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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.

Yes so not divine intervention but more a temptation from the devil then ...

Zebrano looks amazing

Great news, great pic and hopefully you'll find time to get back into playing again but family first and foremost and focus on them before you start looking. Keep us all posted on how things go and wishing you and the family all our best wishes. Dave and Mrs Dave 😃

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!

Good evening, Knirirr, and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

And the winner is ... D'ADDARIO!

If the Mrs is moaning have you checked she's not just transferring the moan about something else onto the gear? Have you removed that motorbike you were renovating from the kitchen yet? Has the water been re-connected since you put a nail through one of the pipes when putting up a Bass hanger? Do you still store used editions of Bass Guitar Magazine in the bed and when re-stringing a bass do you casually toss the old strings across to her side? Just sayin'....

What a sweetie!

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.

My personal view (and so not necessarily that of the Mods nor Admins...) is that there is enough diversity and richness in language (English and others...) to allow one's feelings, however strong, to be adequately expressed without resorting to vulgarity. Use, or worse still, over-use, of bad language diminishes my opinion of the author (that this matters little to them I'm quite aware, but still...). There are perhaps occasions when comic effect could, maybe, justify writing in that manner, but they are, I reckon, rather rare, and all the more effective by being so. It will be understood, then, that I am for keeping the profanity filter, hoping that it never need be invoked.

I’m not a fan of anodised gold p/gs but that looks awesome.

Great news and smasher of a little ‘un. ❤️

Some sooper-dooper DI boxes can add something to your original signal (let's go for a cliche here, how about "a warm valve sound") but that rather pre-supposes that you feel your original signal is lacking that something. I use passive non-valve Radial boxes which don't interfere with the signal (at least, not in way that I can detect) on the basis that, if I'm recording something, then what I want to record is me and what I really sound like.

Seems it may have been a mistake on the part of the band leader, he called last night to tell me it was his fault. Human error I can understand, this doesn't seem to have been a cynical mis-use of bands after all. We'll get together for a jam somewhere tonight, no pay but at least we get play with our Australian friend again before his brief visit is over.

So you don't get your own effects carpet?

It’s not how long your band name is, mate! It’s wot ya do wiv 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

I personally think that the filter is vaguely amusing and encourages inventiveness

Well I've certainly got hundreds of albums in my garage that were released by my band, unfortunately they all look and sound very similar ...

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 ...

Roger's just looking for publicity for his new album... And he's probably right that his rock music peaked in 1971. Just means he's stuck in his own past and hasn't noticed the world moving on.

I can`t see this myself, how can AC/DC not have been taking rock uphill, or Guns N Roses, both quality bands imo.

I've sanded a scratchplate before and buffed it to a gloss finish. I wouldn't have bothered with peroxide/bleach. I used to collect vintage star wars figures and that's a method people sometimes use to return yellowed figures to white. They just go yellow again... faster than before. If I were you I'd buy a new plate.

Got an Update..and thanks to all your advice which I passed on to him, he stuck to his guns and has got the dealer to agree (very reluctantly) to swap back the guitars on the proviso that he pays £60, 30 quid for setting up the chapman before he advertised it on his FB page and £30 to put back the strat to its origional set up when they re-swap guitars, seems a bit harsh but I told him probably best to bite the bullet on that one and just get your axe back. Thanks for all your advice folks, love this forum, helped me out so many times

I feel for the OP's mate. Couple of things... * If it's choking out on bends it's just as likely to be the neck relief as the action - best he check this before he gives up. And if it isn't the relief it could just be a high fret. Also, if it's a vintage spec neck the 7.5" board radius will always choke out with big bends up at the dusty end unless the action's jacked well high. * Alder / agathis / basswood? TBPH, it's not going to make a huge amount of difference anyway if it's a multi-piece Squier body. Whther it was ash, alder or agathis most people would have to be have to be a total cork-sniffing tone hound to tell the difference blindfold . People go on about alder and ash but afaich there's not much difference, unless it's a shoot-out between some really light, resonant old swamp ash and some boat-anchor alder. Even then the amp and the speaker make more difference than wood types (as the OP's mate has discovered). * I've done the steel trem block thing on a proper Strat and it made a microscopic difference to the sound - nowhere near as much as the difference between setting the bridge to float and setting it flush to the body. * Final thing: He's gone round, played it and walked out the door with it 'as seen'. Very difficult to turn that one around. The other guy claimed it was an alder body; maybe he genuinely thought it was; maybe he's a fibber; hard to prove either way without suggesting the guy's a liar which isn't going to get the Chapman back. Really, I think he's just going to have to suck it up and put some work into the guitar. Caveat emptor.

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

So I’m still very good friends with All but two members of the band. Nice Christmas messages from all of them. They’re carrying on without me and the singer who left at the same time. The plan is to earn more, think my mate the guitarist will turn to bass and they’re going down the much more tried and tested “Dakota” route. A shame really - but I wish them well. Tomorrow we meet with Neurosurgeons and have a look around the family quarters at St.Marys in Manchester. All grand, Iris (the little bundle of stress/joy/fear/interpretation) is also going to be seen in 3d and we’ll hopefully come away with heads full of More information. Anyhow, we’re all enjoying Christmas...Jenny’s Nanna turned 100 today, and my Nanna turned 82. We met a new family addition today at a do, and my eldest daughter (Ella) got a guitar for Christmas and has declared I’m to be her bass player when she’s famous.

Τhe jig to make the twisted neck is ready. You can see the router following the angles Next step is to give the shape in the wood.Don"t know when,but i believe soon