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Music? You want to try having a career in anything to do with computers. You instantly become everyone's personal technician and are expected to be able to solve an issue from the vaguest of descriptions!

Sorted the nut height and then put my 'see if it all fits together' set of strings on. At my action height starting point (medium) there are no buzzes at all so I think the basic levelling job was OK. When the proper strings are on, I'll set it up properly and do a double check with the fret rocker and the buzz check at low action in case there are some high spots anywhere. This is how the tru-oil slurry and buff has ended up, finishing at 1500 grit. This is an oblique shot to the light so you can see the surface finish: ...and this is tilted to see the figuring better: It's LOVELY to the touch. Still got to do the final 1500 slurry and buff on the back - and I've still got to do the final buffing of the fretboard and neck - but this is how the whole thing is panning out: All being well it should be finished by the end of the weekend

To be fair, it's bloody better than talking about football or if your kids are gonna get in to grammar school, innit?

I was actually going to move mine or de-badge it altogether, but there is an uncut metal plate on the grill under the badge the same shape so it would look a bit naff. I actually flipped the grill over on mine to match my initials "MW". Not sure if I'll keep it like that but I just wanted to see what it would look like.

What about putting the Wharfedale badge in the top left corner? Or am I over-thinking this?!

Here's a Shuker which with all the fancy options will likely set you back over £4k, a higher spec and more striking instrument than the £15k Fodera for me:

Of course folks could just be trying to make conversation with somebody they know plays music and they're trying to choose a topic with some common ground. In those situations I try to smile and join in the conversation. I'm thinking of calling this approach 'politeness'....I've got a feeling it might be quite useful Not sure about the name yet tho.

Bit late to the party, but I always use Peter at GTS, and have done for about 10 years now. Have never been anything but delighted with Peter's work on my basses. He's not cheap, but only 20 mins from home for me, and I've come to the conclusion that you get what you pay for. I factor in the cost of one of his pro-setups whenever I buy a bass.

I held/played this one...some may recognise it...TBH I wasn't overly impressed with it. It didn't strike me as 5x or £8k better than my GB, Status or Overwater - all of which are around the £2-3K mark - suggests to me the real price for a custom bass. The OP asks about the price difference between the two basses and there have been some interesting responses. What we do know is it isn't the cost of the materials. Can I justify the extra £8K because it's made in a fashionable/ expensive part of NY? What about because of the perceived extra craftsmanship? Do these represent VFM anyway? If you can't justify the additional cost for the invisible factors in the purchase price, then don't - I wouldn't. That's what capitalism is about. The old adage of "it's only worth what somebody will pay" and "supply & demand" ring true here, nobody forces somebody with too much loads of money to buy a Fodera, and for most it won't make a difference in how they play. May make a difference in how they think they play...but they won't fool many....and as we know, the average punter (or most bassists for that matter) can't tell the difference anyway. For me the argument of a Rembrandt being more than a piece of canvas and some paint doesn't stand up for most people. You're paying for the name (and authenticity obviously) but you could pick up a fairly close copy done by one of the artists on Speakers Corner, London for virtually nothing and very few people would know....so to everybody but the most discerning it really doesn't matter. Pretty much the same with these basses. Personally, I'd have the Maruszczyk anyway.

My 30th Anniversary Series II. Number 4 of 14.

Arrived today 14:00pm........................works great.................. Still not going to use GuitarGuitar ever again ! My small board now consists of 1) MarkOne Audio AB-Looper ( to bypass any signal loss or colouration when not using the Zoom MS60-B 2) Zoom MS60-B ....TUNER , CHORUS , TREM , PHASE etc....... now and then 3) TC SpectraDrive ( on all the time ) All fits into the side pocket of my Bass Case (incl the power supply ! ) Pete

Love her meself, looking forward to it.

Fired up my T model this week in the house.. coupled with an Eminence loaded Ashdown 4x10 it sounded awesome, really meaty, clean and warm. Will try it and band practice next week at serious volume and see how it sits in our mix.

To be honest I don't care what a Fodera costs new, if they want to charge that and people are prepared to pay it then good on them. People pay many times more for inanimate objects to decorate their homes, at least a Fodera is a functional instrument albeit a bit naff looking (so is that Maruszczyk Sputnik thing IMO). Just don't try and justify it with silly excuses like astronomical rent prices, super secret wood selection processes by magical forest fairies or amazing expertise that no other luthier can offer. They are just one boutique brand turning out high end instruments among many others, with the high profile comes a high price and that's totally fine. If you want one then by all means get the cheque book out, you only live once.

Yeah that's depressing and frustrating. I have zero patience with learned helplessness. Yes you bl@*dy well could if you cared enough to work hard enough. I had to. The recurring conversation that bugs the heck out of me is Me: I play in a blues band. Them: (look of surprise, pause) Oh, you sing? Me: No. Them: (look of surprise, pause) Oh, you play guitar? Me: No. I play bass. Them: (look of extreme surprise, long pause) Double bass? Me: No. I play electric bass guitar. Them: (look of very extreme surprise, no answer) I'm not over-sensitive to gender stereotyping (and have never met it as a Computer Science lecturer) but why the blank blank blank do so many people still assume that women don't play bass? 😞

Does it come with the ‘surprise’ snapping neck?

They aren't doing anything different from basically every other custom builder, all of them have some exceptional wood to choose from and select nice pieces for each individual build. I think you're giving them far too much credit for doing what boutique builders are supposed to do - they get nice blanks of wood from their chosen supplier, there's no special mystic selection process.

Possibly because you have a limited idea as to what talent is. Go and create a YouTube channel, when you have even just 10,000 followers, i’ll show you someone who is talented at assessing what their audience wants, then creating good and consisting content to sustain that. Whether that talent is important to you doesn't matter, they're earning a living doing something you can’t. Si

Yep, for some reason we had karaoke at work just before Xmas, and everyone was trying to get me up singing. I play bass in a skinhead punk band, my "singing" is really not for karaoke at TV volumes in the workplace. They said, well can`t you do a Bon Jovi song then, as if for some reason skinhead punk and Bon Jovi are similar. So I showed them a clip of the type of music I listen to and play. That stopped `em.

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There is much about this bass that really makes me smile. Full report in due course......

I've still got some work to do to finish off a couple of build from last year but need to clear the garage of all the junk from having my kitchen done. In the meantime, I started mocking up a few bits for a new build. Got a few ideas but nothing concrete yet; 4 or 5 string, hollow or solid, 1 pickup or 2. Got some more wood on order but in the meantime... I also put a scratchplate on top of a body I'm currently building and quite liked the look of it. It obviously doesn't fit but I like the contrast between the white plate and the spalted beech. Anyone else got any thoughts to the look of this?

Henry " The Thumb " Thomas from the Rockschool TV series of the day .

Spotted this morning. Looks like a great deal for someone in the market for one of these.... https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/180328325347007--lakland-skyline-44-64-custom-pj-natural-mn

killer horn section

For anyone interested, I gave up on lemon oil about 2 years ago as I found it wasn’t really nourishing the rosewood boards on my guitars. I have used it for years and it never seemed to properly condition the wood, it just soaked in and the board looked fine for a week and then dried out. I did some google research and found a lot of luthiers and guitar companies in general moving away from it and using Music Nomad F-One oil. I bought a bottle and tried it and for me and my guitars it works so much better than lemon oil and has lasted and really seems to ‘feed’ the wood and make it look and feel superb. I’m converted and think it is well worth it (a bottle will last a few guitars for years).

Given the fact that he was presumably just about to probe the inside of your mouth with a sharp object, a plucky choice of words I’d say.😙

Occasionally I get asked if I play the double bass properly. I assume they mean with a bow. But not long ago I was in the dentist’s chair. He knew I did gigs and said ‘do you get your bass out and just start playing?’ I asked ‘do you get your drill out and just start drilling?’

Ssshhhh, it's the secret Fodera woodland timber fairies which hand select every piece of wood when it is a mere sapling, then play their magic flute as it grows so it produces the correct timbre when it becomes a body blank. But don't tell anybody, they'll all be doing it then. Besides, Shuker hasn't even got the frets and pickups in straight on that bass, the nitwit.

we all think he's a c#nt. Because he's a c#nt, but he's a c#nt that we can point and laugh at. The drummer mate who I refer to at the start of the thread had to relocate to the other end of the country a couple of years ago, and the last thing he did with his then band was to record an album, which didn't get released for almost a year. Solid 8/10 reviews everywhere, with the exception of Metal Hammer who didn't like it. The c#nt in question contacts my mate for the first time in over a year to send him the Metal Hammer review - look at how bad people think your old band is. When questioned, he admitted that he hadn't heard it himself so didn't have an opinion of his own, hadn't looked for any other reviews, he just wanted to share the bad one in case my mate had missed it.

That seems to imply that other basses are more difficult to fit in the mix [1], which is not true... It's a matter of preference, taste, and the goal with respect to the kind of sound to be achieved. [1] as if all mixes were the same... (and of course: he/she who pays the bills, gets to choose)

You're haven't quite grasped this capitalism thing. You should be charging 10k.

Is this like "Youth-Hostelling with Chris Eubank"? 😂 (copyright Alan Partridge)

Everyone at works know about one of my bands at least. Some even regularly show up at our local gigs following us on facebook. For a time, our trumpet player was a colleague. Why would they laugh at me? The fact that I have the key to the poisons cabinet and access a wide range of acids and sharp implements has nothing to do with it 😛

Jamerson's career went down the tubes because mentally he couldn't move from being "king" to just "one of the lads". He decided that as his sound had been so special for the last 15 years he didn't have to change it or do what the producers wanted. His strings were so old the intonation was out and an out of tune bass was never going to last long in the LA studios. The guys who called the shots stopped calling him because there were equally great players who would take care of their sound and do as they were requested. Most of those guys who replaced him were also playing P basses with (not quite as old and manky) flats. It wasn't a problem or fashion with the instrument, it was Jamerson shooting himself in the foot with his intransigent attitude.

Quite a few years back a bunch of us in the office were talking about bands we'd seen 'before they were big'. We were just chatting really, but I think secretly we were trying to outdo each other. There was a pause in the conversation, and then one of the older guys looked up and said, "I saw Hendrix in Worcester..." Instant win, end of contest

Regarding Ableton... it’s roots lie in live performance and that’s where it initially gained notoriety as the tool of choice for people wanting to performing live with a DAW... which inevitably appealed to DJs and electronic musicians. Hence it’s now ubiquitousness in those scenes. But it can of course be used as a regular DAW in home studios. @Leonard Smalls of this parish uses it to great effect, for example. I have the ‘light’ version myself and it’s very good indeed - and very different to other DAWs (in a good/interesting way). Given that I don’t perform live, I just found that I wasn’t making the most of its functionality - and the functionality I was using was already available in my DAW of choice (Reason). Hence I didn’t explore it any further. If I was starting over, however, I’d certainly consider Ableton. It’s the world’s most popular DAW for a reason. Another strong contender rarely mentioned here is Fruity Loops. Lots to choose from 😉

See this is why I try not to mix with other bass players in person. You really are a bunch of miserable basstards !

Oh, that's nothing. I bought my LPs from an obscure label! 🤘 😐

For me, Spectors are a fantastic tool of many musical trades. They feel supremely comfortable and ergonomic, have a wide tonal palette and can suit almost any musical situation. If you like a P sound then you will find it here... with extra authority, plus the ability to add extra sparkle or depth with the active EMGs/preamp. If you prefer a more nasal, funky honk - it's here with the solo'd J pickup. If you like a tight rock tone then both pickups full on will have you cutting through the mix. The bass and treble controls can give a huge choice from dub to hi-fi click too... A typical EuroLX will be in the region of 9lbs of weight so not light, but not old school heavy either. There may be a forum member here in the Greater Manchester area who you can meet with to try one? The other great thing about Spector is the customer support and relations, with PJ (Head of Artist Relations) & Stuart Spector himself both being available online/on the phone to their players! There is also a fantastic Facebook group of players (Spector Bass Nation) who are hugely supportive and friendly who help each other out too - we even have top 'name' players in our group! It sounds twee, but Spector players really are a 'family' of sorts....

Subhumans, at the Fleece, Bristol, last night,

Vincent Crane. the whole of Arthur Browns first album had some great playing Alan price an awesome version of I put a spell on you great solo.

Don't drop it in either the bag or the plastic case. It's heavy enough to rip the folded aluminum rails right off the rack.

It's probably damaged stock. Look at that bass! It's been melted like a marshmallow over a fire.... Oh, it's a singlecut. But yeah, 7 grand cheaper.

Actually, no, when i have conversations about music, it tends to be the irritating one that goes like: Them: Oh you play instruments, I would love to do that, but I have no talent. Me: You just need to get an instrument, learn it and practice Them: Oh but I am not good at that sort of stuff, it must be nice to have talent so you can do it. Me: Its just practice, you just keep practicing and you get better. Them: No, I tried it once, I couldn't get a decent sound, but its easy of you have talent isn't it

It’s even worse in the age of the smartphone. Many a cringeworthy minute I have sat clutching someone’s phone listening to something shit pretending I can hear and like it. You can’t give the phone back early so you just have to sit and feign interest. Something I’m bad at.

Progress on my new build! Can’t wait to get my hands on this beast!

And another job off the tick list - levelling, crowning and polishing frets: I'm going to temporarily string it up later today to see if it frets OK all the way up the board Only a few more things to do before the big assembly and test stage