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Bass cabs, and amps, we have in plenty. They do a fine job, for small, pub gigs, festival stages and rehearsals at home. However, a new genre has turned up : garden party, or living room, jams or micro-concerts. The essence of these will be almost spontaneous, light-weight affairs, with minimal gear (but of good quality...). There's the rub, presently: we have a practise combo, but it's a bit past its sell-by date, and puny, even then. A recent garden event showed up its weaknesses. It doesn't 'cut the mustard', and for these events, we don't want the faff of a Big Rig (in this context, a 4x10 Ampeg is a Big Rig...). That's the issue; here's the solution... A while ago now, I bought, from a fellow BC member (thanks again, PPP...) a set of six Phil Jones five-inch speakers (OK, 'drivers', but I'm old, you see, so they're 'speakers' to me...). Now is the time to see what can be made from them. Daft as I am, I immediately thought of the Phil Jones C2-type of cab, and decided to see if I could 'copy' the concept, and make a combo of it. We have on hand an amp (Hartke HA3500; overkill, really, but we have it, so...), so I sketched out a few ideas, and popped them into Blender (a graphics tool I use for 3D printing, making virtual model trains and other stuff...). Here's the result, modelled into 'real-world' panels and carefully assembled to check the measurements... If you've read carefully, you'll remember I had bought six speakers. Let's see what a modular system could look like, with a 4 x 5 extension cab... More modelling; this is what comes up ... All very well, but what will it look like really..? I don't know; let's find out. Here they are, stacked in a virtual salon, with a bonhomme for scale... Well, that's the idea, anyway. I spent two sleepless nights working out a cutting list from one single 2500 x 1220 x 12 sheet of ply, took it to the wood folk and had those panels cut. I've a few lengths of 17² for gluing into the corners; we'll see how it all pans out. It won't be quick (a couple of weeks, maybe..? We'll see...), but I think I have all we need to get started, anyway. To be continued; wish us luck ...

This popped up on youtube & is an interesting take on the pedal

Would be interesting to know what that same bass would go for on the Japanese equivalent of Gumtree, rather than an Ebay trader trying to sell to a global collector's market. I doubt it'd be anywhere near £1400! There's a curiously increasing trend in genuinely crazy prices from Japanese sellers. Apropos of absolutely nothing at all* - apparently Matsumoku was the first guitar manufacturer in the world to introduce CNC manufacture, at some point in the mid 70s. *Which like all unconfirmed MIJ-related factoids, might just be absolute b0ll0cks made up by some random Ebay gouger (not me) trying to flog their latest bit of £5 car boot tat.** **Such as this: It did need some work, but yes, £5 from the local car boot.

I will be playing this for the first time this evening at a rehearsal! Flats for punk and ska will be interesting?!

Bought this lovely amp from Musik Produktiv on Friday arrived this morning. Arrived safely. It was £286 delivered, brand new. Some of the Ashdown stuff is really cheap at the moment, RM112 cab £132 delivered @javi_bassist Whats not to like 😊 Sorry about the rubbish picture, busy day today

Was asked at start of week if i'd be interested in joining our drummers other band as their current bassist has decided to leave. My main band is a 70's Glam Rock covers band but they can only manage to gig 6-8 times a year due to work commitments. 2nd band is a blues/rock based 8 piece band incl 2 singers, bass, drums, 2 guitars, keys and sax player. The material is more Paul Carrack, Flletwood Mac to Peter Green amd Clapton. They only want to play their local pubs around the borders towns near Galasheils Kelso etc I'm 40 miles away from where the band are based and rehearse. The new band is a classic Punk covers band who gigged fairly regularly before Covid and have had 3 requests in the past week alone to play various types of gigs in next few months and they haven't started looking for gigs yet. I agreed to give it a try altho i do still have long hair and dont look like a typical punk but i can see a ponytail coming on. 42 songs to learn for their first gig on 18th Sept but they are all quite short. Total of 2.5hrs worth. The singer with them is our backing vocalist in the Glam Rock band too. I've never played punk songs before but have to say i'm really quite enjoying learning them. I normally wouldn't play in more than one band at a time but having spent a lot of money on my new Mesa rig i want to get as much use out of it as i can plus i enjoy gigging. Dave

It’s funny because I prefer Dan’s slower delivery to some of the more chipmunk type high energy reviews that come out. I like to sit and watch it with a nice cuppa and relax.

Here's a clue ... None the wiser..? No, It's not a P-Bass. Here's another clue : the cutting list ... No..? Still stumped..? Read on; I'll explain in the next couple of posts ...

I just recorded this clip. I tried for ages to get it so that the song played and the basses switched between as you go through but I gave up in the end. There's a few mistakes and so on but it should give a fairly good idea of how they sound.

Pretty happy, neck attached to correctly place bridge. And just fit the tunes etc for fun. Going to be a sweet bass….. Put the strings and remaining hardware on top to weigh it = 3.6kg. Oil finish weighs nothing, so pretty close to end weight I’d say.

Shielding done and neck ferrules in too….! Basically just a shed load of sanding to do now and finishing with oil.

+1. Love Dan's vids for that exact reason.

As a follow-up to this, I managed to track three of these down. They ended up in the US so it’s likely that rest are there too.

I’d agree with @Dood’s (near) closing statement about it working well with the One10s; it really does sound bloody marvellous paired with them. I am using it for a variety of band situations now, I’m not sure how I would have achieved those things without this on the board

Years ago when my rock band had imploded, I was asked to dep. for the bass player of an all girls punk band for a couple of gigs. Their bass player was my girlfriend at the time, so I knew their material pretty well. She was off to Uni and they had a few gigs booked that they wanted to do. They played a lot of their own material, plus some Pistols, Clash and Godfathers. Looking back those 3 gigs were some of the most fun I've ever had playing. You can really let yourself go with a good old punk gig. I even wore a kilt for the final gig - which on reflection was a mistake. As were the pigtails I did with my long hair. Go have some fun. I'm envious.

As with most things in life, I think the Simpsons put best (albeit being about something slightly different!) We're the sauce on your steak We're the cheese in your cake We put the spring in Springfield We're the lace on your nightgown The point after touchdown Yes we put the spring in Springfield We're that little extra spice that makes exsistence extra nice A giddy little thrill at a reasonable price The gin in your martini The clams on your linguinie Yes we keep the BOING in Springfield

And 1 Bubinga headstock cap and trussrod cover …. Check! intentionally left the cap sit a little proud, I think it looks really cool that way.

FWIW I'm currently running the latest version of Reaper (R6) on an 11 year-old 32-bit W7 PC with a 2.4 Ghz processor and 4Gb memory. So, pretty basic, but it works OK. Things occasionally get a bit sticky if I've got more than 10 tracks and I'm running shed loads of plug-ins on all of them but there are workarounds like freezing or rendering tracks, and bunging multiple tracks into a sub-project to get them out of the main project while still being able to hear their combined output. As ever, I recommend checking out Kenny Gioia's Reaper Mania channel on YT. He's a god-send.

It's odd how none of the original / first wave punk bands wore tartan bondage trahsis, had mohawk hair dos etc. Being the pendant that I am 😉, it's an error to call the punk hairdo of choice a Mohican. In the fillum Last of the Mohicans, it was the Hurons led by Magua that had that hairstyle. Chingachook and Uncas who are Modhicans don't.

This may not be a problem with Bass Direct, unless usual delay not communicated. Other shops I have sold through have made it clear that they have legal obligations to the buyer including a cooling off period maybe a week just in case they return it with an issue, then money clearance etc. So even if you see it on their site as sold you may expect a two week wait a least for them to then send you the money. Does this sound like your experience.

A lot of drummers that I work with have been working with have been doing things like using 2 snares, putting a splash cymbal on the snare, or using an Octapad for a while now, because they know that one size doesn't fit all. It's not even a new thing anymore- I know drummers who were incorporating electronics and things 30 years ago. You might not think that it makes a difference but people do notice these kind of things, especially in this day and age. Edit... This is well off topic sorry, and might make a cool different thread.

My two

The big advantage of building your own is that it opens up choices, a difference yes, a significant difference? Well probably not. John's right, the reason I've used this method is that it is the easiest by a distance and probably the strongest. It's also really quick. The only tool you need to build the basic box is a screwdriver, any other method needs extensive clamping whilst the glue sets. Technically the joint is a reinforced butt joint and the main aim is to increase the glued area, all the screws do is hold the battens in place whist the glue dries. There is also a sonic advantage; the butts transfer energy across adjacent panels and help a little with panel damping. If you remove the battens you should probably look at other methods of transferring energy between panels but internal braces should do that and almost always using less material. If you are a competent woodworker though there are loads of other methods you can use. Dovetail and finger joints will also double the glued area and hold panels in place with minimal clamping needed, dowels certainly help with lining everything up and a well made simple butt jointed cab is still a fairly strong structure. My method is for those without a lot of woodworking tools and less confident of their skills. the important thing is that you are comfortable with whatever you choose.

A short comparison of 60’s vs 70’s jazz bass pickup spacing on the SAME BASS! I haven’t found such clip on YouTube. The pickup position was changed by a luthier. Which option do you prefer?

I’ve been meaning to try one of these for a while now, so after a 3 hour round trip yesterday I picked up a near mint one, it’s now got Labella double ball end flats on ,and a nice low action, in active mode it really drops some bass and has a great sound, it’s a lot more comfortable than I thought it would be , and I really like the neck and the headless top , overall I’m loving it 😊

they really have their fingers in the pulse over there: I think Carly Simon wrote a song about it.

First gig back for me in a couple of weeks. My band Soldato opening things up on this.

Ordered some Status 40-100 flats; £22 posted and never seen a bad review. I thought they’d stopped making the half rounds, they have for long scale but they still have the shorties! I have some of them on a 34” fretless. Defretting this shorty Stingray has crossed my mind!

The circle on the neck heel is a cap with a magnet which sticks to the bolt which goes through into the neck block. There’s a tiny divet cut out so you can get the cap off, the magnet also helps so you can stick it to something while you’re doing the whole process so you don’t lose it! I’m away a bit over the next few days but will take some slightly better photos!

Thought it was more Charlie Watts myself

Only if they don't lose it.

Nice sunny day let’s have a bit of light humour!

That’s what I do 😁

So, here we are. One fine piece of maple shaped and dimensioned. As you probably are aware, there are many steps involved here. But I personally think the most involved and meticulous was to come up a way to plane the surfaces to be as parallel as possible. For this, I came up with this kind of an routing "swimlane". If you get some dimensionally accurate plywood, etc this is is doable. How did I hold down the wood on the surface? Masking tape on both surfaces and superglue in between Also, I was working on top of a table saw surface, to keep everything as flat and straight as possible. Tuner holes are not in final size, I'll wait for the tuners to arrive before drilling the final holes. Good to be a bit paranoid. Oh, and the templates... laser cut Found a local business that takes AI files and can cut 6mm plywood. @itu protip: https://www.lasercutstudio.com/

Nothing wrong with the Dano, just scoping out alternatives. The look may even be appropriate for the slightly psychedelic stuff we play. I assume they're pretty light too?

Thank you - it's just fantastic to play and I love the look of it. Fortunately, it's very light for an Alembic - I've been looking for ways to reduce the weight further and had a couple of celluloid tort plates made to replace the brass rear covers (a reduction of around 180g). I've also removed the four batteries for the lights (another good few grammes). However, neck-dive is a perennial problem on these given the placement of the strap pins. In honesty, I tend to play this seated rather than standing. The bass also feels like an extra long-scale on a strap too (sort of defeating the point of short-scale in some ways). I've included an image of the plates - I was very pleased with the fit. I discussed with the maker (Tiny Tone) and we agreed on a slight bevel as the plates sit a little proud - it's 4 ply tort and has produced a lovely little white edge.

last night I rehearsed with my Stereophonics band. We last played together 2 years ago. We have only done one gig and we had 2 rehearsals for it. Ran through the set last night twice. 2nd run through was really good. The point is here, everyone does their homework before rehearsal and the result is good. I joined a function band this year too. It was all on me to learn the stuff, which I did. we gigged, it was great, got rebooked immediately. If it takes too long to come together, it doesn't work IMO

Worth a try in my opinion - I had an Epi EB0 with a DiMarzio DP120 and it was surprisingly bright and lively with light rounds (40-95 I think). To be honest, I find the EB0s to be a very useable bass in a lot of situations, though I think the DP120 made a positive difference

I think it that now there are also many more "boutique" brands that make their pedals for more than 200 bucks. So "normal" brands also want to make these "boutique" pedals and they rise the price. It's true that the Helix it's not for everyone, but even adding "extra" pedals, you decrease the cost of your pedalboard. And it also gives you the freedom to use effects that you don't have in pedals without the need of buying the effect to try it. But as I said, it's not for everyone of course. There are sounds that you need the specific pedal that it's not in the Helix.

I once owned a white B2A. It came in a flight case almost as big as me 🤪😂 EMG pickups and a great sound, I couldn’t get on with it then, but wish I had it now

I don't think I've ever seen a bass player who has just one Darkglass pedal. It always seems to be either none at all or loads of them. It's the same with guitar players and Strymon.

To be blunt, yes. I honestly have no idea why someone who claims to understand these instruments would say yours was made by Matsumoku. The only reason I can think of is that he is conflating the standalone Diamond brand with Aria Diamond, and then presuming that every Aria guitar was made by Matsumoku, which is demonstably not correct. If you'll bear with me I'll try to explain - it's difficult to do without being longwinded so this might be both boring and overly detailed. Brevity is not my forte (that's probably a prog rock thing!) but I'll try to make sense. I should explain that while I might only be some nobody on a forum, I'm some nobody on a forum who's been playing MIJ instruments for 40+ years, studying them for much of that time, and for years made much of my living restoring and selling them. I have owned, played, worked on, assessed and sold multiple hundreds of these things and along the way picked up a bit of info. My MIJ rule of thumb no.1 is, with a couple of exceptions, ignore the sticker on the end, if there is one. Most brand names have absolutely nothing to do with the manufacturer, and can be more often misleading rather than helpful. So, taking your bass as just a Japanese bass, I'll try to explain how I, and anyone else who knows these instruments, can tell that it's not a Matsumoku product. Many manufacturers had various individual traits which can make it straightforward to ID their instruments, or, like I said earlier, to be confident about what something definitely isn't! First - the neckplate. On their 70s era copies Matsumoku used two styles of plate: Both styles are exclusive to Matsumoku - a "Steel Adjustable" plate constitutes a 100% confirmed ID. The only Mats instruments that did not always use these styles were brands commissioned by specific distributors, for example Univox & SLM Electra, who specified their own logos and serialisation. The plate on your bass, with its lower-half MIJ stamp is a standard style mostly associated with Fujigen Gakki but also used occasionally by several other manufacturers including Kasuga and Moridaira. Importantly, this style has never been seen on a Matsumoku instrument. If you read the quoted section in one of my earlier posts, that gives a bit of insight into how metal parts such as neckplates were sourced by various different builders. I didn't talk about the serial on your bass earlier - as an aside, it's interesting (I have never seen that format or positioning before) but I think a red herring as far as a manufacturer ID is concerned. Looking at the irregularity of the characters compared to other serials, it appears to have been hand-stamped after the plate was manufactured. The pickups on your bass help to exclude Matsumoku as manufacturer. On their J bass copies, Mats used a couple of distinct styles which are quite different to standard J units: As the 70s copies were based on 60s & 70s Fenders, pickups were intended to be hidden under chrome covers, so authenticity wasn't considered that important. The earliest copies pre-date the existence of accurate J type pickups, so often manufacturers used whatever was available - it's common to find chrome Telecaster-style units under the covers of budget basses. Anyway, as time passed, the basses became more authentic & Matsumoku moved to using conventional J-type pickups, interchangeable with the original Fender units. The round-ended pickups like yours are common but broadly, not used by Matsumoku or Fujigen. Identification of electronics & pickups remains one of the big grey areas in the MIJ community knowledge - Nisshin Onpa was responsible for Maxon pickups which were very widely used, and very helpful in dating pre-serial instruments as from 1971 they bear a code which defines the unit's actual day of manufacture. However there are various pickup styles, including most bass pickups, which aren't coded or branded, so beyond the overall style not much use for date or ID. I need to explain how I know your bass is not early 70s. Simply, it's the headstock. Accurate MIJ copies of American designs started appearing around 1970 - bodies, headstocks, fretboards, the whole aesthetic, was intended to look as convincing as possible. It's entirely fair to say that no MIJ Fender copy made before mid-1977 would have a headstock like yours. You'll have heard the term "lawsuit" bandied about in relation to these instruments. Leaving aside the fact there never was a lawsuit, the threatened legal action by Norlin, Gibson's then-parent company against Elger Hoshino, the US arm of Ibanez brand owner Hoshino Gakki Ten, was in relation to Hoshino's use of the trademarked "open book" shape on Ibanez-branded guitars. No lawsuit took place because Ibanez had stopped using that style over a year earlier, as the brand started moving away from copy instruments towards its own designs. However a consequence of the stir caused by the legal threat was that it precipitated a general move away from copies, and other Japanese manufacturers followed suit, meaning most headstock shapes on exported instruments were modified from that point on. Matsumoku changed their Fender copies to this shape: It's worth mentioning that Japanese home-market copies weren't modified, and while by 1979 MIJ copies in general had pretty much vanished from export ranges, they continued in their home market for decades. As I said in my first post, I've never seen a bass the same as yours before, and while not getting a pat answer about its ID & manufacture might be frustrating, for the likes of me it's intensely fascinating. I think most of the MIJ intelligentsia elsewhere will probably conclude it's a Chushin - and they might be right - but I'm not sure. Chushin Gakki was a massive manufacturer which supplied an immense range of instruments of all levels with a countless number of brands - but their scale & significance is something that's only become obvious in the last 10 or so years. It's meant the name's become something of a catch-all for anything we can't be certain about, and realistically, that's a lot of stuff. I'm skeptical broadly because there are lots of examples of confirmed Chushin Jazz copies which are the same standard as yours but have very different woodwork details. It makes no sense that the same factory would produce two different versions with the same appearance, spec and price point. This is part of the same logic that can be used to tentatively rule out other manufacturers whose instruments are well-recorded such as Fujigen, Moridaira, Kasuga. I think your bass - and the related Cimars & CSLs - came from a specific factory whose traits we're as yet unsure about and whose role at the time isn't clear. The likes of Terada, Iida, Dyna, Kawai, Nagoya Suzuki & Kiso Suzuki were all active at the time and certainly on the copy bandwagon, along with numerous long-forgotten others, and of course Matsumoto Gakki Seizou Kumiai, the manufacturers' union mentioned in an earlier post, about which we still understand frustratingly little. I've often compared understanding these instruments to a form of archaeology - there is little information about the hundreds of manufacturers that came and went during the Japanese guitar boom, a period that broadly spanned the late 50s to the late 80s, and the ones we know most about are those that were most successful at the time, and that survive today. Everything else is the result of years of piecing together scraps of what's left behind.