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What a legend @bassace After some chat online on one of his for sale threads he kindly (and for free including covering P&P!) sent me a custom clip he'd made for fitting his mic to his double bass. He didn't mind me slightly hijacking his for sale thread to ask about the clip and true to his word sent the next day. Fitted it and did some recording and it's brill. AMAZING! It just goes to show again what a GREAT place bass chat is and what lovely folks you all are. Thanks to all the mods for keeping this place running and to everyone for being down to earth decent chaps! Bass love to you all!

Update on my DIY disaster. Had the op yesterday (Thursday) and they told me that I severed both tendons that control my finger, so I certainly don't do things in halves, lol. They think it went well but can't yet say how much movement I will have until everything settles down and I've undergone lots of physiotherapy, but I'm staying optimistic. Thanks for all the kind thoughts over the past few days everyone, it's very much appreciated 🙂

2008 Les Paul Standard Faded. Bought in 2016 after I preferred it to any of the current Traditional/Classic/Standard line. The Standard Faded line is essentially a Les Paul Standard in a satin finish which was seen as a cost saving measure. Costs were also saved in the fact that no effort was made in terms of applying the finish. I think that my finish is ‘tobacco burst’ but I think of it more as ‘half arsed burst’. The Standard Faded line are a bit sought after in that some folk (i.e Larry Corsa) think that the satin finish has more resonance than the usual gloss finish. It may or not be nonsense but even so I really like the satin finish on the neck and body. I also like the ‘is it pretty or is it pretty ugly?’ finish. It also sounds great and is pretty light thanks to the weight relief (about 8.5 lbs). I used to have a Fender American Deluxe Toronado but sold it to buy the Mesa Rectoverb last year.

SG's are good...

So plan B is not needed. I was sorting out the refund with Mark when an email appeared from Lee. He apologised for the overselling issue but had found an almost new one I can have. Decisions, decisions.😉😉 Hopefully with me next week.

How dare you. I may have to offer violence over that. 🙂

I think it is a P bass and I know what you mean about the light entertainment stuff ! But I imagine for a forty something session musician in the 1980's the Ronnie Hazlehurst gig was a nice steady earner. A gig for life or at least until the death of the bandleader! Shame they didn't do The Two Ronnies theme, that's properly funky.

There is nothing shallow about having an appreciation for aesthetics. IMO there is something wrong with those who don't (or claim they don't) 😉

The Bronco bridge arrived this morning, so I've just fitted it and given the Kay a proper set up as the strings sit differently now. I removed the neck shim as it was half a shim so tilted the neck back and I was getting buzzing up the high end, also wanted to start from scratch with the set up. Filing the nut down has massively improved playability and even the intonation is pretty much there considering it's a two saddle bridge, G & D all but bang on but it's a balancing act with A & E, I've done it so the A is right but the E is a touch flat, I'll be less likely to be on the E string up higher. The action is a touch higher than I'd normally like but the G saddle adjuster is right down now so I'll let it settle overnight and if I think it needs it I'll put a full shim in the neck cavity to lift the neck without changing the angle. Thanks again to @Jabba_the_gut for suggesting the Bronco and @AndyTravisfor drawing my attention to the one on ebay. While I was working on it the sun was coming through the window onto and the copper pearl was looking really glittery, so a photo needed to be taken 😁, but my phone camera went mental deciding on whether to focus on the grain or the window reflection. Here's the bridge in place and a truer representation of the colour when not in the sun.

What it says on the tin.

Well. This is lovely. Woo. He’s ok - I’m sure he’ll end up quite a gifted player 😂😉

A genius, an innovator

The legendary 'better knob' 🙂

As my job was furloughed a couple of weeks ago I've been keeping myself busy with a couple of little projects and thought I'd share them. So far I've done some custom artwork on a pedal (which I've already shared in the effects section), re-purposed a combo that I picked up for £20 as a 1x10 cab for home practice use by removing the amp and building a new front panel and today I made a ramp for my Ibanez SRMS805. Pictures below but has anybody else been tinkering to keep themselves busy?

Edges glued back on

For the control chamber hatch, I take a sheet of paper and run my fingernail round the recess to make a template: Then cut the shape out of the offcut slice I cut a while back a mm or less oversize. And then just use a sanding block to gradually make my way round the recess until I get a clear but close fit: As long as I can keep this flat - which means applying the finish to both sides each time - then this should hold well with magnets, and ditto the trussrod cover. Other jobs done: fret ends rounded; headstock plate started being varnished. I'm quite close to having few enough jobs left to be able to fit the list onto a piece of A4!

Ayyyyy! THE Spondz, if you don't mind.

I've always loved the bass part on It Must Be Love, (surely another contender for the Wilton Felder thread). Dave Richmond is an excellent player (is he using a P bass in this clip?) , and I know guys have to make a living, but this Saturday night light entertainment stuff made. and still makes, me cringe! It's what my Dad imagined I'd be doing when I told him I was going to be a professional bass player. He was horrified when I told him I'd joined a Soul band based in Brussels.

I'll take the Ashdown then!

I took delivery of a Focusrite Scarlett Solo the other day (inspired by my initial recording attempts with the SC but realising its limitations) so here is that comparison you were after. All samples are dry followed with the SBP2 added, basses are: MM type fretless fingerstyle; J type fingerstyle; J type with pick; P type fingerstyle; P type with pick. As ever, apologies for the playing. EDIT: SBP controls are set: bass and vol at 12 o’clock, treble at 1 o’clock.

All just goes to show how a "nasty" sound soloed is necessary to have some cut-through in the final mix.

IMO unless you are strictly a studio or home player then looks are a very big par in making a choice. Certainly when I consider an instrument it goes in this order: 1. Looks I won't even bother trying it if I don't like the way it looks 2. Feel/Ergonomics 3. Sound These days there is so much choice out there that there is no excuse for finding instruments that don't satisfy all three criteria at almost any price point.

Slough trading estates and stacks of empty cardboard boxes 😆

it's been brought to my attention by PM that these basses may be shipping with pickups different to those advertised, and that appears to be the case here with the Split-P at least: advertised: Roswell PM-4A AlNiCo-5 split-P, which is not on the Roswell website. installed: Roswell PM-4 ceramic. advertised: Roswell MA-4 AlNiCo-5 MM HB at the bridge installed: Roswell MFR4-N/B, also ceramic magnets. This is a more powerful pickup than the MA-4, which may explain why it didn't seem as weak to me as other reviews have said. I'm told that Thomann will swap the pickups out on request if it's a problem. I'm not a pickup connoisseur, and given the budget nature of the bass, I'm not immediately bothered by this. I already remarked that the passive P-tone is powerful, and I like it so far. I'm definitely looking for a fat, powerful tone, given that one of my favourite bass tones came from John Wetton's P-bass during his 1970s King Crimson "Bass Beast of Terror" phase. But it's definitely something to keep in mind if your tone requirements are more specific than mine.

Just picked up the last OR-110 cab. Should work nicely with my Little Stubby 👍

just read right through this thread and the first post is the one I agree with most, Tom Morgan, brilliant songwriter, apparently simple songs that hit the spot, for me anyway. Overrated? tough one, I suppose it's artists you just don't understand why they're so popular, Queen, Bowie when he stopped collabarating with Mick Ronson are two that spring to mind

Why are people so cross with Ashdown over this? It could be bad business, the basses may not sell. But unless you're a shareholder, why are you so upset about it?

Over-rated: almost everybody but special mention goes for Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Snarky Puppy, Van Morrison, Jacob Collier, Modern Jazz Quartet, Rappers (all of them). Underrated: Me. Massively

^^^ The tune started out life on Waterman's solo album before it was used on 'Minder'. Mo Foster played Bass on the Minder session. He has documented this many times, including talking about the Bass he used. A Kramer, I think. EDIT: Here is the Basschat interview 'Rich' did with Mo Foster back in 2012.

@Osiris Thanks Sid. Some folk think I'm daft but peace of mind is worth more to me than a few extra quid 😎

By way of clarifying my thinking on this - firstly I didn't class Kraftwerk as over-rated - I put them in the "disappointed" category precisely because I AM a fan - seen them 3 times live, read the biogs, bought all the spin off band/solo albums etc. When I like a band I look forward to new albums/releases and really don't mind them going off piste or taking risks as a means to try and grow even if it is not to my taste - I just think their body of work is a bit thin - basically I'm disappointed because I feel they didn't fulfil their potential - I don't think they made enough good albums - it is tragic reading what was going on behind the scenes - so many disagreements and problems with producers leading up to the issue of Electric Cafe and The Mix albums. I think it's OK to neg a band so long as you try and give some reasons. On the under-rated part of this - I'm eternally grateful to other people who suggested bands they were passionate about that I'd never heard of - e.g. Nada Surf, Jellyfish, Popol Vuh, Steven Wilson, Courtney Barnet, Palehound, The Wondermints - and a ton of others that I might not have come across for a long time, if ever.

Please can you send me this bass so I can get a closer look. Thanks.

Just for you:

As above, you really want the twin cartridge filter type as a minimum, the sort of paper makes being bought up in huge quantities at the mo are just dust masks and won't stop paint fumes. The other problem with that type is they don't generally seal against your face very well, as you can see after using one when the sides of your nose around your nostrils are covered in whatever dust you were creating. On a lighter note, the correct gear is not good with this covid19 around for a different reason. Our house is up a lane (pedestrian) off the road, my workshop is the opposite side of the lane to the house. When painting three basses a couple of weeks ago I'd come out of the workshop between coats, as even with extraction it fills up pretty quick in there. Some people walked up the road to see me stood in the lane outside the house in full hazmat gear, white paper overalls, latex gloves and full face with hood breathing apparatus. They looked quite worried to be fair.

Miss this under no circumstances, watch it. or: Miss this under no circumstances watch it.

It's a difficult decision. On one hand go with the designs that people already play, but how do you make your take on it an improvement when most people are more than happy with the choices that already exist? On the other hand if you go with something completely different how do you convince the majority of very conservative musicians to accept it? As I've said before here and other similar threads I really can't see the point of offering something that is essentially very similar to instruments that already exist in vast numbers with almost infinite slight variations and the standard designs. Yes it is perfectly possible to improve upon the basic design of the Precision and Jazz basses but unless you do it and still sell it for less than the price of a MIM Fender, your market is at best going to be niche, in which case why not do something completely new and different?

Currently enjoying this one...

After I ended up hijacking the Bass Weight thread in General Discussion by revealing my GAS for a 5-string Ibanez SR30-something, and being kindly pointed to a couple of models by @Woodinblack, I had decided to wait for something better, mostly because I didn't like the look of the bass. This was Woody's suggested purchase. While I'm averse to 'burst' colours, I did like everything else about the bass (very similar specs to my beloved Warwick RB Fortress 5, and a bit lighter). So I waited, erm, about a couple of days, and then stumbled upon the same model and colour but way cheaper. So I said, to hell with it, and bought it. So thank you for steering me towards it, @Woodinblack! It's a very nice bass. I've only played a few minutes, as it came, and my impression so far is the following. Likes: - The angled input socket on the front that doesn't jam bass stands. - The reduced weight compared to Fortress/Corvette 5s. - The wider variety of sounds and combinations of sounds I can get. - The lack of neck dive. Dislikes: - The colour! Oh, well, I'm used to this issue. My NS NXT 5 is a reddish/brownish/orangeish burst too, as it was the only lefty available when I bought it. (I wanted a black one.) - The strings it came with. Very nice D'Addario XL somethings, but roundwound, which I hate. - The setup. While intonation is fine, string height is all over the place and the E string rattles. Not a problem, as I am replacing the rounds with flats and will have to start from scratch. Mega-dislike: The non-adjustable nut! Have Warwick registered ALL adjustable nut designs? Why can't other manufacturers offer their versions of a-nut-with-screws-that-lift-or-lower-it?? Grr. More to follow, pics-wise too, when I've made the new arrival truly mine. 😉😎

He does. Check this out!