TRBboy

Some cracking basses there @Paul S! I had seen the Antoria before, but couldn't find one for sale anywhere... I was also looking at a couple of Aria Cardinals(?) MIJ, but quite heavy for a small bass. A little more than I wanted to pay too. I need to weigh this Ibanez, but I'd guess at about 3.2-3.4Kg. feels light! Maybe I just leave it black.... 🤔 But I do like colourful basses!

Howdy BCers! I'm going to tell you a story, make yourselves comfortable.... When the Gibson Les Paul Junior Tribute DC bass (catchy name) dropped, I fell in love! Which felt weird, because at heart I am a 34" 5 string, dual pickup guy. But it looked and sounded so cool! Knowing it wouldn't be a main bass for me (and being perpetually skint), I decided I couldn't justify buying one. Then they were promptly discontinued, which made me want one even more.... Not many around on the used market, prices were high, and still my rationale for NOT buying one existed.... But I felt an itch I needed to scratch... Hmmmm..... So, I set off on an odd quest of sorts, to keep my eyes peeled for a pretty unusual bass, but open to any options, provided they met my parameters: •32" scale, preferably •Double cutaway •Single humbucker, preferably •Cheap, as I knew this would be a 'project' bass for fun, and likely not a main player. Pretty niche..... I looked at various things that came up, but nothing really ticked the boxes, UNTIL I spotted an Ibanez GAXB150! Now, I've had the guitar version (GAX30) for many many years, from when I worked in guitar shops, and knew that this whole range punched way above it's low price point. Excellent playing instruments, with surprisingly good stock pickups. I won the eBay auction for the princely sum of £73, which I considered a bargain. It's clearly not been loved particularly, but after a clean up, fret polish, lem oil and re-string, it's absolutely phenomenal! I haven't even needed to do any setup on it, low action, amazing neck, and sounds killer! I do think I'm going to rip out the toggle switch and install a conventional tone pot for more subtle sound sculpting. The toggle basically has a couple of different caps attached, so you have the choice of really bright, really dark, or bypass direct to the jack. The stock pickup is great, it's a DX4, which were installed in the BTBs of the time, and clearly the older SRs had the active version (ADX), which were hugely popular (these remained in the Fieldy Sig long after Ibanez stopped using them in the rest of the range I believe) HELP ME! I want to refinish it, because let's face it, it looks a bit boring, but I can't decide what to go for. Initially I was going to refinish it in TV Yellow, and make a black pickguard (like a classic Les Paul Junior), but also seriously considering Purple flake 🤣 Any suggestions from you guys are very welcome, as I'm struggling to see beyond those two options. Thanks! 😊👍

Smart move man, glad you got it sorted in the end! Think I would've done the same if I couldn't get the correct ones for a sensible price. 👌

Looks super cool! How do they actually do it, do they remove the fret board and route a channel to run the wiring? I'm sure it's quite expensive to have done... 😬 Really looks incredible though!

My wedding ring has never bothered me too much, but for various reasons I got a silicone one for every day use not long ago, and it's really good! No hard edges, doesn't snag on things etc. Highly recommended

Bargain! I was looking for a single plate like this for the cab I'm refurbing, but they don't seem to exist 🤣 I also want a neutrik/jack combo socket, but the postage is twice the price of the part, and I'm far too tight to go for that 😅

I'd suggest dropping Penn-Elcom an email, they look to do ones identical to yours but in 50mm, might be worth asking if they can get the 75mm version? They do some 75mm ones, but as you say the wheel is narrower. That wouldn't be a problem if the overall housing dimensions are right, but I don't know what yours measures. There are full measurements on the PE website. https://www.penn-elcom.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Recessed+edge+castor

I only actually use one bass during a gig these days, but I always take a second as a spare. Although failures are rare, I always figure that if you own more than one, why wouldn't you take a spare? I virtually never need to use it, but it's there I if I do. In fact, our last gig before Christmas I had a problem with my main bass during sound check so used the spare for the gig. I did have one gig a few years ago where BOTH basses developed issues, but I managed to limp through. I've chalked this up as an outlier that'll probably never happen again in my lifetime... 🤞

Fantastic news Andy! Really pleased for you mate 😊👍

@AndyTravis sorry to hear you've lost the love man (although I haven't read the entire thread, so maybe you found it again along the way! 😅). As with all things, you will end up where you need to be, I'm sure. If you don't have a desire to get out gigging currently, and just want to play a bit at home, that's fine. I guess I'm saying don't be too hard on yourself. Don't feel pressure to set expectations on yourself that you don't feel in your heart. Do whatever makes you happy at the present time, even if it's not what you think you should be doing. I don't practice anywhere near as much as I should, and when I pick up the bass I tend to play the same old stuff. I feel like my creativity has disappeared. I know what I should be doing about it, but I guess I just don't want it enough otherwise I'd get on and do it. I'm also guilty of spending more time tinkering with gear and browsing than actually playing at the moment. Band wise, I'm fortunate to have been in a really good covers band with some really great friends for the past 13 years, and although we gig fairly regularly, we don't really find the time to rehearse any more and learn new material, what with family/work commitments etc. The band feels like it's stalling a little tbh. I'd quite like more gigs, but I feel so out of the loop I don't know where I'd start with finding something else to supplement it, a new project. 20 years ago there was a vibrant music scene around here and I knew loads of musos, but now those connections are mostly gone and there doesn't seem to be much of a scene, outside of pub cover bands like us. I wish you all the best on the next leg of your journey, enjoy whatever you're doing, even if it doesn't center around bass at the moment. 🙏

Think I may have jumped into this too early, didn't check if the pickup actually has 4 conductor wiring ... A Google search suggests it probably hasn't 🤦🤣 As you were folks. 😅

Thanks! That looks most like what I did before I think. Presumably would work the same with a humbucker, it's still two coils 🤷

Ironically, none of the ones I can find look like what I can recall doing before! 🤣 This one from Seymour Duncan looks good though: https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/latest-updates/on-on-on-switch?fbclid=IwAR1y5Rii7vqgoIgVZB0Js_vR4990autpGjVpxHkNxbBoQhA55wy6QgGQ5vw

Hey folks! 😊 I'm looking for a wiring diagram for a series/split/parallel switch (DPDT on/on/on), I've tried googling but coming up with lots of different answers 😅 The annoying thing is, I've done it before years ago but can't remember how to do it now! 🤣 Thanks in advance! 🙏

I've looked at British Audio Service, who have loads of NOS spares for Trace gear, but it looks as though the port trims haven't been available for years now unfortunately.

Thank you, I'm flattered! If I had the time and facilities to be able to make basses for people I'd love to, but really can't see it happening in the near future. 😔

Hey folks! A dream of mine for many years has been to build my own bass, from scratch. I was formally a carpenter, and I've done repairs, services, setups and mods on guitars and basses for many years. However, making the neck from scratch always scared me too much! My long time friend and guitarist/singer in my band started building guitars a few years ago, and has made quite a few now, with great results! I asked if he would help me build a bass, and at the start of this year we began. Finally, in early December we finished it, and I have already gigged it! I'm so happy with how the neck turned out, and it sounds incredible. I still have a few minor setup tweaks to resolve, and I did mess the paint job up not once but twice, so a respray might be on the cards in the spring. I had it in my head that I wanted to use native British woods, so the body is solid Poplar, and the neck and fretboard are Sycamore. It's nice and lightweight! I based the shape roughly on my old Yamaha BBN5, as it's just a good, generic, comfortable shape, but nut width, fretboard radius and string spacing are based on my Sandberg California TT5 passive. I struggled to find Alnico V PJ5 pickups at the right spacing, and was recommended Catswhisker pickups. Allan did a fantastic job, and they sound amazing! I'm really pleased with it, and I really look forward to playing it more next year! I'll try to take some better photos when I can. I did mess up the paint job not once, but twice, so a respray is probably on the cards in the spring! 😅 Specs: Solid Poplar body Sycamore neck and fretboard Black dot inlays Dual action truss rod with carbon fibre reinforcing bars Gotoh hardware Graphtech nut Custom Catswhisker Alnico V PJ5 pickups VBT 'no load' passive controls Lychee pink Matt finish

Thanks for all the help guys, @SamIAmhas kindly offered to help me out, so I'll be posting the only existing ring to her to scan in. I've not been on BC for a while, but this has reminded me why this forum is the best! 😊🙏

Wow, thanks for the help guys! By my rough measurements, the OD of the port tube measures around 108mm. What would be the cost to get something like this printed?

Hey folks! I'm about to start turning an old TE combo into a compact 1x15" cab, but I'm struggling to find any port rings that'll fit.... I have one of the originals, but it's a bit tatty, the other is missing altogether. I don't seem to be able to find anything similar in the right size, does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks 🙏

Hey folks 😊 I've been having a look for some Alnico V 5 string jazz bass pickups that will hopefully sound decent but not cost the earth, and there's not as much choice around as for 4 string... I stumbled across the Old Timer range from Alegree, who seem to be well regarded by our guitar playing brethren; USA flatwork and rods, decent build quality and an absolutely bargain price (£20 each for the 5 string model!). Just wondered if anyone here has any experience of this range, and if so can you give some feedback on how you've gotten on with them please? Thanks! 😊👌 https://www.alegree.co.uk/collections/old-timer-pickups/products/old-timer-rumbler-5-string-jazz-bass-pickups?variant=39482903232590

The style won't be for everyone, but the guy is ridiculously talented, and worse still makes it look effortless 😂😭 I enjoy watching his videos 😊👌

I'm also interested, depending on when/where. I'm on the border in Hereford, so anywhere down the east side or into mid Wales could be doable for me 😎👌

I've not been on BC for a while, but just thought I'd hake a look at this thread and I don't know what's happened, it's all gone a bit cockle-eyed! I'm still hoping to come, but won't know for certain till much nearer the time, would be good to reconnect with the community a bit. 🙏