Leaderboard

I've told this on here previously, so apologies if you've read it before. I used to play the fiddle (still do, butrarely do gigs these days) and frequently played for ceili bands. One Burns night, my band was booked to play at a Burn's Supper in a banqueting hall in London. It was quite a grand occasion - men in DJs and kilts, women in ball gowns. A tradition at the opening of Burns Suppers is that the haggis is carried ceremonially into the hall, accompanied by a bagpiper. It is placed on the top table, the MC will recite Burns's "Address to a Haggis" and then cut into it with his dagger, which signifies the start of dinner itself. The band will often play background music before and during dinner and then play for dancing once the meal is finished. We were sat on stage, playing, when the bagpiper arrived (we didn't know him. He had been booked by the organisers). He was completely plastered. Pipers on Burns Nights can often clean up - they play at a series of events (they are only needed for a few minutes), accept a dram (or two) and their fee and move on to the next one. Our hero had obviously fulfilled a number of prior engagements. He could still walk in a straight line and play, so he was sent into the hall, followed by the chef carrying the haggis and the MC. The procession arrived at the table, which was on stage on front of the band. They climbed the steps, the chef placed the haggis on the table and the MC stepped forward to read the address. The piper stood to one side and, no doubt due to the quantity of booze he had consumed, lost control of his bowels for a moment. He was wearing his kilt in the traditional manner, so there was nothing to catch the product of his lapse, which plopped onto the stage between his feet. He shifted to one side, stepped on it, slipped and his foot shot up, flinging pieces of it over the diners sitting at the front tables. The band rushed off stage and howled with laughter in the dressing room whilst the cleaning staff hastily did their stuff. The evening did carry on, but it took some time to sort things out.

Fender Road-Restored Series - an innovative line of instruments carefully relic'd by the Custom Shop, to simulate years of hard road use, then lovingly refinished and restored to as-new condition by the Custom Shop. All the mojo of a vintage instrument without any evidence of it. Be careful your tears don't mark that pristine finish when you see the price. Buy two today!

2023 board update after swapping over a few long standing additions. Very happy with this set up at the mo... it's really got my creative juices flowing. Signal chain for those of you that geek out over that stuff... Input > Boss OC-5 Octave > Dr. Scientist Frazz Dazzler > Source Audio After Shock > Red Panda Bitmap 2 > GFI Synesthesia > Boss SL-2 Slicer > Dr. Scientist Dusk (+ Moog EP3 Expression Pedal) > Digitech Whammy Ricochet > Source Audio Collider (a) > Source Audio Collider (b) > TC Electronic Polytune2 > Output All mounted to a Pedaltrain Classic 2, connected with EBS flat gold patch cables and powered by a CIOKS DC7.

The Fender Precision 2050 Reissue series: Our Custom Shop, left to their own devices due to everything being done by CNC, developed a time machine, and went 27 years into the future only to discover that the basses we'll be making then are, yes you guessed it, exactly the same as those we're making now albeit with more and more desperate series names. So, we proudly present the Fender 2050 Reissue Precision, which was itself a reissue of our 2023 Precision, albeit at a 1000% markup that we have of course had to pass on to you, our devoted customers' The Fender 2050 Reissue Precision Series

Fender Fretless Precision - Oxymoron Bass

Referring to my previous post, this was the purchase alluded to:

Grand tarkins hitting the store tomorrow guys

Is your Geddy not ready? Is your Jaco all whacko? Does your Joe Dart sound like a slow fart? Put Jamerson to shamerson with the Fender Youtuber Deluxe Series - add lovers to your covers with Fender's patented Infinitune real-time pitch and time correction software so your covers always sound good, even if you're playing "Bad".

Loose draft with the capo missing… I can flip the capo/broadcast up and bring the modulation down but odds are I will use the gain stages more than modulation, and the capo can do with the patchbay if I feel like it for the DI’s but also I’ll most times use the DI from the amp… PSU goes of course under 😅

It has arrived with Sandberg UK! With a bit of luck it will get into my hands before the weekend! Cannot wait! Just need to buy some good strings for it.

I've posted this elsewhere, but the one when the vocalist had spent the previous few days smoking a large bag of weed. Not eating, or attending to personal hygiene or anything, just smoking the weed. Come the day of the gig, someone had to go get him as he hadn't turned up. He shambled on stage and instead of singing, he just made squealing and moaning sounds. The very much shortened first set was ended when his mother dragged him off stage, and drove him to a mental health facility.

So I have these two bad boys to compare: On the left is what was a typical AliExpress "Chickenbacker", and on the right is a Rickenbacker 4003 from 2018. The Chickenbacker has been upgraded with Retrovibe pickups, treble mount and knobs. The cheeky Rickenbacker logo printed onto the truss rod cover has also been sanded off. I thought it interesting to compare the two basses, so here's some stats: Rickenbacker Chickenbacker Scale Length 33 1/4" 34" Nut Width 42mm 40mm String Width (nut) 34mm 33mm String Width (bridge) 52mm 55mm Frets 20 22 Body Depth 32mm 43mm Truss Rod Dual Single Ric O Sound Yes No The neck on the Chickenbacker feels chunkier, but not in an unpleasant way. It's just more like a Fender Precision or Musicman Stringray than the Rickenbacker. The bridges on both basses are terrible designs, and I notice that Rickenbacker have recently introduced a more practical design as well as a single truss rod on current production 4003 basses. The worst aspect of the Chickenbacker bridge is that there's no height adjustment for individual strings, and the bar that the saddles sit on is flat so it doesn't allow for the radius of the fretboard. I solved this by having the little metal pieces that sit under the E and G strings ground down. In terms of build quality, the Chickenbacker's only production flaw is a sightly uneven binding at one point on the neck. Meanwhile, the Rickenbacker suffers a common issue - the treble pickup is not straight. This is a common problem, which I assume is left unaddressed because as the bass leaves the factory it has the plastic cover over it, but it becomes an issue if you want to fit a plastic "treble bezel". Sound wise, they are very similar despite the difference in scale length and the treble pickup being closer to the bridge on the Chickenbacker. As for price - the Rickenbacker is around £3,200 to £3,800 if you can find one and this particular Chickenbacker was £320 shipped from China (plus £150 for the Retrovibe upgrades).

Hi folks It’s always a good day when a new bass comes into the fold. I know many members here on Basschat will be aware of the extraordinary instruments built by Alan Cringean of AC Guitars based in Dumfries, Scotland. I have 3 ACG basses already however this is my first fretless and with many hours spent on this bass I just wanted to comment on how glorious it is. This Recurve model is built using Turkish walnut top with gold resin on a swamp ash body. The neck is an ebony fingerboard on an ash/wenge neck. The pickups are an ACG FB Humbucker at the neck and an ACG BZ1 pickup at the bridge. This is my first time using the BZ1 pickup and it’s the best pickup I’ve ever heard. It delivers such a rich, solid and versatile tone that compliments the FB humbucker perfectly. The preamp is the ACG Dual Filter Modular 4k type. Volume, blend and low pass filter control for each pickup allowing for very accurate and versatile adjustment of tone which I’ve found extremely useful playing in different venues with varying acoustics. The DFM developed between ACG and John East has recently been made available separately so if you’re in the market for a filter preamp the quality and versatility of the ACG DFM is in my opinion the best. Hardware is by Gotoh and I opted for a mix of gold and black hardware to go with the gold walnut body which I think goes pretty well. The playability is exceptional. It’s a lined fretless with Luminlay dots on the side of the neck. The ebony fingerboard provides a wonderful balance of both warmth and brightness delivering all that luscious fretless mwah you could hope for. The strings are Dunlop flatwounds. Ive never used them before but so far I’m really enjoying them. I’m not sponsored or affiliated with ACG in anyway I just think that the instruments Alan builds are world class plus he has always been extremely responsive to any questions or queries I’ve had. I can’t fault the customer service at all. Alan is an absolute gent. If you’re in the market for a custom build have a good look through the ACG website on builds and options. Alan also does some stock builds which does take some of the pain out of trying to make your mind up on the various custom options available. ACG basses are world class in every department so If you’re aiming for a custom bass then seriously consider trying one out. Just be warned once you start it’s hard to stop 😀 Loving this bass is an understatement really. It’s exquisite and I can’t thank Alan enough for it. Enjoy the pics. Cheers Stuart

Thanks very much. It’s a good one, too. Lighter than any of my others. I haven’t weighed it but it’s certainly below 9 pounds. Original frets, which is nice with the bound neck. Clean original case and ashtrays. Minor checking, but exactly the right type for CAR, close, straight parallel lines, which is reassuring, along with previous ownership from before they were worth faking to a forensic standard. Only minor issues, an extra screw hole under the scratchplate and the changed scratchplate itself. No point in worrying about that as there is less than zero chance of getting an authentic replacement. A visit to Martin Petersen resulted in a straight neck, excellent playability and a happy customer. To play, it has a full-ish neck for a JB, but still very comfortable, a full, bright vintage tone with exceptional harmonics. I’m always on the lookout for another, of course. The same as everyone else here😀

Hey all! This is Sonia from Nordstrand (hence the NordyGrrl moniker.) Sorry I don't spend as much time on here. I'll try and be more diligent. OK V2: • it is not a replacement for V1 • it's tonal range lies on the upper end and overlaps a bit on the higher end of V1, which sits more on the lower end. • the guts are assembled here and installed into the V1 bodies. • were are not currently selling the guts as a drop into the V1. I don't see that happening anytime soon There will not be a longer version of these basses. A 5 string will happen at some point but not manufactured for a couple of years at least. Hipshot does manufacture the heads and bridges. Screws were a little loose on a few bridges of the first run, (problem solved with a little loctite glue.) Mainly folks were not installing their strings properly. The current batches are extra tight, so hipshot must have heard your cries. Black bridges are not available. If you want a fretless, you can order a fretted and put fretless in the notes. The price is the same. (we only have one de-fretted neck available at this time, but you do have a choice between white lines or black, so please specify) First come first served. I'm sure to have missed other questions, so you can tag me in questions and I'll try to keep up.

Now wired… I do have to say these rockboards have a better quality than Pedaltrain IMO - even the sticky sides of the Velcro dare I say. it just all fits to the very edges with no pedals hoovering over the board, my OCD is in paradise. Turns out, all pedals work after my cabling in. I love a good CS6 truetone with a kettle lead but these Harley Benton power supplies are amazing. 2 variable 9/12/18v outs, 8 isolated outs and dead silent for £60.

And don't forget what the tabloids are calling "greedflation", unscrupulous retailers hitching their own extra percentage on the back of inflationary price rises.

Not as bad as the Fender Jizz Bass.....

Very similar indeed to mine! My first amp - in 1977 - was built by my brother (who was pretty good at that stuff, went on to be an electrical engineer at Marconi), he even built in a fuzz circuit. I made the cab from the wooden carcass of an old TV, with the 2 speakers from my Dad’s old Pye radiogram. Needless to say, the speakers completely blew the first time I hit low E at band practice 🙁 Like most at the time, we recorded ourselves on one of those crappy little cassette recorders with piano key buttons.

The Squier I'm Too Poor For A Fender series The Fender We'll Add A New Colour Scheme And Hope Nobody Notices We Haven't Fundamentally Changed Anything For 70 Years series The Sadowsky I'm Getting Old So Need To Ensure My Name Lives On After My Death Line series The Sadowsky Covid Put A Big Dent In My Sales So I'll Outsource My Cheapest Range To China And Suspend My Principles To Sell Units Express series The Sire Quality And Quantity Is Possible series

That would be funnier than Frank's anecdote, except there's a rumour Frank was the piper...

Ordered a Lionel short scale VS4 passive, but going with the Superlight woods for hopefully the smallest lightest solid bass on the planet. Now the 12 month wait begins for delivery. But, surprise upon surprise... that would just about match up with my 50th birthday and the missus offered that it be my present! I was not expecting that! Going with black, rosewood board with abalone dots. Chrome hardware. Something like this: I'm already impatient!!

Yeah show me how it’s done, I’m new here…

Well, we have had Professional, Performer and Player basses from Fender. What we need now is: Fender Session: A new chambered ash body designed to give a lightweight and resonant bass, perfect for long SESSIONS where playability and comfort are required; and Fender Sustain: A environmentally conscious design where all metals and plastics on the instrument are made from recycled materials and a body made from recycled composite wood and a gig bag made entirely from organic hemp. Made in Mexico from parts shipped from China by diesel fuelled container ships.

Hofner Bootle Bass - a subtle variation on the original Mersey sound..

Announcing the new “Fender Bender” model range - For the ultimate in that road-worn look, your instrument is lovingly and authentically run over in the Fender Custom shop car park, using an original ‘57 Chevrolet once owned by Elvis himself 😎

I've recently got an MPC Key 61 which I think is great. The positives that most reviewers say (hardware, workflow, sounds) are all true. I don't agree with the downsides that a few reviews point out (Bugs, slow to load sounds, cheaper to get an MPC One and add a midi keyboard). 1. Bugs: I haven't experienced any bugs. Akai are known to release things with bugs and then quickly release updates to fix them, so if you get something thats been released for a few months it is fine - the reviews complaining about bugs seem to be testing shortly after the release date. 2. Load times: Some plugins do take upto about 6 seconds to load, most are much faster though and there are no load times for plugins within the loaded project. I don't think it's an issue for most keys players, possibly an issue if used as a stand-alone DJ type performance tool and you want gapless transitions between songs. In demos criticising load times people seem to be navigating around the main menu and into different large plugins to switch sounds for live keys use - that kind of seems like user error, the equivilant of standing up to make a presentation and complaining it takes time to navigate folders in Windows and then load up your overly large Powerpoint files - rather than using a combination of shortcuts, reducing excessive file sizes, and files already loaded and open and ready to use. The MPC is instant to select between plugins you've put within a project (upto 8 plugins per project, plus many more sample based things with keygroups and drum programs), you scroll through them and the sound changes instantly. Or in key layout view you can also use the drum pads to instantly switch multiple plugins: e.g. on that screen it's set so drum pad #1 turns piano on/off, #2 to turn Clav on/off etc. (pad #2 is red so Clav is turned off). Can also touch on the screen to turn them on/off and drag the bars for overlap & playing multiple sounds at once. I'd have thought that's plenty of instantly accessible sounds - at least for quite a few songs for most live keys players. Admittedly, if you are a keys player and need switch between more than those 8 plugins without loading/overwriting then you'll need to switch between projects - there is a 'setlist' shortcut to make navigation fast but project loading can take up to about 10 seconds with large projects and the sound cuts out while loading. I don't imagine that is much of an issue for most keys players though as they probably don't need large project files (and 8x plugins and multiple keygroups is possibly enough for a whole set so they perhaps don't need to change program at all - or at least not every song), and generally that type of performance has gaps between songs anyway. ....where it is more of an issure is if wanting gapless transitions for a stand-alone DJ type performance where you have large project files that include sequencing and automation and drum tracks and multiple samples and plugins etc because you'll have to have silence as you switch between those large projects. This is potentially an issue for some as the MPC Key sits in that grey area of 'keyboard/stand-alone DJ type performance tool' and if using it for the latter you don't want to be forced to have 10 second silent gaps between every song. In an ideal world you'd be able to load up a setlist with a few projects and there would be no load times between them, or some way of allowing limited sounds (even just triggering a single sample, or allowing trails) to play while the new ones load. Adding a delay pedal after the MPC to trail off through project transitions could be a solution (I've been eyeing up the Boss RE-202 for a long time!). 3. Value vs adding keyboard to MPC One: There's more to it than just being an MPC One plus a keyboard: £350 of additional decent plugins (Piano, Organ, Strings, 2x synths), extra buttons and touch strip (with things like dedicated 'note repeat' button and lit up note division values along the strip - not things you'd get on an external controller), many more ins/outs, 4GB RAM (vs 2GB), 32GB internal storage (vs 4GB), internal SSD instead of SD slot, wifi (which makes it genuinely 'stand-alone') and bluetooth, kettle lead (vs external adapter). I agree with a review that said it is more than the sum of its parts, workflow and usability are key and having everything in one dedicated unit really helps with that.

Sad offsky, nice

Fender Permission Bass - carefully crafted to look exactly like all our other basses so you don't have to worry about sneaking another one in..... PS - But really, if you have to do this, have a word with yourself 😁

eBay misspellings provide some interesting Fender model names, the Fender Percission, Percussion, and Prescription Basses being all time favourites (although the last has some medical merit of course)

The Warwick 'Emperor's New Clothes Streamer' bass

Fender "Decal Only" series - random home builds where brand junkies have affixed a Fender logo for some reason

Squier Antipathy series

I am not suprised the results were poor if your 'drummer' kept hitting the pots and pans with one of those (the tape recorder)😁

Youse lot were all proper lucky! Me and my mates Swamp and Sgav attempted to record our "band" live (me on terrible sounding Farfisa copy organ, Swamp on Kays Cataloge bass through Winfield 25w amp and Sgav hitting Swamp's mum's pots'n'pans) using one of these: Results were poor... But then that's not surprising with the lyrics of one song beginning: I wish I was a paramecium Life would be so very eacium (nick it if you want 😁)

I think I might 'win' for this weekend just gone, if you indeed call it winning....... The venue was an engagement party at a rugby club in a fairly rough town in Somerset. The bride to be was slightly overweight, and in a short-ish glittery red dress. The groom to be was rather thin, and appeared to be missing some of his upper row of teeth. Both were probably in their late forties. The first set went well playing-wise, but with a limited crowd reaction, mainly some head nodding and clapping but without leaving the table, or indeed even getting up. However, the bride to be was almost constantly dancing and trying to cajole others to join in, bless her. The odd one or two did, briefly, then sat down again. At half time we all felt a bit 'meh', agreed it was just 'one of those parties', and the drummer said "I hope we don't get the wedding gig". Two songs into the second set, in the middle of a (requested) Wonderwall, and a very flustered barmaid came running up to me saying "Stop playing, stop everything, the party is over". I thought Wonderwall was sounding just fine, too. None of us like it, but I'd assumed we'd hidden that fact rather well. However, said barmaid went on to explain that there was a lady who'd taken ill in the toilets and an ambulance was on its way. She also said that at a wake a few weeks ago someone else had collapsed but "the rest just kept on enjoying themselves, and I'm not having that again". Okay, noted, and we started to pack down, just as the main room lights came on. The next update was about five minutes later, when we were told that it was actually the bride to be who'd collapsed, she wasn't breathing and her heart had stopped, but the deployed defibrillator had done its job, and she was coming round slowly. We asked that our collective best wishes be passed on to her, and fully observed the gravitas of the situation whilst packing down in virtual silence. She left in the ambulance whilst we carried on putting everything away and loading out, and randomly glancing in the general direction of the bar in amazement................where we could still see the groom to be, with his pint, propping up the bar i.e. certainly not in the ambulance, and definitely not hotfooting it to the hospital, to be with his betrothed. His friends occasionally put a consoling arm around him. Oh well, what works for some couples doesn't always work for others, I guess. Afterwards, we deduced that we probably wouldn't get the wedding gig after all. People, eh?

Fender Incision Bass, cuts through the mix