Leaderboard

It was easy. Factors are : * Shipping has gone up 250-450% and lead times are SLOOOOOOOW * Prices in India have gone up * It insulates us more from currency fluctuations * It allows us to control stock better * We are also making careful changes to the range to be more efficient in production without a cost in quality. The cost is effort. Expect some improvements to the SWB. Announcements to follow but sneak peak. It'll be : * Lighter (chambering in the body) * Design tweaks * New Deluxe Edition Thanks EVERYBODY for your positivity. We're excited and nervous in equal measure!

@owen will often pop up in threads to say "there is no one [bass] just the chase" - and I think there's some truth in that... but playing lots of things does help you work out what you like... and I like P basses.... my first proper bass a japanese '57ri... then a Squier series JV '57ri ... then a gap and a Yamaha BB1200 (sounds nothing like a precision) and then bought Gareth's green G&L L1000, a kind of super precision that taught me how much I loved bolt on basses. Fast forward a few years and my main bass is a sadowsky jazz that oddly has a lot of mid punch and not much Jazz bass scoop... and the L1000 and my old Warwick isn't being played so last spring I sold them both and set out looking for a precision.... Firstly, it's taken a while and I want to say thank you to everyone who's ear and expertise I borrowed... @warwickhunt, @Hooch, @boroman, @AndyTravis, @marleaux62, @walshy, @gareth, @owen and whoever else I've pestered with opinions of a billion different basses... There's a man in the UK who when I started playing was making basses that looked like old ones, I wanted one of his creations for at least 15 years... except he doesn't do custom orders at all now and builds what he wants... I had an idea, he liked it and started building it. A year later I got asked if I would like to buy what he had built.... It looks pretty cool I think!

I sold all my dogging gear on eBay. I had loads of watchers. (I'll get my coat)

He will be crucial in assembling them as well as setting them up! All in our new Bristol workshops.

I'll be documenting my weird prototype builds here, I want to have them written up somewhere online in case someone else tries to patent this idea or something. I'll be open sourcing all the code when it's ready and anyone is welcome to copy these ideas 😀 they're not that groundbreaking or anything but I'm pretty sure I haven't seen anything similar before. First up is something I suppose I'll have to call the AntiBass. It lets you play guitar and drums simultaneously. Each metal bracket is a capacitive touch sensor which triggers a different drum sample. So depending on where you strum, it will trigger Kick, Snare, etc. Touch sensing and reading the buttons/switches is done via an Esp32 board. Ground is connected to the bridge, and this requires use of a metal plectrum. Strum sensing is very reliable as long as you're touching the strings with your left hand. I used aluminium angles for the strum sensors originally but it didn't work too well. Aluminium basically forms a thin layer of oxidation the second it's exposed to air. I went a bit overboard with the switches. Everything will be controllable with a Bluetooth android app eventually. For now I will use the switches to change drum kits and add cymbals i.e it could play a hihat every strum as well as whatever drum is assigned to that trigger. Drum sounds are played from a Bela board, it's an open source beaglebone Cape. Audio Output latency is about 0.6ms with the Bela. Normal midi latency is about 1ms per note, but I'm using rs232 module at 512k baud. Regular midi is 32k baud so this should be a fraction of a millisecond. I haven't tested the total latency but basically feels instant. Can load any soundfont < 300mb. Has at least 16 note polyphony. I've got it set up as one-drum-per-trigger at the moment, but it could also have a whole pattern per trigger, so you could be playing an entire drum beat by hitting one trigger at regular intervals. Plus, it's just playing soundfonts so it doesn't even have to be drums. It could play 1/16th of an organ loop every time you strum. Still working on the android app for this, there's so many potential features! NEXT ONE WILL BE A BASS!

We're also formalising our partnership. Expect announcements soon. New partnership to sit on top of the two companies inbound!

Hmm quite a sweeping statement about the Shuker basses. Well to put my slant on it, I commissioned a Flea / Modulus Inspired build from Jon without ever playing one of his basses. Communication was amazing, workshop visit was really eye opening and the end result far exceeded what I thought I would get, for a damn good price too. In fact it was so good I had another made exactly the same in a different relic finish. His instruments are absolutely beautiful and dead wouldn’t be a word I’d use to describe them. Maybe you weren’t the right fit for the basses you tried 😉

You can’t, I’ve got your coat! 🧥

Bass time! I realized i don't actually like playing guitar so now I'm planning a bass+looper one man band. This is a headless bass with touch-sensing thumb rests. Depending on where I rest my plucking hand thumb, it will change my EQ/FX, activate a vocoder, etc. Only 2 of 3 thumb rests are shown here, they're not installed yet. There will be another one in the middle, forming a continuous line where the B string would be. This is strung with a high C. No volume/tone controls, pickups are wired straight to the jack output. The top plate has 3 small latching buttons which I will use for selecting presets. So I can access 8 different FX presets, each one with 3 different channels depending on where I'm resting my thumb. The bass signal is going into a Dr J sansamp clone for basic EQ, then into an axoloti DSP board. The axoloti is kind of a reconfigurable multifx/synth board, it has stereo inputs so I'll have a mic in the second channel for vocoder stuff and vocal FX. The bridge on this is from AliExpress, it was about £100 at the time, but they're like £70 now. Quality seems good, but the knobs are quite hard to turn by hand. They have an awkward little wrench which goes into the side of the bridge but I've made my own replacement one out of a 5mm allen key bit and a wooden disc. I like this design of bridge, there's no Allen keys involved in changing strings. It came with a headpiece but I made my own with a bit of aluminium z-profile. Neck is an ibanez sr1825 factory second I got from eBay. I bought 2 of the 5 string ones and one 4 string. £80 each, panga panga(wenge) with titanium reinforcement rods! I'm probably gonna leave the headstocks on the other 2 intact. Body is just a wenge neck blank with a bit of wood stuck on for the bridge.

I’m getting a semi-hollow, just at the thought of it…

The "sponge on a string" they use to make the mold goes in further than the actual plugs themselves. As @chris_bsays they're probably the main reason many of us can still gig and hear OK. Best value money I've ever spent on musical equipment!

The eagerly (I hope) anticipated update of Tomreadbass Transcriptions. The big update I have been promising. Too big actually, in that once I had completed my jobsheet of transcriptions and arrangements, adding them to the website then took me nearly another week! So what's new? Well as usual, the additions have come about as a result of one of two things; either a customer has ordered a bass transcription and taken up the half-price deal (which means it gets shared on the website for everyone else's benefit), or I've written a bass part for myself (or a band arrangement) for a gig. Lots of orders have been fulfilled recently, and as I'm currently gigging full-time on a cruise ship (MV Spirit of Adventure), there's quite a lot resulting from that too! OK, here goes - you'll see I've kept myself busy in my cabin! The complete Joe Satriani "What Happens Next?" album: Energy - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_3c7239b84bde4ca0a753caebe4a532e0.pdf Catbot - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_a336ebe570de40ee9b34aeb4a0f6c194.pdf Thunder High On The Mountain - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_76607f18cd714d0bac6d176691bb5c76.pdf Cherry Blossoms - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_76c384c40caa47cabd3aa84e8b3fa666.pdf Righteous - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_029cd91abc31451a8a9d0faad15fee3e.pdf Smooth Soul - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_98b9190e872648f8af336d7457124ced.pdf Headrush - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_63085eb9aaf64be8be1e83d32309917a.pdf Looper - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_6886369d0efa44a683219cf4a202aadc.pdf What Happens Next - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_514d7efdebde4bb392ef4069b856d365.pdf Super Funky Badass - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_befdae1f9aac4f5d9cf6a036aa1718d0.pdf Invisible - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_f00d6d2fe5864b53af59729f8ec1ee9b.pdf Forever And Ever - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_39c0940a5f0c4502871d4460566490b4.pdf The following bass transcriptions are all brand new additions to the site: I've Got You Under My Skin - Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_82c5d198b4304979bc47f869d376a26f.pdf Love Of My Life - Santana - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_187696a51ca9460a8ca203ef5b0ca85a.pdf Ain't No Stopping Us Now - McFadden & Whitehead - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_03d8b165da6440a38c99875452ba131b.pdf Welcome To Burlesque - Cher - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_b3132946a1fa4452bd5ffb33f75cb6e1.pdf Twisting By The Pool - Dire Straits - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_82c1e9c30b584b9889ba47f221f1be05.pdf You Make Loving Fun - Fleetwood Mac - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_cac2f9df645f4cf7b77347ff9f7b4435.pdf Borderline - Madonna - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_f3a4f9fb96aa4a3cac71a586d4be79c3.pdf The Chain - Fleetwood Mac - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_dba98b654a4c4de28fa9aa652594cc17.pdf Get On The Floor - Michael Jackson - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_b125f84605df4e5dbd7d3b80d52efc24.pdf YMCA - Village People - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_1f17fa8d41164b3bbacc6c84e7ba3ee6.pdf 25 Miles - Edwin Starr - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_1522a1f90b77404fa4f67bd66db529cb.pdf Always On My Mind - Elvis Presley - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_4c7aa7820f444f8c964fb2e9b3894e7f.pdf Dancing Queen - Abba - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_e7fb2d244a8d4e81a8f8289745c58e4d.pdf Don't Know Why - Norah Jones - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_f8dfcc04dcb549489d54cff05f604149.pdf Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me - George Michael & Elton John live version - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_bace09f67a5c47d28bbb3959ca83bbfd.pdf Heartache Tonight - Michael Buble - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_015f7aa1d04144fa92f8f3c6df71e005.pdf Hooked On Rock 'N' Roll - Peter Criss - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_6afbab65078a4c5ba740edb73b0e1e79.pdf Three Times A Lady - Commodores - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_414ee15a14ee4132960bd71dbf81a5b4.pdf I'd Rather Go Blind - Etta James - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_8eec18ae036a45ff898d711e59b48aa7.pdf Kashmir - Led Zeppelin - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_75820ff748104e439df4b1bd6051010b.pdf Last Dance - Donna Summer - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_12dda9f745ac45419ab38f0247abb8bb.pdf Never Can Say Goodbye - Gloria Gaynor - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_86c1cafc204a4d4ea438785b6739b109.pdf The following transcriptions were already on the site but have been enhanced with the more attractive MuseJazz font and style, improved arrangement structures, and the very occasional minor correction: September - Earth, Wind & Fire - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_132afaa2f9184db7a68234fa8d74da71.pdf Rather Be - Clean Bandit - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_b70c7e2129aa445ca7d4e4b4b5319fba.pdf Wonderwall - Oasis - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_576c072e9c074ce5a7e8dce0c2ad8c17.pdf Disco Inferno - The Trammps - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_11aa7b33c85f4aeea9179bfb6865d103.pdf Love Is In The Air - John Paul Young - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_0298dd6eb4d94ec49285caef8bfbc754.pdf Stuck In The Middle With You - Stealers Wheel - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_4b04792dd62947e29aef886e6dcd7756.pdf That's The Way I Like It - KC & The Sunshine Band - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_670cf42511ab41fc83980772e17ecc28.pdf Le Freak - Chic - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_fd94a24b88b14e29add243fe09a0cdf3.pdf Young Hearts Run Free - Candi Staton - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_2e708eb36bb84e9e970166d1bc18f513.pdf I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_21db921b29d94aa7b129ac884e84387d.pdf Walk Of Life - Dire Straits - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_386a4a22b90a4439abf330b756b6cfd1.pdf Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_716adbe8fa3140b99683479ac90e6626.pdf 500 Miles - Proclaimers - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_ef0ce27ff5ab4c8fa9f7ce996d1008b1.pdf Black Velvet - Alannah Myles - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_b842595aadd7449dabae49de304b603d.pdf Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_f75564e03f724875906dddd3a645a0b8.pdf Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_3051f0760b37438eb37cf09a5b88b525.pdf Diggin' On James Brown - Tower Of Power - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_f45b4c27189c494ea6223cbd0b02cda0.pdf Happy - Pharrell Williams - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_a8723e3f41374f9f8671c20b2fba6496.pdf Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_ef7fa69382014160be04168ce1540e0b.pdf The Best - Tina Turner - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_2ab43d6a8a404990be7be8e5b8af997c.pdf Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go - Wham! - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_6ae7f4ebb90f425aa4af8fe24344bfc6.pdf Waterloo - Abba - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_9130f37b0eb64b278d33ac68d8933828.pdf We Are Family - Sister Sledge - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_4dd72e70d8174b7ba67c0a1148ed1932.pdf You To Me Are Everything - Real Thing - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_b9e2fef30719404382066270e2ec7e0e.pdf I'm A Believer - Monkees - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_d7c7f1b6b3b146b79ed3a51d69347fea.pdf I'm So Excited - Pointer Sisters - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_5fba44c908e54c1d97ca3029aa98854c.pdf Johnny Be Goode - Chuck Berry - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_81238acfa0004c2e87722a95a1597663.pdf Love Really Hurts Without You - Billy Ocean - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_7294d9b2eb3f48ee99a7e2c6b53f3d2c.pdf Shut Up And Dance - Walk The Moon - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_6501651748d943769067281ccfafe032.pdf Signed, Sealed, Delivered - Stevie Wonder - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_c0a2a54a26f04825a34f49d349446eb6.pdf Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_57f26c06ad6841a496239d4c261b1c95.pdf Son Of A Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_349e374425cf45aa9fb37a2a1d82cfc5.pdf Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_92e871098576411899a31c0711a0b417.pdf Hope these are of use and enjoyment to my fellow bass players around the world. The transcriptions website remains absolutely free to use and no log-in required. Just download whatever charts you want as PDFs with my compliments! (And please share!) Now over 900 bass transcriptions on the website! I am planning something special for the 1000th, which may well happen within the next 12 months. The next one will be added within the next week or two - it's been ordered by a customer and is a virtuoso upright bass part by the fantastic Christian McBride. http://tomreadbass.co.uk

I had one of these back in the day and really enjoyed playing it. Foolishly though, I decided it wasn't particularly practical so moved it on. Fast-forward at least a decade and a bit, when this one came up for sale. It's a 2003 model (which I think is the first production year) in a lovely Lava Pearl, the same colour of the one I had before. It's a lot more orange in the flesh which I really like. It is virtually spotless and even the ubiquitous tip chip being less than 1mm long. It weighs in at sub-9lbs and I love it. Not sure if it's a forever bass but I'm planning on having it around for a while yet. I appreciate they're very marmite but I'm getting increasingly old and grumpy now, I don't really care. I intend to play it and enjoy it as part of my ever-dwindling bass collection that has somehow gone from three basses up to six...oops

Whenever I see a listing that says "dont put this on watch unless youre intending the bid" I immediately put it on watch and ask all my friends to do the sam,e.

Something like this:

I've tried not to be interested in playing music, even tried to stop listening to music. I thought, I'm bored of it all. I'm just kidding myself. I can't stop. I was up the other night watching something about REO Speedwagon...I don't even like REO Speedwagon. Family aside Music is my first love.

Bear in mind a fair few watchers are watching not as potential buyers but they may own something similar and want to see what yours goes for. I once had 200+ watchers on a bass that was priced quite reasonably (less than anything comparable on BC)... not one single bid!

A neck that's too straight or back bowed can present itself anywhere on the fingerboard depending on a few factors in construction etc. It happening on the first few frets is usually a sign that the instrument is actually well set up (apart from the truss rod tension). So I'm hopeful things will come back into check with a bit less tension for you. A good way to check this is to fret the first fret with your left hand, and fret the 15th (or around there) fret with the little finger on your right hand. You're effectively creating a straight edge across the frets then. You can tap the string around the 10-12 frets and notice if the string is tight against the frets, or if there's a little gap there. The gap tells you that the neck has relief (is curved/concaved). If it's tight flat then the neck is too straight. I personally run my necks really almost straight, as do lots of guitarists I know. Then get the bridge saddles adjusted accordingly. This gives you nice tension and low action. But it's all completely personal, as long as your not getting too much choking it's totally up to you. Marcus Millers sound, you can hear the strings 'rasping' on the frets for example. The nut is crucial for intonation, fretting hand string height, resonance transfer to the neck, and obviously open strings. Any buzzes once you are fretting with your left hand, are very unlikely to be nut related, sonically. Hope that's helpful

Sometimes just a 1/4 turn on the truss rod nut can make a big difference , it might be all it needs, the main thing is that it’s nothing serious, just a bit of tweaking 🙂

Which String or All Strings? Start by just a thin bit of waxy card or plastic shim, yogurt pot? just to rest in the bottom of the nut slot... See if that fixes it, if so lots of Youtube stuff about building up the nut with super glue and baking soda. I'd start there as its a free fix to the bass you've got. I love the Ibby SR shape and it is all about the neck... If you dont like the EQ maybe bypass or remove it and go passive with a @KiOgon loom. VVTT... VVT, VBT... coil pickup selecting and or coil switching.

I ordered EMG Geezer pickups from Thomann last Thursday and just received them this morning (Tuesday). UK retailers all seemed to be saying… have to order from German, will take 2-3 weeks (even the ones that advertised next day delivery). So I thought if it’s coming from Gernany I might as well order from Thomann. I was prepared to wait three weeks… but I didn’t have to. I always had excellent service from Thomann pre-Brexit and pre-Covid… this was just as good. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy from them again.

If you are getting choking on the first fret then it potentially calls into question the initial set up. Without seeing the bass, the choking could relate to the neck relief (or lack thereof) or the string height not being high enough, both of which can be cured by a revised set up. Failing that it might be a high fret rather than a badly cut nut. It might be the nut but I definitely wouldn't buy a new nut until I absolutely thought it was required. I would initially try raising the string height slightly to see if that cures the choking problem. If if does then you will have solved the problem without it costing you any money.

I really enjoy rehearsal. Group of like minded people in a room playing music. What's not to like? My band mates are good people, we get on well, take the fosters, jam around some punk riffs to warm up and have fun with it. You can learn the parts. individually at home but you need to practice together to get used to each others playing and get your sound working together and get things wrong without an audience.

In general I’m happy to pay more for stuff made in the UK. Good on ‘em

My Warwick looked exactly like yours started I just used bras so and they came up beautifully - I bought it for a song on eBay as idiot timed The sale for 5:20pm when everyone used to be stuck in their cars Edit - this was 2010, and I jumped up from my waiting position on the vasectomy operating table to fire in the winning bid with 2s left to go .. seller most impressed at my urge to win - bought 290£ sold £405 after a quick cleanup and new jack socket

I got this from a guy in Stoke iirc:

Original and (preamp-) clone:

Whereas I'd say it's the MOST important thing

I got a set at the start of this year as my current band is extremely loud. They take everything down to a sort of “fairly loud Sat morning CD” type volume, and I can clearly hear every instrument. I can even determine the pitch of my vocals without using a mic. I was a bit worried at the moulding/fitting session as it was uncomfortable and slightly painful but no issues with using the actual plugs themselves.

6mm ish 1/4" ish x 30mm ish / 1 1/4"... Do ya? Then drop me a message with your address and i'll stick em in the post. Remember... Basschat never puts a good bass down! 😉

They go in until they stop :-) Absolute life-savers for me.

In my experience it's usually the people who complain the band are 'rehearsing too much' and don't do any preparation at home that then go on to f*ck it up at the gig. They seem incapable of joining the dots.

I don't know why I'm so keen on battery power, but it's partly due to the way that I use pedals. Basically, for me they are fun 'toys' that I like to play with at home or when heading out to a jam (we alternate between a 'live' jam or a studio jam) I throw a couple that I'm currently enjoying in my kit box. I am not 'wedded' to any enough that I want to build a pedalboard and I don't want to add a PSU to my kit for powering them either. I really don't like miniturisation of objects that require on the other hand a bulky PSU which defeats the point (Ok less a 'thing' if you have several and use one supply) but I like it when designers apply themselves to maximising space and the 9v limitations to achieve a great sound in a small package, like E.W.S do with the 'Stormy Bass Drive', which ups the voltage internally whilst still only drawing something like 20mah from a battery in a box the size of any of those Mooer pedals. Oh and it sounds amazing which is also nice. Even the Original and Haz Mutron take batts, as do many of the older pedals of my youth. Nowadays people like Darkglass say they don't take batteries for 'environmental reasons' which I don't fully endorse when most of us have more power adapters then we can shake a stick at! See, I told you it probably doesn't make any sense... but I suppose it saves me money in the long run? I use a 1spot at home for auditioning pedals at my desk which I often use whether the pedal takes batts or not, just for kicks

I’m no expert btw, but have you tried packing the strings up at the nut to see if it’s that 🙂

It's worth noting that luthiers like Sei, Overwater, Shuker etc will build an instrument with absolutely any neck profile your heart desires. Folk may hate the profile of my Shuker's but it's not indicative of the feel of his other basses. To put it another way, when it comes to a luthier who can customise to that granularity, it's probably worth having an idea what profile you might like to have rather than going to another luthier who may only do standard carves. That said, there's obviously an advantage in taking that "unknown territory" out of the equation by going to another luthier who tells you what you're going to have. The P bass I would like made will have the same profile as my '76 I own. There's another BCer who has done the same, having had his 78 (I think) P bass used as a template for his Shuker. Certainly my inspiration for following suit!

I'd say the chances of complete success are fairly low. The speaker has to match the cab to get the best out of it. The cab is, or should be, matched to the speaker in volume and tuning. Then the speaker also has to be matched to the horn unit and the amplifier and the crossover. The chance of this all slotting into place by luck is fairly low to zero. The other issue is cost, as original the Headrush has value which you'll halve if you try and sell it messed with, even if you think you've improved it. A good quality lightweight 12 could cost you £130+. Sell the headrush and add those together and you could probably buy something better than you have. I'm all in favour of people experimenting as you'll learn lots but it's probably not the project to tackle.

One from Friday night. We supported Thea Gilmore at a fairly local event in Northwich, designed to highlight the venue's potential. Hopefully they'll be able to put on more acts, as it could turn out to be a decent place to play, with a possible capacity of 1,000.

If MDP spots this, I can see a whole new avenue opening up in his dilapidated shed. 4 weeks later. "I moved the bridge closer to the rear pickup as I felt it would give the Bass a brighter and yet distinctive grunt. Besides that I feel the manufacturers themselves failed to achieve the correct scale length when in the process of making these instruments."