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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 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. 🤘🏻

2nd JMJ Mustang bass incoming….

I'm Pseudonym and so's my wife ...

I'M PSEUDONYM !!! Not sure when i joined but it was a while back. For me its a community with lots of expert advise and always someone there to help whenever you ask. When i first joined i did see a lot of arguments on BC but recent years its been a lot more friendly. Mods are doing an excellent job and always fair, understanding and very helpful. I just enjoy browsing thru BC and finding something new. I know lots of fantastic people on here but only a few in person who have all been top people when i've actually met them. Afraid Bass Bashes have died a death up here. Can't remember last time i was at one. Moffat being the only one i've been to. I'm on TB too and i know some amazing people on there too but i do find it more argumentative and i have to watch what i say. I have more conversations on BC than social media. I've learned lots and i've admired so many fellow bassists on BC. Every time i login its like coming home. Love it. Dave

It is finished. I might sell it in the future. It's VERY heavy and sound great! Very stingray like. - Musicman bridge from 1987 - Status neck, with musicman logo > brand new - Basslines pickup - Custom pre-amp - Custom neckplate - Schaller tuners

Truly a community. This place is the best for many reasons, but the main one for me is the warmth of the folk on here, who are so generous to help out and offer friendly and useful advice. Such a huge amount of experience willingly shared, it's marvellous. Also, plenty of wise, old heads relaying their gigging exploits down the years has led to some tremendously interesting and funny stories! And, it's addictive! I should be working right now but I feel the need to mooch around Off Topic for a while. Carry on, Basschat, it's a great place to be.

Great idea for a conversation @Rayman@Rayman 👍 Another BassWorlder here too... Think I joined in 2006, so it's now 17 years of having the best possible 'bass community' experience imaginable IMO. Echoing what many have said already, this place is a community that enriches you, entertains you, inspires you - sometimes annoys you - and most importantly of all for me, it helps you. I've simply lost count over the years of the times that Basschat members have helped me out with things ; technical help, playing help, gear loans, deps, advice etc, etc. The list is endless. When I started playing bass in the mid 70s, there was next to nothing available to help you get started... I would have loved to have had something remotely like Basschat back then. Through buying and selling gear and from being involved in the South East Bass Bash since 2008, I've been lucky enough to meet loads of Basschatters in person, and made some very good friends along the way. So for me, Basschat is a community first, and an amazing information resource second. It's priceless really, when you think about it. Talking of priceless, I still miss Big Beef Chief - his contributions were off the Richter scale funny! 😂

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142147852869?epid=16008096121&hash=item2118ac1a45:g:FDwAAOSwnGJWTeyQ&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8Hi43uZtjezr154qOZyRia6g%2B0yiQAL59VSCbBO8ffBt60dvNk%2FWH0p1GWRhkLFUUMjUJgdwIDghUcTN4E1VY9mffmz1dUjLu3iUdwalQ9VYxYSCfKqIBkYzuqOiHmnLw1S2OoZkWiv%2F7qkhfiiMsuan1%2FNObGJr4MRMcx63oK5sFkwfj4U3xM17m0Ty2rbtL4sJGRMRw9%2FwPEOP3iEelvPk323Vq%2B1O4rmuAIj%2BEZympRvR57dZArYoOzQGGqyVlZn4oG4BDBcgXZP5bv4D5m4%2Btl1hW1KpTdFBMH2%2BNMi15TCgw26C2YwowqlwUu93FA%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR8zj2d77YQ

That's just greedy!

Bit late sorry... Friday night supporting China Crisis in Nuneaton. Why would they put us (Headsticks) on with China Crisis? Anyway, I love the venue, sound was ace, and we went down well with the 80 or so people there Saturday night supporting Terrrorvision at The Sugarmill in Hanley which is the local big venue. It was totally sold out and it's such a pleasure to play here when it's full. Unfortunately there wasn't room for a drum kit at the back of the stage so we were in a line right at the front. Our bassist played to the bar staff and communication with the guitarist was near impossible. Still, we smashed the 30 minute set and definitely won over some new fans Sunday night in Derby - Doors were supposed to open at 4pm, but that's when the promoter arrived with a curry. The lad on sound hadn't got a clue how to use the ancient behringer PA head. He'd never been to this venue before and was used to pro theatre gear. The stage box was 4 x XLR 4 x Jack (WTF?) and he couldn't remember what he'd plugged into which channel. Thank F for ear plugs as it was just random feedback every few minutes - that's the soundcheck AND the gig. At the end of our sound check we'd got a usable sound, so I took a photo of the head and sent it to the sound guy, but that seemed to have no effect. I got a little frustrated which lead to an over the top rimshot which lead to serious pain in my left wrist for the remaining hour and 10 minutes of our set! Ouch! Here's the PA as I didn't get any other photos

I see @Kiwi is reading this. Thanks to all of you who put all of the work in to keep this place going. I’ve met so many lovely people here and probably wouldn’t be playing without you all.

Both, but a real community in the best definition of the word. BassChat is the one and only forum or social media where I'm active. I've also been banned forever from OnlyBass (oh, really 🤔 😂 )or jailed from a few fora over the years for excess of honesty, which is too often considered as patronising. Due to my also remote location, it's not easy to meet you guys, but I managed to meet of a few dozen of members in the flesh and have active WhatsApp communication with a lot. Last year, I had to take a break and came back (sorry for those who put me on their ignore list, something that I discovered a few months ago and thought didn't exist) as it's a real community where I noticed that even after having words with one or more members, everything is almost instantly resolved by common sense. And I'm proud of two threads that don't and won't exist anywhere else, because they wouldn't have last more than 3 posts, but here, because nobody has that big head from over the pond, they stay and last. The first started as a "rant" by myself and quickly became a non sense thread where you put anything you want to say without reading anything with 99 pages and the other where I've been active for a while is a complete delirious proof that delirium tremens doesn't especially mean excess of alcohol with 3349 pages (right now)! Cheers girls, yes it's so very rare to have you on fora, and boys!

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.

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

Can we stop with the greengrocer's apostrophes when we're posting about CDs? Just because a word or abbreviation ends with an s it doesn't necessarily need a leading apostrophe; it's CDs, not CD's. Records, not record's. Albums, not album's. Does my freaking nut in. Going for a coffee.

Alright then — https://reverb.com/uk/item/63044138-fender-mustang-bass-1971 (the price was lower in the shop) When I was there yesterday a couple of chaps came in, one looking very much like Matt Berry. He saw the mustang sitting in its open case and said "That is a thing of beauty" In a perfectly modulated rich baritone voice. I told him about the bass and he expressed that he'd be more interested in a 1974 one so I showed him where they have a similar '74 mustang hanging on the wall. And that is how I met Matt Berry.

Likewise. The depression thread alone is a great example of the support available here.

I’ve also been around since the 100-odd members of bassworld days. I’m fact, my first interaction was a bass swap and the member sent me their bass first on trust as I was a newbie! I’ve met a few members over the years and have always found this place a great solace in tough times. it’s usually my first and last port of call each day, even though I don’t post that much nowadays. Love this place.

I'm new here, but so far I've certainly been treated like this is a community, even if all I've really done so far is ask for information. Hoping to start being able to take part as a member of the community when I have something I think might be of value to share with you all. Mark

I now hope that someone other than me will attend a Bass Bash and claim to be Pseudonym.

On the first Tuesday of the month I attend a ukulele jam. Tonight was the first time I took my “proper” rig along, it behaved well. The battery powering my pedalboard dropped from 100% to 90% over the two hours, well pleased. S’manth x

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.

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.

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

It's never "vinyls" (and certainly not "vinyl's"). Just vinyl will do. And anyway the proper term is "records".

Guitarists, drummers, singers, bassists aren’t really the types of musicians you need to worry about IME. The big divide is between gigging musicians and the rest. Skilled and unskilled, pro or semi-pro, talented or just jobbing all fails into insignificance if you are in a band with these people. For a covers band you are going to need probably 30 songs to create an evening’s entertainment. That’s a lot of work. It’s disrespectful to expect to turn up knowing you’re going to mess up in front of an audience and to turn up to a rehearsal with four other people having learned the songs you are there to practice without having them good enough that you don’t hold them back. Hands up, I’m not the world’s greatest player, my playing is at best intermediate, we don’t all learn at the same rate but you know if someone is working hard. They make every rehearsal, turn up with everything prepared and let you know if there is a problem. Weve had a bit of illness and a couple of changes of personnel recently and I’ve worked with several dep’s. It’s been a privilege and an eye opener. Some have just been wonderful, a drummer who depped without rehearsal and others an inspiration. We had a bassist who depped on drums. He’d never gigged drums before but he learned the set,kept it simple and then sang harmonies as well. He was a gigging musician though so a deep understanding of what was needed carried him through. These people are real pro’s and a delight to work with, much more important than raw talent. We are a tolerant band, no big egos, we’ve all messed up but no one takes the mickey. We forgive mistakes from a new band member but you know if someone isn’t putting in a shift or they just aren’t capable. If every rehearsal shows some progress you know they are trying. If none of your set is working you know you’ll never get there. Get rid of these two or you will never leave the rehearsal room. With a decent keys player you can probably rehearse the rhythm section and vocals and be ready when you find the right guitarist. See how it goes with one before you add to your problems.

Greg Wallace visits the Hartley factory?

It’s a well moderated site that serves as an excellent resource. When you seek more info and opinions within the forum it has felt, at least for me, more like a community. I look at other bass-related sites but feel most at home with BC.

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.

Think the simple answer is any one bass can technically cover any song, just as one shirt can cover any social event, but naturally you may want something better suited to the gig. You wouldn't wear a hawaiian shirt to a funeral. You could, it would do the job, but there are other choices that would do a "better" job.

I play in two bands and use a 5-string Gus G3 in one and an Eastwood Hooky (copy of the Shergold Marathon 6-string bass) in the other. At a push I could use the Eastwood for both bands although a few of the bass lines that use the low B would have parts that would need to be played an octave higher than I normally do. I certainly couldn't use a P-Bass as a substitute for the Eastwood as I go all the way up to octave G on the high E and I have the B string tuned to C to allow me to play some drone parts in C and Am.

After not playing by Harley Benton JB75MN for ages since in buying my Sire M2 bass I had a noodle on it through my Fender Rumble LT25 practice bass combo and I'd forgotten what a fantastic bass it was, great sounds from the pickup's and the maple neck and fret board are an absolute joy to play. I don't know how Thomann can do such a great bass for so little money, they are currently £149, I paid £132 for it in 2014 !! 😝 I'll be playing it a lot more as it's sounds terrific through the Fender combo 🙂 John 😎

F'off FFS !!

A great example of a situation being defused to the point of absurdity and then taking on a life of its own. Here, with some obvious thread exceptions, there are just lots of eyes rolling at the screen without the the need to put fingers to keyboard. It's a different kind of approach and BC is certainly the winner because of it.

Just to follow this up, I have been testing the concept of a USB-C powered 30Wish amp. Here's the test rig: The smaller board is the ZY12PDN USB-C controller board (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193527265113?var=493739920515), the larger one is a 30W amp module from Ebay (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144946097523). I tested this with a couple of power supplies. A bass (Ibanez EHB1265 in active mode) was able to give more than enough signal to push the amp module to distortion running at 12V. I've got another power supply coming which hopefully will deliver 20V. I have a cunning plan to avoid sticking a signal up the backend of the amp module if using the cab as a cab - the amp input and output and a USB-C connector will all go to a second recessed plate, and the amp will then be connected to the speaker when I want to use it with a J-J lead, the same way as many combo amps (especially guitar) are done.

Saw Duran Duran tonight and John was using the Rio Dream bass. It sounded great, and now I wish i had ordered one. looks like he swapped the pick guard to a white one.

*crosses @Rich off Xmas card list*

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 👍

"shouty rude nonsense spouted by vacuous bellends" - that has to be quote of the year for me. 🤣😂😅🤣 where else would we be treated to this level of comment. - love it. I'd like to hope it's a community focussed on helping like-minded bassists, even although I've never met a soul on here.

Which is exactly what I was saying, an online forum where people avoid the flack..? It's an almost unheard of level of civility and one we can all be proud of.

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