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A couple of better photos from Friday's O2 Academy gig:

If I had to spend 5k on fenders I'd get 5-6 Japanese models secondhand.

Finally!

NBD Squier Jaguar SS Back in August last year I bought one of the new Fender Limited Edition Mike Kerr Jaguar SS. Arthritis in my left hand has forced me to move from 34 ins scale basses to short scale 30 ins basses. After new strings, Gotoh bridge and setup I have fallen deeply in love with my Barbie bass, yes Tigger orange, wide range humbuckers and gold hardware. I have been hoping that Fender would launch a Squier Jaguar SS with the same humbucking Pups as the Rascal. In the meantime, up popped a 2015 Squier Jaguar SS which I nabbed within hours of it appearing for sale. The previous owner had a luthier to refinish the body in metallic sliver and refinish the colour matching headstock with clear poly and naughty (But nice) Fender Jaguar Bass logo. The Squier now sports my favourite DiMarzio Split P Pup and DiMarzio Ultra J (neck) Pup in the bridge position. It's necessary to use the neck J Pup at the bridge because the combination of 38mm nut, 30ins scale means that the pole pieces do not align perfectly if you fit the J bridge Pup. I rewired the controls to add a 3-x position switch with master volume and tone and also adding a 0.5 mF capacitor rather than the DiMarzio recommended 0.33mF capacitor. A 3D Guyker bridge replaced the standard Squier bridge and helps provide perfect pole piece alignment and perfect balance, no neck dive on knee or strap. I have successfully used the DiMarzio Split P Pup on a few Bitsa builds, it's a fantastic Pup, it’s powerful, articulate, with a huge range of tones. In my search to match a single coil bridge Pup to the Split P I concluded that the DiMarzio Ultra J was the best fit. The DiMarzio website has a very nice set of data sets and graphics which show the tone and power characteristics for each of their Pups. The Split P has a reference output of 250 which is the same as the Ultra J. That 250 output is far higher than the new Relentless P and J Pups so I am pleased that there is a nice balance between the Split P and Ultra J so avoiding the normal drop off of gain when switching from P to J . The Ultra J is humbucking so is free from hum associated with single coil Pups. Happy Days

Here's two I built using Fender bodies, necks, Fender Custom Shop ‘62 and Nordstrand NP4 pickups, with Schaller BM Tuners on both. Total cost for the two = £1600 I've had many "high-end" Fenders over the years and these two play as well as any of them, and would a CS model be £4,200 better than one of mine? I doubt it.🫢

Yes, the new Zoot Boudica shape seems to be a favourite for my "Wal-a-like" builds. Here's another one going through the workshop, and the customer asked for blue over Bird's-eye with a 34" scale, similar to the one Justin Chancellor has in the band Tool.

Here's my shelves. I keep moving things on and off the actual pedalboards which is why none of the boxes are quite the right size!

Production is running hot!

I’ve had custom shop fenders and they are amazing instruments, don’t know where you get the badly bolted together bit, they have gone up in price considerably and I wouldn’t now pay 5k for one, I’d rather go vintage for that money

I’ve only played one Custom Shop instrument, a Pino Palladino Precision. It was awesome. Not sure I’d pay £5k for one (not that I could anyway) but it really was a superb instrument.

I've not added my favourite fretless in here yet. A 1985 Yamaha BB1100S. It plays, sounds, and looks beautiful. Growls like nobody's business.

This is a witch hunt. This is like communism or fascism. Crooked @jimmyb625 is out to get me. You see this in banana republics but not on bass chat. I started a great company, great cash, great everything.

No, it's all down to the wood.

Although I work for myself, technically, I’m the director of a company and, therefore, an employee. So, if I create a new policy that any employee who works for 13 years (I incorporated 13 years ago) gets a new bass, that would, correct me if I’m wrong, enable me to acquire a new bass but still keep my 2024 gear abstinence intact. if you disagree, it’s solicitors at dawn!

E - sand all the rest of the finish off and go natural.

E: Take your bass to the nearest shop that sells make-up and beauty supplies. Find a nail polish that's the closest match to the colour of your bass. Carefully apply the nail polish to the chip, building it up in layers if the chip is deep. You may need to gently sand it with a high grade of sandpaper to smooth it out. It might not be perfect, but your eye won't be drawn to the dink. Keep the nail polish to treat the inevitable dinks and scratches that a gigging bass will get.

For anyone who doesn’t visit the builds diary section. I recently picked up a 60’s WEM rapier at auction that is in need of some tlc. It arrived today. The logic for buying it was that it looks really cool and quirky, I wanted a shortscale, I wanted to try a bass with a zero nut and I wanted a bass with pickups that weren’t fender style or soapbars. I also really like the idea of keeping something going at has already done it’s job for 50+ years. I bought it online without playing it so it was always a risk. I am happy to say it appears the risk has paid off! It’s currently strung upside down and needs a new nut but it all works. The only thing I haven't tested is the truss rod. Initial reaction is that sounds really good but it’s hard to tell as the current strings are ancient. It’s very comfortable to play. I am not a fan of the neck profile as it feels deeper at the first fret than needed. Possibly deeper than the 12th fret. The headstock also seems very thick. I won’t be getting to work on it for a while as there is other projects to deal with first.

Not much wrong with your English, it's infinitely better than my Danish. Sometimes on the internet (although it's rare on Basschat) you find people who are determined to have a fight. Best thing to do is ignore them and move on.

E - learn how to set up your own basses so you don't have to take it to a tech for a "minor adjustment"?

I have a 30" scale Serek Midwestern 5 and the low B is great, possibly the best I've had, and I've owned 34 and 35" basses. Before I got ym first short scale 5er (Callowhill) I did a LOT of research into scale length and the effect it has on the quality of a low B. The bottom line is that scale length is only one of several factors that contribute to a great sounding B string. The overall construction of the bass - neck material/dimensions, how it's built (1/2/3/5 piece etc), the quality of the neck joint and even just the properties of the piece(s) of wood used - all have an impact on the sound. I believe Jake Serek gets two bits of flat sawn wood and glues them together in such a way as to create the same effect and stability of quarter sawn. In the past Alan at ACG has used carbon inserts to add stiffness to his short scale 5er necks. The string you use will also make a difference, but there don't seem to be hard and fast rules as to what strings work best, though a lot of players are finding that a lower gauge is (counter-intuitively) better. Electronics have some impact, but they will just enhance what is already there. They won't compensate for a bad B. What I did find interesting was a story from Spencer Lull (I think) of Mike Lull bass/guitars on a the SBL podcast (somewhere on YT). They once built a 34" scale 5 string bass and the B was awful. No one understood exactly why, but it wasn't good enough to sell, so they just rebuilt it (poor buyer was made to wait!). My takeaway is that every builder has their methods of getting a good B, regardless of what scale length they work with, but even then there's an element of chance/magic/je ne sais quoi when it comes to getting a great B. Hope that helps!

Watched this earlier and thoroughly loved it. What a wonderful interview, great insight, and what a decent, honest and amazing player. Loved it. Will be watching again 🫡✨

Especially for @Jackroadkill:

Hmm I have always put hook ( scratchy) on my boards and the softer stuff on pedals. Lint free and no issues here. Also I think people who sell me pedals the other way around are plain evil 🤣

The NS-4 has the EMG 35P4 in the neck and the DC in the bridge position. Great combo. The neck is fine. Not too thin, not too chunky. The Mike Starr neck is nice too, maybe it is modelled on Mike's NS-2, which is probably a Kramer era model. I don't know as I have never owned a Kramer era Spector. Maybe someone should sell me one, yes, @cetera I am looking at you 😉 Interestingly, I played both the Mike Starr Euro and a 40th anniversary Euro side by side at a London Bass Guitar Show. Huge neck shape differences. The 40th anniversary one had a pretty chunky neck and most Euros I've since come across have rather chunky necks but not all. There is some heterogeneity/variability. However, for me who prefers the thin neck specs (with the normal 1.64'' nut width, not the DW 1.5''), it is safer to either get a Kramer era Spector or the Ian Hill that also has a thin neck.

Well executed break angles on a bass at the bridge and nut render the length of the string beyond the speaking length, i.e. beyond the nut and the bridge saddle, irrelevant, and is a big part of getting this stuff right on any scale length. It works so well on your Leduc as it's a really well designed and well built bass

This is the kind of creative thinking I've been hoping for

What you doing up there anyway?

Binding with dots happened in two periods - around 1966 and again in around 1982. S8 and S9 serial numbers were used all the way up until 1983 so I'm sure Bass Bros are right listing it as an '82. Personally I really like 1976-1983 Fenders. Everyone says it was their worst period but from what I've seen the shoddiest woodworking/fit seemed to occur more around 73-75; that's when you see the worst cut bridge pickups routs/neck joints, etc. Actual fit and finish did start to improve on the S series basses and by 1982 I'd imagine it was pretty good as you get into the 'Dan Smith era'. Part of the reason why they get a bad rap is the weight- the example you listed is 5kgs, which is too much for many players these days.

Pay a human being to design you exactly what you want. There's even some graphic designers here on Basschat that will probably be able to create what you need.

We Can Work It Out - The Beatles

Gary Unwin and Les Hurdle, mostly.

All in the eyes on the beholder, but to me, that doesn’t look elegant. My eyes want to see those two stripes from the body go all the way up the neck. Instead, there’s a piece of wood of nearly but not quite the same colour, with a single stripe. Plus, that cavity plate 🤮. Not for me, but we’re all different, so I’m glad it works for you. As @Lozz196 and @Reggaebass have said, in my experience, FCS basses are far from two badly bolted together pieces of wood. The ones I’ve had/have definitely are not. I’m not sure I’d go to £5k for one, although the burl top J does look very nice

Consider 3M Dual Lock low profile. It's more expensive but you don't need much of it at all (1cm² at each corner of a pedal is more than enough), and it holds the pedal considerably more firmly than hook & loop.

no but the luthiers Rolex's are.

I can imagine that a Fender Custom would hold its value but not sure it’s worth it! As for ‘badly bolted together’… well, if I had 2 pieces of would, no skill and no money, I’d put one on top of the other and put 4 bolts thru it. If I wanted to join them elegantly and, imho, properly I’d do this;

Depends... Is it a micro chip for tracking? If so it might mean that your tech is spying on you! 😱

Portaloo ～ Abba

February has been an unusually busy month. I have worked up about 60 songs for 4 bands. That's for a 50's rock n roll, r&b and ska band, a blues, r&b, funk and soul band, a soul and smooth jazz gig and a reunion with the 3 surviving members from my school band. About 50% of these songs I've played before, 30% I kinda know but have never played and the rest were originals or I've never heard. There are about 4 which are a stretch and pushing me beyond my comfort zone and 2 are a worry, but I have 10 days to get them right. Fingers crossed.

That's the very start of a beautiful natural aging process that people pay a fortune to imitate...

Yes, the Höfner Villain bass.

So, I am finally down to two basses. Both Spectors, of course 😉 As all good things come in threes, does anyone have an Ian Hill (the PJ version) they want to part with?

Experience tells me that nobody is going to own up to damaging the bass. It was never going to stay perfect forever, no matter how well cared for. Accept the inevitable and live with the chip.

File formats may still be important. Have a look into that aspect. See, two decades ago we had trouble transferring files between designer, advertising bureau, magazine printer, stickers printer, banner printer and car wrapping company. Several of these people called the others "amateurs" and we, the client, had no idea. I'm guessing there should be a standard file format across these disciplines (at least by now if not back then), maybe vector-based, maybe not, I don't know. But better ask some questions before jumping on the first offer. Good luck!

If there's one thing I've learnt by owning dozens and dozens of basses over the years, its that scale length is only a very small part of what makes a good B. Far, far more influential for me is the neck relief, action and string gauge, and there is definitely something going on with neck/bass construction too that I don't pretend to understand. Two B strings on two 34" scale basses can sound and feel entirely different, even with identical setups. I remember a few years ago I had a 34" Thumb bass that, no matter what I did, had the deadest, dullest B string imaginable, whilst simultaneously owning a 34" Alpher Mako bass that had the clearest, tightest B I could want. Same strings (even swapping the strings on both), same setup, unplugged so no pickup/preamp involvement, one sounded great and one sounded unusable. Go figure...