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Thanks for all the comments and the support - much appreciated; and you were all right - it did go by in a flash and I went from terrified to hooked within the first track. I got called up and was very nervous - the sound check took a little longer than we had hoped as they tried to set up the in house PA and by the time everything was ready, people had started to arrive, so me going up for a play through would have blown the gag. So when I was called up I hadn't played at all so was cold, hadn't had the chance to iron out any wrinkles and I really should have discussed a few points before hand; to say I was nervous was an understatement - as I picked up my bass, I noticed my hands were visibly shaking and I tried to play Seven Nation Army riff to get everything moving and quick warm up and totally blanked (I can normally play that one in my sleep) - quick change for Hootchie Cootchie Man which worked then heard the singer and others asking if I was ready; which meant I had to be... First up Blockbuster as it's quite easy and first crash course in playing live. I'm waiting for the siren effect and drum to effectively count me in and the band jump straight in leaving me dead - jumped in on second bar and not too bad after that although the big drum solo went a bit wrong from my point of view (one of the things I should have discussed on how to handle) although the rest took it all in their stride. Second track Ballroom Blitz and I started to enjoy myself more although totally missed the start again. Drummer started great and I was then waiting for the singer to come round the band 'Ready Lawrence? Ready Ted? Ready Ash? Alright fellas, let's goooooo!' that sort of thing but again they jumped straight in. Caught up by bar two again and did ok - I moved on to one bit as per the track I had played to but the band extended this bit and I'm pleased to say I just went back to the previous line and joined in. Had to scramble a bit on on or two of the runs but did OK, then I got a bit too into the groove and timing of the main riff towards the end and totally missed the change in to the outro so just kept going with the ball-room-blitz riff I'd been playing until I could work out where and how to jump in; then realised the guitar player, Lawrence, was playing an absolutely incredible solo over the top of this and the drummer had locked in too. I just thought to myself 'Ok, I'll be the rhythm then' and carried on until I heard the guitar join in my Ball-room-blitz riff which I took to mean we were about to finish. Looked up when I heard some shouting on stage and the singer was holding up one finger (polite way round) so I'm thinking 'Finish after this riff? ... Yes we did! PHEW!' Final track 20th Century Boy - Nailed the start for once, absolutely loved playing along although I messed up some of my well rehearsed improvised fills 😉 but as many have said, I don't think anyone noticed. I even had time to look out and see my Son busting some moves on the dance floor during this one which was a nice moment. The ending of this one is a bit odd on the track and again the band did a fantastic job of relaying how to do it the way they normally do it (very different to the track but really effective) and we all nailed the stop. That was my 15 minutes over and all too soon too, but I will definitely be doing it again. Not sure if anyone videoed it but if any turns up, I'll post it. When you're related to most of the women in the room - and married to one - that WOULD be a problem!

Just a short one this time - both the thread and the bass A couple of weeks ago @tauzero contacted me to see if I was up for taking on a small job on his beautiful Sei headless: He explained the problem: "Six years ago, I dropped it in a gig bag and it landed on the lower edge of the bottom bout. Because the core is quite thin, there's not a lot of meat around the jack socket area, and the impact cracked the centre core and sheared it away from the front and back laminates" At the time @jayDee did the fix and - wow - FANTASTIC job! It was an invisible mend and, honestly, I STILL can't see the join! But in recent times a second problem has shown itself - a bit like @TheGreek 's Alembic-esque of a few years ago - the top wood had started cupping and had pulled itself away to form an impressive gap! : The lines on the core, by the way are just lacquer cracks - probably from the original impact. The failed glue joint of the top was probably weakened, although not visibly split, at that same time. Two of the challenges were: The cupping is strong. I could only JUST close the gap with both hands pressing as hard as I could. Again - a bit like @TheGreek 's The joint area - the control chamber goes very close to the edge - is very narrow round that curve. We are talking 10mm max - in fact before the curve levels off at the top The glue joint that had failed is actually the bottom of a 2mm wenge demarcation strip which further round you can see the crack has also split the wenge So the challenge, apart from working on such a beautiful and valuable bass, was how to find a glue that was going to be strong enough to hold the continuing considerable force of the top wood trying to pull itself away. And how to try to fill and level any rough and damaged bits of the crack edge. I gave it some thought and also bounced off my ideas on a pro-luthier friend, Rob Hodgson, who gave them the thumbs up. The glue? Old fashioned leave-it-all-night-to-harden Araldite original. This is much stronger than the Rapid version or other shorter set epoxies like ZPoxy, etc.. Filling and smoothing? Wenge sanding dust mixed in with the epoxy Application? Syringe for the main gap, encouraged in with some very thin cellophane, and then re-syringed This was a test mix before I added the wenge dust. I did LOADS of trials of shapes of cauls. The top and back cantilever over the control chamber so you have to be VERY careful not to apply pressure to the edges. There was already a hairline crack at the back, maybe from the original bump. So the back clamping caul needed to be as big as possible to spread the load: The clamping would be on the very edges, with a middle clamp to act as the fulcrum. As such, I could leave the electrics in place: Masked right up to the gap line and epoxy syringed in. I also wicked a couple of drops of CA into the disappearing gap at either side of the main crack to prevent future spread of the glue fail Then clamped, 3 clamps at medium pressure - until the gap closed but not much tighter than that - with the load balancing clamp nearer to the body centre: I removed the bulk of the squeeze-out and then left it the rest of the day and overnight to fully cure. Next morning, I gingerly loosened the clamps - and it had held! To smooth off the joint lines, I just used a single-edged razor as a mini scraper. Quick wipe of the scraped joint with Osmo-dampened cloth, and we have the fix: The top is the repaired one I'm well chuffed (and moderately to majorly relieved)

Used the Helix last night at fake Festival, what a bit of kit live!!!! Sounded epic through my rig and the mahoosive PA. Lots of comments about the sound. Love it!

Just a wee update for y’all I actually sold the bass to a Uni music student close to me and he demanded (!) I match the headstock and so I duly agreed. I also changed the capacitor on the tone pot, to give it more roll off, re-did the whole soldering (I did it tired last time) and it sounds way better and is rock solid. And a video of the scorched edges. E5D0F2FB-D2B8-4EBE-AF52-E629DB266EFF.MOV Happy now as the money can be re-invested into another build - and I am going to pay myself on the back a bit and say this chap got a decent bargain - it does sound good!

From left to right: 5000, 714bs, 1000ma, 3000ma, 2000, 3000, 1000ma 🙂

For the first time in years I’m Fender Precision-less. But with these two puppies I’m perfectly content so can’t justify the need or cost of a P. Old Smoothie and HH Special.

It was me Al Krow is referencing. A few facts to clear up his spurious claims as I believe I'm the best person to tell my experiences of yamaha or any other brand of bass Firstly I'm not Scottish, I'm Irish! I never 'avoided Yamaha for decades' I'm far to perspicacious to take such a blinkered view and my electric guitar is a Yamaha 611 model! I grew up in a very small town where two folks I knew had Yamaha bases -I just didn't really care that much for the aesthetic - that extended bridge saddle on the 5'ers was just wrong looking even if I understood the principle of it. Nor did I have the chatter of the internet and bass forums to assuage my decision making. I, under my own volition and of sound mind, chose to go to check out a used BB734A at a local guitar shop. I was not ambushed by it and had a very clear goal of going and playing it with a view to buying it. I wasn't happy with the price but found one much cheaper elsewhere and bought it on my way to collect another item of gear. When the TRBx series were released (in 2012/2013?) I checked them out and I was really impressed with the build quality and would have had no hesitation in recommending them to a new player and was tempted to get one myself - clean modern looks and good range of tones available enhanced with a clever little eq switch to influence the EQ curve (on some models). A fellow Edinburgh bass player raved about his higher end TRB but I never got a chance to try it. I've played the 1024/2024x and found the pick ups too overpowering and the single coil hum was a bit much. Now there's a pick up the could do with being changed out for a hum canceller! I gravitate to more traditional, passive bass shapes and styles as that's what I prefer but I've played many basses both, active and passive, and owned a few odd-balls too. I played an active Ibanez years back and around that time had the opportunity to do a recording where the producer suggested I play with an old passive Gibson and from listening back and asking questions on that 'session' I went out and managed to trade that Ibanez for a late 70's P - I just prefer the sound of a passive bass! The rationale of "You don't own one therefore you must not rate it" is a tad basic and often not reflective of ones 'bass journey'. As Al Krow will know I've had an external eq on my pedal board for years and I just prefer the added control my units provide with semi-parametric mids over the fixed points offered on many active basses, Sandberg included. I've owned Sandberg basses and while I'm not a 'fanboi' I do respect Holger the person, his attitude and ethos. He doesn't strike me as "No!" type of person. I'd hardly base his entire business outlook on the stock preamps and pick-up's he uses. Actually maybe we should... I guess he could out source his pre-amps to John East or his pick ups to DiMarzio but he appears to be using the German made gear of his neighbours which all forms part of the greater economy/ecoolgy of the local bass building community. As @mcnash has demonstrated if one were serious about getting a more personal spec a call or email to the factory or via a local dealer could have a pretty definitive answer in all of about 10 minutes.

That pic is some years old... happy days..

Aye, it's an XLR output - someone posted a link to an auction for Bruce's P-Bass in here some time ago. Here are some of the pics:

I'm looking at making a headed version of the mini bass. I'm planning on keeping it at 23" scale and the same body shape as the headless one (with a very slight tweak to the lower horn). I wasn't sure what to do with the headstock so I just went for the same design I have used on my recent semi hollow basses. To my eye, it seems to flow which is nice as it keeps something in common. This design would allow me plenty of options with regards to bridges which is always the difficult thing when going down the headless route.

I'm going to be playing live for the first time ever this weekend, and I'm sure I'll love it once I'm done - but right now I'm brickin very nervous about the whole thing. I turned the big 5-0 last week and have organised a bit of a get together for family and friends to 'celebrate' lasting this long without too many bits falling off. My bass tutor is in a band and she's bringing them along to play and very kindly offered if I'd like to sit in on some tracks. Seemed a great idea at the time and I'm only doing three tracks from when I first got into music (Blockbuster and Ballroom Blitz by Sweet and 20th Century Boy by T-Rex), but as it gets closer three things keep springing to mind; 1- I've never played in a band before (only to tracks), 2- I've never played in front of a crowd and 3- The crowd will be made up entirely of family and friends. What could possibly go wrong? I've been on a heavy repeat system of practising and can now play them in my sleep (in fact, I think I may actually do that - certainly they are pretty much always bouncing round in my head) so hopefully I can just go with the flow - just need to get there and get it done, then I'll probably enjoy it a lot more. I'll let you all know how it goes. Wish me luck, I feel like I may need it! 🙂

The much bigger effect would be the effect of the body vibrations on the overtones created in the strings affecting the timbre subtleties in the waveforms picked up by the pickups (whether or not you believe that those differences are audible). As a science geek of decades long-standing this has fascinated me for ages. People tend to underestimate the strength of sympathetic vibrations and resonances. The videos of randomly started pendulums and metronomes synchronising themselves through sympathetic vibration are hypnotic to watch... The vibrations from each metronome through the table force the synchronisation. But my favourite example is the Tacoma narrows bridge video. Wind whistling across the wires and the deck of a suspension bridge was just right to hit a frequency which resonated. That amplified the vibration in the substructure which fed back into the bridge amplifying it even further... and so on... because the bridge designers never thought to build damping into the bridge this ran out of control until it tore the bridge apart. Just through the wind blowing across it (it was only about 20 or 30mph, not a gale’ blowing across the bridge). I love this video... esp the 1940s histrionic newsreel voiceover

Shouldn't you knit one pearl one?

Great review, thanks! @dmccombe7 - Dave if you decide you are interested in Yammys the above little review is a very well put together comparison of a couple of the 'work horse' models.

His brother Tony has done alright for himself apparently.

There are some amazing BBs in this thread. I just made a comparison video between my BB1025X and BB434. The process of making the video made me really appreciate the differences between the basses. Yamaha BB434 vs BB1025X

Think you have everything more than covered with them two ! Very nice. Stingray HH is next on my GAS list

There is an export button on the top left (I think) of HX edit. I have my patches saved on my mac

Anthony Jackson and Horacio Hernandez.

I once auditioned for a band where the guitarist insisted that every note played, sung or struck had to be identical to the original. He used a Kemper and spent ages moaning that patches claiming to be the "Hendrix" sound or "Gilmour from The Wall era" weren't right and he needed to model his own. I didn't get the gig (largely because i wasn't good enough in those days) but i came away feeling i'd dodged a massive bullet. I then spent years learning bass lines by rote - years that improved my finger strength and dexterity but taught me nothing about how to structure a bass line as all I ever did was regurgitate the parts without analysing them. Lessons with a brilliant teacher helped me get past this and taught me to develop the right part for the particular combination of band and song. His example was Living On A Prayer. You have to play That Riff. It's expected and an integral part of the song. But no-one really cares what you play in the chorus so long as it drives the song along. I've played in a 3 piece band where there's a lot of "space" and the bass has to cover some of the melodies or fills that were played by keys or strings on the original. I've also played in a five piece where the guitarist and keyboard player are filling the musical canvas and i have to rein it back to simple, supportive bass lines. So, unless you're in a tribute band, covers can be as close or as far from the original as you like provided they're played well. The acid test is whether the audience enjoy listening to them. Other opinions are available and equally valid

Aston and Carlton Barrett Sly & Robbie Stanley Clarke & Lenny White Victor Bailey & Omar Hakim John Pattitucci & Dave Weckl Tony williams & Ron Carter Poogie Bell & Marcus Miller. Phil Lynott & Brian Downey

Nah you sound fine buddy! If you know what you want specifically then yes it can be easy and you can ‘risk’ or spend money new. In the other hand the second hand market can be relatively buoyant so that once something has dropped in price after being new, Trying it out leads to negligible if any money loss unless it’s hammered. It could be one of those ones where you keep an eye out for an interesting set to you - if they come up - grab em, have a go, then you know!

Think where i'm coming from on the pick up change thing is that i have no real experience or knowledge of the replacement ones on the market. Altho not hugely expensive for a reasonable set for say a PJ bass maybe typically £100 set and then a pre-amp maybe much the same. So a total of £150 - £200 would get you an ok set for a bass. If they work and are exactly what you had hoped for then all good. On the other hand if they aren't what you expected you need to sell them 2nd hand and look for something else. There's a lot of ick ups out there and it could be a never ending story. McNach - you've obviously had a fair bit of trial and error as you know what ones you like or prefer and they are the "relatively" cheaper ones compared to some. I'm quite happy setting my basses up and doing all the intonation, neck, string height, pick up height etc but once you get into the pick ups and pre-amps its like a busmans holiday for me. Of course i'm retired now and have a lot more time so it shouldn't really be a prob for me these days and i have considered changing them on my Overwater J4 and my Fender PJ. The Overwater is a nice bass to play but the pick ups i'm not overly keen. It has the Joh East pre-amp with V, Bal, T & B pots but i'm not sure if its the pick ups or the pre amp or maybe both and at some point i might take the plunge and experiment a bit but i have no idea what will work best fro me in that bass. I don't want to change the woodwork myself but i did consider asking Chris at McIntyre Guitars for some advice and help fitting them if need be. I'm just not too sure and with getting the Sandberg recently its put me off bothering. Jings i sound like a right lazy git after reading this Dave

Charles Mingus and Dannie Richmond

A sneak preview of the stunning top, and a test fitting of the control cavity plate and string ferrule block:

All sadly died of boredom !

Really enjoying this little basses!! I'm going to make a couple more of these but also have a couple of other ideas I'll try at some point. I'll make a slightly longer scale one (27.5") and I'm also looking at a headed version. I've done a couple of scribbles for this and I think it could look rather nice (same body shape as before but a change to the neck pocket shape). Just need to find the time, which is the hard bit!!

I'm having great fun mixing and matching cabs trying to find the sweet spot for smaller gigs. Just arrived at my hotel after a night with this set up in a pub in Swindon. The TE 210 honking away atop a rumbling MB 115. No idea what it sounded like out front as we didn't have a sound check. Sounded great to me from where I was standing though. My latest idea is to build a flat pack velcro together, dummy TE cab with a Barefaced hidden inside. Genius idea. If I say so myself.

The MAs all have reverse-Ps which is supposed to tighten the sound of the low B string (by picking up the signal at a point in the string that is a little bit tighter due to its proximity to the bridge). Nice feature - wish it was available in more Yammys.

At first the shape. The 3000ma is a (when you are used to "classic" BBs) notable different body shape. Then the materials. The 3000ma has a mahogany body. Then the reversed P-pickup. Then the sound - due to the body materials. The MA sounds "darker", more growling in my ears. I was about to buy the 3000ma but I just won't get happy with neck trough basses. I play with my fingers and a quiet hard attack and only the bolt ons give me the punch that I need. Handling wise the BB3000ma was the best Yamaha that I played. Soundwise my two 1000ma's fit me so well that when I had the 3000ma for testing a few weeks it could not outplay (out-sound..) the bolt on versions!

I think I have the link between your two from the same builder, maple without front binding. Pickup series switch and thumb rest added 👍

Gigged it tonight, as well as one of my 5 strings. Still had to switch back for a few songs due to the lack of strings, but it sounds excelent and is so fun to play (apart from the switch, that stopped working on the bridge pickup until I shook it a lot). I think I will put a varitone in it though, the tone control is a bit like an on off switch.

For me, not a fan of the new shapes - a bit anonymous, maybe vaguely MusicMan. Much preferred their hot-rodded P and J heyday. Some of their relic finishes with 'traditional' design and modern electronics were stunning.

But most of the time they are only superficially like the instruments they are supposed to be copying. The Japanese in the 70s were more accurate. This is the problem I have with Eastwood. If you want a decently made modern instrument that looks vaguely like something out of the ordinary from the 60s and 70s they do a pretty good job. However since they are mostly made with standard Gibson and Fender style parts you end up with an instrument that is essentially a standard Gibson or Fender with a different body shape, and none of the features that gave the original instrument Eastwood are trying to copy its real character.

Did he prefer it through a valve amp (ducks)?

Due to safety certifications and regulations, IcePower modules are not allowed to be repaired. Since the primary circuitry and all of the associated safety components are part of the integrated module, once the module is worked on the manufacturer's safety certification is no longer valid. As part of the manufacturing and testing process, an extensive number of automated tests (including safety certification tests) are performed on the module and the test result data is logged to the serial number of the module. I don't know of any service centers that have the equipment or knowledge to perform and certify these tests with a Nationally Recognized Agency. It turns out that because of the level of complexity and the specialized nature of the equipment and experience required to CORRECTLY diagnose and repair these modules, it's almost always less expensive to replace them than it would be to repair them. Even IcePower themselves doesn't repair defective parts returned to the factory under OEM warranty, it's less expensive to replace even though they have the necessary test equipment, knowledge and ability. The labor cost (including re-certification) is more than it costs to build. I don't like the concept anymore than you guys do, but when it costs more to repair than replace, it's hard to argue with reality so recycling the defective part is really the best solution.

I've never really trusted the pedal train soft cases anyway...

Cheers chaps. I think you have pretty accurately summed me up!! I'm certainly no salesman, and I'm not the most confident person in my own ability - if I were ever on 'The Apprentice' I would lose!! For those that don't know me, my day job is in quality assurance and involves reviewing paperwork and writing reports. I started doing some woodwork a few years back as an outlet to make something other than a bigger pile of paperwork, and to physically see something constructive that I'd made. I really enjoy the design, build and learning that I get from making a bass and the recent feedback I've got is genuinely much appreciated. I'm not a particularly good bassist (even though |'ve played for long enough!!) so I really enjoy the bass bashes to hear what my basses sound like in other hands and for the constructive feedback I get. Building basses is something I do as a hobby that fits around my family life which is probably why I struggle when anyone asks me how much I would sell something for!! That isn't the reason I build basses and I don't count the hours it takes to make (I've been asked a few time and I haven't a clue!!). I've got a couple of builds in the pipeline that I'm going to do for a couple of people so we'll see how that goes!! Cheers again for all the positive and constructive comments!

First time I used an SVT stack I was very underwhelmed at the sound when trying to get a good sound from it. Then the whole band started playing and I realised what all the fuss was about, sat beautifully in the mix, no booming, no weediness, just solid bass presence.

Ok, I'll bite: I had a pretty decent amp head for years. No pedals. Really happy with it but heavy. Stopped playing for a bit and then decided to go down the lightweight route: Ampeg micro, orange terror, Mark Bass Randy Jackson, Ampeg PF500 and now Ampeg PF50t. Once you go down the path of looking for something better/different/newer/shinier, etc it never ends. Just a route to indecision, second guessing and discontentment. We call it GAS (gear acquisition syndrome). Be happy with what you've got and focus on practising and improving your technique. You'll sound better and won't have to blame it on your gear why you suck. However, feel free to take my advice as in no longer use it anymore. Much like half the pedals I have bought!