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Since the demise of my regular slot in the rock band, I've been dabbling in a bit of mainstream jazz and latin stuff - trying to get a handle on walking bass but not finding anyone to give it a go with me. Actually, I did, but after saying they wanted me to play with them, they then wrote back and said they had no drummer so it was a no go. Hmmm. Anyway I went along to play bass at the local jazz jam. Very low key, low stakes stuff. Turns out that night there was nobody else on bass, so I had to cover the whole evening straight from the chord charts. On the strength of that I got asked to be the 'house band' the following month, do a dep on a gig last Sunday, to be the bass at the next jam and to join a jazz band as bassist. Shows you can fool a lot of the people some of the time. To be fair, I know the repertoire inside out - but as a listener, or a saxophonist. I'm less secure with all the walking bass patterns - I'm sure the low riders in the audience are cringing. But the drummer at the dep gig said how much he enjoyed playing with me - so there's that. I think the point of this is that I got over the imposter syndrome for a moment and made myself just do it.

Here you go.

I've had three custom builds over the last 15 years or so, and I've moved them all on for various reasons. They rarely turn out quite as you might expect. That's not to say they've been disasters, far from it, but I'm not sure the dream bass is really attainable, perhaps only a good compromise at best. To compound the problem, a few bass makers I've had dealings with have had rather rigid ideas of what a bass should be like, right down to the type of strings you should use. Some appear to only be willing to entertain making an instrument the way they think it should be, as opposed to the way you might happen to want it! Don't get me wrong, I'm not a luthier, so I'm very much up for taking advice on what may or may not work, but I've found it can be a bit of a tussle to get what you want sometimes. The fact I no longer have any of the customs I had made may indicate that some of my ideas were flawed, or my expectations were unrealistic, of course. My fourth custom bass arrives later this week! If anyone's interested, I'll let you know how it turns out...

Sandberg TT4 Super light. Mine is 6.58 lb / 2.9 kg It's fantastic.

I have a PA sub for sale at £550. I got an offer of £200 because all 2nd hand speakers are past their best. I told him he best not buy it then. He said no one will. Be prepared for dickheads too. Always post good pictures and indicate any faults/ damage. The other thing is courier. If you can arrange a courier, you will probably get a better price. I'm not sure about insuance with couriers as they are all different

Yep, NBD.

For anyone who was here ten years ago, you may remember me and my blog. Under the old forum format and with the original Photobucket, there was a fair amount of content that was put up on here and I kept in touch with many of the members via PMs but with the change over, mine and everyone else's didn't make the transition and I sort of lost touch with those who were around at the time, along with all the information that went with it. The blog carried on but due to my personal circumstances, less content was posted but as of yesterday, the beginnings of my ramblings are now ten years old, with 250 posts. So, Hi and thank you to all those who have visited the blog over the years - I am now hoping to get it back into gear and put up more content. Bass and Guitar Collection Blog Anyone from days of yore, would be great to hear from you. Cheers.

I like it that he won't send you the wiring diagram, as if people are beating down his door for it

Will be covered in biro by the end of the week.

Next time use this...

Ready to start painting 🙂 First coat applied to the bottom.

For me it's just how ballsy it sounds. It is lacking in treble but, in a gigging situation, that doesn't really matter. And you can actually get more highs when you work out how. It's just a workhorse, no nonsense gigging amp, and at a sensible price. All you need and nothing you don't. Frank.

ELO + =

I’m hovering over the warning button ⚠️

Mainly into off topic... 😂

Just to add, I took the drivers out and although they were Eminence, someone had used a knife to cut away the model no's on every one and the area that usually bears the model name on the magnet sticker was blank. They are a type of 16 ohm driver that look a bit like the beta (250w) and delta (350w) but with a mix of traits from both. The magnet was delta sized but the shape and design of the cone beta sized. Maybe some weird OEM custom job? The actual cab itself was manufactured by Carvin but I know for a fact that the speakers are aftermarket.

Thanks for all the help and insight guys. I also moved house the same week so everything has been a bit chaotic, hence the late update. Panic over. The lovely people at Lean (https://www.lean-business.co.uk/) sorted me out just in time as at that point the thread seemed to be pretty much in favour of replace>repair. Cannot recommend them enough, a really lovely couple. Gig went really well and the cab sounded monstrous all night pushed to extremes by the weird and noisy bands on the bill. As an aside, the mad squat party was far better organised than the two mainstream clubs we played last week. I'm going to attempt a fix on the damaged speaker, so will give it a go and update a little later down the line along with photos. I'm reasonably handy but not so with intricate/technical stuff, luckily it doesn't really matter if my patient doesn't pull through!

No, no don't do that, that wouldn't be right.

Nobody notices the bass player in a Jazz band unless he catches fire.

It will do exactly that fattening up thing. It'll add weight to the notes as well as volume compared with a 'normal' class D amp

I'm using PVA glue - all I mean is I give it 2 coats of glue on each bit, no need to let it dry first. They joints go together fine, no sanding of panels needed for me, as long as you have enough clamps. I'm just trying to avoid dry joins as its very absorbent ply.

Baffle painted with matt black spray paint bought in Proper Job. It came out more of an eggshell satin finish but I'm happy with it - it will match the satin Tuff Cab paint nicely 🙂

Hi I can make it. will bring Ken Smith, Wal and Markbass ninja head and ninja cab

I got a bedroom in the new house, just putting it together. I’m going to put a couple hangers in place of the rack, but I have a single stand for headlesses.... and necklesses....

Its the sound more than the size. I've had loads of class D heads and this is the only one I've found that has proper slam to the sound - its got real girth,warmth and shake to it. Slightly unusual controls but after you've spent 10 minutes tinkering with it everything becomes easy to understand and dial in quickly. Its a bit treble shy but it's stupidly loud whilst staying clear and just getting bigger as you crank it up. I love my BB800. Oh and it fits in the front of a gig bag too....😉

He certainly is a lateral plucker!

I’ve managed to commandeer a bedroom on the top floor for my gear ( my wife got the ground floor office). Not pictured is the king size bed where I can often be found when practicing gets a bit too emotional.

I actually have 3 rehersal spaces ( this sounds like it should be on the "Meeting new people" - bullsh!t Bob threa) I have an amp and a couple of basses in my office, which is just a tiny room. I use this mainly to learn songs or grab a bass for a quick noodle when I'm working. Then there's my band practice room, which is a decent sized space where the whole band can practice. Then there's my BAR-N where we can have parties and play gigs. Sadly all now irrelevant as I no longer have a band to play with.

I've lost money on things but I wouldn't class those instances as mistakes as I've gone into buying them (usually new) with my eyes open knowing what will happen as a result of my gas. 99% of my purchases are used items off BC. That's the joy of buying used, you can try lots of different kit and not lose on it. However just to add to the Wal hall of shame, I bought a used Mk1 for £575 from Carlsboro in Nottingham in 1993 and sold it for I think £650ish a year later. At the time I was quite chuffed with the deal. The next used Wal I bought cost me £3000 🙄

Sold Mark 3 basses. Great communication, no messing around. I wish everyone was as easy to deal with! Thanks Mark, it was a pleasure meeting you.

We need to hear this now! my first decent gig was Weller on the Heavy Soul tour at the Manchester Apollo, he ended up with Noel Gallagher on stage that night - at the time Oasis were huge and it made quite an impression on 12/13 year old me.

I concur with all the positive comments above... total workhorse, huge power on tap, warm, fat, punchy, easy to find a great tone for pretty much any genre... sounds great with any cab but particularly suits my Barefaced Supercompact... possibly a bit too dark if you are keen on really sheeny highs otherwise a fantastic little head

Bass Direct used to stock Nordy (Nordstrand) basses. They had a stunning 5 string jazz, white with blocks and binding etc. that played like a dream, I was smitten. My wife was with me and I reluctantly put the bass back and picked up a gig bag and strings etc. We got in the car and started to drive off and my wife was quiet, I asked what was wrong and she said “I thought you were going to buy the bass”. I said I would love too but I was short on money and she replied “we could have worked something out”. Aaaarrrggghhh!!! By that point the moment had passed to go back, and I have never seen a bass like it come up for sale or had my wife encourage me to buy a very expensive bass since.

Good choice, you won’t regret it!

Drugs - just say no!

Update: used in anger a faint, high pitched whistle was evident. Back at the lab this was rapidly traced to the voltage pump, which was wired to the default operating frequency of 10KHz, and it appeared to be the 5KHz a sub-harmonic of this that was audible, despite being a very faint signal. Larger supply capacitors could have cured this but not fitted a small board. The cure was simple - bridging the unconnected 'boost' pin to the V+ terminal which raises the switching frequency to 45KHz. This is slightly less efficient but raises any 'whistle' out of the audible band and also increases the filtering effect of the output capacitors four-fold. The modified box is silent and sounds 'transparent' although if you 'pat' the strings with the palm of your hand it clearly attenuates the 'thump'. I'll replace the circuit diagram and board layout in my previous post.

Hey guys, I just thought I'd stick a quite write up of my thoughts on Jeff Berlin's clinic at Guitar Guitar in Glasgow last night. It was a bit of a drive (300 mile round trip!) from Newcastle, but as soon as Jeff said he was doing some clinics in the UK I knew I'd be travelling to wherever it took to see him. He has been a long time musical hero of mine and in particular a hero for my brother, who is perhaps the most vocal Jeff Berlin superfan out there. First a comment on the venue, thanks must be given to Guitar Guitar for hosting the event, which was free, but for the 30-40 odd people who turned up, there was no seating, so we stood through the whole thing. I don't think they even had a seat for Jeff as they had to send someone out to get one which I think came from a nearby bar, but once Jeff saw there was no seating he stood for the duration too. Jeff brought a backing CD, but upon finding out they didn't have a CD player he just asked the audience to shout some notes, which he then built into a chord progression and melody and soloed over the top of it. Make no mistake, Jeff is on the absolute top level of improvisational ability, his phrasing and harmonic dexterity is beyond comprehension. Perhaps the most astounding thing about seeing him play his bass, stood about 3 foot away from him, is how effortless he makes it look. If I could ever attain even 10% of what he can do I'd be happy. There was some quick chat about Cort and Markbass, but Jeff did make clear he's not a salesman and the majority of the night would be spent not pitching products or dazzling with bass tricks, but instead on deconstructing myths about learning. The core message is as Jeff has preached for years; let go of your ego, accept that you might not be the best person to analyse and direct improvement in your playing and get involved in structured, academic musical learning. As he said, if your car is broken and you need it fixed and you pay a mechanic, you don't instruct the mechanic how to do his job, because he is the expert and has trained to diagnose and fix the car. You could fix it yourself (as you would teach yourself bass) and you might make it better, you might not. I suppose you tailor your level of instruction to the level you want to play at - you probably don't need to know jazz harmony if you never aspire to play anything other than rock or blues. In that sense, I suppose Jeff's method, which is really just classic academic musical teaching, something that has been generally missing for electric guitar and bass, isn't for everyone but his methods can make anyone a better player, whatever level you're at and whatever level you aspire to play at. I've been guilty of having this ego in the past, thinking I knew how to direct my own learning and improve and to a degree it has worked for me and while my technical ability is ok, my musical theory knowledge has lagged far behind and I know I have a lot to improve on in that field. I'm guilty of playing, not practice, which is something I must change. Some of the observations from the night - and this isn't knocking anyone, everyone who played was very brave to stand in front of Jeff and a room full of strangers and play. 1. Rock players tend to overplay thinking this adds "emotion" or "feeling", or that they need to "dig in to be heard". This was leading to people picking notes so hard they were knocking the note out of tune. Playing so hard isn't necessary, especially when practicing. Separating "performance" elements from musical practice is important because practice isn't art or performance. Everyone improved their intonation and timing considerably when relaxed their hands and stopped hitting the notes so hard. I've always tried to practice softly, something I picked up in my electric guitar days from guys like Steve Vai, John Petrucci etc, practicing with tension just makes everything harder, it makes your playing sloppy when deftness and dexterity is what you need, not to mention it increases your risk of stress injury. I think it's a revelation for some that you probably don't need anywhere near as much pressure to fret or pick a note as you might think. 2. Time is inherent and there are very few musicians who don't have good, workable time. This was demonstrated by getting a non-metronome user to play along with a metronome while Jeff turned the BPM up and down, then getting a regular metronome user to do the same and there was no difference between them. Then a non-musician was invited up and she played the intro to "Runnin' with the Devil" by Van Halen while Jeff played the guitar chords over the top. She'd never played an instrument before and yet she was able to play in time with no instruction. There was further elaboration about slowing down music to play it with nuance and help your fingers learn it, but a metronome isn't an integral tool in being successful in this, Further preconceptions such as "locking in with the drummer" were explored in more detail, as time is a shared concept in a band and not exclusive to the bassist and drummer - everyone in the band contributes to "locking in". 3. Reading music can widen the horizons of any player who doesn't read. I don't and I know I need to start - I have resolved to do this. A non-reader was invited up and and after Jeff showed him a reference note on the clef, he was reading 8 bar etudes in multiple keys within minutes. So there is a lot more to reading than that, but the point was to show that anyone can start, it doesn't have to be an unapproachable and impregnable subject. I think I've been guilty of this and I will learn to read - I know I've passed on opportunities to learn pieces of music because I couldn't read it and frankly for a lot of the stuff I like, tab isn't available. As such, I developed my ear so I can transcribe lines fairly well, but I know I've overlooked an important aspect of my musical development by not learning to read. 4. Modes and scales shouldn't be the key and exclusive focus of anyone looking to develop in music. Scales and modes are useful tools but if you don't understand the musical structures you're playing them over, you're effectively learning verbs but not learning to form a sentence. I have seen this to be true with guitarists who can play the harmonic minor scale in a few keys and sound very impressive with their bag of tricks, but can't improvise in other scales or play in unfamiliar keys. Scales and modes are a useful tool but not the be-all and end-all of musical learning. There is probably a fair bit more I've missed, but I don''t want this to go on forever. After the event was wrapping up, Jeff was selling some CDs to finance his upcoming "Jeff plays Jack Bruce" project. My brother bought a copy - although he already has a signed copy from Jeff, a signed copy from Steve Vai and Jeff and now a third copy with a personal dedication from Jeff. We waited at the back of the autograph and photo queue so as not to hold everyone up. Jeff and my brother, Chris have corresponded via the net for some time and Chris has been a vocal supporter of Jeff, or as Jeff put it "The most vocal and upstanding supporter" of his. It was like seeing friends meeting again after a time apart and was great to see. Chris got his Cort Rithimic signed and I couldn't resist taking my Ken Smith BT5 along just to get it in the photos. Jeff spent some time talking to use and we got some photos with him, make no mistake that he is one of the warmest and kindest guys I've met, a true gentleman. It's remarkable to see someone who has such an incredible voice on the instrument backed up by virtually unmatched technical ability be so humble. He wants so much for bassists to improve as musicians and get more from their playing. All in all it was a fantastic night, especially to see my brother finally meet Jeff. It was worth it for that alone. I also kind of have a hankering for a Cort Rithmic of my own now too!

Standard feature of a Jazz bass! If you've not noticed it before, it'll be the room you were in, studios and venues often have a lot more electromagnetic interference floating about then a typical home. You can get noiseless pickups which are usually split humbuckers like a mini Precision pickup crammed into a Jazz casing, but they sacrifice a bit of top end bite. Shielding the bass including the pickup cavities could help too.

Hit me with your rhythm stick, such a great Bassline and anything by Bob Marley, I find quite timeless 🙂

Well said, the copydex will sort it as good as new. As Bill has said, reinforce the repair from behind the cone to bridge the join and it's a cheap fix without resorting to sourcing a new speaker. It's a common repair job anybody can do.

Copydex is the way to go.

And finished, bar the final set-up tweaks. Forgive the self indulgence: ..and the obligatory artyish fortyish shots:

Most of them are in one room, there are even more spread around my house.

Ready for sea trials! I still need a jack plate and strap buttons but I couldn't resist posting some pictures, I'm really pleased with the look and feel of it. I'm going to play it for a while and see what refinements are required.

I bet you used to draw a pencil line down the backs of your legs during the great nylon stocking shortage of WWII and all.