Matt P

Could you sand it level then put a 1.5mm veneer on to put back the thickness before reattaching the fretboard? Matt

I bought myself a Kala U-bass (the mahogany acoustic one) many years ago and after a few months i swapped over to a set of the Aquila thunder reds, i've just been playing it and the A string has started to develop cracks around the 3rd to 7th fret area ( a quick check of my pile of musical receipts shows i bought these strings in August 2015 so they've not done badly). I've put the original strings back on as a temporary fix but i think it's time for some new ones and the available range seems much bigger than last time i looked so i thought i'd see what people had tried before i buy some. these are some of the options i've seen, (at Bassdirect) which ones have people tried and how do they compare with each other? Aquila "Thundergut" - White, red or black, Aquila "Silver Rumblers", Pyramid roundwound string U Bass Pahoehoe Black strings KALA roundwound string set for U Bass, 4 Galli Flatwound set for U Bass, 4 Galli Nylon Coated set for U Bass, 4 the Galli Nylon's look quite tempting as i've used nylon tapewound on other basses and quite liked the feel but at 50 quid a set their not the cheapest (but i know they will last a very long time) Any comparisons or reviews would be gratefully received. Thank you Matt

ahh another interesting rescue thread, i was wondering what would be keeping you occupied while the parts are arriving for the build, I think i enjoy these threads almost as much as the builds. Matt

it's never really bothered me, I have the same bridge (but in black) fitted to my Letts 5 string, my only minor gripe is that the black finish isn't very hardwearing, the chrome fixes that. Matt

I did own one of the bex4 basses for a bit, I didn't seem to bond with it. I have yet to play a bad yamaha instrument though. Matt

Excellent Score! I'm another who's always fancied one of these, i do the occasional search on ebay but they're too expensive for me, I think if one of the Nylon strung ones popped up at a sensible price then i'd be sorely tempted. Matt EDIT - a quick ebay search throws up an AEX500NS still at a reasonable price, but there are 5 bids already so i'm not hopeful.

I'm liking the look of this, limba top with ash back and ebony demarcation will look fantastic. any thoughts on pickups? Matt

i think that when it comes to cheap EUBs there are only really 2 models on sale, the Palantino and the Stagg, (i'm willing to be corrected though) i think both of theses are sold under a few different names as well. have a look through the classifieds and see if you can identify which one it is, there are 2 different versions of the Stagg with different headstocks, the earlier ones were known for having issues with the headstock so my money is on it being one of these. I have one of the later Stagg ones and i'm very happy with it (mine is slightly modded with a new tailpiece and different strings) once you've identified which one it is then working out a value is much easier. Matt

that combo sounds pretty good, although i have my straps a hair longer at 121cm hole to hole, maybe we need a Basschat Official strap to go with the straplocks? if the price was sensible then i'd have one, maybe with a little discrete branding? I wonder how many orders they would need to make it reality? Matt

I have a love-hate thing with the ladder adjustment but i very rarely adjust my strap after the first time and having bought a strap with a metal buckle i ended up making a soft cover to go over the buckle as i was paranoid about scratching the guitar i was using it with and i haven't touched the adjustment since the first initial setup. the ladder adjustment does have the one advantage that once adjusted it stays put unlike with the nylon straps i've used) I'm almost tempted to have a one piece non adjustable strap made to my preferred length.

i'm not sure that shorting out the lead would be a great idea as you would actually be shorting out whatever it was plugged into at the other end, with the volume at zero and the power disconnected wouldn't it act much like a passive bass plugged in with the volume at zero? Having the volume knob act like a on-off switch sounds like a reasonable idea to me provided there wasn't an audible click on the output when it's turned on. Matt

i have quite a few of the Levy's suede ones but for my bass my go-to strap is from Leathergraft, i bought it on a whim from a local shop and it's the perfect mix for me, 3" wide, soft leather on the top, grippy suede on the back, just the right amount of padding and not stupidly expensive. Leathergraft Liverpool - Guitar Straps, Leather Goods, Straps mine is the Pro deluxe, I might actually order for my new 5 string

That's what I was worried about, well if you ever decide to part with it send me a message, I can promise it will be going to a very good home! Matt

good afternoon, i am hoping that the collective wisdom of this thread can help me identify (and hopefully locate) a bass that a friend of mine sold many years ago, all i have is one slightly fuzzy (and badly doctored) picture. From reading through this thread I think it might be a 405 in metallic grey/Pewter (we are trying to dig up some more pictures) but the husband of the bassist in question is trying to locate an identical bass to replace the one sold for just 100 quid back when they were skint students (and to slightly offset the through-neck Warwick thumb 5 string that had just been Bought) it was originally bought in the early 90's so we are fairly sure it is a bass collection. @BassBunny you mentioned a pewter 405 many pages back, am i on the right lines? does anyone have one that they would be prepared to part with? any leads gratefully received! Matt

yes, the choice came down to 2 versions, this one and the one shown originally, it was very close but seeing it together like this i think it's the right one, this is going to be a stunning bass and will definitely become my number one bass. Matt

That looks even better now it's glued together, how many people spotted that the template is the wrong way round? 😁 Walnut is my favourite wood for instruments, I already have 2 guitars and a bass that are walnut but I'm very sure this is going to be the best looking one! Matt

I bought Rob's Scpectracomp, it arrived very quickly and was very safely packaged. a great deal all round, trade with confidence, Matt

loving the shape of this, will be watching with interest. the SIMS superquad does seem to be the ultimate choice for a single pickup bass, that's pretty much what pushed me over the edge and got my 5 string shortscale build underway, i own some 2 pickup basses but only ever seem to use one pickup on each so the 3 in 1 pickup is perfect (and they are expensive so only buying one helps) Matt

that's useful to know 😀 Matt

are your stands hollow? if so it might be worth filling them with something to prevent resonances, I used a pair of the Castle Durham 2's until quite recently (bought some Castle Severn 2's) and had them on Atacama stands filled with the Atabites filler, (my friend has an identical pair on the same stands but sand filled) I always used bluetac to couple the stands to the speakers. Matt

most of my basses seem to end up with flatwounds fitted, so flats would be my first choice, i definitely want BEADG though as that is what i find most useful. I believe that LaBella and Dunlop both make short scale 5 string flats so some investigation might be required as i've not used either of those brands before (current basses wear Ernie Ball group flats, D'addario Chromes, GHS precision flats and Status ground wounds.) Matt

I'm going custom for my 40th, build has just started Matt

To say that I'm excited about this is a bit of an understatement! I have been thinking of a bass like this for quite a while and seeing the triple Sims-pickup build just pushed me over the edge. This is my 40th Birthday present from my parents and my wonderful wife, it's a dream bass build really. Matt

if the combo has an effects loop then connecting the Hotone effects send to the combo return should work fine. Matt