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Short scale beauty with Aguilar ceramic P pickups. And stripes. Yum, competition stripes!!! Weighs zip all too.

A bit late but Hurtsfall played on Saturday at The Met in Whitby supporting Krow as part of April's WGW. With there being nothing on at The Pavilion this time, as the promotion company has changed hands and is gearing up for a big event in October, this was probably the most important WGW gig... A couple of photos:

"there are no tone controls to color the sound; therefore, the tone is manipulated solely by the user's technique and finesse" That's me f*cked then

Some more progress...

Right, so I have decided to give it a try in the end. And I must say I am very happy with it! The bass is beautiful. In pictures it seems a bit wonky but in person that's not the feeling at all. At first I was disappointed. The sound acoustic seemed alright but when I plugged it in it sounded all muffled. I thought preamp and pickups must be horrible. Then I replaced the strings with D'Addario tapewounds and it started to sing. Exactly the sound I was hoping for. The neck is just great. Not as slim as say an Ibanez, but feels very confortable. The tight string spacing helps. The neck is maybe a bit sharp at the edges, but that's not the same as having sharp metal frets. The bass was playable out of the box, just I decided to lower the action for more mwah, and I must say I really got what I wanted. Massive mwah through the entire neck. Even too much for what I want to do I may increase the action a bit after all. There are obviously downsides - I would be surprised otherwise as it is £245 for a 5-string fretless. The pieces of wood used for the body most likely were not chosen because of the beauty of their patterns. Wood finish seems not to be there in a couple of spots. The bridge positioning is probably not ideal. I was not able to set the intonation for the 12th "fret" in between the two spots on the side of the neck. I had to align it with just one of the dots (the one closest to the neck). Ultimately side dots will provide a rough guide and I wil have to familiarise with the neck. Most importantly, it is heavy. I haven't weighted it but it's proper heavy. In fact, there is a slight chance that I might return it because of the weight. But it is very very sight because I like it too much and because I do not see any other options of interest in the market anywhere near this price (and the fact that I want tight string spacing restricts options even further for second-hand). So, yes, I believe it is a great bass for the money.

That sarcastic attitude would have been all I needed to cancel the order. What an absolute tool. 😡 Name & shame.

At the risk of looking a silly billy and making a joke off my own post, maybe "in stock" ment 'in Stockholm '....... 🙄 Coat on and Taxi ordered... 🚕

Well, I start with a lie since I received it on Saturday... but it was meant to arrive today! I have owned a few 5 string basses in my time. From cheap ones like a Squier Jazz V DeLuxe and a Peavey Millenium to less cheap ones like Lakland 5502 and a USA made EBMM MusicMan SUB5, oh and a G&L L2500 (beast!). I never really gelled with any of them (Lakland was the closest, beautiful beautiful neck) and didn't really get to use any of them frequently enough. Eventually I decided that I didn't need a 5 string. Last year my girlfriend got me a Harley Benton MB-5. The black matt one, Stingray style. For some reason it just felt right, I loved its sound, and I kept playing it... Eventually I got used to 5 strings and these days I use either, and I'm getting to really like having 5 strings. Then I saw the new Harley Benton JJ and PJ series, I had some unexpected money in my pocket... and before I realised it I had spent £181, all included, on a natural finish JJ-550. I'm far too impressionable. This bass is not light. It's 9.8 lbs (The MB-5 is 9.1 lbs), which is not terribly heavy as far as 5 string basses go, but it's not light. I use these wide and nicely padded Lekato straps since I hurt my shoulder a while ago, and they have made weight pretty much a non-issue. I can't recommend those straps enough (and they aren't even expensive). Not light, but not a boat anchor, and it balances really well, both standing and sitting down. The neck is wide but shallow, perhaps not as shallow as the Lakland, but not far off. I find it very comfortable. Fret ends were smooth, nut is a tiny weeny higher than ideal (will take care of it at some point)... I had to do nothing to it and it alreay played well. It turns out this exact bass was the bass Thomann used as a model for their photographs, so perhaps they spent some time adjusting it: I have played another two HB basses and both needed some minor adjustments to frets and nut (as well as intonation etc). The string spacing is 18 or 18.5mm I think, I need to measure it (not in my hands this minute!), so it's in the wide side, which I prefer. Build quality... no complaints. It was £181, but it could have been a £600 bass and I'd see nothing wrong with it in that respect. It would be a very good platform for building your own with better quality hardware and electronics. Hardware... Nothing to call home about. Far better than the black hardware on the other HB basses I've had my hands on, but nothing amazing, just the usual inexpensive chrome hardware you get in this kind of instruments: they do the job without fuss, 'though. Electronics... Probably the best place to start investing money on, but just like with the hardware I don't see a need to replace anything just yet. My first impressions were a bit 'meh', but it turns out the EQ on my amp was all over the place and I had not seen that. Once I noticed and set it to more reasonable parameters, the bass sounded a lot better. I do think I will replace the pickups, simply because I like humbuckers on my Jazz type basses. The single coil hum can be annoying. It's no worse than any other single coil Jazz pickups, 'though, and I tend to roll off quite a bit of treble which also reduces hum. I would like a Model J here, but they don't make them for 5 strings so I'll have to wait and see what would be a good one to use. It's got a 2-band active EQ. Nothing amazing, but I have to say I like it more than the usual cheap preamps you find on low end basses. And not so low end! I really dislike the 2-band preamp on my Sandberg VM4, and I'm not a fan of the EMG in my Schecter Model-T Session. One 'problem' I find with a lot of 2-band preamps is that the treble is too high, so that when cutting it only cuts finger noise and little more (I'm a fan of passive tone controls). However this one works quite nicely, which was a surprise. The bass EQ is still a bit lower than I'd like, ideally, but it's no different to most other 2-band preamps. It's probably centered at around 40-50 Hz. Shielding is non existent, 'though, which for a bass with single coils is not great. Easily remedied, but really, it should be standard in any instrument. Polepieces on the neck pickup hum when touched, but the neck one is silent. Again, easily remedied, but the fact that one hums and the other don't probably hints at the care (or lack of) when choosing these components. I felt I had to say something negative, so that's that! I even like the strings it comes with (same as the MB-5: I have a set of Newtone strings I bought for it, but I ended up liking the stock strings so I have not replaced those either). I'll deal with the shielding later tonight. I have a recording session tomorrow and I would like to use this one. I've put some foam at the bridge, and I'm cutting down treble a lot, so I really don't hear any noise as long as my hands are on the strings (and very little when they're not), but I don't want to take chances tomorrow: I'm showing up with a really cheap bass, I don't want to have unwanted noise and look like I don't have a clue. Anyway... that's it for now. I'm very impressed by this bass. The MB-5 and PB-20 (Stingray and Precision style) I've played were fine (after some TLC) but you know they're cheap. This one feels like a substantial improvement in quality. Did I get lucky? Or is this representative of the range? I don't know. I'll take some pictures when I get a chance... but it is the very same one pictured here: https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_jj_55op_natural.htm edit: I liked it so much, I went and bought the PJ version a week later, see below.

This looks interesting. https://pitchslap.rocks/

Sorry in advance, rant incoming. Why to shops say items are in stock, when they aren't in stock? I ordered something from a well-known UK musical instrument supplier (probably not who you're thinking of though!) last week. The item I ordered was showing as "in stock" on their webpage. I ordered specifically from them because it was marked as "in stock" as I needed it for this coming weekend. Everywhere else had it marked 'to order' or 'back ordered'. It has been five days since I placed the order, so I've just given them a call just to check it will arrive in time. "Oh, it's been delayed coming from our supplier", was the answer. "But your website said you had it 'in stock'?' queried I. "Well, when it arrives with us from our supplier we will have it in stock, won't we?" came the response. "But that doesn't mean it was in stock with you when I placed my order on the basis of it saying 'in stock' on your website, does it?" quoth I. "But it will be when it arrives with us, won't it?" was the further retort. I mean? Whut? If it is not physically in their possession pending delivery, it is not "in stock". It is "on order" or "awaiting delivery" or "backordered". Even more clearly, it is a product which can be 'ordered on request'. It's now too late to get from anywhere else in time so I have to hope it will arrive with them in time to be sent to me. This sort of thing really boils my fosters. IT IS NOT 'IN STOCK' IF YOU HAVE TO ORDER IT FOR THE CUSTOMER!! THE FACT YOU CAN GET IT SUPPOSEDLY WITHIN A DAY DOES NOT MAKE IT 'IN STOCK'. IT IS DEFINITELY NOT IN STOCK IF THE SHIPMENT IS DELAYED FROM YOUR SUPPLIER!!! 😡 I have no problem with retailers not holding stock and ordering on request. In fact, it seems sensible to me. But saying you are in possession of an item when you are not I find really annoying. It seems to be very much particular to the music industry, too. And breathe....

Goodday all, I was wondering if there was already a thread dedicated to such hybrid basses and I found nothing, so I thought about starting a discussion. I own a Fender replacement tele/51 bass neck that was sitting on a Classc Vibe Squier body; I found an Italian relic split-model body and decided to try making them fit, since I really enjoyed the Fender neck but not quite much the tone of the overall bass. Being the body I found used and off-brand I decided to butcher that and keep the neck original, slapped a Fender re'62 pickup on the body and filled the missing parts with leftovers from past years coming un with this: The relic laquer body feels greats and incredibly resonant, the neck is and always has been simply amazing, the pickups are the same I've been using the last 12 years on my main bass and I love them.. This thing turned out to be a killer instrument and I look forward to make the body way more reliced with some real life playing. What's your take on this combo? Has anyone got anything similar?

Tiny dancer - elton

Probably time to change the subject Trussrod cover magnets in/on : Check is complete for full allen key movement and withdrawal: So that's another item off the To Do list

Remove strings. Remove old bridge. 10 minutes. Install new bridge, string up. 12 minutes. It's easy to find out whether the difference is worth it to you. You know what you're looking for from the bass, no-one else here does. It's not too hard to find out if this bridge is it.

Dear Friends, as promised, I’m happy to show you the first pictures of the EVO4 Headless Bass Bridge prototype ...

Read my lips - Jessie ware

Roxanne - The Police

Back to the Nineties when I was in a band playing the "military" circuit. I'm not sure which is worse...the hair or the shirt!

I restored an old cracked battered body….. and made up this bad boy a mate of mine has it as his go to bass pretty much almost wish I didn’t let it go, but it’s in a good home

If youngsters have grown up with it, the fault lies with the generation raising them. In this instance, age is less of a factor than attitude. I’d also suggest the guy in the end of the phone is the one enacting the duplicitous scam from the owner(s) - themselves likely to be older people. So feel sorry for the employee, blame the boss! Hope the OP gets the item. Let us know what it is and perhaps one of us can lend it to you.

Great work as ever - and that’s why they call him Andy “No gaps, No naps” Rogers..!! 😅🤣

“Can you play bass?” ”not really - but I do have some leathers” ”you’re in”

New Ray Day!

The humour of this is swerving me (PLEASE tell me the whole thing is a massive urine extraction) and is bordering on irritating.

oops kinda accidentally bought a bass ...

There is a P-bass in the studio next door. It's 1973, been refinished sort of bland and has 14 year old strings on it. Dead spots galore - but sounds great. It consistently beats visiting basses except a '65 era bitsa. As a project I tried to build a modern bitsa that replicated the thing - allparts rosewood and maple neck, nitro alder body, badass 2 bridge, roundwounds, pickups miles away from the strings (5 or 6mm), bespoke 70's style handwound pickup. It was not even close - it turned out well, a solid, even strong sounding p-bass, but maybe missing the growl and without the same mid character. So far so dissapointing! So anyway, the other day I was watching Pulp Fiction and drinking beer with my wife and spotted a bass come up for sale here, in bits from the excellent Mr @Turbineclimber (who provided a wealth of detail and hooked me up with some '74 pickups): I asked my wife, as it seemed like a good opportunity, and she, having a fondness for Travolta and maybe also a few beers down was feeling mellow and agreed, after a sigh. A couple of days later I managed to assemble the thing, it was dubbed the Travolta. First thing to do was to try it head to head with the studio bass. I'm still shocked by just how different they sound. I know, the strings (GHS Boomers on the Travolta, 14 year old Rotosound stainless steels on the other), maybe the bridge!? Any way - you be the judge - the travolta comes first and alternates with the p-next-door. Excuse my playing - both played with no foam, finger at the pick-up position, straight in on through a clean pre amp, 1 then the other, cut together and roughly normalised): https://www.dropbox.com/s/m7lerfbz466x5iw/PvsP.aif?dl=0 (Travolta is on the left - yeah I'm changing the cooker knobs!)

Not likely! Lol. I can't tell if you're more worried that I'll manage to get it more in the Wal sonic region, or worried that I won't be happy. 😄 I've learned a lot so far. More learnings will come. I haven't seen anyone else devote effort publicly to trying to work out a Wal, and I may as well share what I do learn. Even if it is that what we might need is a preamp that no-one else apart from Wal has yet built, or what have you. I'd love for someone to be able to run a model of the preamp through LT Spice or similar, maybe if we can get a schematic going....hopefully @MoonBassAlphaor my friend who is looking at the preamp photos can yet help. Wait and see. Apologies for lack of recordings this week; I had promised it but family life has gotten in the way. Soon I hope. The Lusithand preamp is excellent.

I recognise that headstock shape And then, when it still doesn't sound exactly like a Wal ... Will he want a different shaped one? 🙂

I don’t see a stingray anywhere. Sort it

Just being subjective here, this is simply a query about a Hipshot bridge over the stock Fender BBOT; it shouldn't really matter what it's installed on. Overall, the bridge contributes a small percentage to how you sound; two guys playing the same bass can make it sound totally different. Yes, I've got a Kickass installed on one of my basses; as the BBOT was incomplete when I bought the bass replacement was necessary and I chose the Kickass. Would I say it altered my tone? I'd answer that by stating not discernibly (or if it did, the change was so tiny it didn't make a difference). I'd say categorically that the Kickass is better by design, looks nicer than the BBOT, feels more comfortable when palm-muting, feels generally more solid (and reliable?) than the BBOT (although in truth any bass I've had with a Fender-style bridge rarely needed adjusting). It certainly doesn't make me a better player or revolutionise anything. Conclusion? It looks nicer than a BBOT. That's it. Shiny.

It's a NO from me.

There’s your answer, right there.

Filters with an FX loop are what’s needed. That way, your dry bass signal can be used to trigger the envelope.

I remember wearing shorts like that on a gig or two. Yeah, I've had more than a few of my own fashion faux pas.

whoa, that's a tiny bass!!!

Found these, from when I was young, slim, had hair, and knees.

It's a bit weird isn't it. What's interesting is EBMM's reluctance to introduce signature bass models until very recently. By doing so, and devaluing the brand, prices have skyrocketed, so there's that. There's a strange dislike for both EBMM and Joe Dart that I don't understand. EBMM make solid classic style and often experimental or flamboyant basses outside of their StingRay lineup, constantly introducing and discontinuing oddities and special runs. The Big Al, with 1000 knobs and switches, 3 pickups and pointy body, or a passive no knob short scale. I appreciate the audacity of it all. The StingRay will always be there. They ARE expensive, which is why I've only ever bought them used. No prob. Joe Dart's unpopularity baffles me too. In my eyes, he's the millennial equivalent of Flea - a household name bassist who can shred some funk and sounds exactly like himself. I prefer to listen to other bassists, but the fact is he's popular and cool, and so be it. Anyway, I like the look of the Joe Dart II bass. I have a J with 2 volumes and no tone, and it's awesome. I also own a EBMM Sterling, which has the best neck I've ever played. I also have an oil finished (basically unfinished) natural P bass. The Joe Dart II is like an amalgamation of all my personal favourite basses. But obviously I ain't gonna buy one, at that price.

Yes indeed. I have gigged mine in a couple of bands. Into a couple of mismatched speakers (a 1x12 and a 2x8) it filled the pubs with bass and never missed a beat.

Mark always gets me to do a custom profile to the back of his bass necks. This profile is a combination of a Wal type V and a modern flattened C. The pictures show how I did this using my grinder with a 60G disc on it, a hand rasp, sanding block, some curved panel scrapers and finally some sand paper.

I wonder what it will look like when it's finished.

Each to their own, but you say "basic", I say "well thought-out and minus all the guff you see on many amps nowadays". Si