Leaderboard

On a 5-string that's only £13 per string. Unless you have a serious issue to resolve (or in my case anything that involves a soldering iron), any amount greater than a penny is too much to pay for a set up IMHO. Bass guitars are pretty simple - you'd be much better advised learning how to set it up for yourself.

I'm a Yorkshireman. £65 is expensive for a bass! 😂

The general policy is to let nature take its course, and have topics 'sink or swim' depending on the frequency of posts added. Any subject not attracting replies would then, naturally, sink down (but would still be found by searching, of course...). Some topics, such as warnings about Paypal scams, are of permanent interest, and would normally not, in themselves, solicit replies; hence the pinning. It's also true that, when pinned, topics tend to become 'part of the furniture', and no longer receive any visits at all, because they're pinned..! Having said all that, and recognising the quality and value of the OP, I'll pin this, as it's in the proper section for those interested. On my head be it, then; let the pinning commence..!

Hmm just watched the vid and although I agree with the premise I gotta say I preferred it when they overplayed as it shut the singer up !

Indeed so. The LPJ DC above costs $799. I'd cheerfully pay as much - or more - for a plane ticket to the States, car hire and a hotel at the other end just so I could hunt down whoever came up with that monstrosity and give them the Chinese burn of a lifetime. A Junior in name only. Too true, Gibson, too true.

Reading dots can take you to places you might otherwise never go. I value it considerably as a learning tool, for recording compositions and for reducing wasted time in rehearsals.

Done a bit of sanding on this for the belly are arm shaping. The neck is starting to look quite nice - I think the birds eye maple will finish nicely

In fact, that guy could probably sell you some

I normally charge £35 for a set up. Typically this will include adjustments to the nut slots, truss rod and string height. Lubricant where required. A thorough clean. Fret polish and board treatment. Strings not included in the price.

Kids don't worry me. They can't drive or carry a 10x8. I'll still have a gig 😂

Thought I'd share since the bassline is so badass 😎 The album as a whole is worth checking out if you're into funky neo soul/jazz/beats...

I bought a 2017 EB4 new a year ago, and it is a damn good bass. Babicz bridge, two humbuckers with coil taps, I've used for a few gigs and it sounds great. Very light as well. Surprised it was so badly received by the bass playing world, I think they condemned it without playing it or even seeing it in the flesh.

Awesome thank you chaps!

A few weeks ago I paid £100 for a full setup (minus strings, flats so didn’t need changing), but that included a full fret levelling & polish etc. It took him (a busy luthier) one day to turn around. The bass played beautifully after, like really really good! So if your guy does good work, i’d say the price is ok if it genuinely will feel like a different bass after, although i’d hope they can turn it around quicker than 10 days, I always feel a bit hard-done-by after 7 days haha Si

One person's easy is another person's total pain in the neck. I am really hopeless with anything technical, and it makes me really grumpy even trying to attempt it. Luckily I am in a position where I can pay experts to set up my bass, alter my curtains, change my tyres.. all that technical shizz that I really cannot bear to do. I even hate changing my strings, but I can just about manage that without assistance. Takes me a very long time and much swearing though. It's obviously different if you are a bit hard up and/or actually like that side of things.☺️ Re the original question - I'd say £65 is a bit steep, but I'd be willing to pay it if I knew they were going to do a really good job.

Today was inlaying, joy!! Briefly, bottom of the design stuck onto masking tape, masking tape on top of headstock. Masking tape to masking tape superglue the inlay in place Scribe around the design with a sharp marker, I used a scalpel but I'm sure there is a better tool for this than that. Pull off the surrounding masking tape to make sure you've scribed everywhere Pare off the inlay with a chisel then rout out the design, I forgot to photo this but I used a Dremel, a 1mm bit for the outline and a 3mm bit for the bulk of the waste. I tend with dark woods like this to actually rout half and half through the line leaving something like a 0.5mm gap all around which in reality means some places it's tight and in others there's 1mm gap. Then I mixed epoxy with dust saved from sanding the fretboards and glued them all in with plenty oozing out, messy but in this case it doesn't matter as we are grain filling the lot afterwards and the black on black won't show once it's sprayed. Sand it all off once dry and see how it looks, there are still some voids that need filling, they have been cleaned out and done but they're being left now for a cople of days, I'm having a day off tomorrow

No chance! I'm committed to becoming a badass on the bass 😎

£115 for a set up? That's some serious

Last night was my first gig with the 80s covers band that I joined a couple of months ago (c.f. "Number of songs for audition" thread). It was at the Maiden's Head in Maidenhead - decent venue, easy load-in/out, the crowd picked up over the course of the evening. However I did have to deal with a situation that I'm not sure I've ever encountered before, but which is probably going to become a regular occurrence: hollow wooden stage with no PA support. The EQ that resulted in a good sound out front meant a little area of extreme boominess within a radius of about 2m of my bass amp. My new bandmates were absolutely elated with my performance and the way the band sounded as a whole. I made a few flubs, but well within my range of acceptable tolerances for a first gig with a new band. I also got to wear a shirt that I bought about 15 years ago, but have never worn because it's fairly hideous. Yet perfect for an 80s band. S.P.

£65 for a week and a halfs work! What's he like at gardening?

Strength - I have no real ego Weakness - I have no real ego

That, and well... I can't be bothered to do it myself. I know my way around me gear, for any professional it's imperative that you should, but when I'm out playing 2 and a half hours plus 4 nights a week, I can't really be bothered to do it myself on my time off, and would rather a professional who knows their craft do it for me to exacting standards 🤷🏻‍♂️

Thunderbirds: They never stopped making them, but they did tweak the pickups, electronics and bridges. I think they genunely missed a trick by failing to move away from the colour options of sunburst, black or (occasionally) white/ivory. I couldn't give a rats donkey for the 50th Anniversary gold one or the other misfires; surely if you're painting all these effing Les Pauls a myriad of rainbow colours, how difficult would it be to slip a Thunderbird into the paint booth? Fools.

Yes - generally for stripping poly I use heatgun and decent decorators scraper: You actually need quite a bit of heat but as said above, also need to avoid burning the wood (quite easy to do). Keeping the heat gun moving helps. A sharp edged scraper allows you to get under the poly as it softens but you need to guard against digging in. Basically, start at the back to start to get the feel for it, don't rush and don't be surprised if, under one removed layer, there is another one underneath (Ibanez's are particularly prone to this).

Oh no. That's totally ruined my enjoyment of Def Leppard and Kiss.

Extraordinary to see such negative vibes, and I'd wager none of you have seen one of these in the flesh let alone played one. Go and try one before you comment. I have one (more details to follow tomorrow) - the revoiced preamp does sound very musical even on full mid boost. The weight loss is very noticeable - I have a light Stingray and Sabre and this is noticeably lighter than them. The output is huge. The changed body and neck contours feel really good. Oh and flawlessly constructed and the roasted maple is the slickest neck I've ever played. What's not to like (other than the price - but this is easily as good if not better than say a Fender CS) Regarding string to string volume - this bass is very balanced - The pre amp is revoiced - I don't think people will have an issue with that even if the EQ settings are abused. And the slap tone remains wonderful - clever eh? Just to correct some errors in Misdee's post - there was an issue with quality control from CLF who made the pre EB basses initially, which affected amongst other things necks on pre EB basses - indeed rigorous quality control was instituted as dealers rejected the instruments and eventually this created a relationship breakdown because CLF were either unwilling or not capable of producing a product which would meet MMs requirements (this was the 70s!!!) - it's all readily available in print - the issues included inoperable truss rods, dead spots (at the very top end of the neck), rattling truss rods and worse. Those in circulation didn't have those issues.

'Heart attack' is a catchall term for so many different problems - advice for the wrong one could be misleading at best, life threatening at worse. If I were in your shoes I'd be looking for the advice of those who treated you and know exactly what your problem is, not a bunch of random bass players who have never met you.

Knew I'd seen that charcoal sparkle finish before 😁

Sounds like every freeform jazz band I've ever seen.

The figure of eight technique was used with Arkansas stones and carborundum that were very hard. Being so hard the tool was near impossibly to gouge into it and getting even wear was important because you needed to take them to a stone mason to get flattened if they got dished. Waterstones being soft will let the tool dig in but also can the flattened on a piece of sandpaper in a few seconds. Pulling the blade backwards is also better because the burr gets polished off, pushing tends to break it off which can fool you into thinking the blade is sharp. The other reason we pull backwards is it is easy to maintain the tool angle by rocking from one foot to the other with our elbows locked into our ribs, the old figure of eight methods usually ended up with a rounded bevel that needed to become progressively steeper or to hone for longer There really is no need to use honing compounds, a 6000 grit stone will finish your tools to a mirror finish and more than sharp enough even for planing Satinwood or Snakewood. There is no need to worry about overheating with waterstones, using them is a wet process and self cooling.

This guy certainly makes his Reverend sound amazing:

I recall popping into The Old Duke in Bristol many moons ago on one of their jazz nights. There was a band playing and it quickly became apparent that the bassist (old Fender Jazz, sounded glorious) was, shall we say, a bijou bit busy. They took solos, bassist went first and credit where it's due, he was awesome. Then the sax took a solo... and the bassist kept soloing... drummer next... yup, bass was still going... he trampled on everything. By the end of the tune I just wanted him to FSTFU.

That's more 80's than a Betamax player, love it

I saw a drummer once doing blazing double kick in Caribbean Queen. In fact there's a plethora of drummers that sound like knitting machines

Nothing wrong over playing. It's just choosing when to. Imo.

I’ve done the right thing and have emailed Darkglass to see if I can review this little beast for you all

Haha, far from it, but I am impatient lol Si

A young Dion Estus on bass with the best singer of all time [indisputable] Anyone know what year this is ?

Razors are specialist tools that have an extreme hollow grind, I assume they are sharpened often on some sort of stone but given that keen edge by stopping on a leather strap. They have some form of rouge on them that has become impregnated so provide a very gentle polishing of the edge which as part of the way the razor is used doesn't require that flat back most woodworking edge tools do. The combination stone is a carborundum stone that needs oil as a lubricant, useful for the jobbing joiner/carpenter who can't carry a specialist sharpening setup. To be any use they really need to be flat but a stonemason can flatten it quickly if you want, then use the same technique as above but don't expect the same edge as with more modern types of stone. It will be sharp enough for planing softwoods and most hardwoods but it won't be able to give that shimmering surface a truly sharp tool will and will require more sanding afterwards (this is all about speed at the end of the day). I read the scary sharp thing, yes well... It will work but not in my shop especially if I'm paying your wages. Hand slapping, I don't know what to say, honestly, it seems it helps get rid of the burr but it should already be gone after the 6000 stone all that realistically does is break any burr off, your hand isn't an abrasive. I suppose it make someone feel more like am old school master or something. Actually you can buy am 8000 grit waterstone, a lot finer than the 6000 I recommend, it is used after the 6000, it also needs a secondary stone called a Nagura stone which helps build up a slurry on the surface. The 8000 grit will add to the overall sharpness, I have one (somewhere) but it gives no real advantage over the edge given by the 6000 grit so it is a waste of time in my eyes and any extra sharpness is probably lost after the first pass of a plane over timber. Remember though that the wetstone grinder is part of this method in that it keeps your blade in that easy to sharpen state, it is THE most important tool/machine in my workshop

I do my own set-ups generally, but it's well worth £65 IF the set-up includes a nut change, fret-levelling and crowning and all the other actual skilled work that I can't/don't want to do. The bass should play like a completely different instrument and the change should be startling.

I would say £50 is about right unless there's tons of other stuff to be done. Maybe £65 if you didn't supply strings?

Well at least they've started making Thunderbirds again. The main thing that's struck me about Gibson in the last couple of years is the huge range of horrible colours they now have available for the various Les Paul and SG models, a trend they seem keen to continue for 2019. The thing is, some of the lower budget models actually seem to be really good value for a USA made guitar, but only if you want them in faded turquoise or rancid vermillion.

Or Allen keys.

And there we have it. Time will tell how robust they are but for now at least I’m pretty pleased with the look of these.

I suppose I've done a lot of recording over the last 30 years and I know stories of other players who have had their parts replaced when they have left the studio. To the best of my knowledge this has not happened to me. It's important to me that the recording reflects the band so I want it to be my playing. Simple as that really.

I'd strongly suggest you use a manual tool. You'll be able to 'feel' the adjustment and don't risk stripping the nut/bolt. Use the cordless job for putting up those shelves she keeps asking about.