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"I remember I'd get up in the morning. Sue someone. Check in the papers that I hadn't been fired. Go to the office. Sue someone. Pick up the morning's writs. Sue the bank. Go out for lunch. Sue the restaurant. Get back in, collect the writs that had been received that afternoon. Read the papers. Phone the papers. Sue the papers. Then go home. Sue the wife." An extract from "A Day in the Life of John Hall" by John Hall. Available only in Hardback. Price - £1,800.

So looking to be GAS free for 2020, I decided to buy myself a new bass this week. Since I’m going to not be in a band soon, and for quite a while I think, I want to expand my range of playing and styles, and also not be solely a Precision player. So I’d been looking out for a Stingray in my favoured black/black/maple and fortunately our very own @tom1946 put one up, so did the deal, and it arrived today. Plays like a dream, am very happy with it though I can see already it’s going to make me play differently, which was the point really, less hamfisted hammering away, a bit more relaxed playing with more dynamics. Oh, the beauty in question, well as below.

Just ran a raffle with just your name in the hat Weirdly, Rick 4000 won it....

Pound to a penny she's called Sue M. Hall.

Looks wonky. £10 and a packet of pork scratchings ought to see you right... I need some wood for my chimnea... STUNNING

Funnily enough that's what my wife never refers to me as 🤣 Nailed it. Notation is a language, just like any other - you have to get a firm grasp on the individual syllables before you can expect to string words together with any degree of fluency. Books like Bellson etc do this in a systematic way, which is why I'm such a fan of them. Anthony Vitti's Fingerfunk Workbooks are also great for working on rhythmic lines in a more musical context than a strict rhythm reading book.

I used to drive past his house in Chiswick. I'm sure I saw him waving at me from behind the curtains.

Think I might put my foot down and insist on the original 12 bar version... it is my birthday do we're practicing for, after all!

The real irony is, if it wasn’t my bass I’d be secretly hoping that the OP wanted to sell it so I could buy it

On a more serious note I can understand your quandary completely. No matter how beautiful it is or the amount of work done to repair it your personal experience with this particular bass has nonetheless been jaded. It’s really very little to do with the physical item itself, It’s much more psychological than that. I actually think you need to ignore all of us and see if you can reconnect with it, if you can then great, but if you can’t I don’t think you shouldn’t worry. Our relationships with things as personal as musical instruments is finely, finely balanced. Good luck Sir.

Especially not you. You'll be straight down crack converters to fund your next fix of 'plaster' Jamas 😜

Nah. None of you lot deserve it

For everyone drooling, it's even more beautiful in the, erm, wood, so to speak. A work of art that is also a musical instrument. To the OP, keep it and play it: only you will know if it's a keeper after that.

Can't read it on the headstock! love it Yamaha BX-5

It’s back home. Been a long journey. I’ve opened the case and had a look so far - that’s about it. It’s as good as it was before if not a lot better - you just can’t tell it’s been sick and at the hospital. So... Basschat world. Do I keep it or move it on??

Wonder how many “copies” are out there? 🤭

Well, it's tipping it down and I still have a few hours to decide the least worst option before having to brave the elements to vote...so what better way to lighten my mood than to hack away at @scrumpymike 's neck (yes - bass neck, of course) I'll go into a bit more detail for @durhamboy 's , or anyone else nervous about tackling necks, benefit just in case there are any tips that help. First - and this would not normally need to be done - I took off a little of the bulk at the heel. For this project it needs doing anyway, and the less of the heel I have to sand back when I'm re-tapering the more even the sanding is likely to be. I then used a straight edge to pencil the revised taper - 0mm at the nut up to 1.5mm at the heel. (odd shot because I forgot to photo this!) : To speed up the process a touch and because I have a Shinto rasp file capable of doing this I used the rasp to head towards the line at the heel, where a disproportionate of the bulk lies. Do NOT do this with a conventional woodworking rasp - the metal of the frets will wreck the file. This whole process can be done using just a sanding block and emery cloth - just takes 20 mins or so longer: A couple of tips: - it is worth removing some of this bulk, because when you are sanding the main taper, running your sanding block up the length of the neck, there will be a tendency to over-sand the lower frets due to the heel area having much more wood to remove and needing many more sanding strokes than the thin strip of binding and fret ends further down - whether using a (appropriate) file or a sanding block, ALWAYS sand from the frets to the neck (so right to left in this photo) - NEVER the other way round. That way, the grit of the sandpaper or barbs of the file are always pushing the frets into their slots, not out of them. With the heel bulk reduced (but still not fully up to the pencil line) I then use a standard sanding block and 120 grit emery cloth to bring the whole taper towards the pencil line. I use emery cloth rather than paper because it is much more resistant to tearing from the sharp fret ends. If paper - or standard sandpaper - is all you have, no problem but be prepared to replace it frequently: Some more tips: - Press lightly at the nut end and heavier as the wood width increases towards the heel - check frequently your progress towards the pencil line - again. as you are running the block up the fretboard, either go absolutely parallel, or move the block from fretside to neck. Again, avoid inadvertently putting any pressure on the fret-ends that would push them out of their slots - use pencil or blackboard chalk to mark the areas you DON'T want to sand (in my case the nut and the neck pocket cutaways I'd already chiselled to size above. If the pencil/chalk starts disappearing, then you are at the limit. Here you can see I've gone a bit uneven - you see it against the line and by how much of the original fret bevel I've removed: Again, you can do the following by eye with your sanding block, but as I have a levelling beam, I use that just to ensure that the edge is perfectly straight: And all, done (took about 40 minutes overall), a quick line up check that the string runs are evenly spaced from the fretboard sides at the bass side with my straight edge lined up with the nut slot and the E string bridge saddle: And at the treble side in the G nut slot and saddle: So now I can get on with finishing the heel reshape and the tweaks to the neck profile. I'm pleased with the neck, by the way. When you start sanding and planing to get to see what the timber and frets are like. Pretty good in both cases is my conclusion

My main live rig is the GB 900 with a GB 8812 cab (a 12, 2 x 8s and a horn) - and I like it. But I wanted a smaller more 'hi-fi' option for 'unplugged' / lower levels, and fretless mainly. Looked at BareFaced a while and I know they are much loved, but just got a PJB 6b Neo. Wow, this is good. Happy now. I have a smaller head coming for the PJB but even before it arrives I think it was a mistake - the 900 sounds so good all-flat, and I can turn it down. The PJB is rated 300 @6 Ohm, I'll prob never show it more than around a hundred anyway.

"And I'm not allowed to count bars I should just feel it" - that'll be yet another guitarist who can't count and has no sense of timing expecting everyone else to fit in around him then. And it's goodnight from me.

I'd certainly say Gary's Spectorbird is a beautiful thing, but if there's one that I just adore it's this. The LEDs are insane and I don't even like Fenderesque basses.

Quick pic with the amp on top.

At the risk of sounding like blowing ones own on the most popular of bass forums, I bring you some news (which means a great, great deal to me) that I hope you will be pleased to read. I am super happy to have been invited on board and have joined the brilliant team over at Bass Guitar Magazine. To begin with I will be bringing you a column each month best described by BGM's editor in a recent social media post: "At the recent UK Guitar Show, a reader of Bass Guitar mag suggested that I run a monthly column devoted to solving bass players' problems, gear-related rather than connected to personal grooming or relationships, I should add. "A capital idea!" I said, and pondered who the right hack would be. Ideally someone who knows bass gear inside out, is an experienced writer, has the right facial hair and whose picture in the mag won't scare cows at 100 paces. I'm delighted to announce that the great Dan Veall is the chap who got the gig: you can read his first column on 10 Dec in Bass Guitar and 24 Dec in Bass Player. Round of applause for new bug Dan, team! "

Handbox R400 sounds pretty sweet.

No 😂

I say keep it. Its got some history now, but the work done to make it better than it was, your patience in waiting all this time, and the fact that its one unique looking bass, i would treasure it.

No way.. cheap processed rubbish!

Which brand of Scratchings?

I picked up an Alexis DM6 kit for my boy. Given the potential kids have for going off the idea I went used for 120 quid. They're one of those things that folk buy, play for a week then realise it's not as easy as it looks so pack it back up, so there's plenty out there, practically unused. My drummer, who has the all singing, all dancing Roland kit was really impressed by the build and playability.

1 - Shouldn't do. Active/Passing is typically a pad/attenuator (depending upon your preferred terminology). All it's doing is turning the incoming signal down by a predetermined amount of dB. 2 - Ish. When you turn the volume down, you are basically sending some of your signal to ground, some to the amp. Treble more readily goes to ground. Hence, turning down the volume also has the impact of turning down the treble. Active wise, depends on what the circuit is doing. So yeah, you'll be turning down the signal... but you *may* be changing the tone too. This is largely more noticeable on guitars than bass though. 3 -- yes. Depends on your bass though. If you exceed the headroom on the input, it will start to clip. If you run an active bass into a passive input and it still doesn't clip, it's all good. Some basses for example, are so hot, if you were to run it into the passive input, you may still not be able to turn down the input pot enough to stop it clipping... or you may not have enough variance in the pot between clipping and no clipping if you are right on the edge of the pots travel. Hopefully this makes sense?

There was a reprint a few years ago without the edges but it's proven nowhere near as popular.

I'll tidy up the heel when I finish the re-profiling, but the bulk removal has been done: Don't worry about the ropey finish on the body, by the way. It's had just a quick rough and ready sealing coat to stop the sanding dust getting into any grain. Once I've finished messing about, I'll be able to give the body a wipe over with a damp cloth to get it all clean and speck-free before putting the final finish on it.

I've read that book, first the bottom of the pages curled up, then I couldn't handle the action.

I got dragged up on stage once in a US bar a few years ago. I asked what we were playing. "Chicago Blues in G" I asked if it was different to a normal 12 bar progression. "Yeah. It's Chicago style" It wasn't. I just played with extra cheese anyway.

Bought another copy of Snow Goose for my wife's significant birthday last week, sometime in the last 40+ years we have misplaced it. Its been on permanent play for me since!

I've previously owned a TM4, TT4 (active) and VM4. All of my Sandbergs now are passive only. I found that the flattest sound from the 2 band pre was to back the bass control off from the centre detent by the tiniest amount possible. It kind of defeats the object of an active bass but that's the sound I preferred and is why I'm now passive only. The 3 band option didn't used to include a passive tone switch, not sure if that's still the case.

Have the booking taker killed. They won’t do it again

No! Don't take any chances with dodgy couriers. Collect it from the lounge yourself !

Sounds like the band leader is telling you he wants a short change, ie up to the 4th for the second bar. A long change would stay on the root for 4 bars before moving to the 4th.

And well, I may as well continue my reign of terror in this thread by posting Shuker 7 string's little sister too:

Replaced the neck plate with a black gotoh, replaced the bridge with a black gotoh. So. I need to find some decent pickup screws. And I want to check over the jack socket as it’s a barrel unit and it’s a bit on/off. I’ve taken out the battery box which will be stripped and resprayed. then it’s “finished” So I then decide what I’m doing with it.

You want to groove? Take a listen to listen to this. . . . . . . . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4XI6LXCsH8

The knobs had become very loose through years of use. I was looking for an upgrade so put a glock in not knowing that it was glock already in there! Oops

You may all be wondering why it took so long... well, apart from Jon repairing in between his normal work so as not to delay any of his orders (we agreed this up front), he sent me through a full list of what he's had to do to repair it. Y'all ready for this? 1. Made a jig to rout off the fretboard. The phenolic is extremely hard so was a bit of a job to rout it off the body without causing any damage to the rest of the guitar, so i made a kind of giant mortice block to put the bass in so the router could be supported from above, the neck be adjusted from beneath to get it flat and the same depth to rout from. Steady work but it routed off ok. 2. Made another jig to re-rout the recess in the body for the new fretboard, so it went in cleanly and a nice tight joint. 3. Sanded up the neck surface to remove any last parts of phenolic and sanded up the body centre. 4. Made another jig to support the router so i could rout away the fillet of wood that sits above the truss rod in its cavity. 5. removed the truss rod, it came out ok, the small piece of the head veneer that was above it broke away (thought it might) but i glued it back. 6. Clamped and glued the headstock break, it went back together pretty well, slight delamination of the polyester basecoat but main thing is the crack glued up well. 7. Routed the truss rod channel clean and made a section of wood to glue in it. I enlarged the channel so the new piece was only glued into new wood. Glued it in then planed and sanded it flush with the neck face. 8. Routed a new truss rod channel, installed the rod and a new fillet of wood above it. Planed and sanded it flush to the fretboard face. 9. Made a new fretboard. Sanded up the phenolic then machined it to the correct taper to match the board taper, cut it square at the nut and left an overhang at the end of the body, made sure it was a tight fit in the body recess. 10. Measured up and routed the cavities in the board for the saddle units, just part depth so i could rout them deeper once the board was on without using a template. 11. Cut the fretboard edge slots for the fret position partial lines. Inserted wood, sanded flush. Drilled and inserted the side dots 12. Used masking tape to mask off the surrounding areas then Glued the board on with epoxy. The clamp of course has to extend from the nut to the bridge. 13. Carefully filed back the excess of phenolic to the edge of the neck (only a slight overhang) and sanded it into the shape of the neck. 14. Routed the saddle insert cavities deeper, routed the end of the board to the body shape 15 Set the bass on a jig and sanded the radius down the whole board, went through the grade and finished with the buffing wheel to a semi-gloss. 16. Drilled the string through holes. 17. Sanded the whole bass, flatted the lacquer back then masked off the board. 18. Sprayed new gloss lacquer over the entire instrument. 19. Flatted lacquer back and polished. 20. Cleaned up the board edge and then rolled the edges. 21. cleaned the nut slot and made a new nut. 22. Reassembled the bridge units, hardware back on and wired up the bass. 23. Strung up, cut the new nut, shaped, polished and glued it in. 24. Set it up and adjusted. 25. Noticed an earthing issue with the east circuit, so sorted that. 26. Made a new truss rod cover. It seems I really did gone and bust it proper big style...