Leaderboard

This is my first Gibson bass in 47 years. My first and only other Gibbo bass, was an EB2 semi. It was my first "name" bass. All I can remember was is was nice and easy to play, sounded great on it's own but didn't really cut it with the rock band I was in at the time. About 3 years before the EB2 , I had a Columbus EB3 copy, shown in the very dodgy pic below. Taken 50 years ago, so fair enough. One of my very early bass heroes, other than Macca, was Jimmy Lea, from Slade. This was before I had discovered what is now called, Classic Rock. He was a very decent player and I remember taking ages to work out the bass to Slade's version of Move Over. Anyway, now a lot older and not much wiser, I drove down to Birmingham, to do a trade for this SG Bass, with Dave808 from this forum. Dave is a very aimiable chap and we had a good chat as we checked each other's basses out. The SG was all it had been described as and to my delight, did not neck dive. Hooray! Why Gibson stopped calling them EB3s I do not know. Perhaps they thought it confused folk. The body is mahogany and as the name suggests, is SG shaped. It has a replacement Hipshot Supertine bridge, although I have the rather awful, original, Gibson 3-point bridge, as well. The neck pickup is a wopping humbucker, the bridge's is a mini humbucker. These are controlled by 2 volumes and a single tone knob, that are black tophat style with silver inserts. The mahogany neck has a corian nut, rosewood fingerboard and acrylic dot markers. It has a scale of 30.5 inches and 20 frets. This Bass has a satin, nitrocellulose finish. Starting it's life in 2011, this 12 year old bass is in very good order. I had tried a brand new Gibson Standard SG last year. The one with the gloss finish and block markers. It was a real looker and had some gorgeous tones but the killer was the neck dive. I play with the bass in a more diagonal position, standing. That new SG bass didn't just want to slide to a horizontal position, it slid very rapidly toward the floor. I know there are a million and one ways to try to sort this but I didn't feel inclined. Anyway, when I was talking with the Dave808, he said it did not neck dive, though he took the precaution of using a wide, suede strap. That was a big deal to me. TBH I do prefer the more glamourous look of the glossy SG Standard bass but that pales compared to a bass with little or no inclination to neck dive and has already had the god awful 3-point bridge replaced by a far more useable and better quality Hipshot. I also like the way the bass's finish has aged. With use, it is a lot glossier than it would have been new. The back of the neck and fretboard are nice and smooth and very pleasant to play. The action is low and solid, just how I like it. It came with LaBella flats on. Heaven to many but I'll be replacing them with Elixirs. On plugging in, I was very pleasantly surprised by the pickups. Yes, they are a bit edgy and growly when pushed but the tone character is really good, with enough focus and bite to cut through, yet plenty of vintage body and warmth. Like with many 2 pickup basses I have owned, that have individual volume controls, rather than volume and pan (my preferred controls), my favourite tones came by having one pickup on ten (full) and the other on nine. Changing around, depending on whether you are going for deep and full or want a bit more bite. Overall then, a classic bass, with plenty of vintage appeal, in looks, sound and feel. Quite different from Fenders or many contemporary basses, it never the less is very useable in a band situation. Especially as I intend to use it in my 60s band. I'll now be using my Guild Starfire in my R&B Soul band.

We played a couple of gigs this week - in Peterborough and then at one of my favourite venues, Sheffield City Hall. For anyone who doesn't know it, this magnificent building was designed in the early 1920's but not opened until 1932. The Oval Hall holds around 2,200 people seated, and we had about 1,600 people in on Friday night. It's the first time we've ever brought in a 'flown' PA system, and it really made a difference. We've just acquired a new desk too (an Allen&Heath Avantis if anyone's interested) and it needed a fair old soundcheck in order to get everything right. Despite our singer fighting off a cold, we all played well and the audience were amazing - definitely one of the best gigs I've done with the band* over the last 13 years. *The ELO Experience

First gig of the year for me and a great crowd to start us off, up dancing and singing along all night. Lots of positive feedback on sound and we only seemed to have a couple of alien abduction moments and pretty much caught them or worked our way out of them (not sure I’d want to listen back to a recording 🤣) Bonkers end to the evening with a load of (very whizzed) girls in front of me screaming “we love you, you’re the best” 😳 Seen later outside vomiting over a wall next to the venue possibly at the realisation of what they’d done 🤣 I know someone who’s going to have a very sore head in the morning and wonder at the new follows and likes they’ve added to their social media feeds.

Hi guys just wanted to share something I’ve been working over the last 10 months This is my first custom built bass, started from zero, by drawing the bass in 3D (after tutorials on YouTube😂), then decided scale length, woods, hardware and electronics I have my own foderas so I based my draft on a similar shape of the Emperor, the result is a Hybrid monarch/emperor, with right shape to be easily played when sitting on a chair, headless with tuning bridge details 30,75 scale 5 strings B-G zero radius fretboard with SS Evo Gold frets ebony board mahogany back neck through hard Italian flamed maple graphite bars in the neck Flamed maple top nordstrand big singles + Mike pope preamp painted by hand with oil, 10+ layers here’s how it started And here’s the result

Yup arrived on time curtesy of Guitarguitar ,great service. Very good quality of finish for such a reasonable price point. MIC great neck finish, no sharp frets, lovely gloss finish just like the Gibson necks does not appear to be sticky at all. I could swear that the fretboard was rosewood but the spec states otherwise. No neck dive, a well balanced bass on strap or knee. Tuners seem fine and the tailpiece and two bolt bridge offer more than enough intonation adjustment. I don't feel the need to up grade the arrangement. I may possibly reverse the bridge to improve access to the intonation screwheads. Pickups sound fantastic. Neck PU has that familiar and faithful EBO timbre, bold, woody, deep forceful drive ( think of Felix Pappalardi in Mountain) . The TB Pro is positioned to offer both an EB3 honk ( think of Free's Mr Big) but also a driving Thunderbird vibe ( think of the Who & Entwistle). When the TB Pro is solo's there's even a smidgen of Stingray lurking. I feel that the control VBT loom would benefit from a @KiOgon upgrade to exploit the full potential of the Pups. Weight is around 3.7Kgs. For £350 it's a handsome bass, sounds great, reminds me of the '67 I once owned and is very close to the '64 I always wanted. I have read all the stuff regarding the p××s poor marketing launch but I am very content and pleased with this reissue that sounds and feels a great bass. BTW the neck profile is bang on like my Epiphone Alan Woody Rumble Kat. ( Forgot to say that the Newporter fits the Rumble Kat hard case "snugly") Congrats Epiphone for offering such a great Newport reissue.

The original Ric bass was a 4000 , the 4001 came later. Mine is a set neck mid 70’s version, it has not got binding so the edges are rounded , and has simple dot inlays on the fingerboard. There is no .0047 cap on the bridge pickup , and having just one pickup there’s no need for a toggle switch , just a simple tone and volume. To be honest I prefer just having two knobs. It’s simply a mono output without the stereo option. I thought I’d miss the extra pickup and knobs but actually did not at all. They did not make that many 4000 models after the 4001 was introduced , and many were converted to a two pickup layout. Curiously today , I’ve seen some people change 4003 basses to a 4000 style with a simple two knob harness and single pickup. There are some diehard 4000 players that swear it was the best thing Rickenbacker made.

We're still pulling off 3-4 gigs a week. It's a crazy schedule, but we're loving it. 23 has been 100% booked since last year and 24 is already well underway to being the same. Just finished another 3-show week. Every show has been packed and crowd always stays till we finish. Then we have a rough time loading out because everyone feels they need to talk to us. Anyhoo. Off today. Rehearsal tomorrow. Off Tuesday. Then gang busters again with gigs Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I've forgotten how to sleep.

Here are some photos for reference

I've never been in a band that was nominated for anything. Blue

The hole positions on the template were centre punched to ensure any drill doesn't go skidding around and the hole end up in the wrong place,, then pilot holes drilled, the very rear ones are just shallow dimples for the protruding screw heads on the underside to sit in ( these stop the sliding sections just coming out) The base units were then screwed down, using a bit of candle wax on the screw threads to assist their journey , luckily these screws had regular Phillips heads and went in fine without an arcane Japanese screwdriver. I put the saddle assemblies in approx position using the measurements taken previously, I could've mounted the base units a wee bit further back as it happens, but then the tuner knobs would have been sticking yet further out so I'm happy enough and should have ample intonation adjustment. Having got these in place I put some lubrication on the tuning barrel threads and nylon washers, for this I used Graphite rather than gooey stuff, ( courtesy of a carved up carpenters pencil lead ) Next get some strings on to see how everything sits..I used the old ones that came off the bass, the E was a bit tight thru the head 'block' but they all went on with a bit of bullying, I pulled them up but not to any kind of full tuning, they're sitting on BEAD at the mo .. The truss rod will need doing up again as I let it right off when it was de-strung anyway. As predicted the action is crazy high and I'll have to decide if I'm going to file a load of bits off the bridge units/saddles etc etc, or 'router out' some slots or a lowered table for the tuner / bridge units in the body itself.. Dunno as yet. ( nice shimmable bolt on neck for any future headless projects I think) Anyway as it stands at the mo I'm happy enough with it as a concept and reckon it potentially looks the part ! ...Again with a big tip of the hat to @Bassassin for his thread's inspiration .

Superglue. Smarts a bit when you apply it but that is what the cyanoacrylate glues were first developed for, emergency field treatment of wounds.

Just heard this... Such awful news. 😢 https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jan/28/tom-verlaine-frontman-and-guitarist-of-us-band-television-dies-at-73?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_OtherL One of the most influential yet underrated 'greats' IMHO. Time to put on Marquee Moon at full volume and pay my respects. RIP Tom.

Found on Facebook Marketplace... Vintage V940FL @ £110 Bubinga Body, Maple Neck, Rosewood Board... Vol and Blend w/ Active 2 EQ, 4.3kg. Old JHS 'Vintage' brochure show it was a 'New for 2003' Model... 2005 brochure shows the same model but with the 'Vintage' logo going across the top of the headstock, so a 2003/4 model. Cleaned Up, Oiled Up, Waxed Up, Adagio Flats, Quick Set-Up... Son is over the moon... looks n sounds nice.

Ulitmately, I went back to the gold scratch plate. ❤️

Me too Jack. I was fortunate enough to see Television in 1977 in the Free Trade Hall, Manchester. Blondie were the support band. That was a great gig.

They also fit perfectly into a laptop bag along with the cables for a fraction of the price if you don't need bullet proof protection. Good enough for throwing in the back of the car. 😉

Gnawing me gnawing you - ABBA

So after much soul searching and rumination, I’m back in the world of the EUB. A double bass was just not going to work due to space constraints and having researched extensively, I’ve settled on a lovely four string NS Design NXT advertised locally too me that’s been in the hands of a double bassist so the setup is perfect. The stand is working as expected for my dodgy thumb, and surprisingly the end pin also works because of the clever frame. Next challenge is to master arco, but that will lead me down the rabbit hole of bow selection, grip etc. First challenge - build up my chops to gig level.

My band played the Water Rats in Kings Cross on Thursday night. Everyone said we sounded great, which just goes to show how important a good sound man is! Thanks Emile!

It's a filter, but instead of your typical high pass filter as found in a tone control (using a capacitor, typically), it was intended as a notch filter (using an inductor), blocking some midrange frequencies and letting everything else through.

After looking for some years I completely fell for it after I finally bought one. And the more I played it the more comfortable I became with it. It eventually felt like home. I paid close to a market price for it at the time , but it was (and still is) in beautiful condition. There is something unique about the sound , and they are built differently from other basses. I had been a Pbass player. I had to learn how to properly adjust the old style truss rods , and I bypassed the .0047 cap on the bridge pickup to get the full output , I strung it with TI flatwound strings for that thump , and dealt with the weird bridge and the bizarre output construction. I became comfortable with the thin neck that had so little taper , the binding was never an issue for me. And I gigged it for years. I still get a little weak in the knees when I look at one. And after becoming familiar with their construction and quirks helped quite a few people set them to their preferences. So I’ve set up a good number of them over the years. Later I managed to get a set neck 4000 as well , which is a very , very different Ric. Today I usually play short scale basses , but I will always love and appreciate a nice Ric. I’m quite aware that many hate them , the Stingray is almost as divisive. … have one of those too.

I'm guessing it's a 20 minute video with about 3 mins of anything worth listerning too with the rest full of drivel....I've got a wife for that! 🤌

Eh up everyone! Long time reader, first time poster. I've been playing bass for just shy of 20 years. I started as a drummer, picked up bass as a good option for a second instrument (rhythm section and all that), and have played guitar on and off for about a decade, but bass became my main instrument. I Used to play in bands when I was a bit younger but had a bit of a hiatus from playing for the past three years, felt like it was time to get back to it and start playing again. I turned into a bit of a gear nerd at some point a long the way and amassed way to much stuff for my needs, so decided to part ways with anything collecting dust, get back down to basics and concentrate on getting back to playing, (rather than collecting). I enjoy a spectrum of heavy music. Whatever it is, it's got to have a good rhythm or a good groove to it. Worth saying I can always appreciated good musicianship even if it's in a genre of music that wasn't to my tastes. Cheers!

Both comments addressed in the video which started this thread 🙂 Scott gets knocked a lot on BC, so I'll stick up for him here. I agree the marketing can be is really annoying, but so are The Ordnance Survey and O2 Events. Just mark as junk or unsubscribe. His YT video style is over-enthusiastic, but the academy lessons are much more down-to-earth and genuinely really good. For ~£100/year (the cost of four pace-to-face lessons) I've learned way more than I would in four lessons. And being able to submit your playing videos for review - and see everyone else's as well - is great. 7pm this Monday there's a live seminar with Ariane Cap, John Patitucci's song studies are fablulous, and there is a load more. Back to Rickenbakers though. Which are the ones with the stereo / dual pickup output thing? Is that the "S" models?

Looking at their latest newsletter, they're no longer saying the new website will be up and running by the end of January - I can't say I'm surprised, must be a helluva task to spell everything correctly!

Aaah ha ha ha, you've got to love RIC. Probably the single most annoying thing on a 4003, and generally gets removed the quickest, is the pickup cover. So they just go f*** it, we'll put two on. Why not just put a complete sleeve from bridge to neck and tell you're not allowed to play it? 😄 And I like Ricks.

It's always a good idea to replace the seals while you've got the amp stripped down.

I'm sure I have NO IDEA what you mean. 😂

Good vid actually, pretty funny. They work well as a double act. More natural. One thing I picked up on though is the Peter Hook reference as a player. Hooky actually played a cheap faker because he couldn't afford a real Ric. Hooky hated playing that bass so as soon he made enough money to buy a proper bass, he bought a Yamaha.

A huge infuence on me musically back in the 70s. I always regretted never once getting the chance to see them perform Marquee Moon live.

It's a bit far for everyone. Even those who live there. 😂

As a band we all use IEMs with no backline and I've tried a fair few preamp pedals. Also, as a massive Gallien Krueger and Flea fan I always loved the 800RB sound so I went searcing for that sound and came across a small company in the US called DiCosimo. These are all handbuild in the US and until recently had been a one man operation. I took quite a big gamble getting this as, after tax etc, it cost about £340 to get it from the US. I've used mine with a US Jazz, Player & VIntera Precisions and with my current two basses - Warmoth Dinky Jazz with 18v EMGs & Status Graphite neck and EBMM Sterling 4HH I can honestly say that I have never had a bad sound and like the original 800RB I had, I still don't use the voicing filters 🙂 They also make an Acoustic 360+ pedal which is also meant to be great but I haven't tried that one This is my one below set for the Musicman using only the bridge pickup

Bribery and corruption at the highest level! You didn't go on to a career in FIFA did you?

Me neither. But I quite like Rickenbackers. 😁

More Than A Feline - Boston

You really need to understand compression to apply it and use it correctly. That is the important thing to remember with compression. You need to really understand it, the interaction of the different controls and what they are doing. My suspicion is that people buy a compressor pedal and assume it will be as obvious as a drive or delay, and when they don't get night and day results they dismiss them. But it's not an effect as such, more of a way of controlling your signal, so it's better to think of it more like a tool like you would EQ and high pass filtering. So can I respectfully ask you go and do your homework and then try again. You'll be amazed what compression can do for your tone, dynamics and feel once it is properly applied.

I used to be way more active on here and talked a lot about compression. But I got very bored of arguing sound engineering methods with bassists if I'm honest, and don't get engaged in it so much now. You have a very fine memory though if you are referring to this gem I put together based on the second talk I gave at an SE Bass Bash. The first was 2 hours long and covered a lot of compressor history and usage in music since the 1950s. I think most of the audience fell asleep 🤣 This us more about setting them up. http://web.archive.org/web/20130215154741/http://blog.basschat.co.uk/setting-up-a-compressor/ There are other posts of mine that delve into a method for single led compressor pedals that is fool proof a search for my babbling on compression will eventually uncover that one too. The archiving lost loads of the diagrams I'm afraid...

Hello everyone, Just thought I'd throw a little update out, as it's been nearly a year! Thank you so much for all those who have continued to drop in and say a few things. It really means a lot to me to hear that he impacted so many players in a positive way. He would absolutely love to talk "degrees of separation" with all this. I sometimes like thinking about the "chains of inspiration" which must exist from one player to the next... @Ace Bass, 1976/77, that is early! You must have been a guinea pig for some of his thoughts. I tried to find Neville Wills, are you referring to the guitarist associated with Bowie (https://www.bowiebible.com/features/live-band-personnel-1962-2006/)? Looks like the internet doesn't go back that far 😆. Anyway I'll keep an eye out for something in the house and report back. I have his diaries back to 1972 so I'll surely find something. Dad is in stable condition. I mean dementia only goes one way, but he is comfortable and doesn't know much else. I see him every Friday, and always have a nice chat about music theory or music history. I have many hours of voice recordings on my phone. We also made a start on the Beatles doc. However I only really get an hour of useful time out of him so it could take another year to finish that! Keep playing everyone, and have fun! That is all he ever wanted. Best Matt