Leaderboard

While waiting for the Superquads I did a couple of small jobs, including adding the 0.6mm maple veneer to the back of the fretboard. The tang slots will be filled with epoxy mixed with ebony dust before the board is finally glued on (a little way off yet): And then, this morning, the Superquads arrived : For those who have never seen them, they are 4-coil passive pickups: The three way toggle gives each pickup the option of 'P' ; Single ; Humbucker: There is a battery connection, but that is purely to power the LED that shines red for 'P' ; green for Single; blue for Humbucker. The pickups are not affected by the battery being connected or not. And - although this set up with three pickups is, we think, a World First and will have some quirky things we need to work through - they are ridiculously easy to wire up. The PCB on each switch has a ground, a 9v for the LED and a hot out. Performance-wise, they are superb - worth watching the Bassbash clip at the beginning of this thread with Nick Smith's demo of a Sims fitted bass and @TheGreek 's Silk bass. I suppose my only less-positive observation is that the cases (GRP/carbon?) have a rough surface and show the manufacturing ejector marks - exactly the same pattern on these as on Mick's a good few years ago. But, once the LEDs are all traffic lighting up, who's looking at that! And here is broadly how they will fit: Now I have the looms in hand, I can work out how big the chambers and the cable runs need to be in the lower back wing

Fire the bass consultant!

I've shared it to my Facebook page for stolen gear - https://www.facebook.com/115193063728291/posts/168617738385823/

@AdhamBassPlayer - if you haven't already got them, I have the direct contact details for the CEO of UPS (UK and Global) and I think their board of directors too, feel free to PM me and I'd be happy to share the contacts. If you send them all a stern but diplomatic email you may find you get a better result.

I've tweeted this thread as Basschat. Good luck, hope it turns up.

Unfortunately, by 5pm on the 1st of Jan. this had happened:

Seeing the wrench in your photo @TrevorR , it reminded me of this – slight thread derailment, but hey, it's my bass! 😉

I read the article and realised that the drummer thing was not the most important element in his story. It was his relationships that were important and, whether we recognise it or not, we all have that in our lives. Things to be be proud of, things we regret but, most importantly, the people to share them with. It's there in all our lives. Some stories are big, some are much smaller but that is simply not the point. Be kind and appreciate who you have. The rest comes from that.

I’ve actually spoken to people at gigs my old covers band were playing and been asked if I go to see the band regularly as they’re quite good! But at a festival my punk band played some guys asked if they could have a photo taken with the band, and handed the camera to our drummer to take the photo. Did he not like that. Seems it’s only singers and guitarists that get recognised all the time.

I don't suppose I can interest you in buying a bridge, one careful owner, no VAT?

Here's one with a roasted ash neck that I worked on the electronics for a couple of years ago: :

Rolling Stone have just published a very good article on Peart, well worth reading. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/neil-peart-rush-dead-cover-story-1110496/

Completely ignoring the rhythmic and melodic aspects for a second... The lowest pitch is important for how our brains make sense of chords. If a guitarist plays the notes C-E-G-A and the bassist plays a C, then it'll sound like a C6 overall, because the C is lowest. But if the bassist plays an A, the harmony will sound like an Am7. The same four notes are being played, but our brains use the lowest one to give the others context. And since the bassist* is usually playing a lower pitch than the guitarist, they're generally in charge. You could have a whole song where the "chord" played by the guitar never changes, but the harmony still goes through a sequence of chords because that's what the bassline makes us hear. It's a big simplification - melody is important too - but that's the basic idea. * Or pianist's left hand, or organist's feet, etc. - whoever's got the lowest notes, wins!

Should anyone call the police? Does that leg belong to someone alive? When was the last time that duvet was cleaned? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1960s-Audition-Short-Scale-Bass/293805245471?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160727114228%26meid%3D5f15b8473ed54730b8e35520a88a15bf%26pid%3D100290%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D265005418185%26itm%3D293805245471%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2060778&_trksid=p2060778.c100290.m3507 So many questions!!

After a small cheesy quaver. A mate of mine has written and recorded a song. He's not terrifically confident, so it would be great if it racked up a few listens. No need to buy it or leave a comment, just give it a play. Please and thank you. http://trigeminalnerve.bandcamp.com

You had one job. ONE JOB!! 😁

Ah man, that’s gorgeous as well, what a shame. Very unique though, so it’s going to stand out like a sore thumb, do all you can to make it too hot to move! Hopefully in terms of cost you’re okay there and the luthier sent it fully insured? Either way, if you did commission the build, you haven’t received it so ultimately it’s going to be the seller that loses out financially if it’s gone.

It’s still not the complete family photo - my BB235 and the other BB1200S stayed at home. Possibly some day next week I’ll have them all at my studio at the same time. The new (to me) BB400S is nice, I’ve played it several hours per day since I got it this tuesday. Like the sound, weight and playability, but the quality of both the DIY de-fret job and the nut is such that it is going to a luthier as soon as possible. Bumpy and buzzy fret(less)board, badly made replacement nut. And the finish... well, it is the original early 80’s dark brown, in very good condition. It does look organic. Like sh...

Penguin.... with that amount of P... P... P... Pickups...

Just pop down the corner shop, save us all the trouble

I don't know if this bass will have a name, but one look at that and I thought "Thor's Hammer!" So I suggest Mjölnir

whatever another 5 months practice at home, wont need a strap. let johnny foreigner have them ~#+-* mumble mumble *#~+.

Get in line, please. You'll get yours after I've received mine. ... ('cos mine got lost in the post, and there's been none available since ...)

Glue it, clamp it, paint it. A cash offer might work.

Yeah! Don't you just love predictive text!! Not as bad as the time a while back when I was writing a technical document and describing a 'shut down' sequence. U and I are next to each other on the keyboard and the spell checker didn't pick that typo up.....

Make sure you're a pain in the ar5e! I had a pretty high value go missing in March (different courier), and after a lot of chasing it miraculously appeared and was delivered intact, 7 weeks after it was collected from me. Keeps records of everything and be polite but persistent... Here's hoping for the best!

Another great piece on him: http://philipwilding.co.uk/uncategorized/love-remains-though-everything-is-lost/

Jesus Christ. Hope they throw the duvet in with it, looks beautiful.

I have sorted my pink torpedo up and I don't think it looks too bad I wasn't happy with the contrasting grain on the top so I sanded it back then wire brushed the top to open the grain a bit then repeated the process and im a lot happier with it now!! Just waiting for the pickups ro arrive before I do the control cavity so i get the knobs in the right place!!..... 👍🏻

I mentioned this before somewhere on BC but a few years back me and the singer were on the look out for a new fiddle player having had a few months off from gigs. We went to a local folk bar and a punter approaches the singer and starts chatting asking when you guys gigging again etc as they were a regular in the pub we played 3-4 times a month in. The singer turns to introduce me - How do you know Rab? they ask. Err I'm the bass player in his band? and the guy says "Naw don't recognise you mate!" so I stand beside the singer and play air bass and ask if I looked more familiar now? I thought it was funny as f**k

Wear a loud shirt and a hat , sorted . we played a food festival in NWales a few years ago , boy did the guys have a laugh when the following year yours truly was the poster boy 😂

TBH I doubt whether I'd recognise anyone from Blur these days. They all look like a bunch of anonymous non-entities (and did during most of their career with the exception of Alex James). There is more to bass than a few bits of wood with some chunky strings on it. There was plenty of bass in music before the invention of the bass guitar and there will continue to be after it has been relegated to being a quirky folk instrument of historical interest only. If you want to be noticed in a band, be an interesting person. Your choice of instrument does not dictate that.

And yeah, it had to be done.

I know. All I did was listen to xa mix and tell him the bass needed to be louder 🤷🏻‍♂️

It was such a shame when Schaller canned the MB4s but so good that the light versions they replaced them with are direct replacements. And so easy to fit. Simple enough that even I trusted my cack handed bodge-it skills to fit Hipshot D-Tuners to my two Wals! Great tuning heads (old and new!).

In my band the bass player was important because he (I) was the one that knew how the songs go 😂

Paraphrase a phrase that was left here recently.... "You may not know that I am playing, but you'll know when I'm not..."

I’m guessing you don’t listen to much reggae or dub 🙂, the bass is the foundation , it’s crucial , without it you haven’t got anything

Always liked this, too.

On the flip side though, it highlights how complex a subject playing bass is! And, you know what? I bloody love it!!

Trust me, with a connection to british retailers, there is absolutely nothing good in this for them, unless they are amazon sized, then they are going to clear up.

Laibach's version of Across the Universe: Modern version Original version: