Leaderboard

Where have I been? I've only cottoned on to Precisions in the last few years in a proper way....and this bass....absolutely killing. https://shop.fender.com/en-GB/squier-electric-basses/precision-bass/classic-vibe-50s-precision-bass/0374500501.html I very rarely gush about instruments. I have owned many very fine and expensive ones, and still do. But I am telling you right now, in a way that is very rare for me, that this is an absolutely astounding instrument. Not 'for the money'. Just plain great. I could easily recommend everyone have one in their collection. Originally, I was looking at getting a Fender roasted maple neck for a project P bass, then realised I could basically just buy a new inexpensive bass and be content with project one 'as is' for now. Been tempted by the Harley Benton version of the 50s P bass for a while, but didn't want to do any fettling at all....so stumped up £339 on the Squier on the assumption that if I didn't like it, back it would go to Thomann. Was very inspired by this video and its super gnarly tone - linked below for your pleasure: Now all I can say is this bass - or at least this particular one - is killing. It sounds just like the video, which was my main criterion. The fit and finish is excellent. Two tone burst is well done, I like the vintage tint on the neck, the neck pocket is tight. It looks great. I will take the pickguard off and report whether there is routing under there or not, but reports from others are good on this. The hardware is good, not Hipshot, but good. The bridge is BBOT with threaded saddles - I like this and find it perfectly functional. It intonates well and the strings don't move side to side. The tuners are better than those that were on my cheapie SBMM Sub Ray4; they aren't so stiff and they work fine. Tone and volume pots feel and work fine and tone pot gives a fair bit of variability to the sound. I do have a niggle here - the edge mounted jack doesn't feel as 'tight' when I plug into it as it could. I may need to open it up and tweak that. The nut and fretwork is frankly unbelievable for this price. I was surprised. Proper bone nut, properly cut; I don't need to file it down at all. Narrow tall frets with no sharp ends and well seated. I can get a setup of my customary low relief (0.003" - 0.005" at 7th fret with capo at first fret and holding down strings at last fret) and 5/64" action on E string 12th fret going up to 4/64" at the G string 12th fret. No buzzing anywhere. This is good quality fretwork in my view - I won't need to consider a fret level. The neck is a modern C profile and is glossy. I have no issues with this finish. I have plenty of instruments with different finishes on the necks and find it easy enough to accommodate them all. Nut width 42.8mm and feels comfortable. It comes with 45 - 105 D'Addario nickel rounds. My favourite string brand and one of my preferred gauges. Sweet. It's a light instrument. I need to weigh it, but it feels just under the 9lb mark I think. I will report back. There is a slight tendency to neck heaviness on the knee, but not on the strap. It's about normal for what I see with most Fenders or Fender-style clones. Unlike the Ibanez Talman TMB105 I bought earlier in the year, I see no need to get lighter tuners. Sound. Everyone's hands vary, but I think this bass could cover any style. I played slap, pick lines, fingerstyle, jazz, funk and felt delighted with all of them. This pickup is really responsive to right hand dynamics in a way I haven't appreciated in a while and it has a beautifully gritty tone if you dig in just a little. I see no reason to change the stock pickup. The sound responds nicely to where you place your right hand; I think it by and large sounds best directly over the pickup, especially digging in. There is hum if you take your hands off the strings - it is a single coil - but when your hands are on the strings, I hear no hum. The tone knob is useful. I don't see any need to mess with the pots/electronics, apart from my previous comment about having a look at the tightness of the connection when I plug a cable in. It could well be the one I picked up is one of the better ones out there. But this particular instrument is an absolute peach. I can heartily recommend this instrument to anyone, which is relatively rare for me. It's not a good bass 'for the money', it's just plain good. Thanks for reading. Pete Nearly forgot...pics or it didn't happen...

Geddy Lee's "Big Book of Bass" or whatever the full title is, appears at more affordable prices occasionally (compared to when it came out), and is beautiful. I requested a copy for Xmas.

There's talent, and then there's TALENT

...and we've now just released the full track. Signal Chain: Spector Euro 4 LX (non trim Tonepump) > Tech 21 DP-3X > GK 800 Fusion.

Repeat - Manic Street Preachers

He was an old boy, 15 and a half, and had a good life. It was a tough time as we lost Alfie and Charlie ( see avatar) within 3 weeks of each other, Charlie was nearly 14. Both lovely boys indeed and real characters. We wasn’t going to have any more but the house felt empty so we took the plunge and now have another chocolate roan and tan boy.... Ozzy 😁 whilst we were collecting him I just mentioned to Sandra (the breeder) that we may have another in the near future and she said she was retiring one of her breeding b!tch3s so we bought Bella the chocolate dog back too! sorry that was off topic folks....

MihaDo Fingybass arrived earlier today yesterday. Seems nicely made. Fretting is good, there's a little buzz from playing bottom C on the B string but that's it (and even that might be due to me not fretting the string firmly enough). Chamfered edges, the body extension along the neck gives clearance all the way up the fretboard. Nut clamp is a piece of brass bar with grub screws for the clamp. As can be seen, tuning uses a 3mm Allen key and is very smooth. I think I'll put another strap peg in on the lower bout so it doesn't get scratched up. As can be seen, it has 2 3.5mm sockets - the lower one is the headphone socket (jack socket is switched off when headphone socket is switched on), and I think the one just by the switch is an input, allowing playing along with bangin' choonz. Intonation was almost spot on, just needed to move the bridge a couple of millimetres on the low B side. Controls are volume and tone, as you'd expect, and sound is pretty good. Next thing is some experimenting with effects and EQ.

He's always been mine and my dads favourite. Insane playing from the master. at 4.10 his playing is some of the best violin playing I've ever heard.

So the pickguard comes off fine and it looks very handsome. Forgive the harsh lighting - not great to take shots without natural light.... Looks like a 4 piece body under there. No real bother for me...maybe a bigger deal for other people

Just a post-script on this build - one of my personal favourites. I asked P how he was getting on with the Guitar Bouzouki. He was happy for me to share his answer "I was looking for a Irish-style guitar-bodied bouzouki, to provide a rounder and more complete sound, and also a more comfortable playing position when seated. The commercial offerings from mainstream folk vendors were uninspiring and custom makers few and far between, so I contacted Andy through the basschat web site and asked whether he would be interested in taking on a project. Despite being unfamiiar with the concept he readily agreed. Andy set about the build with great enthusiasm. He was happy to incorporate some design ideas from Andy Irvine's instrument and added some signature touches of his own. He based the neck on the profile of my existing bouzouki to provide a familiar feel. He also solved a number of technical problems which neither of us had forseen at the start. The result has exceeded my expectation. The sound is rich and full, and continues to improve with use. It's comfortable to play and feels immediately familiar. The build quality is superb and the choice of tone woods and body woods provides a striking and unique look. The only thing he hasn't solved is the name: we still don't know if it's a Gazouki, a Bizarre, or just a Bouzouki, provided that no-one from Greece is present!" In truth, I didn't get the neck profile quite the same as P's existing bouzouki. He brought it along when he picked up my build for me to have a look at a traditional Irish Bouzouki and it was great to see one in the flesh. But it was immediately noticeable that the 'V' on the neck of the traditional stayed 'V' for much longer than my own carve. It's actually very straightforward for me to tweak (pretty much a while-you-wait job) but P is giving it a good play-in before deciding whether to stick with the present shape or get it a bit closer to his traditional. It'll be good when the pesky Covid is on the wane so that P can get playing with his band again - I'd love to see some clips of this in action

Great tune as well as an "out there" video...you know you love it!!!

Two recent rehearsal performances nicely edited by our very own @PatrickJ

Yeah, on the singing/rapping borderline, add Zack de la Rocha from RATM. He's like Freddie Mercury in the way that you realise just how truly great he was by hearing other people try his songs.

About an hour after I posted in the "I want a cheap Telecaster" thread last night, I basically went in the opposite direction and ordered one of these: It's a kind-of Strandberg clone, but with some major differences. The headstock is where the ball-ends go, and the string ends attach at the bridge. At first I thought the bridge was going to be like the NS Design basses, but instead there appears to be some kind of clamping system inside the bridge. My first decent bass was a headless Hohner B2V, and my step-brother was inspired by that to get the equivalent Hohner guitar, the G2T. The Steinberger Spirit guitars today are basically the same. I've never stopped liking headless instruments, and have been pleased to see them come back in to fashion, but they cost more than I wanted to spend. Harley Benton (Thomann) have their Dullahan models, named after the headless horseman of Irish folklore that inspired the legend of Sleepy Hollow, but they're quite expensive and have some quirks (I hear), such as fiddly bits of metal that can fall off and get lost. There are also many Strandberg clones from Chinese sellers - Chandbergs? - and if you start spending real money the other main competitor is Kiesel (the company formerly known as Carvin). I'm a pretty bad guitarist, as guitarists go, and Plini has nothing to fear from me. I was seriously considering a Telecaster, which is also a compact instrument, but this jumped out at me and looks like good value, so one will be here with me early next week. I know we have headless bass fans here, but do we have headless guitar fans too?

Yes I Do - Psychedelic Furs

I saw him play at the Barbican not long before he died. He was so frail he had to be led onstage, but then he sat down and picked up his violin and was like an 18 year old again. It was amazing. One of the most natural musicians ever.

Got his autograph from the Capital Radio Jazz Festival when I was about 14. Great show. Had John Etheridge on guitar (sorry, can't remember who was on bass).

Just from that -- I'd say it's going to be alright, and I wouldn't go escalating matters unless Richard turns out to be a 'Richard'. 🙂

@kodiakblair Wise as usual. There’s pine and pine the same there’s ash and ash, I guess! @JohnDaBass I’ve seen those threads. The Lindy Fralin sounds great - Andy Irvine did a video with an upgraded Squier with it that showed it off perfectly. God knows I’ve modded basses in my time - my 2009 Squier CV Jazz has been my most consistent victim, even now...but honestly, I can’t see the need to do anything here...a first for me. If I’d bought the Harley Benton version I’d be all over it with mods...a disaster as I already have a dual P I’m messing with and that project eats into my practice time as it is. @KiOgon kindly did a lovely dual V/T loom for that with a series/parallel switch - really great.

probably, Sudoku's for me, I'm hopeless at crosswords

Not all Pine is equal. Eastern white pine is soft and light, Indonesian Khasi pine is heavy and hard. Khasi is 38lbs/ft3 with 3000 N Janka, by contrast Eastern white is just 28lbs and 1690N. FMIC still had those Squiers discontinued when I built my pine 50 else I'd have bought one in a heartbeat. Congratulations on your NBD and your great taste in bass 🙂

Chris May built me a fretless explorer in 1986. Still have it to this day. Beautiful workmanship and design.

I also meant to say. As time goes on, although I love expensive instruments, I am finding that cheaper instruments are often just as acceptable to me, as long as there is a certain minimum level of quality. But since the minimum level is met very easily these days, I find there is a huge amount of choice out there.

Looks like it failed to sell. Karma on the seller!!

Repeat - Manic Street Preachers

Stevie Nicks. Sounds like a Nanny Goat that stepped on a nail.

What's wrong with it? I thought people were paying extra for the road worn vintage look nowadays?

The Lone Ranger - Quantum Jump (anyone remember the Kenny Everett TV Show?)

I know you said that you've tried a lot of EMG pickups, but have you tried their HZ series? They are passive pickups, and should have similar housing to their active series. The basses are Toby Pro's aren't they? I'd be very tempted to try Bartolini pickups and preamp in them because that's what Michael Tobias used to put in his top line instruments.

David Yow (Jesus Lizard) hasn't/has got the best voice (delete as applicable). All three of the Beastie Boys. Whilst some would accuse many singers/rappers of just shouting, the Beastie Boys are slightly off keys shouters, and all the more brilliant for it.

The Fender Bass: An Illustrated History is a good book if you're in to Fenders. The Bass Book is a good history book. Bass Player Magazine did a load of good books a few years ago- The Bass Player Book, How The Fender Bass Changed The World, American Basses, The Jazz Bass Book, Session Bass Masters, and a few more that I can't remember off the top of my head. There is a book called In Cold Sweat: Interviews with Really Scary Musicians, which is extended and unedited interviews with Gene Simmons, Jerry Casale, Peter Hook, and Scott Thunes, that were originally in Bass Player Magazine. That's a fun read.

Try 'Soul Fingers - The Music & Life of Legendary Bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn' by Nick Rosaci https://www.amazon.co.uk/Soul-Fingers-Legendary-Bassist-Donald-ebook/dp/B073Z2XVPR

Mo Foster's "17 Watts', updated to ... British Rock Guitar ... A great read.

Got loads. Dylan, John Lydon, Poly Styrene to name but three. But the best of all is Mark E Smith of the Fall. Prefer singers with character. Being able to sing is a side issue.

Ian Dury.

Great video, and a great bassline to thump along with on the old Precision.

The Scientist -Coldplay.

Got to love a good collection of cases.