Leaderboard

I've just had a look through the inventory and I seem to have quite a few signature models at the moment 😳. I can't really explain why I've ended up with so many as I play hardly any material related to the artists in question. I just like the look and sound of the instruments 🤷‍♂️. All I'll say is that I wouldn't keep a bass that I didn't get on with and all the ones I still have stand up as great basses (to me) and that's all that matters. There are also a few that I have bought and then sold for one reason or another including: Alembic 'Mark King' - weighed an absolute ton and the body was just too large for me. Superbly constructed though and sounded wonderful. Modulus 'Flea' Bass - I bought this as I wanted a purple one and couldn't find one for sale. Just after I did buy it, @Chiliwailer offered me his purple FB4 which I still have. The blue one went. Fodera Yin Yang Monarch Standard - I guess this qualifies as a Victor Wooten sig. An absolute cracker of a bass which I only sold after buying a Deluxe Monarch which was even better. Fender 'Pino Palladino' Precision - A lovely bass with a deep neck that I personally couldn't get on with. Nothing else bad to say about it. Limelight 'John Deacon' Precision - A very nice replication of JD's Live Aid bass. Nice and light, but had to go to fund another project. Warwick 'Adam Clayton' Reverso - The only Warwick I've ever owned. You can't sit down and play these basses comfortably. Nice bass, but had to go. Dingwall 'Lee Sklar' Signature - These are fabulous basses and I fully intend to replace this one day with a Mk2 three pickup version. These are the ones I still have, in no particular order: Rickenbacker 4004LK - As soon as I became aware that these existed, I went all out to get one. There are only 60 in existence and Lemmy had at least a couple of them. There was a guy in the USA who had three of them, including one with a pick-up position variation. I think he ended up selling all of them and put his daughter through college with the proceeds! I've had a few Rics over the years and apart from my first one which I stupidly sold (for a guitar no less!) I've always found myself moving them on for various reasons. Not knocking Rics, but as you can see, the LK does not have the archaic (IMHO) Ric bridge - a big plus for me. The wings are hand tooled and no two are the same. Probably not for some, but it makes me happy. Fender 'Geddy Lee' Custom Shop Jazz - I'm not sure there is much I need to say about these. Just a superbly put together Jazz bass. Again, relics aren't for everyone, but the work on this is just outstanding. 1 of 50. Fender 'Dusty Hill' Custom Shop Precision Gold Top - This is an absolute joy. Insanely light with a very narrow neck and a single coil pick-up. It's almost effortless to play. There are three top colour variations, black, blonde and gold. I do quite like the black version, but the gold wins for me. 1 of 50. Mike Lull BBM5 'Bryan Beller' Signature - I'm probably more picky about 5 string basses than I am about 4's. IMHO, there are basses with 5 strings and then there are 5 string basses. This is one of the latter. I met Bryan when he was last touring with The Aristocrats and he kindly signed the control plate for me (both sides). Fender 'Flea' '61 Jazz - The bass that has given me more headaches than any other. Short version - truss rod went and Fender dragged it out so long that I put a Status neck on it - or should I say Rob Green did. They then sent me a replacement neck 🙄. Modulus Flea Bass 4 - The replacement for the aforementioned blue version. Absolute belter. Music Man Stingray Sledge - I'm not sure this is really a tribute, but the model is linked to the fabulous Tony Levin. I've had a lot of Stingrays and recently sold many of them. This one stays and wears flats. Superb. Fender 'Flea Jazz' Active - This was a bit of an impulse buy as I love J basses and I love Stingrays - the best of both worlds! It's actually not far off the Modulus without the graphite zing. Ridiculously low action and the pre-amp is nuts! Alembic Spyder - Some years ago I came close to ordering one of the few remaining Spyder basses from Alembic, but for one reason or another it just didn't happen. This one popped up a couple of years ago and it seemed like fate. It a bit on the heavy side, but it does exactly what you would think it does. It also has the heaviest case I've ever come across. Lakland 44-64 USA Series 'Bob Glaub' - I'm not sure if these qualify, but it has name in the model title. A fairly recent acquisition from @three and what a lovely bass it is. Fender 'Adam Clayton' Custom Shop Precision - Another fairly recent purchase from @molan. 1 of 60 with hand wound pick-ups by the now retired Abby Ybarra. I do love a sparkly finish on a bass, but I especially love a narrow neck on a Precision body. You may have noticed a trend here 😀. Yamaha BBPH 'Peter Hook' Signature - 1 of 5 personally signed by Peter at PMT Manchester. This is a really nice player and my first Yamaha. Probably not my last if this is anything to go by. Lakland 44-64 USA Series 'Bob Glaub' Precision - Another purchase from @three. A belter of a P bass. I'm definitely a fan of Lakland. i don't know why it took me so long! Finally, one that I don't have a photo of as it hasn't been finished yet. It's a Shuker 'JJ Burnell' Signature Precision Lite. I ordered this before I bought the Lakland above. Honorary mention to 'Marilyn' which is a Stingray I've added a custom pick guard to as per Gail Ann Dorsey's late 80's model of the same name. I use this solely for Bowie gigs and it's a great example of a late 'Ray. Not quite 4000 words @martthebass, but some nice pictures.

I give it one go - if I get it, that’s fine, if not I just play the riff to Wishing Well with suitable timing* No-one ever notices. Well, no-one whose opinion I care about, anyway. *This is a joke. I don’t really do this. I play 7 Nation Army.

OK @Geek99 - a quick and dirty way of finding and sorting high spots in frets and also creating a modest ski jump. Warning This is NOT the way a pro-luthier would do it and, because it doesn't involve re-crowning and re-polishing the frets and other important stuff, it is merely intended as a quick fix on your own bass and at your own risk. Also not great if you string bend on your bass (most of us don't). Don't do this on someone else's bass or any particularly valuable one!!! 1. Quick and Dirty way of finding and tackling high spots on frets Use the straight part of an old credit card to use as a 'rocker'. Put the straight edge over 3 frets (use both hands...my other hand here is holding the camera) and does it rock? If it does, then it indicates a high spot at that string position for the middle fret of the three. Do this next to each string for that middle-of-the-three fret and repeat all the way up the board. Normally, when I'm not holding a camera, I would be holding the other side of the card with the other hand and just gently applying pressure on either side. Make a note of any high spot on a simple chart: You must be using the straight part of the card edge and not where it starts curving at the corners and also the edge must be covering only three frets at a time. As the frets start closing up, just use the shorter edge to make sure you're still only covering 3 frets: On a bass, for the first few frets, a credit card isn't long enough. Anything straight and thin will do! : Note, by the way, that you can't check the 1st fret (rare that this is an issue if the nut is cut properly) Next - on the frets where there is a high spot, mark the top of the fret with a non-permanent sharpie: Then take an emery board nail file (most supermarkets, Boots, etc): Use your finger to apply pressure and file gently back and forth in the direction of the fret and where the high spot was under that particular string. The sharpie line disappearing will show you if you're filing in the right place which only needs to be under the actual string that you marked an 'X' against on your plan. A bit either side is OK but don't stray to another string's position unless that was also marked as high. Check frequently with the credit card until it doesn't rock anymore THEN STOP! If you have a whole fret that appears to be high, first check that it is seated properly on the fretboard. If it isn't, tap it lightly along the fret with a hammer and recheck. If it's still high, then use the emery board, potentially along the whole fret - but check with the credit card at each string position frequently so you don't overdo it. The fret top will be slightly flat where you've levelled it. On a bass, Quick and Dirty says don't worry about that - I would defy anybody who says they can hear an intonation difference (although you can on a 6 string electric). Also the fret top will be slightly scratched. But the scratches will be along the fret direction and shouldn't give a problem. If it worries you, a fingernail buffer will polish those out to a decent extent (what's a fingernail buffer? Ask wife/partner/sister/mother...they will be in the same area as the emery nail boards) 2. Quick and Dirty creation of a ski slope A repeat of the warning: Don't do this on someone else's bass or any particularly valuable one!!! Purchase a cheap 2-sided diamond steel sharpening stone. Something like this from Amazon. A cheap one like this isn't going to last long but will be fine for this task: Pop a bit of masking tape over the neck pickup to stop any filings sticking to the poles Taking care that the far end isn't anywhere near scratching the bass top, lay the stone on the fretboard where you want the ski slope to start from (usually the 1st fret from where the body joins the neck). Using both hands, gently move the stone 'rough side' down over the frets in this direction. It is easier if someone is holding the bass to stop is moving: Apply light pressure for the lower frets with your left hand and slightly higher pressure with your right hand on the upper frets. You should see the tops of the upper frets flattening evenly along the length of the fret and the lower fret tops less so. Stop when the flattening of the upper frets is no more than 1mm wide. Turn the stone over to the 'fine' side (usually 1000grit) and repeat 5-6 times to take out some of the scratches. String it up and try it. If it needs some more, then just repeat And that, @Geek99 is Andyjr1515's Quick and Dirty method

Persevere Sir, I listen back to tracks and watch videos of my fretless playing and some of it needs huge improvement, but on others I can see/hear that I have improved since starting and playing fretless has definitely improved my fretted playing and my ear for intonation. I say keep going.

You know you are getting old when you would rather have roadies than groupies...

Pele was rubbish on fretless though...

Yes, I still have the two NAMM 100's. I think are a few other owners lurking here too. Fantastic basses they are. Yes, I can understand that some don't get the LK and that's just fine by me. Some of them are really quite darkly oiled which gives them a different look.

The other lads must be disappointed? They probably... can't stand losing you?

Hi Guys and dolls, I'm an old subscriber to Bass Chat but this is the 1st time I've ever written anything and I really hope I don't bore the pants off you. I don't actually know where to put this message so here it is here... I'm almost an OAP and have been a muso since the age of 8 years, starting on brass valved instruments and at 14, I began to play the bass trombone which I adore! You can make seriously loud noises on it without any lugging of amplification At 15 years, I began to play the bass and during my entire playing career have spent an utter fortune on various assortment of basses and gear. Nowadays, my collection is pretty sexy and totally over the top:- 1) Roscoe Century Custom 5 with top of the range Bartolinis (Barts' are my all-time favourite electronics). This Roscoe is laminated across its thickness with 5 woods, a mahogany body, maple, wenge, maple, and a really thick burl amboyna top which is carved by Keith B Roscoe himself. This is worth a fortune! 2) 2 more Roscoes, a 4 and a 5, both of which, filled with Barts... 3) A Tune Hatsun TWB53 5 string Canadian bass made for the 2019 NAMM show. 4) A Yamaha TR1004RB 4 string. 5) An Mike Tobias design Kingston fretless with Barts' 6) A fake Rickenbacker with Seymour Duncans fitted. (I've had 4 previous real Rickys but I didn't like their playability. I thought a cheapo one wouldn't be such an expense. 7) A SIRE V7 just like the look of Marcus's Fender Jazzes prior to his Fender Custom. 😎 On the way from Thomann is a SIRE P7 PJ bass with the same preamp as the V7 Jazz. It's the only one I could find with an ebony fingerboard. (I'm a tad worried about any potential HMRC payment I'll have to pay!) Amp wise, I have a Bergantino B|AMP with Berg cabs, a CN112 and a CN210, all of which I think are the ultimate amplification on the planet. Also, l have an EBS Magni 250 watt 1x15" combo which satisfies my rehearsal and smaller gig usage...EBS gear is so loud! Last but not least, my bass trombone is a Yamaha YBL 830 G Xeno Custom, 2 rotary valve system. Oh, and I've got a load of various pedals on a pedaltrain board. I love all my various instruments and I haven't mentioned all my 6 string guitars because that would make this even more boring and I'm extremely rubbish! Apologies for wasting your time if you've bothered to read it. Take care, and keep safe, and well. Kind regards. Den Finch.

Watched Del Amitri last night in Southampton. When Justin Currie switched from bass to acoustic for the sensitive stuff, the guitarists thought they could take over. With disastrous results! Iain Harvie’s fingerstyle was horrible and distorted, while Kris Dollimore’s noodling decimated Nothing Ever Happens. What the sound mixer thought he was doing (or not doing) in not dialling them back I don’t know, but I do think six-stringers should have to take a proficiency test before strapping on a bass…

Spelling Dream Theater right on their website would be a canny start.

My effort... I fancied a bit of Dub, so here it is! Sounds best on big speakers with serious bass handling... For those that like that sort of thing, bass is an ACG Recurve double tracked with Bassroom and Voxengo eq. Guitar is a trusty Strat, FX and keys all IRIS 2. Drums programmed from Sample Magic dub kit, cymbals through Jabo Sparks vintage on EZ drummer. All smeared liberally with Dubstation 2, Raum and Phasis, mastered with Ozone 9. Vox by Lee (apart from BG shouts - me!), cheers m8!

Im a musician and I wasn't forced to sell out. None of us are. Instead I made a very reasonable living doing something else, which leaves me free to do exactly as I want as a performer and writer. Nothing stopping anyone else doing the same. That way the crumbs I make from music are a pleasant bung, and not something I desperately have to rely upon.

As others have said, "Persevere. Success quotes Pele

...also, I think finding the right fretless is very important, perhaps even more so than with a fretted bass. I was all over the place with full scale fretless basses but as soon as I tried a Rob Allen I was much better almost straight away. Try a few out.

I've just bought a couple of yards of brown material and a length of rope... ... but I won't be making a habit out of it either. 😐

We always heartily welcomed any potential groupies. Probably why I went from one failed relationship to another back in the day.

I always do, it stops the groupies getting to me 😂

Ooo I forgot - I have an Urge 2 in my rack. It's a lovely instrument but it's too heavy for me these days so I never play it anymore. Amazing sounding thing - I even had flats on it for a while for recording. The JPJ pickup switching arrangement is very cleverly thought out. If it was 3lb lighter I'd be using it all the time.

You do realise that if i'm at any of your gigs i'm gonna stand at the front and continually talk to you. Dave

You just had to bring the album version into this huh?

I would say they should be long enough to reach the speakers!

I have a Lakland Jerry Scheff which is a wonderful active Jazz dressed up in outrageous Shoreline Gold with lipstick pickups. He only really used a Precision with Elvis and the Doors, this was a ‘kid in a sweetshop’ thing for him. Might not be to everyone’s taste Best looking bass I have ever owned!

Grandparent duties done and it's back to the other little beauty I got a lovely piece of ebony from Luthierwood.com. We are going for a 'standard' 12" radius at 24 3/4" scale. First out was the excellent radius router jig from G&W: It makes quick and accurate work of getting the basic radius, ready for a final 20 mins or so sanding with a block to remove the router-bit step lines. Good time to top up my stash of ebony dust too : Next, the equally excellent G&W mitre-block to cut the fret slots: All done - actually 24 done although it will probably be cut off after the 22nd to make sure the neck pickup is in the right place. I will leave the fretboard double-sided-taped on the template to keep it flat until I've done the swift inlays at the 12th. All being well, the treble-side top (just placed on top here) will be able to be glued, trimmed and carved later this week:

i did that. He just didn’t call me back.

@Andyjr1515 @BassToolI bought some decals from these guys and you guys were right - very pleased with them. This bass was finished a few weeks ago -here's the final photos. Time to finish the next project!!

So I found a two sided rectangular oilstone - half green and half black IIRC I bought it to sharpen chisels - I put a line of sharpie pen on fret 12 of the stingray I used the thin, long side of the oilstone to flatten fret 12 on the stingray just enough to remove the sharpie ink - the bass plays better in that zone trying Andy’s ski jump removal step on the P bass (using wide side of the oil stone) will have to wait until the weekend

This! Not on bass guitar, but there are many times I have left the stage deflated due to fluff ups etc, but am accosted in the bar after by many new fans. A performance full of conviction and life is worth a great deal more than a technically perfect show which may happen to be devoid of feeling.

Your ears are to either side. They're quite capable of hearing midrange coming from behind you, which is a very good thing in the event that said midrange is the breathing of a Sabre Tooth Tiger. That's not a major concern today, but it was when our hearing evolved to become what it remains. I don't care to have my rig in front of me, if only out of 56 years of habit. It just doesn't feel right. Floor wedges are placed where they are because they have to be to prevent mic feedback. Where the OP is concerned since the 115 is what you have tilt it back, by whatever means, so that the center of the speaker is aimed more or less at your head. If you need more output then you'd want to stack a second identical 115 on top. As for the 410, it's the worst possible speaker configuration, unless one of the vertical banks of drivers are low passed. AFAIK the Barefaced Four X 10 is the only 410 with that feature.

All I have to add is that it needs to be something bloody special for £300 - the same price as the geezer butler collab, which also needs to be something pretty damned good!!

I just tried a Proton IV but didn’t like it as much as my Wonderlove. I missed the ‘resonance’ control which makes the Wonderlove sound so wet, and although nobody talks about it, the band pass mode with some clean blend is amazing. The Proton sounded great, but it just doesn’t warble like the Wonderlove. Still interested in trying the Aguilar, their phaser is very good at least!

Like sliding on fretless, vibrato should ideally be used stylistically rather than to cover up intonation issues as it can become tiresome quite quickly if used all the time. I say ideally as it's inevitable that at certain times you'll use these techniques to get through a passage especially during live playing. There are times though where I think that a slide or vibrato is definitely not what the song needs and I've cocked up the intonation but under those circumstances I'll just brazen it out. As a player you can be overly critical but I think a fretless where the intonation is not spot on can sound ok and more organic (if that's the right phrase) where a slightly out of tune fretted doesn't.

Have you actually been able to make this strategy work for you? My experience is that people won't buy directly from a band's web site and in fact unless you give then no alternative they won't even visit it. They want to stick with the platforms they know and trust (as a consumer) even if they know that buying or listening this way means less money goes to the artist in question. For my last band, despite the fact that you could buy our CDs/records cheaper, direct from our band website we sold almost nothing that way. People were happier buying downloads or stream the songs from Apple/Amazon/Spotify, and if they did actually want to buy physical product they went to Bandcamp.

Mickey, Stick! do not twist!

Yeh, but it keeps your gigs carbon footprint balanced!

As in "Aint got no style, I strictly roots"?

Photos or it didn't... oh, never mind!

I think that’s the thing with 5 string basses. We can fall back to the ‘1st’ position or we can play up the neck with roots off the B strings or further up the neck we have the fifth below etc. It’s great for the key changes where rhe band goes up and we can play lower - a thing I’ve stolen form modern country and big pop ballads. It can be very economical with a low b or it can be the thing that kinda sits there and occasionally gets a bit of action. I’m actually tempted to nab another 5er having not played one in a few years. A new 80’s project has piqued my interest although none of the songs actually need a low b! We’re a fickle bunch I suppose! Before I got the 5 string I used to play some of our bands original material in drop D and kept getting confused as sometimes I did and other times I didn’t. The b string took care of that. A b string can be great for adding weight to parts especially like I mentioned above wher erhe band goes up the neck and the bass can go down the neck.

I’ve got the Fender Adam Clayton Jazz bass in Sherwood Green. I bought it because it was an amazing price on clearance with a matching headstock, inlays, better pickups, custom neck profile (apparently), and no binding! I forget it’s a signature model most of the time, but I’m sure glad I got it! Thankfully the signature is on the back of the headstock, so it’s just a really pretty bass.

No I wouldn't. It couldn't be my dream bass if I couldn't play it and turning it upside down would bring so many compromises that it would not be my dream bass. In any case, I have all my dream basses now.😁

My scrap wood challenge cab is having a change of appearance Spray glue and some red leatherette covering Stainless grille Covering is an art for sure, but it's quite enjoyable (apart from when you start 180 degress out, so you find that your join will be on the top face rather than the bottom as planned - taking it off and re-applying was fun... not)

This reminds me of the thread earlier this year by a bassist who was asked by his fellow band members to "go buy a Dingwall" because it suited their band better in their opinion. Crazy!

I see Mark is using his Series 1 again on the current Level 42 tour (pics taken at the Glasgow gig on Monday 18th October)

-

I'm cross-linking to this, as @scrumpymike has posted it on the SW Bash thread, but it might be interesting to others. The T-shirts aren't branded to any bash, are good quality, and in my experience are guaranteed to get you a "What on earth is a Bass Bash??" response when you wear them. 😁