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Very slow progression on this due to other home stuff but the sanding is getting there. I'm really liking birds eye maple - second time I've used it and certainly won't be the last!! ]

JMB is useless. We advertised for a drummer and in the ad it clearly stated the location of our rehearsal room and the ideal candidate will have a full drum kit and can drive. A 'drummer' replied but: He lives 30 miles from where we rehearse He can't drive He only has a snare and a hi hat He seemed to think it could work though despite these small issues...

Oh no! London has lost one of its dedicated bass stores! How will it cope? 😄

Hi Folks Don't often do this but with this one I thought I must.. So, there I was in my local music shop in Bognor Regis (Mike's Music) buying some strings when I saw this hanging on the wall looking a bit unloved.. Being the kind chap that he is, Mike let me have a trial with the bass and after spending some time with it at home, I realised it was a must have.. As far as I can tell from the serial number, its a Made in Japan 1991/2 Fender Precision. Sounds great, beautiful Ash body and maple neck and is in brilliant condition for a 27 year old bass. Happy days, or should I say, happy NBDs! Thanks for looking.. 😊

Just little follow-up... Due to hectic personal life it's taken me a while to get started with the bass Finding it difficult to learn (I'm not a natural at these things), but learned how to play riffs to "seven nation army" and "feel good inc" which is very satisfying 😁

So one of the nice things about being a graphic designer, apart from being good at design (as that’s still to be determined) is you end up learning enough about processes to know the best way to get things done for different projects. So I asked Stevie if he wanted help with a badge for the cab. Partly as I wanted a nice badge for my own cab and partly as, if done right, it’s wee details like this can lift a project from very good to great. Like a most the other details stevie has built into this cab we want to try and do it to a high quality. I also wanted it lightweight- a pewter cast badge would be daft on a cab with neo drivers. The first problem we have is the small volume number, while die cast plastic badges, like the big manufacturers use, would be nice - it’s hardly cost effective to make 1000 badges in China to just use 10. Equally you could get a small batch of something from the UK, but the cost goes through the roof. Stevie set a budget for it, which bluntly was a bit more than I would have wanted to pay for a cosmetic thing that erm half of you might not like. So - instead my aim was to get a badge for the grill, a sticker for the gap on the handle and a sticker for the back for about the price of a pint at a music venue. Design is subjective right? And what do you call this thing... we started off on this idea that actually some of Stevies other passions could help name it- like it can be as abstract as anything as long as it’s memorable, pronounceable and means something to Stevie at least. Stevies wife’s maiden name didn’t sound rock and roll enough so we ended up talking about his work as a German translator and throwing random German words at each other. This was quite good as I also enjoy German culture (I’m there now), and design - and it’s the centenary year of the Bauhaus. So Stevies there geeking out on German cab names and I’m geeking out on German design and it’s viele spaß! luckily for you the long compound nouns got dropped, and Stevie started trialing BCcab as a name in PMs with some of you. Bass Chat cab obviously, without it needing to say that, and able to say it without sounding like an idiot, and I think there may have been a second meaning but I forget what that is. So then BCcab - v3. I still got to geek on with my Bauhaus- sorry!! I tried to come up with something that would work with almost any colour scheme and layout, but be distinctive enough that to be worth doing. Not so small that it wouldn’t be noticed, but not so big it took over the cab. so we’ve got a vinyl sticker for the back plate, a domed sticker for the handle and a subliminated aluminium plate 100x40mm for the front. (Soft enough to drill for screws if you need) - and it’s all just going to add £3.60 to the cost. (if you are building the cab and not getting the flat pack Stevie will have a few extra sets you might be able to convince him to sell you if you cover postage too) So the other day I got the first pre production picture of the badge prototype made up. (Colours are off a wee bit on this pic) im excited if no one else.

Hi all, So here’s mine (on my ironing board workbench)! Just done a setup: filed the nut and simple action adjustments. Beautiful feeling bass! I’m a P bass with flats type of person and was shopping for an interesting platform for roundwound strings. I had a very nice Mexican Jazz for this purpose, but was never very inspired by it as I’ve become more hooked on the P bass experience. Always liked the Gibson aesthetic though, so I became curious........😊 I did an A to B comparison with an SG bass in the shop. Some observations: The SG was much lighter weight. The Les Paul is comfortably light by the way, but that particular SG was ridiculously light! The SG was better set up, but the neck shape is the same. The satin finish on the LP neck is much nicer (less grabby than the glossy neck). Setup of the LP is now nicer than the SG was, with very limited work. Fret finishing is properly done on both basses.....very nice! Hipshot tuners on the LP are just exquisite. Best I’ve ever come across to be honest. The old school ones on the SG seemed plenty up to scratch however. Played standing up, the strap button placement is much better on the LP. The SG tips forward, and neck dives if released, but is quite manageable. Much easier than my old Jack Casady bass, for example, (which was like riding a camel!). The SG is much easier on the forearm with its softer shape. The SG has a broader tone pallet as you’d expect, but for me I preferred the way the LP gets you to a good place without futzing about with controls. Much like a P bass! It has a punchy quality to the sound (much like a P again), but a different and decidedly Gibson tone. Big win. I’ve got some work to do getting familiar, and will be doing some acoustic duo and full band work this week. Will let you know how things go. For now though I’m blown away by how this bass feels like a crafted instrument rather than a cookie cutter factory product. Incredible resonance, perfectly in tune across the neck, sweet and nimble to play. Great job Gibson!

Ah, but will they? With this question burning in my mind I telephoned my close personal friend the New York music lawyer Mr Wolf J Flywheel. Our conversation proceeded as follows: Me: Wolf? It's me, Skank ... Flywheel: Whaddyawant ya Limey fag? Me: About this Universal masters fire ... Flywheel: Get the f*ck outta here! Ain't got time to talk, too busy filing a class action against those f*ckin' schlemiels Me: Based on what? Flywheel: Who cares? It's a bonanza. Now scram, shitbird, I got plaintiffs to depose (Ends)

Just for the sake of clarity, CITES governs the movement of listed endangered species across borders and so applies whether stuff is for sale or not.

Followed this thread for a very long time and a couple of years ago bought a cheapo system to play with but never used it in a gig situation till last night. The experience was beyond a revelation. If you are thinking about this and have vocal duties do yourself a favour, sell your best bass and buy an in ear system, (your standby bass will be up to the job 😃)and the world will become a better place. I'm gobsmacked and I've been round the block a couple of times and been there and done that and got the T Shirt but this was amazing. Stunned of Wigan

Thanks folks for your very kind remarks. Credit also to the concept - which is entirely @TheGreek 's And talking of @TheGreek, I'll add this here because otherwise I am bound to forget to tell him! The hatch is fixed with magnets: Shamelessly stealing from, I think, @Jabba_the_gut , there is a slight dip cut in the rebate. So to open, just press here and it will pop up the other side: Saves getting the kitchen knife out... Just waiting the replacement barrel jack socket and this will be shipped back to Mick

I've just about had my fill with JoinMyBand, we have an ad on for a singer at the moment, FOUR replies almost immediately, I reply to them immediately, five days later, nothing back from them? Then this morning I receive another message. And this is the link in the message: I give up!!!

I've never been messed around by a group of people more than 'musicians'. I got back into playing 10 years ago, and hand on heart, people who want to be in bands have been the biggest time wasters I've encountered. JMB, gumtree, bandmix, ads in music stores, open mics, word of mouth...every one has been a complete waste of time. Watch grass grow, it's more rewarding.

You wonder that these early recordings might just disintegrate anyway? Bad things happen to good things. I'm more concerned that Universal didn't just fess-up. But of course they wouldn't if there was a penny in it for them. Anyway, we can record them all again with the latest X Factor winners. And play them 'live' from the new ice-rink on top of the Notre Dame. Be great for the kiddies.

Screen wipe please ....

The fundamental problem is that, like Gumtree, it's free. If it costs nothing to post an ad, then you'll get a high proportion of ads being somewhere between random and completely braindead, plus there's no great pressure to follow up on things. Add to that the fact that the vast majority of people who call themselves musicians are flakes or fantasists or both, and you just need to be prepared for the inevitable.

Struggled to find a descent transcription of this for years until I discovered the attached PDF. To my ears the second bar is not only spot on but also falls logically under the fingers. 1. Ian+Dury+Hit+Me+With+Your+Rhythm+Stick.pdf

I used to play a 5 string Thumb BO for a number of years. It's a fine sounding bass, and some might say, a more defined growl than the Stingray and had one of the best necks I've ever played, and one that only gets better the more you play it. But, and it's a big but, the ergonomics (or 'geometry' as you say) are not for everyone. With a tiny body, big chunky neck and short upper horn, it's rather unbalanced and neck heavy. Some people recommend a wide grippy strap but all that did for me is ruck up my shirt. Others have no such issue with the instrument. You could say it's a rather 'marmite' issue - people are either fine with it or can't deal with it. Personally, it got to the point that I was in pain for a couple of days after every gig, so it had to go, as much as I loved the instrument. I went in a completely different direction and now play a Yamaha Attitude Ltd2 (essentially a hot-rodded P bass). Totally different tone, feel and ergonomics. Funny thing is, when I pulled out the Thumb last year to sell it after languishing in a gig bag for 8 years, I just couldn't play it very well. Felt totally alien to me. So anyway, to sum up. Great sounding bass, well built, brilliant neck. But please do try before you buy, preferably on a strap for a whole gig.

Not bad last night, first half was pretty quiet, but then I think that was the weather. Towards the end of the night someone requested some Metallica, I think they'd been up to Twickenham the other night, so we started Sandman. Now I've not done this for a while, but sometimes when we play Metallica I do Rob Trujullo's crab walk, and last night I thought I'd bring it out. What a mistake. I need to learn I CANNOT do this without stretching first. When I stood up after the song kicked it, my thighs screamed at me and walking around was okay but occasionally they let themselves be known. Then, I almost fell out the car when i got home as my legs weren't working right and I struggled to get up the stairs. WHY DID I DO THIS? 😂 Getting out of bed this morning was also interesting 😁 I guess this is being in your mid-30s.....😂😂😂

Excellent! I'd give him (or her!) the gig!

Awesome gig yesterday evening at the Farmyard Bikers rally in Helmsley, North Yorkshire. This is one of big ones at about 6-7000 punters and loads of bands over 4 stages and 2 days. Great weather and enthusiastic crowd, even had time for a beer after our spot and watched a couple of bands. Loved the backstage request.....lol

Couple of good gigs this week in Milton Keynes and Aylesbury. We have a new lighting guy, so enjoying seeing what he can do to make us look better, not an easy task....

Liam Gallagher in every band he's ever been in.

I feeling a bit happier today, i still haven't got the tone I wanted but I'm on the way and can now see it's possible. To cut a long story short I needed to set the EQ controls on the VMTD flat and set the boost to off on the B3K, also the grunt setting onto thin from Raw, at least for now. That gets me in the ballpark but I've got some work to do yet. Be a while before I report back on this - I haven't even had time to swap the order yet!

Would someone have converted the masters to digital files?

I used black Tuff Cab on my pre CNC cab but I am considering covering it with this. https://www.profabrics.co.uk/products/heavy-duty-texturised-nylon?variant=8359083459 it is much tougher than any of the traditional cabinet covers, comes in a range of colours ( including a nice TE green),

very nice bass,reminds me of my old 70s precision ,though I imagine yours hasn't got a big neck pocket gap being Japanese lol!

My 3 babies The 64 J is a limited edition custom shop and the 58 p and the 66 J are both Bravewoods .

Very much this for me. Oh, and Paul Rogers (absolutely top vocalist) with Queen just sounded wrong to me. Similarly, Brian May playing Alright Now with his signature tone seemed wrong too. That venture was less than the sum of its parts for me.

Lady Marmalade?

My issue with the Thumb NT5 I had was the geometry and ergonomics of the bass: as Greg mentioned in the prev post the short upper horn makes it quite unbalanced and also puts the whole bass quite a lot to the left, meaning the 1st position is a lot farther to the left than on a Stingray for ex. As said above it may not matter to some but it was an issue for me for sure.

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This thread has been a bit quiet but as a Callowhill MPB owner (#0189) I can confirm that the B string is a beast. A drummer commented the other week about how strong it sounded compared to other basses, I'm not sure he even knew at that point it was a short scale. Someone mentioned difficulty finding short scale B strings, I am yet to find any, but I expect as short scale 5s are becoming more popular (Jake Serek of Serek basses also builds them) manufacturers will catch on and start producing them. What I've done, and what Tim suggested, was to get a regular scale B string and just cut it down (I use a D'Addario Nickel .130). Cutting them down to an appropriate length for winding and not unravelling the whole string is a bit of a skill and I've butchered a few in the process but the results are good.

Very nice Nik. What's the weight?

I should point out the band are a tribute to the 70's!

Here is a link to an amazingly useful document published by the Fish and Wildlife Service in the US. Put together in a 'question and answer' format, it is easy to understand and addresses pretty much everything that individuals, companies and organisations need to know about moving rosewood and other CITES-listed materials between the UK/EU and the USA. Having seen the picture from the American perspective, you can export with a high degree of confidence that your goods will clear customs at the other side. It has also given me a far better general understanding of CITES than I have been able to derive from online research and repeated contact with APHA, who administer CITES in the UK. FWS CITES Q&A scrumpymike

Here's my recently refinished P!, It was only a cheap bitsa copy but it plays lovely!! 😁

Hope it works for you buddy, maybe with Q strip first. Other option is to run the Qstrip and pedals just into the power amp of the amplifier through send/return and ignore its pre-amp, maybe as an exercise in seeing which component gives you what. The. When all else fails get a Tech21 DP3x pedal!

strings arrived surprisingly fast very even, from string to string. both tonally and tension.

Wow! The design team have really ripped up the rule book with these new models!