tauzero

It was due to a Christmas card from the drummer.

If part financed by others, shouldn't whose decision it was then come into it? If entirely the decision of the BCer, it's a fail, if it's a democratic decision or an autocratic one where the autocrat is other than the BCer, it isn't a fail.

And star chasers, as in "we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars".

Thinking of telly, I have an irrational prejudice against people who comment on TV adverts when I am the only other person in the room. When watching live TV on a channel with adverts (it does happen), I completely ignore the TV during advert breaks, but frequently Mrs Zero (with whom I have been living since Christmas Day 2005[1], so you'd think she knows that I ignore adverts by now) will start going on about the content of an advert that is either showing or has just ended. [1] That's another story

Or Sweet?

Sounds like the blend also had some sort of buffer circuit on it. What @itu says is exactly what I'd advise assuming that the volume comes before the preamp - if not then connect the pickup to the lead into the preamp that the blend was connected to.

Looking at the JO5, it hasn't got a separate battery compartment so it means removing the control plate to change the battery. @kiat, what batteries are you using, and where do you get them from? And how many hours of playing do you get out of them?

Might be worth washing down the outside of the cab, keeping the water away from the drivers. Also, if it's got the slip cover, check to see if that smells and give it a good wash if it does.

An elderly sax player that I know bought quite a bit of gear for his long-departed band, including a bass. More appropriately for this, many years ago, Mrs Zero and I were going to run an open mic night and I bought a cheap Tanglewood acoustic guitar[1] and unknown brand 4 string bass[2] for use by artistes - as it happened, it naver came to pass. As they were specifically for use by others, would they have counted? TBH, I think they would be fails. [1] Recently auctioned for charity [2] Recently swapped for an OLP Tony Levin

The decision to spend or not is not yours, in this case. Gear abstinence is about one's own decision to buy or not. Like I've just realised that I should have picked up a rechargeable pedal power supply for a little pedalboard before 2026, and now I'm not sure whether to go for the record in failing the test or use a powered power supply. Oh, and whether to buy a little pedalboard or fashion one from bits of wood I have lying around.

I'm in, mainly to see how long I last. Agreed about straps, stands, etc, give them a pass. Just want to check something - I have a bass being repaired which has been with Jon Shuker for a couple of months which I haven't paid for yet, so is that OK?

Ovacandidaphobia?

AliExpress's new year sale starts at 11pm, so that's an hour to get a Chinese mystery bass before the 2026 thread starts.

While searching for possible sources for Sqoes, I discovered an article about the factory: https://guitarbomb.com/philippines-china-inside-sqoe-guitar-factory/

You know you want a Dean 10-string...

Take a picture, load the file into Irfanview, crop it and maybe scale it down, save as a .jpg. Drag/choose file. If you copy an image direct into BC, it will convert it into a file called image.png - PNG isn't as compressed a format as JPG, and also it won't be optimised for image size. The other advantage of doing this is that if you use a unique name for the file, you can reuse it in BC without taking up any more space by choosing "Use existing attachment" from the Other Media dropdown.

That may be a prejudice, but surely not an irrational one.

I'm interested in the 5-string headless - available from Nafiri Guitars and assorted other Asian outlets for £260 plus shipping which comes out at around £470. The 5-string Stingray copies are £214 so a tad under £400 with shipping (and I'm not sure if that includes VAT and duty). I've emailed Fair Deal to ask if they'll be getting any in. When GG had the deal with Sqoe, they didn't get any in. Can't remember if I asked them back then. Edit to add: Fairdeal do have the 5-string Jazz copy in, if not the Stingrays.

Having worn one of my XXL T-shirts and one of my XL ones, I'm wondering if US sizing has come to the UK. The XL is loose and long on me, the XXL is like a marquee, and I am not as slender and lissom as I once was. Incidentally, I realised that the T-shirt of a cat playing bass was AI generated as there were four machine heads on the headstock, but six strings across the fretboard.

I thought I'd add another anecdotal experience. Sold a Precision pickup(s) to a BCer in Luxembourg, to avoid customs declarations did this via another BCer in Norn Iron. Posted using 24 hour tracked on December 2nd. Delivered December 9th, a mere week later. Even Evri is quicker and more reliable than that.

Finish the move into the music room. Get some recording done of solo work. Finish at least some of the hardware projects I've started (cab, basses, electronics).

You could try checking out the usual places, JoinMyBand, BandMix, Facebook, Gumtree, and see if there are any music shops or rehearsal studios locally with noticeboards. Plus see if there are any open mics or jam nights near you that you might be able to do a bit of networking at, or at least a bit of playing.

Fifty years ago, I went to the Royal Veterinary College in That London, and was in International Hall. Back then I played guitar, rather better in my head than in the real world. In the first week or two there I encountered several other musicians - a drummer, a guitarist, and one of these wretched multitalented people who played guitar and keyboards, and could sing too. So we started a band, and as we had an overabundance of guitarists, no bassist, and I (as I did have sufficient self-awareness to realise) was a worse guitarist than Sam, I decided to take on bass duties. Needing a bass, I went to the Fender Soundhouse, where they had recently had a fire and coincidentally Hayman had just gone out of business, so they were flogging off Hayman parts. I did initially get the parts for a doubleneck 4/6 but something didn't fit, so I took them back and got the parts for a 40/40, which remained my main bass for several years. We played a practice gig and then a proper gig, both at the hall of residence, for which we got paid £100 (this was in 1975, so a well-paid gig by today's standards). I dropped out of university soon after that gig, and went back to playing guitar in the bedroom for a few years until I bought a house in Tamworth and thought I'd see about joining a band. I advertised myself as a guitarist/bassist and got recruited by a local band, and have been bassing ever since, with the odd hiatus.

Garden for me.

Absolutely top end Glarry neck.