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Just found out that my recent build for @Len_derby (covered to sleep-inducing detail in the Build Diaries) has been awarded 'Bass Of The Week' in the excellent (not that I'm biased) US-based e-zine 'No Treble' I'm well chuffed - it's my fourth BOTW with them Here's the link: https://www.notreble.com/buzz/2018/08/06/bass-of-the-week-ajr-guitarmods-swift-lite-lightweight-bass/ I'm just off for a cold shower to deal with my nauseating smugness Andy

Just found out this has been voted 'Bass of the Week' in the excellent (well I would say that, wouldn't I) US e-zine 'No Treble' https://www.notreble.com/buzz/2018/08/06/bass-of-the-week-ajr-guitarmods-swift-lite-lightweight-bass/ Well chuffed. It's my fourth success with BOTW Andy Smug

When I first moved to Warsaw I only knew a couple of musicians, so asked them to put me in touch with anyone who they heard might need a bass player. So, a week or so later I get a call and ask if I want to go and rehearse with a band. Sure! I arrive at the given address and it turns out to be a semi-derelict factory. Okay. There's a youngish bloke waiting outside for me and he helps me lug my amp out of the car and inside - it looks like a squat. After wending our way through a veritable labyrinth of dark corridors I find myself in a darkened room with a surly looking, multi-pierced person behind a 1000 piece drumkit and another guy with a BC Rich guitar and a full-on Marshall stack. This is gonna get loud, methinks. First up, they ask me to detune my 5 string down to a low G. Alarm bells! Then they give me a quick rendition of one of their 'songs': a 600bpm deathcore number, with the chap who helped me load in jumping around shouting "WOOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!" into his microphone. Hmmmmm. I think I'm at the wrong gig here, but hey whatever I should be able to keep up with them. We thrash around for 5 minutes or so and they ask me what I think, to which I reply that I don't really think I'm the right man for the job. Shouty bloke assures me that I should hang around as their second vocalist will be along shortly and he is a much better singer. OK. Second vocalist arrives, we start another 'song', now there are 2 variations on the "WOOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!" theme. Enough is enough for me, so I start to make my excuses and leave. On the way out, they ask if I'd like to join them for their next rehearsal - I politely decline, but being British say that whenever they are planning to gig let me know and I'll come along (as if). I enquire as to the name of their ensemble to which I get a reply of indecipherable Polish. How does that translate into English, I enquire, 'Nun's C*nt' they reply.

I've not played seriously for years so there's no good reason to own near 70 basses 🙂 Then again I've no family or financial ties and since I've been sober can afford it so why not own 70 basses 😎

Slightly off topic and with no G strings involved I spoke to Strings & Things (UK MusicMan distributor) recently and they said that if I register my Old Smoothie online for warantee I’ll get an extra few months and free gift in the post. The free gift turned out to be a nice tool kit worth about £46 (eek!). Nice touch, very impressed, big thanks to the Gentlemen at S&T 👍

Well, made a trip to Bass Direct this morning and came home with a Dingwall NG2 four string in Laguna Seca Blue! Been looking at these for a while, and after watching @dood review the combustion and NG, the GAS got even worse! Was a bit unsure about fanned frets but after getting some feedback from BC’ers and a couple of friends who have played them, decided to go and try one out. I’d narrowed it down to two finishes, the white swirl and LS blue. The white swirl was sold by decided to take a trip and have a look at the blue one in the flesh. Glad I did, the pics don’t really do this colour justice, it’s fabulous, a lovely deep matte finish that looks really good against the carbon fibre look scratchplate and maple neck. Plugged it into a Genzler Magellan and Genzler cab in the shop. Played in passive mode first off, just to get a feel for its natural tone. Flicking through the pickup selector positions delivers some lovely results, it’s got a natural zingyness and brightness to it which I really like. Flick the switch to engage the 18v Darkglass preamp and there’s some immense power on tap, with cut and boost controls for bass, low mid and hi mid. I found it’s got almost a Stingray sort of rasp and bite to it, and having the eq and pickup selector options means there’s a lot of tones to be explored. I was always impressed by the workmanship and build quality of my Bongo and Stingray basses, and this is the same. The fit and finish are excellent, and considering that this is he ‘cheaper’ range of Dingwall, then it’s a testament to the outstanding standards they have! Anyway, I’m off to give it a test through my GK MB fusion and BF Big Twin 2, so here’s a couple of pics! Oh and just as a side note, the 2 young guys at BD this morning, Ash(?) and the young guy who actually served me, were polite, friendly and professional!

OK, finally got my list together....! So, here goes.....69 basses: (PRE-KRAMER) SPECTOR SB-1 USA 1976 (Walnut/Maple) (PRE-KRAMER) SPECTOR NS-2 USA (Cherry Sunburst) (KRAMER) SPECTOR NS-2 USA (Black) (KRAMER) SPECTOR NS-2 USA (Black) (KRAMER) SPECTOR NS-2 USA (Gloss White) (KRAMER) SPECTOR NS-2 USA (Tobacco Sunburst) (KRAMER) SPECTOR NS-2 USA (Red/Black Lava Crackle) - Ex-Barry Dunaway (Yngwie) (KRAMER) SPECTOR NS-2 USA (Red Stain) (KRAMER) SPECTOR NS-2A (Gloss White) (KRAMER) SPECTOR NS-2A (Black) (KRAMER) SPECTOR NS-2A (Black) (KRAMER) SPECTOR NS-2A (Teal) SPECTOR NS-2 USA (Custom Holoflash Black & Abalone) SPECTOR NS-2 Euro CR (Holoflash Black) SPECTOR NS-2 Euro CRFM(Purple Stain) SPECTOR NS-2 Euro CRFM (Plum Stain) SPECTOR NS-2 Euro LX (Gloss White) SPECTOR NS-2 Euro LX (Red Flame) SPECTOR NS-2 Euro LX ‘Ian Hill’ (Black) SPECTOR NS-2 Euro LX ‘Doug Wimbish' (White) SPECTOR NS-2 JA-CR Euro RI (Gloss White) SPECTOR NS-2 JA-CR Euro RI (Black) SPECTOR NS2000/4 (Dark Grey Quilt) SPECTOR Legend 4X (Holoflash Black) SPECTOR Legend 4X (Black Stain) STUART SPECTOR DESIGN NS-4 Euro(Red Stain) DINGWALL NG-2 (Mopar Purple) DINGWALL D-Bird (Blue/Purple Colourflip) WAL Mk1 Fretless(Mahogany with Stained Maple facings) WAL Mk1 “Geddy Lee” (Black with Gold Hardware) FENDER Precision ‘70’s Jap RI “Phil Lynott” (Black/Mirror) FENDER Precision ’62 Jap RI (Vintage White/Red Tort) JACKSON "Kip Winger" Sig (Cherry Lacewood) JACKSON TBX-Pro ‘Jacksonbird’ 1 of 56 made (Black) JACKSON Ontario ‘Concert Bass’ (White) HAMER Impact USA (Black & Gold ‘Marble’) HAMER Impact USA (Red) HAMER Scarab USA ‘Rick Savage’ (White) KRAMER Forum I (Blue) KRAMER Ferrington Electro/Acoustic (Black) ESP Horizon II (Cherry Sunburst) ESP The Surveyor 1984 (Blue Stain with Blue fingerboard!) ESP PPJ-160 ‘Masayoshi Yamashita’ Sig Model (White) ESP/Zep-II PPJ-160 ‘Masayoshi Yamashita’ Sig (Black) PEAVEY RJ-IV “Randy Jackson” Sig Model (Red Sunburst) PEAVEY RJ-IV “Randy Jackson” Sig Model (Grey/Silverburst) PEAVEY “Rudy Sarzo” Sig Model (Dark Natural) TOKAI ‘Hard Puncher’ P (Black/Mirror) TOKAI ‘Hard Puncher’ P/J (Red all over) TOKAI Works TW801? (Black) FERNANDES MV-65NS “Nikki Sixx’ Non-Reverse Spectorbird (Black) FERNANDES MV-65NS “Nikki Sixx’ Non-Reverse Spectorbird (Black) FERNANDES MV-65NS “Nikki Sixx’ Non-Reverse Spectorbird (Black) FERNANDES TB Ltd Edition ‘Thunderbird’ (Off-White) FERNANDES PJ-50 Ltd Edition P/J (Red) YAMAHA BB3000 (Black Sparkle) HARTKE XK-4 Active (Black/Chrome) GUILD Pilot (Purple Burst) GUILD Pilot (Red) EPIPHONE Thunderbird Vintage Pro (Black) HOHNER B2A w/D-Tuner (Black) SIRE “Marcus Miller” V7 (Vintage White) FELINE/SPECTOR "Gene Simmons SB-1" Copy (Black) FELINE/KRAMER "Gene Simmons Axe" 1980 Hybrid (Black/Silver) PUNISHER "Gene Simmons" Ltd. Edition (Signed/#’d) (Black) AXE "Gene Simmons" Ltd Edt (Signed/#’d) (Black/Silver) CORT “Gene Simmons Axe-2” (Black/Silver) CORT “Punisher GS-2” (Black) STACCATO MG Active (22 of 34 made) (Black/Magnesium Alloy) I also have 10 'guitards'....

I started as a singing drummer. Have learned to play and gigged on guitar, harmonica and bass and have taught these instruments. When teaching young drummers, I would first concentrate on them learning to play grooves and would have them play along to recordings, keeping the beat steady, not slowing down or speeding up. Some have a hard time with this. When I moved on to fills, some would have a hard time coming back on the "one", because a 4/4, alternating , bass drum-snare-bass drum-snare to a drummer who isn't just concentrating on himself (or herself) is the same as a snare-bass drum-snare- bass drum. As a singer, I was also always aware of the form of a song, whereas non-singing drummers have to be made aware of the difference between verses and chorus. Part of teaching drummers should be for them to not only become proficient as a drummer, but help them become musicians, thinking about the song, listening to the other musicians and fulfilling their role in the mix. Please try to help this drummer in his journey. If he refuses to be helped, help yourself and sack him. There ARE musicians out there who are drummers. When you're walking and have a pebble in your shoe you'd be foolish not to stop and remove it.

Hmmm....I don't think so... It's actually a stretched version of this piccolo bass I designed and built for Pete, our band's bassist: Because of the longer neck, it meant the top horn needed extending but that's pretty much the shape. If Ric's have muscled in, they will be hearing from my solicitors!

This picture from my archive must from 2004 when I had a thing for Musicman basses. The last of these, the Pacific Blue Burst SR5, finally left two weeks ago. Its place has now been taken by a natural Sterling, the third I've owned over the years - I'll never understand why I ever sold the others.

Well I can't leave this indefinitely can I haha, so I've renamed the tracks to reflect what they are and closed the poll. As most of you guessed, 1 was indeed the Lakkie and 2 the Fender. Adding to it further, I've now also added a third track which is the Lakland with a set of La Bella 760FS flats, much closer to what the Fender is strung with, very mildly thicker gauge. I should also say that I had to bring up the volume of the Fender up a fair amount in Logic for this test, the Lakland as well being a bit more focussed (although arguably slightly less lows), is a lot louder. You'd probably expect that from a new pickup though, but wanted a fair test avoiding any psycho-acoustic bias. Si

A synth legend. As well as playing, he was very creative and also heavily into the production. The sounds he brought to the first two DD albums brought so much atmosphere which allowed the rest of the instruments to shine against a lush background. Probably the hardest spot to fill in a DD tribute IMO.

Just buy a 2 bass stand and it won't take up much more room than a single. Job done and you'll have 2 lovely basses to stare at when telly is crap. Dave

Makes all the difference. I've played with lazy drummers who just 'play along' rather than be instrumental in creating the time and leading the groove (if you know what I mean). These are wannabe, deluded passengers who make life more difficult than it needs to be, and I want to punch them!

It is actually from Ashdown direct. B stock. So as they were posting i thought it would be rude not to have the bottom bit🤣😂

The attention to detail throughout the build is astonishing, and if i may say, is up there with the same detailing as Andy's basses. The person that gets hold of that spare bass is going to be overjoyed, no doubt !

But be nice, drummers are sensitive little souls who need a little ego stroking now and again, that's why we are happy to sit at the back behind a load of cymbals 😁 Now I never said I didn't also sound like a cutlery drawer falling down an escalator 😉

Here's an old (almost all in one) pic at the studio...... painted Ibanez sold...

The bandwidth needed for 69 high quality bass pics would crash the site....... and take me all day! 😂😂😂😂

Getting good contact between the two mating parts is the key. The bonded surfaces are subjected to a combination of compression and shear forces and a little tension force. Under compression and shear, wood glues are quite good. Even under tension they're resistant to failure as long as the parts are a good fit to begin with. If a bolt on neck is a good fit in the neck pocket you could bond the neck in place with no bolts at all and have no problems with it as long as it is set at the right angle relative to the bridge to give a full range of saddle height adjustment. You lose the feature of being able to change or repair necks easily, that's all. Lots of guitars have set necks. PS: Christine's spot on. We must have been typing simultaneously.

I got the dug pedal a few weeks ago. Took it on a private wedding gig the same night playing funk/modern r n b stuff... I hadn't really spent any time with it prior to this and it was a good learning curve, I was on in ears so that helped me dial it in throughout the gig. Nobody said anything about the completely different tone I usually have from my trickfish DI out despite starting off with way too much gain! What surprised me was how much low end this pedal has, it was huge! Also the compressor I found doesn't need too much to work and sound natural... This is probably bass dependent. I already use a muira comp in front of it which does hardly any compression just enhances the tone. Since the gig I've had an afternoon to further mess with settings and I've found a really nice ampeg svt tone that bites when you dig in or also with just a bit of break up. It is a bright pedal but you can dial it back using the high/treble control as if you were filtering it off in a mixing/studio environment. What I love about this pedal is that I can hear my basses through the pedal compare to previously sansamps. You can push the midrange back in to the tone if needed. Also with the bddi I found the presence control almost plastic and fake sounding and drive too wooly when pushed which is something I don't experience with the dug. It has a really nice clarity and the drive holds it self together instead of turning to fuzzy mush. Used to run a b3k into a bddi with very little drive on the DG just to sharped up the bddi. Closest thing I can relate it to is a loud ampeg svt vr with the hi and lo switches engaged in a conservative setting and then you can gradually push it into dug territory! Also the DI out just works and sounds good, no DSP etc which I have found weird in the past especially when your tone from your cab is drastically different to what is out front with how much drive/gain is audible. Anyway there's my thoughts / praise. Not 100 percent on tuner yet but a nice addition

Holy smokes!! 69!! Another Peavey arrived yesterday, talking the count to 55. With the Tunes, Wishbasses and others takes me to 69 also. Dread to hear what Happy Jack will make of this 😁

*fainted*

Now's the time to spring like a panther: send your drummer down to audition. When he gets the gig he can tell them he'll only join if he can bring his friend (you) in on bass. Then you both turn up for the rehearsal and sack the other band members. Then book some gigs in this band's name; leave it a while then cancel them at the last minute while savagely insulting the bookers down the phone. Then announce the band is folding. Arm long, vengeance total. Proper job.

Well, I've had the bass for a few days now and I thought it would be nice to post some feedback. The top line is that the 'vision' I had for a custom built bass has been brought to wonderful life by Andy. The main design brief was for a Jazz-influenced 'working' 4 string that looked good but didn't scream 'look at me'. For me, a triple tick has been achieved. The light weight of the bass, at 6.5 pounds, was almost disconcerting when I first picked it up. But after playing it for a few days I ask myself 'why are most basses so heavy?'. I set Andy the challenge of block markers on a maple fret board. They look and feel beautiful. So far, I've only used the bass for personal playing and one band rehearsal. Through a Phil Jones Bass Cub the Norstrand NJ4 pickups I went for sound sweet although there's still some experimentation to be done on bass and amp settings. The whole attention to detail and quality of build is fantastic. Andy is a great craftsman to work with. He doesn't impose his views but will advise where things can be done better. Bottom line; a very happy customer.

Geoff Chalmers’s site Discover Double Bass is a must! Wonderful resource for the beginner player and well beyond, especially those who are exactly in your situation re. teacher/cash. I wish a site like this existed when I started out... Heres the link https://discoverdoublebass.com/

Well said. If that’s what you enjoy doing then do it 👍

Nelson is only a few miles from me. next to Colne (silent "L").

Every right to be smug, well done and well deserved

Congratulations. That’s a great looking bass, do I detect a little tip of the hat towards Ric? I am amazed it’s under 7lb.

You’re welcome Dan, although I am starting to think my bank balance would be happier if I didn’t watch any of your reviews, my EBS Sheehan pedal was a result of being convinced by your review! I’m really impressed with the NG2, even after just the couple of hours I’ve had it home. Bang for buck it is exceptional, don’t get me wrong it’s by no means a ‘cheap’ bass, but the hardware, electronics and build quality wouldn’t be out of place on a bass in the £2k plus bracket

Thank you, really. It means a lot to me to know that my reviews have been helpful. I always hope to do the instrument justice rather than impress any sort of ego. My mantra has always been "No Ego, No Shred, Just Bass!" Anyway, whilst we are here, I actually went back and watched the Combustion 4 video again a little while back and have ended up giving myself GAS too! I really want one ha ha!!! Great basses, so well made and the support from Sheldon Dingwall and his team is just brilliant. 👍

Congratulations! You know, of course, that you can't write your notes in conventional TAB any more. They have to be written on multi scale lines as well.

A mate of mine bought one of their Telecaster guitars. Plays well and sounds great. Closest thing to that Joe Strummer 'sound' I've heard in a long time. Very 'Clashy'.

Lightweight tuners, top horn in the Goldilocks zone near the 12/13 frets, bridge set well back reducing the projection of the neck, relatively small headstock, relatively heavy bridge

I think 'wow' is an appropriate response. I'd be washing up 24/7 to enable a collection like that.

good, spit on those weedy top strings too, for good measure.

I really dig that......... 🙈

Congrats Andy. With a body that light, how do you avoid neck dive? Just lightweight tuners or is there more to it?

There are some people who just can not spray even with the best kit in the world. Don't undersell yourself.

Good fitting glued joints are incredibly strong (as long as we're talking long grain to long grain, end grain joints have no strength) so there is actually a massive amount of strength in there. The trick is the fit of the joint, just get it to a good friction fit, not so tight it will squeeze all the glue out but tight enough to support the weight of the body hanging before it's glued. So if you deconstruct the joint into glueable surface area, it is 3" long and roughly 1 1/2" on three sides so there is a large surface area that will glue well. I won't say it's as strong as a through neck but it's not far off, it would be stronger than a screwed on neck given a good k (nock but that isn't to say a screwed neck isn't strong enough (given Fenders success with it ). I don't fully understand how glues work, all I know is they do, modern glues are quite spectacular in their strength

Totally agree well deserved!!

I have access to a decent climate controlled storage facility/practice studio...... so they aren't kept in the house. The basses.... not my wife & son!! 😂

Wife and kids sleep in the garden ? Seems fair.................

*cough*

For me, it's the Ripley Music Festival in Derbyshire. We've done it for five years now. It's a genuine charity event. No one gets paid and the money goes towards the survival of the local small hospital. It takes place in a park in the middle of the town and has great support from the local community and crucially the local council. The stage, sound and general facilities punch far above their weight and ii's always a joy to play there. If the weather is fair it's common to play to a thousand people. As you might expect from a town built on coal mines and heavy industry the people are warm and bullshine-free