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Tres amusing, i must say I reckon he really doesnt want this bass

The neck is starting to look more like it now!! I cut it roughly to size then trimmed on the router table. This is a little more difficult to do than a Fender type neck due to the angled headstock. Just takes a little more thinking about. This one is even more fiddly as it has a finger rest built into the fretboard, just needs a little patience and a bit of swapping of router bits to complete. A smidge of sanding later and it fits really nicely into the neck pocket: The headstock has also been drilled to accept the Gotoh tuners. This was done using a Forstner bit to get a really neat cut and finish - the head was clamped to an offcut of wood to ensure there was no tear-out when the bit cut through to the other side. And the fifth hole? Just decoration as I have done on my previous basses. Next task will be to fit the Luminlay side dots whilst the fretboard is still square after which I'll start the neck carve and radiusing the fretboard. Cheers

I thought I only had 10 basses, it turns out I have 12. How did that happen?

Body Shape 'n Split Coil... anything else is P Bass+

Absolutely loving this DeArmond Starfire short scale, fitted with tapes, it's a total funk machine. Lovely low action, and a surprising range of tones depending on where you place your fingers. It sounds amazing with a palm muted pick. I'm trying felt picks to protect the tapes, but it has more attack with a regular pick and sounds big through this TCBG250. I've never been much of an effects guy, but on a whim I bought a Zoom B1on, and man, there's some very useable presets in there.....

Thanks guys. This .!!!!

I agree... end of! Will it stop me buying/trying other basses and equipment... NO because I came to the conclusion some time back that what I want/need/desire is in no way connected with what is needed/wanted in a live band/music setting. I've been around the doors long enough that I've met myself coming back into fashion and I've even bought back instruments/equipment that I sold years ago (now the proud owner of my original Thunderfunk AND Tech Blackcat amps) but it's for my own personal gratification. A classic example of why it matters not one iota is that I recently went down the route of IEMs so that I could see how little gear I needed to gig. I threw myself in the deep end; bought £50 IEM, borrowed a transmitter, ditched backline and rocked up to my band gig with an Aria Sinsinado bass which I've never gigged EVER and sounds nothing like any of my other basses. I went through FOH band PA and at the end of the gig, the drummer hadn't noticed and the punters didn't give a sh*t and did the dickish things that punters do when tanked up. Did I enjoy it... No. So back to sourcing my fave backline and playing whatever bass colour goes with my shirt!

Very true. However we're finding that we get lots of compliments from the more discerning members of the audience about the sound and the balance of the band; that has to do with us having a soundperson our front, and also getting the right mix so that the instruments don't fight each other in the same sonic space. Those punters who have no idea about good sound or balance - i.e. the majority - and only drunkenly yell for Johnny B Goode (in our case), don't realise that they are enjoying the gig so much because the sound is perfectly mixed, balanced, EQ'd to the room and exactly the right volume for the room and number of people in it. That's totally fine by us.

Dare I say frets?

Beethoven's fame was built on his public performances. He also conducted his own works.

Gaffa tape is like the Force. It has a light side and a dark side and binds the universe together.

She's been completed and uploaded to the Fodera newborns!! I'm still processing a lot of the details but its safe to say I'm absolutely stunned. https://fodera.smugmug.com/Newborn-Gallery-Vol-VI/Newborn-2165/

Just realised I've never actually posted a pic of my three. Let's remedy that.

Just been chatting to the owner of these two 1964 Precisions, he's gigging them in a few minutes. Holding them was a near-religious experience.

And glued with ebony-dust-mixed-in-epoxy and sanded: Tomorrow I will be cutting the semi-circle at the overhang and then I think I've run out of excuses not to fit the board onto the neck

It's 2022. I'm genre fluid. 😺

Let’s go test the BB424

Not sure we could even agree on what makes a bass a bass.

That, together with musicians posting videos on YouTube and the like. There is a guitar player nearby who has built up a decent YouTube following and sells lessons online. Makes a decent living from the comfort of his own livingroom. He has no desire to gig.

I only have one, but it exists in 17 different dimensions simultaneously, so to the untrained eye it superficially appears to be 17 different basses. I did try explaining this to Mrs Shaggy.......🤔

Don’t mention the war, I did once but I think I got away with it!

I, weirdly, still read wanted adverts. I must say they've changed over the years. Wanted, sax or bongo player. Really? Not much difference there is there? 6th member wanted for "Gypsy punk band" what's that? and what instrument? Then, I see something for a bass player, any age or gender, bit of Americana, a few pop and rock numbers from the 60s up to the 2000s. Must be easy going and have a sense of humour. Sounds perfect until they ruin it all with "Looking to gig two or three times a month" Bugger, they sounded great up until the playing live bit. I just can't be bothered any more. Not even sure why I've still got my bass gear. Might even leave BC if I found a "Can't be arsed chat"😂

So true. And also the quality of the soundman which can make the worst bass sound passable and the best bass like a bag of spanners

To 99.9% of people every bass sounds the same. If you like it, that’s all good but none of it matters. I showed my dad my 66 candy apple red jazz bass with the matching headstock and he said “that looks knackered, my mate can re spray it”

Back in my guitar shop managing days I’d get so frustrated with people who refused to accept we didn’t have boxed up instruments out the back for every guitar on the shop floor. “You mean I have to buy this one?”. Yes sir, this is the instrument that you liked so much you wanted to buy it. If we had another one, how do you know if it’s as good or if you’d like it as much as this one. It’s not the brand, the price, it’s the guitar in your hands to judge!

11lbs unusable? My breakfast weighs more than that.

A higher action limits the amount of mwah, as does a technique that avoids too many slides and vibrato.

I came across this guy on Instagram. It’s not to everyone’s taste I know, personally I love solo bass. The bass is a Marleaux Heiko Jung signature model with Pyramid black nylon strings. The bass has a built in microphone, the recorded sound is a mix of that and the amplified sound. https://www.instagram.com/p/CbdREA3sQHZ/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

I've been through tonnes of gear over the past few years, sometimes chasing very particular tones, sometimes just seeing if I like stuff. Certainly with the instruments themselves, less so with amps, cabs and effects, which are a bit more consistent, I'm finding that all the stuff people are shopping for - sound, feel, weight, build quality - it's all not only subjective, but also a bit random. Sound is the big one - at the moment, the best sounding bass I've owned, in my opinion, is a 10 year old beater of a squier jaguar, with much maligned online Duncan design pickups, and knackered electronics- I dunno what's going on, but when the bridge pickup is on full, the bridge tone pot acts as a master tone for the bass. For whatever reason, that setting - both pickups on full, riding the back tone, through my gear, in my room, to my ears, sounds amazing. Weight - you can buy an off the shelf American made fender, and end up with an instrument weighing anywhere from 7lbs to 11lbs, which is the difference between toy like insubstantiality, and an unusable slab of furniture imo. Things like tuning stability - you can improve the odds with material choices, etc, but imo, it's mostly a crap shoot if you get a "good-un", or a neck which seems like it's still trying to grow towards the light. For context, some of the basses I've gone through - sterling musicman stingray, fender american ultra jazz, sire u5, gibson 2015 sg, fender vintera and player mustangs, ibanez mezzo 5er, ibanez ehb1005, fender player p-bass, marusczyk jazz, couple of squier jags. All good basses, with the possible exception of the gibson, which sounded like it was under water no matter what I did, but maybe that's your thing... My conclusion is this - there's too much variation between individual instruments for differences between - brands, location of manufacture, materials, components, and price - to be anywhere near as significant as we're led to expect by marketing. This leads me to believe its just not worth buying an expensive bass sight unseen. Certainly not unless factors which are important to you, like weight, quality control, setup, figuring etc - are all known - like a dealer who takes detailed images and weighs individual instruments. And I don't think I'd ever order a custom instrument. You might get a good un, but you might get a very expensive wall decoration. It's also led me to think that I should stick to budget instruments. Probably sub £500 used. If my "best" (for me at the moment) bass is a slightly broken squier from a line which didn't even have a great rep when it was out 10 years ago (Indonesian vintage modified) which cost 250 quid with a hard case included from a dealer (so is probably worth about 100 quid), there's no point spending big money. Thoughts?

With Jack Daniel’s what? 😆 Actually I’m in Yorkshire, where we use vinegar off us chips for such purposes....

Absolutely - except I'd say that anything else is no longer a Precision. It might be as good as a Precision, or even (however unlikely this might be) better than a Precision, but take away the simplicity of the standard Precision and it becomes something else.

Guns And Roses? Homer....? No, see, look.... you said "Beethoven" and then...... actually no forget it, the joke just isn't funny when it needs explaining. 😐

In my experience you always seem to like other peoples sound more than your own. Other people will say to me it sounds great but I always think it doesn't and they sound better.

Don't think they'll be there long at that price, Andertons have sold out again.

The double bass room seems to be the best place in the country for a bass at that price. I’ve bought two from him over the years, he’s a lovely guy and was happy to let me spend a couple of hours playing different instruments. I think it’s probably the only place in the country where you could play that many basses for under five grand, and it would be worth a visit just to experience the huge range of tone and feel you can get, so that you’d have some context in making a final decision.

I have to admit I enjoy a good Steak and Guinness pie. Add a stick of cinnamon and a wee touch of fresh ginger - that’s the secret!

Probably the single most important suggestion on Basschat. Ever. Good things come to those who wait.

Thanks to everybody !!!!

I was just using this one yesterday morning. first time I'd come across it but it's pretty quick. It's a simple copy and paste, click a couple of buttons then download it to your PC in jig time

It also depends on context. The audience at the Dog and Duck couldn't give a rat's @ss about the low mids vs high mids balance of your bass and amp (and will generally yell for Sex on Fire or Don't look back in anger) whereas if you are playing originals in big venues with a dedicated fan base your tone matters more. Speaking as a Dog and Duck man 😀

New video! FLEA’s Fender JAZZ BASSES - 23 of THEM !