Leaderboard

I would keep stealing the B from the sign. So would all of you.

Now the proud owner of this beauty. It sounds terrific even though it only has one pick up. Not for the faint hearted gigging wise.

I’ve had a couple of dodgy Fender leads for a couple of years. Finally got round the fixing one with my new soldering iron. The other had moulded jacks so no luck there. Got talking with a guitarist and he told me that they had lifetime guarantees. I gave their customer services a call quick, who asked me to email me in my info and a photo of the lead with the jacks cut off. Did it straightaway and within an hour they had replied and said a replacement lead is on its way. Assuming everything goes to plan, well done Fender. Great Customer service!!! Might be worth rooting around in your old gig bags.

The friend (me) got his (my) bass today… ah. It’s very blue. plays well, decent weight. changed the knobs, changed the pickup.

To be honest, everybody's right (after all, it's Christmas) - @Hellzero is right that, if they are totally different types of strings (especially major differences in tension), then the intonation is going to be different - @Happy Jack is right that, for a fretless, intonation tends to be a little more 'flexible' . Remembering that violins, cellos and double-basses don't have any individual intonation change capability to start with other than angle-ing the thin, high bridge and therefore everything is an approximation anyway) - @Andyjr1515 is also right - because it's his thread Actually, I hadn't really thought about string type change and therefore my explanation of getting that nut in exactly the same position turns out to be a bit of builder's blarney But (because I can blarney with the best) actually, even if I'd thought about that, I would have still measured it the same way. Why? Because the general rule for both guitars and basses is that the top string usually intonates within 1mm of the scale length and the thicker strings are (usually, but not always, progressively) further back. So I still need the nut in pretty much the same place. The interesting thing might be...where should I put the 'at the fret position' side dots? I'll get my coat before the mods close the thread

There, fixed it.

If this wasn’t against the docs instructions right now I’d use this all the time…

Should you be looking for a cheap jazz bass but are worried about quality, let me share my recent purchase with you. I was looking for a lined fretless to improve my high end playing, something that's very hard on the unlined fretless I usually play. So I bought the Harley Benton JB40 FL from Thomanns. I was a little nervous because of the price - £138 new inc VAT. But while I am sure there are cheapnesses somewhere - electrics, maybe? the fit, finish and performance are IMHO equal to Sire or Squier at a third or half the price (and finish actually better than two Ibanez I've had at x5 the price!) I haven't found a single feature yet where I've castigated myself for buying cheap. The fingerboard hasn't any dead spots and the markers are clean. The machine heads are tight and smooth. Trussrod was stiff to turn but did - turn that is. The bridge is thicker than the usual bent tin and the screws work smoothly enough. Amazingly relief, string height and intonation were spot on straight out of the box. It's a bit heavy by modern standards and you'll neeed a wide strap to play a three hour gig with it. If you want clever active electrics buy Sire. Otherwise get this and if you must at some point perhaps throw a ton at upgrade Tonerider pups and KiOgon loom. You'll still have a cheap bass. But for most jobs you do don't even need to do that.

Aha! It's you who keeps stealing the letter C from the local Canal Museum sign!

Think it's a bit harsh to describe ABBA's music as cheesy. 'Cheese' is Agadoo, Itsy bitsy teeny weeny..., Hey macarena etc. IMO Benny and Bjorn are every bit the equal of Lennon & Macartney, Bacharach & David and other highly respected tunesmiths. That many of their tunes are still hugely popular 40 years later attests to this. I'm not particularly a fan though I do like a lot of their hits.

Both positions! That'll learn'im!

Found this guy in a dusty case somewhere... might be worth playing again.

This is quite a blow for me, there’s not many days go by when I don’t listen to sly and Robbie, Black Uhuru are my all time favourite band, RIP Robbie

And this:

A bit late to the thread, but I just got my new pickguard from Brian about an hour ago. Really helpful over eBay messages and just what I wanted to hide the neck pickup hole after moving the pickup on my Combustion to NG2 pickup configuration. I'd recommend his services. https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/earlpilanz I did email Tinytone about what I wanted and they never got back to me.

This is what got Christophe LEDUC in the Guinness book, the separable bass that allows you to have one double neck bass or two single basses : http://leduc.fr/index.php/basses/aliens

And, this gets used at home more than anything else…

Did the deal on this little beauty and with the help of @adamg67 it should be in hand Saturday morning! One can have too many of many things but one can never have too many ACGs!

Listening to the bands who were hot when I grew up helps remind me of why I started playing. I know the trend is cleaner and more hi-fi these days, but there's no replacing that simpler, earthy, somehow more 'flawed' sound... For instance: Peavey MK-III into an SWR Big Ben (Bag End) 1x18. Not high wattage, but sounds like an 800lb toad with teeth, with my Epi Thunderbird (Classic Pro, Gibson clone) driving it. There's a Goliath-II to stack up if needed, someday... What's in your basement?...

Since covid I’ve found I can’t manage my fender etc, so switched to these and have never been happier with my basses! I’m longing for an SR2600 in cerulean blue now! I don’t see me going back to bigger basses again now tbh. I desperately miss my old highly figured sr500 though, sold on here with deep regret.

My Lovely Horse - Father Ted Crilly

Old school gear? Check! That no one wants? Don't know... never considered selling it!

First progress pictures

Funny to react like this, it's not bullsh*t. U.K. is outside the EEC and you know it. Why would you expect a faster customs treatment with no duties ? They receive thousands of parcels each and every day from or to people trying to smuggle on the price, content and declared value, so THIS is what is slowing the process a lot ! Stop taking them for fools and it will be fine (no, I'm not affiliated to the customs at all, but I really hate this useless moaning) If you want your parcel faster than fast, as I wrote, use TNT Express or the likes as they have their own customs process, you'll be amazed. Or simply buy in the EEC if you live there or in the U.K. if you live there : problem solved and no useless moaning.

I’m either a Luddite or a dinosaur, take your pick, but those new fangled class D jobbies don’t do it for me. As I’ve posted before, I’m a complete SWR freak and my solution to the weight issue was to join a gym 😂

I’ve done that on a DIY stingray I built - one of the reasons it isn’t common is that the pickup feeds directly into the preamp and it doesn’t love the impedance switching. the L1000 is probably a good example where pickup switching was designed in

It's depressing that every other article they link to on that page either starts with a number or starts with "The" followed by a number. If video killed the radio star, then lists killed engaging journalism.

Yep - I have a Mark Bass 2x12 plus 800w head for deps and wedding gigs, but for Rock'n'roll you can't beat my back breaking Mesa Boogie 400+ with 1x18 and 2x10!

I've been looking to replace my Spector Legend Custom (now sold to vmaxblues), with something more Fender flavoured as a backup to my Fender American Standard Jaguar. After lots of research I settled on a G&L Tribute, taking advantage of Andertons Black Friday/Cyber Monday/'well it's Christmas soon' £100 discount (still available!). I usually play my Jaguar with just the P pickup, in active mode with a little bass and treble boost, which gives it a really grindy tone that cuts through well in a one-guitar rock band. I'd never played a G&L, but the MFD pickups sounded like they'd give me the tone I was looking for. I was almost tempted by the £399 L2000, that seems like a lot of bass for the money, but wasn't sure I'd get on with that wide neck, so decided to go for the SB-2 at £349, with the more familiar 38mm neck. Available in Sonic Blue with a maple board, or Black Frost with Brazilian cherry, I decided on the black. When I opened the box, I was a little disappointed and wished I'd gone for the Sonic Blue. Despite being described as 'a classy gloss finish', it's more of a matte/satin finish, like the old Fender Highway 1s. It already had a slight mark on it, and is a fingerprint magnet. However, after a quick play, I realised it's very comfortable for my pick playing, and as my budget backup, I don't mind at all if it gets some early natural wear. It's a little more unique than the common black gloss basses too, it looks great. Construction and quality wise, it's far ahead of the Squiers I've played. Better than the most of the Fender Mexican Standards too, though perhaps a step below the Fender Deluxe Active Jazz I used to have (why did I sell that!?). The neck is very smooth - I'd describe as very well sanded as opposed to a satin finish like my Jaguar. The fretwork is perfect, on quite a thick fretboard compared to my Fender. The Brazilian cherry looks like it has a more coarse grain than rosewood, but certainly more attractive than the pau ferro other brands have been using. It's a light bass, definitely under 9lbs, I'll weigh it over the weekend, but it balances perfectly on a strap. The sound is exactly what I was looking for. It's a punchy, well defined tone, like a boosted active P. It doesn't have a tone control, just two volumes. Bringing in the Jazz pickup rounds things out a little, taking off that edge. Rolling back the volumes gives a more vintage tone. There's no noise at all. Having US-made pickups in these Indonesian-made basses should have them flying off the shelves quicker than the Squiers for similar money, especially with the Fender price rises this year, but perhaps they're missing the familiar shape and Fender name. With these current discounts I might be tempted to buy another! L-2000 or JB-2 next? 😄

I’m cheating on my bb1600 😔

Old and heavy? Well, like the original poster I'm keen on SWR's 18" monster (stop sniggering), but in my case it's a matching pair each with a Simms Watts valve head. The cabs used to belong to some bloke who played in an outfit called Simple Minds.

If you simply wish to become more proficient with the technique then play every sucker you can until it feels natural

roundabout by YES

Just had a little catch up with Max and he's pointed out that he's had the spec for the Thumpinator up for the past 12 months or so: Cut-off frequency: ~25Hz Slope: 36 dB/oct Good to finally put the record straight on that. That's pretty steep and explains why it's such an effective tool for eliminating low end crud! He also confirmed that the only the layout had changed between the Mk1 and Mk2 versions i.e. the slope and cut/off remained the same. He was also interested to hear about this little offering from Zorg, which he'd not come across previously.

We do that in our 70's Glam Covers band for Xmas gigs and love playing his basslines. That one is particularly nice to play. Dave

Received a reply to my email at midday. Profuse apologies, posting the correct mains lead out to me straight away.

Ahh happy Jack is quite a player - he doesn’t need any side dots really

I wanted one of these when I was a teen. Had to settle for the Bass State B150 which was a hefty lump, but not the prestige DBS line! Used to have one of these with a 2x10 extension cab. Also until recently had a fantastic Trace 2x10. My first proper amp was an 80s Peavey. It was knackered. It had weird dials for "pyramid" and other craziness. But it was "150 watts", 80s Peavey watts, and I'm fairly sure it was radioactive. I don't have any photos of it unfortunately. I'd love to be playing a Marshall DBS set up, or a good old Peavey set up, but I don't have the skill to repair or maintain these things, sadly and I'm all about having the job done reliably. I'd be stressing too much if I thought something could go wrong with my amp or bass at a gig. Love seeing these though, fantastic that they're still in use!

Oops. And buuuurn.

There IS one..... My storage facility 😂🤣

Actually, that's my good friend Mike and he a) regularly gigs b) just does these vids for fun c) is a fantastic bloke d) is filming in his 'family' front room

It was a joke - aimed at those who think all of Patrick Hunter's demos sound the same! Was probably a bit subtle! I'm looking forward to the Nate Navarro demo - he's usually very good with new products.

Usually one volume control becomes redundant. Essentially, the switch routes the bridge pickup into the path of the neck pickup. The neck pickup control becomes a master volume and the bridge volume does nothing, as nothing is being directed through it.

Almost nobody would go to it. Sad but true. We are but a niche. There are members here who could just open up their music rooms and show you something more of interest..... BC "through the keyhole" anyone?

I’m sure they’ll sort it out quickly - my experience has always been very positive with them. Most notably a situation in which I had purchased (and activated) the wrong software and they bent over backwards to help me deactivate my license in order to allow me to return & refund the purchase...which was entirely my fault in the first place. They’re easily in my personal top 3 music retailers of choice.

I can imagine that if it did exist now it would be as an afterthought side room of a National Guitar Museum 🙄.

Surely as long as the intonation is right for the fretted neck then it's going to be just fine? I have tried various intonation experiments on my fretless basses and it doesn't really matter where they end up as you intonate by ear.

Yeah. I mean obviously as a huge Nine Inch Nails fan I know that. Everyone and their mum knows that. I didn't know that.