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I bought a 5 string version a few months ago and, impressed by the fiver, I Thought I would get the 4 string version. I've been after an active PJ, with a J pup at the bridge just as usable on its own as the P pup. @Old Horse Murphy suggested one of these Charvels and I've followed his advice

dear Leduc Community, Hellzero invited me to show my Love here. I ordered my Masterpiece 5 fretless in 1999, and can still remember the lucky day Christophe told me that I could pick her up. I kept it all passive. A real candy is the (now) 120 years old rio rosewood fretboard! That was such a nice day, driving to Christophs luthier-shop near Metz (before his move). Since then it's my favorite Bass, in sound, ergonomy - unbeatable. So enough talking here are some pics.

Why didn't he just tune up before he started playing. 😶😆

The end of chapter one. I printed the bottom cover for Trampa last night. The USB adaptor fits nicely this time 😭 The old hole (to the right) can stay ... I think at some point I will print the main enclosure again, but with 3mm walls instead of the current 2mm; this will depend on how Tramp holds up under use. 12mm M3 bolts seem to be the right size. Using a soldering iron set to 200c (The working temp of the plastic filament used in the enclosure is 220-230) I set the receiving mounts in the body. The holes printed are smaller than the mount diameter so that they will melt into place; the hole was designed to be deeper than required to take the M3 bolt, this was to allow space for any molten plastic to 'escape' ... otherwise it might ooze up through the mount and block the thread. Attach the cover Apply some magic Velcro And like magic ... ready for band practice this afternoon. I'm using an external USB battery for now, it's handy as it shows remaining charge ... and it fits nicely under the wireless guitar cable receiver. Now to try it out, see how it holds up, figure out the best configuration for gigs. At some point I will install the additional OLED displays and update the hardware/software to support them; for now ... time to practice some more chord tone patterns S'manth x

Congratulations to @skankdelvar , a popular one with the voters and duly collected the reward of being the Honourable Picture Provider By way of introduction ... "This month's pic is Forge Valley, Scarborough by John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836 - 1893). No great significance, it's just a picture I like." Simple rules ✔️ Entries must be <5 minutes and recorded this month. ✖️ No illegal samples, copyright infringements or other snide goings-on ✖️ No Bagpipes. please no bagpipes, the Platinum Jubilee day truce didn't materialise . panpipes only if you have too. ✖️ No voting for your own entry. We'll know. And we'll shame you. A line or two offering an insight to your inspiration/track choice will be good as well , it works nicely on the voting thread. The Deadline for entries is Midnight on Thursday 23rd June good luck everyone

Fellow of the Royal Society, apparently. My band mate told me so I didn't actually need to ask. I think he's used to that! I had thought it could mean 'Fairly Reasonable Singer'.

Stingray. It just does everything and has the most comfortable neck.

NBD. Well finally, here it is, still with the protective plastic. It’s in Lake Placid Blue that turns out to be a bit lighter than I was expecting but still looks good IMO. It got the thumbs up from the other half, so it must be good. After a very quick plug in, I am pleased to report that it seems pretty quiet for dual single coils. Lots of useful tones, although I can’t imagine wanting to use the deep treble cut that often but I’ve only tried it through my practice rig: Warwick Gnome and a Barefaced One10, so it might be more useful at gig volumes. I was surprised to find it pretty much in tune: did it come all the way from the USA without going out of tune? The only QA issue I have spotted is that the jack socket retaining nut was loose.

@Beedster Inevitably it has ended up at my gaff, thanks to @alyctes Should have bought it in the first place. Unlined ebony P width neck, zenith… 😂😂

Like in French restaurants

Goodness, they must've really wanted the sale. That's exceptional customer service 😮

they are DiMarzios, not sure of the vintage of the cream colour well here's a pic with the bass next to its big sister

As in Leiderhosen, literally "unfortunate leg-wear".

Here you go! It will be generally available on YT on Friday but seem as it’s now queued, I thought I’d share it early with you all!

I'm not usually a fan of solo bass, but this piece is just so, so beautiful... not to mention technically mind-boggling. Lyrics could never say more than this.

Classical, Jazz, Techno, Ambient, Dub, tribal drumming, (and many more) disagree. Instrumental music communicates emotions without directly telling you in lyrics 'I am sad/happy because...' it's applicable to every human regardless of what languages they speak, it lets you use your imagination. It's instrumental music that makes me consider the philisophical question of why people enjoy music, whereas someone singing 'yeah, yeah, I love you baby, and I don't mean maybe' sort of de-values music.

I hardly ever buy either bricks or mortar.

And the winner is... @skankdelvar..! Here, then, is your Winner's Certificate (download and save as pdf file, then proudly print and frame...) ... BC_Chal_Cert_2022_05.pdf ... which looks like this (but bigger, of course..!)... BC_Chal_Cert_2022_05.pdf

I tend not to get to specific with that particular line of thought. There is a lot of variation in the wood within the same species. So the way I look it is as an overall structure which you can manipulate to a degree in order to get into a general ballpark. So I have an idea of what a combination of woods as a structure will produce but again it is a general idea.

I came to the conclusion that the player is one of the most important aspects of how a bass sounds a long time ago. I play all my basses when I set them up and they to a degree sound like me playing a bass. I have had my own personal basses played by a fair number of people and they sound very different and mostly better played by other people. So trying to sound like another player is more than getting the same gear. The recording chain also plays a big part in that as well.

Thanks, everyone, you're far too kind. There's so much talent and hard work as goes into these comps I've shunted a pic across to Lurks for the June comp and I'll be submitting an entry but I'm def taking a break after that. This last one took days of fiddling around and I've been getting That Look from the Missus

I don't need asking twice to show it off The Nordstrands were both custom orders to match the 17.5mm string spacing. The big splitman is amazing, each half is split coil so hardly any buzz when only using half the humbucker.

Having wanted to try the EMG Geezers for a while, I picked up this old Highway 1 body, a while back, which already had them installed. The good people at Warmoth delivered another lovely roasted J neck last week and, as a result, I can positively and affirmatively confirm without doubt that neither of these are Precision basses, no matter how much they sound like them.

Cheers Dad. I've not heard that for years. I remember posting it, saying "I do like a bit of Manring". To which the long since banned BigBassChief replied "Preferably shaved Phillipino".

Last Drain to Clarkesville ～ The Monkees

The story has a happy ending! The Bruce Thomas pickups have been installed. I haven't played out with them yet, but I have practiced. The video review on YouTube posted above is quite accurate at portraying what the sound is like. This is very much what I associate the 70s P-Bass sound with, although I guess that's actually wrong since Thomas based this on his 64 model, but souped up. So maybe Fender's 62 reissue also sounds like this. BTW as other reviewers have said online, these pickups are quite loud: easily the loudest bass pickups I have ever owned in fact. But that is of no importance to me, I was concerned about the tone which is just what I was looking for. Thanks everyone for all your advice!

Maybe it's just telling the same story you already heard. The lyrics and playing on NMTB tell a different story.

Yeah, sure ... ...

are you suggesting that everyone's been focused on a Wal as the magic ingredient ... and the tone is all in his fingers?

Disagree - Drag Racer by Doug Wood Band means snooker. Soul Limbo by Booker T and the M.G.'s [sic] means cricket etc. EDIT - [sic] added before I get the apostrophe police come after me, it's a quote.

The famous cable blunder 😉. I have a cable story. I remember having a wireless pack for the longest time, and on the one occasion that I had to use a cable, I forgot. Thinking that I was wireless, I decided to leap toward the front of the stage to interact with the audience, but as you can imagine, I did not get very far when I was yanked back. I managed to catch my balance, thank goodness. Can you imagine if I had fallen over as well! 😄

Luckily, most of them are on Talkbass where they're easily avoided.

My moments come from when I was playing guitar. The first, I was playing the Crystal Palace Bowl and a really big stage for the first time. We started the first song, which opened with my playing the song’s signature riff, I then went for my Woodstock moment and ran across stage, my normally quite long lead wasn’t that long it turned out, as I pulled it out of my pedal board. Fortunately, I made it back and plugged in again (which could be heard on the recording) just in time to play the riff again. The second time was with the same band, but this time on a much smaller stage. Suddenly, I had no no sound, yet everything was plugged in and all indicator lights showed all was working. It turns out that due to my movements (I had had a wee drink or three) my lead had snaked around the level control of my OD pedal and had turned it right down (perhaps this was a critique of my playing).

When I put together my fretless precision bitzer I didn't want to spend a fiver on a nut blank I was probably going to ruin, so I went to the nearest Chinese food wholesaler, Wing Yip in Croydon, who supply restaurants & takeaways, but is open to everyone, and I bought a box of fake ivory plastic chopsticks for about a quid. I cut a few down to the length of a nut, filed them to the width of a nut and cut the slots using a variety of needle files and wet & dry paper wrapped around things. I ended up with a perfect nut on my first attempt and no elephants were killed. The material the chopsticks were made of was perfect s it is quite a dense plastic which files very well.

Oh I got a couple of peaches. Simple, but massively effecting destroying my confidence for that gig. 1. Early days of gigging, maybe ‘97. Some Battle Of The Bands thing in a uni bar. Funky number, everything but the vocals drop out, I try to start a crowd clap. Despite my flailing arms, nobody in the audience joined in. 2. Much more recent (age has not bestowed me with wisdom) at a decent venue, just us playing to an almost sold out crowd. A little tipsy, tried to moonwalk on to the stage for our 2nd half. Knocked both my basses over.

We were just finishing my first ever gig, at a youth club, and the singer said, "We'd now like to do the last number". All the lights came on and the caretaker was walking up the room saying, "I wouldn't bother mate. They've all gone home!".

1. The strings are how much? I recall weighing up whether to buy a set of EB flats for £60. Peanuts! A used set of Spirocores for £110 now feels like a bargain. 2. That neck. When Precision players talk about ‘baseball bat’ necks they’re having a laugh. If a P bass has a bat for a neck a DB has a drainage pipe. 3. The pain. Blister-callus-blister repeat. Numb fingers, numb hand. Back ache, neck ache. 4. playing in front of the mirror to check left hand position can send you slightly mad. 5. DB’s don’t bounce. Drop an EB and you get a bit of mojo. Drop a DB and you get a £££ repair bill (if you’re lucky). 6. Age is all relative. Look at a 1969 Fender and think ‘wow, that’s really old’. Look at a 1950s Czech DB and think ‘well at least it’s relatively new’. 7. There’s a lot less GAS. Got a DB with a pickup and you’re sorted. Secondhand DBs appear in the for sale section at a fraction of the rate of EBs. I should be due for a new DB in about 6 years. Maybe. 8. You have to hear notes instead of learning shapes. Wait, all those EB patterns I spent months learning are redundant? Crap. 9. DB’s are portable in the same way telephone boxes are portable. 10. I absolutely love the sound of the DB… so much so that points 1-9 don’t really matter.

New basses week! Not had a self indulgent bragging moment for a while 😀 Marus Elwood Jazz landed last week - simply brilliant, lightweight, warm sounding with nice slap tone…perfect! 96 Teal Stingray, arrived today - feel like a dog with 2 doodahs! 8.5lb weight, low action, pure funk machine, just total perfection! Along with the 74P this is my best holy trinity to date 😀😀😀

We were playing at a social club event as a 5 piece. It was a nice venue with a large stage and a decent dressing room. We set up early and retired to the dressing room until the inevitable bingo was over. For whatever reason, we missed the end of the bingo and so we took to the stage as the compare was finishing his intro. I had the set list on the floor along with my pedals and I had to shift them forward as I'd moved them for the bingo caller. I was still kicking the pedals into place when the drummer counted us in. No problem - I knew the song so I played the required notes while adjusting the pedal. But something was wrong and I looked over the singer (the usual source of any random changes). He had his head down and it looked as if he was crying. No sign of the vocals. I checked over my shoulder to the drummer (he was my reference point if things were going astray) but he was also hunched over and shaking. I couldn't see the keyboard player but I could tell from what he was playing that something wasn't right. The rhythm guitarist to my right was facing away from the crowd and wouldn't meet my eye. I looked up at the dance floor and saw what was causing the distraction. The only people on the dancefloor were a couple. She was a large, white-haired lady in a bright pink plastic/vinyl (I never actually found out which) short dress which was very close fitting and therefore bulging in far too many places. He was an elderly gentleman, short, bald and in serious danger of being battered by his partner's bust, which was not adequately controlled by her outfit. The rest of the audience had sensibly left them to it and were laughing almost as much as our singer, drummer, keys player, rhythm guitarist and eventually, bass player. We managed to pull ourselves together and finish the first song without too much trouble but none of us could look at each other for the rest of the first set.

I feel violated 😳

Ha ha i see I'm not the only pedant☺️

Check out bass bros!!!

Congratulations - that hopefully is a seriously unpopular opinion!!

I have done it a lot with brass. While it is nice to have the real thing, at the end of the day, it is less people to split the money with. There, I said it! lol 😜

I've the fretted version of this and it's excellent. I gig with it often. Congratulations!