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Drilling the tuner holes - more detail than most normal folks need or want but for anyone setting out on this crazy pastime... @fleabag had given me the basic layout of the 2-a-side tuner arrangement he was after, needing 14mm holes drilling in the four positions. It's always useful to have actual tuners to hand rather than just rely on drawings and, while I don't have the actual tuners that he will be using, I have a fairly representative set in my bits box. This method below assumes that the builder is working within a given shape. Note though that, generally, a builder would sort where the tuners need to be and then design the shape of the headstock to fit within that layout. In this case @fleabag has given me the shape he would like, but actually that's fine because it is relatively generic and therefore will still 'work'. And so - the plan is to have straight string runs. So the first thing is to take a template of the headstock and draw a centre line along the centre of the fretboard to the end of the headstock. Then, with the nut or spacer, it is to draw where the inside of each string will meet its respective tuner peg: So in this pic, for the two bass strings, the line is from the left hand side of each slot and for the treble strings it is the right hand side of the slot. If you draw from the middle of the nut slot, then the tuner peg will end up with half a strings-width offset. For electric guitars and also a bass G string, that would be unnoticeable, but for the thicker strings of a bass, it matters. Next is to decide where the tuners are going to be positioned along the length. Here, what matters is: - are the tuners going to be close enough to the edge of the headstock to allow the tuners to turn? - are they going to be too close to the edge of the headstock and leave the body of the tuner hanging in mid air? - are they far enough from each other to avoid clashing with the one next to them, both at the tuner knob wings or at the back, body to body? This is an arrangement that would fit @fleabag's general concept and still meets the above criteria: So now, with a pair of compasses set to the radius of the tuner peg size of @fleabag's tuners, I can draw where the centre point of the tuners will need to be: This might make it easier to envisage what I meant at the beginning. Note that the inside edge of each string is now going to be contact with the correct side of its tuner peg so, however thick the string is, the nut to tuner run will still be straight. Next is to lay the template over the headstock and use a sharp punch to mark the centre point on the headstock plate: Then to the drill press. It is blocked up and checked with a spirit level to ensure that the headstock is level across both axes. Generally, there still needs to be some judicious light filing with a round file for the final fitting (especially a 14mm tuner spigot fitting a 14mm hole) but that task is a lot more difficult if the hole isn't perpendicular And that's it, done:

It's a very good idea, when done correctly. While the stage rig will cover the room with the lows very effectively the midrange and high frequency dispersion is pretty bad. Put mids and highs in the PA for dispersion, pull back the lows on that PA channel so as not to overdo those. The same applies to the drums, keys, even guitars. The PA should be providing a balanced mix throughout the room. The problem lies with bone headed guitar'd players who think that they need to play loud enough to blow out candles at 30 meters. PA isn't about volume, it's about dispersion. Most guitar players can't even spell dispersion, let alone understand the need for it. 🙄

Here's a couple of pictures of mine

The 14th South East Bass Bash will be on Sunday 23 October 2022 - 0900 - 1700 At Jubilee High School, Surrey, School Lane, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 1TE Get the date in your diaries!

My most recent build - I gave in and got a C4 Synth. Using the Caiman Tail Loop to change patches and switch presets on the C4 via a Disaster Area Micro Ghost (mounted underneath).

A few years ago at an open mic, the guy who was performing started playing Ryan Adams’ “When stars go blue”. I decide to get up on stage and give him some accompaniment on the bass. He has his capo on fret three, playing in “C”. That makes it Eb but hey, I’m a bass player; I can do this. I decide to ease my way gradually into the song, making it look like it was all part of the plan. When I started playing, something sounded not-quite-right. I quickly realised it was me, playing in the wrong key. It was an honest mistake; one that anyone could make. I mean, who would think that a guitar player using a capo would be tuned down a half-step.

Well...I don't think @fleabag and I are going to need the cunning plan for the staining. That's what I call black! One coat only so far... Mind you, I might need a cunning plan to find the luminlay dots again for @fleabag to wave his magic wand at!

Update: I just went and bought the Ibanez, tested it out there for a while and really like it so far, ill send some pics when im back home

Basses, rigs, artwork and pedals attached! Main doom machine is my old P bass. Generally I tune to C sharp standard or drop B. Five strings are tuned the same but with an added high A string, so despite being used for stoner/doom they are tuned 'up' rather than down from a standard five string. Main gigging amp is actually the Mesa combo but used to gig the Fafner with a Trace Elliot 1x15 I gave to my nephew. I've had the V6 and Fafner for a about a decade each. Big Block and 6x10 I just got for silly money second hand in the last few years. Presently saving up for a 4x10 that is more practical than the 6x10! Pedals are a work in progress. Not convinced if I like the voicing on the B3K. Unfortunately though I discovered this after I recorded a whole album with one... https://electricmother1.bandcamp.com/album/ii Joined this band when I moved back up north. Not toured like we planned because of Covid. When I joined we recorded an album with plans to tour more extensively but Covid hit and that touring is probably not going to happen, probably ever. The album was finished off during lockdown which unfortunately affected the final quality but it was either that or not finishing the album. Not really doom, just drop C fuzz rock. Currently on hiatus due to house moves, job changes/promotions and new babies, might be back playing later in the year. Older band did a small EP that was more in a proggy melodic doom direction, production is rubbish though as it was meant to just be a demo and we split up before we recorded it properly. Has a bass solo on it somewhere. Frankly wish we had recorded it properly. https://khydra.bandcamp.com/album/skycrasher Trying to record with my other band this year, but need to buy a better laptop so we can record. Will post something in this thread if and when we manage to record something. Edit: apologies that the pictures are massive. I'm not sure how to make them smaller!

Anyone got one of the Schecter p-4 exotic basses or have any experience? This thing looks like it's my dream p-bass in terms of both aesthetics and sound from what little I've found on it. Just wondering if anyone can add any more light? No where stocks it locally but can order in so I could always buy it and return it if I don't like it but on paper everything looks awesome.

You know those days when you're feeling a but down and pi**ed off with the World? When when that happens to me, I watch this lot, so thought I'd share

Had this for ages - always does the job!

Deciduis or is you ain’t my baby? Louis Jordan

Ooohyah, thats one worry off my sagging shoulders. That is looking black - keep going AJ. Blacker than black is the best black. You dont wanna see my magic wand, i promise you

Back on earth, i've just received this in the post. A rechargeable LED UV lamp, bulb length is 5-1/4" so can do 2 or 3 side dots at once at the nut end and 5 or 6 at once at the dusty end. Takes one monster 18650 Li On 3.7v rechargeable, and the pack comes with a charger and USB lead

I have a different story. 22 years i started to play bass with my first Musima white 4 string fretted precission. After 1 year i started to listen a lot of Jaco and all turned upside down. I realised that fretless is an absolutelly different instrument than fretted bass. I bought a Fender MIM jazz bass and defretted it. My sound vision turned upside down and i quickly saw these exelent things what could i do with fretless. I bought Fender Jaco artist. Then i heard Gary Willis playing on his GWB1005 and got my sound perfectly. That's it. I momentaly bought it and will say that for me it is the best fretless bass currently on earth. So it's about 20 years i have played only fretless basses.

It's like a horror film innit .. " The Staining " starring ajr1515

I own the following bass amps: Ampeg PF50T Ampeg SVT-3Pro TC BH250 TC Bam Joyo Badass Hotone Thunder Bass Bugera BV1001T They all do a job that works for me in various scenarios. However, having previously owned an Ampeg SVT Classic, this would be my first choice of amp if I could carry it! Love all valve power and tone and that would always be my preference but the PF50T and 3Pro are both good compromises. But, the Bugera of which, I stressed about buying - just because (you know what I mean!) - has turned out to be the wild card from bass player's Valhalla! I adore it! It is light, powerful, lots of tone options, has a three valve pre amp section that mirrors the Ampeg SVT 3Pro (for me) and just sounds fantastic for an amp I paid £229 for! It has impressed me so much that it is my go to amp for both rehearsals and gigs.

It a new knob day for the Harley Benton PB50 I bought from shoulderpet a few days ago. I made a new loom with CTS/switchcraft components yesterday, and as I prefer to use solid shaft CTS pots, the original knobs had to go as they wouldn't fit the pots. I ordered some extra knurly ones from axecaster.co.uk and chose nickel plating rather than chrome for a more vintage appearance. They arrived in the post this morning, and I think they look the business.

Crash bang wallop - Tommy Steele

Just finished the fretted version, with carbon fibre control plate.

There is no "magic bullet". A good bass tone is one that works with the other instruments in the band/mix and that will depend entirely on what those other instruments are, what tone they have, and what role the bass is supposed to play in that particular set up. All of those variable can only bee known when you are actually playing with the other instruments. Have a listen to any of the isolated bass tracks from recordings or gigs that are available on YouTube. Most of the time the bass sound on its own is not that impressive and often has a lot more "drive" then you would expect. However once in its proper place in the mix it sounds perfect.

Basically the previous owner had bought this bass in 2021 and a load of other high end gear, had been working internationally so hardly touched it and then tragically died in his early. 30's, his widow was selling them off, there's not really a way to work out the prices of used LeFay as they aren't that common but I didn't quibble her asking price and it was the very max of my budget... and yeah she's lovely and very high end thing... I've never played a headless before, it sits a bit differently and there is definitely no headstock dive. The bass is simply a work of art.... like this is really high level of craftsmanship, the sculpting of the woods compared to say a Warwick thumb is another level - and it feels very much design led. Everything seems and feels thought through and there for a purpose rather than rushed quickest way to do something. The bridge is very sturdy ... and, maybe this is the cleaness of the tone, or just all headless bridges but tunes so easily. I've got an HX stomp and using the fine tuning mode the other basses take a bit of coaxing to get bang on... this just does it - it's crazy Padauk neck! Really easy to play, the widest point is a few mm below the top of the fretboard so it kinda starts to curve back in on itself. Anyway very easy to play. These things in the faux headstock. I will learn more about them when I need to change strings. one of my half thought-through ideas was to learn to make a neck and then make my own Padouk neck... safe to say if I ever installed frets I would not be even attempting them to look like this... it's crazy the top is gently curved and the back doesn't look bad either ... like crazy woodworking chops... and also the bits to the bridge pins - the mind boggles. But what I like (and I work as a designer) was I was playing it and thinking about how well it seemed thought out... someone else pointed out the crazy woodwork to me, it's not ostentatious craft for crafts sake, and also no coffee table wood on view... I like that. Another one of the back... This looks odd to me - there's nothing on the back of the headstock!! pointy grey/silver paint! woop How does it sound... so not like a fender at all.... it's really really clear and consistent all the way up and down, the low notes on the B string are clean and defined and feel in character. It was initially set up with super low action and straight neck, so I imagine I could do a Charles Berthould impression with tapping and slapping if I practiced for about 10 years and had any talent... tonally if I was trying to describe it it's in the same ballpark as Charles' Herr Schwartz - but played by an idiot. It's quite piano like in the way notes have clarity and it seems to reward playing melody and multiple notes at once... The preamp is really nice, volume, passive tone and the 6 position pickup selector (best described as: rear coil, parallel MM, parallel Jazz, front coil, series MM, series jazz) and then 2 band bass and treble boost only. The bass control is really nice, it adds a boost at about 80Hz but nothing below 30Hz - so none of the subby stuff, the high end boost is a nice high end boost. And then the 6 position control makes it sound like completely different instrument. So yeah, I feel a bit like a 17 year on their birthday old let loose on a Ferrari ... and the temperature of the house it previously lived in down south and my cold room the bass live in up north mean I need to tweak the setup, the bow on the neck isn't quite right at the moment. Like I said a 17 year old in a Ferrari!

Been raving about this YT for a couple of weeks now. It's 1 hr 10 minutes of sketches, music and an interview, this week with Victor Wooten ( at 21 mins). Really surprised at the interview, Victor is so not like a Bass virtuoso in the way he talks about music. Even if you are not into funk this is a great series of shows, no-one is doing anything like this with music at the moment. Bit of a nod to the British too....

That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore - The Smiths

This came today. Won’t be able to try it out properly until tomorrow, when I’ll have an empty house for 3 hours - which never happens. Idea is for it to run straight into a Crest CA9, then into two Berg HD212’s. I’ll see how that pans out

Yup, but only half my wish came true. I had to pay for it.

24 Hours From Balsa - Gene Pitney

By the way, the JP55OP arrived today. Nice and light (8.5 lbs!). Different pickups to the JJ (JJ look ceramic judging by the polepieces, JP look alnico of some sort) and passive... and I prefer it to the JJ. Once again the nut is cut a little tall so you can't get the lowest action until that's done, and hopefully the frets are reasonably levelled. Just like the JJ, everything seems well built, smooth fret ends, plays well out of the box, and tonally it's a nice PJ. The P pickup is 2cm closer to the neck than on a regular Precision, but the sound from that pickup is unmistakeably that of some kind of Precision, with a nice growl. I'm done buying basses for a while now but Harley Benton is now definitely on my radar as a brand to definitely consider next time I want some other kind of bass.

Both homemade and the only examples I could find after a 10 second Google. The were apparently plans afoot for a Pino Palladino signature model, seems it never happened. I might have a new direction for my 5 string project build.

I like the shape, but reckon they look better as guitars. There's something about this that doesn't quite sit right.......maybe it's the pups? Would it be better looking with a pair of humbuckers? I wish they made a St Vincent bass, that's probably my favourite MM shape

May have to start a poll...

Next task is levelling and re-crowning/polishing the frets. Basically, the neck is adjusted to as straight as possible and then a sanding beam is used to take any unevenness out. You stop once the emery is just skimming all frets in all places and then move onto using a rocker to check for any high spots. That done, I use emery and progressively finer micro-web wrapped round my crowning file to re-crown, get rid of the scratches and polish: 10 done, 12 to go. I'll finish those later this afternoon to give the pain from my f*****g (****** = lippin) arthritis a chance to ease off. And then...I think it's the last job, the staining

I did the fretless thing many years ago. Primarily for looks, unlined rosewood board looked great. Played it for a few years in my rock band. Then bought another, an ESP 400. I was still experimenting bank then, got rid of them both. Fast forward to when I started my Police tribute, 15 years ago now. Found a Fenden japan PB70s fretless, maple board and natural. Lovely bass, did a lot of gigs with it. Added the Ibanez MC940, gigged that a bit too. Then built another maple board P bass which sounded sooo good, I started using it in the rock band I was playing in too. I've given up the Police thing now and have 3 different fretless basses that are completely unplayed. But I'm keeping them (just in case)

As a (now retired) physicist /engineer I rapidly analysed the many variables in this problem. I quickly reached a simple conclusion. Just play it where you get the tones you want

What goes around comes around, so wait. OTOH if you sell now you'll have all the fun of chasing down a replacement when the GAS comes back. I'm intrugued at the number of people charmed or irritated by the sound. I can't bear mwah so have my fretless set up for a tone just like a fretted bass. One less thing to annoy me in a world of things that annoy me. I am also a strong believer in playing in between the notes (an extension of the Wooten-Willis strategy)which is only really possible on a fretless.

I would suggest putting the fretlesses away for a period, don't play them at all. Enjoy your short scale fretted to the full. After a 'suitable' length of time, break them out again... The fretless sound is so rich and unique, I think you'd miss it if you had no access to it.

SR300E arrived, went off for setup and came back today. Very impressed with it for the price, and it has set up beautifully in drop C#, strung with La Bella DT54’s. If this band project goes well, I’ll perhaps look to swap the pickups and pre for something Bartolini, but for now, while we’re testing the waters with the project, the stock ones are perfectly passable. Si

We're all just bass geeks. Dave

Kasuga Scorpion, a lot like this one: Never seen that clip before, always had a soft spot for The Shamen.

Shaved. Wait, what was the question?

After a couple of hours working on the allotment this morning, I reckon I hate gigging as well. Bloody hard work, and I had to carry the spade and fork there and back. Hang on - it's digging I hate, not gigging - my mistake.

Expensive but worth it : Fender Custom Shop Closet Classic precision Pro (2011) the neck is a jazz U profile