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Morning all! UK production moving on nicely. Here are some more photos of the SWB-1 and SWB Deluxe basses in progress.

Adam Clayton was one of the reasons I picked up the bass in the first place. The Joshua Tree came out when I was in my early teens and I thought his playing on it was what kept everything together and really brought the whole album alive. I'd give my right arm to be as inept, talentless and successful as him

this will make for an interesting debate.

Adam Clayton was also one of the reasons I picked up the bass. I was only 14 and been outside BMXing. It was a mega hot day so I came in to cool down and purely by mistake saw U2's performance on Live Aid. I didn't know the band, the songs or have any desire to play music (I had a huge crush on Madonna at the time) but I saw Adam strutting around stage and I thought, that guys looks so cool, playing guitar (didn't know it was a bass), strutting around stage looking awesome, I want to be that guy. A few years passed and I was hanging out with mates and I then heard the Joshua Tree blasting out of a friends car and it blew me away. At that point I decided to learn to play bass. Move forward about 10 years and I'd learnt to play bass, learnt every U2 song, been in a few good bands and managed to get a record deal with my current band. We were going to head to Seattle to be have our first album produced by Rick Parasher of Pearl Jam's 'Ten' fame but the guy who ended up producing it was a guy called Mark Wallis who did the It Bites and Travis album's. He's also produced The Smiths, Talking Heads, REM, Wet Wet Wet, Iggy Pop, Japan, The Primitives, Debbie Harry, Joan Armatrading, The LA’s and The Go-Betweens to name a few but it turned out he also mixed and engineered on U2's Joshua Tree. We had many a long chat about U2 and the things he told me about Adam is that he may not perhaps come up with the most spectacular bass lines but he is one of the most solid, tightest bassists he has ever worked with. He may play a lot of 8 and 16 note bass lines but every single note is consistent and in time. He said not many bass players can play that tight repeatedly and they tend to wander, even if its 1 or 2 or 3 notes in an 8 note sequence but Adam never does, he is so tight. I thought I was good at this until he pointed out I wavered during the recording process. It was quite an eye opener to be honest. He said that Adam just has a fantastic natural internal click and ability to play in time, not something he see's in many other musicians despite other bassists being far more technical.

There have been a couple of interesting threads (to me) recently about instruments, their construction, marketing and value. Some points such as the materials the instrument is made from (tonewood - or to give it a less contentious name simply wood commonly used by luthiers) seem to incite foaming at the mouth. The other element for contentious debate is value and what is required for a company to achieve that value (marketing). I think most people would agree that technology, a cheaper manufacturing base and production workflow has improved to such an extent that no working musician really needs to spend more than £400 on an instrument. If we get rid of marketing costs behind a brand this would probably drop to nearer the £200 mark. Does this seem a reasonable conclusion? If so why do we pay more, particularly if we are in the camp that dismisses any tangible benefits of wood choice and other similar incremental upgrades and also dislikes brands and the marketing and endorsement required to build those brands?

Thank you very much @Jonesy for bringing this to my attention: This just floats my boat in so many ways - it's a G&L (a brand I know, respect and trust), beautiful colour, tort's growing on me (was initially unsure), BLOCKS... WANT The good news for my wallet is that now that I've seen this colour combo I don't want the immediately available white or sunburst ones, I want this one. I contacted Andertons and was told "Yes, we will be placing an order with G&L for these basses so we are hoping to see stock in around 6 months or so". 6 months to save up, no worries. Just need to make sure I don't see other shiny things in the meantime! I've always fancied an SB-1. No Tribute model available though and I don't really want to pay USA prices for what is, in essence, a posh P bass. I had a Tribute SB-2 a while back and it was a good bass but there were a couple of things about it which weren't to my taste - the neck profile wasn't my ideal and it had a bridge pickup which I didn't care about or ever use. The Tribute LB-100 has a wider neck, and no bridge pickup but obvs no MFD. Maybe the stock pickup will be fine - I won't know until I try it and I certainly will give it a chance but if I swap the stock pickup out for a split MFD then I'll have how I think an SB-1 should be (the bigger body and wider neck of the LB-100 with an MFD), at a fraction of the price. So here's to putting a rough date on my game over post in the 2022 Gear Abstinence thread before it's even begun!

Somebody pointed this one out in the Ebay section. After due consideration (which took several days), I decided to have it. Passive, coil-tapped pickups. Controls are pickup selector switch (bridge, both, neck) and two volumes, each with a pull pot which gives the coil tap. The cover at the body end hides the truss rod access, which I haven't delved into. Strings are standard single ball ends with a clamp at the nut end and I think an ETS bridge and tuner system. Although it's 36" scale which gave me a little trepidation, it's easy to play with quite a shallow neck. String spacing is adjustable and currently set to 17.5mm. Fretboard is flat (unradiused). Rather a nice touch - the fret markers cascade across the fretboard. The sound is quite impressive, the coil taps are effective. Appearance-wise, the lines are (to my eye anyway) quite flowing, with an asymmetry that works well. I may adjust the string spacing, not sure about that. I do need to replace the strap pegs with Boston Schaller-compatibles (cue the straplock war).

I decided to add a faded black outline to give more contrast with the ash. A couple more coats to go.

It really depends what you are looking for from a bass (or any instrument come to that). If all you want is something that is easy to play and produces low notes that fits into a typical rock/pop/jazz arrangement/instrumentation then a Squier P or J will probably be fine. They're made to a 60 year old design that is barely changed over the years, and whose USP was they could be produced as cheaply as possible using 1940s technology and relatively (compared with your typical acoustic instrument) unskilled labour. These days, the CNC machines in the Far East, can churn out identical instruments in their thousands at a unit cost Leo Fender could not have imagined back in the 1940s. However not everyone wants that. They may want features that are harder to make, or simply things that might suit them, as musicians, perfectly but are by no means anywhere near the mainstream. All these things start to add up, especially when you consider that an instrument may only have a potential user base that can be measured in hundreds (and maybe less) rather than 10s of thousands. For instance I play the Bass VI. The Squier version is available at £400 which is very good VfM for what is essentially a niche instrument. However the narrow neck doesn't suit my playing style (and ability). I could probably spend a year practicing some more so that I can get around this limitation, and be boring on stage, making sure I don't play any bum notes, but I'd rather be using the time to be writing more songs. So instead I bought the Eastwood copy of the Shergold Marathon 6 which is roughly £1200 (mostly because the production run is in the 100s rather than 10,000s). Playability for me is much better than the Squier and it sounds fine. However it's a bit boring to look at and since I play live I'd like something that looks a bit more interesting. Also I'd like to be able use it with the Roland modelling system. All of a sudden I'm in custom instrument territory. The Bass VI form my preferred custom maker with all the features I want will be in the region of £7,000. I could put in the hours of practice and make do with the Squier, but if I can afford to make my life easier and more interesting why not?

Thanks to all who responded to my request for help. Pinged an e-mail across to Leszek over the weekend and got one back first thing this morning saying he's pretty sure what the problem is and offering me two alternatives: either he'll liaise with my amp tech if I have one (which I do), or I return the amp to HandBox at my cost and he fixes it FOC. I've put Leszek in touch with my trusty amp guy and am confident that all will be sorted locally before too long. When you consider I didn't buy the amp new, must say I'm delighted with Leszek's response.

After today's second bit of tung.

Well! Mr. White got new covers with some foam at the base…

Oh you done gone done it now. Chat grenade, incoming, take cover!

My first gig with both cabs, I have iems and a big PA, so this is clearly overkill, but it sounds amazing.

A bassist should never get grief for an egotistic singer 🤣

Ever noticed how few successful bassists play million notes a second slap? There are many more who have sold millions of records with nothing more than simple, solid lines with solid timing.

…. So after buying a superb secondhand Vigier Excess 5 from Mattbass6 on this forum, I realised I’m not such an intuitive 5 string player and sold it on vowing that I would get another Vigier. Being simply blown away by the craftsmanship I had to get a 4 string. One pilgrimage to Bass Direct in Warwick (thanks Ashley and Mark) later, I am the proud owner of this beauty… My goodness it’s fast, punchy, modern and I love it! 😊

Here it is. Not quite as I expected. We've all been there. A night out, moon shining, date looking great, and you spoil the romance by doing exactly the wrong thing. I don't know how you'd describe the genre - maybe indie pop. Unusually for me this is a proper song, with a verse, chorus and middle eight, although it's pretty simple musically. Recorded in Cubase, Fender Telecaster and Fender Precision via Amplitube. Drums are MT Power drum loops with a little additional programming. Vox are, unfortunately by me.

That’s a wonderful performance of a great song. how come - (noticing quite lovely “hooky” esque playing) that Hooky is is revered and Clayton is somehow reviled on these pages? I’d do that every night of the week and twice on Sunday for a tenth of what Clayton has in the bank. More power to the guy. I admire him hugely.

There is no indication that that is going to happen. They designed the Celiste and Calabas basses that were a departure, available in 5 and 6 string configurations and in their wisdom, have put them into retirement some time ago, sticking to the trusted designs that put them on the map in the first place. Jaydee are clearly not looking to put a dent in the market, because from a business perspective they have little need to. They are obviously trying to keep the business small, but busy and profitable. Obviously they are succeeding, if their long waiting list is anything to go by. They have been around for many years, when others have folded up their tent and moved on. If a player feels a Jaydee does not meet their requirements, then there are other options a plenty.

This post is remarkably similar to a Youtube video I watched recently where a guy compared a Squier Affinity Jazz to a Classic Vibe, a Fender Vintera and a Fender US, highlighting the diminishing returns the higher up the price point you go. Having played or owned all of the above, I tend to agree with him. A £400 bass should last you a lifetime with the build quality nowadays.

One possible way round this is to register your own domain name for the band (namecheap.com is a good registrar) and just set up a redirect to your more cryptic YouTube url. This would cost less than a tenner a year to maintain. It looks more professional and you don’t need to maintain a website but adding that and specific email addresses can come later if needs be.

Fixed

Several years ago, I bought a 1965 jazz. It appeared to be all original other that a non original pick guard, together with a body and neck refinish. It came in at a nice price and the seller had no idea of its history, other than the previous owner saying that he was told It used to belonged to AC. There was no proof that it belonged to AC and I could not have cared less, as I really liked the bass. I used it for several years and decided to move it on, as I was culling the heard. As it came to me for not alot of money, I decided to sell it at a nice and a well known player and collector had a play loved it and bought it from me. Some weeks later he asked me did I know anything about the bass and I told him, other than the previous seller mentioning that it belonged to AC, that I knew nothing. We both had a snigger, thinking that it was a sales pitch, as much as anything else. Some weeks later I got a call from the new owner informing me that he had it on good authority that the bass did belong to AC!.

Just shows, sometimes doing the simple stuff isn’t quite as simple as would initially have been thought.

He's not known for playing the wrong thing. His interview on the Rockonteurs recently was most entertaining, too.

I recently got my hands on a Peavey 3620. I’ve wanted one ever since seeing them in a 87 copy of a Peavey Monitor magazine. I’ve only seen one other in the U.K. sold on here when I searched for one many year’s ago. This one came from Manchester area. The owner collected and restored Cabs but only got around to stripping the tolex off this one before unfortunately passing away. The kick back/ wheel board had been detached, the handles, corners and jack plate all removed. First job was to glue, screw and tack the wheel board back on. It was left for a week before I attached the wheels. Next came a full strip of the drivers, grill badges and trim. Today I wanted to fill, sand and start attaching the tolex which arrived last week. Unfortunately the cab had a lot of old glue on the outside and there were a lot of scrapes and dints that needed filling and sanding after I had sanded the old glue off. Hopefully I’ll be able to start attaching the tolex this week. I’m also going to drop the corners off at the platers to get re-chromed. Fingers crossed the cab sounds as good as I hope. I’ve bought and rest many cabs and amps that I’ve previously lusted over and they turned out to be a great disappointment.

A £400 Bass will do fine and there are diminishing returns but global competition between brands is quite fierce and I've generally found that more expensive Basses are more enjoyable to play and easier to make sound good. And higher end basses hold their value well as they get older and rarer. I'd recommend people spend as much as they can afford rather than being tight - it's something you might play for 1000s of hours for many years, and if you get a good one you might eventually sell for similar (or more) than you bought it for.

Here's my entry for November. It's a slow, mellowish instrumental with lots of chiming guitar to try and get that twinkly, night sky, relaxing feeling while everyone else is doing the heavy lifting to put things in order. A Looperman sample for drums, Epiphone guitar with lots of echo effects, home-made cigar box guitar, violin bass and a tiny smidge of keys. Recorded using NCH Wavepad and Audacity.

Good lord... I need new pants.

Yeeessssssssss, goooooood. Give in to the GAS side Although I am pretty jealous and having been drooling over some of the new Tribby colours. Like you, I'd snap up a Tribby SB 1 too

I remember a few cottages in our village in the 60’s were without drinking water too, the residents had to go to a tap in the road near their dwellings. My bedroom window used to regularly ice up too, before we had efficient central heating. ( Just realised this is getting a bit Monty Python now - paper bag at t’bottom of the garden etc!). I sometimes worry that using electronic tuners may mean I lose the ability to tune up accurately by ear, so test myself every now and then. Can still do it within a cent or so, but electronic tuners just make life so much easier. Without a reference point ( or perfect pitch ) they ensure everyone is in tune with each other, so why wouldn’t you?

I agree with the general premise that anything over £500 or thereabouts is mostly vanity but if people want to spend thousands on an exotic looking bass which gives them pleasure to look at then theres no harm in that is there. There are some exceptions though for example a graphite neck which has a way more uniform response than any wooden neck is going to add another £500 to your base cost. Given the choice I would never play another wooden neck bass again but there are other logistic and cost factors at play.

I don't disagree in principal, but if Jaydee already have a long waiting list for their standard designs I don't imagine they'd be looking to change things up.

I suppose that you could make more of a case to say that about ACG, Overwater and the like (although whether that would be justified is another thing). You have to look at how Roger Sadowsky built his business, i.e. by becoming the go-to guy for NYC session players for repairs and customising their Fender basses. He then started building basses for this same client group that would be like souped up Fenders (but nether less still sounded basically like a Fender). He mainly used relatively mundane woods like ash and alder, rather than fancy exotic woods (not including those used for tops, which are purely for aesthetic reasons). As far as woods having different sounds, I have a few basses made of ash that sound more or less similar when you play them unplugged. However, I have also had a couple of Warwick Streamers with solid maple bodies. When you play them unamplified, they sound completely different to the ash bodied basses. Therefore, I would suggest that different woods must have some influence on the sound of a bass. As with everything, any one factor is pretty marginal when you play through an amp / PA, but enough marginal gains will make a better instrument (or at at the very least, a different sounding one).

Unless the bassist is the egotistic singer

Really like his playing. Gets a lot of (very dull) stick here. I’m not a massive U2 fan, but appreciate what he brings is perfect for their sound. Didn’t know he was an Ashdown user.

Well, I apologise for my attendance record this year, although I do have a note from me mum !! I've been really impressed with this years output from you all, so it's time to drag it back a bit... I heard a play on the radio a few days after the picture was posted. The play told a story of a clever young woman who manipulated two men, so much so that they ended up in a very bad state. Not with her body but purely with mind games, t'was very clever. So that was the premise. You may notice a few 'made up ' words within the lyrics ? I wrote the first line down and then sung along with the track to see if it worked. Imagine my surprise when I'd got to the end😳 So they are as they came out me head ! Anyhow, enough waffle.....

I keep trying to add stuff , but now decided no, no I won't what with COP26 going on and still being in a T-shirt, I thought a folky appreciation of the cycles of the seasons was in order , but this happened instead