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With the glue now touch dry, I can begin the veneering itself: The advantage of the glue being dry is that you can spend as much time as you like positioning it because it barely grabs. Then with a hot (dry) iron (as I said above I happen to use an old heat-shrink iron, but a standard ironing iron works fine), I start in the middle and progressively radiate outwards, making sure the veneer gets hot and applying firm pressure, but moving it in circles so I don't scorch the veneer in one spot: Once the main flat areas are stuck flat (this only takes a few minutes) I start applying firm pressure round the outside of the body shape, starting to seal what will become the edges: To allow the veneer to bend round the edge better, I then remove some of the bulk excess with scissors, keeping an eye on the grain direction to avoid a grain-following split heading towards the body: I then work round the edges with the iron again, peening the veneer over the curve by a mm or two. The glue, once cool grabs in seconds - but it is fully repeatable. Just heat up an area and the glue will remelt and then grab again as soon as you lift the iron and let it cool for a few seconds. If it's a tight curve and a stiff veneer, you can hold the area down firmly with a cloth (to prevent burning yourself) while it cools and grabs. Once all of the flat areas are glued and the edges defined and secure, you can start trimming just past the flat surfaces. I find the easiest way to do this is use a disposable Stanley knife (Swann Morton do them too) and use the body itself as my blade guide, holding the blade at about 45 degrees to vertical: I use a sawing motion. If you are careful, you follow the outline without the risk of cutting into it. BUT - always, always, think of where the grain is going and make sure any split will go away from the body and not towards it. In the above example, I will stop around here and then cut the bottom overhang in the other direction - the grain then naturally pulls the blade (and any split) towards the left and not to the right and into the body. For the chambers, I get my template out and cut a small hole in the middle so I can see where the chamber edges are. Again, I use the chamber sides themselves as the blade guide, this time with the blade vertical: So eventually, you have trimmed it just round the edge of the flat areas, but with no unglued overhang of veneer: Then simply sand with a sanding block along the line of the join. There will be a bit of tidying up to do to sort the edges properly and make sure there is no PVA line or - in the case of the tissue backed veneer, fuzziness - at the edges...and I also need to know from Mick how 'sharp' or 'blunt' he wants the tips of the veneer at the ends of the two horns...but this is broadly done

And cut and carved That dark natural grain mark heading towards the back is useful because it distracts your eye to the actual join line which is here: I'm pleased how the grain lines seem to join up - at the back too: Again, that natural dark patch takes the eye away from the join.

The veneering is covered in two stages - which is convenient because it means I can type it up as I go along. This is my veneering kit: Basically, we are going to turn standard PVA wood glue into an iron-on glue job I use the mini roller (Homebase/B&Q) for ease and convenience but you could use a rag or sponge. The Evostick is a decent quality white PVA. Probably most decently thick PVA's will do...but don't use the school arts / paper versions - they are too thin and wet. Very, very first thing is taking an impression of what's going to be underneath the veneer. Trust me - without this, you will NEVER find those bridge holes again! Then I cut the veneer to size. This takes a bit of care because there is so much of the figuring that disappears under the bridge, in the neck socket, in the horn cutaways. For the shape of the Nanyo, I've opted for this way round with LHS being at the tailstock. I've also checked the width from the middle of the figuring (which is a touch offset) - I think I can just get this pretty central with a mm to spare at one side Then I put some PVA in the roller tray and roll it onto the flat surfaces of the top: It is essential that there is a covering all over the flat surface and also particularly just over the curve around the sides. After two coats, I've got this: And I leave that to dry - usually takes around 30 minutes. Then I do the same with the veneer. The veneer Mick has sent me if the type with a very thin tissue backing. It is great stuff - behaves exactly like the plain veneer but is much less susceptible to splitting while you are handling it prior to its glue coat. I then leave that to dry too. Some veneers start curling immediately that the glue gets applied. That's what I use the little water spritzer for - I give the back a couple of squirts which counteracts the expansion of the glue side and will stop it curling too violently. This veneer has behaved itself - this is as glued, with the expansion of the back straightening more or less the curve of the rolled-up packaging. This process is not time critical. Once it is dry, you can use it immediately, or days later, or even weeks later! My iron is on (I actually use a small heatshrink iron from my aeromodelling days - saves upsetting MrsAndyjr1515 by getting burnt PVA smears on the hot plate of the household iron!) and I'll go and have a sandwich then iron on the veneer and trim it. See you in 1/2hr or so

Setting off shortly to collect @bigmuff69‘s Fender Urge Bass. This fills a few gaps for me, it’s mega lightweight and has 24 frets meaning I can resurrect a few ideas I used to play on my Warwick. It’s also 32” so like the Kingbass I loved to play on but hated playing in other ways...headless basses sit wrong on me. More pics to follow, but here’s the one which swung it for me... Looking forward to this.

Please welcome “Stormbringer” to the family. I can’t tell you how happy I am with this beautiful, custom colour order, Vigier Excess 5. As soon as I opened the case, my heart skipped a beat. As soon as I played it, my fingers just fell in to place. I really have found my "home". Lina and the team are simply amazing, just like their basses. They are so helpful, friendly, patient and supportive. A truly wonderful company. My original Excess 5 “Wrathchild” now has, the perfect companion. Happy days. So worth the wait. Can't wait to record with it and play it, live 😍⭐

Good evening all. After a long wait this finally showed up today. A brand new Fender Deluxe Jazz Bass Special Duff McKagan signature bass in black! I've only had an hour or so play time but first impressions are it's bloody gorgeous! Out of the box it plays well but I will probably lower the action to my personal preference and the Hipshot D-tuner needs some adjustment. Neck pocket is tight with no visible gap, paintwork is flawless on both the body and back of the neck. Fretwork is superb with no sharp ends. The nut width is definitely P Bass width 42mm and the thickness of the neck front to back feels deeper than my (now sold) 2017 MIM P Bass. Soundwise, loving the pickup switch and TBX tone circuit. It seems very versatile and just has so much grunt when you push the tone past the centre detent and engage the TBX circuit. With my EBS Multicomp and Darkglass B7K V2 it's all I need to give me the bass sound that I had in my head for so long! The only downside is that whilst everything is black...the side input jack is chrome..but that's just nitpicking. So if you're still reading..here are a couple of pictures.

In my mind episode III - Revenge of the Sixth (string) was the best followed by episode V - The U-Bass Strikes back with episode II - Attack of the (Rickenbacker) Clones a close third. Don’t bother with episode I - The Phantom (power) Menace. (Sorry, very bored on a train)

“All in the fingers” brigade in 3...2...1... 😂

One of the other things in the package of bits that @TheGreek sent was this: The veneer that he wants on the body top and the headstock! And it's a bit of a bobby-dazzler! There is a sort of impossibility that natural wood at 0.6mm thick can be rolled tightly like this - but that is how it's often delivered. I once had a boxful of about 8 different woods, some over 2m in length that all came from Germany in a box no bigger - and perfectly and undamaged! Other than the quick demo I did at the Midlands Bass Bash last year, it's been a while since I've done a veneer job so, for those who might be interested in trying it sometime I'll take a number of photos of how I do it. With MrsAndyjr1515 still distracted, that might well be this afternoon's job

Top wood and headstock cap: Back wood and rear headstock cap:

The example in the OP just makes me want to ask "why?" Boss pedals are some of the most robust and economically designed pedals ever created, so why anyone would want to rehouse it is beyond me. I suppose if you wanted to fake it to make it look like a boutique pedal, but then it really needs the graphics to be designed by a 5-year old and to move either the input or output sockets to a less practical position.

These little b****rs cost about $22 a pair to import from British Audio in the US. I need a green one, so I've done a trial 3D printed one, with layers 0.05mm (0.002") high. Unfortunately it's blue, but it looks a lot smoother than the picture with such thin layers, it cold be tidied up a bit and polished. I've ordered some green PLA and I will print another one with 0.025mm layers which is as close to injection moulding as I can get. The white dots appear to be painted on.

Very true. We all go on about Norman Watt Roy's bass playing, and rightly so, but the entire band really were a cut above, extremely creative and Ian Dury's lyrics were just sublime, poetic and beautiful, yet slightly seedy with some market trader swagger.

Well, that's all respect for JB out the window, then. The worst type of guitarist mentality, and an admission of his failure to do what so many contemporaries have done, and that's make modern technology work for their sound. Here's some quotes from a guitarist who is a peer of JB's, Paul Gilbert, who has spoken a lot about his tinnitus and his onstage headphones: "The purpose of my headphones is the same as the more common ear molds: to block out the stage volume while giving me a controlled mix and volume from the monitor desk...Do you wonder why concerts are always too loud and sound crappy? I wondered until I realized it’s me! Sorry!...I would definitely trade some head-stuffed-into-the- 4x12-moments in exchange for getting some high-end back into my ears." Now that's a proper (and better) guitarist... 😀

So...it’s brilliant. @bigmuff69 is a true gent, very chilled and got a lovely house. It’s got some flats on it, which are lovely but not my thing... It’s also got a gold omega bridge on, so the debate is either gold hardware the rest of the bass or revert to original fender jobbie for now. Feels small, but not ridiculously so. Pickguard...black is nice but fancy something else on it. Will have a think on that - maybe even a clear guard. Not sure.

I think that the way the grain lines up so well will be the biggest thing that will cover it. Plus if you're putting veneer over the front then that should sort it. Who is interested in looking at the back? Looking forward to seeing the veneering process!

The good people at Ishibashi sent me this old Bacchus Grooveline. I reckon it’s early to mid-2000’s. I’ve been looking for a Stingray with a J neck size for a while and this really fits the bill. It’s a dinky J ash body, weight is a sweet 3.5kg. Maple neck with with blocks and binding is always a winner. It’s a fixer upper and that was reflected in the price, but these Handmade logo’d Bacchii are always superbly built and the pickups are amazing. Such is the case here, it’s a really good player, even with a duff fret job, old strings and that criminal bbot bridge in place of the Deviser Tune-o-matic. What were they thinking? I will sort out that crack and replace the bridge and broken tuner. I’m thinking of stripping what is left of the finish and refinishing in an emerald green stain. The previous owner had fingernails like Wolverine, by the looks of it. I’ll also sort out the frets, a level, crown and dress awaits. Anyone know where a man can buy Gotoh tuner buttons?

I'm in the process of building a bitsa PJ and fancied putting the bridge pickup really close to the bridge like Norman did so I can get a bit of that cool Rhythm Stick sound. Upon sleuthing around on the net I've discovered that his trusty P bass was still just that at the time, no J pickup! The pickguard is gone and the brass plate is in situ but still just the sole P pickup. Really surprised me! Here he is miming with the band to HMWYRS on TOTP: Here's what I was going for, not so sure I need to now! 😄..

This is sadly not a full review but the HEDRA is out and I had a quick play today. Impressive tracking. Really good. This won’t replace all the fat analogue octaver pedals already there. They do what they do. HEDRA is different. The polyrhythmic delay possibilities make it something new. But the option of three sub octaves at once is pretty great. It’s a digital pitch shifter, obviously. Very similar to my eventide pitchfactor with many of the same features but in a smaller box. Tap tempo is there but quite short delays available but that’s because you have three , YES THREE pitch channels. Lots of scale settings and various delay settings with stereo, crosstalk, etc it gets pretty wild but even on simple octave up settings it’s a great thickener for the bass for two piece, three piece bands . 12 string tones are easy and you can even detune the pitch of the octaves slightly for a natural chorus. also, there’s a cool function when you hold the tap tempo footswitch down you get a nice pick dynamic based volume swell on your notes . I’m sure lots of YouTube clips will start to appear soon but in the meantime it’s worth a play on one if you’re curious .

Probably done the rounds before, but really enjoyed this and comparing the different instruments.

Well kind of, yes. Like all ranges, it's all down to features. Cheap ones have basic stuff, expensive ones have all the features and processes Yamaha have. But we all agree here that they are worth every penny at their given price range.

Hey Alan. I'm 18 months into the putting it back together. Still living in someone else's house. It gets easier. Music is a wonderful distraction therapy. You articulated a thought which occurred to me today. Why so many basses I thought, why can the itch never be scratched. And yes you're right, because basses are beautiful and there's always a new beauty waiting to be discovered.

I forgot to add... I double as sound-man for the band, and the mixer is right by my side the whole time.

Ok now he’s claimed this bass as his own!

You should hang out in the IEM thread. We will get your rig in a glovebox... with room to spare. And it will sound better than any monitoring setup or backline rig you could imagine.

Review the EBS HD360 Anniversary Model Dan? Oh, well go on then!!

Yeah this is from the first lot, they did this in Mexico and the j/p/j urge in the USA.

I missed bass sounds part I so i struggled to follow the plot with the sequel.

Oh, you play with Joe Bonamassa?

On the wall...it’s diddy

See you all there!

For anyone interested;

Tonight (Fri) - Beehive, Swindon 9pm, tomorrow (Sat) Winscombe RFC nr Bristol from 7pm and Sunday Camden Rocks at 8pm. Neat little weekend live schedule.

I am indeed the original owner, I believe (If this is the bass I think it is - you bought from @KotorTom right?) I bought yours new a couple of years back - if you scroll back to near the start of this amazingly active thread you can read my detailed review which I posted. It has a P pup punch like no other bass I've played! I've since gone on to get myself several Yammys - they are such a good bass! In terms of "wise like Yoda" - haha! More like "ugly as Yoda!" 😄

Agree but fans will now buy a 2nd book just to have it signed by Geddy himself. Another money making exercise from bands that already charge a fortune for concert tickets. I'll stick to having the £18 book. Don't need a signature on the book. I have it on one of his basses

I get the 'signing only books bought in the store' bit..... but it's too little, too late. Anyone who's a fan will already have the book - and probably paid £20 for it. A book signing tour needs to coincide with the book release - not 6 months later!

stopped reading at 'primal'

That wouldn't be on Gumtree by any chance? That exact phrase is almost unique to Gumtree responses I get. When I respond 'Yes, still here!' I hear nothing back say 70% of the time. I often wonder if it's a bot response to keep your ad active. Wonder when Gumtree will start charging on sales....

Fitted it all up and set heights etc.....pick played with a kiogan loom. Very impressed 🙂 best £35 I've spent. Nice and even with lots of vintage punch.

Great 7 year old thread resurrection 👍

This is my CIJ 62 reissue Jazz. It was bought brand new in 89 from Nova Guitar Centre in Guildford and has seen 30 years of hard gigging including TV, tours, radio sessions etc. Pickups are changed to Barts and the pickguard has been changed from white to the black but apart from that it is all original. It is the best sounding and playing bass I have ever had and will never leave me. It has been with me for my entire music career and has been my main working bass. All the mojo is genuine wear and tear apart from the two engravements. The GB is my dads initials who bought the bass for me and who died a couple of months before I signed my record deal. The MB 4 LG is my initials and the initials of Lisa Germano, the violinist who I fancied when I was younger.