Leaderboard

Next big step is sorting the positions for the tuner blocks. The only sure way I know of getting the bridge units (or even a fixed bridge!) in the right place is to fit some old strings to the headstock and try it for real. It's relatively easy with this because the strings are clamped at the headstock : Then, with the tuner units positioned with a minimum of 5mm back movement from scale length, it was a case of pulling the two tuner blocks tight and positioning to be even either side of the fretboard and 54mm apart to give @Jus Lukin his preferred 18mm string spacing. Then I could mark the front screw hole positions for those 2 and then divide the remaining space for the other 2 : With all 4 front screws fitted, I could now string it up lightly and check the angular positions - they could be set straight (as, of course, fixed bridges are), but with single element bridges, I always think it adds a little to have them following the string line: Then I could fit the back screws to each of the four bases and...of course ... do a mockup. I've dampened some of the walnut to show broadly the colour it will eventually be. The fretboard also will darken from this: Next job is levelling and recrowning the frets and then I can see what my action range is so I know if I need to sink or raise the elements at all. And yes - this above is actually tuned to pitch and actually plays acoustically. Admittedly not a great sound...but, trust me, with my playing, a lot better than when it's finished, plugged in and louder And I love that Nova system. It just WORKS!

Not sure if I’m allowed here to post but hey I like to recommend my bass teacher, few months now I decided to learn not only bass because I can play bass but music with bass ( if that make sense), so theoretically I very slowly making progrès but the fact I’m slowly able to read the music sheet in groove or beat will hopefully one day make a better bass player so thanks to Stephen Woodcock @Steve Woodcockbased in London to be so patient with me , have a good day all thanks

Every person here, with the exception of a few new comers that came to the party because of Mick and his scamming ways, is a legitimate person with mostly years of posts and activities on the site. Mick has proven himself on many many occasions to say absolutely anything and everything to make himself seem legitimate, he is not. The history of documented illegal action undertaken by Mick is quite staggering. The best thing you can do is raise a police report, raise it with Action Fraud and believe nothing Mick tells you.

I spoke to Dave Green about the Retroglide when I got mine and thought it a bit underpowered. The design is different to virtually all amps out there in having a linear gain control, ( same as EA iAmp). Most amps hit near max output at 12 o'clock, the Retroglide keeps going until you hit the max of the control. His advice: "Wind the Output gain control to max and adjust the volume from the Input gain control." Or " Send it to me and I can make some adjustments but don't complain if it blows your speakers up 🙂 " Option A worked for me.

He sent my money back this morning! I told him that l'd let you guys know that he's now giving out refunds, but I'll still be reporting him for attempted fraud. Best of luck to anyone else dealing with Mick Mason - feel free to get in touch with me if you want more contact info for him!

Well, it turns out that in fact not all humans are 100% awful! The second item arrived today, and not only was it in almost unused condition, the sender also included a set of unused Zildjian Travis Barker sticks! Considering I only paid £10 for the case, that was remarkably kind of them. There are some good eggs out there, not everyone is a Mason! 😂

I recently snapped this bad boy up on a bit of a whim. I bought a thumb a few months ago and while it sounded great on its own I just couldn't get it to do what I wanted it to in a band situation so I made the decision to sell it. I was about to order a Limelight Jazz build when I spotted this little beauty on the classic and cool website. The thumb rest is an add on but the strings might be original 😂. I'm amazed by it. It's easily the highest output bass I've come across before I've turned the preamp on, with the preamp everything shakes and the sound tightens up, like turning a compressor on. It's got plenty of versatility and a real mid range punch in the face. I'm sure a fresh set of strings will bring even more punch. The controls are really easy to get your head around. I've owned a T-40 for years so I'm used to odd ball electronics. It's pretty heavy too. 4.18kg, only 100g lighter than my T-40. Here are some pics to drool over. I like the black appointments. Does anyone know if black or chrome was an option or if it was a change in production at some point?

Brand loyalty from people who get nothing (directly) from the Company other than great service and confidence in the product. I bought a used amp from eBay - had it sent directly to Guy at Ashdown who serviced it and sent it to me AT NO COST!!! I didn't give them a penny but still benefitted from the legendary great CS.

Okie dokie, lets talk Filters (if youre only here for the pretty pictures of woodwork, don't worry this part wont be on the test) The idea for the controls on this bass are as follows; each pickup will have its own preamp, which will have controls somewhat similar to alembic's filter preamps. that means that each pickup will have its own Low pass filter, with adjustable cutoff frequency, and adjustable resonant peak. the layout for each pickups will be like this: This will be achieved with 2 potentiometers, 1 which controls the frequency sweep such as this: as the control is turned, the cutoff frequency decreases and more and more of the treble and Mid frequencies are filtered out, leaving only the low end. you can see from the graph above there is a 12 decibel "peak" at the cutoff point. this is often referred to as the 'Q' or Quality factor, and can also be varied. The second potentiometer will control the 'Q' factor or resonant peak such as this: These controls should allow for a very wide range of tones, especially with one filter for each pickup. the exact range of both the frequency sweep (from maximum to minimum frequency cutoff) and the range of the resonance control are yet to be decided. once i have a test board made i will try a number of different vlaues to decide which sounds best. it may be that i use different values for the bridge and neck pickups to achieve a greater range of adjustability. My thinking at the moment is that i will try 3 different frequency ranges: Low - 250Hz through to High - 3.8kHz (from the research i can find online this is similar to the range sweep of Wal's current electronics) Low - 300Hz through to High -4.8khz (again, from my research this is similar in range to that of alembic's filters, although it also seems this varies from one set of electronics to another in alembic's case) Low - 100Hz throught to High -6.8khz (this is a far wider range of a sweep, but may be useful with one filter per pickup as it allows the resonant peak control to boost high treble frequencis on one pickup. this is close but not quite as wide a range as ACG's EQ01 and 02 i believe. i have an ACG EQ02 in one of my Buzzards, and i absolutely love it, but the sensitivity of the frequency sweep control takes some practice to get right) I want to balance a wide range of tones with the frequency controls not being too sensitive, as its important to have a control setup that allows people to easily recreate sounds accurately without too much effort For the Resonant peak control, ive decided to go with a potentiometer rather than a switch. again this is based on my own experience with the EQ02, being able to sweep the resonance from low to high i find that at least half of the time i have the control not at either extreme. from what ive read and from videos ive watched, both ACG and Wal filter preamps have a resonant peak adjustment from 0-10db at the cutoff point. (thats the peak you can see being adjusted in the second graph), and Alembics (take this with a pinch of salt because ive heard a lot of different answers for this from different people) have an adjustable peak up to 15db again, i think i will test with a number of values, allowing for a peak of 10, 12, 15 or 18Db (18db being the highest boost commonly available on preamps from aguilar, bartolini etc) and then we come to the "experiment" part of this design. Im confident i can get a compact circuit to achieve all of the above, but i also want to try something different. as far as i'm aware, all of the aforementioned filters are what is referred to as "2nd order" filters, which have approximately 12db of rolloff per octave (this is the steepness of the rolloff at the filter frequency). it is possible, however to create Higher order filters with a steeper rolloff. a 4th order filter for example would have a rolloff of 24db per octave: In terms of tone, this control would not necessarily be particularly useful if it were applied to both pickups at the same time, but with individual filters per pickup, this would allow the neck pickup to have more of the midrange harmonics filtered out at the bottom end of the frequency sweep, giving a cleaner bass tone, and at the upper end of the frequency sweep, this would allow for the resonant peak to attenuate high treble frequencies whilst filtering out unwanted high frequency noise more effectively. Thats the theory anyway... it remains to be seen if this works the same way in practice This plot shows the frequency sweep with the filter in both modes, the red traces are in 2nd order mode, and the blue traces are in 4th order mode with the resonance control set to a max peak of 12db. as i said before, this is an experiment, but im excited to see what this sounds like in practice. I will cover the preamp in a bit more detail once its been put together and ive decided on component values. Meanwhile the strips of Cherry are all glued up around the Padauk, and the layers of the wlanut are next

New year, new cab for my ABM for all these gigs I’ve got coming up 😂 ... 😢

2.9% + £0.30p per transaction. Very little for some peace of mind

Basslab L-Bow? Bleedin' German, innit? Forrin muck wiv a stupid name, bin stuck in Calais for a month stuffed in a container wiv a load of them French Muslamic immigrants an' some blue passports from Poland. Call that sovrinty??? That do?

I actually saw them already some time ago but only post them now as they are officially "in the open" (EBMM's virtual booth at the NAMM - Believe in Music event):

It's already been seen but here's my stage rig.

This... Happy to deal with BCers - I think most of us value our reputation more than the quick buck we might make...

Only in comparison 🙂. Aye love my ABM, not a touch in my old trace gear weight wise. Totally agree though built like tanks and the best customer service in the business

This is something that I really enjoy - cutting cavities with a router. It doesn't take very long to cut the cavity but it can take quite a while to make an accurate template. I remove the bulk of the cavity with a Forstner bit then finish the edges with a router using a template cutter. As the cutter uses a bearing to guide it, any errors or inaccuracies n the template will just get replicated in the final piece. I wouldn't be surprised if I spent an hour making a template for a square cavity that then took less than 5 minutes to route out!! There are a couple of templates for this build; one for the main outline and this one for all the cavities. I drilled a number of holes to just short of the final depth to clear the bulk before star And a few minutes later this is what results The control cavity needs to be deep enough for the switch that will be used to select between coils on the mudbucker. When I make a body, I plan out where the cables are going to go and drill holes for them in advance. Then when you route the cavities (if you measuring was accurate: measure twice, cut once...) the holes will be in the right place making the wiring easy and not risking putting a long drill through the front of a body when trying to do if afterwards (he says from learning the hard way!!) Next task are to radius the fretboard and sort some frets and to sort the binding out on the body.

He is a convicted fraudster, counterfeiter, and liar.

I want it. Sorry, but it had to be said out loud 🤭

As far as I'm aware it's not 'attempted' fraud, it is fraud. He set up a bogus advert for a pedal he doesn't have (even if he did have one he can't sell it to everyone) purely to trick people into sending him money. You fell for this trick and sent him money and recieved no goods in return, and were never going to. He defrauded you of your money. Only your actions have made him return it. He still defrauded you.

I bought a lovely original ABM 500 in chrome from here for about £170 came with a fitted SKB case too. Think it took a bump being delivered and a couple of things didn’t work as expected. Took it to Guy at Ashdown who fixed it, changed the valve and gave it a service free of charge. Wonderful customer service. Buy with confidence.

This was posted in another thread: Want one now.

I understand that some might feel you don't trust them, but the fact is they're a stranger and you have no reason to trust them, or to not trust them. If trust, or lack of, is nothing to be wary of then ask them to send the item first, and once it's arrived safe and sound you'll send the payment. I'll wager trust will suddenly be an issue.

You only think its not working properly because the decimal point looks like it's in the wrong place! 😥😂🤣 Now where's my Lotto ticket gone to? 😂

I found an old neck that I've used on this build and decided to go for a matching headstock Just got to wait for the headstock to dry then I can refit the tuners, now just waiting for the wiring harness and strap buttons to turn up!..... 👍🏻

In the interests of transparency, as they say these days, here is a full cast list for The French Connection. Well done that man! It's always good when someone steps up to answer a call for assistance.

6. Transcription of Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City from Live In The Heart Of The City (1980). Some bits are hard to notate, with my ability anyway! Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City (live).pdf

Can you print a Stonehenge stage prop?

No, I’ll get your coat

Finished, but forgot to buy some strings! I decided to install the BP122 pickup. No idea how it sounds yet!

I appear to be of the odd opinion that I really like the Peavey era stuff from about 2002. The older stuff is great as well. This new stuff is awful. Unless you play a jazz gig you'd need an 8x10 to play anything bigger as the Elf is so anaemic. You can put it in your pocket? Whooptee do. You'll be red lining it the whole way as it's got so little power. Also, whomever priced the new cabs is on crack. They're ludicrously expensive for what they are. Get the preamp of the older models bang a 1000W class D behind it. Job done. Instead, we get this ludicrous set of products that look like someone forgot to add water to get them to the correct size.

Brilliant, Paul! 😂 Back in 2012, our keyboard player selfishly fell in love with a beautiful Australian girl and buggered off to live in that shanty town called Sydney on the other side of the world.. The upshot of which was that I decided I needed to change my rig to 'fill out the sound' in the band a bit more now we were down to just guitar/bass/drums. So, I picked up 2 empty Peavey 115 cabs and with the very kind help of @Chimike, fitted the cabs with 2 pristine Altec Lansing 15" drivers which, to my ears at least, sounded great with my Hughes & Kettner Bassbase 600 amp. At the first gig with the new rig at a pub very near to me, a load of mates and work colleagues came along to cheer us on which was great... After about half an hour things seemed to be going brilliantly and I was feeling very chuffed with the bass sound.. Then out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that our Office Manager's husband made a swift exit for the door, leaving behind an unfinished pint on his table which was a bit strange as I knew he liked live music a lot and his beer. So after the first set had finished, all very concerned like, I went up to her to ask what had happened and to enquire if her husband was ill or something.. Turning round, she looked at me dead straight in the eye and said he had to leave because the bass had made his false teeth fall out! 😬😁 Best gear compliment I've ever had! 😂

1: Fool For Your Loving This is what I played on Fool For Your Loving on Whitesnake's Ready An' Willing album from 1980, as accurate as I can manage. Fool For Your Loving NM tab.pdf

This morning I sent a couple of small packages to France. 1st class but not tracked or signed for. Filled out a small customs declaration, that was it at this end. Be interesting to see what happens at the other end.

I mainly use a preamp pedal with my passive basses to give me some extra tone shaping. The Sadowsky preamp/di is my favourite for this- It just makes my Fenders sound better. I don't usually use one with active instruments but I don't like the slap sound on one of my favourite basses, so I'll run a preamp to give me the sound I want. I run my amp flat and only use the graphic eq to notch out certain frequencies depending on the room, so I just use preamp pedals for additional tone shaping if necessary.

Not exactly NBD since I had it for a couple of weeks now or so. This is the black satin 'stealth' finish. They seemed to be on the light weight side, and mine didn't disappoint at 8.6 lbs. The set up was poor to start, far too much relief and very high saddles, but a few minutes spent reducing the neck curvature and adjusting the saddles brought it to a very comfortable action. The nut slots are well contoured but a bit too high, which makes me think that somebody tried to adjust the action by playing with the truss rod and saddles, failing, and then going the other way... I haven't adjusted the nut yet because it plays well enough already, but I'll have to do that to make the top positions a bit more comfy to play. I really like it. The neck is wider than a SR5 (so the G string doesn't fall off! ) but not excessively chunky. I find it quite comfortable. Not as nice as the Lakland 5502, but still very comfortable. The narrower string spacing (compared to my 4 strings) and the additional string means I was a little clumsy to start, but I've been playing this bass exclussively since I got it and I'm getting there now. In fact, I'm starting to really like this 5 string thing. I owned 5 string basses before but I never really got along with any. The closest ones were the Lakland 5502 and the old made in USA EBMM SUB 5. The Lakland had the wider string spacing that I prefer, but I didn't get the Stingray-like sound I prefer. The SUB5 had the sound, but I felt the neck was a bit too narrow and it was a very heavy bass. A Squier Jazz V came and went too, and over the years so did a Peavey Millenium, a Washburn Bantam (that one was pretty good too), a Crafter something or another, a G&L L2500, and maybe something else too. Nothing really stuck. And here comes the Harley Benton. I didn't need a new bass, certainly not a 5-string (by now I had accepted 5 strings are not for me and I no longer wanted to own one)... but these satin black ones looked so good, were so cheap, and the reviews were so positive... that it tempted me. Before I pressed the button, my girlfriend went and ordered one for me, just before they sold out in November. If I had to give it a one word review it would be 'wow'. This is a very decent bass, regardless of price, but when you consider the price... yeah, wow. It has that Stingray vibe and the passive electronics are just fine. Sure, not as versatile as having an onboard preamp, but I actually love passive tone controls, so I'm happy with it as it is. For some reason this bass feels and sounds nicer than any of my previous 5 string basses, and because of that playing it exclusively for the past 2 weeks was not a chore. Yeah, it was frustrating at first, but as I adjust to the different layout it becomes more fun... and I feel like something clicked. I'm enjoying immensely how I can move across strings and reduce the movement up/down the neck that way. I don't use the additional lower notes that much, but I use a lot of the notes I would often play on the E string on the B string now, just moving across with fewer jumps to different hand positions on the neck which also means I look at the neck a lot less. And having the option to play those notes between the low E and A on the E string for more definition or on the B string for additional girth is really useful too. This may be the bass that makes me finally 'get' 5 string basses. How much does it cost? Crazy. I would have paid quite a bit more for a bass that I can enjoy as much as this one. The pickguard will be replaced 'though. Not a fan of tortoiseshell, I think it's screaming for a black one.

Today's (18th January) text from DHL: "DHL Express delivery from Andertons delivered TODAY before the end of the day" That's a day earlier than DHL originally said. Today's lockdown project of making a pasta drying rack will just have to wait.

I've had a stealth 5 string bongo for s few years now, it's a great bass for the kind of music I play, yes the 18v pre-amp is hot, but as long as the system you're running it with has enough headroom on the input, you're golden. I use mine with a Helix Stomp and a Shelford Channel in the studio and it provides a real contrast in tone to the SR5 and the fretless. It's got a real presence in the low end that cuts live. The G is a little close to the edge of the fretboard on first playing, but you get used to it, can't say I've noticed any problems with comfort, standing or sitting.