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Q: How many BassChatters does It take to change a lightbulb? A: It takes: Four to say they'd be all over it if only it was a 5 string lightbulb ... Six to ask how much the lightbulb weighs Fourteen to say all you really need is a Precision lightbulb Nine to say they used to have a lightbulb just like that, but it was an original '63 and how they regretted selling it Three to say how great the service is at Bass Direct and how if they were in the market for a lightbulb, that's where they'd go Seven to wonder how the lightbulb would sound if it had different capacitors Eleven to say that the bulbs are less bright with flats but that's how they like it Fifteen to say they have not changed their lightbulbs in over a decade ... Oh, and one to actually change the bulb .... 🙂

I don't understand why any manufacturer would take a beautiful, prestine instrument straight off the manufacture line and paint it bright red, but I suppose some folks like it. 😉

We don't all just stand at the back, y'know!

Here’s a little vid of my relic being relic’d

New self heating socks prototype. Needs a bit of fixing... 😂

I do - Straight from the box it was a piece of junk! Click here to find what was needed to make it playable.

Pretty much all my basses bar 1 are relic, fake or natural I’m not bothered as long as it plays beautifully. Totally get that it’s a marmite thing and absolutely no right answer. But they are cool in my eyes. This is my latest addition, cool AF 😍

I don't like relic basses as I would miss the massive guilt trip and disappointment of putting the first ding on a new one.

Attendees and gear! 01. Silverfoxnik - BC Rich Eagle, Ander van der End JB5, RBV5, Ampeg V4BH head and matching cabs. 02. Hamster - Tea, Coffee, Pastries, the Wife - might bring a bass! 03. @Frank Blank 's Acoustic Corner - Rob Allen Mouse, Godin A4, FRFR setup (QSC K12.2, HX Stomp and HX Edit). 04. RodFunnell - '78 Stingray, Assorted Warwicks, Vanderkley Spartan, Mesa Prodigy 4:88, Barefaced Big Twin T and it's still a few months away so maybe more! 05. obbm - only items for sale 06. Cetera - Spector USA NS2, Spector USA NS2X 'Spectorbird', Spector Euro LT, Hamer Impact, Hagstrom Super Swede, Italia Imola GP, Fender FSR PJ, Fender FSR 70's Ash P, 80's Gallien Krueger 400RB, GenzBenz Neox 2x12 07. @NancyJohnson - Lull JAX/NRT5, Spector Euro LT, Darkglass A/O Head, Barefaced Big One (the #000) 08. Rumblefish - Rumblefish bass,Wal Bass, MB Mpulse 600,Berg CN212 09. Steve Browning - SVL & Fender Precisions, Mesa Walkabout 15 10. @Stingray5 - MM Stingray5, MM Stingray fretless, Tune TWB-6, Tune SWB-4; Trace Elliot GP12SMX or Eden EC15 combos; Boss GT-6B. 11. ChunkyMunky - Builds of mine (P5, J5 etc), SWR SM900, a Greenboy/Fearful build or two and some other assorted goodies.  12. samcrabtree00 - Warwick Streamer Stage II, USA MM Sub, Genzler Magallen 800, Barefaced BB2, Various effects 13. TrevorR - Wal Custom and Pro, Aria SB700, MarkBass LMII & Traveler 2x10 14. @Graemeross - 4 Ps, 3 Js, 2 Aria SBs , Darkglass MT900, 2x Barefaced BB2, HX Effects with Line 6 G75 wireless. 15. prowla - Rics, Warwicks, Statii (whatever I chuck in the car!), Markbass EVO 1 & 1x12. Maybe a Minitaur & 12-step (if I've got 'round to figuring out the 12-step by then). 16. OrangeFriday - Third build - J bass - may contain LEDs... 17. Wolverinebass - haven't decided what to bring yet. 18. MacDaddy - custom Shuker/s, Snapdragon Folding Bass, Rob Allen Mouse. 19. G-77 - [Possible attendee] Can bring 2 of the following, D-Bird (purple shift) Anaconda Crusher CXE (green), Status King Bass Prototype #4 (left in photo) or Status Streamline. "If anyone got a preference let me know." 20. bassace - Kolstein travel EUB (ex Clarky, ex Dave Swift). Plus a Genz Benz combo. 21. thestick - Ken Smith, Wal and Markbass ninja head and ninja cab. 22. pete.young - Yamaha BBNE2 Nathan East, Duesenberg Starplayer, Yamaha BB800, HH Studio 60 Bass combo 23. @mangotango - Spector Legend Classic 5, Spectorcore fretless 5, Aria SWB-04 EUB, GenzBenz Streamliner 900, Barefaced Compact One Ten 24. JHK Yamaha trb6p,GBSpitfire 5,.USA stingray 5 fretless,USA sterling 4, EBS hd350,EBS neo 15 cab 25. Jabba_the_gut - A couple of semi-hollow own builds, RH450 and RS112 Cabs, and whatever else I have to hand! I'm hoping to get there even if only for a couple of hours - cheers.

Believe it or not, they do! They're called Rat Rods... Not my thing but some people like them. Don't forget there's also the Shabby chic furniture thing. Rat rod https://g.co/kgs/EdQNN2

OK. Most of my guitars are red, apart from the purple one. So indeed it is a matter of taste. Though I still think relic-ing a guitar is like buying a new car then scaping it along a garage wall and then driving it into a bollard so it looks like it has been around the block a few times!

It really is hard to get on with a Jazz when the sound in your head is the Precision. BUT, a Road Worn Jazz is a great bass stock, so I would never change the pickups as they do the signature Jazz thing more than adequately. Having both pickups on full is quite an alien sound when coming from a P but the beauty of a J is when you start backing off the volume on one the other or both pickups. This is where the genius of it's design comes to light. I also believe that the thinness of sound that is a common complaint is much better addressed at the amp than changing out the pickups. Just think of Led Zeppelin or Bob Marley and the Wailers. All recorded with Jazz basses and no one can complain that JPJ or Family Man had a thin tone. I'm a total P guy btw, but a J eq'd correctly is wonderful.

@Pea Turgh Enough lines???😂😂

Added the fretless De Gier Origin so everything had to go on the sofa again: And there is one more bass on the way but that could take a while.

Ha, so my beloved relic'd Sandberg is the sum of all these hates. Any thoughts on Maple Necks, or Maple Necks with Tort pick guards, or oversized pole pickups ???😂

You think that is bad? I really don't understand why someone takes a perfectly fine bass and sticks a tortoiseshell pickguard on it? I mean that is completely crazy. There are some sick people in the world.

I think G&L have always been a bit obscure and niche, possibly from lack of big-name players as you suggest, and less marketing than the big names. I believe they were difficult to get hold of in the UK for a while with distributor problems. It will be intersesting to see how they fare now with being exclusively sold by Andertons (and 2 other shops I think). There's always comments and views about them being 'the authentic/true (Leo)Fenders' versus 'not a proper Fender(Musical Inst Corp)'. I think there is plenty of room for both to exist alongside each other. The other thing that seems to put people off is the teat on the headstock; it's not something that I really notice but each to their own (not all of the Leo-era instruments had this actually). The 3-bolt tilt neck may still be seen by some as a point against them, this is from association with Fender's poor implementation of this in the 70's - it was actually Fender's poor workmanship and construction that was the problem, not the 3-bolt neck per se. G&L's used 3-bolts until 1996 with no problem, only changing because of the hangover from the poor 70's Fenders. Look at the classic model that @Jadenacre has advertised, 30+ years old, still great. For those who do take to them, they are great instruments and very good value. I have 2 from Leo's era, a 1987 ASAT and an 1987 SC-3 (marketed at the time as a student or beginner guitar, it has a beautiful ebony fretboard - imagine that now). I also have a 92 Legacy, this still has a lot of the features from the Leo era but over the years, BBE (the new owners) standardised the production and removed some of the little touches and quirks, although making a consistent and still very good product. e.g. the bass that @bloke_zero is selling will have a hand-shaped neck which is a nice feature, the necks became all machine made from about 2005. All this plus a slow market, as @White Cloud said, can make them a hard sell. The other side of this is that there can be some good bargains. That went on a bit...apologies for the ramble, you can probably tell that I'm a G&L fan.

Thanks @cetera, you beat me too it, apologies everyone *slinks back to Stomp tweaking*

www.simscustom.com Did a brilliant job for me. Sent them my old pick guard which they 3D scanned, & the new one came back a perfect fit.

Pass the pop corn, I’m getting deja vu

Fabulous. Reminiscent of a young Freddie Starr 👍

No Rickenbackers!

Only ever had two problems with stuff bought from Thomann, a clip on tuner which arrived broken and more recently a pedal which just suddenly packed up. Today I received a replacement for the pedal, no quibbles, just like the last time, two emails and a replacement was shipped to me. Customer service? Yup, no complaints here.

Well I've come upto scotland to meet up with eh Tanglewood (and a large quantity of wine). My brother who had collected it also has custrad of my very first bass, a Hohner Jazz,, which was un to meet again, it has tiny guitar frets and a wide neck so doesn't feel very jazz but the action is negligible and it plays great. The pickguard has faded so all the red has disappeared! The Tanglewoood is behnd me: The Tanglewood was pure acoustic so i brought up an pickup whcih cost £9! from Indonesia. Clear that the action,like all tagelwoods was awful, A play wth the truss rod borught it down nearly 1mm, but I cut another 2.5mm off the bridge (allowing for teh piezo pickup) and all is now lovely. Not a buzz but low action. the bargain tuner/5 band EQ works absolutely great. It was traumatic drilling and hacking holes all over it! £400 guitar reduced to scrap in minutes 🙂 But my bro hoovered the sawdust out, I added a second strapbutton for my Chowny (R) elephant strap and its absolutely wonderful to play and hear! 🙂

It's not about the bulb, people, it's about the quality of the light you can create with it.

Be interesting if the audience hears any difference in tone?

Is the lightbulb any good for metal and how much will it cost to post it to Outer Mongolia please?

I realise, with a title like that, most of you will say... a) who the f*** is he, or b) didn't even know he'd been away. But here I am! I haven't been on here because I haven't been playing bass... doesn't seem very interesting (to me) when I'm not in a band. The only thing that would tempt me out of retirement now would be to join a proper "old farts" band (I mean that in the nicest possible way). So, yesterday I was perusing ebay to see what prices I may expect on my remaining (modest) gear, when an email pinged on the iPad. A guitarist I had played with over ten years ago wanted to know if I'd be up for joining his band. He is an excellent guitarist and has a great drummer (I've also worked with). They've recruited a singer, but their current bassist has to bow out due to ill health. After a brief exchange of mails, he has described the perfect old farts band. TBH, I left his band the first time round because they weren't doing enough gigs, but it would suit me now. He's also improved the setlist... some great sings in there now. The downside? I used to be buoyed up by a monstrous arrogance and belief in my own abilities... that all seems to have leaked out through the lace holes in me boots. Not sure how the new humble me will cope with all this. Not sure how this will pan out... you will be the first to know... ... but for now... must not get GAS... must not get GAS...

Well, it's a chunk of wood with a pickup on it, can't go too far wrong really 😀

Dunno about you, but I doubt I'd be very comfortable in a bass case 😁

I'm so glad you posted that picture. I've had this pickup knocking about at home and now I can see it's a Delano musicman style. 😉

My Stingray and Sterling Sub

Dunno what's go into me, but with the help of my talented assistant and on the ongoing theme of 'tidyness' in the creative (HAH, I have never created music) spaces we got this far with some solid storage today. Just some sanding to do and some plywood to go on to the framing and stuff won't fall through. The wall behind is knackered from where someone literally *smashed* a wardrobe system into it, something need to be done to pretty *that* up, but short of ripping out the drywall and redoing it, I feel. My vibe is 'rehearsal studio drum kit storage', which is my excuse for perfunctoryness and ugliness.

I don't think I could get mine as tidy as any of these without employing fire.

Liking the look of this build! I like the look chrome pickups - was recently looking at those Lace Aluma pickups that are available as J and P types. Look completely different but not cheap!! https://lacemusic.com/products/aluma-p-bass-pickup

One minute I was playing through our set list and the next I was packing everything up... and it’s only Friday! Hold on, cue mantra... “It’s on Sunday, not Saturday, it’s on Sunday not...”

Relic is not my thing at all, but you try selling a bass with a few marks and scratches to someone who has a relic'ed bass and see what they say 🙂

Every single mint bass I’ve ever had, bar three IIRC, has immediately been walked into a door/wall/fallen off a stand/had something fall on it, etc. So pristine doesn’t work for me, it’s a complete waste of time. I always liked worn guitars. Before I even started playing I thought Rory Gallagher’s guitar looked ace, and the first time I saw Jaco’s Jazz I thought it looked awesome. More to the point, I generally find that they feel better to play, for whatever reason. Maybe it’s psychological, who knows?

Wow. I gig regularly in rowdy pubs where beer gets spilt and mic stands get knocked etc, but I’ve never had anyone grab my bass by the neck. I’d be grabbing them by the neck if anyone ever did that...

Sorted :)

Jack's instruments in Manchester.

Small update, nowt ground breaking. A friend borrowed my long drill bits and I got impatient, so instead of drilling a hole for the ground wire, I ran some copper tape as a go slower stripe. TI flats with the creamery 58 pick up (it really is amazing) does the job for me. The Allparts neck is fat but fast and playable. Its a very very enjoyable bass and I am looking forward to adding further playing age and wear on to it.

I don't get it either. Never will. But each to their own. I far prefer a natural wood finish to anything painted anyway.

Off Topic here is a testament to that

No, he can not be a true bassist. A true bassist can NOT play and move at the same time. This has to be fake! Yes, I have heard and even seen that Mark King can play and sing at the same time, but come on, his background is drums!

I got quite a bit done on the neck today. First up I glued in the MOP position markers. Sounds easy but is actually tricky. Getting them all centred and looking equally spaced between the fret slots takes some practice. It's made more complicated by the fact that they also aren't accurately sized. Some are well over 6mm... Others less.... The smaller ones are spot on. The biggers ones I put to one side. The problem is that a 6mm drill bit isn't actually 6mm in diameter, it's more like 5.9. So if you try and put a 6.1mm dot in a 5.9mm hole you run the risk of either it getting stuck and not all the way in, or cracking it. If anyone knows why drill bits are consistently manufactured small than their nominal size, I'd be interested to know. The next problem is one I should have thought about before it happened, but I'm pretty ditzy most of the time. The fretboard get thinner as you reach the end of the neck because it's radiused and tapered. When I cut the slot for the binding by the time I reached the end of the neck it was almost 7mm deep, a good 1mm deeper than the binding. So I had to make an extra tall piece of binding by gluing two pieces together. It worked out pretty invisibly, but next time I need to remember to cut the binding slot so that it's a consistent depth. This is what I mean: I did the binding mitres on my belt sander then glued them to the fretboard using CA glue. I haven't used this technique before, but I think it worked well. Basically you tape the binding in place then use water-thin CA glue with a mini pipette to wick the glue down into the join. It has the advantage that you can dry cut all the mitres etc and get everything just right, tape it all into place then casually apply the glue. It's certainly a stress free technique. I'd thought about using it for the body, but I was a bit nervous about the CA glue getting into the veneer and causing blotchness under the finishing. Given how easy it was though, next time I may use it for the body as well. Here I'm wicking the glue in: The great thing about CA glue is that it takes almost no time to cure so I started to trim it back flush with a scraper. Nice shavings! Tomorrow I'll get it all scraped back flush, and hopefully finish sanding the fretboard.

Why didn't this clip ever go viral on Basschat Maybe 'cos he was palying a Rickenbacker?

It is well known (well, claimed by some) that ABs are not loud enough (broadly speaking) and require reinforcement. You will still, therefore, require a loud-maker. Also they tend to feed back a bit so you need a rubbery feedback-discourager thing to put in the hole on the top ... maybe an anti-feedbacker pedal, too.

A welcome return i reckon. You're never too old to be in a band even if it means an old farts band. Its still playing with friends and gigging always helps. I'm like you these days and a lot more relaxed about playing in bands. I've no delusions of fame and fortune or for it to be a full time occupation. Its just a bit of fun with like-minded mates. We mistakenly took on a keys player this year who was in it solely for money. He was upfront from the start but he didn't fit in along with the rest of us as we just love what we do. He's now gone and a dep in his place until a proper replacement can be found. I'm 59 yrs old and only got back into bands 9 yrs ago and never been as busy with bands and offers. Been with these guys approx 18mths now but took a while to get it off the ground for various reasons. In that 9yrs i've done the Prog, Classic, Blues, Blues/funk, 70/80 covers, tributes, done the clubs, caravan parks, private venues and few local pub venues for each band i've been in. Tried being in 2 bands at same time but just a bit too much time involved. I plan to enjoy playing in bands for as long as i can. You've nothing to lose really. Wishing you all the very best with your project and keep us posted. Dave