Grangur

Ahh, you must mean Liverpool.

Wow, if you're sure? I can then drop it in with someone. Either Trevor in Staines or someone down south. I guess it also depends on how long @TrevorR wants it. As I see it, some folk are going to need to ship it by courier. It's only a matter of who. After all, petrol/diesel isn't free either.

@Jimryan was the owner of the Relay bass. As I understand it was sold for charity, but Jim will know.

Hi @gary mac, no, let Tim have it first, then TrevorR and then, when I'm back I can take it down there, if it's not already gone. We may as well get it finished in the SE first. Thanks all the same.

Ok, to keep this idy, here's the list at this time. This isn't necessarily the order for receiving the bass, as logistics for moving the bass without using a courier may influence it. @timhiggins - Puckeridge, Herts @TrevorR - Staines, Middx @Bridgehouse - Peterborough, Leicester/Nottinghamshire @Geek99 - Coalville, Leicester @honza992 - Nottingham @fiatcoupe432 - Kingsbridge, Devon @BreadBin - Trowbridge, Wilts

I would assume the difference in the impedance and induction is so miniscule that there is no difference. As @MoJo, I install whichever way round makes the wires most easy to fit without snagging etc.

There seem to be a few people who've got dropped off the list. Some time ago we had: @Bridgehouse - Peterborough, Leicester/Nottinghamshire @Geek99 - Coalville, Leicester @honza992 - Nottingham @fiatcoupe432 - Kingsbridge, Devon & now we have @BreadBin Please, @BreadBin can you tell us where you are? As it happens, on Wednesday this week, I'm driving down on a 3 day trip to Bath, Bristol, Exeter, then on Southampton. It would have been good it I could have taken it. Maybe I can wangle to do a similar trip next month, when others will have finished.

Definitely Scott. I prefer the format. Also, what I've seen of Joe is he wanted £48 for a pdf download of a book! I'd expect a beautifully printed hard copy for that. At least I'd want to see sample excerpts and know the content.

Hmm... Having listened to the BC podcast, and the reputation of Wal, it's possible this visit could be expensive.

No, good timing. @gary mac has gigs to do. I don't know when he'll be finished, but I go on holiday 20th Oct to 5th November. So how about if you have it after Gary. I'll collect it from you when I get back? I'll have it for a few days and take it to @TrevorR Either that or @tthiggins can make arrangements to get it to Trevor?

Yes, @gary mac, When gigging, you need to be careful with the switches as switching the wrong one kills the output dead.

When I get it back from Gary, I'll try to get some more "location pictures". Not certain yet what, but I'll see what I can do.

Handed on to @Gary mac

Nobody uses a router? Would using a router be useful to get it started?

Another thought is, I can have it back from you after you're finished, as I sometimes travel near Staines. So maybe I can drop it in to @TrevorR... besides, I've never played a Wal. No, no that would be far to presumptuous.

I picked up the bass Wednesday night. Last night I was humping logs cut from trees felled, for 2-3 hours. So reviewing it last night was a bit rushed as I'm expecting to be passing it on today, as I know @gary mac has a gig Friday night. However, I've had a bit of time today. Messed about with the amp - I had it plugged into an input on the amp marked "Active". So now I have it in the "Passive" input the sound is much better. I've tweaked the Truss rod and lowered the nut. I play finger-style. I can't slap to save my life, but this bass is amazingly easy to slap in different ways and get a variety of slapped sounds from it. On finger-style, there's a good growl and there are some really good tonal variations available. The feel reminds me of a Wishbass I owned and did up years ago - and that is a compliment. The neck has a rustic feel that comes out of the thickness. It is a good bass. It would be good to have it longer. Maybe Gary will have to wait a day longer.

Marco, Do you have a fret-bending tool? These cost a lot, but you can build your own. I have a lot of the parts spare. If you want them do let me know, and I'll pack some for you.

I've had a bit of a play with the bass. Ad Mick said, it feels pretty solid and the finish on the body is mostly good. To get a smoother finish you could use a sanding-sealer when you're sanding it. I am a bit confused with the switches for the pickups. Mick was telling me one of the switches is a sound-cut switch, but it isn't. The switches are a bit more complex than that. The output isn't massive, but that might be increased by raisingthe pickups. I agree with Mick on the headstock shape. It would be nicer if it were a little wider. The tuners are confusing as they work the opposite direction to others, as the left-hand ones are on the right-hand side etc. But this might simply be that Marco likes then this way. The strings could be better if they sat deeper into the nut. This would gold them better and mayne give better transference of sound. Also, the break-angle of the strings at the nut could be better. This can be improved by adding a string-tree bar across all the strings. The neck radius is very very flat. This means bending strings could be hard. This is interesting, because the bridge has a radius that is greater than the neck radius. The bridge radius means the strings A & D are higher than the E & G. This can be corrected to some degree in the setup. The flat neck radius is flat in the centre, but has a curve off at the sides. This has meant that seating the frets has been difficult. If, next time you radius the neck with a radius sanding block, the curve will be the same across the neck and you can use curved fret wires to seat better on the neck. Filing the frets at the sides won't be able to fix this because the catchy bits are where the fret wire isn't seated. The neck is a bit chunky at the headstock end. I measured the depth ad 30mm from front to back at fret 3. The depth of a Squier bass at the same point is 22mm. The depth of my Warwick Corvette, which is deep by many people's standards, and the chunkiest neck I own, is 25mm. This depth of the neck is still the same at the 17th fret. The pickup positions are a little further towards the bridge than my taste. The humbucker is centred at 805mm from the nut. On a Warwick $$ this distance is 790mm. This isn't to say it is "wrong", it is just different. So it gives a more "punchy" sound. The position of the neck pup is the same as that on a Warwick Corvette. The bass sits well on the strap. It balance well. It also only weighs 3.81Kg. The wood selection is good. The maple is nice as is the walnut. The woods are well put together and in most places they meet up well with no gaps. The body is smooth round the edges, with a good curve. As an early bass in Marcos building career, it's a great start. If I can I'll try to get some pictures taken of it tomorrow. Many thanks Marco. Sorry, if this sounds critical, but there is no point in sending it if nobody says anything meaningful.

Hey Gary, good one. I only got it recently, but I'll get it over to you soon.

Yes, @TripleB67, Scott is the guy with the glove. Just a word of warning: Try not to be put off by his YouTube "lessons" where he goes on about everything being "Super-cool" or "mega... whatever". In the SBL academy lessons he's more rational. Well, a bit anyway. Oh, and I use fingers only. Could never get to grips with a pick.

Agree with much of the above. It's work commitments mostly that stop me being in a band, and not finding a band that plays stuff I get interested in. Being in a band does, generally get you learning faster. So, don't close the door on it entirely.

Hey @TripleB67, Firstly, a big welcome to BC from another mature bass player. Actually, many of us here are the wrong side of 45, so you're in good company. You got a good deal on the bass there. I started bass in earnest when I was 50, and also don't gig. I've been in 2 bands, but found it's not for me either. I play a lot of tunes and melodies. There's a lot you can do on a bass, and plenty of challenges in bass-playing, without committing to humping gear in and out of bars at sill hours in the night. (IMHO) A good place to start learning is YouTube. You also won't spend long there before you come across Scott Divine and Scott's Bass Lessons. Scott does some good free lessons on YouTube, but he promotes his "SBL Academy". This is well worth the investment. He does a 14-day money-back trial. Take advantage of this. The number of lessons there are phenomenal. They go from "parts of the bass", playing technique, etc, right on the walking bass lines, Jazz and loads more. There are also lessons on SBL, from other teachers who teach at major music colleges in USA. www.studybass.com is also worth taking a look.

Have a read here. I think judicious use of the steam iron is a valuable contributing factor. Also, when you fit the neck after wards, tighten the truss rod BEFORE you tighten the strings. It's worth remembering with these cheap basses, the necks are no the best. So, you need to make good use of the TR to compensate for the lack of structure in the wood. But with care, you can get a good result.