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Well then, after some two-ing and fro-ing with Andy via messaging and telepathy, the wonderful Andy dropped my Nemesis bass off today on his way to a pluck and slap fest bass bashing, so thanks for the detour Andy. How refreshing to put a face ( albeit one only a mother could love ) to reams of text over the months. What a lovely chap. Mr friendly, mr patient, mr craftsman. So, without further ado, and i guess if you've been a nosy bustard and stuck your hooter in the build threads, you've probably already seen it, so this could be a bit of a zzzzzzzzz for some. Or maybe not .. but here in all it's glory. Notice i didnt say ' she ' ... It's a bass and it's inanimate, guv For anyone who missed the spec : Aaron Armstrong custom build pup. Series / Parallel Hum cancelling / Single coil with 3 posish switch 250k + 500k switchable Schaller 3 way adjustable Unknown Tuners / buttons / string tree Last piece of English Walnut cut down many many moons ago by Scrumpy Mike's good buddy Merv. ( top face ) African Sapele ( back face ) Purpleheart Sandwich filler ( from Tesco finest range ) Pupleheart pup cover ( which AA built the pup into ) Purpleheart control cover Sapele ( i think ) knobs with Purpleheart caps and abalone or mop markers Weight 4.05 KG I thought my Rally Basso had a fab tone, but this has topped it. Quiet a variable tone monster considering it's a single pupper EDIT : forgot a full frontal.....

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Tony Butler... a lovely, charming and humble man. They say you should never meet your heroes, well I'm overjoyed to have met this one.

Four and a half hours after leaving I’m back after the Bash. I’m still stuffed with glorious food, everyone was lovely, my throat is a little sore after trying to talk over the thrum of a gazillion basses. I swore a lot today, mostly an uneducated man’s inarticulate exclamations of delight at @Jabba_the_gut’s astonishing builds, such great quality, so much so I have a new aim, to only own two basses, one fretted, one fretless, both short scale and both Jabba builds. Extraordinary basses, really just extraordinary. @scrumpymike and team run a great event I don’t know half the people I met (and swore at) and didn’t get to meet half the people there (who I didn’t swear at). Have I mentioned the food? A couple of points, @wrinkleygit had (imho although I wasn’t alone) the best bass in the building, a Jabba fretless, I swore an awful lot about that bass in particular, I was settled with the Rob Allen and now I’m considering selling it, I suppose that’s the way with musical instruments, you make your way, slowly, towards your personal bass nirvana but never really arrive... </esoterica> @Witters needs an Ibanez SRC6 in his life, don’t we all? More fun than eating sherbet dib dabs whilst on acid, ahem, although not quite as transcendental. Oh yes, before I forget, the food... A 346 mile round trip, worth every mile, see y’all next year.

Back home and unpacked from the SW Bass Bash. I have to say a big thank you to @scrumpymike and everyone who helped organise this event and all the lovely food - I'm leaving the first couple of weekends in April free in anticipation for next years bash! I've been looking forward to this event since it was announced last year and it was so nice to catch up with everyone I have met there previously and meet some new faces. You really couldn't ask for a more enjoyable day with a nicer bunch of people. Thanks again - it really is very much appreciated. I end up chatting to everyone for so long I actually forget to do things I planned to do - I didn't try half the amount of gear I wanted to and I missed getting a photo of @wrinkleygit's fretless bass alongside the fretted version I just finished building! Cheers again to @Rich for the couple of pieces of wood that will get recycled into bass necks sometime in the near-ish future. I also have to say thanks for all the positive comments I got on my basses and the surprised looks on folks faces when the tried the shortie basses!! Cheers and see you all soon! Jez

I think the phrase is ‘clucking bell’ I just tried @wrinkleygit‘s fretless, built by @Jabba_the_gut and (never thought I’d have to string these words together) it’s better than the Rob Allen! I’ll say it once more... better. I really don’t think he realises just how astonishingly good his work is, glad I’ve got one ‘in production’ they will soon be properly sought after. Genuine works of art.

@Frank Blank‘s acoustic corner ready for perusal...

The Great Big SW Bass Bash pedal! Rich donated it 3 years ago & I won it. I donated it last year & Woody won it. This year Woody donated it & you got it. No pressure

I would very much like to purchase one of @Jabba_the_gut‘s tiny travel basses - such fun, and so nicely put together! Loved the food - you could easily charge twice what you do @scrumpymike. Loved having the opportunity to buy bits from @Chownybass too - got me a bridge for my incredibly slow build. Also won a pedal in the raffle. - I love pedals! And thank you to @Andyjr1515 for the donation of a neck for my slow build and knobs for my Hohner Jack. Bought some mics from @Frank Blank a chuffed with those too. I like mics nearly as much as I like basses! Basschat is a great community.

@Frank Blank definitely won the long distance prize. There's dedication. @Jabba_the_gut's work really won the day for me. As Frank says, I honestly don't think he realises just how good his instruments are. Here is @Witters trying, as so many of us did, to work out how Jez managed to get such a dinky package to make such a good and BBBBIG sound. As ever, many many thanks to the wonderful Scrumpettes for laying on such an epic spread, and keeping me supplied with gallons of coffee! Last and definitely not least, thanks to @scrumpymike for organising yet another belting day. I raise my hat to you sir.

What a great day, excellent food, cracking company and some lovely bass guitars to fondle. @wrinkleygit's @Jabba_the_gut-built fretless is truly special, I actually fell in love today.

Just got back and unloaded. Another brilliant south west food bash for bass players I so want a bass like this:

Just got home so let me be the first to thank Mike & the Scrumpettes for a brilliant day once again, the food was to die for with a special mention to the rhubarb crumble & clotted cream. Oh & apparently there were some basses there as well.😉

I watched it. As far as being one bass player's personal opinion on he achieves his own personal tone i have no issue with it. In terms of his opinions being passed off as 'essentials' for bass tone I thought it was just another case of opinion being passed off as fact. There is nothing from his free videos that would encourage me to pay money to obtain any of his knowledge. I'm happy that he has managed to build up a successful business but I just really don't gain any insight or enjoyment from his videos. I have slowly managed to block SBL from my social media mentions, but I still see SBL posts here on BC. When I see them I can't help but watch (it is like a drug). For my own sanity I am going to pull myself away from all SBL discussions and would ask the mods on this site to give me a warning if I so much as comment on another SBL related topic.

Slightly better full frontal ...roswood boards dont like flash much , so i see. Makes 'em look a bit weird

Sounds like a brilliant day, I'm looking forward to my first Midlands BB!

Only just got back from the fabulous SW Basschat Bash but wow - what a review I'll post the clip tomorrow if I can work out how to get the blighter OFF the aforesaid oldish iphone. And many thanks, once more, to @fleabag for such an interesting project And hope today's non-bass related challenges went OK, Pete!

Mentioned elsewhere, but that is STUNNING! Congrats matey, and I once again dof my cap to @Andyjr1515 Eude

Another great bash! highlights for me :- Frank Black's Godin acoustic (& special medal to Frank for distance travelled!). Yorks5stringer's restored to its near original condition Fender Tele bass (again, its a great bass). Woodinblack's beautiful Ibanez 5 str. Japanaxe's Dingwall Super P, Demeter Amp & Portaflex Amp, very lively sounding. Jabba_the_gut's teeny weeny travel basses, brilliant fun to play. MoJoKe's new Markbass Classic Amp, filthy sounding thing. Meeting Tony Butler, lovely humble interesting bloke The company of all you basschatters & a buffet of smashing grub. Cheers, Norm

Great day, folks! Thanks to all involved in organising, preparing and running everything. I found plenty to lust after/consider for future purchases/wish I could prepare food like that! Great to meet everyone, too! hmmm....Ibanez src6 @Frank Blank ?

Amazing day - thank you @scrumpymike and everyone who made the whole thing possible. Played my first ever short-scale - the @Chownybass SWB-1 fretless 😮 I think I'm in love.

If we're going to have a skinny-string interloper, at least it was a good (and very cool) one

Great event again and nice to meet up with some old and not so old friends. Big thanks to Scrumpy MIke and all his acolytes and also to all the nice people who brought gear to try and those on the trade stands too. I manged to snag a rather nice Chowny as well!

Oh and not to mention the raffle! Can't quite believe my luck 🙂

I second that emotion!

Bearing in mind what he said about YouTube the other day, I'm surprised he didn't make even crazier claims for clickbait. It's the way YouTube works, don't blame him for it - and don't confuse this stuff with his actual lessons.

Nah, Canadian maple and Rosewood board and fillet. I wouldnt lick it - its full of Andy oil

Culturally we tend to blame people for their mental health. His mental health appears to be part of the problem of both the backlog and his apparent aggression. It’s tough. Had the guy been fighting cancer for ten years, been in and out of hospital and was able to say ‘it’s the chemo, it makes me aggressive’, things would probably have been different.

Set the neck straight, or with a slight bow. The preference is yours, to allow you to flow, Be gentle with the rod as you twist and tweak, one false move and it’s unbearable to speak

Listened to this tonight. It has been a while, but what an album. Terrific musicianship, song writing and superb vocal performance. It is my desert island disc without question. This has got to be one of the best debut albums of all time IMO. . Listening to this tonight on vinyl using a decent Turntable. Shockingly good and very moving. Sad that such a magical performer was taken so young.

Some like it high, but for some that’s a battle, so they set it low and try to avoid rattle. 😁 Having tried a few Fender Ps in my local GG the other day, I suspect the highness of the Fender specs is to allow for poor ex-factory set ups; some of them seemed ridiculously high to me.

Correct setup sequence is nut height, neck relief. Then string height via the saddle, if the saddle is at its minimum and still the string height is too high only then should the neck tilt adjust be used (or a shim added on non tilt adjust instruments). After all this then intonation adjusted. Adding neck tilt should be kept at the minimum required for correct saddle adjustment. Too much tilt and the string to fretboard angle changes to much in relation to each other and it becomes harder to get a low action.

Not counting Telecaster, Les Paul and archtop style basses there have been two single cut bass designs that I've found myself actually liking the look of. Both of them have been built by AndyJr.

Scrumpy Mike's lovely headless bass: Charlie and a shortie bass The quiet moment when everyone was eating!!

It was actually the reason I bought tickets! I couldn't believe it was still on the table when I walked up.

This is for beginners, and for that purpose it's good advice.

For that budget, should your starting point be more RCF 310s? £256 for a mkIII and £300 for a mkIV. RCF is a better product than Alto. You are already familiar with the RCF 310s. You now have instant back-up if there is a problem with your main PA.

Damnation. Someone did. Me. Simply couldn't resist.

Here we are guys! I'm posting some clips Please don't judge the bass player, but only the sound. It's all a first take record, so forgive the mistakes! I'm uploading 2 Funk Lite clips because at my normal setting it sounded a bit dark, it's the main problem with the audio clips, all these pedals sound broader when amplificated Funk Lite.mp3 Funk Lite 2.mp3 Fwonkbeta 2.mp3 Wonderlove.mp3

Here are 12 patches I’ve made for the Future Impact. The favourite will be sent to Andras as a demo as I’m applying to be a programmer on the V3 firmware. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YlDIU-uCJNLyRa45UCGppjmL4_nZl634/view?usp=drivesdk @Al Krow I’ve been given a Focusrite Saffire 6. Sadly it’s only usb 1.1 so not fast enough to run my live piano on. I’ll need to buy something better. To aid navigation here are the time stamps: 00.00 baby cheeses 00.43 back to the drawing board 01.28 bass-related injuries 02.38 double trouble 03.20 double trouble (8vb) 04.02 empty nest 04.46 forced hibernation 4 05.31 forced hibernation 5 06.27 mouse only 2 driven 1 07.10 mouse only 2 driven 2 07.56 mouse only 2 parallel filters 08.43 mouse only 3 09.32 mouse only vocal bass

For me, as the primary writers, the Stones should feel like it’s Mick and Keef. But the thing that the Stones has (again, IMO) is that unique bond between Keef and Charlie. It’s what makes the Stones sound, well, like the Stones! Any number of talented players will never manage to nail the Stones sound due to the unique chemistry between the two. Then add Jagger’s unique vocals and that’s the band. The Ronnie Wood thing is interesting. His contribution songwriting-wise is minimal (compared to their output since he’s been in the band) but he’s made contributions where I feel he really should have been given a writing credit - the bass line on Emotional Rescue as an example. On a related matter I’d urge any Stones fans to have a listen to Keef’s Talk is Cheap, which has just been re-released as a 30yr anniversary piece (with extra tracks). It’s the album he did with Steve Jordan in 1988, when Jagger wouldn’t tour the Dirty Work album. To this day it’s still a great listen - and features Bootsy in fine form on the opening track, which is worth the price of admission alone!

Just woken up.. Had a mate over yesterday. We got drunk and honoured our ancestors. I have no recollection of making this post at all!

Brian Jones first asked Paul Jones (Manfred Mann) to be the singer in the band. Jones turned him down because he didn't think a band playing Blues would have "any future"!! Everyone else in the band had a tough time when the Glimmer Twins ego's (stoked by the even bigger ego of Andrew Oldham) kicked in. Bill Wyman was a reason why I picked up a musical instrument. I saw them in the 60's in a Cinema in Greenford (now a Tesco). I managed to get on to the Earl's Court security crew for several of the 1976 shows. And went with my son to see them at the O2 about 10 years ago. For me the stand out of the O2 show was Charlie Watts. He's not a technician but he never missed a beat and just pushed the band along, all night. The Stones were writing hits over a period of 20 years, from the 60's to the 80's. That's a very long time for a band to be creative. IMO the high points were scattered throughout that period. The entertainment and music business will be a poorer place when they stop touring. Edit for spilling

I once heard a (probably untrue) story about an interviewer asking Phil Lynott if he regretted never breaking America. 'I regret never getting to sh@# Kate Bush' says Phil, 'but what can you do?'

First in the que for Jabba’s stand ? might have to arm wrestle you for the shortie, but then there’s apple pie & crumble on offer so it’s difficult to know where to head for first!!

I like it - it looks mental. 😃

Damn! That's a beauty of a bass! Not your conventional looking bass but I dig it and specs wise sound delicious (something about Tesco Finest? 🤤) would love to see a video and/or sound clips.

Without punk, you'd have had no new wave, no Seattle sound, no what I like to call "The Matrix" music... Hell's custard, I've actually bored myself sick already! 😬