction. the LT was sitting way too high as standard so I dropped the height of the main board in the case by removing the wood support underneath it so the LT will sit lower and have a bit more clearance inside the lid - works well for me and drops the height by about 45mm. Edit : I’ve still got some screen protectors available from the next production run for sale and I can print some fixing feet if anyone wants some

I can only imagine the level of depression if one of those broke during installation

The UV light on my Trace Elliott gives me a ridiculous amount of pleasure and more than makes up for it weighing the same as a small military vehicle.

Not a chance. Why..? ... I play drums.

It's just a change of key, so E would be Eb. I wouldn't down-tune I'd find it weird playing a B and hearing a Bb. I'd rather just transpose and know that I'm playing a Bb instead of a B, if you see what I mean .

After the recent North West bass bash, lurksalot commented that I should start a build thread for my small battery powered amplifier in case anyone was contemplating a similar folly. Some of this has already been posted on another forum, but since photobucket has blanked out all the images, it seemed to make sense to start at the beginning with a new thread. I play a lot with acoustic guitarists, either busking, or at open mic nights, and my existing combo, a Hartke Kickback 10, was adequate, but rather heavy, and limiting because I had to sit by the power socket so as not to trail cables across the floor. My initial specification was based on the Hartke, with a bit of Phil Jones Briefcase thrown in - about 100W, one 10 inch speaker, one 7 AHr 12 volt battery and 2-3 hours of use per charge. I had already built a couple of Jack 10s. so I had a 10 inch speaker to hand - an Eminence basslite S2010, and for a small box, WinISD suggests a volume of 0.9 cu ft (25.5L)and a port tuned to 58Hz. Eminence offer similar figures on their website. The Mk I was a simple reflex box with the preamp, amp and battery mounted on a plywood plate that could be carried separately, or bolted onto the back of the cab. The amp is a Kenwood car stereo module, containing a switch-mode power supply to give positive and negative voltage rails, and a 60W @ 2ohms pair of class AB amplifiers, so it gives a genuine 120 W into 4 ohms bridged. It was unwieldy and cumbersome to carry when bolted together, and a pain to work with in a crowded room when loaded in in bits. Also, the battery life was OK for an acoustic evening, but for a day of busking I needed more power, so I had another think. The MkII had the same volume and porting, but incorporated the amp in a recess in the back, space for three 7 AHr batteries in the base, and a space for the preamp in the front. The woodwork suddenly became a bit more complicated - And the final result. This one was easier to carry, but the amp, which normally runs cool to the touch, now runs too hot due the lack of circulating air. At this point I started wondering whether I could find a class D amplifier module, and redesign the cab around that. The Mk III used a class D stereo amplifier chip on a ready made pcb - readily available from ebay. Just for a change, I made the cab smaller to accomodate the amp and speaker in the same volume as the Mk I speaker. Having recently aquired an Ashdown MyBass 550 in a trade, I was keen to be able to use it with this pair of speakers, so I added extra speakons and switches to the back of the cab so I could connect either the internal amp or the external amp to the speaker, or connect the internal amp to an external speaker. Almost inevitably, while setting up in a hurry on a dark stage, I managed to connect the output of the MyBass to the output of the battery amp - the MyBass won. At that point I decided that I should go modular, and have separate heads that clipped onto the top of the cab. No more switching options to get wrong, just clip the head on before you leave home and you're good to go. This is the Mk IV - the current version. The Mk III cab was butchered to convert it into a MK I style cab, and kitchen-cupboard kick-plate fasteners were fitted to anchor the clip-on amplifier modules The battery combo: The mains combo: This is the battery powered amp and battery with an earlier version of the preamp. I need to take some more photos before I post the next installment. David

Dear colleagues, I’m honored to officially announce that the great drummer Marco Minnemann has joined my new album and has started the recordings. It will be a very long prog rock ambient track You can read more at www.albertorigoni.net/evorevolution/ Check out this video teaser below 🙂 Thanks for your attention! PROG ON!!! Ciao! Al

Just had a run through each toneprint into headphones. The majority of them either altered the tone, boosted the volume, or over compressed, but I was really happy with the sound I got from the stock preset with the dial at about 8 o'clock. Increased clarity without a harsh treble boost, lightly plucked notes leap out, digging in aggressively doesn't over compress. I couldn't find a setting that was quite as transparent as my Cali Compact, perhaps with a bit of manual tweaking I could get there. But as a tone enhancing compressor it's certainly up there. Best bit is it was virtually silent at most settings, which I was not expecting!

I love that colour on guitars and basses Very, very cool

I got a chance over the weekend to demo several of the BG250 amps. I did not care for the 2x8 at all compared to the 1x12's of the Rumble 100 or the BG250-112. So if you're comparing the 208 to the Rumble I can see how you'd like the sound of the Rumble better. The 208 just seemed to lack bottom end. To my ears the Rumble is both bright and boomy and pleasant sounding. But I think it may be a bit underpowered. While you say the Toneprint is "gimmicky" I'll go further than that... virtually unusable and OVER-HYPED... by a lot. Toneprint only brings special effects to the amp and limited special effects at that- and NO TONE EDITOR FOR AMPS. So you can't do pre-set EQ's with Toneprint, which is something that the hype led me to believe. Having said that, The BG250 is a decent amp for the money. It appears to me that the Rumble 100 is a practice amp that you might be able to gig with while the BG250 is a small gig amp that you can practice with. I dunno... I am going to check out the GK 110 and 112 later in the week. Maybe later today.

One could also say the same of Roger’s post-Roger albums...

I'm going to do it in that pale mint green that Fiat use on the 500s. Think it's called Smooth Mint. I'm going to cut the headstock to a Tele shape and colour that as well. Probably get a load of flack for it but I reckon it will look good. Might even stretch to a Mother of Pearl scratchplate.

I find it difficult to come down after a gig, however small (and most of mine are very small!). So yes, sleeping is usually difficult. I used to get this when I did a lot of amateur theatre - but that would be for a week at a time 2-3 times a year. So I would try to take the week off work and then sleep in late. Now with the music, it's just like a series of little 'highs'. And sometimes I can't concentrate too well the next day, as I keep thinking back to it. Anyway, I have found the solution - I'm retiring from work at the end of June! Hurrah!

I'd say the limitations between a Chinese motorbike and a Ducati are far greater than between a Squier bass and whatever coffee table bedroom bass you want to compare it to. Put Valentino Rossi on the Zongshen and me on the Ducati and Rossi would still beat me.

not necessarily- it looks fine and fender do have a history of parts-bin builds. He's got concrete proof from Fender its really one of theirs and left the factory like it. I think he's bullet-proof on this one @Grahambythesea fair play to Fender for owning up to the problem.

FWIW, some people seem to have cracked driving this pedal with a bass:

It seems to me to be a blatant case of mis-selling... They sell the combo as being able to work with an extension cab. You found out that they have mis-described the combo, and it doesn't do what it was advertised to do. You tell them, and they offer to fix their mistake by charging you money. They're taking the P! A few years ago I took a car dealer to court for mis-selling; dealer had sold me a van saying that the gearbox had been replaced recently, showed me a piece of paper to prove it. Then the gearbox went (just out of warranty!), and the receipt for the alleged replacement gearbox turned out to be for another vehicle. He refused to do anything about it, we took him to court and the judge found he'd mis-sold the van. Ironically, we'd told dealer-boy we'd accept £1000 toward the cost of the fix, he told us to go spin - judge awarded me the full cost of the repair (£1600) plus £500 out of pocket expenses... So I'd be telling Mr Ashdown that the item was mis-sold, and that advertising standards and the courts take a very dim view of that!

Then you've anwered correctly. I replied 'No', but was 'talking poop', of course.

Yeah no worries - assume they just need to be 2 inches longer than for my Precision?

Nice - sounding good!

If the weight is the main downside of the Wal, have you thought about having a lighter chambered body made for it?

We are a little strapped for choice down there eh... https://classicandcoolguitars.co.uk/basses-for-sale/ This guy is happy for visits when I spoke to him last, and you could do worse than getting a Limelight. I was seriously considering one for a while, but went cheap in the end. Otherwise... London Is yours the red one on MM by the way...? Edit - Sorry, and in response to your question...! If you are only using a neck pickup with medium Tone, it sounds like you want a Precision.

FYI, here's my orange Precision. Fender neck, Squier body, Badass bridge II, Shadow pickups, Schaller Straplocks, wiring loom I made. I also plan to get a Hipshot eXtender/D-tuner for it at some point. I previously had a Mighty Mite fretless neck on it, but I swapped it over for the fretted Fender one. I might pick up a black Fender body and reinstate the fretless; if I do, I'll make it all Fender, including a Fender Hi-Mass bridge on it and a Fender Precision pickup (both of which I have in my parts box).

Well, no, actually..! At that time I was completely unaware that 'stuff' even existed..! Sheltered childhood..? One could say so. Later on, I came into contact with dealings of the sort, but I never let it go to my head. Well, not much, at any rate. Not as much as some of my chums (and family, as it happens...). A couple of visits to mates being held for their own safety, too many deaths for various reasons related to such, a nephew born handicapped... It puts one off rather quickly, I found. Staid..? Yup. Fuddy-duddy..? Rather. Anarchist, so others have to take their own responsibility; I won't condemn, but it's not something I'd recommend to anyone, neither at the time nor in hindsight. T'was a splendid week-end, anyway, with no need of artificial aid.

Don't think you are going to be dissapointed

Just acquired a Victory to go with my Artist...................

Rock n Roll killer

Yep, been very pleased with the modified Harley Benton short scale P bass. Sometimes the low end basses can 'feel' high end with a little fettling

Tone wood

Any passive pickup can be paired with an active preamp. It's not much different to plugging a passive bass into an EQ pedal really. There are active pickups which are a bit different, but they are pretty rare.

At some point in the mid 90s I was fed up with my Wal and tried to sell it. Luckily nobody bought it, so it stayed with me, sitting unused in the corner. Three years and a Musicman and Precision later I rediscovered the Wal and play it as my main bass ever since. So my advice is that if you think everything feels right with your Wal then go cheating, but keep it.

Hello all I have done 3 gigs now with a Kala U-bass (mahogany, fretless). I bought it a month or so ago from Bassdirect (very happy with them). I noticed an annoying problem where the E string appeared to be stone dead at G and A, and I started worrying that perhaps I might have a dead crystal (a few other people have complained about this). Anyway, to cut a long story short, I changed the string (just the E) and now it’s good as gold. New strings are Aquila Thunder Black. I LOVE this bass - looks great and sounds completely amazing, much more different from a regular bass than mine are from each other. (I also play a USA P, EBMM and MM Sire v7). that is all

If you can play those tupe of bands then youre more than capable of joining a band. Youll never feel ready to join a band, but as soon as you do join one, your playing will improve 10 times quicker than having lessons. Youll naturally push yourself harder, have to play songs you wouldnt neccessarily pick and learn to gel with other band members and what they play - all stuff that you cant get from having a lesson - and far more valuable.

I have a Mighty Mite neck on a Jazz, and it's fine. Easy to adjust, stays straight and plays as you would expect for a Jazz.