BigRedX

I think the fact that your silks lined up last time was completely down to chance.

Ash is a very wide-ranging description as there are over 40 species of tree that are described as "Ash". Strangely enough "Swamp Ash" isn't a distinct species but simply refers to any ash species that has grown in swampy conditions.

I forgot about my oldest and perhaps most important guitar: A mid-70s Kimbara acoustic heavily modified. This was my 14th birthday present from my parents - the one time they supported my musical activities. When I wanted to go electric I couldn't afford a solid electric guitar and an amp, and I couldn't see any point in owning an electric guitar without some means of amplifying it. However I could afford an amp and a cheap piezo pickup for my acoustic so that's what I got. Later on still not being able to afford a proper electric guitar and not being particularly happy with the amplified sound via the piezo, I added the Schaller magnetic pickup. It was supposed to be attached to the end of the fingerboard, but I didn't much care for the sound I was getting in that position. However there was sufficient room between the top and the strings to squeeze it in at the bridge so that's what I did held in place with double-sided tape and still in position over 40 years later. The piezo was moved to underneath the bridge inside the guitar and both were attached to a TRS jack socket on the side. This connected by a two-conductor and earth cable to a footswitch that allowed me to switch between the two pickups and a second footswitch routed the signal to either the bright or normal input on my amp. I later added a Practical Electronics fuzz-box circuit between the two switches and this was my guitar set up until I completed my self-built solid electric during my final year at school.

I will never own or even play a Telecaster.

That lyre engraving on the bridge plate looks oddly familiar. Any ideas?

As NancyJohnson has said you need to have a bridge with separate saddles for the main and octave strings otherwise your bass will be noticeably out of tune above the 5th fret. I'd be recommending the 8-string version of the Schaller 3D Bridge but it no longer appears to be in production, so you'll have to find a supplier who still has one in stock or buy second hand. Otherwise as has been suggested try and see if you can buy one from a manufacturer who is making 8-string basses as a spare part. Dean and Schecter both use a generic far-east bridge and tail-piece combo. There's also Tune Japan. However unless you are lucky, they are all going to be around the price of the bridge you linked to in the OP. Also I've just had a look on the ABM website and the 8-string bridge no longer appears to be in production.

I'm also down to just two guitars, and unsurprisingly they are unconventional ones. Gus G1 Vibrato: FretKing Esprit V Custom: Both were custom made for me over 20 years ago now! The FretKing is an Eggle rather than a Wilkinson version from the days when they were made in a workshop behind Musical Exchanges in Birmingham.

Personally I wouldn't for two reasons: 1. If you use PA support for the bass guitar, your choice of cabs have very little impact on what the audience hears. If you are lucky enough to end up with a combination that gives you the sound you want, then you would have to mic up both cabs and get them balanced FoH to replicate what you are hearing on stage. 2. If you FoH sound is entirely dependant upon your rig what you find with using multiple different cabs is that the sound will be inconsistent across the venue, and maybe even across to stage area. So while you bass might sound awesome where you are standing on stage it's just as likely to sound horribly boomy or thin and weedy in other parts of venue as the waveforms produced by each cab interact in different ways in different parts of the room. The best way to go is to find one amp and cab combination that gives you sound that you want and if you need to be louder get another cab the same. If your amp and cab combination aren't giving you the sound that you want then they are not the right ones for you.

Can you 100% state that the difference in tonal characteristics was completely down to the wedge neck? IMO unless the basses were identical in absolutely every way except for the neck material you really can't.

It's been discussed in the later posts in this thread about Bass VIs. I have a red one on order, but the delivery date keeps getting put back. Originally it was for the end of March and now is at some unspecified date in June. Generally I'm not a fan of the Eastwood approach where interesting and quirky guitars and basses have everything that made then interesting and quirky removed by using standard parts and hardware (compare their versions of the Ovation guitars and basses with the originals for what I consider to be the worst of this practice) so you end up with something fairly standard that just has a different body shape. However as far as I can tell to get this bass right Eastwood have had to make a special bridge and pickup so there is hope. I've played one of the original Shergold models so I have a good frame of reference to compare it to. I didn't know that Eastwood were still taking orders. When I put down my deposit there was a deadline of early March if you wanted one.

Made by John Birch. AFAICS apart from the shape it's the same as all his other basses.

Would it not be better to Titebond the veneer to the neck and let it dry before epoxying the fretboard? Depending on the thickness of the veneer won't the water-based glue affect it if you don't let it dry first?

Lists like these occasionally make me wish I had the talent to slap my way through a medley of all of them and then fix the shop employees with a "what the flip are you going to do about it?" glare...

If you can't find anyone who will make you up a custom set, I'd look at getting a set of Bass VI strings and discarding the high and low E strings. Newtone do a set for under £20.

Eight for me and that was split between two different bands.

If you are going to be recording with both the mic and the DI you will need some method, either hardware or software, or ensuring that both signals are properly phase-aligned. To get the best out of the mic'd sound you'll also need a decent acoustic space to record you rig in. Even with close-mic'ing the environment will have an influence on the sound. Don't use a kick drum mic for you bass rig. They have an EQ hump designed to enhance the typical kick drum sound, which you will have to EQ out in order to get some separation between the bass guitar and the kick drum. Personally if I wasn't happy with the sound I was getting from the DI, I would be looking at buying some plug-ins rather than a mic. The only advantage a mic will have, is that the right one could be used to record other instruments as well.

Which are both played on the Travis Bean.

I really don't care about your favourite colour, but point me at a track where Mick Karn sounds better than he does on any track off Quiet Life

No, no, no!! IMO he sounded loads better with the Travis Bean, it had all the right weird characteristics but was nicely understated (and the result of more than a bit of studio trickery where, IIRC from an interview, the higher register parts only were double tracked to make them stand out). But contrast the Wal was like a caricature and cliché of his sound. And besides the vast majority of his best known work was done before he acquired the Wal.

Firstly a good bass tone is entirely subjective. There are a couple of examples here that would probably cause me to replace all my gear if I sounded like that because I dislike them so much. Secondly IME it is more about how the bass sound fits in with the rest of the instruments than the actual bass sound itself. If you listened to any of the examples given as a solo'd track you'd be surprised by how different it sounds outside of the context of the arrangement and production, and probably more than a little disappointed with the sound. I discovered long ago that just because a particular instrument sounds great on a record doesn't mean that I was going to be able to use that sound for the same instrument in my band and still have it sound good.

Stranglers?

Kaiser Chiefs?

No they didn't. I haven't chased it up because I've been sidetracked by the Eastwood version of the Shergold Bass VI, and because if they couldn't be bother to reply to me before, they are hardly likely to do it with the current situation. I did spot that Gear 4 Music have one in stock. They give the nut width as 42.86mm which is relatively narrow. Also it comes with Fender/Squier Bass VI gauge strings which to me aims it more in the Baritone Guitar range rather than Bass VI.

01 Ever played a gig sitting down? Yes, only once though, when my band provided improvised "musical" backing for a one-off performance of a play written and produced by Bill Brookman (you may recognise him from Britain's Got Talent). 02 Ever gigged on a different instrument? I've played Bass, Guitar, Synthesiser, Piano, Balalaika, and Percussion in front of paying audiences - so yes. 03 Ever shared a stage with a musical hero of yours? No. 04 Any fan ever had a tatoo of your band's logo? Not that I am aware of. 05 Ever signed an autograph in a dressing room? Yes, on the cover of an album I didn't actually play on (I joined the band after the album was released). 06 Ever cried on stage? No. 07 Ever worn a hat on stage? No. Never. 08 Ever gigged with a band you hadn't met before the gig? Yes. I played guitar on two numbers for Ian Boddy. He had a track on his "Uncertainty Principal" album with sampled guitar, and wanted to play it live as an encore with real guitar, and a mutual friend recommended me. I had a brief meeting with Ian a week before the gig when I played the guitar part along to a backing track for him to check I was playing the right thing, but I didn't actually play with the band until the soundcheck for the gig. 09 Ever been in a relationship with a fellow band member? Yes. 10 Ever played in different bands on the same day? Yes. I used to play in two bands who regularly did gigs together. 11 Ever had anything thrown at you while playing? If I have, I've not been aware of it. 12 Ever crashed on the way to the gig? Broken down several times (once so terminally we never made it to the gig) but never crashed. 13 Ever left a band over the choice of set list? No. 14 Ever slept in the venue despite it not being a hotel? Yes. 15 Ever been supported by a band clearly better than you? No. 16 Ever played a gig suffering from some debilitating medical condition? No. 17 Ever been in a band where the guitarist was your favourite bandmate? Yes, on many occasions. 18 Ever played in the grounds of a stately home? No. 19 Ever injured yourself on stage? Not seriously. 20 Ever been told that your bass isn't loud enough? Yes.

Personally I think that looks great!