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Just a wee update. Op is on 19th March. Hopefully be playing again after 6 weeks but will probably take a few months to get up to speed. Enjoyed playing some Yes tonight, Long Distant Runaround and Yours is No Disgrace. They are going to be my tracks to get me back up to speed after the op. I hope it happens.

In my ignorance I had to look that up. I was expecting it to mean something along the lines of 'of or relating to naff garden ornaments.' But according to the online Cambridge dictionary it means 'short, mysterious and not easily understood...' which sounds like a succinct yet comprehensive description of my very own being. I feel a change of user name coming on... And a pig.

The stylistic differences and intellectual hinterland would suggest not. Well, that's a disappointment. I was hoping the two parties would strip naked, oil their rippling torsos and settle their differences wrestling on a rug in front of an open fire. As men do.

My 1st propper serious purchase for a good long while and so, Let me tell you a potted histooooooooooory. It's the 70's and we are all punks, just plug and play! I hated being the bass player for a long while, but being the youngest, all the cool instruments were taken by the big kids. I hated that effing Columbus.. but the selmer bass amp in Croc skin I would like back now please. thank you. I had to sneak into our 1st gig round the back door and played behind the drummer... I was 11 years old. The other guys told the promoter I had dwarfism.. I feces you not. The 70's ended and I could actually play a bit better, and had Larry graham and Boosty fever, then Mark King came along and the Bass Centre in Wapping... what could go wrong! The 80's were a weird time, I wore chinos, braces and a tie to rehearsals..5 years before that it was leathers and a red mohawk. It was the summer of 82, and brought my 1st real 4 string.. A Red Vigier Arpege serial 002. SH from Coda music for about £500 iirc [deal of the decade] Slapped the actual feces out of the 80's..... and then... The 90's happened, and things went from baggy to grunge and i swapped, yes swapped the Beautiful Vigier for........ A beat up Hofner a SH Gibson LP mk1 and a 1975 Orange super bass with matching 4x12 [deal of the decade 2] P-Funk, Nirvana and Ledzep ahoy! Start your own recording studio Ahoy! Bands and music! ROCK AND ROLL! and right on cue - I lost my mind. Then after some r and rehabilitation Some real life feces happened and I ended up on skid row playing percussion on a 1999 Hammerlin wheel barrow for money... Its now 4 kids and 30 odd years later I still have the 92 Gibson and the 63 Hof, and I decided that playing the bass was way better than not. So I got match fit and began to play in bands with drums again last year. All the time thinking of the beautiful Vigier.....The gibbo is good, but she is no lady. Joined Bass chat 2018 spent a ton of money on pedals... All the time thinking of the beautiful Vigier... some real beauties came up, all too pricey, all too graphity or new and none red enough... 😞 Then miracle of miracles! needless to say, i was skint... but as luck would have it my very great friend who is richer than I [and wearing the hat in picture 2] became my saviour. And now after driving for hours in the wind and rain, braving the plague-19.. I am the very proud and smiley owner of Red Vigier Arpege 126...and original case, one owner from new a Mr Theo Scipio [google him] Gaze upon her! ..................... Gaaaaaaaaaaaze! ♥️♥️ Simply Glorious.. TLDR? After looking for 2 years, I brought an epic bass from an epic dude.

This arrived yesterday having bought it on the net from a store and advertised as preowned. I haven’t owned and played a short scale bass for very many years and my last was a ‘66 vintage Gibson EB2. Most of the time since then I’ve played long scale 5 string basses and still do. i thought this may be fun and really light for those days when the shoulder ache nags. Judging by the state of the neck relief when it arrived, flat and choking around the 7th, I doubt this had actually been preowned, but perhaps buried in the warehouse. There isn’t a mark on it, but the gig bag looked and smelt filthy, straight in the wash! So a little time working on the truss today and the floating bridge ( a dreadful idea, how do you get the height right for all the strings?) and it’s playable and intones correctly if with a relatively high action. I think the nut has been cut wrongly so the G string is a little too close to the edge of fretboard. Will get a replacement and see how that is. Pickups are fine, kicking out a pretty strong signal, the short scale hasn’t caused me any problems when just noodling and I’m pleasantly surprised that the 15mm string spacing hasn’t tripped me up. (My 5 string basses are 19mm and 16.5mm). The logo is an inlay, which I think is better than the original which were silk screened initially and then a plastic stick-on badge. Some tea cup knobs would be nice and at some point before too long - flats. It weighs a ridiculously light 2.4kg (5lbs) but doesn’t seem to suffer neck dive. So far for a cheap Chinese made instrument costing a fraction of the prices of my others, I reckon it’s pretty good, time will tell.

This is the first colour I've gone for. It's a 70s Vauxhall colour I've always loved called 'Columbian Brown' (readily available from all branches of Escobar department stores) with an extra bit of pearl gold thrown in to get more copper tones from it. I'm doing the front of the body and headstock in this brown/Copper and the back of the body, headstock and neck in a deep cream colour reminiscent of those 70s plastic Bontempi organs with the fan inside. It'll have a black demarcation line between the two colours. If it looks like I envisage it should look like a slightly classier version of terrible 70s plastic tat. 🙂 It's quite hard to photograph the correct colour as the pearl gold changes it from deep chocolate brown to a bright copper but here's an attempt. Also this isn't the finished paint, it's had no polishing, once the cream and the black line are done it'll all have another two or three coats of lacquer to lose the join lines between colours.

Whelp I guess that means we don't get to see any wrestling after all.

Sadly not possible as the guinea was only ever issued as a coin. A big, heavy coin. So that's better, actually

SHORT REVIEW: The basses finally arrived at Andertons in Guildford earlier this week, actually a couple of days ahead of the delivery date they gave me. They got four 5 strings in stock - two of the EHB1005MS model (multi-scale, solid colour, Bartolini pickups - one in black, one in seafoam green) one EHB1505 model (standard scale, Nordstrand pickups, pacific blue burst with poplar burl top) and one EHB1505MS (the same specs as the EHB1505, but with a multi-scale neck). On playing the 1005's, they both had one glaring issue - a really noticeable dead spot at the E at the 9th fret on the G string. There was another less serious problem: the neck pickup on the seafoam bass was flapping about loose (the screw had literally fallen out). They had only come into the shop that day, but it makes me question the standard of quality control at the factory and at the UK distributor. The roasted maple/walnut neck was comfortable, slim and fast, but the Bartolini pickups were pretty bland and lacklustre to my ears, although the Vari-mid 3-band EQ did help to lift the tone. So, slightly disappointed, I moved on to the more expensive EHB1505 basses. Tonally, they were very different from the cheaper models. The Nordstrand pickups had much more breadth, bottom end, mid and high end detail. They sounded good in passive mode, and switching in the preamp improved them even more. The panga panga / walnut neck felt a little more sleek than the maple of the 1005, although the general standard of finish was very good on all the basses. There were a couple of other QC issues with the 1505MS, however. The stacked mid controls were badly fitted so they were off-centre in their recess in the poplar top, and the outer ring was rubbing against the edge of the recess. The bass also rattled when moved around. On closer inspection, the sound was coming from inside the battery cavity. I took out the battery, moved the bass around, and a screw fell out! The 4 screws securing the battery compartment were all in place, so I can only assume a stray screw must have fallen in during assembly. Not a great place to have a loose piece of metal rolling around. They all shared another problem that may be more difficult to fix, for me at least. The range are well balanced, and also very light, due to the chambered bodies. With the bass on a strap, and the strap button position being above the tuners, along with the bevel of the upper part of the back of the body, the bottom of the bass tends to sit up. This makes the fingerboard easier to see, but forces you to bend the fretting wrist round a little more, which I didn't find particularly comfortable. More importantly, if you have a playing style that involves pulling on the strings (slapping/popping for example) the bottom of the bass lifts up and away from your body easily due to its light weight. One way to counter this problem would be to fit the strap button lower down, but the cutaway to accommodate the tuners, and the position (and size) of the jack socket makes that difficult. The strap would end up getting in the way of one or the other. The action on all of the basses was acceptable, but on the 1505MS I got a marked increase in fret buzz in two positions on the G string, indicating a couple of high frets. In the age of PLEK technology and high-tolerance manufacturing techniques, that shouldn't really happen, especially on a £1400+ bass. So all in all, something of a let-down. I'm a fan of this kind of design, having owned many headless basses over the years, and I like the concept of a headless multi-scale bass, but in reality it has too many issues for me to take on board. You may feel differently of course, but I'd strongly recommend trying one out before taking the plunge.

Clearly you're the seller. But for fun let's play along!!! The 'seller' was told politely by 3 people that it isn't a Classic IV and still ignored all advice and flat out refused to amend the listing. Now you (I mean the 'seller') are upset that they've been called out. If the seller simple said 'oh, yeah that's right' and amended the listing to be accurate everyone would be happy and he'd have the bass sold honestly in no time! Oh, and I'm not certain 8 hours counts as long term...

It's more the principle of the thing, IMO. When you pay someone to do something that's what you expect them to do. If I wished to engage a tradesman to come round and twang his banjo till he went cross-eyed and shot his filthy yoghurt into an amplifier I would tailor my expectations accordingly. Should said tradesman arrive and proceed merely to clean my carpets I would be as disappointed as I might have been had the opposite obtained. In any event, were I Teebs I'd be looking for some compo.

Let me get this right. Someone came round allegedly to clean the carpets and had one off the wrist into Teebs' practice amp? I'd leave a bad review on Checkatrade. It's only fair to other people.

Really? Hunts down a perfect stranger, buys stuff from him on eBay, sends him a gnomic message then joins a web forum to tell him he's done all this just to teach him a lesson? Sounds perfectly rational to me.

I last adjusted my strap in 1973. . . . . . . . . . !

Saw this Kickstarter video posted on Facebook and am still scratching my head thinking “Why?” I set my strap height on all my basses to where it’s comfortable some years ago and, unforeseen massive weight gain excepted, don’t envisage changing it again any time soon. I don’t think I’ve ever done a gig where I’ve thought, “If only I could have my bass at Mark King height for this song and down at Hooky levels for the next one...” A solution to a problem that surely pretty much no one actually has!

Overview: Developed during the mid '70s as an evolution of the former 'Super Bassman' and later 'Bassman 100' models, the Bassman 135 was released in 1977 and looked outwardly similar to it's predecessors albeit with a few revisions. The new model claimed more power with less distortion thanks to an ultra-linear output configuration plus extended tonal variations thanks to a new mid control on the 'bass' channel. Allied to the high powered 4-valve 135, a smaller, two-valve, lesser featured model appeared around the same time named the 'Bassman 70'. All models shared the late '60s 'silverface' cosmetics which had a silver control panel, blue printed writing and black skirted knobs. Sometime later, the 70 model was dropped but the 135 continued in production until 1983. There were a few cosmetic variations of the 135 over the years with the early eighties models being modeled on the mid '60s 'blackface' amplifiers. As for the cabinets, there were various models in the 'Bassman' range from compact 2x12" through to very cumbersome 4x12" with a few 1x15" and a couple of 2x15" enclosures. The enclosure discussed here will be the larger 2x15". It is a ported enclosure of 'average' double-fifteen size loaded with JBL 140 series speakers. They are vertically aligned unlike the smaller 2x15 which was usually supplied with the 50 and 70 watt amplifiers where the drivers are diagonally configured. The smaller cab doesn't give the flattest low end response as the box volume is very low whereas the larger cab is much better suited to the T/S spec of the JBL drivers. Most of the cabs of the time were loaded with 'Fender Special Design' drivers which were re-branded Eminence, Oxford, Jensen and Utah although the JBL units were available as a factory upgrade. Matching 135 grill by VTypeV4, on Flickr Features: The front panel is a simple affair with two channels labelled 'Bass' and 'Normal' - each have the same control set comprising of a volume, treble, middle and bass controls and two quarter inch jack inputs. The only difference in channels is a switch on with a 'deep' option for the bass channel and a 'bright' for the normal. On the far right, there's a master volume control and a 'jewel' style indicator lamp. On the rear, it's almost as simple starting with a voltage selector on the left, mains fuse and the mains / standby switches towards the centre of the panel. Next, there's two jack sockets for speaker connection although their labeling isn't quite as straightforward as earlier Fender designs which were just a parallel pair. There's a 'main' speaker connector and an 'ext speaker' both suggesting a minimum 4 ohm load. As I understand it, the 'main' one is a 4 ohm tap, the 'ext' an 8 ohm tap but when the two are used together, the switching jacks put the the connection in series so a single 4 ohm load, a single 8 ohm load or dual 4 ohm loads are correctly matched and even mis-matched 4 and 8 ohm loads are almost matched - it's all a bit complicated but the idea is a good one. The final jack socket is an unbalanced line out which is tapped from the output transformer - very handy for connection to a larger system or for recording - something I've used many times. Lastly, there's two recessed trim pots for setting of the output stage 'tube matching' and 'hum balance'.. The former sets the bias balance between the two pairs of output valves so they all pull the same - it becomes more handy if the valves are mis-matched although it's a nice feature to keep all four inline with each other. The latter of the two adjust the centre operating point of the heater circuit to keep hum to a minimum. 135 number ten by VTypeV4, on Flickr Sound quality: It's a classic Fender - say no more! The amp has a very much has a 'baked in' character with the tone controls merely being variations on a theme. To put it simply, it rather apologetically, sounds how it sounds. Whether it gets used with the Fender cab or any other of the cabs I have, it's vintage character shines through and rather unsurprisingly, it works best with traditional Fender basses too - my Squier Jazz works great. As to exactly what that vintage character is, it's pretty difficult to put into words until you put the sound into a mix at which point words like 'warm', 'fat' and 'it just fits' always seem come about. I do give it a helping hand to get a bit more of 'me' out of the rig by using it with a Yamaha NE-1 and a Boss LMB-3 although most agree, it sounds more like a vintage Fender with them rather than without. I should also mention that I 'jump' the channels together using both in parallel taking tonal benefits from both and generally making the whole thing sound a bit 'fatter' overall. I have used the rig for both live shows and recording sessions and for the most part, it's excelled. I sometimes feel I want to dial some extreme lows out but this is only ever at very high levels when using it live and suppose this compromise is part of it's vintage charm. Also using it live, the claimed 135 watts only go so far (even with the reasonably efficient JBL drivers) so sometimes the cleanliness at volume can be marginal with a noisy stage but having said that, I've never felt like I was under-powered either but as ever - YMMV. Where the rig truly shines is in the studio. I have the recording output connected to a DI box so between this and putting an SM57 on the cab, it's a great sound pretty much every time. When recording at my studio, for most genres, it's my go-to amp - pretty much everyone that has ever plugged into it has admired it's charms. With reference to the cab, the JBL drivers compliment the amp nicely and help to add a degree of 'thickness' to the sound. 140s don't have the efficiency or super bright edge of the famous 130s but they do have a solid low mid character and have much greater displacement capability which I believe add to the warm characteristic of the cab. Unlike a lot of vintage speakers of the time, the JBLs don't tend to fart or bottom out - they retain their composure at all volume levels and even by today's standards are still be considered to be a decent speaker. As a final note, the 135 doesn't outright 'drive' like other amps of similar vintage. Compared to earlier Fender amplifiers of the late fifties and sixties, the Marshall, Hiwatt, Ampeg, Vox ect, the Fender is very clean most of the way through it's volume range only breaking up right at the end of it's volume capability. Even the pre-amp stages of each channel can't really be pushed into overdrive until they're pretty much all the way up and even then, the breakup is harsh and not particularly pleasant sounding. The design engineer, Ed Jahns must have wanted clean and warm with minimal distortion hence the ultra-linear topology even if the claimed 135 watts RMS might have been a little optimistic. 803 Fender 135 b by VTypeV4, on Flickr Build quality and reliability: It's very good overall - I don't feel there's much to complain about. According to the serial number, my amp was built in 1981 so considering it's the best part of 40 years old and still firing on all cylinders, Fender must have done something right in the old Fullerton factory. The tolex / upholstery are well finished, the hardware including the handle still look original, the chassis is thick steel, all components look over-spec - especially the Schumacher mains and output transformers. Even the cloth and metal Fender badge on the front are still original. It has had some replacement caps before I had it plus I treated to new valves a couple of years back - JJ 6L6, ECC803 (long plate '83) and an ECC81. It has never missed a beat, popped a fuse or had any wobbly moments - truly rock solid. Buss bass by VTypeV4, on Flickr Bad bits: Not many other than the usual observations and compromises regarding 'vintage' equipment. To me, these include the fact that it's reasonably heavy (~20 Kg), the weight distribution is poor with the transformers being mounted at one end and centrally. The amp always 'dives' when it's picked up by the central handle. Also, it's not ridiculously loud compared to modern gear so it shouldn't be expected to compete like-for-like with something like an Orange Terror Bass 500 for example. I would expect the modern Bassman 100T and Ashdown CTM100 (about the closest current gear I can think of) will probably out perform the old 135 in terms of power and usable volume although their character is likely different. Lastly, being old it might require a little more maintenance down the road but having said that, I only changed the valves on principle - I still have two of the original US made Fender branded 6L6s . It's an oldie but a goodie! Bassman studio by VTypeV4, on Flickr Conclusion: It might not be for everyone but personally, I'm still very pleased with it 3 years on. It's limited with regards to what it will do and as I said previously, it's character is part and parcel of it. If you're used to valve amplifiers then this might be something slightly different (it's very different to my Trace Elliot V4 which is apparently based on Fender circuit) and if you've only ever plugged into modern SS amps, just try one as you might be surprised. New jj 6L6s 1217 by VTypeV4, on Flickr

1974 Mustang. The first bass I ever bought and still my favourite. Unfortunately my eldest has borrowed it on a permanent basis.

......push you Close to the Edge, surely? All the best Bassman Sam, you can see the whole of BC is with you

Last night at The Newt in Somerset, a new visitor destination. Hello Hopeville were invited to play at their Wassail event and other than being given our set times and a list of other things happening, had no idea what would be happening. We were told we would be playing in a Marquee, this massive one covered a whole courtyard maybe 30m X 30m and was open on one side. Full P.A., 4 soundies, wireless mikes, DI backline all sorted. We were asked to be there for 4.30 soundcheck, starting playing at 6.00 pm, all good. Before playing plenty of mulled cider, and food harvested from the gardens. 6.00 pm guests started arriving, all family and friends of the venue along with Morris dancers, Musketeers, Castle Carey Fire brigade (yes), and The Wassail King. Played our set of 60 minutes then the Wassail KIng started his ceremonies and a procession followed him to the Wassail Tree where various chants and songs took place. The Wassail KIng then led the crowd to the canons (yes) and the Musketeers fired rounds of blanks over the fields. This was followed by a proper job 15 minute firework display, then the fire engine played its siren and flashed blue lights! In the meantime we had an opportunity to go back and eat more of the food the guests had been offered which was a broader menu to what we had been offered earlier including lods of cider apple cake! More mulled cider but also loads of Wild Beer (brand) brewed just up the road. Back on for a 40 minute set and home by 9.00 pm! Well paid and the only downer was I decided to 'style it out' being the person nearest the open side of the marquee and did not wear my coat for the first set, temperatures were around 4C and I was freezing. Second set wore hat ,scarf and coat!

No it isn't.

@Kiwi all yours pal!

Good samaritans sir. Saving people from buying fraudulent items! I'd say we're more superheroes actually... maybe even gods?? What higher than a god? We're that. 😁

I've witnessed bare knuckle boxing in a barn in Somerset about three years ago, and it was a sorry sight to see men goading them on in such a barbaric fashion. And I'm rather ashamed to say I was party to that goading, two men fighting as I saw in the barn that night, naked as the day they were born and fighting the way God intended. Wrestling at points - I don't know if you've seen "Women In Love", that marvellous scene by the fire. It kind of resembled that.

Errr, this may be a stupid question, but how would you know the bidder's ebay ID if you weren't actually the seller?

I'm available too. My right hand will do melodies, improvised solos and chords, making one guitar player superfluous. My left hand will do chords, melodies and solos. That does away with the other guitar player. My feet will do the bass part. No chords and certainly no bass solos, so we don't need a bass player either. Things are cheap with me in your band! PM me for details. PS My portable electronic organ does have an advanced rhythm box with programmable Feel, Groove and Swing...

muscle memory is great, until it isn't.

I decided to take a few days off and went in to Cardiff with my wife today and called in to PMT. They never have best selection of basses, but the newly arrived Fender JMJ Mustang in roadworn black caught my eye. After trying it (beautifully built, sounds amazing, plays easily and comes with a spare black pickguard) and with a bit of negotiation, it was mine.

French Corona Virus Solution.mp4

I’ve always really liked the look. I’ve had three of the Squier ones. They work particularly well with pedals I think. The first I played a bit then sold. Then I had a notion of adding a stingray type pre, so I brought a second and added a retrovibe “stinger” - that worked pretty well, but once I’d satisfied my curiosity I sold it on. I still like the look and saw a guy in Spain making replacement pups using p type magnets and wire so I got it and brought a third! Added a KiOgon loom - it’s good! Has a nice focussed sound with the pup being a bit closer to the bridge. I also put a threaded bbot bridge on as the high mass type always seemed out of proportion. Never seen a MIM Fender one second hand, but would be tempted I found one.

Just one big happy family, always there to help and support whenever needed. I just love being part of it. Dave

Had to have a thumbrest...

thanks for all the best wishes. Basschat really is a special place.

The situation is that you have a repetitive bassline to-do, which involves some movement but in short loops (so not dacota or something), say a ska bassline or, quite often (in fact almost always) I get this in Billie Jean. In Billie Jeans case, your left* hands job is just to play the same 8 note run on just 4 notes, Gb Db E Gb E Db B Db, over an over again, until you get to the chorus for a little break, or the singer remembers its the end of the song. So you tell your hand to play that, and it goes off and does it. And then, the 357th time it has to do it, it decides to do something totally different for no readily apparent reason, or just completely forgets how to do it and completely throws you, because you are not really thinking about it anyway, by then you have normal gigging thoughts like 'you better not spill that pint on my pedalboard', 'did your parents really let you come out dressed like that?' and 'yes, your singing voice is lovely, why don't you start your own band'. I suppose that is why it happens, but it can be really offputting. Does anyone else get this? * other hands are available if you are built backwards

This is (I think) quite rare also. Ken Lawrence Brace 1 /5.

I'm going to design some t-shirts with the slogan 'Plywood Is Not A Sin!' I like to think of it as a scruffy little street urchin who's grown up and turning his life around. 😁

A little bit of Yes will certainly push you to your limits. All the very best with the op. Sure you'll be back hammering those YES frets in no time.

Stratus, Billy Cobham...used to also do the same riff for a Massive Attack cover in another band. I love both tunes dearly but I do question if I have some kind of attention deficit when doing these type of tunes as the OP suggests. This theory was further tested when momentarily nodding off in the middle of playing Aswads ‘Good Thing Going’...waking after about 2 seconds shuteye was like a moment out of Quantum Leap...suddenly I had this bass guitar in my hands and a dancing crowd in front of me, WTF! ...and I had 2-3 Espresso Martini’s before the gig. Thus proving a stimulant cancellation in a self diagnosed attention deficit...I should have become a Psychiatrist I think ....what were we talking about again ???🤣

Well perhaps you could offer to throw guinea notes at them along with cheerful encouragement and suggestions? This should not be difficult for a man of your vast resources and reputation.

Funny how finding these lumps of wood, metal and plastic can mean so much to us. Your back story and pics do one of the best jobs I’ve seen on here for a long time in bringing this journey to life. Some people think buying basses is a matter of life and death, I assure you it’s much more serious than that

Made a little video about the difference between a Mustang and a Precision.