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No, no, NO !, you want at least a hundred watt ALL VALVE head amp and a big bugger-off bass cab for that floor shakin' radiator rattlin' curtain wafting sound. I have a bus stop outside my place and if the would be passengers ain't turning round to look, it needs turning UP ! Apples ?, really ?

So, could I wait 36 hours? Could I b***ery Thing is, one of the remaining major co*k up potentials is fitting the machine screws. It has to be right because there's no wiggle room with machine screws. The inserts have to be absolutely in the right position and absolutely vertical. So rather than worry about it, it was better to just do it. First I dowelled the previous holes - they were originally drilled to 5mm and the machine screws are 4mm and they weren't quite in line with where the neck is now going to be: Then remeasured and drilled the holes for the stainless machined ferrules: Next, drilled the 4mm holes, using my mini press drill to keep it all vertical: Used the point of the wood drill to mark the exact centres on the assembled neck though the body, used some packers to make sure I was square to the mating face incorporating the neck angle, drilled a 6mm hole and fitted the machine screw inserts: Then moment of truth - would it all line up and would the machine screws fit (trust me, they usually don't!). Another 'knock me down with a feather' moment: And THAT means I can look to fit the fretboard very soon and start the neck and heel carve!

It'll probably help Andertons shift some £149 basses... "I'm after a new bass" "What's your budget?" "Anywhere from £149 to £7000" Said nobody, ever. 😐

Not yet sanded, but the basic top carve is pretty much there. As usual, I put an early coat of oil on to see better any planing marks or lumps and bumps. The back has still got a few sharp corners to round off and then I can start sorting the neck. The wood is quite figured!

OK. I'm feeling very pleased with myself, surprised and, well, maybe just a little bit smug? Having done my pondering, I came to the conclusion that a hardwood biscuit at the heel was, from a strength of the neck joint point of view, the most effective way of preventing the front edge of the neck lifting or distorting from the neck pocket. But, looking at every tool I had, I couldn't think for my life how on earth I could cut a 3mm slot, accurately following the angle cut into the neck joint, and in EXACTLY the same position on both sides. In fact, I couldn't see - because of the 50mm tenon on the neck, how I could cut a slot at all!! Now, those who have a Dremel. You know that flexi-drive they give you with the Dremel kit that you think, 'wow, that's cool' then NEVER use... ...well, if you take a scalpel and a bl**dy great big file to it you get this! : Ok - it's not pretty, but it's actually flat. So...if you lie that on the angled face of the neck tenon, and move it from side to side while routing into the heel, you can get this: And that slot - about 10mm deep - parallel to the tenon face which has the neck angle routed into it. So if you push a length of 3mm ebony into it: ...and then say a little prayer, then it should be parallel to the angled face: Which surprised and delighted me in equal measure So then, if you clamp the flat face of the Dremel now onto the workbench: ...and then put the body flat on the workbench, and adjust the height by putting a couple of sheets of veneer and a sheet of cartridge paper to get the height exactly right, then offer the body up to the Dremel, you can cut another slot like this: Then, saying another little prayer, slide the neck tenon into the neck pocket and get a joint like THIS!!! And that was straight off - dry fit and no fettling. Before I drill the holes for the machine screws, I'll close the vertical joint nice and tight with a bit of judicious sanding - but even that is easier now there's the tab holding it in the correct position in the other plane. The shock of this working has left me so exhausted I'm going for a 36 hour lie down - but now I know what I'll be doing at the weekend

Nobody has ever, ever complemented me on my tone. Or playing. It must be my face. Or my lack of talent. It's probably my face. Hopefully. They have, however, complemented me on the quality of the band(s), and that's what counts to me. 😀

There was a chap on the Rickenfakers FB page a few years ago who made a habit of purchasing old Kays and posting pics of himself feeding his multi-fuel stove with them.

I'll just leave this one here......

Personally speaking, I'd give it Das Boot.

My observation - from teaching and talking to an awful lot of bassists - is that the role that magazines played in terms of filling in historical knowledge isn't one that people are using the web for... It's weird, because YouTube is the greatest learning resource that humanity has ever come up with - whether you want to fix the screen on your phone, or work out what Allan Holdsworth was doing with symmetrical scales, there are SO many amazing lessons on there, but because the focus is on 'info that will benefit me right now' rather than the contained, delineated authoritative experience of reading an episodic magazine, it seems that relatively few people are spending time online digging into the history of the instrument. Reading BP cover to cover in the 90s (and reading every bass-related thing in Guitarist in the late 80s) was as much my school as the two years I did at music college. I have things I use every day in my playing that I learned from Rich Appleman's theory column in the 90s. I know about players because instead of, as has been indicated here, worrying that I didn't know who the players were, I read more voraciously when they were musicians I hadn't heard of than when it was ones I knew... So magazines were a way of accumulating knowledge... That was, in many ways, a problem, in that it meant that the writers and editors were the gatekeepers of knowledge, and as they were almost exclusively dudes (in the case of BP editors, all of them ever were men), women got WAY WAY worse coverage, and were often written about in a really shitty way. Likewise, the coverage was overwhelmingly US and Europe-centric. YouTube has its filters which provide similar levels of myopia if you use their algorithms to decide what to watch, but the capacity for learning is huge (I recently went on a Soca binge, and discovered a ton of amazing music and bass playing). ...So, I'm still a fan of magazines - the economics of running a mag is way more perilous than a website, you can get away with more auto-generated content on a website and have zero print costs (hosting doesn't even come close in terms of monthly outgoing per reader), even though mags have a cover price - there's obviously no granularity to the reader spend. You don't get people who give you 5p a month for reading a page or two and some who pay the full price. It's all or nothing... I greatly appreciate what No Treble are doing - particularly their attempts to fill that knowledge gap I suggested above - Ryan Madora's column on players to know is a really useful one, and the video tuition stuff is great - but the factors that drive virality, and therefor ad money, are far more damaging to so much web video content than perceived bias in reviews (there's SO much to say about reviewing, but my one observation would be that there is, objectively VERY little 'bad' gear out there now, above the rebadged absurdly cheap garbage on eBay from no-name manufacturers - the big players can't afford to make bad gear, and CNC means that consistency across instruments is lightyears beyond where it was 20 years ago when I was reviewing stuff for Bassist - I was regularly sent really bogus stuff, gave things mediocre reviews, and even refused to write about some stuff... It was way more useful to fill the pages with reviews of good stuff that I was to write a hit piece on some crappy gear. Ignore it, and it'll go away - at that point, magazines were the lifeblood of companies' ad strategy, so a bad review was actually more coverage than their rubbish gear deserved... But that's a whole other discussion) Anyway, decent journalism is expensive, so expensive that it makes a lot of magazines impossible to fund, and no commercial publisher is going to run a mag at a loss in order to meet readers' desires. The economics are a total mess right now. I'm really glad that we still have any print mags for bass at all, and I hope the people involved find a way to keep them going - my rate for writing in a UK bass mag is lower now than it was 20 years ago. They've cut everything back as far as it'll go, so we'll see if that's enough. I don't know the specifics of what was happening at BP, but I do know they ditched all their offices a while back and went to a remote working model to try and cut costs. I guess it wasn't enough.

My choice of gear these days seems to be based on other factors. Can I lift it? Can I have it round my neck for 2 hours? Are we playing on the ground floor? The actual sound I like on stage probably bears no relation to what I'd hear out front and tbh, I can probably get that sound(ish) with any gear be it £2000 or £200 as I'm not really that anal or fussy. As long as the bass is comfy to play and everyone can hear what I play, then I can enjoy making some music with a great bunch of people. My gear is chosen to make the experience easier.

Perhaps I'm showing my age, but I don't want to need a screen and an internet connection for everything I want to do. I want something i can read on the train commuting to work, or in bed as I'm falling asleep, or put up on my music stand and try playing from without screen glare in my eyes. I want something I can take at my own pace without constantly taking one hand off the strings to hit the pause button. Yes it's good to have sound too, but that (imho) in no way means physical print media are an anachronism. Also, I've subscribed to BGM (UK) for some years now, and when the physical thing drops on my doormat, I pick it up and read it. Would I remember to go to a website once a month to see what was new? No. Is everything in it useful or even interesting? No. Is enough interesting or useful to justify the cost of the subscription? Yes. I'd call myself "intermediate" but still learn from @Steve Lawson's tutorials.

Gotta spend our time and hard earned cash on something. Might as well be something we love doing / having.

I always think that if you like your gear you are inspired to play more and have more fun doing it, so yes I think it matters from that point of view. As mentioned elsewhere, I buy gear for me and my enjoyment, not for the audience, my band, or anyone else - though everyone benefits when I feel comfortable with what I'm playing. That said, it has little to do with how much that piece of equipment cost.

So, have had the Fender Stage 800 Rumble combo 5 days now and happy to share my first impressions. I’ll update the thread as I go along and I’m also happy to answer Q’s for those who are curious about this model: 1. It’s heavier than anticipated. Still a one hand carry though and pretty light for what it is I guess. 2. The 64 page manual, that annoyingly you have to download, initially seemed a bit daunting but actually wasn’t too hard to work through – it’s very pictorial and a lot easier compared to the Markbass Multiamp manual. I confidently learned the Fender amp programming in about 2 hours – there’s a lot to remember but it’s fairly self-explanatory once you get going. 3. The sounds and FX are very good, decent envelope filter and there is a decent notable difference between the amp models – ironically I’m favouring the GK emulator at present. There seems to be an abundance of distortions/overdrives…probably too much and a lot of the presets are distortion heavy but of course all settings are easy to modify and make cleaner. 4. The Fender Tone app on the iPhone is brilliant, easy to modify your sound from your phone as long as your connected to the amp via Bluetooth. You can create amps, add Fx and make setlists all from your phone and its quick to make the changes. There are also presets in a Fender cloud that can be auditioned as well as downloaded- quite handy. All settings can be backed up to the cloud too. 5. The footswith is great too. You can switch between amp models easily and switch FX on and off in each patch setting if they’re present. Built in tuner and you can control the looper from the pedal. The pedal is sturdy and built to last, however, the connecting cable is a cheap nasty molded plug type – basic mono jack to jack. 6. First bass amp I’ve ever connected to my home Wifi too – novel! However its great you can play your music via Bluetooth through the amp – today I jammed along with an iTunes playlist and levels can be adjusted to suit. 7. I’m sure there is a toaster somewhere on it but haven’t found that yet…neither have I managed to get on eBay with it Overall though I’m very impressed so far and will take it to rehearsal on Sunday for a good running. Particularly pleased it has a 12 string emulator patch so I can now contribute on our bands take on Pearl Jam’s ‘Jeremy’

The duct tape is probably so that the guitar wouldn't talk. That guitar must have seen a lot...

No, not at all, that's everything that's right with rock music. I never have and never will like the notion that you have to know what all the notes on the board are called and know all about music and composition to be in a band. Terribly boring and stuffy IMO. Some of the best music can a bunch of scruffy Herberts with no real musical knowledge of what they're doing just making their instruments make the sound they like without knowing why it sounds so good, just that it does. Of course a lot of knowledge can help you on that road but also might make you not try something bizarre because it's not how you are supposed to do it. From the comments this bloke has joined a band, made the sounds he wants to, entertained millions of kids and made a fortune, all without really knowing what he's doing. I think that's brilliant and was probably the sort of inspiration that made more than a few of us pick up an instrument.

He gave you some money to take it away?

I can't speak for anyone else but I have never, ever bought anything - bass, car, stuff for the home - with impressing other people in mind. I get stuff for my own gratification.

The way I see it is with bass gear, if you buy second hand, you generally don't lose much money, so really it's actually a relatively cheap hobby! But as others have said, if it makes you happy, then that enjoyment will come through in your playing! As long as you're living within your means, I say go for it!

@Cosmicrain is flying through this - more progress shots! Body contoured and edges rolled, rear cavity finished off and the neck screw holes are done. The basic neck blank is cut and now we await the pickups to do the routing for them

Looks lovely. I'd probably need a smoking jacket, slippers and a pipe to go with it though.

Absolutely it matters!! I have spent a while searching for 'the sound' I have and I am absolutely 100% happy with what I have (no GAS yet). Nice 68 P bass through a pedalboard to my Aguilar DB751 and Barefaced 6x10. Cost me a few quid but after the gig last week a guy came up to me and said ' Man, what a beautiful sound you have, the tone is amazing...' etc... THAT makes it worthwhile to me for the money invested and the time I have spent to get it right in the house and the band situation. I'm sure I could get away with other/cheaper gear but this works for me, so the investment and outcome are worth it.

Yes. 😃

Absolutely, music is ultimately about emotion, and emotion isn't in just the sound, it's in the feel of the gear, the response, the anticipation, the band and their gear, the audience, everything. Different components are more or less important to different people and elicit different emotional responses accordingly. For me, my own gear on stage, as well as that of bands I watch, is a big part of the emotion of live music. Am I going to try to explain it or justify it. Hell no

There should be some news next week.

I don't have a yellow bass, but I would like one to match my car

@dmccombe7, yeah for a solid state amp you can safely assume that it will run at anything above its minimum, so a 4R minimum amp will be quite happy anywhere >4. 8, 16, 23.5, 604, all fine. A tube amp, however is different. There's an output transformer in there which needs to be set to run a certain nominal impedance. No cab is truly ever a perfect 4 or 8R, it varies with frequency and heat and speaker age, but you need to set the transformer to be close enough. I believe the older SVT heads only had 4 or 2R taps, no option for 8.

Standing in the Shadows of Motown Super book that’s half biography, half transcriptions of James Jamerson. Well worth the money. Victor Wooten - The Music Lesson I was recommended this book by my brother and was suprised at how interesting and enlightening it was. Worth a read for anyone who would like to better their musical skills. As far as in depth books about specific techniques or styles, I’ve found it’s better to simply go to the source: a good teacher, and/or transcribe what you want to learn from a recording.

But she's still your Honey..... I'll get my coat. But seriously - I've done all this too. And every time I keep coming back to my '99 Hot Rod P as it's light, reliable, looks good (to me) and plays well. I may buy/try other things (I'v currently got a USA G&L L2000 and an 80's P too) but I'll never sell it. Having said that, I've just bought an inexpensive Warwick Star bass and I love the sound of that with TI flats. It's great for semi-acoustic gigs we do but for all electric the P wins every time. A second hand LM3 and a second hand Gen 2 Barefaced compact and that's me done. For now. Or would a tube 500 be better? And a 2x10? Here we go......

If these guys are doing it for show, forget about it. Unless your a headliner with a hand off guy or a tech to help you make the switch it doesn't look cool at all. It really doesn't. Blue

Pick Bass is a great sound in the right situation. Love the sound of a muted P-bass. If anyone needs help to get started with their pick playing then check out this free tuition video:

I seem to be the opposite to everyone else here. As long as I can get the sound out of it that I want I don't really care what it is. I've never wanted flash or expensive gear for fear of looking like 'all the gear, but no idea'. I use a Variax bass into a Line6 X3 Live, then straight to the desk, no amp. We nearly always use our own PA and monitors which are good so no need to be lugging extra gear I don't need. I don't even have my monitor very bassy, a nice middy sound for clarity and it won't mess with FOH, I get enough bottom end back from the subs. I can get more different sounds from my Variax and X3, (guitar, amp, cab, and effects modelling) than I'll ever need and from a lot of feedback they do sound good enough so I can just concentrate on my performance. In my other band I play doublebass and will take an amp as it's imperative that I can hear myself. For this I used to use an Ashdown Perfect Ten minirig but picked up a second hand PJB Suitcase and extention cab for very little so use that. If we're not using our own PA with electric bass then I'll take the Suitcase only, in case their monitors aren't good and it's quicker for me to get the volume I want. I have lots of basses at home for my own entertainment but live it'll always be Variax and X3 in one band and cheap Gedo doublebass and PJB in the other. None of this is high end at all and I don't need or want anything else.

😂😂

Would you say that GAS has parallels with alcoholism? Or is it akin to a hankering for champagne, possibly by those with more of a beer income?

You'll be fine with any of the real amps you mentioned Things don't get complicated until your gigging live. Keep that in mind in case of the remote possibility you end up gigging. Blue

On the topic of headstocks, I think it looks fine. As pointed out, an original headstock is super difficult to achieve and I have seen many which just do not work. This one does for me.

omg.... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1963-AMPEG-B15-NC-PORTAFLEX-ANDY-BAXTER-BASS-/183514257563

I listen closely to what our drummer does. It's no hardship, as he's excellent. I know from bitter experience how hard it is to find a good drummer who isn't already busy or is in five different bands, so I'm feeling lucky. Less-than-stellar drummers are bloody hard work and bad for the soul!

Those horrible Zenta / Audition / Kay etc. bits of tat that continually surface on eBay for lots of dosh - what’s that all about? The sellers often try to pass them off as 60’s / 70’s Japanese works of art, when we all know they were naff then, and still are. Not sure if they ever sell, but just falsely inflate prices and make people go digging around their lofts to see if they can unearth some similar ‘vintage gem’ that you wouldn’t even light the fire with.

on the front under the strings seems to work for most builders.

I have: Drive - completely off Gain - about 8 o'clock (more or less pointing at the -10db button) Master - wherever depending on the room/space (I've never had to go above 2 o'clock though)

Precisely this. Most of the audience won't even be able to distinguish a Precision's tone from a Jazz's tone so it doesn't really matter to them what you play. HOWEVER, I play much much better when I actually enjoy my tone and I like hearing the sounds I make. It may be a psychological issue but if I'm enjoying the sound I put out then I'm more likely to play better and enjoy the experience. That happens with most, if not all, musicians - unless they're completely oblivious.

UPDATE: I bought a 2012 macbook pro with the following specs; 16gb RAM 512GB ssd i7 2.6ghz It cost 600 and seems to be in working order. Cheers greatly to everyone that has contributed, it really helped with my decision

Anyway, I finally got round to recording a demo so you can all hear it. Just to really spoil you, I've turned it into two separate videos with different audio tracks: Here it is DI'ed: And here it is through a nice valve amp: