KingBollock

I have the Bass I have always wanted, it cost me £250. I could happily spend £400 on upgrades for it, though. There are a couple of Basses I fancy, the most expensive of which is about £600 brand new. If money really was no object then I would build myself a fully fitted out workshop, take classes in Bass building and design and build my very own Bass from scratch. To be honest, I haven't put much more thought into it than that.

An idea for someone that wants to have the hardware for the looks, but also be able to remove them for playability, is magnets. My wife does floristry and uses these little magnets, they're 12mm across and 3mm thick, and they are incredibly strong. You're probably not going to want to do this with a prized Fender but it would be quite easy to embed a couple of these magnets into the wood of the bass, they are so strong that they would probably work just as well through a finish if you wanted to hide them when the trays aren't on the bass. Anyway, it's just a thought, there are probably many problems with the idea that I haven't thought of but there it is. Actually, one worry might be that they might effect the pick ups or something. Edit: Or Velcro.

I don't know if this will help or not. I needed some adhesive pads yesterday for something, where I needed to mount something while allowing a little clearance, only I had run out of the pads a few days before. So I made my own using double sided carpet tape (always have some of that around, it's very strong and incredibly useful. You can make it invincible by adding superglue) and some foam, I cut up some of those foam rings you get in blank CD cake tubs and applied the carpet tape to each side. I think having foam between some joints can help absorb knocks, making the join last longer.

[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1382302961' post='2250502'] It's weird cos the best voices i've ever heard aren't the best, not even close, but partly cos of that they are! Infact I know most people won't agree but i just love em! [/quote] My all time favourite singer is Sharon den Adel from Within Temptation. Her voice does very physical things to my insides, if I am listening to her when my wife is in the house I actually feel guilty.... And my second favourite singer is Blackie Lawless (shame he's such a cock). I can't imagine many agreeing with either of those.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1382266038' post='2249776'] Never heard of 'em! [/quote] Neither had I. And here was me thinking I had invented that picking technique a few weeks ago...

Bass should be felt, not heard. Don't touch the truss rod, you'll break it and have to scrap the bass. You're not a real bass player if you use a pick.

I am an outstanding example of how not to go about becoming a musician... I hate being called a musician. The only time I ever went into my local guitar shop, after talking for a while the bloke was under the impression that I was a musician, his word, and because I didn't immediately correct him, because the conversation moved too quickly, I have never been back into his shop, out of guilt. I do tinker with other instruments, but Bass is my first and main instrument, so I accept the title Bass player but I'm not even a good example of that. I have various excuses, including having to take short term memory destroying medication for my whole adult life, but the main problem is that I never challenged myself. When I was a kid and playing in bands, I was able to play everything I was asked, easily. I was actually quite sought after. When I cocked things up and lost all my musician contacts I just stopped working at it. Later I had a few friends who were aspiring musicians, who were rather in awe of what I could do, which didn't help. Because I had gotten away with it for so long while not even knowing most of the notes on the fretboard, nevermind learning to read music, I just didn't bother. I always just thought that if I ever got back into a band again I would have the excuse to work at it, to challenge myself, but it has never happened, and now I worry that I just wouldn't measure up. I remember, a few months after starting to learn to play Bass, I had taken it into a music lesson at school. The teacher played a note on the piano and asked me to play it on the Bass, I just gave him a blank look. He told me that it was an F. Another blank look. He then asked me "How the hell do you play all the stuff you play without even knowing the notes?" and all I could do was shrug and say "I don't know.", and I really didn't know. To this day I can't read music, or work stuff out by ear - though, oddly, if I accidentally play something I have heard I can then work out the rest of the tune by myself without listening to the tune - and I totally regret it. The husband of a mate of my wife's has been bugging my wife to get me to teach him to play Bass and I keep turning him down, because I am not fit to teach (I did teach guitar to a mate's daughter for a while but I hated it, horrible child...). I have yielded a bit and said he can bring his Bass over for a jam and see how it goes, I might be able to help with some basics, or at least make sure his Bass is set up right. I am sort of like the homeless person that parents point out to their kids to make sure they go to school. Take heed!

Yup, the picture works. They're particularly good during sad songs for added Real Tears™.

I was rather influenced by working in a guitar shop with guitarists who thought Mr Big was the be all and end all of guitar music, so, despite not really liking his sound, I have been a fan of Billy since I was 14. Even if he is a Scientologist... However, I have never heard of most of the other Bass players that get talked about on BassChat, certainly not until I joined here, and even now I have little clue. Except Steve Harris and Lemmy, obviously.

They remind me of a band we had at our school called The March (previously Utopia). They actually had a single in the classical charts that I know got to at least 25. Though, technically, it was just a piano piece by their bass player. Most of their stuff sounded like U2 and similar.

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1381713417' post='2242812'] Yes I've watched some of his videos and they are amusing. He can be a bit slapdash but setting up a bass isn't rocket science. I'm sure the basses he works on are 100% more playable when he gives them back to his customers, than when he received them. And his customers will be the people who own basses but are scared to go anywhere near them with an allen key or a screwdriver. [/quote] Some of the Basses and Guitars I've seen him work on look like the owner [i]have[/i] been at 'em with an allen key or screwdriver but with no clue or experience.

[quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1381689331' post='2242411'] Ha! Notice -- when he adjusted the neck, he took a look -- gave it a twist -- took a look again. Neck relief complete. Total time 20- seconds. The fact that he didn't use a tuner to check the intonation is appauling. I don't care how great your ears are, they aren't as perfect as a tuner. (Unless you want to do some stretch tuning -- which I do, but I 'd still start with a tuner). Lengthening the screw to correct the flat G string -- 15 seconds. He checked the height of the strings with a card, though some people like the strings the curve of the board or the A or D string a little more raised. Total time -- 40 seconds -- minus the bitching. And by the way...that D is a little sharp. [/quote] So he is to be lauded and used as an example to support your argument even though he did a poor job?

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1381526690' post='2240466'] For my purposes black suits my needs fine just now but yeah I could easy go back to the original design idea at some point. [/quote] Sorry dude, I don't mean to knock it, it is absolutely fabulous.

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1381506718' post='2240070'] Looks awesome! I wonder whether olympic/bone white with bronze highlights might look more defined but equally eerie? [/quote] I agree with this and thought that that was what was going to happen. I am a little disappointed that it didn't but I feel like a complete dick for saying so because otherwise it is absolutely bloody brilliant. I love the colour black, but I think a bone colour for the skull and bronze for the horns would have been perfect.

This thread is relevant to my interests... I have a 5 string Bass, though the fretboard is actually quite narrow (43mm at the nut and 65mm at t'other end), and I was thinking of making it my next project, once I've finished my current one. I would like to remove the fretboard and replace it with a fretless ebanol one. It's a very cheap Bass so I don't want to spend a lot on it. How difficult would it be to actually do?

I think doing a good set up requires a delicate balance, an understanding of how each adjustment affects the others. It is something that comes with experience and each set up can take quite a while to get just right when first learning. How often is someone with say only one Bass going to need to set it up? To gain the experience to get it right and to know that it is right? And then there are things like fret levelling that even people experienced at doing set ups won't touch, how does someone just learning know if the reason they can't quite get the set up right is because there is a problem with the frets? Sometimes it is worth paying just for the reassurance. I do my own set ups, I can't afford to pay anyone else. I do my own nuts and neck shims, too. But I don't do frets. And even though I have been doing set ups for a long time (I learned while working in a guitar shop twenty odd years ago) I still get anxious when I have to adjust a truss rod, because if I can't afford to pay someone else to do it, I sure can't afford to repair it if I cock it up, as unlikely as that really is.

I will have to repeat the play near the neck advice. I would add using a thicker pick with a good taper and play softly will help, too, it's how I do it. I use a 3mm Big Stubby (nylon), I find it gives me greater control over my sound, and greater variation, than a flat pick.

Yay! A medical thread that I can fully support! (You have no idea how much I hate always being the guy poo pooing stuff.) There are TV channels that show Pilates classes. I can't remember the names of the channels, we get them on our Sky box, we certainly don't pay extra for them. They're a good way to see what it's about.

[quote name='Marc S' timestamp='1380811907' post='2230941'] Impressive, I gave this a quick whirl the other day, and it's not easy is it? Might suit only certain styles and basslines, but I'm impressed none the less [/quote] Too be honest, if it was difficult for me I probably wouldn't bother! But I may have a bit of an advantage in that I had cracked out my Banjo a couple of days before so I had that kind of finger picking in my head. I use a similar technique for slapping, too, but I curl the pick up in my index finger and use my middle finger for popping, I actually find it easier that way as opposed to popping with my index finger with no pick. Having said that, I'm bloomin' rubbish at slapping either way I do it. As I said, I have a soft picking technique anyway, I think that might be quite a large advantage, too.

Not the Bass itself but I remember while working in a guitar shop a bloke coming in threatening to sue the shop owner because, while trying to fit strings to his Bass for the first time and fitting the E string, he over shot by an octave, the string snapped and went right through his cheek.

I can't stand that shape, I think it's vile. The colour isn't my favourite, either. However, putting the two together makes it better than the sum of its parts. They suit each other so much that the whole thing actually looks quite nice.

It was a political party club in Bedworth. I can't remember which one and I don't want to guess because one of the others was one of my favourite venues to play. To get the gear into this place you had to go up a narrow, very rickety and slippy, external staircase. The stage was in a very odd position. It was quite a long and narrow room but had a wall sticking half way out across the middle of it, cutting the room in half. The stage was built across one of the corners made by the bisecting wall. So the stage was tiny and you could only play to one half of the room and the dance floor was behind you.

I know you said you've got one but I wanted to give my voice to the Digitech Bass Driver. It's a cracking bit of kit and very versatile. I'd love an Ashdown Lomenzo Hyperdrive to go with it. One has just gone for £36 on EBay.

Annoyingly, after spending a long time getting them just right, well sort of, I have gone and lost my finger and thumb picks for my Banjo. The trouble is that I haven't picked the damn thing up in almost a year and the pick set doesn't fit in my pick tin, so they've wondered off. This gives me an opportunity. I was never particularly happy with the thumb pick. What I really wanted was one with metal clasps but a plastic pick part. The only place I could find that did one I liked the look of was in Scarborough but I can't find them now and can't remember their name. There are some knocking about by ProPik but the clasps look a bit weedy and the parts don't look too well put together. I don't like picks with plastic clasps, they never fit me. Does anyone know of anywhere that might sell a robust metal and plastic thumb pick in the UK? I would rather not have to import from the US.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1380393073' post='2224749'] Actually for a "relic" I quite like that. IMO the whole body should be encapsulated in a clear coat to give it a nice smooth feel. [/quote] I was thinking that. It just looks a bit like a crackle finish.