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I think, if someone likes one of your comments, or uses one of the other amusing emojis, you get a Watt. Its kind of a measure of your popularity......or not, in my case, been here for years, hardly a flicker.

After quite a few years away from playing bass, I've returned back to my spiritual home on the low end side of things, and I honestly couldn't be happier. Quite a few years ago I traded in my 75 Jazz as p/x on an SG (Yes, I know!) so have been pretty much bass-less since then apart from the time I borrowed a friends Encore Coaster to play a few gigs (including one on the back of a lorry in a field in Kilve, Somerset where Guy Pratt was there and played it backstage in the gazebo - but that's for another time!) Even though I've normally played a Jazz I've always hankered after a Precision as I really love the classic sound and versatility, so after shopping around for a while I took the plunge on a Tidepool Blue Player Precision. I've read great things about the new Player series and having played several MIM Fenders before I can safely say these are by far the best I have ever seen in terms of build quality, features and playability. The quality of construction is fantastic, very tidy indeed, the weight is really nice and the satin neck finish really caps it off. I was really taken by the Tidepool colour, as although I've always been a sunburst/rosewood aficionado, blue's my favourite colour and this particular hue is stunning - the maple really does look gorgeous next to it and the finish of the body itself is flawless. It's a 2 piece neck with the aforementioned satin finish on the back, but with a gloss finish to the fretboard which again looks really nice. Seems narrower at the nut than other P's I've played which is nice, and the neck profile has a reassuring but flat-ish feel as you progress up the neck making it really easy to play. The action is fairly decent out of the box but I'll spend some time setting it up over the next week or so - It's nowhere near as high as it looks on the side on neck shot below, must be the lens on my mobile making it look that way. I think Fender have got these Player basses absolutely spot on, unplugged the sustain and resonance is great with a reassuring throaty growl when plugged in. Now I need to sort a backline out! Here are some pictures taken with my phone but will try and get some better ones later on when I can. Feels so good to back playing bass 🙂

Just an update. Got myselfa Smoothie. Absolutely love it. Different enough from my 87 to be worthwhile having both too, so I'm very happy.

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

This is doing the rounds. But for those that haven't seen it...

Usually £12.49, looks pretty neat: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.planeth.gstomper&hl=en_GB

Alternatively, dab a spot of glue at the start of the bare string and wrap some excess silk from the end cut-offs of the string around it. A kindof bass player's equivalent of a comb-over!

I watched the Shadows program. I thought it was an interesting look a the music business at a time when British music was was just starting to find its feet. We went on to dominate the world from these small beginnings. It was an interesting time. Old music isn't bad music. Apache was my first 45, I won it in a competition at school. I played the grooves off that thing.

That's the 'problem' with these sorts of threads, one tends to think of bands that you don't like that are successful as over-rated, whereas they are only successful because to enough people they are making music they want to listen to. Referencing the posts above, I love Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters but I can accept that others wouldn't, whereas I cannot abide The Clash, Stranglers, Bad Manners, Whitney Houston ( and wannabees), but I don't consider these acts as overrated, they have very much deserved their success because they've found an audience for their creative output, it's just not me. The best thing about these threads is finding new material in other peoples 'underrated' selections, IMO. Happy listening everyone.

Never felt I got the best out of this until today. And you know what? All I did was use a pick. Insane the difference it made. I only just started learning to play with a pick, and thank goodness I've overcome that particular prejudice.

Headless 32 " scale with Nova headless system . EMG active jazz type PU and pre- amp. The core of the body is ash topped with rosewood and with a beech neck .Rocklite finger board and Dunlop strap pins . Light weight 7.5 lbs

Robert Fripp and Toyah - to an outsider possibly one of the most unlikely pairings you could imagine. But they're obviously doing something right - they've been together for 35 years. If they can still happily mess about like this then things must be really good between them 😉

aww fanks!!

GAS building to uncontrollable levels... Not sure how much longer I can hold out...This is the one for me.

The advantage of limited channels is the shared experience, eg Bowie and Ronson etc. Water cooler moments before water coolers were invented!

Yes, it’s a good show. The trouble is it clashes with the Craig Charles Funk and Soul show on R6Music which, for me, is the wireless highlight of the week.

Purchase 1 arrived yesterday. Damn good cab! Can’t wait for my next 3 deliveries 😁 Well played @Ashdown Engineering

She's quite wry and funny too, the antithesis of her Dad. You just have to get over the realisation that you're old enuff for R2

A lot of fine hip hop and electronica acts are underrated because all non-fans of these genres hear is the lowest common denominator cack that's played on the radio. For example, while mainstream radio plays 'EDM' dreck (Calvin Harris, David Guetta etc) it never gives airtime to a lot of innovative stuff that emerged in the 90s like Boards of Canada, The Black Dog, Amon Tobin or DJ Shadow.

Don’t think I’ve got the physique for that 😕 Not sure gut muting is a valid right hand technique...

I am not one for celebrities or famous people, but he is one of the few I would like to have a beer with

One of Willie's great comments went along the lines of; "I don't know why everyone is criticizing Lance Armstrong for taking drugs while riding his bike. When I was taking drugs, I couldn't even find my bike!"

Job done, thanks chaps

Never thought I’d be typing those words but has anyone heard her six o clock Saturday programme on R2? The playlist is quite unusual, taking in some rarely heard old rock and soul numbers alongside some quite weird stuff. Definitely worth a listen if you haven’t heard it before. Any fans here?

Oh sorry, I misread it, I thought it said Stig (of the dump fame).... IBTL

Hi there lowriders! This is Rob from the Netherlands. After lurking for a good year, it was time to step in. I've been playing guitar for 40+ years, but didn't touch a guitar for at least 8 years. Decided to start all over again, and made a switch to the bass guitar. Since a year and a half, I've been following lessons at Scott's Bass Lessons. Learned an awful lot, thanks tot SBL and a bunch of great teachers. Sold most of my guitars, and now have a Suhr Classic J, de Gier Soulmate P, and a Sandberg TT4 masterpiece in the stable. Ampwise, EichT900 and a Genz Benz shuttle 6.2. Cabwise, Vanderkley 112MNT and a Barefaced One10 . Thanks for having me here, in this great community! And all the best in these rough times we're going through. Rob

Unless they are Trace Elliot watts of course.

I routed the j bridge pup in today, and lots of hand sanding. Coming together. I am thinking of doing the neck in spalted beech as well? Whether it will be strong enough i dont really know! Maybe a couple of graphite rods? Think I will go with a matte black pick guard.

I don’t think that’s a shot of him playing. The hand is there to provide scale against the mini model of the Thunderbird bass?

We always get back to taste. This thread is just about who you like or don't like. I love Rush. They are my all time favourite band. Hardly over rated when they had to struggle for 4 albums before gaining any success, then hard work and graft for over 40 years gave them the success that they deserved. They only recently got inducted into the Rock n Roll hall of fame!

Just going to leave this here. https://reverb.com/item/33366388-harley-benton-sting-telebass

He’s a good egg is @AndyTravis

Excellent, excellent work sir. My one purchase feels somewhat pathetic now 🤣

A sort of grope suit with one of those deep bass vibration units that Bass Direct are selling installed. Would need to be machine washable mind you!

The other one i quite like is , smells like teen spirit.

The Aguilar arrived yesterday I’ve owned Aguilar amplification before, but not had one of their pedals initial impressions, built like a tank and really easy to dial in a nice sound Didn't get too much time last night, went straight to the up and down settings to check out each filter independently, very impressed! more time to play today And the tone factor is on its way for repair! T

We were an eclectic cover band. We played just about every style going apart from jazz. We even delved into Scottish traditional which is harder than it sounds if you don't know the songs back to front. I think my most enjoyable would indeed be reggae as the bass is the forefront.

Not sure WB is the best for contemporary music - country or 70s pastiche perhaps! But new music doesn't exist on TV as far as I can tell - occasional very mainstream stuff at the end of One Show or Graham Norton perhaps but nothing at all interesting. Even if it's only Top of the Pops it's better than nowt; I remember watching with bated breath when I was a kid just in case something I liked came on - the joy of seeing the Ruts, or Siouxsie, or the UK Subs was indescribable! And during the 80s there was all sorts; Rock Goes to College, the Tube, those BBC2 shows at tea time with Magenta Devine looking down her nose at those less cool than her. Now there's just YouTube - which has the disadvantage of keeping obscure stuff obscure!

Thanks for the shout, dodge_bass and co. As a bass player I’m usually at the back so this moment with the light on me was a rare pleasure. In truth the clip was from my parts bin and the postage was less than the cost of a pint. And who wouldn’t treat a fellow Basschatter to a drink. Here’s to the end of the lockdown when we can get out, go to some bass bashes and all meet up again soon.

Watched guitar heros at the BBC. Can't recall how many times I've seen those clips now. Whispering Bob is still around, bring back Old Grey Whistle test with some contemporary acts. Be better than whatever shíte Jools Holland is peddling!

And the winner is... BobBass4K..! Here, then, is your Winner's Certificate (download and save as pdf file, then proudly print and frame...) ... BC_Chal_Cert_2020_04.pdf ... which looks like this (but bigger, of course..!)…

Discrete, understated, tasteful and refined. Just a few of the words that might be low on the list used to describe that carnival of geetars! Seriously, that looks a collection that's really fun to own and play.

The B3n isn't an interface unlike the original B3 model, so won't help with recording.

Guy’s so slick that he can swap basses mid solo without missing a note 😁.

He shares the same birthday as Klaus Voormann who is 82 today.

Incredible thread(sic). I'm genuinely amazed that this is a thing.

My short-scale journey started with a couple of '70s Gibson Les Paul Triumph basses back in the day and has led via various SGs and stuff from Maruszczyk, Squier, Ibanez, Spector and ACG to this unique pair. You may already have seen the build diaries AndyJr posted. The natural walnut 'Mervyn' came first (re-bodied Fender Rascal) and has been my main gig bass ever since - I just love it to pieces. The more recent black 'back-up' started with the original left-over Rascal body that Andy re-shaped and used as the basis for a Merv clone. While both are probably keepers (Merv certainly is), I've still got a few s-s boxes to tick. The obvious ones are a Fender Mustang and a Warwick RB Corvette - although more recent stuff such as the SBMM Ray are finding their way onto the s-s bass bucket list.