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Love Lee Sklar, he’s decided to do a play along each day to show you his parts on his recent 'Not Dead Yet' Phil Collins tour. Day 1 - Against All Odds.

We're overdue a post on both so I thought I'd combine them for absolutely no reason.

Last Friday I bought myself a new gig bag. I’ll write that again so the stupidity can sink in. I bought myself a new gig bag.

Carol Kaye, the most recorded bass player in history....and made some seriously useful educational content with her books, I made my own version of a two bass duet from her book "Electric Basslines 2"...now I am off to practice "Games People Play" which is transcribed in the same book...I may be some time...

A cover of “You Got It”?

Did I hear you right?

I've spent quite a bit of time getting the neck pocket right. Quite tricky as the wood is of uneven thickness either side of the pocket and is wavy! As such, getting a router to produce a nice flat surface at the right angle was a bit of a challenge! In the end, I finished it all off by the time honoured method of using school chalk to identify the high spots as mechanics do on metal joints with Engineers Blue. The added challenge is the brittleness of the wood - if the chisels aren't razor sharp, any cut will ding off a chip, particularly on the edges. The result of this was a couple of chips at the edges of the fretboard end where it partially sinks into the top. With things like this, it is a case of either hide it or flaunt it! So I opted to flaunt it. I tried a number of options with some black grained veneer cut out with scissors from straight infill: To an angled infill, with the grain matching that of the headstock (it will be wenge and so will match both the headstock and the pickup rings). To an angled infill, with the grain direction matching the pickup rings: Difficult to see on these shots, but in real life this last one looked the best. So sharpened the chisels again, honed them, tested them with the 'remove the hair off the back of your arm' test and cut the shallow chamber for the 2mm wenge to fit into. Cut some matching wenge and glued it in: So the body is now ready to start finishing. And while I'm doing that, I'll do the final tweaks on the neck profile and sort the trussrod cover (a smallish one in matching wenge) and then it's just a case of waiting for the hardware from Tom's supplier

Agreed! I picked up a SB-2 last week in sonic blue and haven’t been able to put it down. Does everything I want at a great price. I’m sorely tempted by an LB-100 but gonna have to wait a while if I do get one. pic of SB-2 just for self indulgence. (Really hard to capture the colour)

I noticed that I was getting a few marks on Marilyn (my blonde beauty) from belts, jean rivets and other bits of clothing so I asked a friend who is a very creative seamstress if she could make a bib for the bass. After some searching on the net we decided that the bib that Christian McBride sometimes uses would be a good one to copy. Mine is made of two layers of black velveteen and was custom made to fit my bass snugly, the two ties hold it securely in place. So far I have been using it daily for a week or so and it hasn't moved or wrinkled at all and it does its job perfectly. I use it at home and band rehearsals and may use it when we ever get back to playing gigs.☹️ Now if only I could find something that makes my playing sound like Christian McBride...😉

It's obviously a very testing time for everybody, and to try and help out I see that Zoltan Dekany (monster electric and double bass player as well as being a superb tutor) has made all of his courses and lessons free for the next little while. They're all on his bass education website https://www.zoltansbasslounge.com/ and there's material for electric bass and double as well. Like I say, he's a great tutor and his double bass courses gave me a great start to what was a new instrument to me.

How about - Jethro Tull, Living in the past

This is a complex issue - mainly because forum sales between private individuals usually involve the buyer paying in advance. In the business-to-business world, the INCOTERMS of a sale that includes insured delivery are referred to as CIF (Cost Insurance Freight). This works because the risk remains with the seller up to the moment when the goods are successfully delivered - and seller knows that his customer won't pay until the goods are received as described and undamaged. With forum 'CIF' sales, although the risk theoretically does not pass to the buyer until the item is delivered in good condition, in practice the seller has no incentive (except his/her good conscience) to help the buyer if something goes wrong in transit - and, having already paid, the buyer has no leverage other than a) appealing to the seller's better nature (!?) or b) resorting to some kind of legal action. Obviously, as most of us know from experience, Basschat buyers and sellers are mostly decent folk - but not always, as I found out once to my cost. My preferred model, whether buying or selling, is for the buyer to arrange and pay for delivery. If I'm selling, the risk passes to the buyer when the item is collected from me; if I'm buying, I retain maximum control by choosing my preferred delivery company and being the customer they must answer to. I say 'maximum' as opposed to 'total' control because, of course, it all falls down if the seller hasn't packed the item properly.

Here ya go

Yes, quite right and a great player, as you say I even sold Glen a Fender bass neck once after he bid on it on Ebay. Trouble was he lived in California, so to my astonishment, he sent his friend and Tull drummer Clive Bunker round to my home to pick it up and take it California with him when they next met up

I generally avoid any "buyer arrange shipping" ads. OK it takes 5 minutes to book a courier but it can turn into Me "is Monday good ?" Seller "No,Wednesday would be better" Me "OK. That's it set up" Seller "Cheers" 5 minutes later the seller's other half reminds them they are taking the kids to the dentist on Wednesday 😮 If it's Wednesday morning before the other half reveals the dentist appointment. Seller "Sorry mate,courier was a no show. Waited in all day." Sellers are in a far better position to know their whereabouts and availability for collections.

Hi all , working a new on the EVO-FX5 .... decals applied... stay safe

It's worth the extra £1500 for the logo upgrade alone.

It's a magnificent collection, often overlooked because it wasn't an 'official' album as such, but there isn't a duffer on there as far as I'm concerned.

The lb100 tributes are quite solid, thick basses. But in a quality way. They also look a lot better in the flesh than in their photos. The natural is stunning. I believe (but I may be wrong) it's all the usa hardware, but it's just assembled overseas.

Assuming you have put the data into Winisd correctly then what you end up with should be close to the predicted response. When manufacturers rate their speakers frequency responses it is only really ever a rough guide, the bottom end is affected by the cab they do the measurements in, often if you dig into the notes they will tell you how it is measured, They may even have just calculated a figure or used F3 as the lowest frequency. In your cab it will be different. At the top end it becomes subjective, The cone will break up at higher frequencies and the response becomes uneven, sometimes very uneven. Sometimes they give the -3dB point sometimes -10db, sometimes something else. This speaker will make a sound at 4khz and much higher too. It's easy enough to make an 8" speaker with decent output at low frequencies. A heavier cone and soft suspension lowers the resonant frequency, what you lose is efficiency. Ultimately you can't have loud, deep and small. If you look at 8" PA cabs you'll find they come out at around 113db maximum output which is what winisd is telling you this will do. There's no reason this won't sound good but it's going to do so at practice levels. Build your cab and enjoy

Times like these, what you want is a P with rounds and a J with flats. 😲

Would the honourable gent like a PJ with a jazz neck, and plenty of knobs to twiddle on? Would you Sire?

I did both, I put one of my favourite jazz necks on an old P body I really like , and fitted a tonerider pickup with a kiogon loom , and with Labella LTF’s , it sounds great. But normally I’m jazz all the way 🙂

Bob Geldof is starting to appear on TV, no doubt to advertise the very few Boomtown rats dates that could be remaining after the current problems possibly subside. If anyone has a face you want to punch, it's him. Even more so than Piers Morgan 😆 Okay, got that off my chest. Thanks.

No. There’s no one I’d sooner punch than Piers Morgan.

Selling a bass , i guess the seller needs to do everything they can if they want a sale. On the otherhand, it maybe that buyers needs to put themselves out too, if its a bass they really want. Just sold a fretless to a lovely BC member, who was fine with arranging a courier. I didnt want to post because i had no hard case. Buyer sent his own hard case acoss, i packed it ( very well packed ) and buyer did the rest. We were both happy. Go figure..

In simple terms, I'd rather not ship a bass because there is a risk it will be damaged in transit, so will ask for collection in person. If the buyer can't collect it in person, he is welcome to send a courier to collect it on his behalf. I'll happily help the buyer with all the details needed and be flexible for collection and I will package the bass to the best of my ability. But my responsibility for the condition of the bass ends once the buyer collects, either in person or by courier on their behalf. I honestly believe this to be the fairest way to do remote selling as a private seller.

Current home set up ✌️

I have dug out this Line 6 Pod to amuse myself tho while there’s no chance of any other musical interaction, paired with my little practice amp. I know nothing about effects so have been just pottering, but some decent bass synth squelchy sounds and some good amp simulations etc. I’ve had the manual knocking about for years. Except now. Now it’s gone into self isolation by itself somewhere.

You had me worried there, I thought it was Bono doing a coronavirus charity record or something.

Collection only is hassle free, and thats what some of us want. Having the extra bit on the end can make a hassle free sale more complicated, and some chose not to want that extra responsibility. Buyer arranges that bit is a half way measure. Seller gets the hassle free part, buyer pays the same anyway, and also has the option of paying a bit less if they want to skimp on a decent courier or thinks the seller is making a bit on top etc. Everyone still wins. What’s not to get?

Nice Bassline

I’d love to see the full gallery! Not on FB though!

Why do some BC sellers insist on buyer arranging courier? Because they can. The goods are theirs and they can specify collection by buyer, buyer to arrange courier or whatever else they want. If you don't want to buy what they're selling, that's your choice. The fact that Amazon offers free delivery doesn't mean a private individual must.

In terms of finish, I've always found this one from Ibanez quite beautiful.

Good call. I'll just pop out and buy one... ah.

...the old skool kind... Get you where you need to be...

Ted, what are you on ? And....err, can I have some ? 😵

I've always liked Barry Adamson's work with Magazine...

Shuker 'Uberhorn'

Glenn Cornick wasn't it?

I don’t know, I have not written it yet. 😀

Best get a Yammy BB then. They have passive aggression in their PJs down to a fine art.

I'm pretty sure they are every bit as functional as any other bass, and there are videos of them on YouTube, and they sound pretty damn good to me. Personally, I find these designs far more interesting and aesthetically compelling than the typical bass designs that's just a minor variation on what Leo Fender designed more than half a century ago.

We could all have been spared that photo, and we would be happier. Here's one of a Marleaux Diva, sight for sore eyes.

It has stopped me purchasing quite a few basses here over the years. Like you say, Clarky, it’s unnecessary grief to be a buyer sorting out these details, particularly from abroad, before you and the seller can commit to the purchase, packing and collection and before you can even pay the guy.