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Just to let you know, I am in fact your eldest daughter... when can I have my bass please?

NOW what's he doing?????? Well, starting with the reason - two phrases sum it up: - one of the 'not essential but if it could be done' requests from @Jus Lukin was that it would be nice if it could stand against a bass speaker without the need for a guitar stand - one of the things on my 'what I would do differently if I built another one of these' is to make the body a cm or so longer at the tail and deepen the cutout for the tuner knobs Because 'it's a little bit tight' With the bottom E fully intonated (ie the furthest back of the tuner cylinders) it was clear on a hard floor, but the tuner was touching the ground on a carpet. So I needed some slightly longer strap buttons. Now there maybe some somewhere...but I couldn't find any. But with a teeny bit of ingenuity...and a much bigger hacksaw blade...and longer fixing screws in the post - hey presto, strap button extensions! : And the acid test. Hard floor almost vertical: Clear! Carpet at a more normal 'leaning against the speaker' angle: Well clear. Phew!

Mine since 1986 and going absolutely nowhere.

🤔 There - fixed that for you! 😉 😁

Short answer is most excellent! The history. I've had 4 of the originals. 5 years ago you could pick one up for £350/£500 very regularly. A year or so back, I had the epiphany that jazz neck, p/j, precision body were the thing for me, so started looking for a Japan Jazz Bass Special. The rare ones that now came up were £700/£900 and seemed to go quickly or were too far away. Anyway, this new model has been calling since before Christmas. It's 11 years since I bought a new bass, nearly 500 gigs later, she's still with me. On Saturday I succumbed to the Boxer. What I knew I would like: Jazz neck, P body, p/j pups, 12 in radius, satin neck finish, microtilt, headstock truss adjustment, basswood body,, TBX, pickup selector switch, no scratchplate, black hardware with slightly longer tuners. The passive pickups are hot, the immediate tone is punchy Lynott, however put neck on selector and roll the TBX and JP Jones is there waiting. Unlike a lot of PJs, the J is fine soloed, usable tones, no volume dip. The weight is a little more than I would have expected with Basswood at just under 9lbs. The neck is simply wonderful. Imminently playable out of the box although I will set it up to my liking in the next day or two. We all have our preferences and dislikes. This bass (including the gorgeous colour which I know will range from black to white under stage lights) is the perfect storm for me, except; at this price (too high) it should have had a hard case. I can live with that and I look forward to playing Highway Star at our 1st outdoor gig in May. 'Appy days 😁

Gullible & stupid person alert.

anyone remember this compilation?

When I left home my records were left in my old room in a gap between the wardrobe and the wall... After an indeterminate amount of time I was around the house and my Dad asked if I wanted to clear the stuff because they we're going to decorate my old room. I went upstairs to retrieve the vinyl. That was the moment I discovered out cat had been using the nook as a toilet. All my old records growing mould on them and stuck together with cat pi55 He was my cat as well... What an absolute B@5tard!

So a little progress with a few holes cut, all done with a jig-saw and using the blades shown above. You can see the marks for the original positions but Stevie wanted the horn closer to the bass driver. I've allowed for the extra width of the speaker surround and the lip of the horn and the bass port which will all cover up the minor imperfections

"You've got to fight for the right to party" - Beastie Boys - try that at the moment and get yourself £10,000 fine. https://www.herts.police.uk/news-and-appeals/10000-fine-issued-after-party-in-hertfordshire-1090

Basses made by SVL Guitars. Simon Law is Pete Townsend's guitar tech and an excellent luthier. He generally makes 6 strings (based on earlier employer Robben Ford's tele and Matt Schofield's strat) but he asked if he could make me a bass and these are using my 66 as the model. I didn't want to take the old basses on the road.

My trusty 65... More than 50 basses came and went, but this one is really special for me.

My trusty 66 Precision. The two pictures are about 35 years apart. I use my SVL's live but this will never go anywhere (until my eldest daughter inherits it).

Aria R80, 1986. Look at the grain on that.

I really like this thread for the way it has highlighted the ‘different strokes for different folks’ adage and why there are so many different types of basses out there. The last 5 posts alone are cases in point.

A new one that just arrived an hour ago that will most definitely never be sold!

I've spent more time than ever on practice - probably 5 times per week over the past year. I've been getting the most out of my Scott's Bass Lessons subscription, I'll say that. I've gone from being quite lax to quite disciplined, and my technique and understanding of theory have improved. Over the first lockdown, I learnt how to play fingerstyle from scratch, having been a pick-only player since my teens, which was a long time ago... Now I rarely pick up a pick - wouldn't have believed that a year ago. Having no gigs to work towards has allowed me to be a bit more free in terms of the songs I've been learning to play. I can't really put my finger on why I've got so deep into the bass over the lockdowns, as my attention span for other hobbies has been smashed to bits! I hardly did any reading last year, for example.

My all-stock 76 P Bass imported from USA for around £1200. Owned for about 10 years but took a long time to source a good one from many 70s Bass lemons I'd returned or moved on. It has everything: lightweight, great neck, great sound, tight neck pocket. I certainly wouldn't have the appetite for the search again for a P bass from that era.

Nice bass. They intrigue me. I'd love to spend some time with one but there's something about paying a grand blind for a Cort which doesn't compute in my head. Silly, I know, but opportunities to try them first are practically non-existant.

My Status Graphite B-2 is getting cremated with me.

Hi all,been a while since I was on here. I've recently bought a 4 string version of the above. I have to say that its one of the best "feeling" basses Ive ever played.Its definately a Bass player's Bass. No fancy electrics but everything else about it is quality. As he puts it "‘Its a beautiful representation of nothing special’. Any thoughts? Anyone had/got one?

Find the centre of the hole. Bang a nail through it. Now you can spin the board keeping the jigsaw still and feeding the line into it. Drill a hole to get you started

A new ACG delivery today... that makes 4 in the 'built by Alan' collection. A number no doubt to grow in the future!

Not so. A five string will give you a greater choice of positions from which to play. You needn't travel up and down the neck as much.

Here’s a song written in 1917 but released in 1924 by Ma Rainey. There was a more popular version released in 1935 by Lucille Bogan. I think even with today’s lyrics and modern radio editing it wouldn’t get much love as the premise is a guy “making love” to a woman with no regard to her. still it just shows that “us youngsters” didn’t invent the shock pop 😂🤣😋

Found the amp used and really cheap earlier. Finally got a matching 210 cab and it’s just great. Have a smaller rig and a bigger but I suspect this one will get used most of the time.

Sett Me Free - The Kinks

We could have done with you on this. And yes, I did tell them I couldn't play it and would never be able to play it properly but they insisted!

I was going to use a flame maple fingerboard but thought ebony looks great! Might go unlined fretless

Mmm, cake... 😋🤤

It's the cartoon eyes that appear for a second or two. It's a running joke on the den of Iniquity thread about @Teebs who started it.

Thanks - and great detective work! For anyone with a passing interest in this stuff, the 'sold' gallery at https://best-vintage-guitars.de/sold.html is a great resource for comparisons, ID and (usually) accurate basic age/manufacturer info. The galleries for individual instruments are stunningly detailed too - an indispensible bookmark if you have any interest in old MIK/MIJ stuff.

McDonald's probably has a trademark on 'Quarter Pounder' so they changed to 'Quarter Pound'. Quite what a pound has to do with it anyway I don't know, surely they should be 'Quarter Inchers'. That's not quite so macho sounding though I suppose.

Hi all, Been a while since here last on here. Here is the finished arcticle with a couple of changes from original plan.

Ped is the star ,obviously, but @Teebs manages to photo bomb it at 4.18 ish..... He gets everywhere! 😉

It’s this one 🙂.

Can't now remember what I was searching for, as once my eyes fell on this 614 in Pewter, everything else was forgotten. Mmm, shiny. (Mmm, matching headstock, too)

I'm always cautious about such threads as life changes and the "one I'll never sell" has been sold on a few occasions. However over the last 5 years things have settled much more and a few of my basses are second take at owning that model so I cautiously offer the following; 1.) Hofner Verythin Long scale. I loved my short scale one but the intonation wasn't great. I sold it and snapped up the long scale when it launched in 2016. It took a couple of years to properly bond but it's now done 3 or 4 tours and played several European countries with me. I've never owned a bass that got so many comments and the resale value wouldn't be worth the loss of the experiences I had with it. 2) Having been given a payout from an accident last summer I snapped up this Gretsch and Orange head. I'd wanted both for years and would be unlikely to sell either. The jury is out on Pete the cat though! 3) Finally as a double whammy, I wanted an upright bass since I first started playing. I had a Far Eastern plywood job but this blonde Czech model is a step up. I've had it about 8 years and wouldn't upgrade any more. Equally my previous Ric didn't last and was sold quite quickly. This one was secondhand, picked up around 2017 and has done some great recordings. The previous owner put a few knocks in the headstock so the resale isn't worth what it is worth to me. Sorry it's 4 basses but it's taken 33 years to get here and even now I am holding back on my Gibson Thunderbird!

It has been 12 days since I ordered this thing. 12 weeks seems like it’s gonna be a really long time! And I’m assuming the border situation will add a few more days/weeks on as some others have experienced. Nevertheless I am excited!

Tread very carefully with couriers at present, they're feeling the pinch and systematically albeit unethically handing it on to customers. I sent a bass to Walshy a while back, and the courier TNT tried to charge me a substantial surcharge for poor packaging. Luckily having been here before I photo every stage of the packing process, so I sent them the photos and notified them that I would sue their flipping derrières off should they choose to test my resolve in the matter. Oddly and almost immediately they discovered that it wasn't my package that had caused offence after all

The attraction for me with all these events is meeting up with other BCers/ Bass players. Sitting at home while "attending" would hold no interest for me. Hope to see you all in person and that we're all well.

Different kind of Large bass collections 1- slowly growers. These folk never seem to sell anything, they have their first bass, and their second and every so often will buy something new. They never sell so don’t seem to have GAS. They will have a collection with a wide age range of basses and look down at the GAS fuelled rabid buying and selling of others. 2- collectors these folk have a thing they are into, if you ask them about it they are very knowledgeable about it and have a desire to own or try as much as they can. Whether it’s Warwicks, 70s japanese, Peavey or pre-cbs fenders it doesn’t really matter. They will have their favourite gigging bass and then half a dozen variations of the same model 3- professional players they make thier living playing bass of in music and have their main instrument. They will have a few of them as backup, and possibly will have been provided by the company. For recording and for fun they might have anything from a handful to dozens of other instruments. You can tell them by string preference to main instrument, close relationships over years with companies and being too busy to want to spend much time on here. 4- semi-professional players like the above but they make their main living doing something else. This means more free cash flow so they know what they like, it just will be a bit newer than the pro player and they possibly went for an upgraded top wood 5- thing lovers these players have a large collection of basses with no discernible theme or reason. Mostly lower end models they seem to have hoovered up lots of different make models and styles. Because they aren’t throwing big money at anything expect to see a lot of lower end instruments that are “actually way better than you would imagine”. In conversation about their instruments expect verboseness but little detail. 6- GAS fuelled thing lovers these players are similar to normal thing lovers, but ascribe to the idea in the marketing that more expensive things will be better. Their collection may not be large but it seems constantly in flux and week to week who knows what basses they will take to practice. Despite all evidence to the contrary they like to think themselves as discerning, so will go into excruciating detail And cause the luthier a massive headache when spec-ing a bass. They like to signal their discernment to others of their tribe with comments like “ah if this had an extra string”. (Btw the custom bass went from being the best thing ever to being traded for a Roscoe in about 6 months) 7- GAS fuelled swappers. like the above but unable to keep a large collection For whatever reason. Tend to have a small collection of higher end instruments. All but one of them will have a price if you ask. (And if you are asking You probably are one) 8- Stopper swappers Gas fuelled swappers who have stopped for whatever reason. Used to be on Basschat a lot. Not any more. Will be nice to say hello when they log on to sell their Ceilinder. 9- completists pride themselves one not having GAS, not as picky as some of the above - they have a a small collection... 1 precision, one jazz, one 5 string, one stingray, one fretless, one EUB etc 9- Stans These guys try to emulate their favourite player. They have the signature model. And the previous signature model, and a version of the bass they became famous on. If a Mark King fan they may pay their salery directly to Status Graphite 10- Trend followers you know when things are on trend on talkbass? These guys seem to follow the trend, yes they had a Lakland, and a SX and a Sire - and whatever got a bit of a buzz about them. Seem to go through cabs fairly quickly 11- the reader of course you sir or madam, the reader are a wonderful individual who only makes rational thought through decisions, unswayed by marketing, peer pressure or phycological need. You are truely free (but have you tried....)

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For useful exercise in reading, I found this to be worth a visit ... Alfred Kalfass 'Soul Essentials'... It's not (and not intended to be...) a tutorial, but a series of 500 riffs and patterns, all very playable, for practicing one's skills. Good value, I found. I found it through his ( @alfred...) announcement on this very Forum. Worth a look..?

Fruitcake 🤓

I don’t know why two strap buttons like this isn’t more widespread. Makes so much sense. Had it on my Hohner Jack (maybe it’s just a headless thing?)

Agreed - in different ways they were the scene's breakthrough bands. However I was a Sounds reader pre-NWOBHM and I'd say the catalyst for the entire scene was a Geoff Barton review of a gig (not sure but probably at the Soho Soundhouse), featuring Maiden, Angel Witch and (I think) Samson. I'm pretty sure that review was where the term itself was coined. At the time Barton was pretty much the sole champion of metal in the otherwise agonisingly hip UK music press, and if you were in any way interested in the denim & leather side of music - as a fan or as a musician - Sounds was what you read. Sounds, and Radio 1's Friday Rock Show (TV on the radio!) became the focus of grassroots-level metal bands all over the UK and the coverage that Barton & Tommy Vance gave those bands created a UK-wide movement, of sorts. Bands like UFO, Priest, & Motorhead tend to get lumped in with the scene but weren't really part of it, although Motorhead's success & industry-outsider attitude made them seem closer to the grassroots bands. I was a fan as well as trying to get a band together at the time, in 1980 when the scene was properly happening it definitely felt like something you could be part of.