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I will state that my first hand experience of these only goes to 1993 - Wal, 1998 - Alembic but I don't think that much has changed with the philosophies of either company in the meantime. Both are top quality instruments built to the highest standards and use mostly unique, purpose built hardware and electronics. to my mind, Alembic set the ball rolling with filter based preamps but Wal developed the concept to its optimum regarding variety of tones versus simplicity of use. ACG/ John East has since developed the Wal concept even further albeit the complexity is increasing again. A couple of things not mentioned in the original thread you referred to in my mind influence the sounds of these instruments as much as the pre amps - Construction and pickups. The Alembic sound is without doubt partially due to its complex, multi-laminate, through-neck construction, just as the Wal is similarly shaped by its bolt-on construction. That is partly I think, why the Epic basses seem to slightly fall short - they are set-neck construction, not through-neck. Apologies to all Epic owners - they are fine basses but that basic construction setup in a way changes the character of the sound. And again- pickups. The Alembic pickups are voiced to enhance the Alembic sound and as such are probably integral to the sound of those basses. Likewise, the Wal Multi Coil pickups are a huge part of the Wal sound. Do Alembic and Wal ( and Fodera, Sadowski etc. etc. ad infinitum) justify their high price tag? Well, factually they do - they're still in business after all these years and customers are still ordering new instruments from them so the price is justified in that respect certainly. But in relationship to general cost of living price indices, some of these makers have been able to push their prices far beyond inflation levels. According to an inflation calculator I looked at, the Alembic Essence 6 bass I ordered in 1998 at a cost of £2k should now cost about £3.5k But if I look at the Alembic price list, it starts at $8000. Only the individual can decide if anything is worth that sort of premium to them. I love my Wal. I love my Alembic. I love my ACG. I love my Antoria fretless Precision Copy! I just like basses and I like the little differences between different ones. Whilst the prices of the boutique builders can sometimes be hard to swallow, there is no doubt that at the mass market end of the bass spectrum, it has never been easier to afford a quality instrument.

Another lost cause saved from landfill. Roland PK5 Bass pedals, bought for £200 locally, non functioning. No battery pack, burn marks on battery leads. No PSU. Someone obviously tried plugging in the wrong one via the wrong input... Roland and Boss historically were a bit weird on their power delivery methods for pedals back in the day but a former owner has been even weirder. Proper 9V PSU obtained, new battery pack fitted, some minor track cleaning and repair, D1 diode replacement, fried (cracked) npn (Q3) to replace, hopefully nothing else downstream, caps all ok. can’t get a service manual (http://servicerepairmanuals.netlook like they are not functioning) so I am flying cautiously. And yes, the inductor tests ok. The (D3) 5v6 zener Is untroubled, I even read 9v up to the npn so I was cautiously hopeful the custom chip is ok. Parts arrived. Cleaned the board, made me a broken trace with clippings from the diode. Fitted a battery pack as well. worked first time Discovered to my great joy I can have multiple synths running, so a few classic old synth VSTs have all been chained to MIDI channel 2, (Taurus Plug-in seems to be fixed on 2) so tap into poly mode and *MASSIVE* sounds ensue... mellotron VST next...

Here is my latest build. The Brooks Telebird. It is my take on the legendary Fenderbird that was built by Peter Cook for John Entwistle. However I decided to combine the characteristics the Thunderbird body with a 51 P (aka Telecaster bass). The specs are as follows - Two piece Swamp Ash body - Allparts Maple 51 P neck. Bolt on - Vintage blonde finish - Jess Loureiro 51 P split coil pickup - 34" scale - Tusq nut - Wide travel Thunderbird bridge plus tailstop. Nickel - Matte black single ply pickguard - Gotoh GB528 lightweight tuners. Nickel - Allparts push/pull Volume pot - CTS Tone pot - Silver reflector cap knobs - Telecaster jack cup. Nickel - GHS Brite Flats 49-108 I'll post pics of the build process in several answers below.

Yeah, I have - thank god. Bought in 2011 as a treat to myself for a messy breakup. Sold in 2013 to get married to childhood sweetheart. Who bought it back for me in 2017. A very special CS 1 of 1 (weird neck profile) 64 jazz bass relic.

We've reached the ten cabs target. 🤩 Anyone who wants one now will have to go on the waiting list - if we do any more in the future. Thanks to those ten early adopters!

A harmonica mounting clip

One.

Yeah, realistically it was bound to happen. There’s only about 4mm of plastic left over when making the rebate for the pickup. it snapped on the last cut. Serendipitously, within a gnats chuff of where the original basses pickguard is snapped. so...I’m going to leave it as is. And maybe I will age things up a bit more.

No, but I've sold two back to their previous owners Nothing expensive, mind.

I acquired my first Spector last week (courtesy of our own Psycoandy) - a very fine NS200/4. I'm very impressed, especially with the lovely narrow string spacing at the bridge which is very much my bag. Very comfortable to play, if a tad weightier than I'm used to, but a wider strap is helping that somewhat.

If you like the Stingray sound and feel then a USA built SUB would be a great budget option. This model was made on the same production line as the "real" Stingray but some economies were made. The most noticeable ones being a painted neck (many owners sand this off and use oil to refinish), no body shaping, and different paint finish on the body. Oh yes, and an ugly scratchguard which is an easy change if you don't like it. It has the same hardware and electrics as the Stingray. They were made from 2003 to 2005. (I stand to be corrected here.) They change hands for under your budget and they deliver far more than the cost. I've owned mine for a long time and gig it occasionally and I'm always impressed. Frank.

Today is my birthday and I just had the dispatch note to say the book will be delivered today! Thank you Geddy for pulling whatever strings you did for me

The gerlitz stuff is fantastic! They do "smudge off" which is great for hardware and guitar honey for the fingerboard. I've used it for years 😁

Don't suppose anybody could clean my car? I mean, I could do it myself.... but why should I?

Did some shielding for the pickup cavity and the control cavity. And I stringed the bass to check if everything was in place ;-) Oh yeah, this was the sketch that I drew before I started the build

I do, but not in the way you're asking. The shame never entirely fades...not really - you just learn to live with it. 😢

About 40 if it's Napalm Death

Just purchased my old Bass back today I bought it originally from Electro Music before it shut down...it's an ESP Pancho Tomaselli signature bass (Jazz configuration) stunning Bass I purchased it second hand for about £650 I think new these were about £1000 plus......Swamp Ash body, Maple Neck, EMGX pups, Gotoh bridge absolute beaut but was a bit to Rock for me in shape....but I did a straight swap with a couple of Electric Guitars and it's back with me....was a fool to get rid first time but won't be going again....happy days.

Well, that’s that bit. Now the pickguard.

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The Horseshoe on Downend might work if you can guarantee a crowd?

Ha ! Yes, then it is you i have been talking to in the past. I wasnt sure if the website was yours or not, but you posted on there a lot, and have great knowledge of the band and Kearns. I've seen many COL videos on Youtube, some of which you posted , like some unreleased tracks. I fell in love with Brother when it was released many years ago, and Kearns Triumph bass. I never ever had the money for one, though i would love a Triumph. Funny that i have only just seen you on here and yet you have been a member for 7 years

Looking good Tim, and I’ll bet it sounds as good as it looks. The bassist for the main band we’ on tour with us using a Terror and it’s a great sound.

Brilliant ! Nice combination of ideas.

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Glad to have been of service *salutes*

Sounding great Bo! 👍

Just got this footage back from a gig I did last month, I'm chuffed to bit's with it and I'd love to here what you all reckon. X

I’d give a kidney for that alembic mark king signature in the FS section or an old 70’s alembic. I know that doesn’t help this thread. Just putting it out there. 😂

You've definitely got the building bug, Andy! Welcome to the club

I've kind of got 3 drum machines. The Roland R-8 (left) and the Alesis SR-16 (right) are the conventional ones. But I also have an Arturia Beatstep Pro triggering 4 drum synth modules (centre). The SR-16 is great for heavier, slightly un-natural, sounding drums. Perfect for industrially sounding tracks. The R-8 has really nice sounding natural stuff, but they can be edited more. Programming the R-8 is a lot nicer than the SR-16, I tend to midi them together and use the R-8 as a sequencer. The synth modules are totally electronic sounding, them being synths not sample based. They can, using a computer based editor, recreate most classic early drum machine sounds. There's one module each for bass drum, snare, hi hat and clap. The Alesis and Roland machines have taken a bit of a back seat since the synth ones have been in use. Space is getting cramped. I need to reorganise the whole working space. There's another desk behind me, when I was taking the photo.

No worries. Life's too short not to share knowledge. Can't take it with me.

Very well done, sir. At about 2:35 I felt like you were channeling Kate Bush era John Giblin, which is a good thing. 👏👏👏

I was making a pickguard for one of my basses recently so thought I'd take a few pics along the way in case anyone else might want to have a go at making one. I'll be using a router, but if you don't have access to one it's easy enough to make a guard without one and the steps would be similar. I'm making this one for one of my own builds which is a Walnut bodied 50's Precision style bass, this is the first 50's style one I've done but intend to do more, so I'm going to be using a template for repeatability. I first draw my pickguard on the body, I'm using a chalk pen here which cleans off very easily and can also write on a finished bass. You could also use a chinagraph pencil or anything else which fits the bill. Ignore the inner lines here, that's for the chambering which I've yet to cut. Next I lay a piece of clear Acetate on top of the body and using a DVD/CD pen I trace onto the Acetate from the line beneath. You could skip step one and draw directly onto the Acetate, but I prefer to draw onto the body first so I can see it clearly and don't have to worry about creases or positioning too much. Then I cut the Acetate out and transfer that onto a piece of 1/2" ply wood. This will be my template for the router to follow, if you don't have a router, I'd still advise to use a template but you could use much thinner Ply, or even thick card. Then the ply is cutout, if you've only got hand tools - a coping saw, file and sanding block would be all you need. You can see I changed my design slightly where that black line is towards the top. I've also drilled all the mounting holes so I can use these to index the template. The neck pocket the area around the control plate are rough at this stage, we'll take care of them next. Here's the router (with wide base attached for stability) and a bottom bearing guided bit. I attach the template using a couple of the mounting holes, then use the router on the basses neck pocket walls to cut the template flush to the pocket. Now I rough cut the pickguard, I used a bandsaw with a fine blade, but you could use a jigsaw, scroll saw, or a coping saw if you're using hand tools. Then the template is attached to the rough cut pickguard using double sided tape (you could also use the mounting screws) and cut using the router and the two bits here. One is a bearing guided flush cutting bit, the other is the bevel cutter which cuts a very neat bevel onto the pickguard. If you were using handtools you would use a file and scraper to get both the correct shape and the bevel. I actually follow up a with scraper if there's any little bits which need taking care of, but usually it's pretty good straight from the router. Then I polish the edge with 0000 steel wool. Next I countersink the mounting holes. I use the drill press and set a depth stop, so that every countersunk hole is the same depth. The finished pickguard! The bass body now finished and with its chambers cut And the finished article! Hope this has been of some help, or at least mildly interesting!

It can only be a good thing in my view. A genuine patina of use is one thing. Taking a sander to a perfectly good bass almost smacks of sharp practice....

One of my biggest wish was to owe a Gibson Thunderbird. When I read that Gibson was going to release runs of lefties throughout almost the whole range I decided to order one. Had to wait for four months and finally I got a mail of Thomann that the bass was on my way. I decided to share my impressions to you all. First impression: When I took the bass out of the case it fell light weighted. With the included strap I tried the balance of the bass. There's said a lot that these basses are neck heavy. But this is exaggerated. I have experience with Rics and these suffered much more of this phenomenon. Frets are leveled well. Finish is okay. It's a little wavy around where the body meets the neck. The bridge (Babicz) is massive and easily adjustable. Playability: This bass plays easily. The neck profile is comparable to a 60's Jazz Bass. Because the front strap button is placed at the heel of the neck the bass has the tendency to tilt forward. Not good for people who want to see the front of the fretboard while playing. For me it's fine. Sound: If you're into the organic sound of a P or a Ric you'll love this sound. While the sound is a little boomy, this is easily balanced out by tweaking the volume pots. The Babicz bridge adds lots of sustain. Finish: Like I said before the finish is okay. A little wavy on the body around the end of the fretboard. That's all. Conclusion: I love this bass. It's very attractive, very playable and has balls. While the finish isn't pristine, this bass is a keeper. Pictures pending.................

Though the plan was to get a fretless I saw this and could not resist: Luckily I'm not getting on too badly with the frets.

Ha ha yes I think they’re only branded as J&D in the UK due to our infantile humour 😉 My J&D is much better than than my HB. I can only compare the two models I own but the J&D was giggable straight out of the box. I even made a video as to why I think it’s the better bass I’ve got my eye on one of these now... https://www.musicstore.de/en_GB/GBP/Jack-Danny-Bass-guitar-PB-Vintage-1963-BK-Black/art-BAS0007156-000