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Thanks for this. I bet it agrees with this helpful chart I made a few years ago.

Just bought my first Status, a Shark 5 from the 90's (exact year unknown to the seller, and to me) One pu passive Black finish was badly chipped, so I stripped the body back to the American Cherry and gave it some wax and love. Intonated the neck and put on some Labella Olinto Flats. Sounds really good, and that neck is wonderful, quite similar to my fretless JP. Nice and light too. Band rehearsals next week...

now, some three plus decades from my teens, almost all of the bassists posted have been influences on my playing however, someones mention of sisters of mercy reminded me: Patricia Morrison had a huge influence on me in my late teens, admittedly not in terms of bass playing though edit: possibly in terms of right hand technique.........

My Selmer clarinet. Nothing special and I haven't played it since I finished my A-levels 30 years ago. But it has sentimental value. My mum and dad didn't have much spare money when I was growing up but they made sure we had a good childhood. Like many other kids I learnt to play the recorder in junior school which sparked an interest in playing music. We had a couple of toy pianos and a Bontempi reed organ (bright orange I seem to remember), but it was learning the recorder and reading music that really got me interested in wanting to learn to play an instrument. I said I wanted to learn to play the clarinet - my mum and dad loved Acker Bilk at the time and so did what they could to source one for me. I can't remember the exact details but I believe they swapped a spare double bed they had acquired after my grandmother died with an extended family member, who needed a bed and had a clarinet she hadn't touched in years. My parents took it to a music shop, got it overhauled and bought some reeds and an 'A Tune a Day for clarinet' book. I taught myself to play the first bit of 'Stranger on the Shore' on the first morning. My mum tells me I came up to her crying in the afternoon because I could play the high-register notes. I continued to teach myself and had several lessons at junior school until the teacher told my mum I should go to the local evening music school. Honestly, I wish I hadn't. I hated the teacher. I probably frustrated her because I had developed some bad habits that I couldn't break. But she had no skills working with young children. It sucked the joy out of it. So I stopped going and later started having music lessons when I went to secondary school. These were much better and constructive and brought the joy back. I joined the school orchestra and the local youth orchestra as first clarinet. Then A-levels came round and once again I had a teacher who tore my technique to shreds. I sometimes wonder how I even passed the practical as I no longer had any confidence in my clarinet playing. The day of the practical exam was the last time it was taken out of the case and played. But by that time I had been tinkering with bass guitar for a couple of years and had several gig under my belt. I realised my passion lay. Bass guitar was 'me'. I've considered selling it. But it's not worth much financially and I know my mum and dad would be upset if I did as they did everything they could to help start my musical journey.

Tonight

It's because flipping breaks the social bond we have here as members and transgresses a moral code. As members here, we have a relationship to one another. While we may not physically be close, we consider forum members to be friends and as such we enter transactions with this perspective. Businesses buy cheap and sell high. Friends will (by and large) offer you a fair price and not seek to profit from your relationship. People who buy and sell for a profit are acting against this moral code. It's even more egregious when it happens on a forum (someone buys cheap on BC and advertisers for a higher price). As an example of how this relationship can impact you, I bought a bass here for £1300. I held it for a year and then called a London shop for a trade in price. The cash offer I received was £2300. The seller here (trusted member, good guy) had sold to me cheaply. (this was during COVID when prices for all US imports and bespoke basses went through the roof). I could have just pocketed the money. Instead we had a chat and agreed to split the difference. In the end, we both got £500 more than we had expected and all felt good about the world.

Don't forget that you'll also need these:

My current setup, not much room for owt else at the moment tbf 😂 I forgot just how incredibly good the Tone Hammer is when used properly (i.e. setting up your whole sound with the AGS as part of it, and it’s always on - not as a second channel you can have on and off at different points of a gig) Once I realised that I’ve found it’s actually one of the most versatile and best sounding preamps there is. Goliath adds some massive fat tubey-ness to my sound, gratuitous and probably unnecessary but it sounds fantastic. Markbass Compressor is really good too, well impressed with it. Gonna get a Trickfish signal filter (LPF & HPF with makeup gain) to put at the end of the chain and probably a JDI after that, and I’m toying with the idea of a DCX Bass too, I might tidy it up as some point as well 😁

Thank you Tiny Tone! https://tinytone.co.uk

I think prices for second hand instruments are pretty crazy. People are trying to sell used items for 80% of the new price. Private sellers also use the shop prices as benchmarks for their items (especially vintage items) which makes the whole market seem mad.

Any shop has to put their percentage on. Otherwise, there is no point in running the shop. I have dealt with BB a couple of times. Once, something went wrong which was neither their fault nor mine and Wil's customer service was outstanding - absolutely above and beyond.

Here's my gig-hardened playback system: This is the current evolution of about 20 years of using computers for gigging. Everything fits in a 3U rack case with removable front and top. All the connections are made at the patch panel at front of the rack. It might not look as neat but it's much easier than trying to find the correct sockets at the back on a darkened stage with only 10 minutes to set up and line check before you play. The laptop is a 2012 MacPro with an SSD and 16GB RAM. It has been completely rock-solid in the 7 years I've been using it for backing playback. I use Logic Pro X (again without problems although I only run a single 3rd party plug-in and the track and plug-in count is kept to a minimum - usually 1 reverb and a couple of compressors) running a mixture of MIDI and audio. It runs under its own login that is just for live playback with WiFi and Bluetooth disabled. Interface is a Focusrite which is completely overkill in terms of I/O for our needs, however it was chosen because it is properly rack mountable in a 1U space. Before that I had a "half rack" sized interface that was impossible to secure properly in the rack and as a consequence wasn't always reliable. It provides a balanced line outputs for the PA, but we also run this through an ART DTI box first (hidden inside the rack) which completely isolates the interface from the PA feed preventing ground loops and will protect the interface should anything nasty be inadvertently be sent to it. If you are doing serious level gigs I would suggest that you invest in one of these for every stereo feed you want to send to the PA. As far as possible all the connections to the outside world are made via XLR cables. The patch panel left to right is as follows: Channels 3 & 4 XLR inputs. These have never been used and will probably be removed if I ever need to add more front panel outputs. Channels 1 & 2 XLR outputs. Via the ART DTI box. These are the outputs we normally use to connect to the PA. Channels 1 & 2 Jack outputs. Via the ART DTI box. Occasionally we encounter a sound engineer who insists on using their own DI boxes. In that case we connect to these. Channel 3 XLR output. This provides a click track for the drummer Channel 4 XLR output (added since this photo was taken). This provides a backing track mix for the drummer. MIDI Out XLR. We use MIDI to automate patch changes for the live instruments and effects. USB output. I try as far a possible not to use computer-grade connectors in a gigging environment, but this one is a necessary evil which allows me to control the backing from an Elgato Stream Deck pedal. The alternative would be something that connects wirelessly which IMO is even less reliable. I carry 2 spare USB cables and the system can run without the footswitch if absolutely necessary - it's just not as convenient and the rack can't be positioned off-stage in that case. All USB cables inside the rack are cable-tied and hot-glued in place. Powercon connector for mains power to the rack. This splits two ways inside the rack to provide power for the laptop and interface. The Elgato Stream Deck pedal provides all the playback functions we need live. The large middle pedal is start/pause for the playback. The right pedal triggers a macro which closes the current song and loads the next one from the Finder. The songs all have a number at the front of the song name and changing the set order is done by simply renumbering the songs. The left pedal toggles the loop function in Logic on and off which allows us to extend a selected part of a song if required. The whole system takes less than 5 minutes to set up on stage which includes all the MIDI connections, and has proved far more reliable than the majority of other systems I see bands on the same bill as mine using. I know of at least one other band who, having seen this, have subsequently produced their own version of it. Because it's controlled via MIDI having the Helix on stage is a bit redundant, but it serves two very important functions. Firstly because each song has its own named Preset it serves as an automated setlist. Secondly it is set up to receive MIDI sync for delays and other time-based effects the LED on the tap-tempo footswitch changes from red to blue when receiving the sync signal which gives me a visual indication that the backing is running without needing to be able to see the computer screen. We did try running dispensing with the Helix hardware and running Helix Native on the laptop, but it massively increased the load time for each song which made it a bit impractical for quick song changes. At the moment the current load time is less than it takes for the applause to die down after we finish the previous song, so we can give the impression of going seamlessly form one song to the next. Maybe when I upgrade to an Apple Silicon laptop we'll have another look. HTH.

Ashley Hutchings, early Fairport Convention.

So many of these I don't recognise and/or haven't heard of. Here are two of mine. Roger Glover. Chris Glenn

Finished work, long weekend (with a gig), sun shining and beginning to set, dinner and a beer in the garden.... So it's about time possibly my favorite reggae tune gets played:

Having wanted a fretless since borrowing a mate's acoustic for a couple of months, and being 5-curious as well I thought I'd dive right in and get both in one. Popped a bid on this and it came good, decent price I think, with a case thrown in. Got it a couple of days ago. So far, so impressed. It's mint, hard to believe it's been played before. Not as heavy as I expected, although the neck does dive a bit. It's really lovely to play, tweaked the set up and got the action very low. I've found it takes a bit of a mental shift, both in terms of starting to think about the options the B string provides, as well as the confidence to play without eyeballing my left hand. I'm hoping that it will help me train my ears a bit. The preamp and knob config is more complicated than I'm used to so still got some experimenting to do. But it seems to chuck out a great range of tones and overall the best thing about it is the sound. I've spent ages just widdling and making wonderful noises. Anyway, very happy with this, lovely bit of kit. Edit: I realise I should have taken the pic from a different angle given how these headstocks seem to be unpopular!

Found the problem with the hum on the Mod Dwarf. It was, errr...., due to somebody breaking into the house in the middle of the night and replacing the 12V 4A PSU with a 5V 4A PSU in the case. I have no idea who did it, but after checking an awful lot of websites, tweaking everything under the sun, playing about with earth loops, looking on Amazon for groundless plugs, pulling the bench 30V 10A PSU up and about to plug it in, I glanced at the PSU and noticed that some deviant had changed it over. A quick look through the spares box, and I located what might have been the correct PSU. Plugged it in and no f£$%^&*$%^&* hum. <sigh> If I ever find the prat who did this.... I have also downloaded AIDA-X Plugin for the Mod Dwarf. Wow... just wow.... I have a soft spot for small amps so downloaded a few neural models and they are brilliant. I have no idea if they are accurate but the Champ G9 and AC-30 sound great. Not found many bass amp models so if anybody knows of any, please point me in the right direction. Had a good play with it during boring meetings today. One ear in the headphones and one listening to something from somebody on Teams So thats one more of the list of things to do. I have also started seriously looking at better finishing on the bass. Have moved both printers back to PLA+ filament and recalibrated for the different steel plates. PLA+ is very strong, I've not used PLA for two years and had stuck with PETG, but PLA+ looks good. It also sands a whole lot better, so if Mr Amazon could actually deliver the orbital sander I brought I'd be grateful, so far, two attempts and two wrong sanders. The Post Office will be surprised tomorrow morning when I send them back. This will be my focus for a week or more. I really want to get the looks to match the sound. I will be asking for advice on a single pickup to use for the next version Thanks Rob

This is one of the many things that bugs me about some of the song choices for talent shows like The Voice, where someone can be singing a heartrending song about loss and despair but have a big grin on their face as they sing it as a cheerful ditty. Or the breathy female vocalist covers of songs used on adverts or movie trailers. In all cases the performance is totally incongruous with the subject matter of the song indicating that the singer may have no clue what they're actually singing about.

I love this guy’s ad https://www.facebook.com/share/cBeTWHWKS1b7zKsj/?mibextid=79PoIi

Music without lyrics can move you to tears too though. However, just with vocalists, it does require that the musicians actually know what they are doing.

IMO BassBros help keep prices down. They’re one of the more down-to-earth retailers, I think. FWIW in the decades I’ve been on Basschat, I can’t remember a time when anyone ever said ‘Hey - have you noticed vintage bass prices are really reasonable at the moment?’

Is it all in the tone wood? I bet it's all in the tone wood

So true. More than 25 years ago in my old function band we were temporarily without a guitarist. With a couple of big gigs in London on the horizon, our agent put some feelers out to see if a dep could be found. To my amazement we got offered quite a ‘name’ player for around the same fee as were getting each. Only caveat was a hotel needed factoring in, but I was staggered to think that said guitarist would have needed to do such gigs.* From my experience the money has changed very little over the last couple of decades, and I regularly still see dep gigs being advertised with fees still the same. * Anyway, in the end we got a local bass dep and I winged it on guitar! 😆

It would seem to be! I think you're looking FAR too much into the reason of this post... Not everything requires over-analysis, unless of course you want to obtain a PhD in analytics that is. If you're not interested in the thread, or don't see its point, then there probably isn't a point to voicing your 'I don't see the point' point. There's a thread entirely dedicated to the discussion of tea that might be more your cup of tea, and probably a few apostrophes in the wrong place somewhere on the site (or indeed within this thread) that need you to point them out. Time might be better served in those pursuits! 😁

PhD Psychology here. I now understand how little I and science generally really knows about the human mind and behaviour 🤔

I don’t have any Nashville experience but I do know quite a few session players in the UK that are still getting £150 per show or session, regardless of who they’re playing for. That’s the kind of money you’d expect maybe 20-25 years ago, which was okay then but not now. The money hasn’t changed with inflation. Unless you actually are Guy Pratt or Leland Sklar or somebody at that level, and can command whatever fee you like, you could possibly earn more money by working on construction sites than as a touring sideman now. And you’d be home each night having a cooked dinner and sleeping in your own bed, instead of eating at motorway service stations at odd times of the night and sleeping in a bunk on a tour bus.

I met him once, a very charming man

Glenn Cornick, Jethro Tull

High on Wrecking and testosterone!

strange to think some of us probably were at the same place, same time but had no idea …

Man, some great gigs there, good times.

Looks like it's been dipped in a British river.

Oxygene ～ Jean-Michel Jarre

A lot of the time, I'm not necessarily concentrating on the lyrics. I'm listening to the whole song and enjoying the vocal stylings, not necesarily the content. Like it's another instrument. I find I have to properly concentrate on the lyrics to hear the words. And I don't necesarily notice any story being told unless I read them. That was what the song book in a CD was good for I suppose...

Unless they are written down I find most lyrics at least partially unintelligible, and of those that I can understand a lot are cringe-worthy.

It's like an actor not knowing their character. I never got people for whom the lyrics are not important, it would be like not thinking the dialog of a movie is important. If a song got lyrics it's because it's an essential part of, or at least ought to be. If it's really not important why even bother? You don't add ingredients to food that is not important, if not for taste, then at least the overall experience, do you?

Here endeth the thread.

That's how Ibanez should have built the Ashula SRAS7: with the fretted course on the top, and both courses together on the same plane.

Already got a set for this @Happy Jack :

https://www.finn.no/342284482 This one is for sale in Norway at the moment

Great thread and photos. Mine (from my teenage years) have already been posted several times now. John Deacon Geddy Lee Billy Sheehan

I've been thinking about trimming down the number of basses recently.... Now I've seen this

I have a HB DC Junior FAT. I got it around two years ago for around £129. It was ok out of the box, apart from tall frets which had to get levelled, and the P90 was too far aw1ay from the strings, so I had to buy a P90 cover shim, and boost the pup height with foam. That done, I swapped out the black 'plate and control cover for tort, and changed the knobs from top hats to speed knobs. The 'board looked dry, so it got a stain and some Monty's wax. Finally, a year or so later, I decided to strip it, wet-sand, and polish to a light gloss. It's one of my favourite guitars. The camera shows up sections of grain in the mahogany .

I never knew Rowan Atkinson played bass.

Simon Gallup, Hooky, JJ Burnel, Jah Wobble and Aston Barrett have already been mentioned. This leaves me with this fine gentleman: Horace Panter