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Leave enough room for everyone. Sounds simple and obvious but I turned up late one night and the guys had already set up. . . and left no space for the bass at all! They just looked blankly at me when I asked where they expected me to go, and then got a bit ratty when I told them all to move up to make room. What a bunch of idiots!!

May their next turd be a hedgehog.

It is a pleasure to be here. I would like to invite people to share thoughts and invite you all to get to know me. Sending you my best regards, Jeff

Blood and sand, Jez! For a start they look wonderful (mine's the one at the bottom if you are sending them as free gifts to deserving sycophants ) Secondly - we retirees rely on you employed folks to keep us in the manner we once dreamed could have been possible until we all realised that money purchase pension schemes are just charity donations to rich financiers. So it is always a concern if the employed tax-payers start letting their attention drift away from their prime purpose - that is of keeping the state pension provision afloat. So to come to the leading question - when on earth do you have time to work on your proper tax paying job if you have all those beauties on the go and should Phillip Hammond be informed? More specifically, do I need to tighten our family's belts and hide the gin from MrsAndyjr1515? Trust me, she's a very scary woman when she's sober! Ps. My wife's solicitors have served a cease and desist request based on the hurtful comment above. She wishes me to clarify that she is a very scary person whether she has consumed gin or not. I fully concur and apologise for what might have been a seen as a misleading statement.

Not much progress as I've been working on my semi hollow basses but here's a piccie of what builds I've currently got on the go....it gives a good impression of how dinky these headless things are!!

Erm...this just happened...and my pants are ripped.

Interesting development. I've posted a thread about it in "Basses" as well as it might be of interest to the general community. Oil City Pickups are doing a one-off 51 P single coil style pickup (which he's agreed to sell me ) using ceramic bar magnets, and the exact dimensions required to be the same architecture as a certain other bass which uses two single coils (no, not Jazz - the other one which rhymes with fakenpicker) It's got big slug poles in it, and it should produce quite a bit of that snarly midrange grunt which many like in "that tone". I'm going to fit it to this one and put the split coil into my solid body 51P.

I've actually just shared this to my facebook page, you never know, some of my FB friends may donate. They are mostly musos and it may touch their hearts too

Yet another thread that makes me realise how special our band are. Everyone turns up about the same time, we have a quick drink, unload all the gear from our respective cars and just get on with it. Very quickly the stuff is setup and seems to be in a good enough place for people to be ok. At the end of the night we take it all apart, put it in cars and go home.

Old valve gear is the easiest to work on. Point to point wiring and easily accessible parts make working on them not unlike working on a vintage car. Modern amps are a PITA, just like modern cars. They're made with everything attached to circuit boards, including the pots and jacks, and getting those boards out to work on them can require removing every knob and nut on those pots and jacks. It can take over an hour to remove a board to replace a component, if you can replace the component at all. Often the cost of repair exceeds the cost to replace the amp. It took me an hour to even find the oil filter on my last car, while changing it required pulling off a tire. Things today are designed to have the lowest possible labor cost to build them, with no regard to how difficult and expensive that makes it to fix them.

Finish pretty much done - it'll take maybe a week to fully harden before it can be micro-webbed, but I can finish the fret-levelling, hatch magnets and shielding / electrics installation while I'm doing that. Although I've had issues with the gloss version, the satin version of the Osmo Polyx is really straightforward to apply and gives a nice looking and tough finish.

Certainly working for them currently, but I think as a long term option it is a bad move. They are iconic because the were the instruments played by the youths in groups of iconic groups. Those groups when they start don't have a great deal of money, if you put your instruments into the Gibson custom shop / stockbroker and retired banker toy, you make money now, you don't get seen by the people who are going to be buying things to emulate their icons. When I was growing up, a lot of my bass heros played them, so I still love the look, if not the instruments themselves. They were something I wanted. When I watched top of the pops, at least one in 3 groups would have one. Now? doesn't seem to be the case any more.

I don’t think he’s changing the rules, as has been mentioned, he’s building on a lot of ideas that have gone before. However!!!!....his interpretation of those ‘rules’ and theories is wholly individual, a pure joy to listen to him explain theory and musical ideas. I actually think he’s incredibly important for music at the moment, he’s completely invigorated an entire generation of theory lovers. I don’t agree that he is danger of ‘falling’ into easy listening, he’s way too in control of everything he creates. If he writes something ‘easy listening’, it’s pure choice, and that’s fine. I actually find it refreshing where someone writes music that is beautiful and relatively accessible, instead of writing what they are technically capable of all the time. Si

To be honest, part of my excitement is the idea of a different tonal platform for a bass I'm familiar with. We have a lot of basses out there that proscribe to a specific formula: Split P pickup on P body 2x Jazz Singles on a J body 1xMM Humbucker on a MM body And so the list goes on. Now, I did a PJ partscaster last year and I have to say, I found the combination of the two to offer some tonal difference, but for me, it wasn't huge. I'm interested in the idea of a bass with something out of the ordinary. Ric pickups use ceramic bar magnets and oversize slugs with 44awg wire in a specific wind shape - it does make them different to a Jazz or a 51P single coil. I really like the idea of getting that different formula and sticking it in a 51P body made of swamp ash or the hollow variant I have just done to see what it sounds like. Will it sound exactly like a Ric? Don't care frankly. For me the experiment is "how different will it sound to a normal 51P single coil?" Ultimately, it will sound like me playing that bass - but I hope to do a compare and contrast for the interested amongst you

The dead one of course. The other one has just been copying him and faking it all these years.

I read up on a few of the different oils at the time and I seem to remember that it doesn't come from nor is it exclusively for use on Teak. ...but then I didn't really believe that you'd get Danish Oil by applying infeasibly great pressure to a Dane either.

PHOTO OF THE MONTH! That photo has made me concupiscent. I'll just sit here with a cushion in my lap for the next hour or so. If we're picking favourites, mine's the one at the end of the photo. When you've finished, have it washed and sent to my room.

I've always thought the Stream was sex on a stick..

I got one of the Surveyors and it is not leaving any time soon, what a well made and versatile bass. I love how it plays and the B string is just Thunder from the Gods. Love it Love it Love it. I like the H series too, wouldn't mind one of those too

We always get the drums set up first, with my amp on drummer's left and geetar on his right. Then we all drop 3 tabs of acid each and start on the Buckfast to prepare ourselves...

Which one..? ...

Don't talk nonsense!!

I'm quite fussy. We sort where the PA is going first, then POWER! Got fed up of everyone acting as individuals, everything being in place and nowhere to plug in. Now we operate a factory line approach. The singer and I sort the PA and power, the drummer puts his mat in place, lights/amps/ monitors go in. Cases are not allowed in the performance space, drives me nuts moving everything three times because the stage is cluttered. I've trained the drummer to assemble his kit off stage, we run the mic cables to him and the bass/guitar mics with the kit out of the way. He then slots his stuff into place whilst we do the last of the lights and we're ready. It's an 8 piece band and too many people helping actually slows us down. If I'm playing with another band that's got pro level players I always astonished at how quiet and fuss free the process is.

I think that distinction requires that you're in on the joke. I've never heard of Steel Panther, I doubt many people have. It's not obvious that it's a joke.

I've never understood this. Guitarists are even worse for it. The best bit of advice I ever had - set up, plug in, tune up, play a couple of notes to make sure it works, PUT IT DOWN!!

A list... Three words currently being woefully misused... a) Iconic b) Literally c) Decimated I also abhor High Rising Terminal, obviously. One more thing that really grinds my gears is the current trend of beginning an answer to a question with a drawn out “So...” or, particularly prevalent at the moment amongst politicians (I think I remember Tony Blair starting this) starting the answer to a question with “Look...”, a confrontational beginning to an answer that invariably avoids the initial question.

At the risk of repeating myself, can't believe the generosity shown from this forum. Way exceeded anything i could have expected, so again, thank you very much to everyone.

Or perhaps it’s the better way and all us right handed players are at a disadvantage? After all, why does it have to be one way? And if you think about it, when playing normal right handed mode it’s the left hand that has a more complex job to do which is counter intuitive to me as a right hander. If you think of the precursors string instrument wise (assuming double bass played with bow) the right hand had a far finer set of movements to perfect. But short of buying one of each and exactly matching practice from the start to see which feels easier I am not sure how you would prove this one way or another.

iReal Pro works for me.

Nor even a diary. I picked up this wee beastie from the Bay of Fleas. It's older than I am, very well made and very very heavy. It needs a new drive belt and I'm not sure how to get the extension out of the spindle yet.

They only dilute the brand if they are rubbish. A good quality Squier VM bass will plug someone right into the brand and then the aspiration starts - all part of the GAS - leads to MiM, US Standard, Custom Shop...

Opinions fall into two camps - Wonderfully unique and quirky, or stuck in the past and pointless. I like them. I wouldn't drop £2k+ on one, and I really would like an early 70's 4001... but not at current prices. A 74 4001 would cost me a lot more than I paid for my 74 Precision..

I wish that I'd known him...I'm sure that I would have learned a lot.

The overdrive on these is quite sensitive to various combinations of the gain, drive and level knobs and I have to adjust all three to get the right sound when I change guitars.

Hey Andrew...respect for acknowledging Pete's contribution to this thread, especially following his untimely demise.

If you wind the chuck down a bit you should normally see another drift slot to allow the removal of the extension piece.

^^^ So, that iconic post quite literally decimated me!!! Look, you started it

Ha ha! Thanks. But once you've had a hernia you definitely think twice about lifting stuff. A second hernia just isn't an option.

Cello fingering is not so different in terms of positions; just that 'cellists have names for them. It's still a matter of placing first finger on a semi tone note; so on the D string: 1/2 =fingers on Eflat, E, F, F#. 1st = fingers on E, F, F#, G, 2nd = fingers on F, F# G, G# 3rd = fingers on G, G#, A, Bflat etc. just like the bass on the same string. But the scale being shorter, you can extend each position, ie by reaching back with one finger from 1st position you can get E flat. by putting finger 2 on F# instead of F, you can then reach G# with your 4th finger. In fact you CAN do the same on a bass, even a double bass, by using "pivoting" (thumb stays in same place, hand rotates back or forth around it) .. though traditionalists don't think it "proper". I think the thing that makes scales and blocks different on a 'cello is the short neck - you can only finger normally up to first finger on G (on the bottom C string) after which you have to bring your thumb round onto the finger board. This combined with avoiding or deliberately using open strings raises a load of avoidance strategies in which fingering a scale from the same pattern gets non-optimal above about F major whereas on the Electric bass you can go on forever. That end to the neck does make one thing MUCH easier though. you can always find "4th" position "blind" as it happens when your thumb hits the heel of the neck, then first finger down = automatic G, D, A, or E. you can play almost any tune in first (with forward and back extensions) and fourth position; 2nd and 3rd are niceties that avoid moving your hand around too much. On the Electric Bass, it is VERY easy to get lost without looking at your fingers now and then! Anyway. Easier? No. Different? Yes. Playing one string instrument won't crack the other but it will give you a leg up. As a classical grade 8 ish 'cellist I bought a double bass and was immediately about grade 5 (took another 20 years to reach 8 ish).

I think part of the issue that is that some people find it difficult to see the subtle but important difference between 'P*ssy Power' & 'P*ssy Melter', therein lies an issue of a wider understanding of gender issues. It's worth highlighting that it's almost certainly not the word 'P*ssy' that is 'offensive' to people, it's the aggressive nature of the full name (backed up by the tone prints description). Now, of course, Steel Panther are a complete parody, they very much subscribe to the South Park/Team America ethos of 'as long as you take the pee out of everyone equally, you're fine', which actually I'm fine with.....they're fully aware that they come across as sad, washed up old rockers with outdated views on women....that's the point, it's a commentary on the 80's & 90's rock scene......just so happens they can shred too. Without knowing any numbers, I suspect SP have as many female fans as they do male fans, because everyone understands the parody, and they like the comedic music. If there is a lack of understanding as to what the band is exactly, again, that's a damning indictment of a wider lack of education around gender issues. Again, it's important to re-iterate that SP are characters, when Satchell responded about the TC thing, that was Satchell typing from his account, not Russ Parrish, the married 47yr old dad who plays the character. However, take Steel Panther's approach out of context, take it away from the show and the fans and the bands self-effacing ridiculousness, and it starts to hit a little bit close to home for a lot of women's everyday experiences. Parody is a fine line, and it requires a fair amount of set-up and context in order to work, which is why I suspect TC took it down......should someone at TC have figured this out before they posted it like 2 years ago? Probably, how many females are working in their marketing department I wonder, let alone their engineering team?! (Women in engineering is a whole other discussion). But as this, and the few other examples of mildly misogynistic names highlights, the gear industry has had some catching up to do. Fortunately, the prevalence of things like 'booth girls' at NAMM and other such shows being something that has (thankfully) decreased as manufacturers realise that they are simply alienating potential customers (Fender cite that 50% of their new customers are female: https://www.forbes.com/sites/petercarbonara/2018/03/28/for-fender-guitars-the-future-is-digital-and-female/#1f1f3d7e4a37). Names of products I feel are simply on the company, if they want to alienate and exclude certain potential customers, fine, if they wish to attract the wrong type of male customer who misunderstand the 'joke', let them, it's their livelihood. Again, I suspect that's why TC took it down, not because they felt the need to censor after a petition forced their hand, but because they feel they made a mistake about something and would prefer not to lose customers over it. As to why people have picked up on this as opposed to focussing on sexism in rap music? I suspect it's because for female guitarist who's onto rock music, this is in their back-yard and one that has been difficult enough to get accepted by as it is. If they have no interest in rap, they're probably not going to jump in on issues within a world they don't understand, especially if they're white. However, if something becomes important to them within the world that they reside (the guitar gear world), they're going to jump on it as something they're directly involved with. It's a massive discussion, and clearly goes much further than just women who play guitar, but with this forum being overwhelmingly made up of what I suspect is to be white men, it's worth us checking our understanding and approach before crying 'the worlds gone mad' (not aimed at anyone, just a general statement). Si

I'm a great believer in good design and good ergonomics, and while having all the working parts on show might have been interesting in the 80s for post-modern architecture, I 'm not so sure that it has as much relevance in 21st century guitar and bass design. Besides IME truss rod adjustment shouldn't be something you need to do on a regular basis so it makes sense to me, to hide the mechanism away so that it is only accessible if you really need to use it. The only times I have needed to adjust the truss rod has been when I have changed to strings with a radically different tension, or when I have bought a guitar from somewhere that has a significantly different climate to that of the UK. In these cases the adjustment has always been best made in several increments over a period of days. I would never want to adjust the truss rod while wearing the bass, mostly because I find that I also need to encourage the neck to bend in the correct place which can only be done by placing the the bass with the relevant area on my leg and pushing down either side. If you don't do this I find the neck will bend either at the weakest point or mid-way along the truss rod length which is not always where you want it. I think musicians are too prone to fiddle unnecessarily with their instruments and making the truss rod adjustment easily accessible only facilitates this behaviour. I don't have a problem with the volute, and besides the volutes on most modern instruments are so tiny to be almost negligible. Most angled headstocks are either multi-laminated layers or scarf-jointed which makes them far stronger than that of a single-piece neck, so the absence of a conventional large volute is less important than it use to be. There is no longer the requirement to build everything big and clunky as it was in the 50s. And the reason I asked "a random selection of bass makers" is that I suspect that they will know a lot more about the process and the various pros and cons of where to have the truss rod adjustment., than a random selection of bass players. Besides I am interested in the process and hopefully I'll learn something from them.

I've had a few compressors that actually affected my tone, most notable being the Line 6 constrictor which could really squash the sound on its max setting. I now have a Boss Limiter Enhancer which only gets used on the enhance setting when playing my fretless because I want it to bring out the little string slides leading in to a note, which it does. I don't use it as a limiter though. I tend to have the compressor on my Ashdown amp permanently on at its mid point. It doesn't add to the tone or anything but it evens things out, so when it's off the bass can be a little uncontrolled in terms of volume peaks etc. And it definitely sounds better with the subtle compression on. If I didn't have the amp compression I'd probably need to really improve my technique or I'd look to get a spectracomp and choose one of the toneprint settings that suits me best. It's not something I want to invest time in messing about with like I do my chorus and drive effects.

In really dull meetings I used to relieve the boredom by trying to write my notes with my left hand. I only got about 5% of the info down but the time went really quickly.

I recently picked up a TC Spectracomp. It's relatively cheap when compared to most and the TonePrint functionality makes it easy to try different compression settings without having to understand all the technical detail. Of course as your knowledge grows you can deviate from the TonePrint and create your own patches.

Jaco - 'Havona' on 'Heavy Weather' (see parallel Fretless album thread) Chris Squire - 'Does It Really Happen?' on 'Drama' Jimmy Johnson - 'Pud Wud' on Allan Holdsworth's 'Sand' Still very fond of Stanley Clarke - 'School Days'. More recently, virtually anything by Hadrien Feraud.