JimBobTTD

[quote name='paul_c2' timestamp='1499882902' post='3334324'] What import certificates (perhaps Germany is different to UK)? I didn't do anything, except order it and pay for the customs tax/duty once it had arrived in the country pending final delivery to me. [/quote] I don't know - I shall have the neck sent to me here in Sweden (I had planned on having it sent to the UK). Both the UK and Sweden say that you need to apply for a certificate. But again...information is conflicting. I shall call the relevant authorities here.

I went ahead and ordered. Warmoth will sort out the necessary certificates for export. As I shall be importing, I shall need to sort out the import certificates. I shall update the thread when it is time. At least then, there will be a first-person account of importing!

Thanks - that is what I believe. But you can should in one hand and sh*t in the other, and see which one gets full first... Has anyone gone through this?

There is an awful lot of conflicting information on the net about this. Does anyone here have any experience of importing a neck (or a whole instrument) from the US to Europe since the start of this year? I understand that the rules changed in January. Any information gratefully received. [I am looking to import a Warmoth neck. They have the accreditations and will provide certificates...I am looking for information about what I need to do. I want to import it to the UK.]

Does anyone have experience of importing an instrument with an Indian rosewood fingerboard from the US? I am asking in relation to CITES. Did you need to do anything special? This is assuming that the US seller has already done the necessary for export.

[quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1499013716' post='3328576'] I can see jazz as the end result of wanting to involve more musical theory one's playing. I can certainly see its allure as I've leaned more notes [/quote] I think this is what I meant. However, I still play rock and metal and shall continue to do so.

That might be the definitive answer!

Ok...there are some sweeping generalisations, not-quite-fully-incorrect assumptions and some premises here with which you may not agree... I have been reflecting on music a fair bit recently, in particular on [i]inevitability [/i]of certain things. I grew up on rock, progressed quickly to metal when I discovered its existence and then went to thrash and death metal. After a while - you could argue it was after I grew up a bit - I went back to rock and then to rock's origins, the blues. I listened to a lot of blues. My playing went from superduperfast to gentler stuff and I even took up fretless. One thing I noticed is that this is a path that is hardly unique. Gary Moore went from rock to blues. Clapton from rock* to blues. Slash had a blues project. Alex Skolnick from Testament went further and left* thrash metal for progressive jazz. Even metal has itself become more prog/jazzy. I think that it is in one's blood to go back to the origins of the music one likes. Hence, metalheads go to rock, rockers go to the blues, blues go to jazz. Some may not get all the way in their journey and others may not embark on one at all. Do all musicians embark on a journey that, eventually, ends up with jazz? Will this lead to wanting to go to more original jazz...should we all stop resisting the primal urge and chuck in our electric basses and go over to DB? Or have I had too much espresso and finally gone loco? (* Kind of)

...and getting a pint of slops from the tray with a little bit of draft beer chucked in.

As the title, really. I have had this Alanis Morissette song in my head for a while and I suggested it to the band (fully aware that the bassline is much harder than it initially seems). The singer said yes. When the guitarist reminded him that he would be asking whether "she would go down on you in a theatre" or whether a certain someone would be thinking of him when he has sexual relations with a woman, the singer suggested changing the lyrics. Has anyone done this [i]without [/i]changing the lyrics? Did it work well with the audience? Did your singer handle it well?

Hipshot A would be my choice. I have one on my two Warmoth builds and another one will go on the next build. The Schaller 3D is probably just as good, though. The bridge on my old Ibanez was either a Schaller or a copy and it bent upwards, so I was put off the design (fairly or unfairly).

It sends the signal after the amp's EQ to the desk rather than before the EQ stage, I believe.

I have had a Bear Foot Bass Overdrive for a couple of months and I am still utterly in love with it. Much like Japhet above, my long quest is now over. I use a Darkglass Vintage Deluxe for heavier overdrive. Both pedals keep bottom end.

I think that the black knobs on a Jazz only match because the pickups are black. On yours, I would go for the chrome knobs over the black ones.

Mmmm...nice. Nicely different, too.

[quote name='Tweedledum' timestamp='1495437252' post='3303612'] '74 Fender [/quote] I saw this bass in the Jazz thread a good few years ago. This bass speaks to me on a very special level. Seeing it started a desire for a 5-string version that is still within me. I have been thinking (again) of putting one together from Warmoth parts, nitro painted etc...time to start speccing the bass again!

I have played the BBBOD at rehearsals since it arrived and gigged it for the first time on Friday night. I am still very happy with it; it is still not going anywhere! The Darkglass I have for heavier distortion works a treat, too. I am very happy with everything. I played the P with flats rather than the fretless J. The rhythm guitarist is a bit...ah...enthusiastic and the extra notes he often plays makes fretless impossible.

Thanks for the comments, folks. A little update: We met on Tuesday evening and went through the setlist. It was apparent that the singer had put in a good amount of work to learn the lyrics, structure and feel of the songs. He still came in at the wrong moment a few times and struggled to place the "woo" in My Sharona in the correct place, but he was far more open to a bit of teaching. All in all, I think the drummer's judgement was a little harsh and a little hasty, albeit not entirely unfounded. The gig is on. Fingers crossed that it goes well and I don't end up feeling like a wally.

[quote name='spike' timestamp='1496089574' post='3308731'] Does your singer understand beats and bars? [/quote] I have counted with him (1-2-3-4; 1-2-3-4) and he is mostly ok with it. I think he understands them but has a bit of anti-elitism in him that makes him reject music theory. [quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1496090037' post='3308740'] You'd think a singer would be able to practice anywhere, a tape/cd/whatever of the songs in the car should give them plenty of time to get it right. Playing bass in the car would be a bit more difficult. [/quote] There have been times when I have been unable to remain diplomatic and pedagogical and I have reminded him that he has the easiest part of the songs to learn. [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1496099102' post='3308825'] He's not up to it. Get another singer. [/quote] [quote name='bazztard' timestamp='1496114354' post='3308849'] some people just never get the fact that not EVERYONE can be a musician. no amount of lessons can teach a tone deaf person or rhythmically challenged musician. He can't remember lyrics and doesn't know how to count , this person is NOT a singer. [/quote] I am starting to think the same. But with a gig in three weeks (and I shall be away on business for two), we do not have the time to do this. Thanks for the comments. Any more ideas about how he can be taught?