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Just before we were sent into our houses for the foreseeable (big shoutout to those key workers who are out making the world go round), I bought myself a Squier Classic Vibe 70s Precision bass. I had sold a Squier Chris Aiken bass last year that I had modified with EMG GZR pickups and really regretted it, so it was time for another. I wanted a P bass that I could leave in the back of a van or not worry so much if it gets knocked or, to a lesser degree, nicked. I've got some great basses but it's hard to relax when you've got a couple of grand on a stage in a dodgy venue! I needed a 'cheap' bass. So here she is... £339 from A Strings in South Wales. They had two in stock, this and a brown one. The brown one looked cooler on the Internet but the black looked better in real life and this one played better. I also wanted a bit of a project - I enjoy taking guitars apart and wanted my new bass to be different to everyone else's. So I decided to set myself a bit of a challenge, Top Gear style (but without the laughs and million pound budgets). A cheap bass challenge it was then. I gave myself the challenge of spending 10% of what I paid for the bass on each upgrade - maximum of £34 per modification. I'd been looking at P bass pickups and the prices you can pay are crazy - you can easily spend 50% of what I paid for this bass on fancy pickups alone, so I thought I'd try a few budget conscious options out. First to go was the bridge. The bass played very well to begin with, but I've always had a problem with the thin, bent metal bridge that Fender supplies on its poverty instruments. I find they wobble a bit in the saddles and don't feel secure. So I ordered a Fender High Mass bridge from here -> https://mickleburgh.co.uk/shop/fender-jazz-bass-p-bass-brass-bridge-assembly/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItePq_P7q6AIVQbTtCh08ZgWEEAQYAyABEgISgPD_BwE for £34. I wanted to see if the age old forum rumour was true - does a bridge increase sustain and improve tone? To find out, I recorded myself before changing the bridge and after. (Soundcloud link at the end, and no it doesn't!) The new bridge made the bass feel a lot tighter, and better screwed together, weirdly. It also added some weight to the very light body and helped it sit a bit more nicely on a fabric strap. It's a quality item, with well machined parts and no sharp bits. Intonation was easy to sort and it required very little saddle adjustment to get the bass playing nicely again. I'd recommend Fender's Hi Mass bridge. In terms of sound, I didn't hear any difference. See for yourself in the Soundcloud link below. The notes don't sustain for years like people say and the tone of the bass remained the same. I never understood why someone would want a bass that sustained for ages, I've certainly never found any use for 2 minute long sustained notes... yet. Happy with the bridge, I decided to try some new pickups. The pickups that came with the bass were a pleasant surprise - they had character and a nice output. The tone control was useful and helped tame some top end but it could also let the bass 'bite' when you wanted it to. I decided to change them just because I had some free time and I was curious. I had acquired a set of Seymour Duncan SDP-1 pickups courtesy of @shoulderpet. They arrived really quickly and I set about carving up my bass to try them out. They needed a little soldering, but I fancied a challenge. Unfortunately, I was only getting sound out of the E and A strings. Upon going through everything with a fine tooth comb (and a magnifying glass), I had realised that in trying to solder a connection from one half of the pickup to the other, I had lost the end of the winding. I had probably lost it when I put some heat on the solder point and it had slipped out of it's hole and gone missing. Bugger. I shelved those for now and I ordered a set of Entwistle PBXN pickups to see what the fuss was about. Whilst I was waiting for them to arrive, I decided to shield the insides as per @la bam's awesome thread on his John Deacon bass. I had noticed a bit of noise when I wasn't touching the strings previously so thought why not. I got some aluminium tape and went to work on the gizzards. It's a surprisingly therapeutic thing, putting foil tape in the pickup cavity, but my attempt did look a bit like a 5 year old had finished it off. I put some on the back of the pick guard and we were done. This was the tape I used, a whole £4.09 - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fixman-190288-Silver-Aluminium-Adhesive/dp/B00FHXA7TE/ref=pd_nav_hcs_rp_2/258-0320931-5931511?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00FHXA7TE&pd_rd_r=abbd6043-4e0b-4aae-9843-e48fde7dfe81&pd_rd_w=LHmq1&pd_rd_wg=TIXYi&pf_rd_p=12e82a50-703f-4e6f-ae56-e22f8e18f1f0&pf_rd_r=M0X9MJ3HJM004AQ0HFH7&psc=1&refRID=M0X9MJ3HJM004AQ0HFH7 The new pickups arrived from Pickupsplusmore on eBay (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Entwistle-PBXN-pickup-for-bass-guitar-neodymium-designed-by-Alan-Entwistle/233364897542?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649). First thing's first, these pickups are DEEP. The screws that go through the pickup go pretty much the entire height of the pickup again underneath. I had to cut the foam that kept the original pickups secure in half and put them either side of the screws that hang down. After a quick test with a tap from a screwdriver and happy that they worked, I tried to refit the pick guard, but as is well documented on here, the 'ears' of the Entwistle pickup cover are bigger than the originals. IMG_3912.HEIC Luckily, I had the Seymour Duncan pickups here which I salvaged the pickup covers from. Popped the Entwistle ones off, put these on, and the pick guard fit. Voila. I'm not a badge snob by any means (in fact I'm a bit gutted not to be representing a British guitar legend), but the Seymour Duncan covers look cool and the Entwistle pickups are superb. Using neodymium magnets obviously gives these pickups an increased output, but they can sound aggressive and menacing or they can chill out but keep a fat, smooth sound. There's more of everything - every frequency seems to have been turned up by 4 or 5 notches. Playing with these pickups reminds me of the first time I plugged my old MiM Jazz into my friends Fender Bassman 135; it made my bass sound higher in quality compared to playing through the shitboxes I usually went through. There were deep, rich overtones and each note left my bass beautifully. I feel like that is what these pickups have done to this bass. I'd be impressed if they were £130, but they aren't. They're barely £30. Honestly, a brilliant buy. I recorded this bass throughout the (admittedly limited!) mods. I've uploaded them to Soundcloud with a fingerstyle, a slap line and a picked blues tune to give a bit of a range. The fingerstyle pieces were played with the tone at 50% but the rest had the tone fully open. There is no compression, no touching up (oh matron...) or do-overs, or even a backing sound. Just the raw sound of the bass with all of my mistakes after each mod. So in all, this bass has cost me: £339 - bass £34 - Fender Hi Mass Bridge £29.49 - Entwistle PBXN £10 - Seymour Duncans (that I ruined, sorry!) £4.09 - Aluminium Tape Total = £416.58 I'm really pleased with everything, and all upgrades cost no more than 10% of the bass. I've spent around 23% of the bass' new value modifying it. God, lockdown is fun, isn't it?

I think my Special is around my 10th Stingray I’ve ever owned to date. It is by far the best and sits great in the mix. Love it!

New stingray Special in whatever finish you want, so that’s 2018 onwards. Roasted Maple, even better neck now, 18v and neodymium magnet pick ups, however many band EQ’s, H set up only. Its the absolute nuts - there will be some second hand stuff under your budget so the rest can be sent on pork scratchings and sweets.

Ive just got this in a trade, its bloody good! Needs some nice flats on but plays and sounds great. Oh, and the colour is lush!!!

So, here's how it all started. Having played Kala acoustic U-basses for a few years, I decided that I would try and build a solid-bodied version to the same short scale and with the same 'rubber' strings. Being also in posession of a full size ricky, this was to be my inspiration and starting point. Bear in mind that this is all retrospective, as the build was completed last year, but I thought I'd put the pictures and thought/build process up in case it proves inspiring or helpful to anyone else...... As such, I'll trickle the pictures and info in when I have a few minutes here and there, rather than just dump the whole lot on in one go (its not like I'm particularly busy currently.......)

Perfect for his workshop.

To Hell with that! Did you succeed? Did it work? What does it weigh? How does it sound? What do those knobs do? Why is it that colour? Is it any good for metal?

I might have accidentally put deposit down on another Dingwall 😎.

This is more than decent https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/233555292036 This is very nice https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184213713839 This too These are where I would put my money

Currently listening to pre-release review MP3s of the new Kansas album, The Absence of Presence. The album’s not actually out until the end of June. Tell you what, it’s a bit good!

That's great, but this is still the definitive version IMO and a great bass Tone (keeping it on topic!)

As my job has been furloughed until the end of May but I also received a small bonus today, I have purchased a little something to keep myself entertained with. A bargain at £250 from Facebook marketplace but sadly not local enough to collect whilst out shopping so here's hoping it survives DPD bringing it to me.

Well when I’ve helped out mates when they’ve started out I’ve tried to get them to concentrate on fretting on one string at a time - say go from the 3rd fret to the 5th, and repeat 4 times, then go 5th to 7th, just to get used to fretting properly. Then repeat this on each string in turn, so then getting used to the feel of each string. Once comfortable with that go from 3rd fret on one string to the 5th fret on the other. Small steps but once comfortable with fretting when you start on songs they’ll sound so much better to your ears without any mis-fretting.

It's a 16th-note shuffle, which you would write like this: It's also an octave higher than you have it. Joe

Impressed! I've only ever managed one bass at a time.

Can’t share pictures as it hasn’t been built yet. It’s blue and it’s got 5 strings 😜

I’ve just realised I’ve dumped myself out of the GAS Challenge 2020 😬

I’ve previously had 80’s - modern Rays, 2 band and 3 band. For my taste, I’d recommend buying one like the HH Special I own now. The others are still great, I just feel this suits what I like better in a bass (ergonomics, awesome EQ and versatility).

I need two basses as I gig so much, if one goes wrong, I need a spare. Do I need a spare like this? Maybe not. But I'd like to have two nice basses, either of which I would be happy to gig 😊

I love how messy it sounds isolated, yet in the song it's spot on.

Indeed yes. If my memory serves me correctly did you not own a Westone Spectrum II at some point. I owned one, it was my first bass, it was complete garbage.

Always loved Willie Weeks sound on all of this album;

Stuck my pedal board in front of mine yesterday; glorious! That Sadowsky SBP2 really is the bee’s mid leg joint.

That would be the Series 4000, with the composite bodies. They were available in black, but they had J-style pickups and were bolt-on and you can clearly tell the neck pocket from the front. They also had much simpler controls than the S2000.

Find another late 80's StingRay.

no mid switch on mine tho......

I’ve had a couple of 3 band Ray’s, plus a Classic and a Special. All are good but (IMO) the Classic and Special are both a step above the standard 3 band Ray in terms of tone (which I found too raspy on the 3 band). I prefer the Special over the Classic due to the 18v tone circuit, neck profile, body shape and weight. The Classic is a great bass but if I was looking to buy another Ray to go with my Special it would be another Special. YMMV of course. 😎

Absolutely extraordinary work. Thanks for sharing this project with us. Reminds me of the children's story of the ugly duckling. You should change your name from Maude to The Alchemist.

If we're talking about volume, the biggest factor is the efficiency of the cabs. I run a 300w head, and if I use both my BF cabs, it's ridiculously loud*. I mean drummer-drowning, ear-protection, stoopid loud. Numbers of watts can be a distraction and nothing more... * In fact, it goes nearly as loud with just the Super Twin...

@Dad3353 posted a really great link for you. I agree with his advice that spending a bit of time reading up on basic theory is going to answer all your questions (and more). I just took a look st the website he recommended and it's perfect for you, reading these chapters will give you the knowledge you seek:

Your '87 sounds great, why do you need another one?!

I was at an EC gig at Portsmouth Guildhall back in the days of TOTP. It was a Wednesday night and the band were still in London recording the backing for the next might's show (I think Nick Lowe was depping on bass too). He came out on his own and did about an hour before the rest of the band arrived and they started again.

New patch:

It’s the chord produced that’s minor. Just using those notes from that major scale and producing a chord starting on each note you produce these chord types: C major7 - C, E, G, B D minor 7 - D, F, A, C E minor 7 - E, G, B, D F major 7 - F, A, C, E G dominant 7 - G, B, D, F A minor 7 - A, C, E, G B minor 7 b5 - B, D, F, A Same chord types in any major scale. Just the roots would change. Get a pen and paper and write out the notes from the C major scale, across two octaves. You take alternate notes, so 1 (root), 3 (third), 5 (fifth), 7 (seventh). Do that from each note and you’ll see what I’ve done.

It's all back together and almost set up. I've used a threaded saddle type fender bridge fixed in the old holes and it has intonated just fine, so I'm not sure why the previous owner said it wouldn't. I've used a threaded saddle type so that I can pop the strings over a touch to give a more suitable spacing, but as I thought, that tends to pull the saddles outwards when playing. I have plenty of height adjustment so I'll cut a groove in the saddles where the strings need to be and then make a groove in the base plate (some have this anyway) for the height adjustment screws to sit in to stop the sideways movement. It's not a huge amount but it's annoying. The trussrod was out of adjustment but a washer behind the adjuster nut fixed that and has pulled the neck back nicely. The nut which was a righty, then cut for a lefty, now being used as righty again, is now sitting higher due to the coats of paint on the neck so the slots will need filing down which means I can file to the correct size and not have to replace the nut, again it's not a lot but will bring the strings down and hold them in place again. The action is pretty good at the moment and once the nut slots are sorted it will play nicely. The tone pot does practically nothing so will be replaced at a later stage. All in all I'm quite happy as, although it needs a little fettling, it is going to intonate properly and play decently with a nice low action. I've also picked up a suitably cheap looking strap which fits with the look.

I cut the frets to length and detanged the fret-ends. Lucky break - the little bit at the bottom is all I had left off the coil... When I'm fretting, once I've run along each slot lightly with a triangular needle file, I run a small bead of Titebond along the tangs,then hammer them in (one side, other side, middle) and then pop a clamped radius block on while I'm preparing the next one. And, after the glue has fully cured, the fret-ends are snipped and edges sanded and we have a fretted fretboard Next job is the headstock while I wait for the trussrod to arrive

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Little by little. This is my hobby and usually is interspersed with a lot more 'life' stuff. With the lockdown and building a guitar on a bit more 'doing something everyday' basis probably makes me realise how much work there is involved in one! But - in actual terms - decent progress. This morning I have tapered the fretboard to it's final size and rough-tapered the neck: Next job is probably putting the frets in the fretboard. Nowadays, I do that before gluing to the neck - easier to handle, easier to keep stable for hammering and clamping the frets and MUCH easier for getting the fret ends square and straight with the fretboard edge.

All done, best playing jazz I have had. Probably because it P shaped!😁😂

@Jakester, it sounds like you are trying to mute with just one finger - by doing this you are creating a node rather than stopping the string from vibrating, and this is what is creating the harmonic. To effectively mute you must use at least two points of contact (for LH muting I generally use the underside of all my fingers, depending on context) to stop the string dead .

The speeches will be over at 9pm sharp and then you're on. We're expecting over 1,000 people. Just start, I can sing it in any key. Can my mate do a number? He's really really good.

I need to have it this loud to get ‘my’ sound.

'We're definitely coming to your gig on Saturday'.........