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Well - your analogy clearly involves some extra-sensory perception because I am actually typing this from Aberdeen Maternity Hospital where our eldest daughter has just made us grandparents! The three ladies are busy doing lady stuff I have no interest in knowing about which is why I'm in the waiting room catching up on Basschat. How's that for dedication!

I finished off the shaping of the wings today, just rounding off the general profile of them, I also cut the veneers and stuck them on in the vacuum press. Tomorrow I'll finish off the shaping and get them glued to the bodies

"I'm a big fan of The Stranglers bass player.....JJ Brunel" Famous for his growly precision bass , stove pipe hat and cigar?

Looking at it from another angle... courier service in general is poor. This is because it's a highly competitive industry and costs are cut wherever possible. This means that your friendly neighbourhood courier (of whatever company) is likely working for minimum wage - which means that no matter how hard they work, they won't be able to afford somewhere to live and to lead an independent life. This shouldn't make a difference to their service of course, but it does. It's hugely depressing. The other problem is that they are under extreme pressure to deliver an unfeasibly large number of packages in an unfeasibly short space of time. If they lavished as much attention on your parcel as you'd expect, they'd NEVER get home and would be out delivering parcels 24/7. You're thinking about one parcel - he has to think about 240 and how he's going to deliver them and get home in time for some kind of life. So inevitably, corners are cut and even if the guy started out wanting to do a good job, the pressure and reality of the work means that it just isn't possible. I really don't blame the guys at the sharp end. It's the business model. If you want a valuable and irreplaceable bass guitar (for example) to arrive in good order then don't entrust it to someone else. Either the buyer needs to collect it or the seller needs to deliver it in person. That's the ONLY way you can 100% guarantee a delivery. /sermon

I lost faith in couriers earlier in the year when then cracked my SC3. What annoys me more is now they charge you to do a job - pick up and deliver a parcel in the same condition as it was picked up - a job any of us could do, but if they dont manage to do that job - either by non delivery or arriving damaged - you dont get anything back unless you have paid extra to insure it!! and then theres a million caviates to try and stop a pay out. In what other job are you allowed not to do what youve been paid for and then only allow rectification in the form of compensation by the client having to take out their own insurance policy against you not doing your job??!! drives me crazy.

Intonation and Tuning SNAFU Had a problem with a P Bass. No matter what I did, I couldn't seem to get the tuning and intonation spot on. Not WAY out or anything, but enough to be one of those niggling problems that prevent you from fully concentrating on your playing. You know what I mean! So... I went through the all the usual. Truss rod, bridge intonation adjustment, action (but not necessarily in that order). Nothing. Then I suspected the nut. Then I thought maybe the tuners were iffy (crazy!). Then I thought maybe I had duff strings. In short, I tried everything. No joy. It became an 'issue'. Days pass. All this time I'd been checking the tuning with a headstock tuner. On a whim, I tried a pedal tuner. Bingo, all perfect. The headstock tuner was iffy. D'OH!!

Thanks folks. I think it is much more likely that I will used as a threat - Daughter: "If you don't eat your greens, I will ask Granddaddy to play bass at you again. And you KNOW how horrible that is!"

Musician does well for himself by having fun. Branded a nob for no other reason. Makes sense 🙄 Si

Yep rock it Dude !

Yup, it's a little known fact that after a hard day building the Great Western Railway he'd rush off to gig with his Steampunk band. In fact, he oversaw the stage construction for the 1887 Glastonbury Festival - in this photo he can be seen inspecting the wooden scaffolding for one of the giant PA rigs to be installed there. His giant steam powered rotary bass amp can also be seen behind. Exact details of it's method of operation have been lost, but apparently ladies fainted and cows died in the surrounding fields due to the excessive bass frequencies. It's all true.

Sorry, but have to disagree about Motown bassists lacking excitement compared with rock bassists. As a young teenager at the time, the sound of ‘Bernadette’ and other Motown gems coming down the corridor from my older brother’s Fidelity record player was enough to convince me to give stuff like Black Sabbath and Led Zep etc the elbow for good. All my mates were into heavy rock at the time, and Motown wasn’t considered hip at all, which somehow made it even more special for me. Soon as I started playing bass I certainly didn’t want to be Geezer Butler that’s for sure.

I think the world is out to get me at the moment!! One of those days, well one of those nights, the day in the workshop was good though, got tons done What you ask? Well this: I carved out the necks, out of interest, anyone ever use a drawknife? Maybe better of sticking with spokeshaves if you haven't but a very useful tool with some practice. I carved one neck ultra thin, 20.5 at the nut and 21.5 at the 12th, hells bells I like it! Trouble is I did it on one of the ebony ones, maybe I'll get lucky and no one will want to buy it After that I planed down the stock for the wings and cut them out, I started the contouring too, a little heavier shaping then the original Tbirds, still quite flat but will put a bit of a shallow curve into them tomorrow I think. Oh I cut the control cavity too Drawknife Tools used Uncontoured wings Basic taper

I would just like to point out that it can be done well If the will is there to do so. Here in Bulgaria we have a courier company called Ekont with offices in pretty much every town. A seller sends the goods via their local office. The buyer then receives a text message telling them when their item has arrived. You (the buyer) go and pick up your goods from your local office (or delivered direct to your door for a small extra charge) where you are able to open, examine and fully assess the goods before paying the courier directly for them. The seller is then texted to say that you have paid for the goods and they go and pick up their cash from their local office. It works amazingly well, it's cheap, fast, and extremely reliable. UK couriers could learn a lot. Combined with another independent courier I use in the UK. I can get up to 5Kg of goods sent from the UK to Bulgaria for 15 leva. Which is about £6.50. I couldn't send goods down the road in the UK for that, and even if I did they probably wouldn't arrive. Never any problems with things getting "lost" or damaged. In fact I'm currently waiting for an AB-Y pedal which I bought from eBay and should be arriving in the next couple of days. 😁

Me neither - there have been several calls between Andertons and me - their guy Mike has been v helpful though. I took another sparkly picture this morning as this bass glinted at me in the partial light - no flash - Cripes it is sparkly 😂

Acton 2007 Many years ago I decided to take on a second project while my main band were on a break for a few months. I get invited to this audition which sounds interesting. Kind of like the Doors, but they don't have anything online. I decide to chance my arm. This sorry escapade was the last time I ever did that. I show up and the band aren't there, so I set my gear up and go outside for a cigarette. I get a text saying they're running "5 minutes late." 40 minutes later the drummer and keyboard player arrive. The guitarist apparently isn't coming. Flags are starting to ascend in my mind. We get in and the keyboard player (we'll call him Bob - not his real name) asks why I've got such a crap bass and didn't have a precision. I was playing an Alembic. Bob then literally throws some sheet music in my face and says this is bassline. I had asked and confirmed that I could make up my own bass parts. Seemingly, this had been forgotten. "Can you not read?" Yes, I can, and I took about 20 seconds to read it before getting it into my head. We start playing. It's quite clear that Bob is taking every song as a keyboard solo. The bass part whilst very fast isn't what I'd play. Bob reluctantly agreed to play it again giving me some leeway noting sternly "that the songs are already written." So we start again. I play a bit looser and so does the drummer. The song sounds really fun. Then Bob stops playing and quite annoyed says that I'd "deviated too far and that I was playing like "a f@**ing talentless idiot." Hmm. That sounded a bit like an insult so I broke it down in my head. "Idiot?" Yeah, that's probably true. "F@**ing idiot?" Maybe. I don't have documentary evidence on me to refute it. Hang on, I'm not talentless... I politely ask Bob to repeat that as I assure him it'll be much more difficult to do so once I knock out his front teeth. The drummer asks Bob to calm down. I hasten to say at this point that Bob is 6 foot 2 and I'm only 5 foot 9. Still, I guess the sight of an angry Scotsman starting to clench his fists is enough. Or at least so I thought. I decided to leave really quickly before I really lost my temper. Now, I always wear earplugs. Bob wasn't so he thought he'd said something that I wouldn't hear under his breath, but sadly, slightly too loud. As I was putting my bass back in my back I hear the muttered "f@**ing w@**er" behind me. So, I very calmly stood up and lamped him. He went flying over his keyboard and into the wall. I then calmly pick up my stuff and leave (the drummer is in shock and doesn't say anything). A few months later I was contacted by Bob through Myspace (he didn't know who I was) asking if I'd join his band. As tempting as it was to agree and go in disguise, I didn't reply. Finally, there is proof that you can get a callback after literally doing anything at an audition.

The 734a has been used live by Hooky and Jack for quite some time... the feed back was that it sounded right. I believe the previous attempt from Yamaha at recreating the 1200s was shot down in flames by Peter Hook. Obviously Hooky now has a very special custom job but Jack and the current bass player with Peter Hook and the Light still use the 734a. They do have an awesome sound, I only wish the neck was 38mm. I've owned mine for a year, gigged loads and recorded an album with it but I feel it'll next on the block. I've had several Yamaha basses in the last few year and this one is bar far the most versatile.

I hum loudest even with a P bass... I really need to shower more often.

That is one of my issues with new media, you have too many people earning too much money from “adolescent acts”, teaching our kids that it is better to make silly videos than go to university as silly vids make you more money. I think we also need to distinguish between money and sense. Having money does not mean you have sense.

Of course, if Laura Ashley or Orla Kiely did wallpaper with pictures of basses on it... I'd be insistent Edited as spellchecker changed Orla to Oral - lol

I suppose that's why stacked J pickups are sold.

You can blame Mrs B for the wallpaper. For me its very simple "You can have whatever basses you want dear, as long as I can have whatever wallpaper I want" "You can stick naked pictures of Rick Astley up if I can have whatever basses I want, love..."

Its a once in my life time (I suspect) opportunity to see one of my favorite bands/band leaders of all time.. I won't be missing it.

Anyone up for a bit of case porn? Apparently Vigier only made these fitted hard cases for a year or so. Made of wood, quite light actually - I don't have the key but I doubt the locks are up to much. Feels pretty solid and it's nice to have one that fits perfectly. I've had it for ages, but recently gave it a bit of a clean so thought why not get some snaps.

Cleared as requested Chris, and will report asap if i get another

I hate you people!!! I've never been interested in buying or playing a P bass in my life. Now even that pink one has started to look good. I'm even thinking I might kind of learn to love that headstock like an ugly wife.

Wow! Thanks! I'll PM you now.

Gita?

Oops, that's because I quoted the quote Anyway congrats to Andy too

"Dreadnought" for a little girl?? Not so sure the mother will agree to that...😆😆

It does make you wonder though, how courier firms have been able to get away with such poor service for years? People aren't making up their reviews after all. Yup, I really do feel like we "literally have no options to choose from." Yes, couriers do hundreds of deliveries a day, but I am sure that a Dentist wouldn't last long if he'd managed to mess up 10 people's mouths out of every 100 check ups. A cashier in a bank wouldn't last long if they were handing out the wrong amounts of cash. example, example, example.. yet we are all happy to keep playing courier lottery. Too many people are having bad experiences verses those who are lucky enough to have never had a problem - and man, genuinely I am pleased that you have received a great service!! I welcome the balanced discussion and there are certainly points to be taken from it. @discreet's post helps to paint a wider picture that sadly will probably never get addressed, much like this situation. For this particular situation, We're all playing the game of "well it might turn up", if it hasn't found its way to CashConvertors yet?

The ones supplied with Sennheiser headphones are great. In fact I probably have a couple of spares - PM me your address and I’ll send you one.

All the above is the reason that I drove 300 miles to Matamp (Meltham) to personally pick up my two new amplifiers. 🤨

take it to Twitter like Geek99 did

If I catch you in my practice room again young sir the outcome may be different....

Here is the little trick I used to learn when I was working as a Truck Allocator Clerk (logistics clerk), simply write this and sign, you will be protected, no kidding : SUBJECT TO CONTROL. It's faster than negotiating with the driver, who is not allowed to refuse you the right to open and check the parcel, that said. Knowing the law and throwing it at their face can be useful too, sometimes.

So, not UPS, but Securicor, back in the day, managed to 'lose' a package - I'm in the High Wycombe depot patiently explaining that the parcel contains a couple of matching walking sticks for the Queen Mother's 100th Birthday - cue sneer of disbelief from the idiot manning the counter. After a certain amount of time, I manage to retrieve said package, take it home & gift wrap the contents. The best moment was when I walked back into the depot, with my 'new' package, nicely labelled up to HRH, Clarence House............. Counter clown looked totally stunned.

You kids these days and your euphemisms for masturbation... S.P.

....and a big thumbs up from me, the guitarchat is interesting too, excellent.

My Thunderbird is having the new machine heads and tug bar fitted as we speak! I'm missing it, but it will be worth it.

There are good and bad people, and good and bad practices, in all courier companies. My UPS guy is outstanding, he carries rolls of 'FRAGILE' tape with him and asks whether we want stuff labelled before he takes it to the depot. He's on occasion added extra tape to boxes for me when he thinks they look undertaped, and he even hand wrote a message from himself ("This is the collection driver, please do not place any items on the top of this customer's box") when I sent an acoustic a while back. He's under a hell of a lot of pressure and often works 12 hour days, but despite this he's polite and friendly, and never rushes.

Quite. Its their job to deliver items, In good condition. Removal companies, at least the ones I have been involved with, manage to deliver huge amounts of delicate and breakable items with little in the way of problems and all the movers I have used are insured for breakages. If you have a company that moves stuff around for a living why not have insurance, one that states items should be reasonably well packaged. It would be a good pointer to me that they were a decent company. The last delivery I got the store informed me that I should open the package and ensure the item was intact before signing for it, even if that meant making the courier wait. So if it was damaged the store would replace or refund me and claim from the couriers.

I think it’s all getting out of hand and I agree with you La Bam, Ambient. Why are we having to pay extra because a courier can’t be trusted to do one simple job? It has always irked me, but now it really is boiling my fosters. Baggage handlers and Couriers are in a special group all of their own. Neither will be dealing with anything valuable of mine in future. Whilst on the subject of shipping instruments, there have been countless examples of pieces of gear that I planned to review that either arrived damaged or got back to their ‘owners’ damaged due to those muppets who don’t care. I’ve seen more than one speaker cabinet arrive in triple layer packaging with several inches of foam supports, only to have the box in one hand and a whole tweeter in the other. Bass necks that look like bananas and amplifiers that have had their ‘internal organs’ ruptured. And an apology from any single one? Nah.

Just to explain my reasoning behind setting the action so low in case it's of interest. It's not actually about ease of playing for my left hand (although it certainly doesn't hurt). It's actually about trying to achieve a particular sound. I used to play with a medium high action and then dig in hard to get the harmonics to ring out as the string kind of bounced off the frets but a few years back I started to feel the onset of arthritis in my right hand. I found that playing with a lighter touch helped avoid a lot of discomfort (not to mention helping with speed) but at the expense of a lot of the articulation in my sound. Bringing the action down really low allowed me to get that brightness and articulation back without the need to dig in. I've also l learnt to control the dynamics with techniques other than just playing harder - for example striking the strings with my fingers (think more Steve Harris' style than John Entwistle's 'typewriter' thing) rather than plucking at them.

Wasn't he the guy that invented the Hipshot bridge? I'm sure he was into bridges.

Depends on the bass. Every bass sets up and plays slightly different. Thats even with the nut correctly adjusted. Level frets and correct amount of neck relief. So there can be slight variations. Plus different strings react differently to low, average or higher setups. My playing action is about average so 2.3mm - 1.9mm E to G. Approx .011 relief. Nut should be adjusted so when fretting at the 3rd fret, the gap between top of first fret to bottom of the strings is approx .004 (standard paper thickness) any lower and you risk back clank on fretted notes to the nut, which is horrible and wrong. I like the pickup set to just brush my finger tips and no higher i will then adjust for string balance. My dynamic playing isn't very good. I can play with a soft to average touch, after that I just snatch at the strings so I can't lower my action much. And ive noticed better players can make fret buzz musical, I can't. People I've did and still do setups for will normally like a lower action than my own preference I've noted. It's not always the case many are fine with manufactures specs. Fewer still want a higher setup. And some even want two basses setup different one lower/higher than the other. I do hear a tone difference in low to high setups neither one better or worse just different and I think they both have there place. Which is another good reason to have multiple basses 😁

Ok, time to weigh in. I've owned about a dozen Gibson Thunderbirds over the last fifteen years, although none were 60s models. While I'd say a couple were probably keepers, they were in general all great basses except for the NR, which took an age to sort out. I eventually moved them all on as I moved over to Mike Lull basses a couple of years ago (see elsewhere). As per BigRedX, please do not for one minute think that just because the Epiphone models look like the Gibsons that they're identical, especially as they have the Gibson pickups. Honestly, this view turns my stomach, much in the same way owners of Rockinbetters (or whatever they're called) or Chickenbackers insist their basses play and have that growl like the real thing, because they don't nor will they ever. The Epiphones are just copies and putting a Gibson truss rod cover on it doesn't mean anything...it'll still be an Epiphone. Now I've got that out of the way (and relax), for little more than the price of a new Epiphone, you could buy yourself a used Gibson and probably recover your money on it when you decide to sell it on. Just go the whole piggy and get a Gibson. End of.

Shouldn't a fretless Precision be called an Imprecision? Sorry, I'll get my coat...

This guy certainly makes his Reverend sound amazing:

It stands for Impulse Response. Commonly used for cab sims and reverb modellers (to simulate the sound of a specific room), but most pedals you will see would be talking about cab sims. If you feed a white noise signal that contains an equal spread of all frequencies into a cab, then measure what comes out the other end, you end up with a specific EQ curve for that cab. That can then be used to apply a cab sim via digital processing, and you can download a ton of IRs from the web, e.g. one for an Ampeg 8x10. It's a bit more complicated than a simple EQ curve though as it takes time into the equation as well, but that's the general gist of it!