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Had an interesting gig in all but name tonight. Had arranged to go to a blues jam with a couple of guys from one of my bands, plus a very good Australian guitarist who flew in this morning. Hacked our way round Oxford to the venue where we discovered that it was cancelled. So we went back to the village we'd started in and managed to persuade the landlady at a pub there to host us, so we played as a 4 piece without a drummer. Surprisingly, it went down a storm and we have an open invite to do that again anytime we want! Got bought a couple of beers, had a good time and basically saved the cost of a rehearsal studio. I was surprised and pleased by the reaction of the customers who commented on the job I was doing as a solo rhythm section, especially when my greatest supporter bought me a drink. Got home shortly before midnight having snatched a good evening from the jaws of a very disappointing one.

There's no room for a bed in my guitar room!

As discussed in the other Helix thread, this is just for posting links to patches for the Helix or the HX unit. The official Custom Tone page doesn't let us search by instrument, which is a bit annoying, and searching using the word "Bass" doesn't help as many descriptions use parameter names. So to get round it we need an easy search system. How it works: 1: You create a cool sounding patch on your Helix or HX. 2: You give the patch a name that starts "BASSCHAT____________________" (You don't have to keep that name on your Helix, it's just for the upload, then change it on your machine). 3: You upload it to the Line 6 Customtone library here: https://uk.line6.com/customtone/browse/helix/ 4: In the description box you also start it with BASSCHAT to give a better chance of it showing up in searches 5: When it's uploaded you post the link here. 6: We can then find it by a link on here, or directly on the L6 page. That's it! You can also link to other good patches made by others, so we've all got a chance to try them out. I suggest we only have links to the official L6 Custom Tone to avoid getting riddled with nasty infections. I'm at home so I can't upload any right now but I will over the weekend. get stuck in! @dood @CameronJ @Muppet @Musashimonkey @intime-nick @LewisK1975 @dannybuoy

Virtually finished just got to do a setup and sort some of the electrics out...........

You should create a poll!

Outdated information. Thanks for the heads up. I'll correct it to 33" For the following reasons : 1. It allows better placement of the bridge, while still using the same body as the CHB-1. The 34" had the bridge pushed back towards the tailpiece more than I was comfortable with. 2. 33" feels comfortable and familiar if you play 34", but still leaves the strings under slightly less tension for good semi-hollow bass tone 3. No tippy-tippy neck dive. 4. Nobody else makes them at 33". Nice to do something different.

My old set up was Bass into Boss OC3 into a Moog Bass Murf. The signal was split with lows going into one side of a mixer/loop pedal I made & the other side went into a PSK dirt, Moog LPF (with exp pedal & an envelope out to the Bass Murf to shift frequencies as the note decays) & then a boss CH2. This then went back into the other side of the mixer to sum it all together & then to the amp. The loop side of the pedal allowed me to switch everything after the octave on or off. Here's a track I made 5 years ago for Basschat. The bass comes in at 2 seconds. My current rig hasn't made as great a synth sound yet, but I've not really played much with it. I now have MXR BOD > PSK Dirt > Source Audio BEF Pro > Boss CE2.

I'm sorry but your last sentence is a bit stupid. I swap between a passive fretted bass and an active fretless because the songs sound better with the slides. I forgot to switch the passive/active switch at a rehearsal once and vowed that I wouldn't do that again and went down a route that forced me to act for each change. You use pedals to change the sound to suit songs, some of us use a different bass.

So I've got the Chowny chb-2 on a very generous 3 week loan from @Mickeyboro and my first impressions are that it feels much more substantial than the JC as it's a semi hollow rather than a fully hollow bass. That goes with the territory of being a heavier bass, but whilst my shoulders and back may not thank me, I do like the sensation of something more substantial / robust! Looking forward to giving this a proper play over the next couple of weeks and will gladly report back my (hopefully positive) impressions.

Interesting stuff ref the planing - it certainly is borne out by the result! So have I understood, is your jack-plane blade gently radiused? Ref the chambering, I basically follow the same logic as you where I can - I visualise the body as a centre-blocked ES335 or similar with a continuous beam from nut to bridge. Of course, the reality - once you've sliced through it to within an inch of its life with the pickup routings - is somewhat different. On a lightening project for @Harryburke14's very heavy Harley Benton, I actually did chamber at partial depth across the 'centre block' and there was no audible difference to my ear: But generally, I do something similar. This was my last one: Again, if you envisage how deep and wide the pickup routes are (this had twin humbuckers), then the reality is that the body is strong enough / rigid enough/ tonally good enough to chamber in the centre block too. But, like you, I prefer not to if I don't have to.

Definitely try the additional cab first, just in case. However, if the Trace gets the sound exactly as you want, I think the answer is there. Please do let us know how it pans out. Geoff

Great topic idea and I totally agree with @Al Krow with regards to it being I think with covers your inevitably chasing a multi-functional sonic palette and finding the elusive "Swiss Army Tone" is a nightmare and as previously touched on the gateway to a serious case of G.A.S.. Personally like most I started off aspiring to sound like my early heroes; Alex Katunich of Incubus and Stuart Zender of Jamiroquai. I chased the "Super Jazz" Warwick Streamer sound for many years but always being rather broke I've never managed to actually own one. I was about 16-17 when I discovered a through neck ,Korean, Spector 5 string at a local music shop which I snapped up for £450 quid (To this day the most I've every spent on anything other than a car). That bass has been the foundation of my tone ever since but now it exists in a heavily modded state. After the "Super Jazz" obsession I went through a Hardcore Punk phase and sought the Music Man Stingray Punk tone of Players like Jason Sinclair of Belvedere. So naturally instead of forking out for a new bass I just got a MM pickup and squeezed it in-between the two soap-bars already in my Spector. At this point I disconnected the Bridge pickup to wire in the MM pick-up to the Spector "Tone Pump" circuit and used my bass like that for a long time. After the Punk phase I discovered Progressive Metal and just wanted to sound like Justin Chancellor of Tool so I got a decent pre-amp pedal (a Dave Hall Amps-VT1) and of course a Digitech Whammy. In my mid to 20's I became disillusioned with bands and started writing solo material, I didn't want to spend more money on gear but I wanted a wider tonal palette to play with so I re-wired my bass in passive so I could get my bridge pick-up running again, I figured I have my pre-amp pedal so why do I need one in my bass? So that about brings me to just before where I am now, except I should probably mention that along the way, because of financial issues I'd sold my Amp/Cabs. So I'm writing solo stuff I still want to gig it but I'm broke AF, that's when I spent the last two years creating this solution; My no amp solo rig in a box, its two parallel bass chains and a vocal chain with click and backing tracks coming in from the tablet, all monitoring through hard wired in-ear's and I send a single mono line out to the front of house and that's my sound. So really I came to know the sound I wanted, through years of seeking to sound like other people and I ended up finding "My Sound" through combining them all and trying to solve a problem within the financial constants I had to work with. Oh and here's a few pics of my Bass; If anyone's interested I'm running 1 meg CTS Log pots for both volume and tone and a 47uF paper in oil cap.

True fact: first record I ever bought was 'My Gang' by Gary Glitter... picked it up from a jumble sale as a kid. Probably still have it somewhere, although I imagine the resale value has dropped a bit.

I've watched the Bobby Kimball live version a few times since it was originally posted - to the OP, I offer my thanks for the comedy high point of the week.

Budget? You can look at older equipment but IMO the gear being made today is as good and in many cases better. I'd be looking the Basschat Classifieds for good gear at good prices. There are Mesa Boogie amps and cabs, Bergantino cabs, a couple of Genz Benz amps. Some TC, GK, Ampeg, Ashdown and TC. You'll sound good with any of these and IMO separate amp and cabs are better for upgrading and adding cabs. For live work you'll need a 500 watt amp for a full clear sound and enough speakers to carry your sound throughout the room. You might need to project your sound on some gigs even if you have use of FOH on others. Hartke Hydrive and Fender Rumbles are good to start off with. So are GK, Ashdown and Markbass. You can spend more on great amps and cabs like the Quilter BB800, Mesa Boogie and EBS. You will not have any problems sounding like a million dollars with Barefaced, Aguilar or Bergantino. These are my opinions and none of this is set in stone. There are guys using boutique gear who sound average and guys using cash converter junk who sound good, but it's easier to sound good with better gear. We can tell you what we think but you'll have to put in the time to try gear out or see what suites you. Check out local bands and see what gear they are using. Hear someone making a sound you like and ask them about their sound. Most bass players will be happy to talk gear on a gig.

Yep all the time. It’s to make up the fact that I suck.

A good read for anyone interested in the story of Chicago ( from drummer Danny Seraphine's point of view) : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Street-Player-My-Chicago-Story/dp/0470416831

18 feet, definitely. Then we can give it to @Al Krow so that he can punt himself down the river away from any thread that mentions the dreaded C word *. * Compressor - not the other one

Spectracomp, always on. Always fingers. All styles.

My shame bypass filter is not that good.

@Osiris is the the soft key or the hard key version you play with?

I play whatever style comes my way - finger style only i use a p bass and a zoom b2.1 set to ampeg svt, with full fat cab flavouring. The comp is set to fairly subtle - I tried turning it off and the whole thing didn’t sound quite as smooth, throbby, focused so I leave it on. Never heard a bad word yet about my sound ** ** I’m probably deaf ...

If someone said to you "I bet you're a bit of a c*nt.. No offence" you'd probably be offended

Just a quick pic with the rest of the family........

Ah nuts! Well spotted mate. I got back from Belgium last night and for some reason my laptop still thought I was there this morning (hence the 1 hour time difference). Can laptops have hangovers!? I’ll sort it next chance I get, no probs.

Thank you, that's great stuff, I'm deep in your debt, this is a new one on me and I really wasn't sure, I'd hate to make a mess of it without asking first. The plane is a No7 try plane, I keep the blade very close to flat for jointing, I use waterstones for sharpening, a 1000 grit and a 6000 grit both kept flat. On the 6000 grit I tend to hone both sides about 4 or 5 times in groups of 4 strokes but on the last group I put more pressure on the outer edges so that should give you an idea of the sort of radius. The hollow I refer to is along the length, Trying to think how I do it, with the No7 (22" long) I start the cut with a very very fine setting somewhere near the middle and work outwards until I reach the ends then start and finish say 1/2" in until I cant get any shavings so that gives me that very gentle curve, the plane is kept dead flat and get's trued a couple of times a year. That gives a central gap over say 48" of about the thickness of a piece of paper if that, the curve is determined by the imaginary curve between the plane ends and the height of the blade protrusion if that makes sense

Just out of interest & what style do you play .

To answer the question of all ages (Can it be used for Metal), Leo Moracchioli used our Retrovibe EVO bass for his new Metal Cover :

I bought a pedal from pete. It arrived promptly and was insanely well-packaged. All round top egg. Deal with confidence!

I swapped a bass at the sw bash for @yorks5stringer‘s blue one - a nice thumpy tone, but didn’t really cut it at full tilt til I changed to a set of DR (in neon green, also got at the bash!). The drummer thought it sounded like a Stingray then! Whilst I wouldn’t go that far, the DRs certainly changed the nature of the beast!

The problem persisted with the output jack cutting out, despite me thinking I’d remedied it by lifting the scratchplate slightly and adjusting the contact strip. So I decided to unscrew the whole scratchplate and have a good look inside to see what was going on. What had happened was that the shielding foil had lifted away from the cavity side right next to the jack socket. It the tip of the jack plug moved slightly it just touched the foil, cutting the signal. Some kind of circuit being made I guess? Anyway I tidied up the foil and Bob’s yer uncle, sorted!

Thanks mate, I think it ties it together but I don’t think @discreet would agree

Sounds to me like this has already moved from a bunch of mates making music to a band run by one person. That's no reason to leave but you might want to consider selling the PA to the band.

Bass on Hercules stand = 31" x 23" = 713 sq" Bass on Bass Bar = 44" x 22" = 968 sq" So it takes up roughly one third more floor space, but it far harder to knock over. Ya pays yer money ...

My main concern would be them thinking collectively or individually that the PA can be borrowed anytime for projects, Reputation - going out as a ramshackle band could be detrimental to your following and street cred as a local band in its ascendancy if that is a Risk in your case. Dep - Most good established working bands use deps, I would be relieved that they haven't in this case, just in case - younger, better looking, better player and hangs better with the lads Chill - see this as a chance for them to realise all the things you add to the outfit, get a close friend to attend anonymously to check out the performance. make sure they are aware about your concerns for using the PA as a one off.

I use a compressor on both my pedal boards. On the 'posh' board I have a Spectracomp with a VT Bass DI Deluxe & Thumpinator. On my 'small' board I use the compressor in my Zoom MS-60 B along with HPF patch and my VT Bass DI.

Looks great. Love the upper bouts. Great shape.

Lots of threads on here about compressors so worth a search, I use a Spectracomp, I play finger style in a hard rock/ indie/ punk covers band.

The first layer of the fretboard is glued on. I use a big rubber piece to make the fretboard follow the twist of the neck

I’m a Spector player so maybe biased but this is actually true, I have yet to see a Spector of any price point failing to deliver. This topic is a great read by the way! 😂

surely the simplest thing to do would be to set the levels on all your instruments at soundcheck then touch nothing. Saves a fortune on fancy pedals.

Here's my last minute entry. All sounds played on the Roli Seaboard. Just made it tonight (Mrs is wondering where I am ).

I have the short lived intermediate model from the Zodiac range that had the DE Scorpio headstock and mirror scratchplate of the top DE signature model but the stock pickups of the BXP (of which I have replaced the P for a Di'Marzio Model P) and it is indeed a hugely underrated instrument. Super skinny neck that makes an Ibanez feel chunky

In fairness, that's a generalisation, and also a bit harsh. I played for years in a band with a drummer who did not drive, due to his eye sight. He was a great drummer and a nice guy all round. The other band members and I, shared the transport duties. I would prefer a non driving drummer with a pro attitude over a driving one with a bad and lazy attitude.