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It's alive! The Brooks DDB (DoubleDuaneBird). A double-neck Thunderbird with a traditional Thunderbird 4-string neck. And a 30 1/2" scale 12-string bass neck. I can finally share another completed build with you guys. The idea had been brewing for a while but the actual build started out early july 2024. I'll share the pics of the build proces in separate posts below this opening post. Specifications: - Korina body - Korina 12-string neck 30 1/2" scale - Korina 4-string neck 34" scale - Candy Apple Red Nitrocellulose finish - Ebony fretboards - Circle position dots - Jumbo frets - Buffalo horn nuts - Three ply (vintage) white/black/white pickguard - Custom made ETS twelve string brass bridge set. Chrome - Wide travel Thunderbrid style bridge. Chrome - Spokewheel double action trussrods - Carbon reinforcement strip in 12-string neck - Gemini Dominator pickup for 4-string - Gemini Devastator pickup for 12-string - Bourns pots (volume/tone volume/tone) - Mullard capacitors - Toggle switch to choose 12- or 4-string - Gotoh GB 350 lightweight bass tuners - Gotoh ST-31 Stealth tuners - 1 x Pure Tone Multi Contact jack output - d'Addario custom set strings (12 string) - Rotosound RB 50 (4 string) - Weight: 7.9 kg

Played our monthly residency at a local pub last night with the acoustic duo. A shocking load of weather going on so we thought it may be on the quiet side, but pleased to see all the tables booked so it was reasonably full. No big surprises with strange requests, so most were played. Inevitably we got asked for some Kris Kristofferson stuff so we obliged with ‘Me and Bobbie McGee’ and ‘For the good times’. This last one was followed by ‘Highway to Hell’ so plenty of variety! Had a slight buzz/rattle from one side of the PA so that’s going to need looking at - think it’s maybe time to invest in something new. Got soaked loading out as it was still siling it down, home by midnight though.

I just wouldn't play out in the open at all unless it was a glorious sunny day with no risk of rain. That's virtually never in Scotland. At the end of the day i'd rather stay alive than not. Water or dampness and electricity just don't go together. I've spent too much money on good gear to have it ruined because some organiser can't do their job properly. I've also spent too many years living to throw it all away for same reason. You'll get no thanks if it kills someone. Just remember that you would be liable if you agreed to it. Dave

Current iteration of my board. Just got the Neptunium from Si. This little thing sounds massive! Perfect pair for my Pbass ❤️

But……. What they’re listed for and what they sell for are not always the same. IMO I paid over the odds for my ‘73 at £4k inc OHSC. £3k of that was logic, the last £1k was emotion, because it very much ticked every box I have re finish/mojo/wear/board etc. Buying from an established and trusted business also brought some extra cost but that coat bought extra security to the transaction. No way I’d go £3,500 on that ‘72 without a LOT of initial affection for the instrument backed up by a lot of evidence and assurances from the seller.

Venues eh Totally OT but three of my old band used to live close to each other and close to our rehearsal rooms so would walk together with instruments on our backs back and amps/cabs/bags in hands. It was always good fun following rehearsal to pop into a busy pub on the way home, walk up to the bar and say 'Hi, we're tonight's band, where do you want us.....?' just to see the look of horror on their faces. Even more so when there was already a band setting up Anyway, as you were 👍

I would be very embarrassed to ask a band to set up and play on grass. Daryl

Sharing my American Vintage II Precision. Changed the black covers of the Pure Vintage pickups to Cream and installed the bridge cover. Love how it turned out.

From what you've said here, I think your thoughts about the hardware you're using are irrelevant. By your own admission you don't understand compression so in that case it doesn't really matter what model of compressor you're using if you don't know how to get the best out of it. My stock response to questions like this - and they crop up frequently - is to spend some time doing your homework. Read up on what each parameter does and how they interact then start to apply that knowledge to setting the compressor up to do what you want it to. You're get more helpful information from sound engineering sites than places like here and Reddit 😉 And the best way to do this is at volume with the band, assuming you play in one, as you'll then start to better hear and feel the consistency that the compressor is giving to your sound. It will take time and a lot of experimentation, but once you get it right, you'll never want to switch it off. And don't think of compression as an effect, think of it in the same way as EQ and HPF. I think a lot of people have problems with compressors as they assume they're going to be an obvious effect like a drive or synth, they're not, they are more subtle than that but infinitely more useful, IMO. This is not meant to sound condescending in any way, it's just a lot of the anti-compression arguments come from a lack of understanding of the principles of compression and how to apply it.

When I started the build I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find a case that was large enough to fit this monster. But it turned out the Rockcase The Beast (by Warwick) is large enough. I happened to have one in my house for another build (an explorer bass). Laid it in the case and found out I only had to remove the little compartment in the left corner. So I ordered another one and modified that. Made a nice foam insert and put some velours fabric over it. I'm never going to be a real upholsterer, but it turned out quite nice The last step was done by my good friend Bas Becu (BQ Music). He is an electronics wizard. Although this was pretty straight forward electronics, he can do a much better job soldering the wiring than I can. So I asked Bas to do it for me.

Drilled a lot of holes... Two necks Shaped the heels for the neck pockets And after a lot of fitting (and cursing) they finally both fitted Then I weighed the bare ones bass to see what the sale would say... It weighed in a a disturbing 6.2 kilograms Without any hardware! So I decide to route ways some wood underneath the pickguard area. the bass lost 400 grams! Next step was the point of no return: glueing the necks in

Then fretted the fretboards for both necks Glued the fretboards on and started shaping the necks Made the side dot markers and filled the gaps under the fret tangs And then there were two paddles 😉 Shaped the headstocks Made the faceplates from a material called Richlite. Which is a composite substitute for ebony.

Next step was to use the other template for the neckpockets And the pickup cavities And the controls cavity on the back Drilled the output hole And took out the shinto rasp to make a belly cut

Latest iteration.... Removed: EHX Sovtek Deluxe Muff, Joyo Monomyth... more I can't remember Added: More than I can remember... gone back to the Ultrawave, mostly due to extra spluttering it provides for synth stuff, and lack of resaleability... Added an attenuator at beginning of chain, as my Z7 is too hot for the dynassor even with the pre leveled off internally The space heater goes before the Zio to warm everything up... thanks @Berserker, it really does the trick! the zio is just a quality DI all around, although it may soon be swapped for a tonehammer DI... any thoughts on Zio vs Tonehammer? Worried with the space heater it may end up being TOO warm...

Totally agree, he's a classy player not just in terms of the techniques he's able to call on, but in terms of when and how he chooses to calls on them 👍

Things have changed over here since Covid. The standard bar/pub gig was 4 hours with two 15 minute breaks. Now it's 3 hours with the same breaks. I'm bragging a bit here, but after 17 years Maple Road no longer books bar gigs. We do winerys, brewerys, private events, festival, fairs and theaters. We plays an average of about two hours. Daryl

Never seen these before. Pic for those not on FB

And made the unavoidable vide demo...;-)

Then switched to making the necks Routed the trussrod slot for the 4-string And routed the slot for the carbon reinforcement strip for the 12-string neck Then routed the two slots for the two trussrods for the 12-string neck Sawed the headstock angle for both necks and planed them nice and flat Prepared the fretboards for the position dots Made the 12th position ring inlay Cut out the truss rod access slots And made the covers

The initial idea was to build a double-neck Firebird/Thunderbird. But when Duane Daniels saw the sketch he asked me to change the Firebird part into a Twelve string Thunderbird. Duane has a crazy collection of twelve string bass guitars and he commissioned the build of the DDB (DoubleDuaneBird) The first step was to order all the parts. Starting with the Korina body blank and neck blanks. And the two ebony fretboards. I asked my good friend Frank Hoffmeyer of Holz-Faszination to pre-radius them (16") and also have them slotted. While all the other parts were also ordered from all over the world, I set out to make the templates. In the past I used MDF. But laser cutting MDF is not very healthy so I switched to using Plexiglass. I made the vector files on my computer using Adobe Illustrator. Them exported them as DXF files and loaded them into the laser cutting software. Very clean looking templates! First cut out the rough outline. Then routed along the template

The chip is glued back in place and doesn't look too bad; we'll see how it holds up. The neck is going back and I'll just have to try and exercise some patience (not my strong suit) to find the right one.

I came across this stroke of genius - using what looks like surgical tubing to hold onto the pots, which makes swift work of getting them through the holes...wish I'd seen this before !

When I was looking to buy my current '70s Precision I looked at a lot of similarly poorly described instruments on eBay and Reverb and on far too many occasions the seller was either unhelpful, clueless, or both (all the old classics were there in force; for example "I'm not going to take it apart, but I know it'a all original because the bloke who sold it to me said it was..."). I guess I now look at poorly photographed and poorly described basses and know what to expect

What a dreadful oily turd he is, and the brass balls he must have to repeat his fraudulent activities over and over again and again, and then brazenly appearing on stage on a seemingly regularly basis too. A truly crooked individual to the core. He must have a lovely tapestry at home with all the stitch ups he's carried out.. I can only hope, when he does get his comeuppance (in what ever format that could be) that it is in the public forum and we can all rejoice together.

A reminder for anyone on here in the Nottingham/Beeston area that Hurtsfall will be playing Oxjam Beeston on Saturday. More than 100 acts spread out over 17 venues from midday to midnight all for £10 (and it's free to get into any of the venues before 6) all proceeds going to a good cause. We will be performing at The White Lion at 6.00. Apparently the gig is in an outdoors space but under cover for both the band and the audience, which is just as well as there is still a 40% chance of rain. We will also have shiny new merch on sale in the form of two new T-shirt designs and a limited edition CD of our forthcoming single, including an exclusive new version of "Calling Out" which will only be available at gigs.

*Everyone* should learn to play with a floating hand 😊 I had no choice but to learn when I got a piezo-only Ibanez SRH500F about 5 years ago and suddenly had no pickup to rest my thumb on. Turned out to be one of the best things to happen to my playing technique. Very freeing being able to completely change right hand position on the fly from note to note to get brighter/warmer tones even within the same phrase.

I think now that eBay make payments directly to your bank account ‘on request’, they’re hoping that people who sell items will leave the money in their ebay account (to pay for postage etc) then keep it there to buy from business sellers instead of shopping elsewhere.

Latest version of my Nano board. Got this powered with the Truetone CS6 underneath. Finally ordered the Pedalnetics Helauxy Duo Mini Pro for the Stomp, wish I'd got that sooner, a great addition and space saver.

The Olympia Flats E... thick part makes it on the peg... 'prolly due to the short Saddle to Stop compared to a 3 Point?.. And the Silks line up, Oh the simple things... Bass Cosh! From this angle the Headstock looks as big as the body!.. 'scuse the thumb print...

'Ere, back when I were lad, all this round 'ere was a Ricky-free zone. That booger John Hall, 'e 'ad faster briefs than a whippet, if y'gets my meaning. Weren't none of this Chickenbacker nonsense back then, neither. Nay lad, Basschat knew its place back then, hiding behind t'sofa in case a writ come through t'letter box.

Obvious variation on the HB thing. Like the fact they've binned the nasty Chickenbacker hardware & electronics, don't like the fact they kept the nasty throwaway scratchplate 'design'. In other news, if you're in the Phillipines, you can get one of these: https://ddmusic.ph/product/dd-resurrecctor-bass-guitar-4s-salmon-pink/ For about £160, or a bit cheaper in white with a maple fretboard, and a bit dearer in green. Wonder how easy it is to import a bass from Manila? Or bring one back from a holiday trip...

Been sulking as the guitarist from our blues band is also in an indie band that are taking off. He's just cancelled one of our local gigs so they can play Capital FM's big switch on. Plus they are supporting Cardinal Black at the Tramshed in February, Cardiff's most awesome venue. So imagine my joy to find out we've been booked to play the Cardiff Liverpool Supporters Club Christmas Party at the Tramshed this December (they have five thousand members, although they won't all turn up). Going to be riotous...

I think he has a Jazz from the not very successful Mortar Series.

I use the screws which hold the base plate to secure a flat piece of plastic (from any used container) and glue to that

Def agree on this Chris, maybe a different bridge affects the action/string tension to where a player prefers, so it coaxes better tones that way. Who knows but as you say if something makes you play better, irrespective if someone else likes it, then that`s all good.

Maybe there will be more realistic prices for used gear now that sellers don't have to add-on something to cover their eBay selling fees? That's if anyone actually ever did that 🤔

That is one way forward for sure. Ime the immediacy of headphones is the equivalent of the sharpest headmistress you ever encountered. Every little thing wrong brought sharply to your attention. Great for honing skills when you have some to hone, tough on a raw beginner. Amp plus cab has a lot of win as far as getting serious bang for not a lot of bucks. There is also a lot for carrying carrying the big stick but speaking softly. A bassist with good dynamics can lead the band. A lot of so called musicians in bands fail to remember that there is no loud without quiet. A bass that disappears and reappears can coach a reaction from the drummer and only the worst egotistical guitard will fail to notice he should be dropping down to match in quieter sections. All power to you.

brought back the trusty and extremely modded muff

Had a little jam around an old band mates house some months ago, ended up a bit drunk then left my specs there. Popped over to collect them today and whilst having a cuppa me mate say's "I've a bass upstairs that you used to gig with...I'll just go bring it down" Next he hands me this 1974.... but I can't remember ever using it. He is adamant I did. Unfortunately I didn't have time to play through an amp but will return to have a blast with it soon.

Frankie Boyle looks like he's having fun on the bass.