Leaderboard

So why are the body wings so deep? Well - because the body cross section is going to have some curves. Mind you, that will mean a LOT of carving - and I will creep up on the final shape and let the guitar show where it wants to go... Here comes in play one of my favourite hand-tools - the Veritas Pull-shave. I think it's designed for scooping out wooden chair seats, but it's ideal for this kind of job: But I also use the block plane, razor planes and cabinet scrapers. Off and on over a few days, it's starting to take shape. Carve here is probably 50% done for the body. In between carving sessions, I also added frets to the (still unglued) fretboard:

Beautiful venue last night.... the Swansea Grand Theatre! More than decent turnout on a school night and lots of happy faces and positive reviews after.... 👍😎

I had the pleasure of being road crew for the European leg of Tina's 1990 Foreign Affair "farewell" tour (first of many farewell tours....). She was a wonderful woman, caring, kind and appreciative, a joy to work for. And such a pro. 100% every night, vocally perfect, full energy. She used to, with a wink, fine the band members $5 if they messed up, she never missed a trick. Band leader and MD was the late John Miles, another complete professional and a lovely bloke. Bass player was Bob Feit, great solid player. Tina's band was also Joe Cocker's too through the 90s, since they were both managed by Roger Davies. Tina was a proper star, exceptional in every way.

Not a gig, we'll I guess it's still considered a gig. I did a side project, a video shoot for a friend's new CD. I'll post the video when all the post production editing is complete. Fantastic songs. It was allot of work. I was there for hours and those lights were hot. Blue

... the music lives on, regardless. That was pretty much the point, wasn't it?

hairless whisper - wham

Water waste. ID & TB

All of the above, plus a bit more. When you turn the volume up our hearing changes the way we hear different frequencies boosting our perception of bass (and also the extreme highs which aren't relevant to bass) so to keep the same sound you need to roll bass off when the volume goes up. Being close to most bass speakers means you get less of the midrange than the audience as the mids and highs are directional. If you go out front you might be pleasantly surprised at what the audience are hearing. Tilting your speaker and pointing it at your head will help as will raising your speaker to head height. If you can then push the bass out through the PA and just use mid heavy on-stage monitoring for yourself. In terms of sitting in the mix and occupying the 'correct' bit of your sonic space have a listen to some of the isolated bass tracks in You Tube. It's quite a shock to hear how tinny some recorded bass can be yet still sound good in the final mix. And don't worry, we've all found this out the hard way and welcome to Bass Chat

I had the pleasure of 20 minutes in an audition room with Tina and an agent in the late 80's, a glorious lady with the most infectious laugh and energy. I still smile when I think about it, I was young and crap, she knew it but she still made me feel I'd done well. One of the all time greats, and what a life she had. RIP Tina ❤️

I can’t remember actually being 50 but I’m pretty sure I’m a better player now. If I’m not then I’ve wasted the last 60 odd years being mediocre.

Man At C&A Specials

I cut the top ebony around the pencilled line of the fretboard end which allowed me to lay the fretboard on the angled neck and position the top. I drilled a couple of positioning holes in the middle of the pickup positions which, with the addition a couple of kebab sticks will stop the top from floating around as it's being clamped when the glue is applied: That meant I could check that the neck angle is going to be correct for the height of a standard tune-o-matic roller bridge: And so what about the end of the fretboard that is hanging in mid air? Well, of course the offcut from the neck blank when I cut the neck angle in the first place is going to be the correct angle. So I will be able to cut a short ramp from this I will also be adding a demarcation stripe of maple between the alder and ebony: And so, with the kebab sticks positioning everything until the clamps were all on and then removed before the glue set, the clamps can now go on! :

Hi guys, I have used myus.com in the past for US purchases. You get a US adress to use, it means you dont pay state tax over there and you get to pay your import tax when paying for shipping. You get a choice of couriers at pretty good prices and if you use the premium service theyll bundle purchases to keep your costs down. Might be worth it for some of you folks...

So it arrived yesterday along with a fretless TRB1005 but I haven't been able to play either due to a damaged hand. Bought from our own @cammymaxwellbass this short scale Sterling Ray fills a hole in my range of basses. As I said, haven't been able to play it yet but I took some photos for posterity.

Before fitting the top, I have to cut the slot for the fretboard, and before I can do that I have to cut the taper, and before I can do that, I have to slot the fretboard as, in my jig, that is a LOT easier if you are starting with parallel sides. So slotting the fretboard was next job. I use another G&W tool - their fretting mitre jig: In ebony, it is pretty hard work, but over the day all were done. Then I could both taper the board and also add a couple of mother of pearl swifts at the 12th before I fret it. I tapered the board and marked in pencil where I would eventually need to 'intercept' the ebony top. The swifts are pencilled freehand onto the sliver of mother of pearl and cut out using a jewellers saw. I then pencil round the inlays onto the ebony and carefully route out to the inlays depth using the precision base for my Dremel with a 1mm bit. I double check that they fit and then I will fill the chambers with epoxy mixed with ebony sanding dust and firmly press the inlays in. And finish with a final sand with the radius block As always, thanks for looking!

Is it home time yet? DHL just dropped this off for me to play with later…. Can’t wait!

Two recent acquisitions. First came the BB2000 (from Alex Carr). I’d lusted after a BB2000 since receiving their catalogue when Making Music Magazine did the old business reply card system. As a young musician, I gazed/drooled for hours at the BB pages. I was never into Fenders at the time so I’m not sure why I was so fixated on them. I drove down to Reading and collected this 1982 bass at the beginning of April. What a stunning bass. Change of strings and a Setup to my preferences and it floored me. Stunning tone and playability. The MC924 I drove to a gorgeous village outside Tonbridge on Saturday and brought it home with me. I got it from the original owner who bought it new in 1980. I had an MC900 which I sold foolishly around 20 years ago. They’ve always been in the back of my mind with the intention to replace it. The neck on this one is far superior to the one I sold, the clarity of the tone is so much better than I remember too. Again, string change, Schaller straplock buttons and setup and it’s a beautiful player. Both keepers.

found this vintage Peavey gem and just had to take a gamble! Well worth it! Can’t wait to hook up and play this alongside the mk3

After a great winning entry from @NickD last month he offered up the following picture for May. A picture that has brought out a fine selection for your delectation. Have a good listen through and cast 3 votes for your favourites Favourite 3 please , enjoy ... 1 @NickD I started off working towards an ambient electronic track, as that's how the image felt to me, but as I started getting lyric ideas together, they largely centred around the idea of doors, real and metaphorical, be it to another realm, or some earthly change or opportunity. From that it developed into more of a 'song' than a cinematic thing, so I ended up with a bit of both... I think! 2 @Leonard Smalls Right-O! In my occasional series of covers, here's the Motel's "Total Control". Though it's slightly reworked as a rant against the billionaire newspaper owners who shape public opinion in order to further their own agendas.... 3 @Dad3353 An exercise in Mind Control. Listening to this track whilst looking at the picture brings about a new state of consciousness; at the fourth listening session, her eye will wink suggestively. Guaranteed; I kid you not. 4 @upside downer Green door, what's that secret you're keeping?' asked Shakin' Stevens many moons ago. Now, he's baffled by the bizarre sight in front of him, so much so in fact that he is lost for words. He'll just have to make do with this relaxed, mid-tempo, gently mysterious synth groove to try and decipher the meaning of it all. Don't let it drive you crazy, Shaky! 5 @Doctor J Eyes are everywhere, everyone is watching everyone else. Especially stalkers. They're really watching hard. 6 lurksalot this was intended as a political rant , but seems to be a bit soft to hit anything too hard 7 @Nail Soup My initial thought was remembering back to when I was a child... my friend told me that his parents had told him that they could see him all the time, wherever he was, whatever he did. I told my Mum about it and (looking back) her body language showed no little disapproval at their parenting methods. So it's about the "eye in the sky watching you until you die". The music came naturally but didn't support a full set of lyrics, just the single refrain. 8 @Wolfram The photo immediately put me in mind of an Enigma album cover, and I was (and am still) a big fan, so that's where I've gone with this one - "I See You" - a dreamy flight of fantasy. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed putting it together! added entry ... if you have already voted for others, I can't edit or change the poll counts. 9 @AndyTravis There we have it , another fine crop for you. choose your favourite 3 Voting will end at midnight on 31st May have a good weekend

So this has been my latest project…. details are in the “build diaries” thread. I can’t tell you how much I love this thing. I’ve spent too much on it, but it was fun, and a decent but modest Thunderbird has been transformed into an absolute beast. Thunderous, piano like tone….. it’s absolutely my current favourite, I can’t put it down. Again, details on the build diary thread. So is it worth spending the time and money on it? Absolutely yes, because I love it and plan to keep it. If I do sell it, I’ll loose money, so if it was something I was going to flip, I wouldn’t have spent so much. It’s a really awesome Thunderbird. My mate already has a Gibson and an Epi Pro….. he wants this one too. Very happy with it.

Tho not ever particularly a Beatles fan myself.. I found this by accident and thought it might be of interest

As others have reported I’ve used their machine heads and bbot bridges. They do what they are supposed to do for not too much money. Haven’t really got anything to add.

I’ve never had any issue with anything from Wilkinson - all of my basses have various models and configurations of their pickups, and I’m fairly sure their tuners are on all of my headstocks too - pleased to report no failures after probably the best part of a decade. Perhaps more importantly, recording and FOH engineers haven’t either!

Dave. Bent Bit of Tin, it's shorthand for the Fender style bridges 👍

Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about that... 😐😁

Ok, very last minute but I just managed to get this finished! The photo immediately put me in mind of an Enigma album cover, and I was (and am still) a big fan, so that's where I've gone with this one - "I See You" - a dreamy flight of fantasy. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed putting it together! The tech stuff: There's some actual hardware on this one! Drums were sourced from the Yamaha SY99, pads from Korg Trinity and I played the flute sound live on a Yamaha WX5 wind controller through a Yamaha VL70m physical modelling synth. Bass is a Dingwall ABII recorded through Line6 Helix. The monks are courtesy of Eduardo Tarilonte's Cantus VST and the synthetic female vocal is generated with Synthesizer V's Solaria voice. All reverb is from Lexicon's MPX1 native.

Time After Time ～ Cindy Looper

Yes, how about we just close Bass Chat and in its place just leaving an image saying "Use Google!".

Funnily enough, in about 1984-5 I was in a Grotowskian theatre company called Theatre Babel who looked (and postured) in much the same way! We were so unwilling to "sell out" that we packed up our Edinburgh Fringe show rather than have a Guardian reviewer see us 🤣

I've done this a couple of times with varying degrees of success. First one that worked well was a customised Series 6 GP12 combo head with an uprated 500VA transformer and it was seriously mad loud. The box was made from 15mm MDF, screwed and glued. MDF has good points and bad points but is relatively easy to sand and round of the corners without the need for a router etc. Screw holes need properly drilled as its easy to split 15 mm mdf. This was the end result. I also built a box for an SMC head out of recyled 18mm structural grade plywood that once was the main recording room console desk of local studio. 18mm ply is probably a bit over kill for an amp box and if its not high quality ply, you can end up sanding down edges with voids appearing everywhere. That causes no end of splinters and its very difficult to get a good finish. If your happy with everything square edged and don't intend to fit nice curved corners then 18mm square box construction will serve you well in the heavy duty indestructable department. Heres a photo of the rough box I made with pre-drilled contersunk holes for mounting a TE big chassis head. Its a very basic box, glued and screwed but tough as nails.

Playing an any instrument improves brain function. Any doctor worth a hoot will tell you as you age, any activity that involves brain function will benefit your mental and physical health. And the brain literally "lights up" when listening or playing an instrument. Stay positive and you "get good". Pick a heavy bass and an SVT and you won't have to go to the gym either.

You can buy a decent beginner double bass for £1400 from places like Thomann, but you may have to pay a few £100 on top to have it set up to your son's liking. For £1000 you'll be able to buy a good used bass ( there are several in the 'double basses for sale' thread) which, although a bit 'road worn' will have been set up and have proven durability. If you're looking to spend around the £1000 mark, then I would always recommend going for a used bass - it's taken all the knocks its going to take and survived to tell the tale. I'm in Bristol - if you want to try one of my East European basses (each bought for less than £1000), you're more than welcome. Dave

"... a sound that sounds just as good in a live setting as in a rehearsal" doesn't exist I'm afraid. Your bass will always sound different in each of the rooms you play in, even before considering how it sits with the rest of the band. Short of getting a sound engineer with a good pair of ears, knowledge of bass frequencies and how to manage them, and experience of what to do to correct the problems that you hear in each different venue, I would suggest you go wireless with your bass and walk up front while soundchecking with the band. Then go back to your rig - or even better, your channel on the PA - and make adjustments.

I've been very impressed with the build quality from Yamaha. The basses play like instruments twice the price, so if that's the case why not get two? Fretted and fretless TRB 1005.

Just got me a new gig bag and it came with a free bass guitar. How amazing. 😃 But seriously - I've been GASsing for a headless and reading the BC comments on this one, I was tempted. But it was just a little too much money for what would be a 'nice to have' rather than an essential addition to the fold. After all, I have a Spirit XQ headless, long scale, passive only, and it's the bass I've had the longest. Then this Ibanez EHB1000s turned up 'ex-demo' at a price too good to ignore. I can't find the 'paint blemish on rear' described on the website; it's super light and lovely to play. As has been mentioned in previous posts about the EHB series, the fret markers are hard to see but they will go the way of all my basses and be replaced with adhesive dot markers. One of the reasons I got my Spirit headless was that it was small enough that I could fit into tiny pub spaces without hitting the cymbals or other band members. This shorty is even better for that and as I have small hands, the 30" scale fretboard is perfect for some of the stuff I'll be playing in the three piece I'm currently putting together.

Wig wam bam - the sweet

Time for a technical rehearsal IMO. This is where the band concentrate on getting the sounds rather than the notes right. You'll probably find that whole band will benefit from this.

Black, or if you are feeling more adventurous Mint, or even proper Green!

Gibson did, back in 2011. It was a limited edition of only 400, but with a set neck rather than neck-through and without the trademark thinner body wings glued to a thicker core. https://reverb.com/item/65918329-gibson-limited-edition-thunderbird-short-scale-bass-03-06-2011-satin-ebony

All good advice. Boost your mids and cut a little low end just for starters. See if that helps cut through.