Leaderboard

Dad’s having a clearout. Guess which pictures he’s posting all over Facebook 😂

I’m sure it’s already been said, but you could buy a tasty 77/78/79 precision in black for about £1400/£1500 and a nice mirror pickguard for about £50 (Fender had them as spares when they made the Steve Harris...) and then have a nice holiday. And a new car...

just a quick update on this one. I used this these last two weeks playing a mixture of shows with the backing band including a festival called static roots in Germany. had a great time and this bass performed wonderfully. Really suprised me how much i like the sound of a single coil compared to my usual split coil precision .

The only time I've ever done festivals has been as the guest of a label and have done many pees next to many people. While Brian Adams at Milton Keynes Bowl was somewhat standoffish, I'd say Mick Mars from Motley Crue was an absolute delight; Motley had just opened the Monsters Of Rock show at Castle Donington and we urinated freely together in the backstage area minutes after he'd come off stage. He was still in his stage clothes. He actually opened the dialogue with a cheery 'Hey, how are you?' thing while I was already at the trough. We discussed Roy Thomas Baker's remix of Too Fast For Love.

About 15 years ago I was standing in a large bookshop/newsagent in Kingston marketplace perusing the music mags and, in particular, the bass mags. A tall, middle aged, rockstar-looking chap with a large barrel chest, medallion and a mop of blond hair came and stood next to me picking up a bass mag to read too. He looked familiar but I couldn't place him for some reason..... so we nodded to each other in acknowledgement and continued to flick through our respective magazines until I moved off.... Imagine my shock/regret when a week later I returned to the same magazine rack to peruse the new issue of said bass mag and there he was on the cover!!!! It was only Chris bloody Squire!!!!! Aaarrrghhhh.......

Oh they were so much more than that.

I mean, the Phil Lynott bass is a snip at £11,699. The real value for money offer is the special EVH 1979 Bumblebee Tribute, which is a bargain at only £15,729. https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/190717346254008--evh-1979-bumblebee-tribute-replica-blackyellow I have always wondered what a band featuring Phil Lynott and Eddie Van Halen would have sounded like. Now (just as soon as myself and my brother find an elusive £27,428) we will be able to find out! What a time to be alive.

Bear with me, as I explain in convoluted fashion the small group of people who occupy the overlap in the Venn diagram connecting the Lithuanian version of The Voice to up-and-coming UK hard-rock band Inglorious. Early in 2015, I had arranged a gig for Cherry White in the Victoria Inn, Derby. It was to be our first outing with our new singer, Donata. I very much doubt any of this parish will be familiar with her work prior to joining CW, but before coming to London, she had enjoyed a few years of pop chart success in her native Lithuania, after winning their version of The Voice. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this fame had not travelled as far as the UK, but it did mean that we had an unknown but very impressive lead singer in the fold. (And if nothing else, it impressed the two Lithuanian colleagues in an office where I briefly worked around that time.) Also on the bill were a young band called Parasight. And I do mean young: I think the eldest was barely 18, and they all looked quite a big younger than that! But they were good. Full of energy, as many of us doubtless were at that age, but also tight and well-rehearsed. Notably, the two guitarists were playing off each other really well, and they had some nice Wishbone/Maiden-esque harmoised lines. And really friendly and unpretentious when we met them; nice guys to a man. I heard via the band's Facetube page that they'd folded, which I thought was a shame, but they mentioned that one of their guitarists, Danny, had landed himself a couple of really promising opportunities, of which I forget the details now. But following the ins and outs of his own Facetagram page, I gather that he has not only replaced the original lead guitarist in Inglorious, but has also played Slash in a biopic about Guns'n'Roses. So there you have it: that night in Derby is is, to my knowledge, the point of smallest separation between Inglorious and Lithuanian TV talent shows.

Just weighing in here. Price and legacy aside, how would John Cruz go about building 60 of these? Building 60 of anything is hard work and monotonous; just think about putting together 60 Billy bookcases. I put seven together once and I was actually thinking suicide would be a better option at one point. Does ol' Cruzy just pop down to the the neck and body blank area in the Fender warehouse, bolt everything together and burn in the custom shop logo on the reverse of the headstock OR does he have a team doing the work for which he takes the credit OR does he in fact build everything from freshly hewn timbers?

Was loving being a Larry Graham disciple until last week when this little girl totally owned me: 😬

Hi All It's been a while since I did a thread in real time, so I thought I'd start one for my new build. Especially since it's got some elements I've never done before - LPish, neck angle, scarf joint, set neck - so will shamelessly pump you all for information. My plan is to build a g*itar loosely based on the Gibson ES Les Paul. So it will be LP shaped, chambered, f-holes, probably P90s. Wood wise it will be mostly walnut, with figured walnut veneers front and back, double bound. I'm not looking to do a carved top yet, so it will be flat a bit like a B&G. Like a B&G I'm also thinking of having a slotted headstock and tailpiece. So imagine these two had a love child.... Here's a wood pile, and a neck blank I've already made. I'm trying to use wood that I've accumulated for no particular use, or that is left over from something else. So far I've got: - A one piece walnut body. It's too thin, so I've jointed some ash plates to be glued on front and back, just to bring the body up to 44mm or so. They'll be hidden by the binding & veneer. - Some walnut veneer, for front and back. The body will be double bound, probably in ivoroid. - A 9 piece neck blank - (fake) ebony/maple/sapele. I made this for something else then never used it. I'm a bit in two minds whether to run with this one or to make another one with walnut rather than the sapele. Given everything else is walnut, I think the slightly orangy sapele may clash, colour wise. So if I can nip down to Brooks to buy some rough cut walnut, I may glue up another multi-laminate neck with walnut rather than sapele. Here are the veneer sheets: And doing some very rough layout on the walnut core, just for fun. Thanks for looking!

A large, heavy cuboid from Bass Direct showed up on my doorstep this morning. I haven't ordered anything lately, but it's my birthday coming up quite soon, so I signed for it under the assumption that I was getting an inadvertent sneak peek at my present. I lugged it inside, turned it the right way up, and couldn't help noticing "212 MNT" scrawled on the ghetto cardboard packaging. "Oooh, " I thought to myself, "my mum's bought me a Vanderkley 212 MNT for my birthday. That's generous of her. I mean, it's twice as heavy as my current cab, so I can't see myself ever taking it to a gig, but maybe I can sell it on basschat." I checked with my partner, who then contacted my mum, who knew nothing about it. Straaaange. I called Bass Direct to find out the name of the person who had ordered it so that I could thank them profusely. After a couple of minutes on hold, they revealed that they have another Stylon Pilson on their customer database, and they'd sent it to the wrong one. I asked if they wanted to collect it, and they said "nah, you can keep that one, it would cost us more to ship it back than it's worth." Only kidding. S.P.

Or perhaps Mr Del Var could be persuaded out of retirement again? I'll drive.

A few years ago, maybe 2009/10ish, I was at a Little Barrie gig at Night & Day in Manchester. Me & a friend had got there early & were having a few drinks as the place started to fill up. When it was my round again, the bar was chocka, but after a bit I get to the front. A short bloke with big hair appears in my peripheral vision, & next thing, I'm being edged slowly out of my place at the bar. At this point, I'm hot & getting grumpy, so I push firmly back, shunting the guy away from me and backwards away from the bar. I get our drinks & head back to the table, leaning heavily on the pushy bar bloke on the way, and maybe treading on a few toes. I get back to our table, & my mate is peeing himself laughing. "What's up?" I ask; "What exactly have you got against Johnny Marr?" ; I'm a big Smiths & Johnny Marr fan, I turn around, mortified, to get a proper look at the guy, and it is JM. Later I went to apologise to the great man & he was lovely

Naked self promotion I know, but I just did this... https://www.soundonsound.com/people/why-love-fretless-bass Phil

900 in the end.

Ah it’s difficult isn’t it... no one really wants anyone else using their gear but it does look a bit arsey to flat out refuse. Trouble is you don’t know if whoever’s using it can be trusted to sit on the toilet the right way around let alone understand how a bass amp works... Maybe there should be some sort of widely accepted interview system in place. “Hello potential rig user. What’s your preferred setting for the bass knob” ”...on full like all the others innit” ”Access denied” 😐

Long time without posting or do anything,but thats how life is.. Back at work again.. Neck blanks are planed and sanded to thicknes,truss rod canals are opened and headstock shape is done

Respect for those punk credentials. 😎 I have a couple of clips recorded, but no time for processing at the moment - so I'll put one up later tonight. Probably. 👍

I experienced this with one of mine once. Constant low-level hum, didn’t get any louder with volume and so obviously didn’t cause an issue at gigs/rehearsals. Still it used to get on my nerves. I took it to a tech and it turned out to be the position of the transformer which is obviously secured with a bolt to the bottom of the casing. It must have turned slightly during its long life. After a bit of trial and error he rotated it slightly then tightened it back up and hey presto, the hum was gone.

Just putting the finishing touches to NEW ENGLAND's latest track 'All the Kings Horses'....a piece inspired by Kurt Vonagut's short story about a lethal game of chess! Been using an ACG Krell, custom built by Alan for me using all native woods. NEW ENGLAND are a Yorkshire based rock band that (on and off) have been writing and recording original music since 1983...a bit 'proggy', a bit 'classic rock' a bit folk rock...a bit NEW ENGLAND really! All our latest stuff, and a selection of stuff from the 1980's, can be accessed on Soundcloud or through the bands website www.newengland-prog.com Give us a listen (thats me in the middle!)

I've just picked up a Peavey, not a zodiac, but Peavey are like Yamaha, everything from the bottom range up are very well made, easy to mod and have really nice necks.

My Markbass amp wasn't tasteless enough so I changed the black knobs out. Seriously though, I can see them better on a dark stage

I’d disagree. Whilst I agree that is a useful skill to have, it’s not really going to help someone to know what they can play or maybe can’t play in a song. I think the most important skill a bass player can have is knowing the notes on their instrument, and knowing how they work within the context of what the band is playing. If someone says this is a II, V, I in D, then you need to know what you can play over that. It’s pretty basic stuff, even if you only play the root note and basic chord tones. That root note and chord connection. That’s often the eureka or lightbulb moment for students. When they see how what they’re playing is connected to the chords being played. With regard to dep players, that has more to do with it being their job. I’ve done it myself, most function bands have pretty much the same songs in their repertoire. The only thing that can change is the key, it’s pretty easy if you do know what I said was in my opinion the most important skill, to just play a part in a different key at the drop of a hat. Just my opinion of course, no doubt others will have a different idea. 😊

- and then we can enjoy setting up Committees to establish the exact rules of play, sub committees to make sure the game is inclusive (might involve diversity awareness training), written risk assessments for those playing 'challenging' bass lines etc, etc - hours of fun ! 😳

We may have to introduce VAR 😀

Me and you both! - But planning to put in a bit of time on the "slap-board" to see if I can rectify that over the coming 12 months! Another favourite but relatively simple slap riff sounding great on a Yammy BB and also just going to show that you can slap on a PJ bass as well as a J or MM!

I’m a big funk/slap fan and I don’t care who knows! 😂 we play Never too much in our set, always goes down well. You can’t beat a bit of Marcus Miller!

Aaaaaaaargh! Inglush waz nether moi strong pownt Spent too much time watching Spinal Tap!

Cool and necessary! Blue

You wouldn't even get Spinal Tap's Stonehenge in that room! (A quick edit from " to ' and know one will have a clue what I'm on about)

I'm teasing

Recent one of me at a charity event, rocking my best 1980s/steampunk look.

Uh-oh, sent an email about a bass! 🙈

I'd be lying if I didn't say Flea wasn't one of the reasons I picked up a bass in the early 90s. The Blood Sugar Sex Magik album was (and to a degree still is) my bass bible, albeit notable for its lack of slap bass compared to their previous output. Whilst RHCP have completely jumped the shark these days, I'm still a huge fan of their early output and the bass playing on it. Whilst a lot of what he plays isn't that complicated, the speed and energy he plays with made it unlike anything anyone else was doing at the time. Obviously having Chad Smith as your drummer helps a great deal too. I have nothing against slap when it's done well. The problem is that it rarely is! Like a lot of things, it's an easy concept that's hard to master.

Slap..the tumbleweed of basschat!

It's not that much of an OMG moment, but... back in 1986 the band I was in were rehearsing one Saturday afternoon at Angie's in Wokingham. We'd pretty much finished and were having a chat prior to packing up when a guy walked in at the back of the club. He was in shadows so I couldn't see his face. "Oh sorry", he said, "are you still playing? I can come back in a bit". We told him we were done and were about to pack up. He struck up a conversation, asked us what we were called etc., and being young and arrogant and convinced of our impending fame, we were a bit cheeky with some of our replies. He either didn't notice or wasn't bothered by it. After a few questions he says "Good stuff...", steps forward into the light to shake our hands, "my name's Herbie...". I mentally added the word 'Flowers' and my jaw did a clang. Turned out his jazz quartet were playing at Angie's that evening. After the greetings, he looked at us and reached into his pocket... "Well I dunno about you, but I'm skinning up...". Made one for us to pass round and one for himself, and my god it was good gear Thank god he turned up too late to hear me playing

If you want to get a Fender "Lynott" bass - and you can find one (like I did) then my very strong recommendation (to which you will be amazed at the quality) will be a Japanese made, non-export model PB70-US BLK which had the option of coming with a mirror scratch plate. An insanely nice piece of Japanese craftwork from a period when they were knocking out top quality for about £500 delivered to the UK. Ummm.. something else I stupidly sold.. will.never.learn.

I lacquer first. For wipe-on finishes you tend to get a bow-wave effect as you go over the hole. For spray, you tend to get pooling around the hole. As @Christine says, a decent bradpoint drill will cut cleanly through the lacquer. Twist drills can be a bit more problematic. In both cases, centre-punching before drilling the hole helps enormously. Hope this helps.

Interesting. Thanks for that.

Like people who put a plastic bowl in the sink

Have solved this issue now. After looking at loads of things such as F hole covers etc I had the pleasure of borrowing a Sansamp paradriver. This has a built in HPF and instantly sorted all of my issues. DI straight out of the paradriver into the desk with rumble filter engaged and I get a fab tone with no feedback issues at all. I was close to order the raferty but the Sansamp offers more tone shaping ability. Thanks for the help!

Classic example of mission creep brought on by personnel turnover. The band has clearly descended into a vortex of ego, narcotics and procrastination so you're better off out of it. Now go find another band, gig yer ar$e off and trouser some wedge.

I remember you recently saying how happy you were with them, so it’s very sad how it has turned out. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start again. You know what it is you want to do, so stick to that. Contact the drummer if he’s someone you get on with, see if he’s interested in continuing playing with you and a new project. I’d have thought playing covers was more likely to be successful than playing original songs.

There's nothing wrong with purloining the occasional sartorial cue from those musicians who have played a formative role in our personal development just as long as we don't overdo it. For myself, I specifically wear the same brand of socks as did the late Mr John Entwistle during the period 1973 -1998 (M&S towelling socks / Black) but I don't make a song and dance about it; it's a discreet homage between me and my shoes. But dressing up as Hendrix in a tie-dyed tee-shirt and a bandana would be de trop unless, perhaps, one were performing in a Hendrix tribute act like the gentleman pictured below. Crikey! You'd swear it was Jimi come back from the grave.