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There is absolutely no point AT ALL in getting a double shouldered strap, that does not let you do this:

Just for you tony

S'gonna cause a fuss when GuitarChat realise that they've been left behind (for now..?). Edit : Should have thought of having BC on one side, GC on t'other. Double the market for the one product..! No, no need to thank me; cadeau.

Send a few to Scott Devine = great advertising 👍

I'm in! Looking forward to getting some Asschat.co.ukb strap locks!

Opening up the Trunk of Funk.

I'm going to veer away from the herd and say cone size does matter. It certainly isn't the only factor and not all 12's sound the same or give the same maximum output but for reasons of simple physics a Venn diagram of bass speakers would show much more overlap of 12's than that between 12's and 10's or 10's and 15's. It's just to simple to say either that all 12's are the same or that it makes no difference. The biggest factor is cone area. Speakers move air for a living, the size of the cone is directly related to how much air you move. Ultimately that relates to the maximum volume and efficiency in turning watts into decibels. Sure you can lighten the cone or use a bigger magnet or tweak the coil, magnet geometry or the cone suspension to get more out of any speaker but each of these in turn affect other aspects of the sound or the price, usually both. You don't really need the physics to check this out, go on the Eminence website and check and at any given price bracket you'll see increasing speaker size tends to give you more dB/W, a lower resonant frequency, and the frequency response rolling off a bit earlier. It won't be universal because speakers will be designed for different purposes but the overall trend is quite obvious. There is a bit of a sweet spot around 12's at the moment though. Speaker technology changes slowly and most of the advances are in materials rather than new principles which haven't changed in 95years. A typical12 will handle about 300W at about 94-97dB/W that's just about enough to match a drummer at rehearsal and to work as a personal monitor on stage. Add a second 12 and you'll get an extra 6dB which gives you room filling potential for audiences of around 1-200. (sensibly at this point letting the PA take over some of the heavy lifting makes much more sense) Single 12's are really quite portable and even a 2x12 isn't a problem for most of us. For most of us a couple of 12's is the most practical option and covers us for pretty much any eventuality. Of course not everyone plays in a rock or pop covers band so needs are different and for some people tone trumps everything. The advice to use your ears and try before you buy is the best advice but starting your search with a couple of 12's isn't a bad idea if practicality is important. You are almost certain to be able to meet all your needs with something relatively compact and portable. There's still going to be plenty of choice too

It's a dangerous place, the Internet. 10 years ago I was experimenting with 'clever' straps intended to reduce the number of back problems I was getting. At the time I was mainly playing 9lb basses and above - but not too much above. I tried a variety of double-shoulder straps by people like Dare and the Slider system used by US postmen (stop sniggering) but eventually decided that the only real solution was to buy lighter basses and combine them with a Comfort Strapp on every bass. This led directly to my obsession with instruments from Mike Lull, and my enormous collection of Comfort Strapps. I've used them exclusively for years now. I still have three Lull basses, and they're still very light, but I have also ended up playing a 9.5lb Rickenbacker as my frontline bass in my main band. Thanks to Pilates I am now in way better shape than I was 10 years ago, but it can still be hard work playing a 3-setter with the Rick so I thought I'd have another look at double-shoulder straps. And I found this. The leather is thick, padded, soft & sumptuous ... it's just a really lovely thing and it feels great on the shoulders. The double-shoulder system works exactly as I'd hoped, and there's no 'scissor' effect with the two sides trying to dig into my neck - this was a problem with some of the nylon straps I tried previously. And of course, much as I love my Comfort Strapps, there's no denying that this is far better looking. The strap is the Spider by EVO in Brazil and it cost US$160 plus $45 for shipping with DHL. That ain't cheap, but the guy behind Evo (Eric Silva) offered me a second strap (a Riviera) at half price, down from $130 to $65. I wasn't sure what I would use it for, but I bought it anyway. On arrival, serendipity cut in big time, and it turned out to be a perfect match for my Safran Iris Custom. It's another beautiful strap, the leather is soft and supple and very comfortable on the shoulder, and the C&W styling works perfectly with the bass. Not to mention the colour! Well now of course I'm on a roll, and I've been looking through Eric's designs, and I realise that a classic disco strap would be a perfect match for the Gus G3 that I bought recently from @BigRedX. The bass is so completely over the top that it cries out for a look-at-me strap, and I have fond memories of @MacDaddy's rather battered disco strap. This one is a Comfort (not to be confused with Comfort Strapp) and cost $120 plus $45 shipping. Once again it made sense to do the 50% for the second strap thing and save on shipping, and my 1965 Precision deserved some pampering, so I bought another one, this time in gold. On the subject of shipping, and having suffered many times with getting stuff shipped from the USA, I was genuinely startled at the transit times from Brazil. The first pair of straps took just six days to get here following payment; the second pair of straps took an unbelievable FOUR days. Eric is a pleasure to deal with, and there's no 5-hour time difference to negotiate so communication is 'real time'. Highly recommended.

This is just a thinly disguised excuse to start a "look at my great basses" thread. I'm not sure I noticed the straps at all.

I doubt he will, he and the buyer are both, perhaps with reason on both sides, invested in their side of the argument now. If I was the buyer, I'd accept that fact, get the issues resolved locally and move on. If I were the builder, I'd be kicking myself for the reputational losses perhaps recognising that the sheer drawn out nature of this process leaves him in a lose/lose situation; if he refunds it says he was wrong and shouldn't have made such an intransigent stand for so long, if he doesn't refund he remains the bad guy for leaving such an unhappy £2000 buyer. This feels like a Talkbass thread to be honest, there seem to have been a number of luthiers who have fallen into this trap; too much success too quickly comes back and kicks you. He's a person, probably a decent person with a family and people who depend on him for their livelihoods, and there's no doubt he's a talented builder. I hope he comes out of this OK whatever the rights and wrongs of this situation, and despite what I said in my previous post about his inability to realise what's important in business. There's no doubt he brought some colourful instruments to the party and, irrespective of his apparent low social skills (hardly a crime and hardly unusual in craftsmen) and occasional mess-ups, he clearly made a lot of buyers very happy.

I hereby promise to sign every pre-sale set. Better stock up on pens!

There's something a bit Gerald Ratner about all of this. For this discussion to now extend to 6 pages, on the biggest Bass Guitar forum in Europe, with the discussion seemingly now attracting more and more comments from other similar posters who have suffered poor quality / poor attitude / poor service, without any (or inadequate) attempt at response or closure from the builder, just seems utterly bizarre to me. Strikes me that there's a train of thought that the builder doesn't care if the order book is busy and full for the foreseeable, but he might have a lot more time on his hands to brush up on his service technique if potential customers research this thread first. Btw, I haven't ever owned, nor played, a Maruszcyck, but they definitely had my interest, I read most of the threads about them on here and have contemplated buying one in the past. I think I'd stick to the 2nd hand market though now, given some of the comments and the prices involved.

Hi folks of BC I'm having some Basschat branded strap lock washers made and wanted too see if the idea is feasible by offering them up here at an early bird reduced price. This is partly because I think they might be quite a nice little item to spend a few quid on, partly because I think they will stand out to other Basschatters in the audience (in person and online) and also because I want some myself. They are going to be made out of good quality silicone with the Basschat logo stamped on both sides. They are the same colour as 'Basschat Orange' which makes a change from the usual colours you find online (red, blue, black, white). (mockup of design, logo is stamped) They will be sold as a pack of four, with a full retail price of around £6 including delivery (tbc, may change). My proposal is this - in order for me to prove the concept I'd like to offer some sample packs at a reduced price to help meet the minimum order quantity. Would you be happy to pay £6 for four? if so, please sign up via this website and I will send out payment instructions and the reduced price (tbc but less than £6!) to you as soon as possible. Non UK residents may be asked to pay a little more to pay for postage but I'll have this as an option come payment time. I hope you agree that they'll look pretty good and be a nice souvenir of our lovely website. Cheers ped P.s to keep this thread going, please comment 'I'm in' or similar once you sign up. You could even show me your bass, if you're into that sort of thing. Here's one of mine! Oh, and if you do Facebook/Instagram whatever is cool these days, please share!!!

Was given this bass yesterday. Made in Japan, early 90s from what I can tell. Was filthy but, once cleaned up and restrung, it plays brilliantly. Oh, there was a hard case with it! 😁😁😁

Just prior to lockdown I was invited to play bass and sax in a pretty successful and busy covers band specialising in a lot of 80's music which to me is a dream gig as firstly I love a lot of 80's music and secondly, getting a gig where I get a chance to play both instruments is pretty rare. It soon became apparent though that because of some key changes and because a lot of the bass lines involve a low D or C# that I was in all likelihood going to have to play a 5 String again (I know there are other options but hey, we all need an excuse, right?) I've played 5's before but in all my years of gigging, never actually gigged with one as I've always at the last minute reverted back to a 4 stringer (comfort blanket thing). In all honesty this has often caused me a few sweaty moments in trying to re-map songs on the neck often at very short notice, so I decided to use lockdown to really "learn" the 5 string. The first step was putting all the 4 strings away and just getting on with it....and wow, it worked a treat. I've had a few rehearsals so far and it's really gelled nicely: so nicely in fact, that I decided to move some of my 4 strings on and invest in a couple of really nice 5'ers. I've always loved Music Man basses and always found the SR5 to be a thing of beauty. The ones I've had though have been pretty heavy and sounded either too boomy of too thin, or a strange mixture of both. Having done some research on the new Specials though, I decided to take a visit to Bass Direct and came away with the one in Chopper Blue. They really are fantastic instruments with the usual Music Man build quality but with the Neodymium pickups, 18v electrics and incredibly light weight (both are under 8.5lbs) they're a no-brainer for me. Having bought one, I clearly need a backup (ahem) and so after selling a few basses I also bought the Aqua Sparkle one with ebony neck from Andertons. It really is very very sparkly in the flesh, but it is an incredible bass to play. Music Man really have upped their game here and I have been hugely impressed with the changes they've made. If anyone is half-thinking about trying these I'd recommend they do. Although they look pretty- much identical to the older models, they really are very different beasts and to my mind at least, a step up in terms of quality, comfort and sound.

The irony is his company is called 'Public Peace'.......

Sorry, misread the thread title there.

Please get a bandana, Jack

And the neck has officially begun Two pieces of bookmatched maple (look at that grain at the end!) for stability and walnut centre-splice:

I'll have some, but only if they are good for Metal? Assume this is the confirmation just received from 'Strikingly' which my wife is now very dubious about? Could it not have been 'straplockingly'?

After a 7 month wait I received my beautiful custom built TM4 yesterday and I am absolutely in love with it! It's awesome in so many ways. Thanks to everyone on the board for answering all of my questions when I was getting ready to place my order. ❤️

Heresy perhaps, but I put some different knobs on my TT5 last night. I like them. 😊

Basschat fret wraps?

I'm in They will almost certainly remain unused in my gigbag, but it's a good, fun way to support the site, only a couple of quid, and in years to come my pristine unopened pack will be worth a fortune, right?

Exactly. If magazines were popular, they'd be empty. ...

This is how the figuring of the back will wrap round to the sides @Maude. The lighter wood will come out more yellow and the darker areas will darken more: The top glue job looks OK: Now - the traditional way of doing this is to glue the back on, do the corner bindings top and back and then do everything else (like bridge clamping, fitting pickups, etc, etc) reaching blind through the soundhole. For Matt's Dreadnought, I proved to myself that you can do the top binding, rout the neck mortice slot, trial fit the neck, fit the internal pickup transducers and everything and THEN glue the back on. And that is a lot, lot easier. So that's also what I will do here. I might do the top binding soonish, but the focus now will be neck and fretboard

And yet, whenever @Happy Jack and I have seen a live rock band with a drum machine, we haven't liked it. Yes, the timing is perfect, the volume is suitable to the venue no matter what, and so on, but the gig is, to our eyes, really not live and it feels, even as the audience, more like just playing along to a record than a real gig.

Haha. Couldn't have put it better, myself. Lest we forget, Maruszczyk was pretty much an unknown brand when, many moons back, a new member called Ulas Engin posted up a blatantly obvious piece of backdoor advertising under the guise of it being an official Maruszczyk thread (I believe he also posted the same thing to Talkbass, almost word for word); the poster then disappeared three weeks later, never to be seen again, but the seed was sown and with his job done, the Basschat love affair took root and the flower blossomed. ("Conjecture!" I hear you shout!) Perhaps the guy who fronts the company is just feeling the strain in these uncertain times or maybe he was just having a bad day, but I read this thread and do have an inner chuckle at the albeit small backlash that's happening. I'm sure many people love their Jakes and Elwoods, fair play to them, but at the end of the day, the core basses he's making/getting made for him are simply just Fender copies at near Fender prices, so why not just buy a Fender? There's enough stores out there stocking them, you'll eventually find one that suits and you can easily customise it further down the road. Customer service is core to any business and sure, if you're going to enquire/complain about key points after something is delivered then you (as the manufacturer) need to resolve things in a civil manner, otherwise those tiny seeds of disdain will have a habit of growing (which has been the case here). When I bought my first Lull I had an irritating crackle off one of the pickups and Mike and Paul bent over backwards to resolve things, eventually sending out a pair of new pickups and a loom. That's service. Service isn't the manufacturer replying that you're only picking up on the bad sh*t.

Did I wander into TB by mistake?

Hi guys, quick update after playing around. Bass is finished well, nice and light. Comparable neck to my SR600. Quality is right up there, was set up perfectly. I haven't plugged in yet, just been doing the slappa da bass flea lines :). These are great quality and don't feel like beginner instruments. I haven't played a full blown EBMM so cant compare but this is a lot of bass for the money. Great way to get started with EBMM.

I’d be offended if it wasn’t 100% true

Via the power of Facebook, we've found the guy! He posted in a music gear group that I'm a member of, trying to sell it for double what he paid for it an hour before! He's going to take it back and get his money back. Shop already aware of what's going on, so should be relatively simple to get it back now. Assuming the cops don't want to hold on to it as evidence for too long. I've already replaced the thing with one quite similar to it! What to do with two blue Jazzes....

I thought it might be worth rounding it up and saying it again (it's not like we don't repeat ourselves here 😂) as it was descending into a bit of a ranting 💩storm. Those 2 words are spot on (your presumption is correct); that was the feeling I got at the time (I've since bought another bass from PP and it was all sweetness and light - apart from the useless courier at this end). I did receive a standard pdf document of various wirings on various pickup types used (handy for future reference) but my rotary 3 way was a non standard, custom request, with the wiring done at the factory and wasn't known at the office/shop and it's this separation of those premises which I think leads to comms issues. However, once a German speaker got involved, those problems seemed to disappear. Far from ideal for non German speakers and not ideal for a company that trades internationally (I think I might have just repeated the nub, yet again, sorry).

Just had a look on the website. The special has some really nice colour options! The aqua sparkle is nice, but maybe the silver would win as I think the white pickup cover looks ace

We did address the language barrier point In various guises including some form of translation ability if you want to be an international company, but in your above post the key words were ‘mixed’ treatment, ‘stonewalled’ and (sorry if i presume wrong) is over access to something as simple as a wiring diagram, which is likely to be sat on a file in a pdf format, then it does point to something systemically wrong unfortunately. Email transcripts form both sides were also posted.....

I love it when I see a post from someone I've never heard of, and then discover that they've been on the site for years and years!

Having tried floating thumb and not got on with it (Willis is the only one who seems to make a good sound with it, and he's a mutant...) I'm a firm believer in the 'moveable anchor' option described by @louisthebass above, where the thumb doesn't move past the A string - on a 5-string I do a similar thing, but the thumb doesn't move past the E-string and the ring finger helps out by muting the A string a la Jaco. Not wanting to open up an off-topic can of worms, but from watching the Gordon Goodwin video above I'd actually say don't worry about your right hand too much, it looks/sounds fine... one thing to look into is the left hand and avoiding using one finger per fret in the lower register of the bass if at all possible - in the busier walking sections of the video it seems like trying a slightly different, more double bass-orientated approach might make the left hand feel more relaxed and secure. I'd been playing for years before one of my teachers at music college put me onto the Simandl double bass method book on electric bass (also known as the '1-2-4' system for the left hand) and it made a huge difference in terms of being able to get around the fretboard in a relaxed way.

Well, Cash Generator in Rutherglen (also near Glasgow) are short of one...

I do.

Same here. I came to playing properly after I had started work and I have never had enough confidence in my music activities to consider going pro. I was primarily concerned about the lack of financial security that freelancing represented. Looks like I was right. For me, the downside of the lockdown is not financial but the lack of gigs has robbed me of a 'safe place' to spend time and to make my contribution. I have had to find other outlets for that but, no, there has been no hardship for me. My pay has gone up actually and my overheads down. I do feel guilty when I hear the stories.

I've made my mind up... once I finally get it back, I'm keeping one strung with flats the other with rounds. Chopped and changed too many times over the years. Not quite identical twins!

For modern bass cabs the cone size of the speaker(s) is probably the least important specification.