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An actual photo in full 2 bass glory!

Mine neither - I've got a 1970 TV logo P bass which weighs just 3.8kg, has lovely tight neck joint, slim B profile neck, no scrappy workmanship at all and sounds bright, loud and resonant.

He actually suffers from the rare condition Tweedfaciatis, where the facial skin takes on the appearance of a tweed cloth cap

My old 72 has a divot where my thumbnail wore into the wood.

To help me "get my groove back" after losing my gear in the fire, the BC family was wonderfully generous in helping me out ... it's all about the bass! I've received a couple of older Zoom effects processors and they are going to form the core of my signal chain (All the elements of the Phoenix Rig were gifted to me by generous BC members ... I cannot express how grateful I am!) The Zoom units are quite powerful in the processing they can perform and can sound quite good, however there are a couple of "challanges" to the way I setup the effects and gig. Configuring patches This is done on the unit using the small display and controls. I came across a free application called Tonelib that makes the process of building and configuring patches significantly easier; it's a funky bit of software! Selecting patches when playing Sadly this is suboptimal! With one or two footswitches, it is hard to go directly to a patch, there is support for scrolling through a list of patches but it is not ideal. After some research I found that a few clever folks had figured out that the Zomm processors accept MIDI commands to select and reconfigure patches and effects. And so I am building Stompz. It will be based on the Raspberry Pi that did not get baked in the fire. Yesterday I went into my makerspace and spent several hours starting the physical assembly. The enclosure is the back of an offcast of an outdoor light a bit like this Is is almost perfect for the job. I drilled and filed a few holes for the foot switches and an expression jack socket. Stompz has 5 footswitches, an expression pedal jack input and a small OLED display panel (I've yet to figure out the best way to mount this so it's currently just sticking out the top) It will be based on a Raspberry Pi that did not get baked in the fire and, apart from the foot switches, is made up of items that I have been able to salvage from the flat or are offcasts ... super economical! The finished Phoneix Effects Chain will look like this At present the only thing in Stompz is a USB battery that is powering both Zoom processors. The foot switches are laid out so that it is easy to press two adjacent switches, so from a UX perspective it will be possible to have 5 x Switch press 5 x Long switch press 4 x Pair switch press 4 x Long pair switch press. This will allow for some quite powerful manipulation of the unit during a gig, either turning on/off individual effects, selection of preconfigured pedalboard layouts and snapshots. The OLED display (I might add another as it is quite small) will display what Stompz is up to and indicate what each switch will do. Stompz connects to each Zoom using a USB cable, which provide both power and will carry the MIDI data; The Zoom MIDI message format is not officially documented, but there are various resources on the web from which I should be able to build a full list of available commands. At present I have successfully been able to change patches on a Zoom but I believe it is possible to reconfigure patches as well as the various settings for each of the effects in a patch. I'm hoping that I can do this without killing any audio tails as it will allow me to drive some of these changes using the expression pedal. With the two Zoom processors connected in serial the rig will support a total of nine effects in a chain; I'm toying with the idea of running them in parallel which might allow for some splitting of frequencies for different processing ... not totally sure how I would wire this up yet. I'll be writing some bespoke code to allow for: Defining the action of the footswitches. Configure/manage/select "Pedalboards" (A collection of effects and their settings used in a particular song) This will let me configure which effects I want to use and their settings and (hopefully) link the expression pedal to the desired effects. Ideally I'll be able to treat Stompz as a single effects unit and it will decide itself which effect to place on which processor. Configure/manage/select "Snapshots" (A group of the settings for all of the effects in a pedal board) Access to all of this via a web interface (Or maybe also a smartphne app) over WiFi. The idea is that I can setup my pedalboards and tune the settings as I desire in advance and save them. During a gig I can use the foot switches to select a particular pedalboard for a song and switch between snapshots as I play, to load the settings for the verse/chorus/bridge/etc. All of this will be run on the Pi which will send the MIDI commands to configure the Zoom processor units. With my EffektLada project (Now put on ice) I had intended to run a MIDI synth and sequencer on the Pi which could be driven by a MIDI keyboard; this will allow for the generation of sophisticed drum tracks as well as being able to produce the occasional "special sounds" that we have used in some of our numbers (Like shakers, cow bells, xylophone ... even some horns or organ snippets). I've a couple of salvaged microcontrollers that can do button/motion sensing and send MIDI over Bluetooth to the Stompz allowing for small handheld battery powered units to produce effects. This will require the addition of an audio output from the Pi so is definately a Version 2 or 3 feature. Other possibilities are to use Pi based effect plugins in the signal chain and even record on the Pi. Now the basic physical assembly is complete I need to wire up the innards and start designing/writing/testing the software to achieve all of this. Hopefully I can make a start on this later today ... I am starting back at work tomorrow and I need to sort out some shoes that will help me survive the 12.5h shift on my feet (I am so looking forward to being back bedside nursing, it feeds my soul) so my time will be constrained. Stompz may not look as elegant as the all in one systems from the likes of Line6, Moddevices or the current gen Zoom units ... but it will get the job done and then some and I will be able to craft it to behave exactly the way I wish, which cannot be said of an off the shel unit which are generally very configurable, but only in the way the manafacturer determines. And the things that makes it all possible is that the cost is mostly effort, the various elements have been donated by the amazing BC family, have been salvaged from the fire or scavanged from castoffs ... no significant financial burden and the time I spend to bring it all together is free! More to come ... S'manth x

Contouring done and neck carved. Woodwork complete. Electrics and finishing to be done and then it lands in my sweaty talentless mitts. Better get my chops up to speed 😀.

I'm Only Schuman R&B Man

Others in Brahms ～ Dire Straits

I have a lot of vintage Fenders myself and had even more through my hands over the years and without doubt the late 60’s early 70’s are my favourites. They just sound and play well, every one of them. Late 70’s aren’t in the same league imo. Pic of my sexy, well gigged 72 for you voyeurs 😂

It is not working ... yet. I am able to identify the pedals plugged into the Pi from my software. I'm currently navigating the various online resources to collate the different MIDI commands that the Zoom pedals use (They seem to have slight variations ... and are not officially documented!) I am working on the best approach to represent each Zoom pedal in a similar fashion to the user (As much as they are capable) and have started work on the web UI. I suspect it will be many hours of work to get it to a polished place to be usable ... but it is progressing in the right direction! NASA ... lol, this ain't rocket science Before I retrained as a nurse in 2015, I'd worked nearly 30 years in the IT industry ranging from developer thru to architect thru to CTO ... so I have a fair bit of experience to fall back on. IT was interesting, it paid very well ... but it did not feed my heart; nursing (Especially working in intensive care) is interesting, the pay is criminal ... but my heart is full! And this sort of project helps satisfy the geekette in me S'manth x

Is your guitarist in some kind of witness protection program with his face blurred out?

My 72 P

Gershwin Chaz n Dave

I think it's a bit unfair (and unkind) to look down your nose at cover bands. Growing up in the States, almost every band was a cover band, and originals bands only played to a very few, usually uninterested, souls. I think they are two different animals, both very valid. Cover bands love to perform together and get the crowd moving. I think originals bands a bit more serious and are looking for a different type of validation.

Was at a Jam Night last night, and the house bassist, a friend of mine, had brought his 77 Precision down. He passed it to me, and I braced for the boat anchor-weight, but blimey, if it was 8lbs I'd be surprised. And it played really, really well; I'd go so far as to say that it's the best Precision I've ever played (with the possible exception of a 63 I had a 5-minute go of about 30 years ago, but that's a hazy memory)...just goes to show there's good uns and bad uns of every year...

That's a bit unfair. Those who slag off, do so with feel.

Yeah, your needs are somewhat more complicated than mine. I generally turn up, set up (bass > amp > cab - no pedals), soundcheck, then… go for chips.

Unless those variables are what makes the sound you like. I don't like 'neutral', I actually like speakers/drivers that have colour (haven't established the exact shade but it may be purple).

I had a pair of Aguilar SL112s a couple of years ago and I was a Hartke endorsee too, so I have a little bit of background in each camp. I just felt that a pair of 1x12s was the way I wanted to go and once you get an idea in your head... Irrespective of the Hartke Hydrives I used (1x15/4x10/2x10 - sorry not the 1x12), I found them all quite bright and they suited my desired tone ('gritty/driven') so based off that, I wouldn't really expect a pair of 1x12s to differ from that significantly - it's simply what they do and they do it very well. I owned a pair of Aguilars, too - a bit of a vanity purchase - I just figured these would be a decent upgrade from a Barefaced Big One. To be honest, they didn't suit what I was doing. They were very hi-fi, quite a bit bassy and lacked a lot of the top end that the horns in the Hydrives (or the 6" Barefaced tweeter) provided. At the time, I just thought there was something wrong with them, but the horns were working in both cabinets, but the effect was very subtle. I sold them on. Right now, I'm running a single Darkglass 1x12. If I ever have the desire to go back to full time gigging/band, I'd probably get another one of these. It's quite lovely.

"This listing was ended by the seller because the item was lost or broken." I expect the bridge flew off under the strain. I hope no one was injured.

Budapest ～ George Ezra

I don’t believe it!!

Okay:

Maybe it was a provisional web page… 😬

🎵 "Well you can tell by the way I plane my curve I'm a luthier, no time for lurve. Music loud, and varnish warm My destiny since I was born And you can laugh, and you can say 'He hates routers anyway' (But I'm) Drillin' and a-chisellin, and a-sanding' and a-fillin' And Staying Alive, Staying Alive! Ah Ah Ah Ah Staying Ali-iiii-ive!" 🎵

I'm pretty sure this was flagged up ages ago but Rose Morris website is still showing the article but it's actually Mike Oldfield! Bobby Sands Ned Callan

D.I.V.O.R.A.K. Tammy Wynette

I've just finished setting mine up for Schaller strap-locks - the cherry on the icing on the cake! PIc's to follow.

Mahler 'Bout That Bass Meghan Trainor

Lovely, that. I had a 1970 Precision that had a lovely shallow neck (a B width nut, but slimmer front to back). One of the few basses I properly regret moving on…

I know that guy Paul, he keeps looking back at me in the mirror every morning. Stalker freak! 😉 Many of us who are still over there miss you, all the best to you and yours.

Mooer Ensemble Queen maybe, which is essentially a Boss CE-2 clone, but specifically tuned for bass and with a dedicated tone and mix knob. Or a Joyo Analog Chorus, which is a straight up Boss CE-2 clone. Or the now out of production, but should be cheap if you can found one used as this too was a budget pedal when it was still being made, the Valeton Aquaflow Vintage Chorus, which is a take on the legendary Boss CE-1 circuit, but, unlike the original, with a dedicated respectively depth and rate control, and an added mix and tone control as well. I personally use the Valeton Aquaflow Vintage Chorus in my current setup, and am really satisfied with it. It can go from extremely subtle to really lush chorus and sounds absolutely beautiful. Mind though that the taper of the knobs, bar the rate knob, which seems to function as one would expect, act bit weird on that Valeton chorus, that is that while the full range of the respective parameters are in fact actually there it mostly seems to happen within a relatively small part of the knobs entire travel, like within the last 1/3 or so of the travel of those knobs (on the tone control that would be 1/3 or so of the travel on each side of the noon position, though as said the entire range from very subtle to very lush is in fact covered there).

I'll make few comments on these gigs Sunday night. Friday September 16th SHE'S RIGHT-I'M LEFT LIVE LITTLE SWITZERLAND! SLINGER WI 6:00 - 9:00 Saturday September 17th LIVE @ HOLY HILL ARTS & CRAFTS FAIR! 2:00PM HOLY HILL ARTS AND CRAFTS FAIR , HUBERTUS WI Sunday September 18th Maple Road Blues Band Boots Q 'n Boogie / Bailey Hall Waubeka WI Blue

Hard to Handel - Otis & others.

Just come across this - a TV programme from 71/72 of early YES (the Fragile period when Wakeman had just joined), following a British small hall tour before they went off to conquer the States. Bruford comes across as a bit of an entitled posh boy and Anderson is surprisingly down to earth, but fascinating stuff...

Vaughan (Williams) To Be Wild... SteppenWolf(gang Amadeus Motzart)

Best I ever played was a black 1974 P, amazing thick neck, a sound like no other P I've played, growly/burpy amazingness. It weighed more than the sun and I sadly passed on it.

I've changed strings a lot since the 1960's and I only discovered tension was a "thing" when I got on the internet!!

The clear-clear varnish is here but I won't be spraying it today. One of the 'joys' of clear nitro is that it is affected enormously by moisture in the air - it goes milky which is guaranteed to ruin your day - and, even though it has brightened up a touch in the last hour, there was just too much in the air to risk it. So, in a guitar builders' version of 'talk amongst yourselves', here is something completely different I've been waiting for a spare hour to get sorted: I'm planning to offer up my camphor single-cut for sale at the forthcoming South West BassBash and there's one thing that has been bugging me. It is fitted with a DiMarzio PJ set, which sounds great but there has always been a problem with volume balance. Basically, the P pickup has always been too quiet. "Just raise the pickup" Well, easier said than done. It was spec'd to have fully covered pickup and, while the bridge cover doesn't interfere, the neck cover would if it was any higher. And so I spent a happy hour this morning taking out the Dimarzio, fitting a Seymour Duncan SPB-2 Hot for PB (similar EQ as the standard SD p/up but almost 2X the output) in the neck position and then balancing the two pickups by adjusting the bridge p/up height: Done - and what a difference: A few tidy up jobs still to do before the Bash but that's the sound sorted

Long Shot Kick De Bucket - Pioneers

x2 210 traveller cabs is more than enough. I've used them on big stages with a 500w head, and only had the master around 9pm on the dial.

I 2nd that about the Steve Harris bass. The WH livery is the only reason I don’t own one. I wish the made either the blue sparkle, the blue crackle, or even the lesser known candy apple red one which was the inspiration to customise my ‘86 P bass.

That is the point. The sound of your bass is a combination of the materials used in its construction, the pickups and the electronics. Why would you need a fixed EQ in an amp when you have no idea of the response of your bass. If you have the capability to alter the sound of your bass with variable EQ in your bass head, all well and good but it is good to have a reference. To your point, pick-up response changes with the values of the capacitors and potentiometers attached to and if you have a two pick-up bass each pick-up loads the other. Unless you run with nothing connected between the pick-up and the output Jack, you tone is already baked in. Still I would prefer to be able to listen to the sound of the bass with no external influence THEN adjust the EQ/Shape etc to taste.

Blimey. That's provo-cative. He could dine out on that forever (obviously not, of course).

As long as they aren’t requesting BJ’s I wouldn’t be too concerned.