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Oooo an update! Thanks to the amazing generosity of LukeFRC, I've managed to progress with the bass chat cab. It's all together and ready for a test! Next stop is a grille and fit the badges and stickers that Luke also kindly sent me. What is the next free serial number? 😁 I'll report my findings soon.

A delightful development! After a phone call to the luthier who supplied the original block of maple for my second bass (Which was turned to ash by the fire) it seems that he is going to give me a replacement block at no cost! (I was stunned!). I am hopefully going to pick it up tomorrow (Thursday) and it will mean that I can start the physical build of Phoenix! (I'd best start drawing up the design plan!) People are so wonderfully kind! S'manth x

I don't know if used to belong to a BCer, but I recently bought the 2011 Overwater Aspiration Elite that was on sale at Bass Direct and I am really impressed with how good it is. I was in the market for a nice but inexpensive fretted 5 as a second bass, and this fits the bill really well. First of all, it's in great condition. I don't think there's a mark on it anywhere. The fingerboard needed an oil, but other than that all is good. It's a five piece neck through, maple and something walnut-like would be my guess, with what appears to be an ash body capped with a burl maple top. Very nice. It's 35" scale, so a nice tight B string, and the 19mm spacing at the bridge is perfect for me (same as my Franz basses) and the main reason I got it. EQ is a three band Overwater system designed by John East. The control cavity is thoroughly shielded using paint and copper tape. The bridge and pickups are Overwater branded too, but I assume made in Korea along with the bass itself. The standard tuners were mini Gotoh-like ones, but as the bass was a bit neck heavy I have swapped them for Gotoh ResOLites which take the weight to bang on 9 lbs and have sorted the balance. Other than that the bass is stock. Live, the bass is really articulate: every note comes through crisp and clear. I honestly wasn't expecting it to sound as good as it does! I've played basses way more expensive than this that weren't half as good!

With a recent arrival I thought it might be a good time to get a group shot. Mostly Class D heads these days , I have Ampeg , Bergantino and Phil Jones cabs. Genz Benz Streamliner 900 , a powerhouse with a tube preamp , overhauled a while back by Andy Field , it’s like a brand new amp. Bergantino Forte , clean transparent , but with some serious slam , my main gig amp , SWR Headlite fairly recent addition and has a surprising number of features packed in a small box, Darkglass Exponent , wild little thing you can program with a tablet , GK MB200 great little practice amp , and a Hotone Thunderbass , I use as a headphone amp. Missing , my ancient little GK MB150 combo. Originally bought for upright , became a favourite practice , studio , rehearsal amp. Now mostly grab and go for rehearsals. I’m a bit of an amp nerd , and there’s a bunch I’d love to try out that we never see around here , most of the local stores stock the same stuff.

Funny how the term "acoustic" has changed over the years, not better or worse but definitely different. When I started gigging in the '60's on an acoustic guitar playing the folk music that was popular at the time an acoustic gig was playing guitars, banjoes and the odd double bass and if we were lucky there might be a microphone or two that we crowded around. That was common in clubs and coffee houses and even in big venues and when a guitar solo came up there was much moving around and raising up the guitar so it was close to the mic, you can see this in a lot of the old folk music videos from the '60's such as Peter, Paul and Mary. The next step was more mics with dedicated mics for each instrument and maybe even one for each singer and the sound was actually the real acoustic sound of the vocals and instruments. Then came the first pickups and now the sound of "acoustic" instruments through the amps and PA is a long way from the actual sound of the instrument and often a variety of effects and EQ are used to change the signal even more and of course it is LOUD. These days it seems even most buskers use some sort of amplification although a few play old school acoustic. A few years ago various rock bands and singles (Clapton comes to mind) decided to do "acoustic" or "unplugged" shows and albums but of course they were definitely plugged in and that added to the image of a modern "acoustic" gig, a few acoustic instruments but probably an EB and maybe an electronic keyboard and of course pickups on anything acoustic. Some bluegrass, folk and country bands are probably the last truly acoustic bands around now. Let's face it, using mics for instruments in almost any live situation is very tricky but if things work out a guitar sounds like a "real" guitar not a pimped up hot rodded guitar that sort of looks like an acoustic instrument with a wire coming out of it and sometimes controls mounted on it too. I have played with mics and pickups on guitar, mandolin, tenor banjo and double bass and I have to admit the good pickups we can get now are easy to work with can sound quite good but it doesn't sound like an acoustic instrument but that's the way it is now, many people have never heard a real acoustic guitar or bass without an elaborate sound system. The worst part from my point of view is that when you see a great player the excellent guitar he is playing often sounds pretty much like any other guitar once it has a pickup and some electronic tweaking. Not a rant, just an observation, and as I said above, I use pickups and love them but it's not really an "acoustic" show and calling it that just doesn't seem right. Of course I am part of this problem when I tell people I play acoustic double bass...with a pickup.🙄

Are we sure Brown and Liam G were not hatched by the same mother at some monkey breeding farm on the outskirts of Burnage? Their simian features, delusional arrogance, total lack of stage presence, a shared inability to hold a tune in a bucket, similar levels of virtuosity on the maraccas and of course a shared history of being in monumentally overrated Manc bands?

Me again. I just played my "girlfriend test track" through the cab (street spirit fade out - Radiohead). I used a little shuttle 3.0 and an I pod. Once through the BC cab and once through a very new, expensive and very well regarded cab. Yep.... Bass chat cab won. More "even and full range" were her words. I must say -it does sound great. If you're sat on the fence about building one TRY IT. I'm very impressed so far. I'll update once the grille is completed and I've played a couple of gigs with it.

I've really enjoyed reading this thread guys. Yes I was a fan from the start, love those first three albums with their free singles bought from HMV. Loved JJ's old sound of a Pbass through his Trace Elliot with distorted treble and still do. I recently met a delivery guy who it turned out he did the lighting at all their shows until retiring recently, and he has bought me up to speed with all the newer material with Baz on vocals. They can still do the job...just a bit differently! Stranglers are the reason that I have a bass (coz I'm a guitar player shhhh) and I'm picking up a Trace Elliot 300w rig on Friday. That is just coincidence and happenstance. Discovering this thread and fellow Strangler enthusiasts has put the cherry on the cake. I'm really looking forward to attempting (or trying) JJ's tone, but defo not tearing a speaker! Cheers.

Goose Town - The Specials

Heron ～ The Velvet Underground

The Gull from Ipanema - Astrid Gilberto

Trace Elliot SMC GP7 Preamp:

After reading this thread, I had my 3D copy out and cranked up on the turntable a couple of days ago. Scratched to flip, but till one of my favourite albums ever. I also had a play along to the title track with my Dingwall ABZ though my recently acquired Bass Rig Super Vintage, which sounds the absolute dogs btw - I may have to reconsider my decision to move the Dingwall on...

Home-bake from 2012. BODY: Very very old piece of barn demolition oregon from outside Seattle. Rosewood/maple 30" neck. 1978 JM pickups. 1960 JM pickguard.Special aluminum 1" bridge milled in Costa Rica. 1970 JM trem. 250k pots. 0.05 ceramic dime cap. Wired series/parallel.

Great thread Chris! I've always been a big fan of The Stranglers and years ago, between 1979 and 1980 my first band were signed to the Stranglers management company, who's offices were located by the old Borough Market near London Bridge... Their offices were on the first floor of the building, and on the ground floor was a big open space where all of The Stranglers gear was stored. As part of the management deal, we were allowed to rehearse there overnight at the weekends and we used JJ's bass rig as our PA (his rig was a 2 kilowatt PA). I remember their roadie telling me that JJ liked to use a PA with multiple cabs as his rig so he could point them in different directions across the stage to make sure he could always hear himself properly. I also remember being shown some of JJ's basses at the time, including an absolutely beautiful, black, through-neck Yamaha BB bass which I thought was about the most amazing bass I'd ever seen at the time! As well as getting to meet the band a few times, we supported them at The New Theatre in Oxford on their 'Raven Tour' , and also at the infamous London Rainbow gig in April 1980 when Hugh Cornwall was in prison for 6 weeks for possession of drugs. It was an amazing night as the band brought in loads of famous artists to sing different songs in their set.. We shared our dressing room with Toyah (who wore more clothes back then than she does now. 😉) Also on the bill that night were a certain 'beat combo' from Manchester called Joy Division. Those were the days... 😁

If you have a 3D printer or access to one... https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-print-models/gadgets/audio/bass-guitar-muter-3d-print You can now make your own one. $20 for the CAD file and then get it printed somewhere and assemble it yourself.

Still getting used to it but a few gigs down now. There's the immediate comfort feeling that you know what you are getting and you are definitely getting the ABM sound, but it's clearer, tighter and with more definition at higher volumes. Is it louder? Well, I never turned my EVO IV to max so I don't know. I guess it must be a little. The fan is super quiet and kicks in only when needed, and the DI is superb quality apparently according to the sound guy. The controls are reassuringly Ashdown and give the same amount of adjustment as we're used to. It seems to weight the same if not a little less than my rackmount 600 IV. Could be me, or the valve fitted but the drive seems smoother. There's a big 'but', and I'm going to have to have a word with Mark, Dan and Dave. Both the input and the output controls are notched, like the output control on the RM EVOIIs. I hate it. Really hate it. It's going to have to change. Is it worth the money, I guess is the big question? To me, given a) I bought it b) it's UK built and c) it looks bloody fantastic then yes, but objectively I'd find it difficult to argue against going for a 600 EVO IV, as that amp is so good. I'm just pleased it's not as nasty as that horrible Darkglass thing I bought...... Onwards and upwards. I love it, I'm keeping it and the ABM 600 EVO IV is sold pending collection...

A cheapy, but I love it. 90s Encore. Some lovely grain under the trans Red. Levelled, crowned and polished the frets, rolled the fretboard edges, popped in a Tonerider pickup and some old chromes. A joy to play.

Never used a valve bass head, but I owned & used a number of guitar valve amps over the years. As BassmanPaul said, turn it off, move it off stage, load it into the car when you're ready to go. They really aren't as fragile as you might think.

Nine Inch Snails Irony Maiden Vanilla Lice No-Sync KFC and the Sunshine Band

Henry Manc init

Every Day I Bite The Rook ～ Elvis Costello

Puffin in the Boys Room - Motley Crue

So switched over to 400 grit W&D today with the tru oil and there is a distinct change in smoothness and lustre. Still not shiny and from the pictures, it’s doesn’t look much different but it is definitely less patchy and feel much smoother to the touch. Going in the right direction that’s for sure… using tru oil is definitely a fool proof way of getting a nice finish. I look at it now and really like the way it looks, the poly will just add a bit of extra gloss and protection! All hail the Tru Oil!

Goldfincher - Shirley Bassey

We use a Bose L1 system with their 8 channel ToneMatch mixer. The EQ in the mixer is very good and very versatile and I can make my DB sound almost exactly how I like it although that may not not be the "my bass only louder" ideal. The Bose also works well with my banjo and a SM58(I think) and with the ToneMatch my natural "acoustic" singing voice can actually sound pretty good. 😊 When I jam with friends I might use the amp with the DB or just do the acoustic thing, it depends on the circumstances.

It’s here if anyone is waiting for it I could have sworn I’d already put a link here !

My Lefay Herr Schwarz 6. The very first Herr Schwarz 6. Still one of my main weapons. After some years I added a third pickup and then changed to Nordstream pickups for more meaniness.

Hi, Le Fay Basses are great. Reiner and Meik are supernice people. The craftmanship is perfect. Here are some pics and videos of Le Fay basses I've played and still play. There are many more videos at my youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcpvGUel2VMN4G5xmAoDdSg

Shake 'n' Vac ～ Jenny Logan sorry 🙇🏼‍♂️

Well, I still have an early 80's black bodied Precision that I bought a few years back from a certain person on here.. ahem! Replaced the neck with an after market maple lefty and threw my fave SD Quarter Pounders in there and it absolutely is my No.1 go to

I've not tried it myself, but allegedly, IRs (impulse responses) can help 'plugged in' acoustic instruments sound more like a mic'd up acoustic guitar/bass. One of my guitarists used an IR in his helix when he uses his Yamaha Silent acoustic guitar. 3Sigma have a few bass options you might be interested in. Of course you'll need something to load the IR into. But you can pick a small device up relatively inexpensively these days. Upright Basses Archives - 3 Sigma Audio

Got to start them early 🤣 She's dabbled with a few instruments. Piano, violin trumpet etc. The only one she really was into was drums but between Covid and some incompetence at school her drum lessons never happened. Her friend is learning guitar and another drums so it was an obvious choice now they are heavily into decent music. I have a decent idea how she learns as we are very similar, so can teach in a non boring way where she'll end up knowing the fretboard by stealth. She's already making conscious decisions about playing an open A vs fretted which is totally unprompted by me. She's got a very decent bass now and a coach available 24/7 so there is every chance of her becoming proficient and having fun.

Maybe these threads should be linked 🙂

I really like the bitsa as is SX ash body, Mighty Mite Fender licenced neck, Gotoh hardware, CTS pots and flats. It’s my “funk machine” especially for recording.

A little update on this: I spotted an unused iPro Gnome going for reasonable money on fleaBay and took the plunge. It arrived today. I haven’t had much time to experiment with it but my initial impression of it, connected to a BF One10, is that it may be voiced slightly differently from the 200 watt version. It reminded me of the TE Elf voicing in YouTube videos (through decent speakers). A very pleasing punchy but slightly less transparent tone. However, that was with Gain and EQ all set at 12 o’clock and Master around 8/9 o’clock: hardly ticking over. I haven’t wound it up yet, or tried it through the Two10. The fan seems even less intrusive than the 200 watt version’s. To be expected I guess but the iPro is a bigger unit than the 200 watt version. They looked the same size to me in the group shots I had seen online but the iPro is a few centimetres wider and deeper, and just a bit taller. It is also a bit heavier. Otherwise it looks the same, save for the addition of the USB port on the back. The extra couple of centimetres make it look less comically small on top of a speaker cabinet.

Just in case you haven`t seen this, a cracking interview from 2013 that was broadcast on Vintage tv. Enjoy

Perhaps Ian Brown was supposed to have a band with him, but they're currently incapacitated with Covid as being unvaccinated was a requirement of being in the band

They do get rather hysterical

Fixed it.

Smegadeath

Reminds me, haven't watched Phoenix Nights in forever

Dep job on lead guitar with a rock’n’roll band I’ve played with quite a bit. 40 mile drive to BL’s house, transferred my kit to his van, and another hour and a quarter to the venue. Except there’s a carnival and the street is closed. Carnival marshalls’ local knowledge plus satnav got us into the back gate, whence it was a 100yds carry and 2 flights of steps down to the ‘stage area’. Knackered already! The gig itself went fine until I started Crazy Little Thing Called Love, which the BL’s missus normally sings - but she’s home sick and there is a dep rhythm guitarist. He’s very good, playing intelligently so that we stay out of each other’s way. BL managed the song and we all had a laugh. Usual challenge of loading out through a crowd of p!ssed-up punters, although this time a shorter carry to the front door. Tried to snooze in the van on the way back, which was a mistake as this morning I feel like I’ve been beaten up. Rehearsal tonight (different band) for an unpaid party gig for the birthday party of a member’s missus. Rehearsal room is up three flights of stairs and along some corridors, but all the kit goes up in a goods lift. Could do without it tbh.

Saturday 9/24, 5-8pm, She's Right - I'm Left LIVE at The Harley MOTOR Bar & Restaurant in Milwaukee! 1. Easy load in and out 2. 20 minutes travel 3. Professional Staff ( they know how to treat bands ) 4. Upscale clientele 5. Above average pay 6. Comped food & drinks 7. We were pretty good tonight. Blue

Why did Fender did not want to make elite series basses no more? I think they where pretty cool.