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I'm getting my account closed. I keep coming on here and find yet more stuff that people have posted that I didn't even know I wanted or needed.

There are 3 sides to SBL - 1. The Social Media (youtube), 2. The Campus (bass forum). 3. The Courses (academy). 1. Scott's social media has become really atrocious, really horrible clickbait stuff and as has been said, often doesn't even reveal what the answer to the click bait title is. Avoid unless you can win something. I don't know if there is some formula out there that makes it compulsory to treat the entire public like tools, but the majority do it so it must work. To my mind youtube really undersells the academy, the academy really is the opposite of the latter day youtube material. 2. The campus (bass forum). Yes, there are fan boys in there but in the main it works for what it is for - helping each other learn - not so much chat about the minutia of bass gear etc - that's what basschat is great for. There are women, men, teenagers, children, all nationalities, all religions, many different first languages (but English is mostly used) so yes politeness and staying on topic are the order of the day. 3. The Courses! This is what you actually pay for! I'm constantly amazed at how many people pay good money and then only ever do numbers 1 and 2 above, its odd! Then again an equal number join and then just get into the courses not wasting time on the clickbait or the forum - probably the best way to go if you can be that disciplined, I can't and I find the forum does help to keep me moving. The courses I've done so far have been extremely high quality and useful and not at all like the youtube stuff. In my first year there I had a bit of time (30 min a day approx) to do some practice and I found I made a lot of technique and theory gains in that first year. Since then I just haven't had the time to apply myself properly but I'm happy to know I can get straight back onto the courses when time and inclination allow. If you are doing a free trial, make sure you start it when you have enough time to really dig into the courses and get a good feel for all the different instructors and the courses in the pipeline. Avoid getting lost in the free content and forum in the first days - I didn't post anything in the forum there until 2 months after I joined.

Excellent T.O.P. I think they should re-name the "Tiny Desk Concert" to "Normal Pub Gig Sized Area Where You're All Crammed In Concert"

Depends on what you're looking for. Scott is one of the best teachers out there, and the Academy faculty also includes a bunch of other top bassists. I can't imagine needing any skill set that isn't covered by SBL. Trouble is the student forum can be a little earnest and twee IMHO, YMMV, and much of the subject matter is way over my head anyway. Having said that what bassist I am is almost entirely due to Scott. As someone said, take the 14 day free trial and see for yourself. Won't cost you a penny.

This. My teacher does push me and teach me new good things during lessons, but even more important is that I know that I have to remember what he's taught me, and make progress between lessons, or I'll be letting him down and wasting his time. There have been many dull days when the only reason I've picked up my bass was that I needed to be able to look him in the eye at my next lesson.

You only ever benefit from any lessons if you’re willing and able to go away from the lesson and practice what you’ve been shown or study what you’ve been told. If you can’t do that then any lesson is a waste of time and money. There’s nothing annoys me more personally than someone arriving and the second thing they say after saying hello is sorry, but I haven’t picked my bass up since last time I saw you. Just having lessons in themselves will serve no purpose at all.

Indeed, along with a small number based on standard Rays sold by guitar centre concurrently. But then if it was switchable why use it in passive mode if you thought it was not working mix-wise? Curious!

As a trainer myself by work I should support this idea, were it not for one thing: music teachers are of very variable quality. Teaching is a skill and an art and too many tutors do it purely to augment their income as musos. My first bass tutor was a fine player and still is. But he's a rubbish tutor. He started by teaching me ( a total noob) a double stop, and then spent the rest of the hour noodling. Cost: £25. My second bass teacher charged me £30 and I can't remember anything he taught me. My third teacher was an ex London DB pro. He put the bass in my hands, stroked his chin and said : "I won't charge you, you don't need training". By way of contrast, with Scott I have received seven years (on and off) of genius training which I could have augmented with personal feedback from the man himself for no extra charge, plus access to more top globally important bassists and training than you can shake a stick at, for not much more than the price of six hours of private tutoring per year.

I did my first gig with the Barracuda last night. On the whole it went very well. However a couple of the songs exposed the problems I'm still having with the narrow string spacing at the bridge end of the bass, and actually being able to play the correct string which mostly happens when I change picking style from all down strokes to alternating up and down. The bass (and for some reason my playing) came in for quite a bit of praise, which was very gratifying. Having had this bass for a couple of months now, I'm now a lot closer to knowing what I want from my ideal Bass VI: The nut width on the Barracuda would be fine if the strings utilised the whole width better. The current width is more comfortable for me than the Squier, but a few more millimetres between the high and low E strings wouldn't go amiss and there would actually be room for this on the Barracuda with a new nut. The string spacing at the bridge is definitely too tight. I'd be looking for Squier width as a minimum but again a little more space would be more comfortable. Not a lot I can do here. While it might be possible to get a new bridge plate made with wider spacing, that would put the high and low E strings well outside the range of their pickups pole pieces. For the music I'm currently playing with this bass I'm definitely going to need more flexible pickup routing. At the moment I'm considering dual outputs and a ability to route each pickup to either output (or turn it off). However my favourite selections are bridge or bridge and middle for "guitar" sounds and middle or bridge and neck for "bass" sounds which means I might need two pickups at the bridge... Anyway the specifications for a custom build are slowly coming together.

I was getting some funny looks at the time... the horse didn’t seem to mind

i wouldn't say that

Met @tayste_2000 at the weekend to buy his 84 Fender Precision off him. So far I like it a lot! Put on a fresh set of strings and raised the action somewhat (Ste’s was far too low for a ham-fisted goon like me!) and I think it’s almost there. Though I think I’ll get a proper setup from someone that knows what they’re doing. Gonna replace the scratchplate and pup then we’re done. Sadly haven’t had change to plug it in yet.

A once in a lifetime artist. I'm so lucky to have been the right age to grow up with her career and gift. By the way, ever heard this type of description, " she's the new Aretha" ? Well, there is no "new Aretha" and they'll never be one. Aretha, end of story. Blue

Hi All I thought I would do a thread for my next build. My last couple of builds have been those twangy six string things, so this one will be a bass. Specs as follows: 4 String Jazz, 33" Scale. Alder body, flatsawn maple neck, rosewood fretboard with MOP blocks and binding. Pickups - P/J FInish - some sort of polyurethane, white, either Olympic or Vintage - EDIT - I'm going to try as hard as a I can to brush rather than spray the finish. I'm really not enjoying spraying. Time to start experimenting. A quick look a the blanks before we start..... Nothing too complicated in comparison to the amazing and creative luthiery on display elsewhere on Basschat, but believe me this is enough!

So, we’ve started will a full time physio and Occupational therapist with Iris - we had some exercises for her to do - but she has loads now to strengthen her neck, core and arms/legs. Her new chair arrived - more supportive than the regular bouncer chairs, but still comfortable enough if she drops off. A new one though was Balloons - she’s mad for them, and her arms and legs are going all over the show, she’s bopping them and squealing with glee - 10 fold increase in movement. So now when I do the weekly shop, I pick up a new balloon...£2 a week to encourage movements. Have filmed and sent to the Physio - she’s over the moon with the difference. Also got a new adapted play mat coming on Thursday - £300 but like anything to do with special needs it’s probably 100% more expensive than it would be if it was a “toy”. Not complaining at all - the blue chair is on loan until she grows out of it and they’re £280 to buy.

I understand some of the comments about Scott’s YouTube stuff and social media clickbait - it has become a bit tedious. However, the SBL Academy contains a massive amount of really useful material and information for all levels of bass players and crucially, its not just delivered by Scott. It’s definitely worth investing some time in the 14 day free trial. Then you can decide for yourself whether to spend money on it.

If it was passive surely it wasn't a Ray?

My wife thinks I’m charming - everyone else thinks I’m a c*nt.

Well - I really don't know what I'm doing. Actually - I half know what I'm doing but I have no idea at all in terms of how far I can safely go! I've gone through cycles of pleasing tap tone, varied tap tone, mono-harmonic tap tone to this, which is back to a number of distinctly differently pitched notes, each with resonant harmonics. Maybe I could go much further...but I don't know, so I'm stopping here: I'll leave it overnight and see what I think tomorrow - then finalise the preparation of the kerfed join line ready to glue the top to the sides. Which will, of course, change the tap tone anyway. Told you it was black magic!

On Scott's there is a lot of theory. A reading course has just started, 2 modules added so far, taught by Phil Mann. Starts at zero, my level! And moves onwards.

Well that escalated quickly - it's only a flippin' acoustimacoustic bass

My first decent bass in early seventies was a Fireglow Rickenbacker 4001. I liked the look and the slim neckthru body design. Loved that Chris Squire crunchy vibe at the time and played through my Hiwatt and later Acoustic 220/406 rigs it was truly awesome. I had a bit of a Yes, Jam, Rush thing going on back then, (which is probably the reason for my type 2 diabtetes later in life) Always thought they were a bit of an amazing one trick pony, and it eventually made way for Aria SBs, Fenders and a Wal. Always regret selling it to buy a Technics HiFi system which was consigned to a car boot sale long ago whereas that bass is probably worth a few grand now!!!! On reflection Rickys are more flexible than I originally gave them credit for. However the bridge pickup assembly is awkward and crazy. Bridge and intonation adjustment is not easy. Mine used to have a solid chrome metal pickup cover, but I was horrified to find that on more recent models this is that horrible ubiquitous plastic substance! Think how many sea turtles these will endanger! I do suffer from chronic G.A.S, but despite undue encouragement from muso friends I have never had the urge to reacquire a Ricky. Without wishing to start a brand lawsuit They do seem to be the ultimate Marmite bass. So if you like one get a pre owned, preplastic era model and remember that hall rhymes with tool.

Before. As if it was loaded in the bass. Tried it with a B3K and the original AO so far. Liked it a lot with both. Interesting that the Bass control on the AO is actually at 80hz and the M81 is at 40HZ so low end eq-ing can be done very carefully between them. I have not tried it after drive yet. No doubt I'll try that at some point but my reason for buying was to have it at the beginning of the chain to avoid carving into my bass any more than I already have.

I have. It takes to them well, adding a bit of “activeness” to the sound. This is based on my experience of drives (all effects, actually) before the preamp. I have had the M81 for a year, perhaps a bit longer. Edit: as in, I have not tried anything after the preamp. I use it for a bit of extra oomph and got it for the DI. By having it last in the chain, I control the sound going to FOH.

It has arrived and I've had a quick play on it. It's very good. Super clean as expected and adds activeness to my PJ-Ray - and makes it easier to tame the top end as it is a bright bass - far more controllable than just a passive tone.. So far I think I also prefer it to the active circuit in my Marleaux too. Excellent bit of kit.

Another update.. Gig on Saturday night - it was a pub having a festival. Pub Car park job. Sounded like it was going to be average at first, but it was a decent size setup and there were loads of people there! We did the main closing slot from 9.30 to 11.00 Took the FRFR and the new Dave Hall Preamp. DI out from FRFR to FOH which was really well set up and sounded glorious. The FRFR did a great job of giving over the fullness and "authority" of the DH Preamp and it's valve goodness. Plenty of volume and saved a load of space. Once again, did it's job well. Turned out to be the most enjoyable gig of the year so far..!

Fight! Fight! Meet me in the car park in 10 😁

+1 Does your playing need to improve? This is no magic wand. It requires that you put in the hours to make it work. If you do, you will improve as a bass player. I'm currently taking lessons, for the first time in my life. I can play most of what I've been asked to play, but I needed help to dig me out of the comfortable rut I've been inhabiting for decades, ie change the way I think. I play in bands and gig most weeks and I saw a benefit from week one. IMO improving your technique should be an objective, even if you are only playing as a hobby .

Hi Nathan. I'd forgotten about this.😕 As it happens I think maybe Chiliwailer did too because I never got his address. Anyway, I still have two spare extensions and if you and Chiliwailer (If he still wants it) PM me your addresses and I'll send them to you both. The only problem I have is that I'm really busy working this week, plus I have a cousin from Australia staying and I head to France on Saturday (with the Steinberger ☺️) I'll do my best to get envelopes and stamps this week but apologies if I don't get this done this week. If not, I'll post the last week in September. Frank.

It's the British way. Instead of politely asking them to move, just get too close to them and say "oh, sorry, sorry"

So yesterday I installed the pickups, pots, wiring etcetera for a test run. I actually do not have a clue how to wire a Thunderbird yet, so for now I did Jazz style wiring. Sounded pretty good already, although a bit noisy for my taste (unshielded as yet) and the tone pot (reused from a loom I had) has some issues so needs replacing by a new one. But on the whole it is safe to say this thing is going to be a tone monster. The front pickup is a bit further back than a true TB so it is a bit clearer, almost P like. The back pickup is “close to exact” and gives a nice mid bite. I will post final pics and some sound clips when all done. Whilst I am pretty comfortable with wiring/routing etc, the scratchplate was a concern. All worked out well (although I have a few small nitpicks as you would expect) so I am very happy....... on to the next one

I've been following this thread with interest and over the last week had the opportunity to do a little comparison with retail outlets in a different market. Mrs Len is a keen sea kayaker and I've just come back from a week in Anglesey north Wales. Brilliant coastline and relatively empty of tourists. Anyway, we visited 3 different specialist gear shops for sea sports. These are my observations. All had on-line/website options, what percentage of their turnover this represented I don't know. There is great local knowledge and experience in the people that work there but their attitude is very laid-back and you don't get hassled. Newbies didn't get patronised either. I tried asking a few silly questions as a test. They'd all dumped the high street presence. All three were in edge of town business-park/warehousing type locations. Not pretty, but lots of free parking on-site. Water sport is similar to music in that, for most of us, if you haven't got wheels you're stuffed. They were all very definitely 'hang out' spots. All had tea/coffee machines, seating areas and lots of info and notices on the walls. For participants of the sports these are the places to go. My patience was rewarded when Mrs Len bought me a nice Rab base-layer top. At the till the bronzed and buffed chap said 'we're doing a special offer on these on the website, I'll give you that price'. He didn't have to, we would never have known, but it was a nice touch. Not a scientific comparison, but it was interesting to see how a different high-value specialist retail sector operates.

For a wedding band I would think you are definitely underselling yourselves ( assuming you’re pretty good of course! ) I’ll bet the very average DJ on the same gig will be getting nearly half what your whole band earns 🙁

The Sterling has a narrow, Jazz-like neck. The StingRay can also have a neck like that, these are called "StingRay SloSpecial" (these are rare, as they were made by special order only). Normal StingRays have a wider P-bass like neck. The Sterling has a small-ish body, much smaller than a Jazz bass. Hence these tend to be lighter than the average StingRay which can be on the heavy side. If you want "that MM sound" go StingRay. For "that MM sound on steroids" go Sterling. Do not confuse the Sterling with the more affordable Asian made Sterling by MusicMan range of basses and guitars.

When did bass chat start charging to advertise equipment for sale I have seen any advance warnings for this ?

Careful guys - with these attitudes to punters. It's something I used to be very guilty of myself in the arrogance of my younger gigging days - regarding any customers as 'dim punters' if they didn't react favourably to your playing or ignored you. It's better to try and engage with these people - so if you're going to put a PA speaker 12" from their faces when you're setting up then you could at least suggest with a smile on your face that they might like to move tables "as it might get a bit loud and we don't want to deafen you" or something like that. OK, they may not be the sharpest tools in the box but they're still human beings and people usually respond favourably to someone taking even the slightest interest in them and their wellbeing. And then it all helps create a good atmosphere in the place which is beneficial for all. Just a thought, nothing personal.

I was down in Surrey the last couple of nights at 'Weyfest'. Brother Strut were one of the bands playing - Paul Turner's not bad is he?...….Damn talented man!! Also, Willie and the Bandits are mighty fine and their bass player is another talented bloke. Anyway, I've also routed round the bodies to tidy up the edges and make them the same size as the templates prior to starting to cut the neck pocket, neck bushings, cavity covers and string retainers. I've made templates for the position of the drill holes etc. so this has been pretty quick to do this time (making accurate templates can take quite a bit of time though). The maple body has some really nice flame to it I'm going to use black hardware on these as I think it looks nice matching the ebony but also the contrast with the spalted beech and walnut I'm going to make the cavity covers next then round the edges of both bodies. I got a new router table a few weeks (as my old router failed and my other router doesn't fit - I also wanted something sturdier than before due to a near mishap with the router being perfectly vertical...) which has been drilled to accept my Triton router but is currently sitting unused in the dining room whilst I clear space in the garage!! Not sure how much longer Mrs_the_gut will tolerate it - especially with the toolbox in the utility room.... Waiting to be used: Waiting to be moved:

Thats what’s paid by pubs because there are bands who will go out for it. Simple as that. If everyone sung from the same hymn sheet, the pay would go up. Si

I like this one but fear our lead guitarist may take it too seriously

Actually - first gig with a new bass day. I've been prowling the site for ages for a Warwick Fortress. I love the build, sound and general vibe of Warwick but often struggled with the ergonomics. I've already got a Standard Bubinga Corvette and a gorgeous 89 Thumb Neck Through, but I seldom take these out when I'm fronting a band as the short top horn moves the neck to the left and throws me out position wise when I'm singing. Anyroadup, a couple of weeks ago this beauty appeared in the 'Basses for Sale' section for a fair price and I snapped her up. She's a Fortress One, Two piece maple body, three piece Wenge neck (not as slim as my Corvette or Thumb but comfy nonetheless) and Wenge fretboard. MEC PJ pups and two band EQ. Had a bit of a fright when setting her up as the D string wouldn't intonate and buzzed like mad resulting in a huge action - turned out to be a duff string. Also had an intermittent electrical fault which turned out to be the push/pull on the volume pot that was solved with a bit of switch cleaner. Eventually set up with a 2mm action at the 12th fret (a smidge over on the E string) and feeling good. It's a bright sounding bass and i was worried it would sound bass light when gigged. I needn't have worried - played a pub gig last night - GK MB500, Barefaced BB2 and Zoom B1xon and wow. The long top horn makes it ergonomically perfect - sits just right. The tone with Warwick Red Labels was deep, tight and authoritative. Plenty of snap, body and growl as you'd expect from the wenge neck. More than enough depth in the bottom end and a 'Jazz on Steroids' tone from the bridge pickup. Wow am I one happy bunny, I think I've found 'the one'!

Further to that, for me and many others, meeting up with a teacher regularly is just impossible. SBL and the others like it are bass training on flexitime. The next best thing to a (good!) teacher. And yes, on SBL you can get almost one on one with Scott by submitting videos for review. Although I've only managed it once so far! Others have touched on it, but SBL isnt just Scott, i think he's been very forward thinking in getting other players and teachers in to deliver complimentary courses, spreading his success around if you like.

Managed to rout out the pickup cavities to the correct depth, filled the old control knob holes and veneered the top waiting for the glue to go off so I can trim and sand the sides I've still got the headstock to do but I'll do that tomorrow I used Andys iron on technique but belt and braces and all that 😀 😀

Stare at this long enough and you'll see all sorts of things...

Have never understood this assumption. It’s like people automatically assume that if you play with a pick you must have a right hand like Lemmy. I use a pick & play really, really lightly, unless I’m digging in on purpose. In fact I think all of the 100% fingerstyle players I know play way harder than me.

It's worth remembering that at different times in their lives people have different reasons for being in bands. Some interesting research: