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That's better! And they are all spot on 18mm spacing as preferred by @Jus Lukin And forgive the indulgence, but the inevitable arty farty shots : ..and, finally, with lights on: Thanks for looking, folks

You may consider Custom Shop prices outrageous but when you consider the instruments they're replicating - mass produced by largely unskilled labour using some of the cheapest, most plentiful woods at the time - sell for multiples of even Custom Shop prices, it might change your perspective, no? What's worth considering is how cheap some instruments are, not just how expensive others are. There's a whole lot of exploitation built into your £99 Harley Benton. When you consider the cost of the raw materials alone, never mind the taxes and duties, the transportation, everyone taking their cut along the way, it does't leave much for the poor bastards who built it, does it? Comparing the cost of something made where worker's rights don't exist and living standards are barely above the level of vermin and using it as means to gripe about how expensive instruments made elsewhere is just a little misguided, in my opinion.

I was working on a song one night and didn’t realise the time, and my neighbour knocked ( I thought to complain) and asked me what the name of the song was as they recognised the bassline and really liked it

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned my wife bought me a new bass from Guitar Guitar. Well here it is and I think it is great. A wonderful birthday present. regards Pete

This was meant to be posted on Saturday as I selected next day delivery, but between the supplier and the courier, it actually arrived this morning (potential for another thread, all on its own). Anyhoo, there's a back story to this purchase, so bear with me. Last March, just before the world went to hell in a hand basket, I had a video for David Byrne on Saturday Night Live come up on my feed, playing Once in a Lifetime with his Utopia ensemble. As a DB/Heads fan I watched and noticed the bass player using some sort of Hofner-esque short scale affair, sounded good. The next video up was from the same SNL programme with DB playing Toe Jam with the same guys, except the bass player had swapped to a shell pink, 5 string of some description; it sounded incredible. A very quick search on Google for the player, then images to see if I could find out what the bass was, revealed it was a short scale, Serek, 5 string. Now, I heard good things about these basses already, so I thought I'd investigate the price - yikes! However, by this time, my interest was piqued and so I trotted off to my local Guitar Guitar to try some short scales to see if this was something worth pursuing. I tried a Gibson double cut, an Epiphone, a Gretsch and Fender/Squier Mustangs, including the JMJ signature. I was hooked, there was definitely something to this resurgence of SS basses. The 2 that impressed me the most were the Gretsch (good playability and tone and an absolute bargain) and the JMJ, which was in a different league to all the rest. Rather than diving straight in, I thought I'd ponder a bit - then lockdown arrived. After the first lockdown ended and GG opened up again, I needed a new tuner and, as my car was in for a service just round the corner from the shop, I went to buy it in person and also try the JMJ again to see if it had just been a momentary whim; it hadn't. I decided to move my Maruszczyk Jake L on to facilitate financing the new purchase and put it up on commission sale at The Bass Gallery (where it is available should you, dear reader, wish to purchase it https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/443414-maruszczyk-jake-l-in-fiesta-red-reduced-to-£775/ ). I tried the Vintera and a couple of vintage Mustangs while I was there, the Vintera was the best, but not as good as my memory of the JMJ (I also tried a Wilcock Mullarkey, which was brilliant, but beyond my budget). Then... lockdown 2 arrived, coupled with my moving to Scotland, where I'm in temporary accommodation with just one of my basses (Rob Allen MB2) for low end company, the others being in storage and the pause button was hit, again. Well, we all know this lockdown has been tough and I finally snapped and bought a JMJ anyway, without waiting for the Jake to sell and it finally arrived this morning. A quick play and everything was in order, just my usual set up required (it wasn't bad out of the box to be honest, just not my preference). I'm really rather pleased, my only complaint being, if you're going to put modern, albeit 'aged', Hipshot tuners (nice touch), why not put a modern, hex head, easily accessible, truss rod on? Having to take the very well fitted neck off (twice) is a PITA! Also, if you're supplying a SS bass, provide a SS gig bag, not something that is way too long. Will I become a SS devotee? Time will tell, but early indications are good. Enough waffle, on with the show...

Nuns & Rosaries

Some uncluttered curvy goodness 🖤

Is that a young Richard Osman on the right? 😉

That reminds me of when I was younger and my dad was listening to his new Hi-Fi late one evening. Just as I was dozing off Black Sabbath's Paranoid started shaking the house. I ran downstairs to find my dad sat on the floor in the living room with headphones on. Totally oblivious to the earsplitting volume pumping from the speakers. He didn't realise you had to manually switch the speakers out of the signal path.

I had a friend bashing away late at night on her keyboard with headphones on. She heard a neighbour knocking on a wall and started to get cross that they were doing this late at night. After it went on for a bit longer she took her headphones off to discover they hadn't been plugged in 😄

I know this isn't a 'relic rant' thread, but I just don't understand the relic look... in any other industry it would be classed as insanity - 'Come buy your brand new relic'd Ford, we've smashed it up a bit for you to make it look like you've rolled down a genuine Californian hillside'. Why pay 60% over the odds for a bass/guitar that's been sandpapered a bit and had a few rocks thrown at it. They just look like battered instruments to me so why pay more for damage?? I don't get it. Even with true vintage instruments, the better the condition the higher the value, so it just seems like the attraction is people wanting to make it appear like they've been gigging for years and are seasoned pro's when they likely are not. Just my personal 2 cents! Opinion is subjective and beauty is in the eye of the beholder so really who am I to judge!!

Funny how things turn out (as Victoria Wood sung many years ago). I've been keeping an eye out for a 5 string version of my bass, a Brawley. They aren't well known in the UK, but were made briefly in the US for a couple of years and are a very nice mid-range instrument. Last year I posted this: https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/398769-brawley-artemis-5-string-but-in-manchester-new-hampshire, which was an observation that there was a 5 string Brawley for sale in Manchester, but it was Manchester in New England not the UK. Earlier this year @Larry D messaged me to say that he'd seen the post, and I was the first person in the UK he had come across who had even heard of Brawley. He also had a very nice 5 string and we agreed we should meet up at a bass bash when we're next allowed. Then a bit later on he PM'd me again asking if I would be interested in buying the bass as it wasn't getting a lot of use. Well that was a silly question - of course I was! He sent some pictures, and the one thing that worried me was the width of the fretboard, 51mm at the nut and wide all along. Not having played a 5 much I was concerned how this would feel, and wondered if there was any way to try the instrument out. Step forward Larry's neighbour, who was working in Birmingham last weekend and offered to bring the bass up and meet somewhere public so I could try it out and if I liked it buy it! She knows nothing about basses or guitars, but what a very generous offer. So on Sunday I met her (and her colleague who very sensibly came along riding shotgun) in Tesco's car park near the M42 and was able to try and buy the bass. Pics now, and opinion afterwards 🙂 Brawley 5 string.MOV It is very pretty - and even better in real life. You can see what I was worried about with the width of the fretboard, but I really needn't have been. The 5 string bass has exactly the same scale length, 35", and string spacing as the 4 string, and the neck is equally shallow - which means it feels exactly the same to play. In fact I make exactly the same mistakes on it 😞 The low B sounds great, and I'm enjoying playing across the neck. Fortunately I've always muted with a sliding thumb, so no change there. The four isn't going anywhere, but the plan is to focus exclusively on the 5 for at least a few months and get good at that.

Have to be this one, I was 13, obsessed with reading horror fiction ( King, Barker, Herbert etc) and saw this in the local record shop. ❤️❤️

We've all puchased on the strength of the cover, and i was suckered in to buy this.

I'd suggest putting things that make noise in rooms away from the adjoining wall if possible.

You may be correct. Sandberg very deliberately reverse their P when in a bass with a J or MM pickup at the bridge, but they leave it in “traditional” configuration when on a single P pup bass. They’ve gone on record as saying the bridge pickup blends better with a reversed P than a traditionally oriented one.

Did you have any trouble playing it with your thumb?

Well, it's finally here! My BB605 arrived today. I've been playing with it for 1 hour and this are my impressions: -I like the neck. It's really comfortable. I have to adjust it, but so far, it's really good. -The preamp is garbage. I hate it. I can see people liking it, but I'm not one of them. The knobs are ok I guess. -The overall sound: meh. I don't hate the pickups, but I don't love them either. I don't mind since I was already thinking about changing the preamp and the pickups. I like how it feels and plays. I can change the rest. Thinking about Glockenlang or Delano preamp. Or Aguilar. And Delano pickups.

I've just had a brainwave, we're all trying to stop the sound at source, so to speak, but why don't we look at the other end. How pleased would your new neighbour be to receive a little gift when you move in? Noise cancelling headphones! Nobody can be angry at someone who's just given them a gift.

Budget for a breeze block construction, heavily sound-proofed garden practice room. Heavy airlocked entrance doors, isolated window, double sandbagged ceiling and air con with sound baffles. Put in an en-suite bog so you can describe it as a 'guest annexe / granny flat' when you move on. Or don't buy a semi. The alternative is fear, loathing and madness, either for your neighbour or for you when you're practising those disco octave stops and your brain's worrying whether you're pi55ing off them next door. Or both of you go mad and the news report ends with the words 'before pulling the trigger on himself'.

I used to live in a semi detached old railway cottage. Walls really thick and built to last. Our next door neighbours were lovely, and one day I asked if they could hear much from our house. Bearing in mind I had a reasonably loud hi fi and practiced piano, guitar and bass a bit. They said that the only thing that permeated through to their place was the acoustic piano, which was in the room furthest away from the adjoining wall. Something about the frequencies I guess. Agree with Dan Dare about moving in somewhere and notifying your new neighbours you’re going to be making a racket - not a great start. At my last property, (an end of terrace Victorian house with quite thick walls) the neighbour’s teenage son started playing drums. His acoustic kit may as well have been in my house, it was that loud. When I mentioned it to his folks, I said it wasn’t really on to expect us to put up with it. His mum ( who seemed quite okay at the time) came round and asked if we would agree to him rehearsing for an hour each day in the early evening. Think she thought as I was a musician we wouldn’t mind - I tried to explain to her it was like working at a factory and then coming home to the same noise. Anyway, we reluctantly agreed, despite it being a major intrusion in our lives, in order to be neighbourly and maintain good relations. Things were okay for a week or two, and then of course it reverted to him bashing away at the kit whenever his parents weren’t in, which was quite a lot. I went round to explain it wasn’t on and was met with disbelief. In the end I had to say I would contact the local council to assess the noise if it didn’t stop, and suggested they got him an electric kit. They did this, but from then on for the next 15 years they struggled to say hello to us and were generally a pain in the a*se as neighbours. Probably the main reason we eventually moved out too, so trying to be reasonable doesn’t always seem the best route. I honestly believe you have a right to a quiet environment in your own home, and anyone regularly disrupting this should be advised it won’t be tolerated. If not, where does it stop? What someone thinks is okay may not be the opinion of a neighbour who is at their wits end - whether it’s music rehearsal, loud recorded music, DIY or whatever. Sure we all need to live our lives, but have to choose very carefully how our behaviour affects others in all respects.

Headphones have to be the way to go for the bass. The problem with low frequencies is that they travel through the structure of a building. This is especially true of older ones, with wood floors, joists, etc. Moving cabs away from shared walls, etc, does little to alleviate the problem. Even when I play quietly, with the cab well away from walls, my neighbour (I live in a terraced house) can still hear/feel it. Not sure whether speaking with the neighbours will be productive. If someone knocked on my door and said "I've just moved in next door and may make a lot of noise", I'd be unlikely to be overjoyed.

This is complicated. There are so many things at play. Others have addressed the issue of instruments made in high wage economies by craftsmen/women who are paid properly vs. those built in highly mechanised Far Eastern factories staffed by people who are paid the equivalent of a tin of beans a day. Price and "value/worth" are not the same thing. Modern manufacturing means you can buy a budget instrument which will be as good a functional tool (albeit with a bit of fettling) as something handmade and expensive. If that's the case, why doesn't everyone play a Squier (other brands are available)? The list of reasons is long - pride of ownership, scarcity, desire to own something unique or unusual, disposable income, fashion, resale value, etc, etc. If people want to treat themselves to something nice or expensive that makes them happy, that's great. It's their money after all.

A precision or jazz copy would take just as much work, if being hand made, as something in a different shape. With many high end jazz basses the body shape is really the only similarity, and even then, it’s often shaped quite differently if you were to compare to a Fender. I’ll just add that a good high end instrument will hold its value much better than a budget or mid range one, so in the long run they can work out cheaper. I’ve probably had about five instruments for an initial outlay several years ago and if I sold them all now I’d make it back with interest.

First of all, I would have a chat with your new neighbours and explain that you do play instruments and have to practice. Ask them about what hours would be least disturbing, and make it clear that it is OK to let you know if sound traveling through the wall becomes a problem/ nuisance. Of course you take whatever precautions you can without tip-toeing around your own house, such as moving bass cab. away from floor and wall, playing at moderate levels an so on. Disclaimer: I have never lived in a semi detached house, and my nearest neighbour at the moment is about 150 meters away form my house. 😎 Mykesbass beat me to it...

Just a quick mockup of how it will look, I think it's gonna be a nice looking bass when finished...... 👍🏻 (Hopefully 🤞🏻)

No, they're not. But people with money seem to be able to be persuaded in parting with massive slabs of it for something functionally identical to a £99 Harley Benton. 'Fender' is one of a number of very expensive words, it would seem.

@lee650 told me about this documentary coming onto Amazon Prime. Really Decent hour and a half describing his career. Think it’s about 2/3 years old. But i really enjoyed it.

First Motorhead album. It was 1978, I was a 16 year old Stranglers fan & I'd never heard of them, but I saw this in my local record shop & had to have it. To be honest the sleeve was (still is) so awesome I wouldn't have cared if it was crap. Bit of a bonus that the actual music was life-defining!

This is no time to be thinking about swinging!

It's very good that you're being this considerate. However, when you discover that your new neighbours are nocturnal and bagpipe enthusiasts, you'll probably wonder why you went to so much effort.

This. looked kinda cool to a 17 year old metal head. I never looked back. 🤘🤘

Well the govt science guys did already say they expect masks and distancing to still be needed in the Winter again. My concern about festivals is the teenagers. Loads of teens go to festivals and they won't have had the vaccine. Of course teens are actually very likely to not even know they've had it at all - but they will spread it and with massive spread comes additional mutations of the virus. Won't take much for vaccine resistant strains to take hold.

Do you think they'll recognise me??

Similar to Col. Del Var's advice, I am 1970s semi-detached, and trust me, you could hear a mouse farting next door. Luckily I have an unattached rear extension to the property, with a weapons grade sliding door to the 'main house'. This is where my own mouse farts. If you can't put the Johanna in a non-adjoining room at least -- I'd consider a different property mate. With all the love in the world.🙂

Just to recommend trying a good headphone setup and physical feedback device like a Backbeat, Bassboard or rumble seat. Well worth it IMO - no worrying about annoying anyone, complete isolation from any vibrations or unwanted room noise, Hifi quality monitoring and immersive when playing along with other stuff. It makes playing through an amp at home seem crazy when you get it right.

Keeps eyes peeled for an NBD tread in the next few days.

As @Jus Lukin will need a lesson on what the switches do, and schools can reopen on 8th March, then meet up then and say it's Education.

I had a roots-y rock n roll 3 piece that used to practice in my old house. The neighbour came around to say how much he loved it. He had young children and everything but ultimately people have to live their lives. Good communication, being flexible and looking to minimise issues all lead to better relationships. Whacking a stack amp up against his wall at 3am is a bit different from evening practice at a sensible volume.

I'll state the obvious and say headphones. Preferably through one of the many multi fx/amp modeller units currently available at many price points. And get Mrs Skinny a keyboard.

But are you playing on all those beats, or, say, just the 1 and the 3?

I did the mod on a DIY P-bass and even tho' it wasn't radical by any stretch of the imagination I had the chance to try one and the other (recorded) and it was still noticeable. I ended up preferring the reverse option, IN THAT PARTICULAR BASS.

A slight detour, I know, but thanks to The Fasting Showman’s excellent recommendation re. Dennis Davis I stumbled across this... Too good not to share... Enjoy!

Talk to your neighbours. Tell them what to expect, let them know it won't be late, or long hours. I'd imagine your bass will be the hardest one for them to cope with - at least with the piano they'll hear a bit of a tune. So do anything you can do to keep your volume down as much as possible (headphones, unplugged), and tell them that you are doing this. You are allowed to make some noise, and as long as you are being considerate they really shouldn't mind.

If someone gave me the custom shop bass in the link the first thing I'd do is get it refinished and have all the rusty/tarnished hardware replaced, presumably drastically reducing it's resale value in the process.

I'll admit to frequently finding myself bemused at the the prices Fender Custom Shop can charge for a 'faithful hand built recreation' of a guitar or bass that was originally specifically designed to be mass produced on a factory production line for sale as a quality but relatively affordable instrument. But someone must be paying those prices.

When my SB-1 finally reaches me, I'll have a good think about whether I've paid for a useful musical instrument, or just some misguided nonsense built to compensate for an old man's knackered ears. Fingers crossed!