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I bought the Ashdown CTM 300, on Friday evening, I got the confirmation email immediately and a shipping email on Monday morning, the amp was delivered on Tuesday morning. It's a superb amp and will join it's kid brother my Ashdown Little Bastard 30

#justiceforJason

For posterity I've come to say that I took delivery of my Burns Short Scale Jazz Six Bass today from Andertons. Credit to them for having what feel like fresh new strings on it and giving it a decent set up out of the gate. Going to get a friend of mine to give it a once over once lockdown restrictions are eased up here but for now, it feels and sounds very good! Probably on par if not slightly better than the Squire Bass VI that I had tried, with the pickups feeling a little more responsive to technique and the variety of tones being slightly more diverse and useful. Will post back once I have had some more time with it but a big thanks to everyone in this thread for the words of advice and wisdom!

Yes you have seen them before, But got mine outside today for a play and a few photo's.

I've been playing quite a bit since lockdown. Not with any of my normal live bands, but on Jamulus with a bunch of new people I wouldn't have met otherwise. It's pretty doable. Here's one we did earlier with me making my debut on double bass (apologies to all the db players out there - I will learn it properly, I promise). I've also done eb and sax . That session included the violinist from the states - playing with 150+ latency. You can hear a bit of burbling and we're constantly trying to improve sound quality and latency. But for live rehearsal and working up new stuff and trying all the things you've ever wanted to do, it's great. I'd never get that opportunity with my real life bands. https://youtu.be/tlGfu1dG_2c?t=1992 Remember - this is live. No pre-recording and editing.

Not all Sig models (across different companies) are just production models with a name tagged on, they are different. Doug Wimbish Spector has its own neck profile, Sandberg models have subtly different pick up placements and bits compared to the ‘standard’ model it is based on. For me, I’ll assess something on its merits sig or not This bass looks cool - congrats to him

I thought this was a great match. Gaga and Metallica worked really well. the rehearsal sounded pretty good almost better than the final performance! mid be very interested in hearing more from the match up. the Fergie track leaves me asking why she doesn’t do more rock 🤷‍♂️ her voice would suit it very well.

Nice to see Cliff getting some recognition, a very underrated bassist. Few sit quite as deep in the pocket as he.

Here is my rig from the rehearsal studio

So the neck stopped going... down, down? i'm so sorry.

Here's the completed shed - already in use as we finish off a new door for a different outhouse - that's my brother in law in picture, who has done most of the work really... he's a chippie, so knows what he's doing ...now I need to decide if I should paint the floor before it gets too covered in crap etc. Seems like epoxy is the way to go, but a lot more hassle.... I will have the ride on mower in this shed, so it will need to cope with wet tyres being stood on it at times.... Had hoped to be able to paint one half then the other, but I think epoxy means clearing the whole space out before starting. Sigh....

And you either need to count to big numbers or memorise the guitar solos!

Do they do a carpet tile version of a tufted shag? Why yes. Yes, they do. Funnily enough. I am considering a role in a ZZ Top tribute band for sometime down the line. To that end, I'm working on my "inner Dusty". Uncomplicated bass lines but boy do they show up any and all of your inconsistencies.

A fur one like this would keep your hands warm in the winter 😁

What about making a pickguard from a carpet tile, for extreme comfort on cold winter evenings 🙂

What stuck me was a not so much she could hit the notes, but she did it in a way that suited the song. Ive seen quite a few ‘collaborations’ like this, where the guest singer has just come along and sung whatever song in her own style. Sometimes it just seems like two different songs. Gaga made it so she was part of the song. I liked that.

New amp means a new post in the rig thread! This CTM-300 arrived yesterday. I've only had chance to use it for about an hour, but I'm beginning to dial in a great tone (photos don't show the current settings). I was a little concerned about the tone stack as it's pretty subtle and my other amp is a JJB-500 whose 12 band graphic is anything but subtle. But it appears you don't need extensive tone shaping with this amp. The only downside is it weighs as much as my 10 year old daughter. But the upside of the pandemic means I'm not going to be moving this anytime soon...

Great to hear her in the first vid saying she loved hearing the bass when hed turned up, and that's where she gets her pitch from.

Man plugs into 30 year Peavey Hisys and finds it terrible shocker.

And the winner is... Dad3353 (Me..!)..! Here, then, is your my Winner's Certificate (download and save as pdf file, then proudly print and frame...) ... BC_Chal_Cert_2020_09.pdf ... which looks like this (but I knew that anyway, of course..!)…

Just picked this up in a trade. Identical to my first proper bass in all but serial number, this one being a tad newer I think. I also picked up a set of active EMGs that might well find their way into the bass when I decide what preamp to go for...

Cliff is the man for me. He is such a modest guy but plays exactly what is needed for the song, which for me is what bass playing is all about.

I blagged my way into a clinic with FRP as I was obsessed with TOP and particularly his bass playing. I asked so many questions that the people running it started ingnoring my hand each time it went up. Afterwards we got chatting to him and he was very self deprecating. I Showed him my transcriptions and he was amazed that anyone would bother. After a great chat he insisted that my mate and I go to the bands gig at the Forum that night on his guest list. Sure enough when we arrived our names were down. As they came on stage the entire band shook me and my mates hands. After the final encore the entire band did the same. I never got to say thanks him. He was my biggest inspiration and it was one of those rare times when your idol exceeds your expectations. RIP FRP.

So as the tittle says, which effect pedals related gear do you currently anticipate arriving with the mail service or plan to acquire in the nearest future (like in the time frame of the next couple of months) ? For me these are going to be my near future effect pedals related gear acquisitions : Later this month (October 2020) : - TC Electronic SpectraComp ( For the first in my signal chain, right after the bass, fairly subtle compression, for a slightly tighter and slightly more punchy signal to my other pedals (currently using one of the compressor models on my Zoom G1Xon) ) - Zoom B1X Four ( For my last in the chain (beside my 3 pedals/units "tone section", consisting of light compression/tube preamp stage -> equalization -> preamp stage, residing on top of my poweramp), reverb effects, placed right after my near future pedal board (which ends with a pedal that emulates a Roland Space Echo tape delay unit), planing to make 3 different reverb patches that I will stick to using, respectively being: a subtle plate reverb patch, a lush reverb patch, likely to be build up by following reverb models: (Early Reflections (not sure about this one)) -> Plate reverb -> HD Hall reverb, and finally a really thick reverb pad patch used with volume swells, likely going to consist of the same reverb models as the lush reverb patch, just even more prominent (as in higher in the mix and with increased decay time), and likely combined with a delay model of some sort placed in between the plate and the hall reverb ) - Harley Benton SpaceShip 40 ( My first real pedal board ever, for easing transport and general mobility of my effect pedals setup, now that I am finally rehearsing with other people again. Dimesions: 70-85 x 450 x 305 mm ) - 3 x Harley Benton Solder-Free Patch Cable KIT ( Solder free patch cable kit with angled, extremely flat plugs, for a tight fitting on the pedal board ) Next Month (November 2020) : - Fender Blender fuzz clone from "Made by Mike" [ : http://madebymike.co.uk/ ] ( Well, placing the order there at least, then it will be an additional 4-6 weeks before I can expect it to actually arrive Not sure how I'll fit it into my setup honestly, but have been wanting a Fender Blender fuzz for a long time by now, ever since I first tried one myself and fell in love with it's harsh, abrasive, somewhat out of control, wild and insane octave fuzz tone )

In part I agree and actually my own taste is not to add the drive to the top end (and I can name plenty of examples like I am sure you can) but I prefer to use a band pass method applying the dirt to a wide band area of the mid range. The secret for me is in the blending of the low mids more than the upper mids and top end (though that is also important). Also, my clean tone is never really 100% clean, it helps the two blend even more. I learned this the hard way when recording in the past when it was so obvious it almost sounded like two instruments playing in unison. Interestingly my very top end has very little drive on it. Thats my taste and although I can hear it live through IEMs for definition, by the time it makes it to FOH, even that has blended nicely too!

It has arrived...

Had a chance to do some very basic tests on this today with a few people at work. Using a recently tuned piano we tested people to see if the could recognise two notes played at the same time as being an octave apart or not. 100% of people tested (6) could do this every time without hesitation. Next we tried two notes one after another with a small gap and the person had to say if they were an octave apart or not. Very varied results, professional musician was 100% every time, one part time musician was right nearly every time, the other part time musician (me) was right about 80% of the time, other three were around 50% right. It was noticeable that it was easier when the second note was higher than the first, all agreed on this. We then tested our captive musician and he was 100% correct even when three octaves apart and a 30 second gap between first and second note. An interesting lunch hour!

When I got this one I wasn’t sure what it was but thanks to some advice on here earlier I reckon I can join this thread! I don’t know what the colour is called but it has a badass bridge and bartolini pups and wiring.I’m thinking of changing them for a EMG set .

An excellent update (for me!) just received from APHA re:CITES and Ebony... woo hoo!! Dear Gary THE CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES OF WILD FAUNA AND FLORA (CITES) EC REGULATION 338/97 & 865/2006 – IMPORT / (RE)-EXPORT PERMIT Please note - the only Ebony listed on CITES is Diospyros spp from Madagascar, and this only applies to logs, sawn wood and veneer sheets. As the Ebony on your guitar is on a worked item (like ebony keys on a piano), it is does not fall under the controls of CITES – therefore you do not require any CITES permitting for movement of the instrument out of the US or into the UK. Do ensure however that there is not Brazilian rosewood (Dalbergia nigra) on the instrument, as permits will be required for this wood species as it is CITES Appendix I, EU Annex A, but any other rosewood species (Annex B listed) on the guitar should not now need permitting as their weight within the instrument will be under 10kg following the new rulings at the conference of parties in 2018. Kind regards Simon

Sounds like having the bass feel like it is 'yours' is the most important thing to you. You might not get that feeling from a 'kit' bass. I have not built a proper guitar or bass, but have done a few cigar box guitar builds. I definately would not have had the same pleasure from it if I'd used kits of parts. Much of the fun (and sense of ownership) came from sourcing the parts. However in cigar box world you can use 'found' and re-purposed materials - which is probably not the case for a regular style bass bass. As others have said, try ebay or similar for bits of guitar. Or search ebay for 'project' guitars - a whole guitar which doesn't work but is good for spares, repairs and 'franken-bassing'. On Edit - I composed this before you decided to do it from scrap. then somehow took over 4 hours to press "Submit"! I reckon scrap is the right way for you.

Thanks. I had been at a loss as to what to call it. I thought it might be polycarbonate but that was a clumsy guess and I wouldn't have put my reputation on it. Now I know what it is I have a chance of finding a bonding agent to help with the binding. Also, I am reluctant to use screws to attach the pickguard until I've tried double sided tape. This is not going to stop me using the bass in practice however. I'm liking its sound. I have never managed to put up an example of my playing but I will try later with this build.

Blue Collander Tremond. The Spark Booster is a joy. I ordered a Blue Collander Tremond last night. I've had a few Rats-with-blends over the years, but this one sounds like it's been done right.

Gallien Kruger Plex - due any minute now... ...

Don't buy a cheap kit, even from Thomann, the quality is much lower. Thomann's own brand - Harley Benton basses are highly regarded for the low, low price. However, the kits (which costs about the same as a finished HB bass) is much lower quality all round, and definitely not made from the same parts as a fully finished HB bass.

Thanks, folks. There were others that had merit; it could have gone either way. A Good Bunch, this month. In 'Other News', a picture for the October Challenge has been sent in; t'will appear shortly, so prepare your starting blocks, and have fun with it. Meanwhile... Keep well, stay safe Douglas

Is she on BC? If so, I could delete my post for a small fee...😂

I’d always take a decent PA cab over a bass cab. Much more versatile (as long as it’s truly a decent PA cab)

Just arrived are Ehx cntl knob (to control the gain on my Orange Bass Butler) One control hookers green bass machine tc spark booster trying them out tonight !

One of the best songs they've done for years, with some proper vocal talent. What's not to like? 🙂

Have a look on the Warmoth website. They do a wide range of bodies and necks in various styles. eBay is a good source of stuff, too. Just search for bass necks, bass bodies, etc. If you want something of an established type (such as a P bass), you could buy a used one and fit improved pickups, bridge, tuners, etc.

I've now edited the title of this thread! Even more clarity. I'll change the date on Facebook too. 👍

My two from back in the day, fretted ray, fretless Sabre

"it looks like one of @KiOgon's " Definitely maybe 😎

Would have been fun but I wanted her to have her name on there

My little girl is called Leela and I had an old p bass so I made her this