Leaderboard

Okay, I've just done my own test. Same bass. Same amp. Same flat settings. Finger style in same position over pickup. Only variable, three glasses of Fitou in between. It does actually make a difference to the perceived tone. Tomorrow evening, I will repeat, but with a Montrachet and see what transpires.

Useless experiment. For example, say, Maple from one tree will be a different composition from the sample from the next. Depending upon where abouts in the tree the wood is taken from, it will have a different density. The environment in which the tree grows, influences structure further. Wood by its very nature, can not be the same - each slab is unique. The only way to hear how a bass will sound is to play it when it's built. The rest of it? Nonsense. Next.

I spoke to Percy recently (about something else) and he hinted that the issues around organisation and logistics were getting more and more complex and the whole thing was becoming a pain. I am guessing (and I do not know this) that a lot of these guys are getting older and older and things like travel insurance are getting more and more complex/expensive. Also, some (not all) older people don't like travelling overseas as they are more inclined to have health issues and are anxious that they will be taken ill and be stuck in a foreign country with no support etc etc. The impression I got from Percy was that 'stuff' (he gave no details) was getting in the way. I think there is a tendency in the average punter to accept that this business is made up of individuals and that these indivduals have their own struggles; health, financial, family issues etc. Disappearing on tour can be a major pain if there is stuff going on at home. I remember reading Phil Collins' biography and getting the sense that he felt obligated to tour because so many people behind the scenes were relying on the band for their livelihoods. That was something I had never thought about before. I don't think people really have any idea how close to the bone some touring bands are finacially. I was speaking to someone the other day who had to leave a tour early becasue, if they hadn't, they would not have been able to afford the petrol to drive back from Italy to the UK. Those big money tours are very last season and a lot of bands, especially in minority interest music like Brand X would be, won't be in flash hotels etc. A lot of it is done on a shoestring. As we all know, Brexit is likely to make this a whole lot worse. Jeff Berlin is not better or worse that PJ, just different. Massively different but just different.

The radius templates from G&W in Portugal are due later today and this morning is an important stage in the build - it is where is starts looking like a bass It's too early to cut the taper, but while I still have a flat profile to act as a datum on my bandsaw, it is the ideal time to cut the side profile of the neck: The pencilled line is where the heel will be on the treble side; the cut is where the heel is on the bass side - and we have a few choices how we handle this. I'll find out from @Matt P offline what he prefers before outlining what it will be like. Then I looked at the options for the orientation of the back oak wings which are cut from one piece and so grain-match either side of the neck: And concluded this would work best: So back to the bandsaw, and making allowance for the c2mm purpleheart separation strips cut them out a few mm oversize: And so, as I said at the beginning...it's starting to look like a bass

My trusty rig of nearly 30 years!

Utterly meaningless on electrics. On acoustics on the other hand the wood does make a noticeable difference and I prefer Acacia, just a personal preference.

I would like to hear a test where everything was the same....including the wood. Would they all sound the identical, or would there still be variation from one instrument to the next?

I have it! I love it. I'm getting another one done.

Here is the latest incarnation of my board I'm pretty happy with this new arrangement. All mounted on a Schmidt Array SA450: Signal Chain Boss LS-2 (A/B switch for 2 basses or bass/bass station synth) > Morningstar ML5 > HX Stomp The ML5 has a pedal in each loop, so: Loop A > Cali76 Loop B > Octamizer 1 (Sub only) Loop C > Octamizer 2 Loop D > Iron Ether Oxide Loop E > Crowther Prunes and Custard HX Stomp has two loops: FX Loop 1 > Maxon AF-9 FX Loop 2 > Subdecay Prometheus MIDI Chain Morningstar MC8 (Dunlop Mini EXP pedal) > HX Stomp > ML5 Schmidt Connector Box/Patch Bay The Blue jack (Headphone out) is used either for home practice, or for running to the input of the Backbeat, so that it can be triggered by both the bass and the synth. The balanced outs of the Stomp means no DI box is needed, so a simple TRS to XLR adaptor goes straight from the Red output to the desk, and if I'm using an amp/powered wedge too, I can use the Green output as well. Power The power side of the board is all GigRig. The eagle-eyed amongst you will see there are two GigRig Generators. The Schmidt Array has an IEC input, so I've used an IEC splitter to use both Generators. One is for the Stomp only (isolating it) and the other is for the rest of the board. I managed to keep all the audio parts of the chain isolated utilising a couple of GigRig Isolators. Distributor sends power to: Morningstar MC8 Temple Audio 9V to USB Adaptor - for charging my onstage iPad (IEM mix/charts etc) GigRig Doubler - Isolates and provides 18V to the Cali76 2x GigRig Isolators power the rest of the pedals The last spot on the Distributor is a long cable that I can plug my Airturn bluetooth footswitch into to charge If you've made it to the end of this post congratulations! It took me almost as long to write as it did to build the board! 🤣 Hope you guys might find it interesting/useful for your own builds.

Decided to refurbish the black hardware on one of my basses as it was looking decidedly neglected after spending life in the cupboard under the stairs for way too long. In fact, the whole bass looked in need of some TLC. I stripped everything off, including washers and nuts from the controls, and sanded down to bare metal, doing a final clean with brake cleaner then primed the parts before applying several coats of Plastikote black spray paint. I put the various screws from the bridge and the tuner cover into the top of a cardboard box, pushed through small holes so that just the head was painted. I also removed all the grub screws, saddle screws, springs and adjusting bolts and put them in a container of penetrating oil. Cleaned all the knobs with an old toothbrush and soapy water. And eventually ended up with everything looking a lot better. Whilst waiting for paint drying/hardening I took the opportunity to thoroughly clean the neck, it was desperately in need of 'moisturising'. I see there's another thread gone up about this. I use small round cleansing pad wipes and nail varnish remover (alcohol based) followed by my own lemon oil mix - two parts extra virgin olive oil, two parts white vinegar and one part freshly squeezed lemon juice. Initially the wood is really clean and looks dried out by the alcohol - it is, but it's ok. The lemon oil, which I apply with the same type of cleansing pads needs to soak into the wood for at least 24 hours, but it works brilliantly and rejuvenates the rosewood really well - do NOT use on maple necks, and if you do try the 'recipe' make a sparing amount of it up, it does not keep! This was the rosewood before the lemon oil: And the type of grime to come out of the rosewood: And during soaking: Once everything has dried, paint has hardened, and neck given a final dry buff, time to put it all back together. A new set of strings on, full set up, and hopefully this will be getting used this year 🤞

I received this the other day. I’m a bit funny with filters. I love them but also find some of my favourites have a certain flaw which stops me using them. Mostly that’s when pushing the open envelope leads to a ‘whistling’ artefact instead of a squelch (like my fave FX25) or a loss of volume and/or huge spikes in sub bass (also the FX25!) I prefer a band pass filter generally, finding that they cut through the mix better and sound squishier when pushed. But then you need a clean mix too which you don’t always get. My recent adventures with a faulty Meridian Funk-U-Lator got me looking again and then this came up on Bc. It strikes me as a hugely versatile filter. Normally I find a good filter has basically one setting that works with a given instrument, but this gives a lot of flexibility from the various switches/bands/sweep ranges. The thing is, this think ‘bubbles’ and sounds ‘wetter’ than anything else I’ve tried. Slapping an A string for example literally feels like I’m spanking a wet balloon. The resonance control lets things bounce about even more, all the while retaining the low end. When pushed hard the filter wobbles and farts, making the useful range of the sensitivity control pretty me much from 0-100. Add to that control of the tone cutoff and you can really cook up some great sounds. Quick pic It also works well from an external battery Also I got an EHX bassballs again after selling mine years ago. Actually now I ‘get’ it and think it’s a great sound that works really well, especially with the distortion on. Having lots of fun with that. ped

That said I do hate slap.

"n+1" is the correct scientific terminology, where n is the number of basses currently owned. 🤣 This is a common assertion among cyclists, also.

I have zero interest in cat videos, but this is impressive:

@prowla - I agree. My point wasn’t about whether this forum could assist the aggrieved parties, it was about not assisting the defence.

I owned a fretless Travis Bean for 40 years, I bought it new in 1977.

I can't keep it in - Cat Stevens

I’ve wanted another Lakland Precision since I sold my last US 44-64 (I was’t keen on the sunburst), when this got listed, I was instantly into the Black/Black/Maple rock vibe. As such, this will be wearing La Bella RX Steels when I get round to changing them. It currently has an EMG Geezer Butler pickup in it, however I’ll be putting the original Lakland p’up back in as I really liked it on my previous 44-64. This joins my US 44-94 custom, 55-01 & Skyline DJ5 in my current stable.

Because the hollow body has substantially less density than a solid body so absorbs more frequencies as it resonates in sympathy with certain frequencies. Typically higher frequencies are the easiest to absorb so will dissappear the quickest resulting in the darker tone associated with hollow bodies. Think of it like trying to soundproof a room. The higher frequencies are the easiest to remove with the lower frequencies persisting.

What I am saying is it is normal procedure to not only tighten the strings, but also the truss rod when a bass is shipped directly from factory. They all need to be set up. If the retailer doesn't this means you will have to yourself. The instructions are in the manual and it is a 2 minute job. Manufacturing or QC problems are bad frets, humming pickups etc. High action is not.

This reminds me of stuff I was reading recently about whether different types and makes of tone cap make a difference. This is from Jason Lollar, of Lollar pickups: This is similar to the point that @Ricky Rioli made above - there is no way the player can play the same thing exactly the same twice, so unless you can take account of the differences in playing each time it's not a good test. If lots of different tests like that with different instruments and players show the same kind of tone for eachg wood, then that would be evidence. Do different people who claim wood makes a noticeable difference all say it makes the same difference? I don't know, because the difference it makes is meaningless for what I do, I mean, I pick fretboard wood for looks FFS (I've got a paduak and two ebony fretboards, they look great).

I just brought my Ironwood (pau ferro) Stick to the best guitar repair/luthier on the East Coast (USA). While discussing the hardness of the wood, he said "It's pretty."

so i’ve spent about 5-6k on basses in the last year, of course another 1k or so on some other “must have” gear, the last being Vovox cables (300 for 2 cables).. and then realized i’ve played 5 concerts in that same time. But i’ve also recorded stuff so there’s hope in those mp3’s and streams... i’m sure this makes sense in some parallel universe, just like tone woods and such... sorry, i’ll show myself out and join the depression thread...

But with the Diabolik you've got the clean signal to blend in, so with the OC-2 first that's OC-2 signal (clean) and OC-2 Signal Fuzz'd coming through and blendable and with you blending your clean signal on the OC-2 it's 3 layers of signal going on. Best thing I could do is put the OC-2 and Diabolik in the LS-2 (accept the issue of a buffer) and have the option to run them in series or parallel and in any order. But currently playing Americana and country, it stays at home for when I'm jamming those Dua Lipa covers 😇

Filth

Update: I bought the jazz. It took a while before I gathered all info I wanted, but the bass is totally legit. It has MK stamp in the neck pickup cavity and signatures on the neck and in the neck pocket. All other markings are there too. The seller (a small vintage bass shop) is trying to get the certificate (he knows the guy he got it from). It's probably left behind in the house of his ex wife where he left, and it wasn't a friendly split apparently.... So we'll see. Anyway, it's a superb bass with a very even and musical tone. I've fitted it with fender nps rounds, as my other jazz already has (thomastik) flats fitted. Both are nice varieties.

Lakland 44-64 in the house . Will do a post soon

No I was on my lunch break when I worked in the Trafford Centre (I was about 17) - “f*ck me - you’re Rick Wakeman! You’re massive!” He chuckled, really gracious because a knobhead kid with a Pink Mohawk and skinny jeans knew who he was. Shook his hand and I said my dad was a huge Yes fan, had seen them at the free trade hall or something. Anyhow - he stopped and spoke. I have a habit of making a knob of myself when I should be cool.

I have a few older version Q-Tuner (BL-4) clips on my Soundcloud with my Crescent Moon fretless, here's one: Some people on TB mentioned hearing it as piezo-like, but IME piezos and their associated electronics can sound as varied as mag pickups anyway really. And I should mention that the Q-Tuner designer would probably shoot me for using an onboard preamp (maybe especially a homemade one), but my game my rules.😎

Tecamp 212M is a good consideration. It’s got NeoD speakers and a 6 position tweeter control which can be adjusted to suit on the soft side and hard side. 20kg or less and an easy carry with the side handles. The ‘M’ size is a good fit for most car boots and also gives a nice look on stage if that’s important. Mine is 600w and as I’ve mentioned elsewhere it just loves watts! If watts were consonants this cab would be like “I’ll have a consonant please Rachel! And another. And another. And another. And another. And another. And another!” And that’s just the first seven watts! It can go right up to 600 of them. I’ve never pushed it far enough to know but I’ve played BIG rooms with it and had no bother. Eich, I believe, went back to ceramic speakers maybe Tecamp did too but I’ve not really looked at another 212 since getting this as it was and remains the right balance between tweak ability on the tweeter, size, weight, power projection and performance and if I play my jazz into it sounds like my jazz. If I play the short scale it sounds like my stubby wee shortie. If I’m throwing the thumb at something I can add zing at the tweeter and fine tune. I prefer a less crispy top end so not really my thing but slapping does come across loud and clear. Folks will know you’ve changed techniques! I don’t see so many available but there should be some out there at a good price as guitar guitar did a massive sell off 8-10yrs ago.

Settle down now lads, you'll make me end up doing it.

There are considerably worse things to spend your disposable income on. In 25 years, I've only had one bass actually break irreparably, and that only cost £80. The greatest maintenance expenses most basses rack up are strings, 9v batteries and a refret one in a blue moon. I had to sell some (and amps and effects, hi fi and record collection) to fund a house move due to a divorce, but managed to keep the really good / irreplaceable one plus two spares. Once finances improve, I'll likely expand the collection again. They all get used, and look quite nice hanging on the wall when not in use. I don't smoke, drive an expensive car, drink much, take drugs or have any other expensive hobbies. I've effectively stopped gigging for the same reason I don't play online video games; I have to work with lots of people/joe public. I don't really want to engage with them outside of the work arena. That I enjoy playing bass is reason enough to own more than one.

I’ve said it before but I’ll re-iterate it anyay, whether this forms part of the evidence or not, the thread still forms part of disclosure, as the defence could argue it may assist them in some way. The fact that there are comments on the thread that suggest some posts have been edited and/or modified by Admin/Mods makes it even more complicated. The defence could request any redacted information in the belief it could assist them. It won’t, but it doesn’t stop them making an application.

I also think defence solicitors are quite capable of claiming that a load of witnesses were working together... I'd just suggest not using this thread to share any information on witness statements etc.

I own the Mk 1 and Mk 3 but not the Mk 2, so can't comment too much on the latter. BUT the Mk 3 is like a 'best of' of the previous versions: it has the same octave tone knob as the 1 and 2; same solo foot switch as the Mk1; Tim tuning from the Mk 1 version 2; sub volume from the Mk 1; small enclosure of the Mk 2. What's different from all the previous versions is that it has separate volumes for the dry and octave signals, so you have a bit more control there. I also A/B'd my Mk1 and Mk3 and noticed that the octave tones are quite different, the Mk1 is smoother, and sounds better solo'd, (to me at least) but that's really splitting hairs. Note on version names: on the 3 Leaf website he calls the first 2 large footprint pedals the Mk 1 and Mk 2, the difference being the addition of the Tim tuning mod, and the small one is simply called the Octabvre mini. The newest pedal is just called the Octabvre, he doesn't give it a number on the site or on the box/manual. I noticed I said I would do a demo of it... sorry! I might have some time this week.

I have rationalised my obsessive behaviour by the following rule. If all other basses left me would I be content to play just this one forever? If yes, keep it, if no, move it on. Even sticking to this I have something like 30 basses. Once you start it's really hard to stop.

Buy once, buy right. Up your budget to £300 and get something like a second hand fender rumble 500 combo. It's as much as you'll ever need, a combo, light and reliable. If you stutter around the £150 to 200 mark you'll either need to upgrade eventually, not like the weight or want to change. The rumble will also hold its value. And is a great gigging combo.

For size comparison 😂

I can almost predict the way this thread will go. I've been on Basschat too long. 😀

No one cares about how you look after the finish, let's see some pictures man. 😁 Ha ha! That's a really good point..