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They're quite hard to photograph well but the orange colour is bang on - really quite different from the normal red/off red colour and quite luminous. I'll take some proper pictures later but for now there's this. The printing is very sharp and defined.

I’ve been after a Celinder J-Update for a long time but never found one for sale. Earlier today I was just browsing some sites whilst I was waiting for something to download and I couldn’t quite believe that this was staring back at me from the Bass Gallery site. Got it bought immediately - I’ll figure out how to afford it later!

Hi folks, apparently these are out for delivery today! I will have a look at how best to take payment and collect your orders over the weekend. Once sorted I'll email you all (and update here) with instructions on how to pay. You can have as many sets as you like at the pre-sale price. Once I have everyone paid up I'll probably box them up and get them sent as a bulk job, so it would be helpful to everyone if you are able to place your order as soon as you can. Soon after that these will be on general sale through the Basschat Shop and I'll probably ship them out weekly, but will confirm that nearer the time. Cheers ped

I'll take this opportunity to thank everyone for the shedload of help and constructive suggestions coming my way, and also to mention that I am now following the advice of my very good friend Mr. Rishi Sunak and re-training as a Video Software Engineer. That is, I'm spending hours every day frantically clicking things and swearing at the computer.

I've been listening to a lot of old 60s records recently & then went on to some post punk. An occasional instrument that kept cropping up was the baritone bass. Co-incidentally I am in the studio this week and a track has a melody in it that would really suit a baritone, so I picked this up new for £299. A definite shot in the dark as there are NO YouTube videos and no references that I could find on Basschat's search setting. I was initially taken by the baby blue finish and the retro vibe. There's the whole "is it a bass or is it a guitar" angle and to be fair with the 6 strings and tremolo, I could understand people (who probably haven't heard it) arguing for the later. However, the lower register is definitely the domain of the bass player (& I am not letting my guitarist play the melody line - other than ghosting my part, if he behaves and asks nicely!). Some of the frets feel a little rough but I can sort that (it's a £299 bass so I don't want to belittle some poor quality control) and it needs a set up. The NBD was actually yesterday but I must confess I can't stop playing it. I guess I would sum it up as the bass for the bassist that already has "too many" basses. No case or trimmings at that price but I think once I get a clear go at tidying it up, it'll be great. Looking forward to getting it down in the studio.

What about a small solar panel on the headstock? It could be angled to point directly at the guitarist's tiara during rehearsals and gigs.

First layer of finishing oil on!

Not quite a build diary. But I guess such an irreversible mod that it may interest others. I scored a relatively cheap 2005 Fender Mexi Precision on here with the explicit purpose of making a dual P bass. Having listened to many of these on various videos, I became infatuated with them, though not the price that many command on the secondhand market (especially the BC Rich Basses). So I decided to make my own. Here’s a workbench photo from my local luthier, who I asked to do the routing. I also had @KiOgon make me up the electrics, and scored some other bits secondhand on here. The main P/U is a Mexican P, the bridge is a secondhand Aguilar Hot P. Put on a secondhand Hipshot bridge as well. Dual V/T setup and series/parallel switch. Didn’t help that the pickups were out of phase to each other at first.....Had to flip the leads on the Mexi P pickup to get everything working right. I was confused until I figured it out though - the lows thinned out when I blended pickups, though each pickup individually soloed was fine. I thought carefully about the pickup placement and whether it should be reversed. I ended up putting the EA bridge coil at the location of the coil of a rear 60’s Jazz Bass pickup, non-reversed - controversial....but I didn’t want to reverse the main pickup, and I feel that both pickups should be oriented the same way after listening to a lot of dual P videos, so... Both pickups in parallel sounds great. The Aguilar Hot P is a little dark for my taste, though great output, and will be changed. I really like how the typical Precision character is kept by keeping the main pickup in usual location and orientation. Rolling in the bridge gives a meaty Stingray/Jazz-ish type flavour without really sounding quite just like either of those. I dig it. The mid scoop from both pickups full on together sounds good too; different place to a Jazz though. Bridge pickup on its own is meaty Jaco type tone with a little touch of more ‘quack’ on the D/G strings, due to the coil location. The amount of this can be varied quite a lot depending on where I play. I like it, others may differ. I never play bridge pickup solo only, so it makes little odds to me, as the blended sounds with the main pickup are what I’m after. Both pickups in series is a gloriously dark, middy, thick, rich beast of a tone. I think it would work great with distortion. It sounds fabulous with a pick. I can match pickup output levels with height adjustment but impedances of these pickups are wildly different. That may have an impact. I still have my sights set on a dual DiMarzio Model P setup - like the BC Rich basses of old - we’ll see how that sounds when I test it. I also plan a swap from rosewood to maple neck - rosewood just sounds a little dark for my taste, at least for this bass. The joys of modding!

In light of the above and all the reviews I’ve read, a UR44C has been ordered and is on its way. 😁

Mission Creep has now set in. I'm looking at buying a tower PC optimised for video editing. I bloody knew this would happen.

Or a magazine of 6 batteries, and a mechanism that ejects the old one and puts the new one in place, like a pump action.

A very loud extended bass solo is pretty much what the Government have been seeking, in order to persuade people to avoid town centres.

The terms seem quite consistent

I went a whole 12 months without owning a Warwick. I’m back 😎

Well I’ve been after one for a while, spotted this for sale and after a few chats with @AndyTravis about what to look for and expect I bought it. Angry Ric he said. Absolutely spot on, man it’s killer and what a fat sound! Spot on for a bit Nirvana. Don’t expect to see it for sale, honest! It’s a keeper 😍 Look at it, round bottomed goodness 😂

There's a few builders here that can do that, i would imagine, but i had a custom cover built by Andy JR for an Aaron Armstrong custom pickup. Cover was built from Purpleheart, as was the control panel

IIRC most 'log' pots really just have the track with a different total resistance for each half to approximate a log response. So for simplicity I'll assume a 100K pot. A 50:50 pot would be 50K at mid point i.e. the same as linear. 80:20 would be 20K at the mid point. 60:40 would be 40k at mid point. The modern higher ration gives more sensitivity at the start (anticlockwise) while the older pots would be comparatively sensitive at the high end.

I was first exposed to Hawkwind really late - 1981. My first Hawkwind gig was on the Choose Your Masques tour at Hammy Oden, so pleased to have the live CD that eventually came out. I've seen Hawkwind more than any other band (although the Stranglers were close for a few years). I love both the wild and improvisational extended jams and the snappy Calvert songs. I drifted away a bit in the 90s, but in the last five or six years they have brought out a succession of excellent albums with The Machine Stops and the latest Carnivorous being up there with many of the 'classic' albums. I saw them in Glasgow last year and hope to see them again once this nonsense ends! My secret ambition is to start up a band playing very much in the Hawkwind mode.

Sorry, I think I may have misheard you.

I've had a load of times where the BL introduces a new song in the practice before playing and has an idea in their head of arrangement... "stop playing please, I don't want bass on the first two verses" "I know, but I've never heard this song before, and going though the verse changes you want me to play more than once before playing it infront of 300 people would be nice!"

I'd go for the four string, Al. I happen to know of one for sale!

Unplug the lead. Carry spare batteries. Replace the batteries before they run out. Carry a screwdriver if you have to take the back plate off. Managing active basses is as easy as learning a U2 song!

This is one of the main reasons I'm not a tone chaser. Also why I know that the SVT is, and in all probability will remain, the finest amp I ever played through. I've come to enjoy the tone I get at home but never chase it in a gig. Too many variables Rooms vary, ebb and flow of bodies changes things, sound engineers make you sound how they like it, and different mates or band members giving you the nod in a pub soundcheck have their concept of levels too. And most importantly what I hear won't be what the audience hears anyway. The SVT by the way just sounded awesome in every single setting.

OK guys the locks have been made and are getting shipped tomorrow! I'll be in touch soon RE payment!

I picked up a Novation Super Bass Station on the weekend, so I'm looking forward to having a play with it. It's got lots of knobs on the front and a MIDI port on the back, so hopefully it'll make some good sounds.

I have been living with a my new Stoneham YI200 valve amp for a week now and I would like to share my thoughts on this British designed and made light weight valve amp. I have no affiliation to Stoneham. The signal chain is as follows, Jack Casady Bass into a Flattley Bass Compressor and Flattley Bass Fuzz using Chord Company Cream Cables. My quest was to find a light weight valve amp ( no more than 20kg ), around 200 watts and with a simple passive tone stack. After looking at the usual manufactures that are seen in music shops I came across an old Basschat thread talking about a 200w Stoneham prototype amp yet unnamed. The tread explained the amp would be light weight and be in the 200 - 300w range. Later it turned out the Northern Basschat guys named the amp YI-200. Nothing more was said about the amp that I could find so I went on a search to get more info and to look for a chance to buy it. The amp arrived from Martin at Stoneham in its custom flight case last week. I opened the packaging and lifted out the amp and was instantly taken aback by the weight. The last time I lifted a valve amp was my old Laney Nexus from about 9 years ago. I remember damaging my back after lifting it up at an outdoor gig. Since then Ive used class D amps but have never really been satisfied with the sonic results. The amp weighs around 18kg and even I with my damaged spine found the lift just manageable ..... now that's a big win in my books. Now for the exciting bit....... Plugging it in. The Jack Casady Bass was plugged straight in without any effects at this stage. I sold of most of my music gear during the first lock down so my cab choices are very limited. I have an old Fender BXR combo that I use just the speaker part, so this was the first go to cab. The amp fired up without a hiss, buzz or fart, which was a good sign. I few valve amps that I have had in the past were terrible for noise on switch on. The amp uses a simple passive tone stack so I set it to the known flat ( ish ) position of Treble and Bass completely off with the Mid set to full. Input gain was set to 3 O'clock position and I set the master volume to the 10 O'clock position. I flicked the amp off standby and was nearly blown out off my seat............ Wow that was loud. I turned the amp down to 7 O"clock and played my first notes. The sound was exactly as I would of expected from a clean well designed valve amp. It had midrange harmonic detail that you simply can't get from anything other than a full valve amp. IMHO. At these setting the amp was indeed tonally flat so I started to just the tone controls. They are subtle in use but have enough range to sculpt a good sound. I settled on the bass and mid controls set to around noon. This gives a subtle bass boost with a bit of mid cut, perfect for my Jack Casady. The amp has 7 valves in total, 3 pre and 4 power. Three ECC83 ( 12AX7 ) handle the preamp duties and four KT120 valves give just under 300 watts of clean output power. Plenty of power for any gig that I will need now and in the future. I started to turn the volume up and up until the house was shaking with every note played. The tone and feel did not change it just got VERY loud. Next was to give it a little overdrive so I turned the input gain fully up. The bass started to growl as the preamp valves started to overdrive. The sound was as expected, perfect for rock or just to have fun. Now this is not my usual setting as I prefer a clean sound so I backed the gain off to around 3 O'clock and it regained its clean composure. The previous mentioned Fender combo that I had been using as a cab has now been sold so I'm without a speaker. I worked out a method to connect the amp up to one of my hifi speakers ( HECO DIREKT ). This turned out to really show off what the amps tonal qualities were. My hifi speakers are less coloured tonally than your normal bass speaker cab. I kept the setting the same and connected the two together. The sound tightened up but did not change its fundamental character which is a win. I'm now using the hifi speakers at home for practice until I can get another cab.................Suggestions most welcome. In summery the amp is clean, refined and the mids contain so much harmonic detail you would not wont for anything else. It's relatively cheap to revalve and weighs less then some class AB amps I've owned. Thank you Martin at Stoneham for an amazing product.

I'd always fancied the look of the Guild B series basses but simply assumed they would all be boat anchors and discounted them. Back in August @cd_david started a thread on Guild porn, where I discovered that they weren't all heavy. In fact some of them are relatively lightweight. So I stuck a 'wanted' post out there for a lightweight one. @AndyTravis then did me a MASSIVE favour by alerting me to a lightweight 301 for sale on Facebook, collection only in Matlock, Derbyshire. I got in touch with the guy, he wanted a cash only sale so, after initially toying with the idea of starting off one of the infamous 'Basschat Relays' I decided I'd actually drive there to pick it up. 3.5hrs each way. I have been further for less. So that is what I did yesterday. The auspices were good - not a single hold up en route and I found a car parking space just 50m from the shop via an alleyway. He took it out of the gig bag and handed it over - it was one of those instant bonding situations. Love at first sight. Weighs in at 3.7kg on the nose. 8.14lbs. One owner from new, original unmolested condition. Some honest wear about the body but the frets have been barely worn in by the look of them. Serial number indicates it was the third from last ever made - 1980! Pics below are as I got it, I've since taken it to bits and given it a clean. Fresh strings. Wow. The tone is like nothing I have owned. Not Fender-ish. Organic, deep, rich but punchy. Really punchy Pickup is further back towards the bridge than, say, a P bass which I guess makes it so clear. The build quality as right up there, as good as anything I have owned. open back Grover tuners with a cute wiggle to them. 3 point bridge that is a massive improvement over the Gibson version. I even love the knobs! A little neck heavy but nothing a grippy strap won't cure. I've kissed a lot of frogs but reckon this is a Prince among basses. It has completely blown me away. Can't wait to give it a try out with my blues rock band!

"sensible offers" - sensible to me or you?

Happy to believe in Middle C and A440 ..

Are you sure that's not the KKK.? ...

The stigma is well and truly still there with every reviewer using the words, fun, small, diminutive, makes me smile, for guitarists and drummers or little people with small hands .... all that aside, I love short scales, I have three and I have a small hand so I'll fit in just fine lol !!

I’ve fancied playing in that spot. I’ve seen quite a few classical musicians busking there, they always have a lovely sound.

Ah, I run a Dante clock so it's never really an issue in my setup... but could see that if the above is happening, it would be a little frustrating. In which case, if I was requiring retime, a tempo change to conform to a known time length would fix you. Cheapest (free) way of doing this would probably be in a tool like audacity. Not saying it would be a nice workflow - but could get you out of a spot.

Back in my guitar-playing days this was the Behemoth! The top rack was a reasonable weight given that the JMP-1 weighed in around 5kgs...shame that the same can't be said for the 29.5kg Marshall valve power-amp!

This is the solution: One low-output pickup produces a pathetic puny, but aesthetically winsome signal that goes into the preamp. The other two pickups are actually bare-chested humbuckers whose crude phenomenal output is rectified and used to power the preamp. The preamp than carefully processes the output from the puny pickup, and makes it sound like a humbucker.

I started on an SR5 and moved on to a Lakland. Both great basses but my preference is firmly with the Lakland. if I was starting to day I’d also be checking out Sire and Squire.

Righto, second full band rehearsal... all good, time to develop more ideas. Tom and Andy really get on. Imagine my horror when drummer seemed a little despondent tonight. i’m starting to develop a complex...

It's the physical presence of the barrel of the jack plug that acts as 'on/off' switch for active basses. As long as there's a jack in the socket, the pre-amp is switched on. An 'on/off' in the lead will not affect this, so the battery would still go flat over time.

There are probably many reasons why things sound different in isolation. I guess the main two to be aware of in a band context are doubling and masking. In an ensemble, each instrument has its place in the overall harmonic spectrum. There are often clashes between instruments. Typically for the bass its with keyboards, but also with guitars, especially if the guitar player(s) like a lot of low end in the eq settings they use (probably because they too spend most of their time playing at home on their own and don't appreciate the need to fit round or leave space for other instruments). The result is that either certain frequencies can be over-emphasised (doubling) or they cancel each other (masking). That lovely clean, hi-fi bass tone you like at home will often sound a bit limp in a band context and will need boosting in the upper bass/low mids to have the right presence in the mix. Imho, that's a big part of the reason a P bass works so well in so many settings. It has that tonal quality baked in. I agree with stewblack and Lozz. No point in getting hung up on "tone", unless, of course, you play solo bass gigs. No point in bleating to sound engineers that the bass sound isn't to your liking, either. He/she is trying to make it work in context of the overall sound.

If you want someone a bit controversial, then Paul McCartney.. Yes, I know he was in the Beatles and therefore we're supposed to find hidden depths in everything he does but I'm afraid that I'm with Quincy Jones. If you listen to a lot of his old baselines there are some bizarre things going on (and not in a good way) that would get anyone else thrown out of the studio and the playing is as sloppy as hell...! Sorry Beatles fans and I do appreciate everything that he achieved, but his bass playing is overated.

The amp was built on Tyneside, so YI200 translates as 'Why aye' 200 - in other words, OH YES!