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I absolutely see it as the former. It’s the first thing I look at in the morning, and the last thing at night. It’s a blessing (banter, information) and a curse (for sale section), but it’s a safe place, full of like minded folks, of all backgrounds and ages. Some people here I’ve known for decades, some I meet on a daily basis, and most feel like friends. I was relatively young ish when BC started, now I’m not, and I’m definitely financially worse off. Of course there’s often a difference of opinion, sometimes even a bit of needle, but mostly we’re all on a similar road, just don’t mention politics 😒 Generally though, to have this resource as a reference for information and advice about all things Bass is a wonderful thing, and I just think everyone involved in the running of Basschat should have a pat on the back. Because it takes a lot of work to keep this place going. 🤘🏻

A community without a doubt. Last year a fire in my flat took most of my earthly possesions, including anything to groove on. I reached out and in just a couple of weeks the lovely folks here had got me back playing by sending various bits of bass gear ... I will never forget their kindness ... if not a community, this would not have happened! S'manth x

I tried Talkbass initially but was very, very quickly made to feel most unwelcome by shouty idiots, I joined BC in 2014 and it's been a huge source of information, has completely changed the basses and amplification I use and it quickly became a forum I use every day. Everyone I have met, both at Bass Bashes and whilst buying and selling gear, have been lovely folk, turns out that bass players are very reasonable. As a dyed in the wool misanthropist BC has been a real surprise, certainly the closest thing to an online community that I've ever experienced. If you want to discuss minute details about obscure Japanese basses from the 70s you can, or, if you want to contribute to a 3346 page long thread filled with absolute nonsense about FA then you can do that too. The aforementioned thread was a huge refuge for me during lockdown and several of the contributors have become friends off site, so I'd say BassChat is both a glorious source of information and a community. In fact, I'd go a little further, it is actually exemplary in that the Internet is, of course, famous for shouty rude nonsense spouted by vacuous bellends, I don't use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, don't get me wrong, I've tried, but invariably someone has said something stupid or rude within seconds of joining, so to find a genuine online community and resource like BC appears to be incredibly rare. I know we have the occasional spat, but really, given how many of us frequent the place, you have to say it's incredibly civilised. I'm rambling, essentially I'm proud to be a member* here, long may BC continue. * easy tiger

There are some amazingly supportive people on BassChat, whether it’s to do with bass, music in general or just life with all it’s ups and downs. There is just one other forum I follow. I check it every morning just before coming here, but I only really look at two or three threads, and I very, very rarely interact with them. Then I come here and spend most of the day checking for new posts. Joining in when I can and trying to help if I can, to try to give back some of what I get out of the forum. I feel happy and included here, and I have never actually met a BassChatter in person. As such I don’t think I can say I have friends from here, I am too shy and reserved when in private conversations (I think) to make such a close connection; but there are some members that hold a special place for me for the caring and support I have got from them. So, for me, this place is a community first (day to day or even week to week, other than my wife, this is the only place where I interact with anyone) and an amazing information resource second.

It's a resource when one first joins up, because you know no one, and have met no one. Then stuff happens over the years. I've been here in all 3 versions of BC, though not a prolific poster to start with, but that's 16+ years - ish, all in. The way some folk pile in with help and assisstance, with their knowledge on technical stuff, most of it way over my head, and at times to the point of surprising generosity. EG, member Deedee who knew i was looking for a vintage Trace combo, found one, paid for it, picked it up and delivered to me halfway between us, and simply wouldn't take any petrol money. If that isnt community , i dont know what is.

IME it’s everyone but the bass player, who in every band in which I’ve played has not only been hugely talented but a great guy who everyone loved 👍

I've been here since the 100-member days of BassWorld. Hell yes it's a community, at least IMO. I've met some really lovely people through this place, and whilst I don't see any on a daily or even weekly basis (more's the pity) it's always lovely getting together with them at the Bashes.

Image by The Oatmeal.

Go ! Walk out the door. Dont turn around now. They dont love you anymore.

Just transferred my EBMM s-s Ray into the Gator case - perfect fit.

A rock guitarist plays 3 chords to 1,000 people, a jazz guitarist plays 1,000 chords to 3 people 😜

NBD! I’m now the very proud owner of this Overload Achilles bass. Absolutely in love with how it sounds, really nice deep tone and lovely to play. Matteo at Overload was awesome, helping me decide the final spec and walking me through the process. I had a lot questions about ordering a custom bass, such as woods and shipping that I posed on this site, so a huge thank you to everyone who answered them and patience on follow up questions. It great to have such a responsive and lovely community here that helped so much in choosing what to do. For any one interested in spec: 5 string Achilles Bass 34-37’’ Multiscale Body wood: Swamp Ash Top Wood: Poplar Burl with Wenge layer Neck: Wenge and Bubinga Fretboard: Birdseye Maple Pickups: Nordstrand Big Blade Preamp: Aguilar OBP-3 Schaller Straplock Gator hard case Gruv gear Neo Solo Strap

Its taken a while but here it is! I've added some pictures from the build too! I'm over the moon with this bass & will upload some videos soon too! Specifications are as follows - Outline Overwater Hollowbody Thinline Bass 6 String Fretted Scale Length - 34.5” Neck 3 piece Maple Neck Glued Neck Joint 24 Frets 54mm Nut Width 18mm String Spacing Ebony Fingerboard Side Dots Only (luminlay) with PC inlay at the 12th Fret made of maple Ebony Binding Std 6 String Overwater Profiling Body Swamp Ash Body Zebrano Wood Top with matching headstock facing Electronics Active OW/John East preamp (alike the Custom P5) Bass & Treble boost/cut. Sweepable Mids Turned OW Acetal Black Knobs Controls - Volume, Pup Blend, 3 Band EQ (notched double stacks) & Passive Tone/Active Switch Pickups - Overwater 6 String Soapbars x2 Ebony (plastic black if possible) Pup covers Neutrik Locking Jack & Balanced XLR Out Covers Black Acrylic for Back Plate, Battery & Truss Rod Hardware Bridge - Top Loading in Ebony with black saddles Machine Heads - Enclosed Black Mini Matching Xtender on B string Added Ebony Pickup ramp Xtender Key PC inlay at the 12th Fret Luminlay side inlays

I'm very new here but I don't think a source of information would have been as welcoming as the members of BC have been. Community for me, every time.

Both I'd say. Probably the best of both. I've had the pleasure of meeting maybe 100 or so BassChatians over the years from deals done, never had a bad experience yet! (Well, one buyer YEARS ago, but we'll forget about that...) There's a few 'controversial' posters out there, but that just adds to the diversity and discussion! I think I've been a member of Basschat in its various iterations for 18 years or so, and I shall continue to be a member until it, or I, kick the bucket! Here's to meeting another 100 of you fine and terrible folk! 😄

Bad guitarists are no worse than any other bad musician. Get rid ASAP, because by keeping them in the band your are only enabling their bad habits. If you kick them out (and tell them why you are kicking them out) then maybe they will eventually learn, or stick in the environment where they are currently best suited - playing by themselves at home.

So anyway, about keys players ...

So this is a quick rant, Background I moved to Warwick about 14 months ago, joined a band, it didn't work out, but me and the singer decided to leave and start something else. Myself and the singer put together 2 hours of covers to we'd like to play, and spent a couple of weeks on Bandmix finding the right people to play together in this new band, the goal was to play good paid gigs (IKR), we all have full time jobs so this is a weekend thing for fun / cash, for this we need competent and committed musicians who can learn that volume of material very quickly, gel as a band and get out on the road asap, aside from one drummer who we all thought was genuinely going to kill us we've managed to pull a good group together... or have we? Problem! We have two guitarists, myself on bass, a drummer, a keys player and our singer, everyone except these guitarists have learned the 2 hours of music in a 4 week period and the rest of us are in the position to work towards building a set with our own structures and instrumentations, and this is where we have a real problem, one guitarist while very good has only turned up for 1 practice in 5, mostly dropping out on the day of rehearsal via text, the other guitarist while not as technically gifted as the other one is solid enough, but, again he has only turned up for 3 rehearsals and in 4 weeks hasn't seemingly learned anything, his biggest downside being he can't use chord sheets or sheet music, if we write the notes out and the structure on a board he doesn't know how to follow, he changes key by using a pitch shifter instead of playing the new chords in different positions, its painful, he freezes to the spot and plays nothing rather than just playing the basics of the song... so with that being said, myself and the singer have had to give them an ultimatum, in 2 weeks they must catch up with the rest of us, play the songs well and make rehearsals or we'll have to let them go. The good guitarist was honest and said he doesn't have time to rehearse but when we get a gig he'll play... so we as a band pay every week and rehearse getting nice and tight just for this knacker to come in and widdle all over the set and take a cut home with him...? no thanks, so he's gone. The other guitarist has a mammoth task of learning all the songs in a 2 week window cause he's apparently learned nothing in the previous 4, my worry here is when the singer says "ok, sounds good but let's change the key to B", we'll all play in the new key and he'll just not know what to do... which isn't ideal, in truth I think he'll just bail before the next rehearsal and we'll have to start the search again. Nice guys, but not right. Ending Why are guitarists such bloody knackers?

I've been getting acquainted with the new B2 Four. Even though I have a couple higher-end multi-fx with modeling, I sometimes need a simpler and inexpensive device for some gigs. Also, there is something intriguing to me about these relatively inexpensive units that punch well above their weight. Because there is so little review info available for the B2 Four, I wanted to provide some impressions, info, and clarifications. Strap in, though, it's a long one. I hope new & future owners find this helpful. HARDWARE The design and build-quality strike a good balance of durability, simplicity, and functionality. The 1/4" jacks are metal, mounted on the plastic chassis. The 3.5mm headphone & aux in jacks are not metal and not chassis-mounted. A dc power supply is included. The recessed 9V power jack is clever, but might not fit some other power cords. The Buttons feel very solid. However, those cursor buttons are not intuitive and are difficult to use with the foot. When pressing right-most buttons, the foot blocks the display. A diamond configuration (top, bottom, left, and right) would have been much more intuitive. Also, if the buttons had carefully-designed raised shapes it would help with foot control. The functions of the 3 foot-switches depend on the current mode. In "Memory" mode, we can select from 3 consecutively numbered patches. In "Effect" mode we can enable/bypass any of three modules that are currently on-screen. There is no customization of button functions. The expression pedal input is only for the pedal modules (i.e., no realtime control of other parameters). Though Zoom doesn't publish this, the expression jack is designed to "see" the pot's center lug (wiper) on the ring of the TRS plug-- as opposed to the tip. My Moog expression pedal has a switch (from "Standard" to "Other"). If your pedal doesn't respond right, you can either re-solder it internally, or make a special TRS-to-TRS cable where you cross the tip on one end to the ring on the other end & vice versa. The display is bright enough, and easy to read for calling up patches (Memory mode) and Menu functions. For editing, we need to bring it up off the floor, and/or use the GL for B2 Four app. Turning off with the power button, the display shows "Please wait... Saving Settings." So is powering off by unplugging or power strip switch a bad idea? ROUTING With only 5-slots, a serial-only path, and no send-return loop; routing options are limited. Fortunately, we can place any FX in any order (within CPU constraints). The DI/XLR out and 1/4" outs are both fixed as post-FX. So both can be wet, or both can be dry, but we can't have dry DI and wet 1/4" outs, which would have been useful. The mono input can be run through stereo reverbs and mod FX. However, if we place any mono module after a stereo module, the signal becomes mono (unless the mono modules are bypassed) This also applies to the DI model. Even if those mono modules have wet/dry mix, the dry output is always mono. So if we want to hear stereo FX, they must be placed AFTER any mono FX modules, and the DI model must be OFF. LEVELS The global EQ with 3 fixed bands (low/mid/high) and a master volume are helpful. However, the lack of a patch-volume setting is disappointing. This requires us to control levels using whatever level/volume controls are present in preamps, amps and fx in ways that won't affect tone. This just means more steps. As long as we do an occasional A/B comparison of dry bass level (bypass all) with the level of the patch, we can probably stay within a reasonable range. EQ/TONE CONTROL Because of the multi-layer convolution, the amp/cab combos are hardwired (the IR for each amp is fixed and no user IR's). With all the available EQ options, we have extensive tone & character shaping capabilities. The EQ modules include: a low shelf/HPF, a single-band sweepable peak/notch, and a high shelf/LPF, graphic EQs, a splitter (dual shelf), and an exciter. The parametric EQ's are one-band-per-module, so we use up three slots to get a 3-band parametric. Some of the preamps and amps have EQs, with either fixed frequencies or just a few selections. GENERAL SOUND Dynamic range refers to how well a unit reproduces every level of playing from very soft to very loud-- without compressing or limiting the very loudest notes. I think the B2 Four does well with dynamics, a few preamps & amps have some sag/squish/limiting. Most of the amps and factory patches "celebrate" cabinet resonances from around 40 Hz to maybe 160Hz. It's a hump in the low or low-mid range. Fortunately, we can reduce this hump either with preamp EQ, amp EQ, or an EQ module. I didn't notice any latency; except with some pitch fx. Depending on what is in the chain, there can be varying amounts of noise. The Zoom Noise Reduction does a good job of gating it. I was playing with a env filter, and noticed the output was clipping; so I put a compressor after the filter, and it cleaned up. This implies that there is plenty of headroom within the module path, but you have to make sure to get it down to a reasonable level by the time it reaches the output stage. THE FX DYNAMICS: The compressors sound good. Most are snappy enough for slap. Good range of adjustments and nice variety of options. They have much better quality and response than those on the B1 Four. The only gate is Zoom's Noise Reduction, but it is a very good one. To be clear, it's a noise gate, not actual noise reduction. ZNR can be placed anywhere in the path, and set it to either detect signal from the EFXIN (whatever signal is preset at that point in the chain) or GTRIN (which is like side-chaining the dry input signal). I usually choose GTRIN. Some super high gain FX show that the input generates some noise even with no bass connected. The Slow Attack module is disappointing. I was hoping to use this for an "arco" (bowed) effect; but because all notes have to start from zero and ramp up, it sounds unnatural. If there was a dry level then a dry attack and decay could be enhanced by a natural swell. FILTER: Many of the envelope followers are too sensitive, even with the sensitivity all the way down. I often don't want the filter open all the way even when I play loud. Auto Filter is a welcome exception. The Envelope Generator filter has several modes. It snaps from Freq1 to Freq2 when the foot switch is pressed, then immediately begins gliding back to 1st frequency at the set "speed" (regardless of holding the switch). The selections of EQ modules is good, and they are quite flexible. DRIVE: There's a good selection of drive modules for different types of drive. All the drives have either a dry-level, or balance to blend in clean-- except for the TS+Boost Drive. PREAMP: Zoom provides a smart selection of high-end preamps with useful EQ and drive options. MODULATION: I love all the modulation modules; EXCEPT for Tremolo which is very limited. The triangle waveform is ok. Both the TUBE and SQUARE are clicky, and none of them sound like a proper tremolo. I've heard much better tremolos, even from Zoom. Most of the pitch-shifters are barely useable. The bass polyphonic is ok for octaves. Harmony, Bass Mono Pitch Shift, and Pitch Shift are cartoonishly unusable. The other octavers seem ok, but fall apart on lower notes. The Super Low Preamp has a lower octave, but sounds like a sine wave, where the other octavers are more square. SYNTH: The Bass Talk Synth is too bright/edgy, and the tone knob doesn't begin to tame it, so it needs some filter/EG after. The Z Synth and Bass Synth are both great. DELAYS: The selection of delays is good. However, the only delay that has an LPF (high-damping) is the Hold Delay. REVERBS: The reverbs are pretty good. Ironically, Bright Hall and Bright Room are the only reverbs with a TONE control (LPF). So the two "bright" reverbs are the only ones with darkening capability. The Air module is actually quite a nice stereo-izer when the values are cranked. When summed to mono, it sounds like a small room (but still good). SFX: The fretless simulator is a subtle filter effect. I wish it had a wet/dry balance. Combined a short, dark room reverb and a kind of thumpy amp, we might get fairly close to an upright pizz character. I wish the Bomber had three modes: fart, plop, and explosion. I'd use the first two more. This was the first module I removed with the app. PEDAL: The pedal effects are the ONLY way to make use of the expression input. The Output Volume Pedal module has no settings. Toe-down, it's whatever level is set by your master level. Heel down it's silent. Any patches with this pedal in the chain will be immediately affected by whatever level the pedal is at. For example, if the pedal is heel down, all patches with this pedal module in the chain will be silent as they load. NOTE: All the other Pedal FX have a P before the first knob (see the FX List doc). This P knob value is the initial "pedal" value that is set when the patch is loaded. This is useful if we might not always have a pedal connected. Moving the pedal will immediately override the stored (knob) setting. Likewise, in "effect" (edit) mode, turning this first knob will temporarily override the current pedal position until the pedal is moved again. The Pedal Volume module has min/mix and curve A/B options-- funny how similar the letter A & B look in that display font. "A" curve increases more at the toe end (exponential), and "B" increases more at the heel end (convex). The Bass Pedal Pitch is officially polyphonic, but it sounds pretty terrible. The Bass Pedal Mono Pitch is ok for changing the pitch of a sustaining note, especially with "Down" which just drops the pitch down to zero. AMPS: The selection and quality of the amp/cab combos is excellent. When they are called up, their default settings tend to be quite woofy and humpy in the lows. I did find that even with just the amp EQ knobs, they can all be brought into a more sane spectrum. Additional fine-tuning can be done with an EQ module or two. PATCHES The patches don't show off versatility, rather focusing on usable tones. There are varying degrees of drive, lots of clean tones with hyped lows or low mids. The env filters are all too wide open. Makes me wonder if they were made with/for low output basses? Fortunately any and all factory patches can be tweaked and over-written in their same ID number. If we ever want the original factory patch back, they are easily restored. USEABILITY FUN FACT: when we are in the FX Library (choosing a module with arrows), we are auditioning each module by itself, in isolation from what is in the rest our chain; and we can adjust knobs while in the library, so we can adjust before choosing. In the editor, when we turn a knob the values appear, then vanish after 3 seconds. I understand why it is this way, but it is very frustrating in use. Often, I go to press the right arrow to switch pages between knobs, but I'm too slow and I end up selecting the next column of modules. It would be a little better if Zoom added a preference setting for Knob Display Dwell Time: 3 seconds 5 seconds 10 seconds BUTTON EXIT (pressing the center button exits the knob-value display) But better yet, Zoom should just use the screen real-estate differently Put the patch #/name and slot dots on top of the screen, same size, and rework the module graphics. This way knobs could just be always visible for the currently selected module. APP I installed the app before I bought the unit, to see if I could learn stuff just from the app, but it has no "off-line" mode, so no dice. Once my unit arrived, connecting the unit was easy enough. BTW, I have no qualms about buying the app for $1. There are three sections: The Effect Pool shows a full list of available FX modules (FX, amps). I don't know if Zoom will put new FX there as they become available, but for now it is a list of all of the built-in modules with descriptions. From here we can remove some FX from our unit, or put them back. This could reduce unwanted clutter in the FX Library on the unit. The Patch Pool is empty until we load some patches into it. As far as I can tell, we cannot remove patches from the Patch Pool. We have to uninstall and reinstall the app to clear them. In the News Feed, there is an option to download the factory patches which puts them in our Patch Pool. The Editor is nice because it doesn't do the disappearing knobs trick. To change/add an FX module, choose "Change". Then tap a slot or module. It helps to think of "blank" as a pass-thru module. Enable/bypass via the square above each module. Re-order by tapping/holding on a module then drag. SUMMARY I have no regrets about this purchase. I knew I'd be getting good basic FX and a versatile signal path. Gives lots of opportunities to change character, texture, tone, and response of the bass. It will definitely serve the purpose I intended. Pros: Versatile, flexible, uncomplicated. Many good and useable FX modules. 300 patch-memory locations. Cons: No patch level setting. Knob display awkward. Some modules lack editing depth (i.e., some important parameters are missing). The Slow Attack module lacks a dry level control. The env filters have poor sensitivity range. The Tremolo is very weak, needs to be reworked. Most pitch shifters weak. Cursor buttons awkward for foot. Routing limitations. DI models prevent stereo operation, no custom button or expression assignments.

It’s a very good community in my opinion, I’ve met up with many people here, mainly when I’m parting with money for something 😁, and everyone of them have been great, I’ve a lot less on my ignore list than I used to and I think that’s because it’s so well moderated now (thanks mods 👍), I’m always chatting with someone by PM and I’ve received great advice and knowledge from many about things when I’ve asked, I’m not going anywhere so I’m afraid you’re stuck with me 😁

bass heads.pdf

I'm not the most technically gifted musician, so when I was auditioning for my first proper band (my current one) I worked my butt off to learn 20+ songs in 3 weeks in my spare time, which with my various other commitments was not the easiest task. To have done nothing in a month is just unacceptable, however talented you are, as is just not turning up to rehearsals, so I reckon get shot of both of them and find some other folks who are actually prepared to commit.

It HAS to be fun. Find some new people to play with.

I see it more as a community, usually with valuable insight into music, life, gear etc with a fair amount of nonsense thrown in for amusement.

The problem is you need another jazz, one on rounds, one on flats, sorted😉 It's easy to forget up to the late 70s, early 80s most new basses came running flats out of the box....be they Fender, Musicman et al. I now run Harley Benton flats (ex Fender and EB fanboy), a set on a 50s style single coil P another on a jazz, the HB flats have a lovely feel being super smooth (great slides) nice tension, hold tune and to me are fairly bright for flats so best of both worlds....but I do tend to play near the bridge. ...£13 really no need to spend more😎

I’m glad so many of you agree! I was having a slight pang of regret airing it all, but it seems we all feel the same! After talking with the singer last night I think the outcome is they’re both going to go! At least any new guitarist has a full band to join and can make the parts theirs!

The non-negotiable essentials for being in a band: 1. Turning up. 2. Being able to play the tunes.

I went to see the concert last night. The band were so young and incredible musicians, and Stanley of course is a legend and performed superbly. i was fortunate to meet them at their hotel after the gig. Mainly because Stanley's road manager had a couple of his own cd's for me to play on my radio programme. Anyway i got to have a chat with Stanley and he introduced me to his wife. I asked him if there was a reason he didn't play his alembics and he said it was because of the acoustics. It a depends on the venue since many of the theatre venues they play, an electric bass is too boomy in the room, so in those places he would use the acoustic for the gig. To be honest i really love his db playing as much as his electric playing so it didn't affect my enjoyment.

Machine heads mounted. It hangs nice with a strap! I’m thinking one will have flats and one bass with rounds. Bridge and some wiring tomorrow. A nice head on shot. I’m having a blast.

It gets worse! I've always worked on the equation that the result has to be worth the birth pains. Hopefully you get to play with musicians you like and the result is great but at least one of those has to be worth it. You probably need to decide if any of it stacks up anymore.

I think the test is when we attend Bass Bashes and even though we may not recognise others as soon as we introduce ourselves a conversation ensues as if we've known each other for years, which we have, sort of. I've made many friends here, you don't get that from a dictionary or an encyclopedia.

Just a quick update I found a high end bag and luggage maker locally and they replaced the zippers for £ 50 and have done an excellent job

I’ve only met one other BC-er @Dad3353 in real life and it happened to be a life changing experience due to the circumstances. Due to my out-of-the-way location I’m unlikely to bump into many other BC-ers, if any at all, but it still feels more like a community than any other online place. I never bothered with TalkBass, can’t be doing with walking on eggshells around the many persecution complex afflicted nutbars who populate it. And I’ve never had to put anyone on the ignore list here. It just seems like a more easy going place 👍

… not had time to watch this yet but if it’s anything like Rick Beato’s usual interviews it’ll be well worth the watch.

Community. No question. I have felt the love on more than one occasion.

Replacement bass player? Maybe you should get a replacement band.

I’ve been a member on here for 16 years and it remains the best forum for me. Bought and sold a few things over the years with not one problem, which speaks volumes about the people who participate. I’ve learned loads of stuff, found places to resolve issues with gear and been introduced to lots of new music / bands I probably would have otherwise missed. Long may it continue. 😊

Unless you are buying CDs or vinyl directly from the bands at their gigs or through Bandcamp they still won't be getting very much.

If you feel the need to ask this question on an open forum, then you should probably leave.

Bit of both I'd say.

Easy. Find better and more committed players.

The difference between a jazz guitarist and a 12” pizza? The latter will feed a family of four.

In a moment of madness, I wondered what would make a cheap cover for my bass chat 112 mk3 cabinet Taa daa! An old work uniform Russell athletic 262M sweatshirt in 3XL is just the job Stitch up the arm holes and jobs a good'un. Jeez I'm so professional Thank you Pearson Hydraulics! 🤣🤣🤣

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

When I was a kid I had a pair of his shoes - they had a compass in the heel!

I’m gonna do some recording with it later today 😌