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One of my favourites is ..."You're The One That I Want"...from Grease.

Well, here is the latest family photo. Don't hate me for buying them all... but I think I have a problem... 😉 Top Left to Right TT4 Creme - Masterpiece TM2 Orange - HCA Panther - Bocote Top & H/Stock Bottom Left to Right UMBO Red - HCA 48 Red - HCA Grand Dark San Remo Blue 😀

Guess most of you have seen this, but it's interesting if you haven't

That’s funny - someone took the graphite thing a bit too literally! Leave it as it is - it’s a great conversation piece!

Forgive me Basschat, for I have sinned. On my way home with a matte black BB735a from Wunjo 😬 😈

Artists would often record different versions of the same song, sometimes with different arrangements, sometimes with different musicians. I'm not overly familiar with Jameson's or Kaye's history, but it's quite probable that each would have been called in for different takes/versions of the same song. As time goes by, for some songs, even for the featured artist and producer, knowing exactly whose bass part ended up on the released version would be nigh on impossible to ascertain.

My latest offering to the pedal gods...

I think the binding is going to work well. Once the fingerboard has been scraped and finished and the binding corner rounded off, it should look pretty integral and - more to the point - it should work well from a playing perspective. I think this may well become my preferred method: Next task will be to cut the pickup chambers but that will probably be at the weekend earliest

Color sample time. Gold over pick guard material scrap, both black and white. I use Didspade pigments. Very economical and available in small quantities. Satin gold pearl powder in clear acrylic lacquer. Pearl gray primer/ surfacer is the way to go.Touch up gun for samples. Matching headstock on this one.

Blah blah blah weight blah tone blah blah. Get a grip everyone. Matching black headstock trumps everything.

So the most important head is the only one you can't change? Though filling it with oil seems strangely attractive 🙂

How would it defeat the point? You have an accelerator on your car... you decide how far to push it down. I also don't need to know how much 'power' I'm putting into a cab, it is irrelevant. I turn up the volume, it complains, I turn it down... I've ran a 200 watt cab with a 2000 watt power amp and never once had a problem; because I used the gain/volume controls. Not trying to be awkward but folks are seriously wrapped up in the numbers and seem to forget that the obvious deciding factor in all of this is 'human' and you are in control. Just to throw this in the mix; my present set-up is a 750 watt amp which I use with a 2x10 cab (or two) and have done for some years, I recently trialled a 100 watt amp with the same cab(s) and I managed to continue gigging without killing any piece of equipment or ANY detriment in tone that the audience heard (no trickery with PA back-up).

Whoah! That’s a WHOPPER!! Look at how big it is compared to that house.. Is it 34 foot scale?!

Why is no one discussing that blue LED? Very subtle - less is more.

Father, forgive me for I have sinned. I didst count the strings to four and all was good. And then I didst count yet another string. Five was the number of strings and the number of the strings was five. And yea, did I allow myself to yet pluck the string and the sound was good. I turned aside from the path of righteousness and found within myself that I did yet make music that was pleasing to the Lord God of Bass with sinful lack of effort, and the music didst exceed that which I could yet play when the number of strings was but four. And Lo! The band of disciples - for always shalt the other players of strings follow the Lord God of Bass - did say that it was good and did promise to wreak a plague of locusts upon my soul should I worship at the Temple with but four strings. They spake in tongues and didst proclaim 'thou now hast a decent instrument and we do dig thy grooves, man'.

That looks great! Can you do one in roasted flamed maple?!? Mmm, roasted maple...

I stick to the Holy Scripture, as outlined below: A Reading from the Book of Bass, Chapter 4, Verses 16 to 20: 'First enter thou the purveyors of the Holy Bass. Then thou must count the strings to four. Four shall be the number of the counting and the number of the counting shall be four. Five shalt thou not count, neither shalt thou count three, excepting that thou then proceedeth to four. Six is right out.' 🙂

The Christmas gig offer was lovely “Trav, I need a bass player for a high profile gig in Manchester - I don’t want anyone else, but I appreciate you’re on a break. Would you consider it?” Suppose it’s nice to be wanted 🤔😂

We'll you should see my new Kramer Forum IV !!! .... Purple/Pink animal print body wrap, Spector pickups, Kent Armstrong 2 band active, not sure if that’s original but sounds beefy ... Mr Leopard will be very happy \m/

I bought on of these v for a project Aria Pro II Magna: https://www.amazon.co.uk/MADE-JAPAN-High-Quality-Brass/dp/B00IC9QW1C/ref=sr_1_15?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1542014383&sr=1-15&keywords=bass+nut+brass Seems to be good quality & works a treat. Was posted from Japan & arrived fairly quickly. I'd replace the nut, add new strings & then set-up. If you've still got dead spots, maybe look at tweaking the truss-rod (if you think it needs it), adjust the bridge. If all else fails, get a quote for a luthier set-up. Good luck!

If you wear a glove to pluck, why not sew a pup into the palm - then you can learn to move up and down the neck to always be on the 'sweet spot', and subtle shifts in intensity will be possible too. Shouldn't be too difficult to master.

I use an ampeg SCR DI in that exact way. Gig Bass -> Ampeg SCR-DI -> Crown 402 power amp -> any of my cabs.... Home Bass -> Ampeg SCR-DI -> Headphones Bass -> Ampeg SCR-DI -> Studio Spares 60w digital power amp (60 watts/£45) -> TL806 cab Studio spares power amp :- https://www.studiospares.com/B-Stock/bstock/B-STOCK-Studiospares-Aktivate-85-Power-Amp-Unit_B-249180.htm?gclid=CjwKCAiAiarfBRASEiwAw1tYv0H-XSHw_I2D8oI8IZiZvpK3-NGbyANQASmToGpS96dVqTAlnNMFDhoCOAcQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Bought a head from Nik in yet another seamless transaction. Great communication throughout and packaged within an inch of its life. As all have said above, trade with confidence. Many thanks

Yes, but like anything it’s about context - there’s so much going on in a band scenario that you probably wouldn’t notice 1ms latency in a decent tight band. You’ll be listening more to the drummer than your own playing - and of course their latency will increase with distance just the same (speed of sound innit) Like I said, it only really makes a difference when you have some really accurate timing to hold down, or if you are recording, as your DAW chain will often have built in latency already.

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Ditto, also been caught by that one. I was expecting, All Right Now, Wishing Well, Mustang, Brown Sugar, You Really Got Me etc, etc, etc...... What I got was a list of obscure album tracks from Molly Hatchet, April Wine, Iron Maiden, Pat Travers, MSG.........not a good night.

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On the whole 1024/5 versus 2024/5 thing... I questioned the price difference, though I have to say I can recall the 2024/5 being available, new, at around the £1200 mark with the 1024/5 at the £650/700 range. Anyway, I went back and fore a few times buying/selling 1024x basses and always loved the tone but also always felt something intangible was missing. As much as I really wanted a 2024, I couldn't justify the new price and the rare occasions they came up as second hand, were always priced using the "These originally retailed at £250,000,000 so my secondhand price of £50 less than you can buy a new one for..." method stayed my hand. Fast forward to a few months back where I picked up yet another 1024x and I finally was convinced enough that I really liked the PJ combination, the neck and body shape etc. so I decided to take the plunge on a BB P34 I know it's not like for like, but it is the replacement for the 2024 series with the same refinements. Worth every penny. The hardware is flawless, the finish spot on, great weight, smashing set up and the bass absolutely sings, before even being plugged in. It is unbelievably resonant. My one and only criticism would be lack of colour choice. Otherwise, better than any Fender, Lakland, FBass, Warwick, Status I have owned and I've had numerous of each!

I have had a pair of Art 722a and a pair of 745a and they are like night and day. The 745s are absolutely immense. From what I gather the 735s are much closer to the 745s than the 722s so you should notice a big step up. That said I really liked the 722s and can't really imagine how loud the rest would have to be to make it difficult to get the vocals to the front of the mix. Are you using backline or is everything through FOH?

Do you have an endorsement deal with L’Oréal? Fab basses btw!

No, you will be enhancing an already beautiful thing. The only time I ever comissioned an instrument I had promised myself not to have LEDs. I caved within 5 seconds of having the option put to me. Side dots. They were superb. I still miss them. If I had a fingerboard off any of my basses I would be LEDing faster than you could say knife.

Not sure if a pencil is hard or soft wood but would guess it's not the best material to make a nut with. If you are handy with a small saw a piece of boiled dog bone makes a good nut if you have the time and patience. Just leave the marrow alone...

Yep, only downside is that this way the DI signal is your bass only, no eq/gain etc from amp. So if your specific sound is an integral part of the band, this way the audience don`t hear it.

Been thinking about a compact low wattage/valvey set up for home practice for a while. Two things happened over the last fortnight that turned it into a reality : Local dealer dropped the new price on the Ampeg PF20-T and then these two Ashdown cabs came up for sale 2nd hand just along the road from someone who it turns out is a friend of a friend. The cabs are RM110's but they've had Ashdown CL/AAA red grilles added which I think makes them look pretty classy. In fact it's pretty enough that I'm allowed to keep it in the dining room and don't have to relegate it to the spare room! Sounds-wise is really lovely and warm - especially with my flatwound loaded P with the tone nearly all the way off. Perfect output and volume for home practice as I can get the tone without waking the neighbourhood. I'm a happy bunny.

No need to be rude, we were just asking a question! 😂

Thanks for the offer. That would be helpful. If I’m ever in your area I’ll let you know.

Only reason I asked is I’m NE based now, if you’re up this way for any reason you’re welcome to try.

It was written: "Let thee craft thyself thy bass guitar, and let it be given 4 of thy finest strings no more, no less, for anything other than 4 is an abomination, and leads to deviance from the true path of righteousness" 🙏

Change the nut and the strings.

I play 4s, 5s & 6s. To me, the biggest technical consideration is simply muting, everything else is comfortable after a couple of hours shedding on the instrument (which I do with all of them regularly). As has been said, if you see your bass as a collection of notes capable of music, the number of strings/frets becomes superfluous info. If you don’t know where the notes are on the neck, and you’re simply playing learned basslines, that’s when swapping between them becomes a slightly harder prospect IMO. Si

There you go, fixed it for you

It's entirely dependent on your taste. I've found that an important part of the sound I love and use is having a specific type of pickup roughly half an inch away from the end of a 20 fret fingerboard. The same thing an inch away doesn't work the same for me. Put 24 frets on it and I'm knackered. However if you asked Jaco, he'd tell you something entirely different. Dad3353's suggestion is a very good one.

I think it looks much better with the new headstock shape......... 😀 Next job is the control cavity, fingers crossed I don't balls it up again!?! 😳

I decided to reshape the headstock as it didn't look right with the fender style so I did the Ibby style I've done on a couple of my other builds then veneered it with oak to match the centre section of the body....... 😀

OK, a little background first. It's over 20 years since I've played bass and owned a bass, or bass amp of any description. So to say I'm not up to date on modern bass equipment would be an understatement. I'm newly retired and aiming to get back to playing bass again, only for home enjoyment playing classical pieces on bass and composing, or jamming with friends, (mainly with piano, acoustic guitars). I'm thinking a small combo, around 20 to 40 watts may be all I'll need and have been considering either Warwick BC20 or BC40, or Ashdown AAA evo30. There is nowhere within reasonable traveling distance (a few hours) where I could try any Warwick or Ashdown amps here in rural Australia, so I'm taking a punt based on internet searches and hopefully so sage advice here. Will any of the options mentioned give me the chance of good sound reproduction and given that two of the options only have 8 inch speakers, would I be loosing out in bass response at that speaker size? Any and all advice or opinions will be greatly appreciated.