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Pleased to say Iris came home after 6 weeks in hospital and 5 operations (the first of which at 2 days old was a gruelling 9 1/2 hours). She’s doing great and it’s lovely to have her home.

Dropped the Mrs at the gym and thought I'd pop into the LGS which is only a couple of minutes round the corner. Just browsing - mostly at guitars when I came across the Mockingbird MK3 below. It looked stunning so I tried it and loved it. It's a bit neck divey as you would imagine , but sustains forever and has an awesome array of tones. I wouldn't have ever imagined buying a BC Rich but it wasn't what I expected at all. The shop had set it up perfectly too. I now feel compelled to put gold strings on it (it's an obsession) It was marked up at £500 so a quick google found it for £386 in Thomann and the LGS (Sound Affects) matched the price. A good days work !

Hang on - is that an Amazon Echo on his coffee table...

Have you tried offering to help carry the stuff to the car, you know, don't leave it all for her to do? I mean, don't strain yourself, obviously ...

Ok I do know it’s been a while ive finished grain filling finally and I’m sanding off the residue one trick I’ve learned is to wipe white spirit over to show the grain and highlight spots that need more filler or sanding. Monday is final sanding and sanding sealer

Cheeky interim purchase before my ACG arrives. Cheers Jonze! This is a 2006 CIJ Mustang, always fancied one, and the wife has a couple of bass gigs (she plays a Mustang guitar), so made sense! Liking the Fiesta Red more than I thought I would, but was the right price, so don’t care either way! Cleaned up the fingerboard (needed a little TLC), fitted some La Bella Mustang Flatwounds, overall a very cool bass Si

Today I took the glued bodies out of clamps and trimmed the excess with the bandsaw. Then I flushed the tops on the router table, when I looked at them I had an "Oh heck!" moment as there was what appeared to be an open glue line all around the join but when I sanded a bit of the top op the disc sander it turned out to be just a little glue that had discoloured the back at the very corner and comes out with the slightest sanding, PHEW LOL; that had me going for a few seconds. You can see the line in the photographs, it looks just like an open glue line, in hindsight there was no way that I could have ended up with an open glue line but I still fell for it. Next I scribed a line at 49mm all around which will be the line to carve the top to but also the line at which the bottom of the fretboard will sit at the neck body interface. I marked the position of the neck joint and pickup pocket routs and drilled out the waste to cut back on the amount of noise from the router. I fixed the routing jig to the body with a couple of screws, one through the point of the bridge and one near the edge where the wood will be carved away so no holes will be left after the body's done. I routed the neck joint on one body but then realised I had made the jig too shallow for the pickup pockets so I made a perspex spacer, I'll fit that and finish the routing tomorrow. The weather picked up so we went for a walk on the beach, it seemed a lot more fun than woodwork

The internet is a big place. If people want to aggressively argue about politics, religion or the more toxic stuff there's a lot of places they can go to do that whilst being as sweary as their imagination allows.

Given the presence of the 'Report' button plus the introduction of the 'Like' system, it would hardly be beyond the wit of Basschat for such a section to be largely self-moderating. As a doting Dad I am well aware of the need to keep children away from bad language. After all, who ever heard a teenager swear? But recent polls seem to have shown fairly conclusively that being over-run with little children is not a problem that need concern us. Seeing as we are overwhelmingly a bunch of mature grown-ups, why not treat us that way?

Pickguard arrived in the post today - Cheers @Jono Bolton so while I wait for the other chrome work to arrive...I stuck it on.

Stumbled across this and found it an interesting little read so thought I would share in case anyone else was interested. http://rumblinman-blog.tumblr.com/post/62650774540/the-bassist-within-elvis-presley

And, it arrived this morning 😁

Whatever the hiding place was you got the PA out of, just put your missus back in it. Job done!

Most people will have their favourite era, usually according to what age they are. So no, I don't agree with Roger Daltry.

Hey there. Mustang and precision user here who plays both flats and rounds here. I’ve actually tried to do the same thing (albeit with a 34 not 35), maybe I can offer some thoughts. First, though, let me try to “manage your expectations” a bit. What you are looking for is going to be tough. I think that you are going to have a hard time getting the 35 scale bass with flats to feel a lot like a short scale with those strings on it. You probably know this, but as a rule (darn physics), short scale basses like the Mustang will have lower tension for the same pitch and gauge as a longer scale bass. That’s why players often find SS to be “loose”, “floppy”, or lacking a “tight low end.” Moving to 35 will be the exact opposite—higher tension for the same pitch. Your particulars are more complicated because the gauges you note of the strings are unusual. Most sets with 45 top end have 100 or 105 on the bottom end. (At least the ones I’ve played and the ones I saw on a quick check of GHS's site.) So, you have even lower tension in the low end than normal because the string is smaller gauge. Add to that you'll be switching from rounds to flats. Most players find flats much stiffer than rounds because of the square vs round winding. They simply bend less with equal force applied to them. So, no only will tension be different, but flexibility will differ, too. All in all, a tricky thing you are asking. Going from what is a very, very soft feeling spec to what is usually a pretty stiff spec. My best recommendation would be LaBella low tension flexible flats. They are on the light side of what you can find in the world of flats (42x100), but are built with a layer of silk in between the middle and outer windings, which improves flexibility. In my experience, they are the softest feeling flats. They also sound nice and thumpy, with the classic flats sound. Plus, they as soooo smooth. They feel like you’re playing a silk shirt. TI Jazz flats are also popular because of their softer feel, because they have a similar winding approach. A bit heavier, and more expensive. But wonderful. So, to get a soft feel, those are probably your best options. Both sets also have “oddly guaged” middle string compared to other sets, to balance out the feel, which is nice. For comparison, I recently strung a through-body bass with extra light LaBellas because the bridge couldn’t take top load, and very few companies make flats that work though-body. Even though they were lighter gauge, they felt stiffer. (Ended up swapping the bridge so I could use LTFFs on it!) Like @fretlessguyI also use GHS precision flatwounds. And I really like them. They are, though, a bit stiffer than the LaBella LTFFs. But I use them on my fretless, where I don’t feel the stiffness as much (and I think it actually helps increase the mwah). And they have more in the upper midrange than the LaBella/TIs—“zingier”—which is great on fretless. They would be a good option, too. So, going from a very soft, round wound, short scale to an extra long scale with flats, I think the LaBella LTFFs will be your best bet. In my experience, they won’t get you all the way to the same feel, but as close as you can get. Sorry. Probably more info than you needed there. But it’s a tricky jump you are trying. Knowledge is power and all that... Good luck with the quest! P.S.: this focused pretty much on feel alone, because that’s the tricky part. Forgot tone. In the end, flats will never sound like rounds. Just different animals. So, if you like the sound of rounds, stick with Boomers on the long scale bass.

Well..it looks like i am starting a topic here for my first headless and multiscale twisted neck bass build.. I am at the beginning yet,still have work to prepare the neck woods.Maple-wenge neckthrough with 2 double jazz pickups. I dont have all the tools i need,so i have to go in a furniture maker to do some works,and this is the most slowly going part of the build. Here is the neck I need help to choose body shape,and how to use common bass machine tuners behind the bridge. Any idea will be helpful

I had a wee blast on a couple of Basic Ken Taylor 5ers. One a 30th anniversary & the other a bubinga. Compared them next to a Sadowsky Metro, a Mayones Jazz, a MM Bongo & a few Ibbys too. I loved the sound of the Bongo, but I’m not sold on the shape & a gold finish isn’t my thaing. The Sandbergs sounded very similar & the lows from them are immense. I actually prefer them to every other bass that I played. I liked the Mayones & the Sadowskys, but despite their higher premiums, didn’t play as well as the Sandberds. I think I may have found my bass! 😎

So happy for you all. What a wonderful smile! And she can grow up with live music as a natural part of her life 🙂

Great news! all there very best to little Iris, your good lady and your self. SO nice in this buggerage of a world to hear good news.

Yup. Fodera are on record as saying that they want to make sure that their craftsmen and everyone working for them deserves to be paid a decent living wage for where they’re based, hence their prices.

I opted for a Sadowsky preamp/DI. Definitely makes a huge difference!

Welcome Knirirr.

Welcome to the Oxford Bass Collective, there's quite a few on here from Oxford and nearby. I'm out near Witney (but playing in Oxford tonight).

You could sell your guitars and basses on here?

I play in a rock covers band with a fairly loud drummer playing pubs and clubs and usually just take my c8 which is plenty loud enough. I have a c4 too but to be honest it's unnecessary and I prefer the sound of the c8 alone. Most of the stages are tiny so it's small footprint is ideal too. I can't imagine anyone being disappointed with a c8 paired with any decent fairly powerful amp.

Great news and smasher of a little ‘un. ❤️

Not at all. And he strikes me as someone who overestimates his own importance/contribution...

Let’s also not forget that Anthony Jackson has had a greater role in making the six-string bass what it is than just about anyone in history. If he wants the jack on top on his bass, you bet your donkey he gets it!

my wife had one of those, it was great but she preferred her Precisions

I think a Pub Carpark section(where anything and everything goes) should be established that is only visible to memebers and the swear filter should be removed for that section only. And yes I stole that idea from HiFi Wigwam

He's never been one to under-estimate his own importance. 1971 is probably about the time that The Who started to run out of steam and others who had undoubtedly been influenced by them kicked them to the curb and disappeared into the distance.

Thanks guys. I have to say, I'm tempted by the idea of putting the bass on the stage at the end of the gig, pouring lighter fluid all over it, and setting fire to it. I never realised that Hendrix was actually trying to restore the finish on his Strat ...

Well the Ramones didn’t form until ‘74 so...

Who knew walls were so popular!? Here's mine, taken in Dartford about 8 years ago

Made the body contour and started to shape the back of the neck.Also open the pickup cavities

I think have all of the pictures that are broken links now. You wan to post all of them (i don't know exactly what i have posted) or you wan to see a few specific pics?

Almost finished glossing this one it’s been flattened just got to buff it now but........ When I first did this build I was toying with the idea of having a pickguard on it then I went away from it now I’m thinking (not that it needs it) it might look nice with a white or cream pickguard on it here’s the rough shape it might be....... What does everyone think?? Opinions please .........

That sounds like one of the better ones!

He he thanks guys that really means a lot to me. This building thing is sometimes a solitary pastime, so having other people like what you do is ...well...amazing. The guy in the next door workshop is a photographer so did a couple of vanity shots.......

I'm beginning to think that I've had my money's worth out of them so it might be time to change. Those new ones do look good. I remember a thread some time ago about the Loxx ones but no one has mentioned them since. Those new Schaller ones may be worth a try

Working in covers bands, I have one standard set up on stage but then use many different styles of playing - open pick, damped pick, fingers, staccato, legato etc etc to get the correct feel for the song - which I think is more important than trying to get an exact sound.. In any case, I think your sound is SO influenced by the type of stage and the room acoustics that micro attention to EQ is pretty pointless. You can have bass heaven on stage but you might be mortified if you heard what the punters are actually hearing.

A shame about those frets, but a really nice job in any case. Here's my Crescent Moon fretless, which also has Q-Tuner BL series pickups, and currently has a 3-band preamp of my own design in it: That's a one piece sapele body, neck-through maple neck (inset to body from back), and an ebony board.