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I found a couple of photos recently which I thought I’d share, I don’t know if they might be of interest to any of you. It’s my dad, Martyn Gibson, who played bass in the early sixties, before marriage and fatherhood took over. Dad played in a band in Stafford from 1963 to 1965, initially they were called The Countdowns, later The Sneakers, and they played originals and covers, a bit of RnB (Ray Charles etc). They played all around the Midlands. They supported Johnny Kidd and The Pirates, and often played with a band from Leicester who went one to become some of Showaddywaddy. My dad’s first bass was (possibly) a Hagstrom PB-24-G; from my research they were also branded Kent and Selmer but he can’t remember and the headstock isn’t visible in order to identify it properly, but as The Beatles became popular he splashed out on a Hofner 500/1. The shop in Stafford (H.E.Parkes & Sons of St Marys Gate, Stafford) ordered it direct from Hofner in Germany with a hard case for forty pounds (or guineas, he can’t remember). How I wish he’d kept it! He had a Vox amp (didn’t everyone then?) but he can’t remember exactly which model.

He always struck me as a colossal bell end.

Local music shops where I live are more like this. Me: Hi. Him: Arr. What be ‘ee looking forr? We ‘as a nice range of galoubets, serpents and lutes. Or a dulcimer if ‘ee want summat new-fangled? Me: Errm, actually I’m more interested in bass guitars..? Him: Guitars? Arr right, well we’ve got a very nice baroque guitar over ‘ere… Me: No no, a bass guitar. Him: {confused} Well it don’t come with no base, but… Me: No, a bass. An electric b… Him: {recoils in horror} Elastictrickery?? Why, 'tiz the work of beelzebub! Are you in league with the dark one? {yells out to the back of the shop} Perpetua! Assemble the townsfolk and loight the bonfire! We ‘as one of satan’s imps in ‘ere! {exit Rich, pursued by pitchfork-waving mob of very closely related locals}

OK guys (and gals) - that's the hall booked for Sunday 7th April 2019!! We'll make sure there's a group photo or two - and Mrs Scrumpy is already thinking about next year's menu (I've told her she needs to get out more) Look forward to seeing/hearing the lighter self-build cab.

He Always Struck Me As A Colossal Bell End - The second of today's entries on my list of potential autobiography titles.

You'd think - given this particular forum's pathological obsession with weight - that this'd be quite popular. No pleasing some people.

Probably speakers in the audience facing back at the band so you can hear yourselves. Or something equally as daft.

@Hellzero @dannyboy @Jimothey you don't need to do this if you use the copper tape with conductive adhesive. I just use a multimeter to check there is connectivity between each piece and the jack socket, and then switch to the resistance setting to check that resistance is low.

You can always join the pieces with solder

I came across this on Talkbass (im spending too much time there lately) Its a free program for Windows/Mac that allows us to go deep in to pedals like the 60B and edit the tones in real time. Looks pretty cool. I should say ive not yet tried it myself, but will do at the weekend. http://tonelib.net/ Original TB thread here https://www.talkbass.com/threads/free-editor-for-zoom-pedals-b1on-b1xon-ms-60b.1334064/

Well that’s quite lucky that I can solder (Also I can Arc/Spot, TIG, MIG and braze weld) and have a decent soldering iron so it shouldn’t really be a problem

Did he mention that he’s rich? I can’t remember whether he’s rich or not.

Ok so @Jimothey might be interested to see this. Capri Orange, or BS557 Light Orange, which is close enough for me 🍊 It looks a bit dull in the photo, but it’s more vibrant in the flesh. I’m pleased with it, it’s very close to the colour I visualised so I’m happy. I’ll just have to be patient now while it settles for a while...

I think Gene forgot a R in his pick....

It IS all in the fingers. Except when I'm playing with a pick. Then it's all in the pick.

sorry, I like it. Not enough to buy it, but I like it. Whip it, whip it good.....

Apparently mines been delivered. Being the loose cannon I am, I’m going to dive straight in and live test it at a wedding this evening. Ill let you know how it performs with an upright tomorrow.

The wet and dry paper arrived yesterday so I had a bit of time this morning to flat the headstock and apply the decal (I love working from home!) I’d never used Rothko and Frost before but the decal I ordered from them is excellent, quick delivery too, I’m impressed! I didn’t want to put a Fender logo on this build; I don’t have a problem with people using Fender logos on their builds but I wanted to name this one something different whilst maintaining the Fender aesthetic with a 70s style font. As my little boy Bruno has been interested in this build, and wants to help me with the assembly (I’ve kept the nasty nitro paint well away from him!) we decided to call it the Bruno Bass No.1 (same as my username too). We also signed the back of the headstock together for posterity too. So, I’ll give the decal 24 hours or so to fully set and then I’ll start the layers of clear coat over the top.

The pickup in my Retrovibe Evo is pretty good, and passive too, I believe he sells them as an aftermarket part.

A bit unfair though, chucking teak into the equation when everyone knows the question is rosewood or maple.

Unfortunately Alan Spenner didn't. He was one of the best bassists I saw on a stage, in the early days of Kokomo.

Three coats on, it’s only a small piece of scrap to see how it looks and I am impressed. What has surprised me the most is even me almost throwing it on it’s produced an incredibly even colour. I though it may need a lot of care to get a good coverage but I have just put a bit of ink on a cloth and wiped it over as per Andy’s instruction. The difference compared to the ‘proper’ wood dye could not be more striking. And being so cheap I will try some other colours on my next build (that word next again....). More bits have arrived in the post as well so now only waiting on the screws for the pick guard and I will have everything.

The Aftershock is no joke! It can do almost anything you can think of, drive wise. Sometimes I wonder why I sold mine but then I realise it was because I preferred the simplicity of my OFD. Then I wonder why I sold my OFD...

I think we should start calling them pickplates. Or scratchguards.

I used Aluminium tape in all of my basses - remember to fold it over when overlapping joints, so that the glue doesn't insulate one piece from another. Arguably copper tape tends to give a better finish as the Al stuff wrinkles easily (as has already been mentioned), but given that it's pickup cavities and control routs it's a moot point.

They are easy to work with generally which is why I like them. Plus the benefit of almost unlimited colour options. Looking forward to seeing the finished Bass.

Guitar tech, were shall commence with thy seasonal turneth of thy truss rod. Acting careful asth to not strippeth thy rod.

Mine is seafoam green also and it's a really nice colour in the flesh. Sadly still no word on my neck which they have had for over two weeks now. I emailed for an update yesterday but have had no reply yet. Very tempted to send the body back and ask for a full refund. If i was a custom builder and had messed up someone's order I would be bending over backwards to rectify it quickly and keeping the customer in the loop at every stage.

Yes and yes.

I would put decent money on the Roland Cube 30 running rings round one of these at £75 used... I don't understand the need for the wireless bells and whistles, which can in no way justify that price. Can't comment on PJB stuff other than the Bighead and the PJB headphones, which are both outstanding!

There you go, http://www.retrovibe.co.uk/parts/pickups.html

+1 - the bass is a Wal which Alan Spenner changed to in the mid/late 70s. Prior to that he played a Precision and with Kokomo got some great sounds. However the Wal was a step forward in sophistication and made a great player sound even better. It is the sound of that era of Roxymusic and Gary Tibbs played one as well. For anyone who doesn't know already Alan Spenner is on the original Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack and plays some fabulous bass on that as well. He is a big reason why some of us (well me particularly) chase the Wal sound (Percy Jones being another).

Er... well yes, but to be honest I was going to suggest buying your leads and cables from obbm...

Douglas is in France so he's on CET and therefore one hour ahead. I think this might be a browser issue in that case, I'm still seeing dates bass-ackwards in Firefox, but if I look at the same thread with Chrome or Vivaldi it's the right way round. Apologies in that case, please mark this one as solved. Weird indeed, but then we're posting to a bass playing forum, so goes with the territory.

Now that my other build is well underway and waiting for some black hardware I thought I’d try and push this one on...... I’m going to fill the old pickup cavity and make the new template so I can rout out the two new MM pickup cavities then get the body finished while I’m waiting for the pickups to arrive.....

Yep the Wilkinson one for £20 is decent. Had one in a Sterling Sub, wired passive with tone and a series/parallel switch and it was dinky doo.

Here it is paired with a 102HF Limited Edition. Seriously good tones, and very loud for a single 2x10!

Couldn’t get as much done as I hoped today..... Finished the neck pocket and started the belly carve but that’s about it!! I’m not sure whether to do the headstock black or sand it back to maple?? Im not back in work till Friday so I’ll get some more done then.......

I like fretless basses This is the Jack Bruce Tribute I made for our band's bassist, Pete. I get to play it occasionally when he lets me : I liked the sound and feel of Pete's so much, I built one for myself - my own design but using similar timbers and dimensions. Even though this one has Seymour Duncans, it has a similar vibe to it: When I built Pete's tribute, he gave me his old goose-turd green Yamaha RBX270F to do whatever I liked with. I decided to give it the 'myrtle veneer treatment': Nice players, those Yamahas

If you love it, then play it. End of.

Welcome Mozzer. I've always wanted to meet a trombonist. I'd have got one myself if I didn't think I might over extend myself.

Alan White was playing but too frail to do the whole set. I would gently suggest giving them a listen before dismissing the new line up. Steve Howe was not an original member, nor was Alan White, and it has always been the band policy to evolve. Chris Squire urged Billy Sherwood to take over his role and to keep Yes going.

A few weeks ago me and a mate went to a couple of gear shops in Bristol. My mate wanted to buy some for of drum machine. He'd narrowed it down to the Roland Aira TR-8, the TR-09 and the Arturia DrumBrute. We went into PMT first, they didn't have the DrumBrute in stock. But the guy was mega enthusiastic, without being annoying, he gave a brief and knowledgeable rundown of the workings of the TR-8 and then left us to it, popping back every 10 mins to answer questions etc. We had a quick poke about with the TR-09, but counted it out. Chatted about gigs and stuff with the PMT guy for about 20 mins and then we left. We then headed to Elevator Sounds, a synth shop a mile or so away. After being stood in the shop for 15 mins looking at things the owner sighed, looked up from his laptop and asked if we wanted to try anything. My mate asked about the DrumBrute they had on display. Owner sighed again, wandered over, switched it on and pointed at some headphones. He then went back to his laptop. Meanwhile I was looking at all the modular synth stuff. He had a used module I wanted at a decent price. I asked about it, he replied with no enthusiasm "urgh, If you want it that means I'll have to get it out of the rack... "Don't bother" I said I'm not interested now. I asked my mate if he was getting the Drumbrute. In a loud voice he said "F**k this guy, we'll go back to PMT". and off we went. I'll never go back to Elevator Sounds. EDIT: The guy lost nearly £600 in 2 easy sales.

[quote name='cd_david' post='1151133' date='Mar 6 2011, 08:10 AM']Just incase you have an old bike chain lying around the roller element of a segment makes the prefect washer, they fit over truss rods and are nice and wide.[/quote] Nice one! Looks like my son will be doing his paper round on foot next time the truss rod needs sorting