KingBollock

There’s one scene in the second book, The Cold Commands, that would make even that bunch queasy… And that’s ignoring all the gay, alien bum sex!

Anyone got any advice on the best way to go about (or the best ways to not go about) staining (dyeing?) the fretboard ebony?

You should be aware that they are very, very Grimdark. They are very graphic and can be rather uncomfortable. Richard K Morgan usually does sci-fi, which I also love. He wrote the Altered Carbon books that the TV series is based on. On a lighter side, I have started reading Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series. I have temporarily put those on hold because a sci-if novel that I have been waiting a long time for, just came out (Jack McDevitt’s A Village In The Sky). Another fantasy series, a new one (just the one book so far) that is interesting, is Clay Harmon’s Flames Of Mira. Which I enjoyed a lot. I can’t wait for the second book. Other favourites, more traditional, have been Dragonlance and Death Gate Saga series from Weiss and Hickman.

That has been, and continues to be, considered. It is very tempting. My Warlock (Ravensfriend) has an ebony fretboard and it looks great. The bass came with black tape wound strings on it, which looked very cool. But I need to keep this bass tuned to D standard, so I had to change them. I might see if I can find some other black ones in the right gauge. Though the bridge really didn’t like the .120 string!

Well, I stole two of them, so go for it! Ravensfriend is a sword from my favourite fantasy trilogy A Land Fit For Heroes by Richard K Morgan. The sword’s full name is: “I am Welcomed in the Home of Ravens and Other Scavengers in the Wake of Warriors, I am Friend to Carrion Crows and Wolves. I am Carry Me and Kill with Me, and Die with Me Where the Road Ends. I am not the Honeyed Promise of Length of Life in Years to Come, I am the Iron Promise of Never Being a Slave.” Mourneblade is another fantasy sword from the Elric of Melniboné books by Michael Moorcock. One of my PCs and it’s drives is also named after mythical swords from books and games. (My main PC and it’s drives is named after ships and stations from the Alien franchise) Gloomborn is just something that popped into my head while looking at the bass. It’s finish puts in my mind the image of beetles with iridescent, shiny carapaces, that live in the dark.

The bass now has a name, too: Angelbane. I have a habit of naming my instruments. I don’t force it, though, it has to come naturally, some of them don’t have names because they don’t have the right personality. How pretentious does that sound?! She joins the ranks along side Ravensfriend, Gloomborn and Mourneblade.

Thank you! I thought I’d get well and truly roasted… All the additions are removable. I made the scratch plate and truss rod cover myself, so I still have the original parts. Just in case anyone is worried…

Finally ready to show off my Thunderbird. It’s cheesy and I love it!

I actually received this bass at the beginning of the year but I had some plans for it, so it has taken a while to get around to photographing it. Please keep in mind that I bought this for a Hair Metal (mostly Motley Crue if the drummer has his way) style covers band... When I play, you can see on my picking forearm tattoos of a Mudflap Girl, playing cards and flaming dice. I have represented these on the bass. I have also made a truss rod cover in the shape of tribal style flames (the photo of it didn't come out very well). Also, my lair and PC are themed in black with red accents. I am thinking of making a t-shirt (probably a vest) with "I Ate Vince Neil" on it, because I ain't no Nikki Sixx!

I remember when I was a kid an had started mucking about with electronics, I had an idea… I had been given a pair of 1x12 speaker cabs. They were huge, something like 24”x18”x18”. I assume they were PA cabs or something, they weighed a lot, too. Anyway. Each had a port along the front bottom (haha!) of the cab, and I had the bright idea (pun totally intended!) of wiring a painted (by me) car light bulb in series with the speaker. The idea being to give me a kind of disco light effect shining from the port. Surprisingly it worked! But I had no idea, at the time, that I was actually making the cabs better! (Although, they didn’t actually have tweeters).

You could try detuning the bass to something like D standard (D C G F instead of E A D G). This would loosen the tension from the neck but still be playable while you do some research to decide if you’d be confident enough to have a crack at setting the neck relief yourself (often, confidence is key). I find this site useful: https://www.studybass.com/gear/bass-setup/adjusting-neck-relief/

As long as one end of the capacitor goes from the correct lug on the tone pot, and the other end goes to ground, it will work. In the left hand diagram, you can just make out that the lug that the capacitor is connected to on the volume pot is also connected to the back of the pot, which is grounded via the foil shielding on the pickguard. Both options rely on that shielding for ground. I would go for the right hand option but run a wire connecting the backs of both pots together, for no other reason than an abundance of caution. Having said that, if I am mucking about with wiring, it is because I am doing something like adding a push/pull (or push/push) pot for coil splitting, series/parallel switching or a blend knob (I don’t own a bass with only one pick-up). And, despite going to college to learn electronics, I still always follow a diagram because I never quite trust my ability to see/grasp exactly what’s going on. So I know how you feel. And I only really do this because I enjoy tinkering, I rarely need those options.

Thank you!

What sort of gauge do they go up to? I’ve got a bass I’d like to make a bone nut for. I’d like to have a crack at a stainless Steel nut, too. That should be fun. I have alternative tools and plans for that, though.

Habe you got a link? I’m too lazy to troll through trying to find the correct set!

Though I don’t know why because it makes me feel so utterly, utterly, painfully alone. It’s an amazing song.

I have unusually warm hands, this can cause problems with many things. I find picks warp on me quite quickly. This can be a double edged sword, because while they can be more comfortable to hold, you can only use them the same way up from then on.

Well no, the best part is there’s nothing to be disappointed about! Knowing my luck, I’ll be reincarnated and have to start all over again… Sod that for a game of soldiers!

For the run where the pick-up wires go through the body (assuming it’s a rear style control plated cavity), I like to use the metal shielding from Gibson style wire. I just strip the inner wire out and use the metal sheath.

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.