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PM me please. Just saw it.

Sept 2018 - I played my last gig with the band I'd been in for 19 years having moved away from Wakefield and it's familiar music scene a few months earlier. Since then I've done some depping jobs with a rock and roll band , played a local fundraiser festival with a scratch band and that's been it. I tried to get a band going here in Notts but I just couldn't get a steady line up - stop start stop start etc. Out of the blue a few months back a guitar player who'd been in one version of the band that never was rang me and he was reforming his old long term band with folk who'd all been in it at various times but needed a bass player. So - off we go again. Tonight is our first gig - I'm not too happy about the drive into Sheffield but I'm glad to be back on stage. Been to see a couple of bands recently and I felt like a spare part standing in an audience. I feel at home on a stage. I swore no more rock bands but a covers rock band we are. 'Age appropriate rock' , I call it ! A lot of the set I was doing 40 years ago ! Anyway I feel a bit weird after so long a gap. I keep thinking there's something I've forgotten about gigging and I keep checking everything like nervy folk do. I'm sure a lot of you seasoned gigging players have either been out of the game and returned or are currently out of it but about to return so I'm sure many of you know the feeling , however alien it is to me. That's it - just a bit of waffle to let you all know that at 61 I'm far from finished yet and I can feel the cocky bar steward inside me fighting to let 'em have it again !

This is mine. kiwi's cat.mp4

Hope you get it back soon. @Jon Read you are a welcomed new member. If you want to buy anything I have for sale there's a 10% discount.

Played outside last night. Yep, you read that correctly. The place has a huge covered courtyard, open to the elements both ends, and we set up in a line. The space we had to work with was long but narrow so the drummer had to go at the end. The sound was weird, our drummer plays with finesse and a light touch. I couldn't hear him for much of the gig, he couldn't hear me at all. I set up a kick drum mic in the break and fed it to my in ears which helped keep us locked in but increased the weirdness of the sound. On the positive side, they loved us, and we're definitely coming back next year for a few more dates. I played through a PA cab to save space so I can car share for tonight's gig. Used an amp sim on my Mooer Prime P1 and it sounded fine. Decided to give my Impure Guitars, Luna bass a run out. It was very lovely.

After an unexpectedly quiet couple of weeks, I got to use the WB-100 last night for a semi-regular dep. It's unreal... I genuinely struggle to explain it, but the detail and the - yes, I'm going to say it - heft is remarkable. It's just effortlessly dynamic. Here's a clip from a camera capturing the stage sound. The amp was barely ticking over. So much headroom.

Just got back from a gig at Trillians Rock bar in Newcastle. Went well. Good sound and great turnout. Long journey though 2.5 hours there and 2.5 back. Certainly wouldn't want to do that regularly.

I just put together an EMG based P bass with a roasted maple neck and, I think, a Meranti body from Gear4Music. So far so fun! The body is very light and resonant, the EMG's clear, authoritative and very unforgiving of bad technique (uh oh!). I was really inspired by ead's limelight build: Though I'm not there yet I do have 2 EMG p pickups, so this is step one of getting somewhere close. I think I'll need an alder body with the double reverse P routed in. Or maybe a body blank as I found the drilling of the bridge and neck pocket much less difficult than I thought. Anyway, some pictures (I know it's not exactly a looker...):

I want to see people's faces when I wheel that rack with the four Terror Basses and a pair of SVT4's ininto The Old Dog & Botfly.

I too 'retired' from playing in 2019 - tried again in '21, but nothing came up.... Got the bug again this year - re-equipped, but then....nothing. Getting a bit depressed about various things (life wasn't great), hadn't played in a month or two, and was debating if my time up really had come. Out of the blue, an old contact (who gets very good gigs) messaged me about something new. Kind of chap that when he gets in touch, it's a case of 'where and when' - you know it's going to be good. First rehearsal next week, dates booked next month already. Immediate practice regime suddenly regimented......nice to have my focus back. Good luck tonight, DD - you'll smash it! 😁

Great night. We hadn't played at that pub for many years. Easy setup parked outside, quick setup. Got started but the sound was a bit weird. Had to turn the bass down to half the level of last week, and turn the PA up full, and still the little alto speaker wasn't even showing hte clip light, so not sure what the issue there was. Still, got a good sound in the end and there was much dancing and singing. There were a couple dancing on a table which looks like it was going to give, but somehow it seemed to survive!

Nice work sir 👍

Surely no musician wants quiet fans. A bit of cheering and applause is the minimum really.

As some of you will know my solution to singer problems was to become one ! Clearly this isn't for everybody but I would say this about it. Don't ever tell me you can't sing. What you mean is you don't sing. Because of that you haven't learned how to use your voice - what suits it etc etc. When you started playing bass how good were you ? Gigging standard 5 mins after you first picked one up ??? Of course not - you took time to practise and learn new skills and your competence grew. Same with singing.

Friday night gig, not as many out as we would of liked, sign of the times I guess. Still the Ashdown rig had a good blast.

Just started up with a new band. Mature people, no prima donna's. It has all suddenly become enjoyable. I still chat with the old rhythm guitarist. They asked him to play bass. He told them where to stick it This is all water under the bridge now and I posted it at the time in part for reassurance. Given so much time I'm firmly aware that it was down to this guitarist and his personal issues. Sad as I put a lot of work in. It wasn't ever about artistic nuances. It was about his inability to play a consistent structure and then having a hissy fit when I politely mentioned it. Peter

Thank you so much, I can see some hope now

Suggest you PM the OP as well! As a newbie you may not be aware, if you click on the OP's avatar you will bring up their page and there will be a contact place.

You sound like one of them experts. We don't like experts these days.

Got it back yesterday, a very rare Peavey TL-Six (Tim Landers signature first edition, circa 1989). Amazing bass for sure.

Jaco's cat only needed 4 strings

An unlined electroconductive fretless neck that administers small electric shocks for bad intonation. What a source of mirth that would be.

I get the feeling you want an unlined fretless. Maybe santa will be good to you Dave 😂

Late to the party but this is going to be easy and probably sound a bit like a stuck record 😁 Fender: Make a standard US Jazz and Precision with an unlined fretless neck. Ideally an Ebony board but Rosewood is fine as long as its unlined then that'll do. Fender: Make an American Vintage or Japanese FSR Precision with an unlined fretless neck based on your original 70's and first fretless bass. Even better if you made two, one with a maple fretless neck and another with a rosewood fretless neck. Musicman: Make an EB SR4 with an unlined fretless neck. Even better if you offered a choice of board woods. Ibanez: Make a Japanese SR with an unlined fretless neck. Even better if it's pretty with fancy woods and finishes. Ibanez: Make a modern day version of the Ibanez Musician with an unlined fretless neck. Yamaha: Just make a fretless bass god dammit and make it mid to high end with an unlined fretless neck. Other: Someone make me a pedal so that I sound like a cello, with the option to have lots of reverb or delay for long sustained notes and also octave so I sound like an orchestra 😁

Started on the truss rod channel this afternoon. First job was getting it in the correct position and drawing round it. Then with a straight edge clamped in place along the lines, scored it with a Stanley knife. Then followed up with a chisel pressed in all the way around. And out with the freshly sharpened 6mm chisel to remove the wood. Tested the rod in place. Managed to get most of the way there, only a couple of mm to go, but had to down tools for the evening. Should be able to get it finished tomorrow and then I can look at getting the fretboard in place.

I've always worked on the 'no @rsehole' principle. No amount of talent is worth it, life is too short. As difficult as it might be, if your vocalist has reached that point, life, and music, will be much better in the long run.

Test fitting the preamp. Loads of room! waiting on the audio transformer for the balanced DI output

Personally I would be looking to replace him, life is too short to put up with rude unhelpful and unwilling people. If you find a half decent vocalist you should be up and running after a couple of rehearsals if you give them a detailed list of what needs to be sung. Even more so if you allow them a music stand, it’s not like you are asking them to remember a long set of lyrics. I went to my first rehearsal in ages last night, and I was asked to try some new songs which I had never sung before and wasn’t familiar with. 2 listens to the songs while everyone had a loo break and I was pretty much able to get through them problem free with lyrics on my phone. My point is that you can achieve a lot with a positive attitude and some willing, so try and find someone like that.

He has a big coat

Love that colour one day I’ll have one. I think I would put white pickup covers and an aged pearl pick guard on it to match my Stingray.

Richard of York. Supergrass

Since my contribution to this thread I've acquired some cheap wood. First an 80s Kay neck through which was given to me in a right state. I stained the wings and lacquered it, (it does have strings now 😉). Next a 90s Encore precision copy found in a charity shop. After a thorough clean and polish, some extensive neck/fret work and a Tonestyler pickup it really is a great bass with some lovely grain in the body and fretboard.

Where are the resin fingerboard fretless basses? And I don't mean high end stuff like Pedulla used to make (as good as it was), but something at a reasonable cost like the old Squier VM jazz, now sadly out of production.

If I may share my experience - which is limited to a single stolen bass. No research was done whatsoever. In this instance, I visited the local Cash Generator as soon as I'd noticed the bass was missing - which was shortly before shops closed due to Covid. I gave them details of the bass then - assured me they'd keep an eye open. I followed up with a message via Facebook messenger, with the serial number and photos - which was acknowledged and they again assured me they'd be on the lookout. I've also spread the message far and wide - here, Facebook, guitar shops etc. Fast forward to when the shops re-open... I receive a message from a good Samaritan, saying that his interest was peaked by a Gumtree ad for a Fender Jazz at a bargain basement price (£180!). He suspected it may be hot, so googled the serial number from the pics and found me. It turns out the ad was placed by a different branch of Cash Generator - and they'd just sold it! I did manage to get it back thankfully. It turns out my local branch bought the bass - and very quickly transferred it to the other branch. The reason given to the police, wasn't that they knew it was hot - just that they thought it would sell better in the other branch. My wife's spoke to the selling branch (before discovering it wasn't them who bought it) - she suggested that they'd have found out very quickly if it was stolen by just googling the serial number. That's not part of their process apparently. Apologies for the slight thread hijacking - I do truly hope you get this back, and hope the uniqueness of the bass works in your favour. George

If you want to give me his mobile, I can happily text him the gist of this thread, start the ball rolling so to speak? 😂

We used to have this in an old band. I'm now I'm a band with people more on my wavelength and the number of times I've said "I can't stand this song, but I'll do it" and I end up either enjoying an aspect of playing it or recognising the audience enjoys it, that's enough for me. It's when people refuse without trying because they don't like it, don't know it, didn't like the video, their brother had it on vinyl and wouldn't let them listen to it... Or best yet my old drummer "NOBODY KNOWS THIS SONG!!" For Bad Case of Loving You by Robert Palmer. The people at the Grammy Awards who voted it best rock vocal of 1979 knew it.l, so I'd be willing to bet a fiver an average pub crowd might be able to hum the chorus.

All bass manufacturers: Roll the damn fingerboard edges - It makes any bass (or geetar) feel much better to play; its not difficult to do and doesn't take long, but often (i.e. on all maple necks) should be done before the finish is applied.

All amp manufacturers who make small/class D etc amps should include basic rack ears or at least make them affordable as an aftermarket purchase!

When these bridges came out (about ten years ago), I swapped out three or four on my Thunderbirds. The Hipshot was a country mile ahead of the stock three-pointer. Moving slightly forward, give some consideration to the Babicz replacement, which in my opinion is a country mile better than the Hipshot. Interestingly, the design kind of apes the old three-pointer as well, so it looks a bit more in keeping with what it's there to replace.

I translated my review! The design of this bass is almost seventy years old. In fact, if you count its predecessor too (and the difference between those two is marginal) it’s óver seventy years ago Leo Fender released his Fender Precision Bass design, and almost three quarters of a century later it’s still a big hit. But if you look at this particular bass closely, it’s basically a very expensive wooden board with strings, right? The American Vintage series is a series that Fender has been making for many years now, under different names, but always with reissues of a particular iconic year. They make instruments that should look and feel like they were built forty, fifty or sixty years ago. This Precision is no exception. The classic single coil pickup (replaced in 1957 by the famous split coil), a one piece maple neck and not much else on it. Still this design has a certain something. It is of course a classic design, like the Fiat Panda or a Chesterfield couch, but apart from that, it’s a very balanced design that above all is supposed to be functional and simple. Right, enough nostalgia about days of the past. This is a bass that was designed a long time ago, but this particular instrument is brand new and has to conform itself to the demands of the modern day and age. Is this almost 2500 costing bass fit for today’s stage? Well, for a start you have to have pretty big hands, especially on the left. The neck isn’t just made from one piece of maple, it feels like Fender has used an entire maple tree for it. It improves the stability of course, but it’s going to be a (literal) handful for people with small hands, or for those who are used to thinner necks. Let’s just call it an acquired taste. Apart from the chunky neck the first thing that strikes me is the way this bass is built: it’s flawless. The see-through blond finish is perfect, the frets are great, the hardware works excellently (warning: the tuners turn the other way!) and the setup from the factory is also very comfortable. There are periods in Fender history where the quality control was so-so, but those days are long gone and this bass is a perfect example of that. This bass is equipped with flatwound strings as standard, which I think is absolutely required: that’s the way it was designed, that’s the way it’s supposed to be. Funny feature too: on the original basses from 1954, the bridge saddles were made of some kind of pressed fiber as a successor of bakelite, and on this reissue Fender has put “fiber” saddles too. No clue as to what this fiber consists of, but it certainly looks the part. A Precision bass must sound like “grunt”. Well, this bass certainly does that. It doesn’t matter which amp you use, “grunt” is what you get. Most people know the classic grunt from a split coil Precision like on old Motown records, but this grunt is different. It has less low end and it sounds a bit rougher, possibly partly because of the higher output than a split coil Precision. It feels and sounds like there’s already a bit of overdrive on your sound. Is that an issue? Not at all, on the contrary: you get this rootsy kind of sound that fits perfectly with the image of this bass. Let’s go back to that neck. As said, it’s pretty chunky. I don’t want to imply that that makes it uncomfortable to play, not at all. Playing this bass for an hour is an absolute joy. The balance is great, the neck isn’t very inviting to play fast licks (but let’s be honest: with a sound and feel like this, you don’t want to play fast anyway) and before you know it you’ve been playing the entire Motown and Stax repertoire. And when you’re finished doing that, grab your pick and play all Carol Kaye songs you know. But it’s 2022 now and I feel I’m getting nostalgic again. So out with the old, in with the new! Dua Lipa, Harry Styles, Tame Impala, the whole shebang. And lo and behold, even with the most recent and modern music, this bass shines. A nice, balanced sound with which you can do anything you like. Well, as long as it contains “grunt”. So yes, this is a wooden board with strings. And that’s exactly what makes it successful: you can do everything with it, because it doesn’t force you to do anything in a specific genre. A Precision always fits, and this American Vintage Precision is no exception. It isn’t cheap, but you could do all your gigs with it. As long as it contains “grunt”.