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Mine is ready, just waiting for the matching 6x10 to be finished 😍

Hi guys! Well - it's been a ride... I started playing bass October 2018 after a long time playing guitars. Because of this, I am used to 'good gear' and knew I wouldn't settle for bad quality or an uncomfortable bass - I loved bass so much I ended up selling all my guitars and guitar gear to fund basses... The list has been long! I've had Spector, Stingray Specials, a Sandberg, Lakland, a Sadowsky MV5 and a couple of boutique basses like the Merlos I presented recently, a Sei I got in a trade or my ex-mine beloved Alpher. It's been a total of 9 basses in about 18 months, Jesus! Of all the basses I've had, the Alpher Mako (Jazz) and the Stingray Special 5 (Cruz teal, lovely!) have been my favourite tones and basses; I love a good punch and fat tones regardless or the genre but still with some zing and growl on the highs. Now that I am opening up to play not just my neosoul project but also want to get into an alt/hard/rock band, I ended up with this as my 'only' bass - and here it is! It's a Sandberg Grand Dark from sometime March 2020 equiped with the Darkglass Tone Capsule - this has the new pickups (TM plus, probs made by Delano?) that do give it an extra punch compared to how I remember the VM5 I had about a year ago. It would initially put me off to have a hi-mids / mids / bass preamp with no highs but to tell you the truth I don't miss them! I push them a tad bit in my amp to get my fundamental tone and I'm ready to go - boosting the preamp on hi-mids is plenty to do slap but without the 'hiss' or extra noise so I'm well happy - also banging feature - same volume either active or passive. Lastly, the musicman pickup splits to single coil. The wood department is alder body, hard rock maple neck and a gorgeous, nice chocolate streaky pau ferro board. Coming in at 4.15kg so defo well manageable! For obvious reasons I haven't tested it on a band environment but I do have to admit I love it, I feel at home with it's tones and should be one I'm planning to keep for a while! the finish is perfect and it is plek'd and all that - you know how Sandbergs do, I feel like this is a tier up compared to the regular sandys with the revisited pickups and new preamp...! With this, I am retiring off the marketplace for a while now (gosh, believe me it's been draining!), focus on playing and learning more. That doesn't mean I don't need a Line6 HX Effects to cover compressors and whatnot but hey, amp and bass is settled at last! Best, Ander.

I have a scan of the original interview in which this bass is featured. That price, though.....Brrr!! Steinberger prototype

Hi folks.. Here is my ibanez 2388b/DX, its quite a rare/early one according to our resident expert @Bassassin who kindly helped me identify it.. it has dot markers with 2 dots on 7, 3 dots on 12 and 2 on 17 instead of the usual crushed pearl inlays. Its completely original, just missing the pickup cover, everything works perfectly and it has a lovely feel to it and a wonderful tone with the flats it's currently dressed in.. Thanks for looking... D

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It's Lee's birthday today, 73 years old.

Reading that was a rollercoaster of emotions for me... Starting with temptation and excitement (opportunity), touch of jealousy (''he must be upgrading''), then just... SAD. Fingers crossed we can all get out and gigging again

My Specsavers appointment was cancelled due to Covid

All set for Tesco....

You bought socks on eBay? Where do you live? St Kilda?

No-one understands how Gibson tone controls work, not even Gibson...

You're welcome 🙂 Single coil P-basses and Tele basses are my favourites. I've built a few so have an idea what works and what doesn't. There's another couple of single coils in the early planning stages, if I can sort out the humbucker issue I'll knock up a Tele bass too. Don't give up hope 👍

Those are Eminence Deltalite 2510, first generation. They were superseded by the Deltalite II 2510 some 15 years ago. The first gens had heat problems, which was fixed on the second generation with a better magnet heatsink.

Well......! My new baby - I've just made a new topic on what's led me to it, more pictures and how I feel about it but spoiler: LOVING IT!

I’ve just got a TM5 SL and it’s the same on both counts.

Not being a tease - I've done a bit of flaunting and am happy with the result and so have started the finish coats. And for those, I go back & sides, then top & sides, which I repeat however many times needed until I do a final top & sides. So of course, at the moment, you can only see the first coat of back & sides which is now hardening enough for me to do the top & sides

I love the New York Ska Jazz Ensemble. That one wasn't one of their better offerings. If you like that kind of thing, go have fun with them! Here's another cool one:

So I’ve put third coat on, let it cured, and then first coat of penetrating oil and pics are after first coat of high gloss oil. Still wet. Matching headstock. To be honest, after replies of you, I’m starting thinking about it😂. Will see😉 anyway...anybody has left handed precuted black nut for 5 strings Corvette? Or even blank one? Got only white bones ones. I’ll buy it. And now is time for some fretwork.

This year's Big Fat South-West Bass Bash is provisionally re-scheduled for Sunday 11th October, circumstances permitting. However, we will all have to self-isolate for 14 days before and after that date (😉just kidding... maybe).

You should wear a mask if going out Dave

Coincidentally, there is a quite well-known eBay purveyor of basses whose instruments should prove ideal for this purpose 😉

I get a lot of clothes online. I had no idea I was quite so decadent!?!

This has a 5/4 intro although they switch to 4/4 pretty soon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzqoqzSZkPs

An admirable ambition; I wish you all the best with it. I've little practical experience myself, but Our Eldest is setting up his own modest luthery workshop, so we have some tips that might help. There's more to it than just tools; you'll need some space to work in, dedicated to this activity. A kitchen table might do, at a pinch, for a 'one-off' experiment, but a workshop becomes rapidly necessary. In that workshop, the most important tool is your workbench. Our Eldest 'cut his teeth' by making his own bench, in the most traditional manner, with his minimal tools (handsaw, chisels etc...). He took the time required to make a solid, usable bench to last his lifetime, and that alone has given him much of the impetus to take on the making of instruments. First advice, then, would be to decide on a dedicated workspace, and have a look at the options of fitting it with the bench you'll be needing. They can be bought, new or second-hand, or made from scratch; this latter is an excellent 'jumping off' point for getting familiar with some of the woodwork skills involved. Here's a photo of the bench he made... ... and a couple of his first guitar ... Hope this helps.

That’s such a well-crafted bass part. Really serves the song but some nice/interesting movement in the verses. He’ll go far, this fella..!

Thank you very much Seashell! I'd just turned 55 🙂 I'm developing some lovely callouses now, and I'm at numb fingertips stage, but I love learning bass so much. May I ask, are you also a mermaid (scuba diver)? Just wondered because of your Basschat name. Also, what music genres/bass make you favour. Bass has made me realise that my musical tastes go beyond blues rock - I have been dabbling with bits and bobs by David Bowie, Michael Jackson, the Rolling Stones (of course), Sting, Fleetwood Mac, and my teacher has got me doing the Rock School series, and I have learnt to keep up with Green Onions (needs refinement though). I would like to be in a group some day too. So many people just seem to get the proverbial carpet slippers out once they hit 50, but I believe age is no limit, and with determination people can find a way to do most anything. Good to chat, Take care of you and yours, Dawn x

It would be so much easier if you just posted a photo clearly showing the current state of the wiring.

Well the postman came and I now have almost all the parts I need. I will send pictures tomorrow but I now just need to connect about 26 wires. I hope I can get some sound out tomorrow.

I'd go for the original, meaning the Paul Bigsby headstock that Leo nicked when they were still mates. A bit more swirly and exaggerated and when people say 'That's not a Fender headstock' you can say: 'Well, actually...' then bore them shirtless for half an hour and when they black out from the tedium you can nick their wallets and spend the money on hookers and crystal meth.

If you've got it, flaunt it! * * - Except for Covid-19, obviously.

I'm currently building a 54 style P Bass and have ordered a McNelly pickup. I've used quite a few of Tim McNelly's pickups on Teles and a Jazzmaster so I'm confident it'll perform. https://www.homeoftone.co.uk/collections/bass-pickups/products/mcnelly-p-bass-single-coil-pickup?variant=19320967303 On another forum I was recommended these UK builders https://www.herrickpickups.com/products/tele-51-bass-single-coil/ http://www.bloodstoneguitarworks.com/shop/bass-pickups I've no experience of them. Here's a pic of the build so far.

I went to school with that 'Korean' guy. He is 57 years old and comes from Ystrad Gynlais in S. Wales. He was doing these party tricks in the early 1980s at the Ebbw Vale Garden Festival dressed as a gnome. He has that brittle bone disease that stops him growing. He even nicked that bass from Percy Jones's dad's shed in Llandrindod Wells, the little turd.

Hi all, New cab day today. Thanks to @krispn for the tip off. It's a little known make - db. The company produce the Elbee range and the more expensive Embee. Ok, so first things first. It's a 10" and 12" speaker combined in one cabinet - and its SMALL! They have saved height by angling the speakers themselves at around an angle of 45°. The upper 10" faces upwards towards your head (ears) and the lower 12" speaker faces 45 downwards. The cab is very well constructed. Very solid. A real strong metal grille (rather than cloth that some supply) and tough wood coated in tuff stuff paint. It's a really nice deep black finish and the logo works really well. There is an angled strap handle on either side. It took a while to work out why, but they're ideal for both a one hand lift and if carrying with 2 hands, it makes carrying ot a breeze. This is 4ohm version cab, which makes perfect sense allowing you a better chance of getting full power to the 2 speakers. That is one of the major gripes I had with the barefaced super compact - if it's supposed to be a one cab solution and handle 600w then make it 4ohm so most amps have a chance - especially class d amps. Weight wise it's an absolute doddle. The handles work really well with the weight distribution so it really does feel light. On paper it's only a few kg heavier than the single 12" barefaced super compact, despite housing an extra 10" speaker. I've had a super compact and this feels smaller, more compact. It's almost certainly longer but I like that as theres no way it feels it would get knocked over, unlike the super compact used too, but it feels smaller in every other way. Sounds - I've been playing with it all day using my Sire p7 v2 with daddrio exls, Quilter bb800 and helix stomp. The bass itself is a very bright bass. Plugging straight in to the Quilter produced a bright sound. A play around with the bass - tone rolled on and off and switching between p and j - produced some nice changes in tone. The only way I can describe the initial sounds were that you could tell they were coming from the speakers. By that, I mean that area specifically. Quite a focused area. After a while I decided to play with the amp settings. This is were the cab came to life. Rolling on a lot of bass (more than I would with my Laney n410) added the comfy bass pillow of a sub sound. Now we are talking! The sound was still focused, but it had the extra warmth around it. Making the cab sound much much bigger than it is. Being stuck in with lockdown and neighbours stuck in too, meant I could give it a real blast, but I did hit a few full power notes and the response was very nice. Very warm and full of character. I decided to try the highest note on the G string and it was bright and very clear. So to the angled speaker design. I believe this is designed so that the downward facing 12" produces the low end and the upper 10" angles the sound towards your ears, rather than the back of your legs. So, with that in mind I tried the cab from a few different angles. Standing around 8ft away looking head on at the cab was a nice full sound, quite rich and smooth. Standing right in front of the cab as you might do in a small tight gig (the type where you cant move) was really nice. No problem at all hearing what I was playing. In fact it did achieve its aim. It sounded like when you have a walk out at sound check and everything is really nice and punchy. Not muffled in the slightest. A great idea, well executed. Price - I think these are usually around £600. Thanks to the tip off I got this for £295. Which considering size, weight and sound is a fantastic deal. Summary - Its a shame it's still lockdown and I cant hammer this for a good few hours, but i think on initial first inspection this is potentially a great cab. It's well built, sounds great, lightweight, cheap, a superb monitor and being 4ohm and I believe it will be absolutely fine gig wise. I think you may need to feed it more bass eq than normal, ie the flat sound is very focused, but that's just the design. It wasnt bought to replace my 4x10, but its 9kg lighter and a lot more portable, so you never know! Looking at it the best way to describe the size is that it's probably the same size (height and width) as a boxed off standard p bass body (as shown in the photo). Full specs here: Impedance: 4 Ohms Speakers: 1x10” & 1x12” Bass Port: Bottom Power: 600W RMS Sensitivity: (1W/1m) 99 dB Frequency Range: 50 - 5000 Hz Input: Speakon Link: Speakon (for connecting an extra cabinet) Height: 53.8 cm - 21.18” Width: 34.4 cm - 13.54” Depth: 45.0 cm - 17.71” Weight: 14.6 kg - 32.2 lbs

That’s an outrageous first build! Looks fantastic. I’ve considered doing one of Jon Shuker’s courses but I suspect my results will look rather more hamfisted

How did you get it ? Seymour Duncan won't sell direct to the EU and their "International Dealers" link is a blank page. BTW my Bloodstone 29.9k version is in series too, never saw the point of a split single going parallel.

Agreed, it would appear they are repeatedly sending the same dodgy amp out.

I've got a PRS S2 Custom 24 and if you want the sound and playability of the "real thing" for less money than the core series they are excellent. They're made in the US, same standards, same QA, set neck etc, they just don't have the carved top (there are a few other minor differences as well). I had a PRS SE (are they still making those?) and it was nice but not a patch on the S2, which was why I traded up. I'm currently selling my other guitar (Fender Tele) even though it's good, because all I need is the S2, with the coil tap it's very versatile. You don't get the "ten top" amazing colours on them but I like mine, bit more understated which is fine cos I don't need to be drawing attention to my playing. They should be around second hand for £700 - £800 ish depending on the finish? Maybe less - they did some on solid colours that were about £1200 - £1300 new I think.

If it’s a P bass kit definitely go for the standard Fender headstock shape... Anything else on a P bass just looks wrong IMO.

😂 Great art should evoke a feeling of "please please please make it stop!", followed by enormous joy when it actually does... 😁😎 At least that's how I justify making such a terrible racket every month (*) *Though the real reason is to annoy Doug 😄

First coat of blue stain...

Here you go!