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An alternative, more visually pleasing approach would be to tie a large, colourful helium balloon to the headstock. The more neck heavy the bass, the bigger the balloon. Thunderbirds generally need a giant rainbow coloured unicorn. 😎

Sorted, bought an Ibanez SR500 of a fellow BC member. Thanks Stuart!! Off to find an amp!!

So kind of you But no - this is paying forward what others have helped me with. I suggest getting yourself a massive jug of Pimms on this summery day!

I've experimented with many solutions and the most effective was still a little inelegant. I have a canvass pouch designed to hang from a belt or bag whilst out hiking. This pouch holds a water bottle. So when I cycle to my rehearsal with my tiny travel bass I take the bottle from the bike, fill it with water at the rehearsal room, clip the pouch to my guitar strap (at the bum end of course) and the weight of the water precisely balances the instrument without me having to carry anything heavy on the bike (which would kind of defeat the object of travelling light). I carry the bottle anyway and it becomes lighter throughout the ride as I consume the initial quantity of H2O. So I rehearse with a bottle swinging at my hip. Perfect if, as I say, inelegant. I am therefore adapting the idea for when I'm actually gigging with a neck heavy bass. Quite simply velcro attached to the back end of the strap and a certain number of curtain weights sewn into a flat pouch with the other half of the velcro sewn to the pouch. Balanced bass? Remove the pouch, neck heavy? Velcro it on. The 'certain number' of weights is arrived at through trial and error but by using three smaller pouches rather than one big one I can stick on differing amounts of weight to suit each bass on a case by case basis. Or a bass by bass casis. A bag of curtain weights, yesterday: Pictures to follow. When I've actually done the sewing.

Looking for a jazz neck for my P bass, found this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202542172424 I think he has assembled it wrong. Shouldn't the strings go in the front?

Right, photos time. My Stanley Clarke.

I'd use whatever the manufacturer says is good for bass fishing

Orion is a very comfy set-neck ride

If you think it would help I'd be happy to give that a go, as long as it was fully funded of course. Maybe the hotel in Antigua where the rehabilitation would take place should have a catchy name like Antigua Support Scheme Inclusive Therapy Care Home, although a bit long it could be abbreviated.

The difference is it doesn't shine - it glows.

Relicing = a very good thing. IME.

To stop neck dive on my EB3 I pass the strap behind my belt.

I'm very much in the realms of a cover being a version of a song, not a slavish copying of the original. That, in my opinion, is the job of a tribute band.

Sounds a lot more organised than any I've attended! Chord sheets are a great idea. I'd also start a Facebook page and encourage any musicians to nominate songs they'd like to play (e.g. posting a YouTube video), that way you could end up with a bunch of strangers agreeing to learn them before the night and playing some lesser known tracks that otherwise wouldn't have a chance.

Now there's a prog band just waiting to happen

Relicking most definitely exists in lots of other areas, shabby chic furniture, ratlook cars and bikes, ripped and faded clothes, tarnished and dented brass instruments, scratched and faded string instruments, etc. All fair enough, whether you like it or not doesn't matter as it's most definitely a popular style, the one thing that does matter is that Antigua finish exists and only exists in the guitar/bass world and should be stamped out. Even the bizarre world of fashion or the unemployable that declare themselves 'interior designers' wouldn't stoop this low, so what does that say about lovers of Antigua. Wronguns the lot of ya!

Cuzzie.. That blob of solder was absolutely it...near it there was a bare wire in amongst the birds nest. I have resoldered to wire to the blob and guess what.. It is absolutely quiet.. No more fizzle. I have maxed out the treble on both bass and amp everything remains quiet. Please PM me your PayPal addresses and I will send you the price of a pint.

As @dmccombe7 says, the black labels have twin pole pieces per string. The pups in the photo above are definitely Sandberg’s “standard” models, hence the little Sandberg logo (4 dots) on the corner of each pickup. Black labels look like this:

Totally normal for that model, bridge weighed about the same as the rest of the bass

I paid £300 and spent the rest on vodka. My bass looks as good as anything out there after 1700 quids worth of vodka.

Sounds like a winner to me

Damn you're good at this. First you have me on tenterhooks then you start reeling me in

Might not be helpful but the Aguilar DB cabs work exceptionally well with Ampeg in my experience!

Some videos are very good as learning aids, others are just folk enjoying playing the bass. I don't laugh at someone who is clearly inexperienced and just having fun, plenty out there who could laugh at me if they wanted to. I prefer love and support to criticism and sarcasm - but then I'm a bit soft. Learning someone's interpretation can be a great starting point, assuming the ultimate goal is to improve one's ability to 'hear' a bassline and produce our own interpretation. If the cover deviates from the original that should be the first thing to stand out to us. We can then find where it should go and thus our skills improve. So any video ultimately can be a learning tool. Even one we might deem as 'wrong', assuming that term can actually be applied to music.

Antigua trigger warning: Image may cause alarm

Some really interesting posts here. this is what I'm attempting so tell me if I have this right. I'm trying to do two things, get a community of musicians together, people who have gigged and are winding down a bit and people who are working up to forming bands. Giving them a chance to network and to make music. It's got to be open and welcoming but giving people the stage time they want. Above all it is about playing in a band, there are plenty of acoustic nights round here so I'm clear I don't want solo acts, apart from anything else that's only one person having fun. For the pub and audience it's got to be entertaining and attract an audience, a good atmosphere and lots of customers for the beer. So it's got to be reasonably slick and organised. I going with a house band, someone has to play if no-one turns up or rescue the evening when everything goes **** up. Apart from kicking off the evening though they are there to play for any singers and support the other musicians filling in for incomplete bands and so on. I'm going to look for another bassist so I can do front of house and work the desk. I've filled the first session with friends, some decent singers from previous bands who'll do a session with the house band and a couple of bands who'll do four or five songs each. I'll end the evening with a jam session of another four songs to make people feel there is a chance for them to join in. I've got a set list for god's sake. Is this too controlling? I'm going to try and have chord and lyric sheets there, people can take them away and learn songs if they want or join in and at least know what key it's in. I'll collect any details from any musicians who turn up, fit them in if I can but try and book them in for future sessions and offer short showcase sessions to any local bands who fancy it. good ones invited back. Beyond that I'm expecting to have to adapt to whatever turns up on the door. I want to try and keep it to 4-5 song slots to keep the gap between acts down and give people time to enjoy playing. It makes no sense to me to get people up for two songs, have them warm up and then have a break only to call them back an hour later to spend five minutes re-tuning and adjusting the drumkit. I'm hoping it's going to be busy enough to let me run a book each month and keep the musical standard up. I'd really like to see people having their first band experience here but I want to attract the best musicians I can and keep a proper live audience coming back. I wouldn't expect good musicians if all they hear is c**p. Lot's of ideas on this thread I'm going to copy, and I don't expect plans to work out exactly or even roughly but what do you think?

Apologies if this was already suggested but Moon Over Bourbon Street by Sting sounds gorgeous on fretless.

Bit of a preamble The JMJ or the ‘Justang’ (they’ve missed a trick naming this bass!) has a thicker headstock which may add something to the tone but that’s beyond my hearing, different nut width and I believe the neck feels chunkier, more precision like than jazz like than the MIJ but I’ve literally only played a MIJ briefly. The JMJ does feel great to play and the sound is bang on for what I’d expect of this type of bass. I do generally favour a P bass. The sound ... If you were really wanting to try before you buy fitting a Seymour Duncan mustang pick up would likely answer the question. The SD pick up is what’s fitted in the Justang and it can do punk right through to deep dub and the tone pot on mine is very effective across the whole of its taper which is a massive plus. Not a massive help but I’m sure but with any bass all these little things like the thicker headstock do have an impact but ultimately it’s the pick up which might just edge it in terms of tones. I think Fender have just sent a new stock of JMJ’s into the wild so they should be popping up in shops about now. I nabbed mine locally via gumtree (it’s a first run model form 2017) and it’s a cracking wee bass and the pick up sounds good. A mate had an issue with his MIJ sounding too flubby in the lows but I’ve not had gigging experience with a MIJ, the JMJ hasn’t suffered these issues on my recent gigs.

They've been getting some airplay on BBC 6music I think. I like it.

Yes, but absolutely no fret buzz.

@prowla is indeed in... Updated Attendance & Gear List: 01. Silverfoxnik - BC Rich Eagle, Ander van der End JB5, RBV5, Ampeg V4BH head and matching cabs. 02. Hamster - Tea, Coffee, Pastries, the Wife - might bring a bass! 03. @Frank Blank's Acoustic Corner - Rob Allen Mouse, Godin A4, FRFR setup (QSC K12.2 and Fishman preamp). 04. RodFunnell - '78 Stingray, Assorted Warwicks, Vanderkley Spartan, Mesa Prodigy 4:88, Barefaced Big Twin T and it's still a few months away so maybe more! 05. obbm - Sadowsky Metros, Handbox WB100, Bergantino cabs. 06. Cetera - Spector NS2, Spector Euro LT, Hamer Impact, Hagstrom Super Swede, Italia Imola GP, Fender FSR PJ, GK800RB, GenzBenz Neox 2x12 07. @NancyJohnson Lull JAXT4 & Lull JAX/NRT5, Darkglass A/O Head (will probably be old hat by then), 2xAguilar SL112s. 08. Rumblefish - Rumblefish bass,Wal Bass, MB Mpulse 600,Berg CN212 09. Steve Browning - SVL & Fender Precisions, Mesa Walkabout 15 10. @Stingray5 - MM and Tune basses, Trace Elliot or Eden combos, Boss GT-6B. 11. ChunkyMunky - Builds of mine (P5, J5 etc), SWR SM900, a Greenboy/Fearful build or two and some other assorted goodies. 12. samcrabtree00 - Warwick Streamer Stage II, USA MM Sub, Genzler Magallen 800, Barefaced BB2, Various effects 13. TrevorR - Wal Custom and Pro, Aria SB700, MarkBass LMII & Traveler 2x10 14. @Graemeross 4 Ps, 3 Js, 2 Aria SBs , Darkglass MT900, 2x Barefaced BB2, HX Effects with Line 6 G75 wireless. 15. prowla - Rics, Warwicks, Statii (whatever I chuck in the car!), Markbass EVO 1 & 1x12. Maybe a Minitaur & 12-step (if I've got 'round to figuring out the 12-step by then).

I've cut a new fretboard for this bass and this time I measured twice and cut once!! The previous neck was 31.5" with 24 frets, for the new neck is 29.5" and obviously has to fit in the same neck pocket and the bridge has to be in roughly the same place. So this works out as the replacement neck being 22 fret for it to fit correctly. As the chance of me getting the intonation exactly right having not tried this scale length before I think is minimal, I'm removing the original brass inserts for the bridge and filling the holes so I can repositioning it later. I'm also going to redrill the holes for the string anchors as I have a better version I'm going to install. This is done by widening the top 4mm of a 10mm hole to 12mm diameter. to do this I have a small piece of mdf with a 12mm hole in it that is placed over the original hole. One of the string anchors is used to centralise it before clamping the template in place. This is the body with the brass inserts removed Then this the body with the holed infilled The body had also picked up a very small dent which I sanded out. I tried refinishing but couldn't get it to match so I sanded the finish off the walnut and started to finish it again. Fussy, but I want it to be right This is the body with the topped sanded and the string anchors holes redrilled.

On the subject of D'Addario, they will sell single strings too - and the customer service is awesome. I use their Balance Tensions on a couple of my basses. You can use this app to set up your own BT sets too from their ranges of gauges. http://stringtensionpro.com Yes, I agree that custom winders such as Newtone will be able to offer more proprietary selections, but that's the beauty of having brands like D'Addario and Newtone available to us. Anyway, good luck, I hope you get set up quickly!

Not seen Sid & Zillah since early 2000s and lost touch. Last time I worked for them was 11th Aug 1984 when they backed up New Model Army (yes, with Stuart Morrow) at Klub Foot. I keep in touch with their later guitarist Steve.

I would take a fair guess and say that most bass players have never owned or played an alembic bass. Probably most have never seen or heard one live on stage outside the big named pro users like like Stanley Clarke or Jimmy Johnson. A lot of the negative views I have come across regarding alembic be that on line or in person conversations with other bass player are centred on cost and not the sound or playability. Although some find the ergonomics less than suitable like for instance the stanley clarke style basses are neck heavy but that can be compensated for with a good strap and time getting used to the instrument. Personally I don’t gig, rehearse or record with any other bass than an alembic. For me they give me the sounds and the playing experience I want. For some owners they find the sound is not for them and sell them on and that is fine we don’t all have the same tonal requirements. In the past I did swap the electronics in one of my alembics with some ACG filter based electronics but I found whilst they were extremely good I somehow lost the punchy power in the lower mids that the alembic gave and the upper frequencies I found a bit harsh so for the music I was playing it didn’t work out for me. I have since put the alembic guts back in that bass and it suits me better. Over the years I have since tried a number of other high end basses like Fodera, Ritter, Wal and some custom shop fenders which all sound great but I haven’t found anything in them that I feel would make me choose them over my alembic. Of course we know they are not cheap to buy new even the entry level basses but if that is an issue there are used bargains to be had on the usual internet sale sites. One crucial thing to do if buying used amongst other things is to get the serial number and check it out with Alembic, there are a few fakes/copies around especially the Epic basses and also ask for photos of the electronics cavity as some have non alembic innards that the owner may never realise and the cost of getting a new set from Alembic ain’t cheap. When you get them post them on the alembic site www.alembic.com and ask form verification, there are lots of members there who can save you hassle. Contrary to another poster on this thread, I have found them really easy to set up even though it has two truss rods, and have never taken mine to a tech to have a setup done for me. There is some good information on the Alembic website forum.

Routers are hugely fun, and they will also completely ruin everything if you don't watch them every second you are using them. They lull you into a false sense of security. you are shaving everything off nicely with a template and they same so simple to use and so great. Then you realise you just want to take a mm off the side of a cavity, you dont have a template for it but what is the worst that can happen right, just a little bit. So you shave that mm off, and it works fine. So then you notice another bit, so you do that. Now you are all confident, so there is just that other mm to shave off and voom - you go over by a bit. Oops, so never mind, you can just even it off by shaving the sides off. oops, that was too much. No problem, you can fix that....

I picked up a dubster 2 last year to add to my rig and used it a few times. I think it's more of a hybrid sub/stand alone bass cab. I've only used it on reggae gigs so far and the first time I used it was with a big Baby II in bridge mode. The gig had only a vocal PA so it certainly delivered a great thick sound. I also used the Dubster on it's own at a large gig with PA support and that gave us a good depth to the bass on stage as the monitors don't really deliver any decent bottom end for a reggae band. The last time I used it was again in with the BB2 but on a separate channel on my power amp and I had it's volume set so I could just begin to feel the weight of bass supporting the BB2 but without it being loud. For most of my use I expect it will be in this mode rather than a weapon to blast the bass.

Strikes me that rather than falling out, the two of you are on the verge of starting to step up to the next level. You need to tell him that you can add to the songs, but he needs to trust you and understand that you'll develop your style over time. You don't say what style of music you are playing. If it's funk you are going to be putting in very different 'fills' to blues and if it's death metal you might want to simplify your bass lines (joke). I'm not a flash bass player at all, but I love putting in little runs and decorations (just not at turbo speed). Knowing what key you are playing in, understanding a few basic scales - pentatonic major and minor are good starting points. You can't go far wrong putting in a little run up or down to lead into a verse or chorus. Another trick is just playing an inetrmediat noe (e.g. the the third or seventh note of the next chord) ahead of the first downbeat to 'lead into' the change. Very cliche but it's popular for a reason.

What would you do with this Maya P-Bass (other than put it on eBay as an overpriced 'lawsuit era Japanese bass')? I've added ashtray and a new scratchplate since this picture and they look great, but the lacquer has cracked and flaked really badly in several places, not just te two spots in the picture. In a few places I glued great chunks of lacquer back on with PVA! It's tempting to crack off the broken lacquer and sand the holes smooth to get a relicked look... the alternative would be a complete respray which might be beyond my skills or more than the bass is worth. To relic or not to relic.

I ended up building a partscaster with body and neck from someone I know who makes them. I’ve got two now - one solid and one semi. Both hand finished and set up. Both cost less than £500 complete. 44mm nut, shallow neck etc. There really was nothing out there equivalent so I felt it was the best way to do it..

I used to be a pick player as for me it suited the music and was the most natural way to play. Today I play both fingers and pick. The picking hand should be the most automatic process possible and follow the feel of the bass line and song. You don't limit yourself to up/down/up/down as the most efficient process, that's just utter rubbish. It should be what the bass line dictates. As an example, this is an old video (2008) of me playing pick to one of my own songs. The intro is all down strokes, it's the only way it works to give the desired effect. Then the verse is up and down and a mix of both, again, because it's what works. Its all about flow rather than technique. There is also no conection to what the fretting hand is doing. They are both seperate processes. The other thing to notice is if you listen with the volume off, my movement of my picking hand is consistent. This is what I mean by it being an automatic process. My wrist or arm is not changing or moving in different ways. I guess its similar to constantly strumming a guitar. Finally, most of the movement/strokes is in the wrist. So much so that my wrist used to lay against the top of my bass and rub the skin away on my wrist.