Leaderboard

So my downsizing continues apace. Bought an Ashdown 12" RM cab from @phil-m and paired with the little Elf I have recently acquired, it's just lovely. The sound is a match made in heaven and I very much look forward to hearing them in a bigger setting. And with the Zoom B1Four this is a great multi functional lightweight mini rig.

Yes! If you plug your phone (or whatever music source) into one of the 'CHAIN' inputs rather than 'AUX', then the input knob only controls your instrument volume making it easy to balance the two levels (with your foot while you're playing, do i really do that?), ie not fiddling around with a phone. Phone volume on a decent level, then 'ME' up full 'PHONES' to a comfortable level and then just add your bass to suit with the 'INPUT' knob.

Surely if you want to be a real Master Craftsperson; after you’ve used 80gsm printer paper, brown packing paper, rolled up clingfilm (when it tears wrong and you need a metre of it to cover a yoghurt pot), and then dandelion fluff, the real final step is to give every piece of the wood a good hard staring at until it damn well smooths, shines and flattens itself to perfection.

Yup keep mine all out on stands, I like to see them and choose them as I feel on the day. Eagerly awaiting some Ashdown goodies to keep them company too 😁

Perfect for Steinberger basses then.

The white non-x version is not too shabby either, just sayin' 😁

Decal on, waiting for it to fully dry then I'll seal it

The story of the Shadows celebrating 60 years, Friday 1st May 2130 BBC4

There is (seemingly unbeknownst to the seller) a rare 1970s Bunker bass advertised in the Netherlands, with a tension-free neck. In the only picture provided in the ad it is missing it's headstock (which is supposed to be bolted to the metal frame inside the neck. The outer wooden shell is just that: a shell. Interesting concept. Dave Bunker built the high end Ibanez USRG guitars and USATK basses in the mid 1990s. https://link.marktplaats.nl/m1543395287 Here's what it should have looked like, with the headstock attached:

If you have an old cow handy that's fine but it's a little wasteful of livestock. A whole packet of printer/copier paper is only a fiver... Cricketers. Cuh! This is just not cricket.

I've commented with my thoughts in a previous, similar, thread. My actual thought is it really doesn't matter, but, on the opinion that hanging basses by the headstock can't be good for them, surely simple physics says it's better if anything. My reasoning is simply gravity working in the instruments favour. The string tension constantly wants to pull the head towards the bridge, bowing the neck forwards as there is a slight cantelever action due to the angles. If you stand a bass on it's bum then the weight of everything above the bridge is helping those strings pull the head towards the bridge. If you hang it by the head then the weight of everything below the headstock shoulders is working against the tension of the strings, thus helping to keep the neck straight. In reality the gravitation pull is negligible compared to the much higher string tension so whether on a stand, hanging or laying down is all but irrelevant, but hanging cannot be worse. 🙂

Most certainly, especially after their very helpful and friendly attitude when FedEx managed to deliver mine to a house miles away. Drew from Kenny's was on the phone everyday keeping me updated on the progress they were making with the courier, despite to being only a ten quid sale. They're top of my list for whatever I buy next.

I'm intrigued by the 'relic' market, so I think I'm going to chuck my Precision in the ditch down the end of the garden for a while. I might then leave it in the road outside for a few days.

I can sympathise with that. Whenever I’ve been asked by beginners on any tips for learning bass or guitar I always say ‘don’t put your instrument away, leave it out on display’.

yes i beleive the octavius squeeser is as you say. There are other companies doing it aswell, chase bliss? there are probably others.... I now have a fully working prototype and controlling my strymon deco with it (yes i can see the irony). Im able to store 4 presets on 3 pots. So effectively its the proof of concept ive been working towards. Im currently in talks with a patent lawyer, and developing the next version that will be controllable via midi PC and CC, and able to store over 100 presets over 8 channels of controll (8 pots)

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I was bored, so I bought a body and neck, plus the hardware, to create a new P-Bass for my collection. P-Bass body and neck (with a fantastic neck pocket join. Gotoh "lollipop" tuners EMG active P-Bass pickup. Gotoh battery box Fender '58 True Vintage bridge Off-white pickguard Nitrocellulose lacquer: white primer, Seafoam Green colour coat, clear gloss topcoat for body and neck. I spent an evening sanding the neck to a super smooth finish, scraped the fingerboard to get it really smooth to the touch, rolled the fingerboard edges, and smoothed off the fret ends so that the neck feels really comfortable in my hand when playing. Grain filling the body wood was a real pain, but it's worth it to ensure that the colour finish is super smooth. EMG active pickups - did you know that they don't utilise an earth wire from the bridge as happens with passive pickups? I installed an earth wire anyhow, but just left the wire in the control cavity (so that it's there if I ever decide to change the pickup).

arrived this morning. Birdseye maple facings, ebony fingerboard I've had a couple of Wal's before (one second hand from the mid '80's, one that was new but not my custom order from the late '90's) and those never quite felt like they were "mine". Also, necks a bit on the chunky side. This one is most definitely mine, and the neck is unbelievably slim and fast. Plus, you know, it sounds like a Wal. Just all round gorgeous - now that I have it the two year wait seems completely worth it. Another reason to hope for the end of the lockdown so I can take it to a studio and play it through a cranked up amp And Paul and Philip at Wal were excellent to deal with - top marks all round. My boss thinks I'm working this afternoon. My boss is wrong

Just a bit of fun to help relieve the lockdown boredom. Be nice now - I haven't been doing this long! 😄

As usual there's a few ways and none are right or wrong as long as they work, it also depends on what type of paint you're using. In general there's two types of colour coat, basecoat which dries matt and needs lacquering, and topcoat (or solid colour, different folks call it different things) which dries gloss and needs no further lacquering. There's a lot less build with basecoat so less of an edge to worry about, but masking onto basecoat that hasn't been lacquered can leave marks so if using basecoat I'd first basecoat and lacquer the first colour, not masking an edge, let it dry, prep the entire thing again, mask for second colour using fine line tape (I'll get to that in a minute) and spray basecoat, whilst still wet peel the fine line tape off, let the basecoat dry enough to lacquer and de mask the rest, then lacquer over the whole thing sealing in both colours. Or if using solid colour topcoat (ie gloss) paint first colour as above, dry, mask for second colour using fine line, paint second colour and remove fine line whilst still wet, let dry. Then de mask and prep for lacquering (although it doesn't have to be lacquered) and rub the raised edge slightly if needed. Lacquer completely and let dry. Now, the fine line tape. It's a thin plastic masking tape, about 3mm wide, that you can shape around curves nicely and gives a much cleaner edge to the paint than normal masking tape. You mask up with normal tape just a smidge back from where you want your edge, and then finish masking with fine line last, so it can be removed without disturbing the rest of the masking. I always peel the fine line off while the paint is still wet as the build up on the edge will flow slightly and you won't be left with as sharp an edge as if you'd let it dry first. Leave the rest of the masking on until dry so you don't get any contamination from it in your wet paint. Then prep the whole thing for lacquer giving the join line a slight flat if needed. You don't want to try and remove the entire edge as there's a risk you'll feather the colour back, just smooth it a little. Then lacquer the whole thing. You can then flat the edge back after the lacquer has dried as well but doing the above will reduce the amount you need to, so minimising the risk of rubbing through. I hope that all makes sense but any questions just ask away.

On the firm's time, obviously

Also a vastly under-rated trouser fabric. 👍

Sorry - haven't got time to post, cos supper's ready

My (!) builder taught me that the finest finishing abrasive is a sheet of clean paper and I have used that several times to smooth off stuff. Check me out offering advice in the build forum!

Yep - using the angle cut jig to keep everything nice and steady - as it was a uke bass, the cut depth was about 60mm (2 1/2"?) I normally use baking parchment for the non-stick aspect, but had run out after a sudden need for fruit cake the previous week.........😜

I'm gonna guess that high profile players who already have a relationship with Ashdown will be inclined to favour and/or use them, as it will give them a single point of contact for the tools of their trade, however I've been around far too long to be impressed with 'celeb' endorsements, as they come and go depending on which direction the wind's blowing. None of which changes the fact that they're visually uninspiring rehashes of designs which have been rehashed thousands of times already, and which will have been done with better (and worse) quality a thousand times.

You are all very kind In terms of yesterday's activities, first thing I did was drill the tuner holes. Matt was happy with the compromise of strings bending at the nut to retain a more traditional headstock shape. I always draw headstocks full-size and only when I physically have the tuners at hand! Been there, done that! I then started the treatment of the neck. I will be using the Tru-oil slurry-and-buff method - fabulous for necks - but recently I've started using Danish Oil rather than Tru-oil (although I still use Tru-oil for the bodies). Reason is that I've found that over extended playing, the tru-oil necks sometimes get a bit grain-furry where they are most regularly used. All it needs is a quick rub down with some micro-web or similar to sort it, but I've found that decent Danish Oil applied in the same way gives the same organic silky smooth result, but appears - certainly on the ones I've done this way - to be just a touch longer lasting before you need to re-buff. The main thing I have found with both, though, is that the wood needs to have absorbed a decent amount of oil before the slurry and buff starts. I usually apply at least two generous coats of oil to soak in and fully dry first: And this is how it is this morning, dry and ready for the slurry and buff process to begin - probably starting with 400 grit emery to be applying the Danish Oil with. This is broadly the colour it will now stay at: Again, the light stripe of the maple veneer is subtle but really adds to the look of the fretboard join. I think @Jabba_the_gut 's builds were the first ones I saw using such thin veneer for demarcation - my previous ones used to be much thicker - so a nod of thanks to letting me pilfer that little gem : I'm pleased with the heel - it is the great, great advantage of through-necks, particularly with slim bodies, in spite of some of the challenges of doing them. Matt should find this very nice to play. Oh - and even with the tuners fitted and no body hardware...it balances! Phew!

With the Sessioncake deal, I now have another retailer in my list, that I was previously unaware of, which may be true for a good many others who bought one.

yes. No. A waveform is the same wether it comes from an analogue or digital source. of corse every piece of gear has its own sound, and this may stem from its ability to produce these waveforms "perfectly". Remember a square waveform is the sum of all the odd harmonics of a sine wave. differing amplitude/amount of any of these harmonics will result in an imperfect square wave. the same is true for a triangle/sawtooth wave but with different harmonics. there is no analogue sound processing in either pedal. most synth pedals are digital. and therefore run code/software. In a digital world, everything is done precisely. repeatability is unavoidable unless programmed in. that is to say, that the same input will generate the same output every time. Anologue circuitry generates the waveform as the circuit parameters allow. its kind of a living breathing thing, so the output will depend on a number of factors such as temperature, (humidity?), power stability, current supply, condition etc. older analogue synths typically have tuning stability issues for these reasons, and often have to be "warmed up" before use to make sure they play in tune. All of these characteristics are seen as desireable for many die-hard analogue purists. I personally find analogue gear does "generally" sound better and is more responsive to my inputs. But there are also drawbacks with analogue gear, as mentioned above, as well as as lack of presets which we are all becoming acustomed to with digital systems.

Rock N' Roll Radio is a good example. Now, I like Dee Dee has a bass player. He showed up did his job and did it well. Rock N' Roll Radio has a bassline that is not very Dee Dee like. The bass follows the melody instead of sticking to the usual root notes. Dee Dee wasn't really known for adventurous bass playing so maybe someone else ghost played on that track? Dee Dee could still play that line live with no problems.

I’m very impressed with mine, I even did a bit of iPad recording with it for a collaboration project. However, I had to use my Rob Allen (which has a very hot output) to get a decent line level and some proper low end. This has now spurred me on to order a proper USB recording interface (arrives today) but the ‘cake will remain as a practise tool because of it’s simplicity and silent operation. All this means I’ll reckon I’ll definitely be moving on my Phil Jones Cub once we can move around freely again. Much kudos to @krispn for bringing this to our attention in the first place 👏👏👏.

So the final piece of the collection arrived today, Fender Deluxe Precision, P/J configuration, active/passive. Had wanted a P/J in my fave black/black/maple but when I saw this one in pretty much my equal fave of white/black/rosewood it just had to be. Plays and sounds like a dream - am leaving it on passive as it just sounds so good like that.

The FI is great, fantastic machine and as @Quatschmacher points out it is a real labour of love and triumph for a small team of excellent professionals. Straight out the box you have fantastic sounds to use, and you can tweak. Source Audio C4 is hardly a monster, comes with 6 stock sounds, popping a new sound to the pedal requires about 2 clicks from a phone, tablet or PC, will hold about 128 presets accessible by midi. There is an open library where people make sounds you can freely use and if you want you can easily design your own sounds or tweak made ones, and unless I am wrong that is a synth. The whole PC editing thing is guff, some people will bemoan one software saying pedals should work without a deep dive but happily use another’s software. It’s there if you want to and not if you don’t, we barely scratch the surface of most tech we own and it’s certainly easier than the programming and code we were taught in school on ZX Spectrums, BBC’s etc. Loads of horses for courses

Hmm, there was a lot more to my post when I posted it yesterday. But other posts of mine from yesterday have also gone missing. Maybe I've upset someone. 🤔 I also said that the session cake has actual helped me pick up a bass more often. I leave a short instrument lead, phone lead and my headphones plugged in permanantly so I can just grab it and play bass anywhere I fancy sitting, especially in the garden.

really enjoying it, cant do any full songs yet but getting use to it and loving it, having to fit the saxophone practice in to, which i know isnt bass related but if you or anyone is interested, please check it out here:

I'm probably in a minority opinion here, but in my small sound company I've shifted almost all of our stock over to passive boxes and separate amps. You add a bit of pack space and weight, but you gain a little flexibility and, importantly for me, it's better for redundancy and maintenance. Whenever I've had an amp fail in a powered speaker, it's an expensive bespoke part from the manufacturer, often costing as much or more than the S/H value of the speaker itself. If I have an amp in a rack go down, I can swap an amp out for another generic item. If it happens mid-show, I can run more than one speaker off a single amp channel to get through the gig. There's less cabling mess on stage too, as all your signal and power stays localised in one spot and you only run speaker cables out to each box. With regards to monitoring - this very much depends on what your band are used to/happy with. Personally, when I've played pub gigs I've always just made do without, but doing function/corporate work I've always made sure there's proper monitoring on stage. With only two aux sends available for monitors, you'll struggle to satisfy a six piece band. You've mentioned that two of you use IEMs already. That leaves no monitor mixes available for the rest of the band. If that's an issue, you'll have to look at upgrading your mixer at some point - a popular low budget choice is the Behringer XR18, which gives you 16 mic inputs, a stereo line input, six aux outputs for mons, and a lot of processing options. I've got one in our stock and have it racked up with a WiFi router hardwired in and a tablet that lives in the case, and it's a very tidy solution for small gigs. Got to be honest, not a fan of coloured cables. Looks terrible on stage IMO. Colour coding the ends is one thing (or tape with a name/logo under clear heatshrink wrap) but I'd keep it black purely for aesthetics.

I’ve been very - no make that incredibly - impressed with the Player Precisions. Easily within budget, great playing, great sounding basses, and light too, I think mine must be less than 8.5lbs. Def worth checking out imo, and that’s from someone for whom the US versions are king.

Another one for passive speakers. You can pick up a decent power amp for peanuts but a failed active PA speaker can often end up in the bin. I'd also add that one of the best PA acquisitions in my band was a Behringer graphic equaliser which enables you to take out narrow frequencies that cause problems rather than losing a whole lump of sound around the problem area. Behringer stuff gets quite a bad press but we've never had a single problem.

My cat is now fed up with it. Thanks@Stub Mandrel 👍

Hearing test ?

So the reports from NAMM that some high profile players have placed orders is not a good indication that they will be at least OK? (there's a video somewhere with Mark Gooday talking about these at NAMM and he names them) People who could just phone up most guitar companies and get given stuff for free have chosen these basses... Just saying.

The list had lots of technically superb players of selective appeal but omitted lots of bassists whose playing has communicated to the masses. Is greatness playing lots of notes gracefully and with sublime skill or is it playing something which resonates in the hearts of millions all over the world?

Really appreciate it. The support all round has actually taken me back a bit. Had a little card left on the van yesterday to say thanks. There are loads of lovely things in windows and on doors to say thanks too.

Fu$k the haters! Rock'n'Roll Radio is an utter classic (and the bassline uses all four strings!!) And Rockaway Beach. CNot at all influenced by the fact I spent about six years of my life known as Joey due to a certain resemblance...