KingBollock

My wife had a hat that looked a bit like that, but it was fluffy. Same colour, though. One day we went fishing and she was sat behind me, it was the middle of winter so she had her fluffy hat on. The lake seemed empty, I couldn’t see anyone else fishing. At one point, as I was casting, I managed to hook her hat without realising, and I cast that bloomin’ thing half way across the lake! Then I heard, very loudly, from behind some reeds: “What the hell’s that?! A bloody chicken?!”. I just sat there, dumbfounded, until eventually my wife suggested I reeled it back in. Fortunately, the hook was still attached to the hat (I was worried because it was barbless). We went home after that, though, because her head was cold…

I have exactly the same one as you. It was good until I squashed it…

You can buy decal paper for inkjet printers. Microscale Micro Sol and Micro Set are really good when applying decals. https://www.amazon.co.uk/MicroScale-Industries-Decals-Setting-Solution/dp/B06XS3KWHK Or, it might be worth seeing if you know anyone that is into crafting. See if they have a Cricut, a Brother Scan & Cut or something similar. I am currently trying to decide on a design to cut out of vinyl with my wife’s Scan & Cut. Or you cut just get some of the vinyl and have at it with a craft knife or scalpel.

Wherever it’s from, it should go back!

I use tape that has conductive adhesive. I tend to lay the tape down all in the same direction, slightly overlapping. But still, sometimes, while checking several places with a multimeter, there’ll be the occasional dead spot. I don’t know why. Running a strip, with folded under edges, across it all just makes sure that it’s all connected. It’s mostly a precaution. It takes 3 or 4 inches of tape and a couple of minutes to do.

I, personally, use aluminium tape. Mainly because it’s what I have knocking about. Seems to work just as well as copper. I have done one guitar in copper, the rest aluminium. This information is probably useless, though, because it’s not going to be any easier to get than copper tape.

It helps if you’ve got a multimeter to make sure that it is all connected and conducting. Sometimes the stuff with conductive adhesive doesn’t always conduct through the adhesive. What I like to do, when it’s all done, is add a strip of tape across the lot with the very edges of the tape folded underneath. Or you can stick down a length of stripped copper wire. If this makes any sense? I’m not sure I’m describing it very well.

I recently found Ren (thanks to Justin Hawkins). Some of his solo stuff is very shocking. I’ll just post that one here, but have a look around his YouTube channel. His Tale trilogy - Jenny’s Tale, Screech’s Tale and Violet’s Tale (in that order) - bring genuine tears to my eyes, no matter how often I hear them. I also love the stuff he does with Chinchilla (someone else I hadn’t heard of until recently), especially the song Chalk Outlines. When you find his band, The Big Push, you get to see the massive breadth of his talent.

I have to be really careful about this… One of my hobbies is model painting (I have to build them as well, but it’s the painting that I really enjoy), and I am a “brush licker”. A horrible habit that is used to reshape the brush. I also often use my mouth like a third hand, using it to hold things (like the other end of the brush, screws, nails, sometimes even scalpels…). I am fortunate enough to have managed to avoid sticking my soldering iron in my mouth, but only because I have caught myself as I was about to do it, more than once!

I use Antex. I have had the same 17w one since 1991. A couple of years ago I bought the 25w one for jobs that require that bit more, but I probably didn’t go big enough to make that much difference, though I like it’s more flexible, silicone cable. The 17w still does everything I need it to. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Antex-S58J470-XS25-Silicone-Soldering

It might have been auto corrected. The following two instances are correct. My typing on my tablet is not very good, but it seems that most of the words I do type correctly get auto corrected in some very strange ways. Its to it’s is a common (if not particularly strange) one (in fact it did it just then!) I’ll read through a post a couple of times before I press send. And then I have another read through and edit the mistakes. Then read through again and fix the mistakes. At which point, accuracy be damned, I abandon it. What really gives my bladder a squeeze, is when it really doesn’t want you to use the correct word. It’ll change it, so I change it back, and it’ll do it again and again, even after I have pressed the cross next to the suggested correction. And it’ll do it for every instance of that word it the post.

I know what you mean. I am terrible for not wearing ear or hand protection when using power tools. I like to be able to hear or feel if something starts to go wrong. Which is all well and good until I go deaf or lose a finger… I do use latex gloves when using an airbrush, though.

Just remembered about these things: I have got some that were thrown in, for free, with pick sets and a Kalimba. I have never tried playing bass with them, though. I find them useful when model making with a scalpel (I am very, very clumsy!). https://www.amazon.co.uk/guitar-finger-protectors/

Ohh, ouch! Reminds me of this old pic that went around, claiming to be damage from playing bass (along with other claims).

That’s actually not a bad idea. Especially with the wear and tear involved.

I remember once, many years ago, I had taken some go faster powder and picked up a (skinny string) guitar and decided to learn a bunch of Pearl Jam songs. I played for twelve hours straight. Afterwards, my fingers were so sore that I couldn’t play, guitar or bass, for over two weeks. And I forgot everything I learned that night.

Sorry, I don’t have any advice, but I do sympathise. I started mucking about with electronics around the same time I took up playing the bass. I forever seemed to have sticking plasters on my plucking fingers, so I started using a pick. And I still use a pick. As for injuries to the fretting fingers… I did this to my ringer finger a few years ago. By the time I could start playing again, I had lost thirty-odd years of calluses. Gutted. And, despite being told that it would heal fine, there is a bump where the break was, which took some time to get used to.

That is indeed a good point. I will just replace the blend pot like for like. I’d like a better quality one, but there isn’t a great deal of room in the cavity, so I don’t know what my options would be. I normally go for those huge CTS pots. I shall give some thought regarding replacing the volume pot. If I have, or can get the relevant pot from the same place I order the blend pot from, I’ll probably go for it. I want to replace the cavity cover as well. I want to make one with a built in battery compartment. I was hoping to make it using a thin sheet of steel (which I have) and some ebony (to go with the fretboard) veneer, but I’m struggling to find the veneer. I might have to go with a blonde wood and dye it. I’d also use it for a truss rod cover, I think. I might as well do it all if I’m mucking about there anyway.

The main reason for starting to think about this, is because I could do with replacing the blend pot because the centre detente is difficult to feel. I might try it with the volume pot if I can find a suitable pot. I think all my pots are for passive basses, though.

That’s what I thought you meant! I’m sorry I didn’t describe what I want to do more eloquently. The idea would be for the pot to work as a blend pot until pulled out, in which case it would be just a series switch. One which I would have to be careful not to fiddle with. I mostly keep the blend in the middle anyway, which is why it’s so frustrating not being able to feel the detente. If I’ve got it wrong again, just give me up as a bad job, because it looks like I won’t be able to get the kind of pot I’d need to do it with. Thanks for ensuring me that a series/parallel switch should still work fine on an active bass. I might be able to change the volume pot for a push/pull or push/push, both of which I already own.

Yeah, I know I can’t do both at the same time. I tend to stick blend pots in wherever I can, including my jazz bass. To be honest, I only put the switch in there because I accidentally drilled through the front of the bass and thought a switch would be less ugly than a hole… And I just happened to like the way it sounds. I think the problem I have now, though, is finding the pot I would need. The only one I can find is in Canada. If there was more room in the control cavity I might consider just a switch, but there ain’t. I just thought that, since I could really do with replacing the blend pot anyway, I could do both at the same time.

After saying in the “Are you 100% satisfied…” thread, that I have decided not to change anything (much…), I did say that the centre detente for the blend knob is really difficult to feel. So, I got to thinking… I stuck a series parallel switch in my passive jazz bass, and I really like it. I wonder if I could replace the blend pot in my active, double P pick-up bass, with a push-pull pot? Pulling out doing the opposite of whatever it’s wired up to do now. Would it being an active bass cause any problems? I know I have push-pull pots and blend pots, but not a push-pull/blend pot, so I’d have to see if I could find such a creature.

Piece of mind might well come in third, for me. I think 3rd, 4th and 5th could be Piece of mind, Powerslave or Somewhere in time, in any order, depending on the time of day. As much as I love Seventh Son and all the albums previous to it, I had to give up on them after that. Mostly due to Bruce’s voice. I swear it changed. I was never a Blaze Bayley fan either, despite Wolfsbane being fairly local and mates with a mate of mine (I actually still considered auditioning for them after Blaze left and the bass player followed).

Probably my second favourite Iron Maiden album, after Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.

My mandolin is a Stagg. We visited just about every instrument shop in south Wales and I tried several mandolins, both cheaper ones and ones that cost a hell of a lot more. I have no experience with mandolins, so I had to get one that was set up right to start with. The Stagg was the only one where all the strings and frets sounded properly. I had been hoping to get a nice, traditional looking instrument but, in the end, I suppose a cheaper one in black, suits me better. I have rather chunky fingers, which is why I don’t play my violin, but I don’t really have a problem with the mandolin (apart from never actually practising with it…).