Leaderboard

I saw this posted on Farcebook the other day and had to share it here. The Big Muff is its own pedal board... apparently the owner's fitted a power brick (presumably a small one) inside the Muff which powers all of the pedals, so the entire thing is self contained. I don't know if it's brilliant, or completely mental, or a combination of the two.

First time out with the new HB. Bandeoke in Bristol. Sounded glorious in the soundcheck.

Once satisfied it's time to go for it and lacquer the headstock face. Now it's time to remove the masking tape from the headstock edges. Check for any spill of white into the edges and remove with a sharp scalpel delicately scraped along the whole of the headstock edge. This removes any slight paint spill - which I did have - and also removes the inevitable slightly sharp edges. The decal application is tricky. I should have said that you need to carefully follow the instructions. Immerse in water for 30 seconds, apply and then work out any bubbles gently with a cloth. Do not move on to lacquering before 100% happy....Anyway, I was happy so applied a dust coat of lacquer to make sure the decal didn't melt. Then gently built up around 6 - 8 coats of lacquer. Again it was nitrocellulose clear gloss lacquer to be vintage correct (although I'm not sure the original had been flatted as the decal edges were visible). Applied with face flat (the guitar's not mine). Left to dry for 24 hours, then flatting time with Kovax Tolecut 1500. The flatting is done with bright light so that firstly the orange peel effect starts to disappear and so that the decal edges start to disappear. Eventually the edges do blend in. You may see tiny shiny reflections of light and this is any remaining low spots in the finish. That means you need to carry on gently flatting the finish. If feeling unconfident at this point, apply more lacquer but if sure that you have enough, just keep on going until the last pin prick light reflections have gone. Then polish with Meguiars cut and polish. One application cloth, one polishing cloth, one buffing cloth. Any intentional overspray on the edges can be flatted back using Tolecut again and the sides can now be polished too. Final pic is during re-assembly some days later but worth showing the final stage. If anything looks a bit too shiny at this point the gloss can be knocked back a little with the tolecut paper..

Well, I've been persuaded to add pics of a renovation I carried out on a recently acquired 1992 Fender Jazz 62 reissue stacked knob rarity. So my jazz started out life looking a little worn - as is the way with a nitro finished 1992 bass that has been gigged a fair amount. The finish had matured to a cream finish and had extensive chips and finish wear. Luckily there weren't really any deep gouges although the finish had worn to the wood sealer on the back. The headstock decal outline was clearly visible and had started to look worn. Screws were rusted, earth strip to bridge corroded, pickup poles rusty. Pickup covers and pickguard All the hardware and electronics were original and worked fine so, apart from a polish, nothing required there. Pickup covers and pickguard original but, politely, a bit worn in. Headstock edges were generally dinged commensurate with age and engagement with adjacent drummers equipment!! With all the above I decided on a full body strip, prep, prime and refinish in period correct Olympic white nitrocellulose and a matching headstock face refinish.

When wanted to reshape a Harley Benton HB-50 headstock to resemble a telebass I traced out the required shape in sharpie onto masking tape stuck to the headstock and my pal who has a better equipped toolbox than me used an angle grinder with a velcro sanding pad and various grades of abrasive disc to first get close to the line and then to finesse the shape. Then I did a bit of hand sanding to get a good finish.

So 2 weeks later, remove the wood hanger, place on a towel and start using the Kovax Tolecut 1500 pink pads to gently flat the finish. Use a sanding block for the flat parts and be very careful with body contours and edges. Sand paper will cut though to the wood in no time and then it's back a step or two. The whole body needs to be flatted in the same way as the headstock using natural sunlight to check for low spots (shiny pin prick spots) or UV light. Even kitchen spotlights will show up any low spots. Eventually, after many hours of gently flatting of the finish, there will be no lo spots left and no shiny pin prick spots glaring back and taunting you and your aching elbow. Once 100% happy with the flatting then it's on to Meguires cut and polish again. Same process. Takes ages to get the scratch free flatting to a shine...... Then it's on to re-assembly. The most satisfying stage. I'll add some better pics outside when the sun shines again (could be a while) but you catch the drift. It now looks mint and I took the liberty of treating it to some genuine Fender ashtray covers. I think it looks lovely and it plays and sounds great too. What's not to like (hopefully nothing..........)

Very late to the party. Another Thumb owner here. I bought my 89 NT5 back in 97 and was my only bass for many years. I was studying at the time and I spent so many hours with that instrument. I do agree with most of the pros and cons that have been mentioned already. It is is heavy and the reach to 1st fret is long but I am tall with long arms so this has never been a problem. I did have a student years ago that loved my bass but he was a lot shorter than me and when he tried it he knew he could not get on with it at all. I do want to say though that I have used it in so many different styles of music and I have found it really flexible. I was playing a lot of jazz and classical music as well as Motown and rock/metal and I found it great for all of it. The 26 frets are great and having the easy access all over the upper part of the neck was brilliant. That makes chords very easy in the upper register and soloing if you are doing that kind of music. My Thumb has the really thin neck profile which I personally love and EMG pickups and 2 band eq. I found that you could get so much tonal range from either pickup and in later years I have started to use the neck (if you can call it that) pickup more soloed than ever before. Maybe my tastes have changed. I have also found how much impact cutting the treble can have on the sound so you have broader range than I ever explored in the early years but I guess you can say all with in that Thumb sound which I love. As has been said that B string is quite something. Crystal clear and totally sings. I have only played my Thumb so I have nothing to compare it with like so many that have replied so maybe I just got lucky with mine. When I moved into fretless I started with a Stingray but I did not like it I think it was the neck and upper access so the only thing I could think of was Thumb. So I do have 89 NT6 fretless. Again its heavy but I have gigged it quite a bit and the neck is even better than on the 5. And its one of the best sounding and playing bass I have ever played. This is of course just personal preference. And finally just to add to the discussion about other models. Even though I have almost exclusively only played Warwicks since 97 I have not had that many of them or different models. I got a FNA Jazzman which I had for few years and it was a very solid and good bass but I always had this notion of trying out Stage 1 and 2. I traded the FNA for a Stage 2 and I have to say that bass has taken over as my main bass for the last 8 years. Its very different from the Thumb and that body shape might be easier to get on with than the Thumb. There are a lot of different Stremer options NT and bolt on so might be worth exploring that. I do rotate between these two basses between practices but I would say 80% gigs I go with the Stage 2. I did get a Stage 1 but have to say that doesnt suit me as well. This again is 5 string like the others but the difference is its broad neck and I have to say I am not a fan. I find the other neck profiles better but I will keep it and I do use if for practice and I have gigged it few times but I have to say the other two feel more natural. I hope your search for the right Warwick will bring you the right bass for you.

Exactly, if it wasn’t for that 😁

They really need to jack it in. They're just dreadful, in the studio and live. In the meantime, Jon Anderson is on the road having a whale of a time with the Band Geeks, playing Yes stuff with energy and enthusiasm (and apparently Boris Johnson on drums).

People complain that the new Star Trek shows are woke. Not like the original, which had a black woman and a Russian on the bridge, two years after segregation and during the cold war.

Loads of pros, no cons, and some of the best slap ever played is on flats, which are also highly bendable 👍

So as I recently shared my fusion board,I've a gig this Saturday with my rock/Soul covers band. Unfortunately at this time I have to cannibalise the big board. But with incoming gig funds, I'll be looking at starting a small board separately (ive started with the MXR octave 🤣) For this Band I'm using 4 and 5 string Spector Euro LX. EBS Microbass 2 - effects are in the loop Sadowsky BP2 Pre FEA Optifet JPTR Jive MXR Bass Octave Deluxe - I use it for 1 song, a rocked up version of Superstition, will be used with Drive. It has a clean tone and tracks well with the active Spectors. Will be looking into a reasonably cheap A/B box/headphone pre, however the EBS covers everything well.

I’ve emailed them 🙄… can’t resist any longer

Loads of people who heard: Fück you I'm not doing my homework! Fück you I won't tidy my bedroom!

You do know that this will upset some folk don't you? Good. Carry on.

I'm loving their way of thinking, everybody's always chasing our favourite tones from the records, which was more likely achieved by expensive studio gear rather than humble pedals. I for one would be excited by a transformer equipped Neve inspired pre 😍 I'd personally prefer to try the DCX first as £250 is a lot to drop when I know I won't use the heavy drive tones.

£80 for the transfer fee?!? That's feckin' outragious.

Origin are manufacturers of stellar guitar pedals ' expect to see plenty of these DCX Bass tone shaper's here on B.C on the used market in the coming months.

Yeah, as an owner I’m still reading, I just haven’t got much to say other than I plugged it in, found a setting I liked and just left it at that. 😅

I got one today, its a really fun little bass, pleasantly suprised how well it plays. Gonna take it to rehearsal tomorrow, looking forward to the reaction from the rest of the band when I pull out the worlds smallest bass

Could've been a David Prowse Signature model

…post Squire (RIP), post Anderson but with Steve Howe and Geoff Downes still in the band with a selection of fill ins. It’s to promote their new album which is due out in mid-May. I have to admit that I was curious how it would turn out as a huge Yes fan. I have to say that even with my low expectations coming into it the song failed to live to even those. Sure Steve Howe’s guitar sounds as Howeish as ever and is about the only redeeming factor. The song seems really bland even by latter day Yes standards with little to make it stand out while it noodles along. Jon Davidson puts in a decent enough Anderson-alike performance but that is what he was to do a decade or so ago. However, the lyrics, such as they are seen to be simply a bunch of barely connected inspirational sounding non-sequitur. Basically nonesense… And that coming from someone who has spent 40 odd years listening to Jon Anderson’s convoluted, karmic bleating. However, as a long term Yes fan and as a bass player the biggest disappointment was the bass playing by Billy Sherwood. It’s not intricate and melodic while still driving the song along like Squire always was. No, it’s just busy and noodly. And delivered with a pretty uninspiring rock tone - OK it’s probably his Spector and they do have a distinctive Spector sound… but there’s nothing here which you’d grab onto in terms of tone. It was OK… and the bass in prog rock, and particularly following Chris Squire’s footsteps should never be just OK. I had always suspected that my interest in Yes, either live or in terms of new music died alongside Chris. Listening to this track does nothing to dispel that thought. Anyway, I wonder what you guys think - Yes fans and non-Yes fans alike,

Took me a long time to get into flats, and even longer into flats on a Jazz, in part because many years ago a guy in a music shop told me "flatwound string sound dead". OK, they're kinda definitive on a Precision and accepted as such, in so many respects they're even more so on a Jazz. Wanna hit some retro heaven? Flats, back PUP on full, front PUP rolled off a little bit, and a pic through an all-tube head. Sorted 👍

Agreed. Using words for their sound or rhythmic qualities, rather than their meaning, together with onomatopoeia and other devices are long-established literary traditions. Poets have been doing it for centuries. Pop music follows in the tradition and has done so for a long time. How about "Tutti Frutti. Aw Rooty. A Wop Bop A Loo Bop, A Wop Bam Boo" from the 1950s? And Little Richard was following in the footsteps of artists like Slim and Slam before him. Poetry, music and literature doesn't HAVE to mean something/anything. Sometimes, it's just pleasing to the eye or ear.

It may be too early to say, but... continuing on my love/hate relationship with my VM4, I think I may have found a new #1 pushing away my trusty Stingray 😲 I had to stop using my Stingray because I carelessly damaged the preamp. It still works fine and I could use it, but the mids module doesn't work well, and until I get a replacement I turned to my VM4 and I'm really liking this beast now. A little bit of a sponge did the trick! I still plan to put the Tone Capsule in this bass, plus a passive tone control always available, but I'm getting such a great sound from this bass now that I'm not in such a hurry. First, the neon DR strings mellowed out much faster than their otehr coated strings from what I remember, and that was nice although their low output bugs me sometimes. And then I had a gig with the UB40 tribute and I thought about cutting a bit of a sponge from Ikea (the one that's very soft on one side and coarse on the other, seems made for this bass )... what a sound! It's a completely different sound from my usual with the Stingray, and it's not quite Precision either... it's got a lot of low mids, and the low end is mellowed a bit with the sponge mute, less of the very low end, but still fat and retaining great definition. It's a sound that seems to trigger my synth pedal very nicely too. So I will definitely repair the Stingray very soon, but I'll be playing the VM4 primarily for a while... I love how light it is too, compared to the Stingray or the Ray35 that I tend to use.

I'm keeping my own counsel on shape to ensure that when the bass emerges on the forum I can say "this is the 100% shape I was aiming for...."

I've currently got TI flats on my Jazz, and they suit it very well. Kind of halfway between rounds and the Labella LTFs I had on before, regarding brightness.

https://www.andyviccarscustom.co.uk/index.php Andy Viccars. He's based in Milton Keynes which is my local town. He's semi retired but using up his remaing stock of which he has some cool stuff. My bass is made from 'gun stock' walnut. Really hand made!

Some gear porn from the Bash. Enjoy!

How are you all doing? You do realise that your abstinence is just leaving more bargains for those who aren't playing. I've had a few...telling you about them would just be gloating..

It's gear. If it's not directly replacing a broken item, then I think you're out.

I've thrown some Elixir rounds on this thing and it absolutely works. Here's a small clip to demo the sounds (80% neck, both, bridge, neck again, then I turned the Mutron on for a laugh). The tone is about halfway for most of the video - it has a really useful range and mixed with the different pickup flavours it means I have loads of options. It has such a tight and full bottom end, even being short scale and in drop D!

I did know that but being a bit of a perfectionist, I couldn't stand seeing the decal edges. It looks awful but doesn't now! It's a keeper anyway so is for my own satisfaction.

In the meantime the body had been painted using 3 cans of nitrocellulose olympic white from Northwest guitars. Amazing paint. The body had a lovely 3 x 2 bit of wood for hanging and to make sure the neck recess markings were preserved. The process is paint the edges and contours first and then paint the front and back in overlapping paint passes. Paint overlaps by around 1" per pass and magically being nitro, melts into the other pass. Don't worry about orange peel, Kovax is your friend (or enemy) later. The 3 cans gave me around 10 coats of nitro which is probably more than original finishes. Each coat needs around 15 mins to tack dry but all 10 coats have to be applied consecutively over around 3 hours. It is then left to dry for around 2 weeks somewhere warm and dry (make sure nobody is going to use your shower if you use your designer shower enclosure....,,...

Once satisfied that the headstock edges had the correct colour and was dry enough, I set about the headstock face. The edges were masked using green frog tape. It's high tack but will not take off a recent finish when removed. The nut was masked (the bottom of the nut and fretboard) and the join between the rosewood board and the headstock face was carefully matched so the line would be authentic. No gap can be left here otherwise you'll see white / wood / rosewood and the whole thing has to be done again. Primer applied, left to dry, flatted with kovax tolecut and then 2 or 3 coats of nitro white applied. Left to dry and then, when satisfied, the decal was applied. Any finish dips will disappear once lacquered so no worries with little finish dips.......

Wow, can’t believe the price of this

I'd have worn a disguise too 👍

The Ash P bass body in gloss natural finish. It's made from 4 pieces but the finish it better than some lower end guitars I have seen and for £49.99 plus shipping I am happy with what arrived. No dings, scratches or other nasties. Neck pocket and cavities cut nicely and neatly. It does need its bridge hole drilling through but I have a drill bit for that somewhere that I made years ago. Ordered yesterday and arrived this afternoon. Happy with that. When I ordered it they had 20 in stock

Yep - it's pretty amazing, I have it set up as 2 gain stages from break up point to distortion, then fuzz on top with the OFF1. I could see it working beautifully too with one stage of gain and then OFF1 on low gain setup for the distortion, it'd work too. The Broadcast on the pre loop does sharpen it up and I do love it as a boost to squeeze the Capo yet more too...! It is pricey, but for my case (dodged taxes somehow ) it was as much as a King Tone Duellist (which I considered) but with the added DI post/pre and the post/pre loops... No brainer if you ask! PS: Just conscious the last page or so have clearly become 'The Joe & Ander Show' lol apologies! hopefully the impressions are useful to others

Leaving the union flag in green? Not sure that would go down well in certain parts.