BigRedX

That's easy - you get 4X as much room for your railway in the same physical space with N gauge. Question answered, no need for a podcast.

If you are capable of playing right handed then you it would be a good idea to learn this way for no other reason then there is a lot more choice of instruments for the right handed player.

For many years the only amp I had was a Carlsbro Wasp 10W guitar practice amp. Every electric instrument I had went through it - guitar, bass, synthesiser. In each case I got to annoying the parents/neighbours volume way before I had anything loud enough to damage either the amp or speaker. I even used to put the bass through a fuzz box before applying the tremolo circuit on the amp for synth-like effects. Sound is very much subjective. My little amp was brilliant for post-punk bass lines - clean clear and melodic. This was the bass sound I used on all my band's demos of the time including the one that got CBS records interested in signing us. Of course if the OP's nephew is into something with more extreme bass he might not be so happy, but in my case my amp got me started and was a definite step up sound-wise from playing the bass with no amp at all.

Compared with some of the Podcasts I've had to endure over the last few months that is pretty slick. It helps that both the host and his choice of guests are both eloquent and have plenty of interesting things to say. From what I've seen on YouTube for equipment reviews and general bass lessons, I'm not so sure that the average bass player is anywhere near as interesting or articulate. It also helps that the conversation has been well recorded. There's nothing more distracting than poor quality audio where you're struggling to make out what the podcasters are saying or dreading next sentence full of "P"s or "S"s...

I see the point about the artificialness of a script, but depending on the format some podcasts could most definitely do with one. Especially this with just a single person. If you really don't want to have a script then be prepared to be ruthless at the edit stage. You'll need to lose all the hesitations and other irritating vocal ticks. Keep the dialogue or discussion fast moving and relevant. If you are going to have sponsorship and/or advertising then IMO the content needs to be super-slick, otherwise as an advertiser I would wondering where my money went, and as a listener I would want to know why my favourite manufacturer is wasting their money on this rubbish instead of making their products cheaper. I get exposed to lots of podcasts via my girlfriend who has a thing for supernatural and unexplained phenomenon, and therefore I get to hear the full range good bad and ugly. In this genre the standout podcast is "Lore". It's well researched, properly scripted and eloquently presented, and as a result the presenter/producer Aaron Mahnke now has his own video series on Amazon Prime. What I don't want to hear in a podcast are the words: "I don't know". This has almost become a catch phrase of the podcast/vlog community. It's not a live broadcast and you have the whole of the internet at your fingertip to find out. So there is absolutely zero excuse for not knowing.

A few things that every podcast/youtube producer should be aware of: 1. Use a script. And if the format is that of an informal discussion have someone who is in charge of the direction the discussion should be taking, and can get things back on track when it veers too far off topic. They should at least have a set of notes of all the main points that need to be covered during the podcast. And if it is just discussion, have guests who are reasonably eloquent. It doesn't matter how knowledgable you are on your subject if you can't convey that knowledge in a way that is interesting for others to listen to. 2. Edit. Get rid of all of those ums and errs and awkward silences, and make sure the podcast moves along at an entertaining and informative rate. Lose the mumbling and rambling, and keep it snappy and to the point. 3. Get some decent mics for everyone so that they can be heard properly. Learn how to EQ for the spoken voice and consider recording each contributor to their own channel on a multi-track recorder so that each can be individually processed to make them as legible as possible without affecting the others. 4. If there is going to be video make sure that the people and their surroundings look presentable. Anything that distracts from the main content of the podcast/video is diluting the message or subject. 5. Keep all the non-talky bits as short as possible unless they are an essential/integral part of the podcast. Intro music/titles? No more than 10 seconds max, 5 seconds would be better. If you can't say what you need in under 10 seconds you are saying too much. Especially stuff that is going to be repeated in every podcast. If you must have loads of credits etc. put them at the end. People will skip over them, but if it's all at the beginning listeners may not even bother listening.

Fender's management are all fairly anonymous. While as a company they appear to be doing only marginally better than Gibson, they don't have a high profile CEO who seems to be on a mission to be single-handedly run the company into the ground and refusing to give up the reins, even when it appears that the only hope for the survival of Gibson as a US-bsed guitar manufacturer is for him to resign and walk away for good. On the other hand the Mr Hall and Mr Ball might not come across as the most pleasant of individuals, but their companies continue to make guitars and still manage to turn a healthy profit.

Of the two bands I'm playing with currently, I found one through JMB, and the other because I was a fan and was following their Facebook page and saw that they were looking for a bass player.

That looks brilliant. One of the many things I've thought about over the last 10 years is getting some of my favourite 4-string only basses made as 5-string versions. Good to see that I'm not the only one with this idea! I see though that you are changing the pickup system entirely for your new bass. That was always one of my concerns - getting suitable new 5-string pickups made that would retain the sonic characteristics of the the original 4-string bass.

I would find the Squier perfectly fine for gigging with a couple more modifications, provided that it had a wider (and possibly shallower) neck. The more I practice with it the easier it does get, but I'm still finding that I'm tripping over the strings on some parts. Since I can play everything in the lower ranges fine on any of my 5-string basses, it is for me very much a problem with the neck (which is actually far narrower and deeper back to front then any of my guitars) so finding a Bass VI with a more comfortable neck is my priority. And of course I'm not going to be hard pressed to find anything more comfortable than a neck sized to my specifications. Having tried the Revelation Bass VI with it's 43mm wide nut (and more modern profile shallower neck) and found it slightly better, I'm hoping that when I get my hands on the Burns Barracuda later in the week it should give me a better indication on whether an on-the-peg model will be OK or whether I'm going to need to for a custom build to get something suitable for my playing style.

That would be my guess too. Have a look at the inside of the cover and see if there's anywhere that looks as though it might have had a wire soldered to it.

Cocktail sticks and wood glue. Cocktail sticks are harder wood and will give better purchase for the new wood screw.

Trump isn't the problem with Gibson's potential for recovery, but the continued presence of Henry Juszkiewicz very much is. A while back Gibson's main creditors but together a package that would have allowed the company to continue trading as normal, but the stumbling block was that they insisted on the removal of Henry Juszkiewicz as CEO, and he wouldn't step down, hence the current Chapter 11 situation. Personally I can't see any future for Gibson while Henry Juszkiewicz retains any role whatsoever within the company. So either he will be forcefully removed (if that is indeed even possible) or Gibson will collapse completely and the name and IP will be bought up - Yamaha's name has been mentioned more than once in this respect - in which case they will cease to be a US company and Trump will no longer be a concern. Also I can't see what the big deal is with US-made instruments. The products of all the big US manufacturers are without exception vastly over-priced compared with what is actually on offer. It's not like the 50s and early 60s when US manufacture counted for something, and the rest of the world was still lagging behind when it came to both design as well as actual build quality. Nowadays great musical instruments are being made all over the world, and TBH at an equivalent price point for mass-produced instruments the output of just about any-non US factory is far superior.

Chords on a Bass Vi are very variable and depend entirely on the chord and where you play it. IME in the lower register they don't work very well at all, everything is muddy and indistinct and not at all guitar-like. In the upper register things are much better, but full barre chords are hard work with Bass VI strings (even the lighter gauges), and also then you might as well be using a normal guitar. I'm using the extra upper register along with the fact that the band has a synth player to fill in at the bottom end, and everything else that I'm doing in terms of two-note chords and alternating melody drone picking could be done on a conventional 4-string bass. Have a listen to the latter part of the Ed Friedland vide posted earlier on in this thread to see how well (or not) different chords work. If you are really interested in full chords in a lower register than the standard guitar. then you should be looking at a Baritone guitar. For me a 28" scale Baritone tunes B-B is perfectly usable for full chords including all the 1st position open string ones, and maintains that richness of guitar tone. However you don't get the full 4-string bass guitar range, so it's all a bit of a trade off.

Well I was able to try the Revelation Bass VI at Hotrox today. The neck is definitely more comfortable for me than the Squier but still not really wide enough for me. What was interesting were the tonal options. Three pickups that look like P90s with what looks like Strat-type switching. The really interesting bit was the 5-position “Varitone” switch, giving a total of 25 different sounds nearly all of which could be useful. The only minus mark is that the Varitone switch isn’t easily manipulated mid-song. Aparently Hotrox also have a Burns Barracuda in their off-site stock, so I’ve arranged for them to get it in the shop for me to try next week...

At the moment I don't really know about timings. When I had my G1 Guitar made back in 1999 it took less than 3 months. The Black G3 Bass a few years later took just over a year, although a lot of that was due to the fact that Simon was looking for a new supplier of black chrome, and when that didn't turn out to be feasible, looking for suitable alternatives (we ended up going for black anodising). The actual build shouldn't be too difficult as it's essentially a slightly modified version of the G3 Baritone which has a 30" scale length and a standard nut width of 45mm. The nut and neck width can be changed if I decide I'm going to need it to be wider, although 45mm is the same as my 5-string Gus G3s so that might be a good starting point. I'll probably go for 3 single coils in typical Bass VI configuration. Don't know about the switching options. And I probably won't bother with a vibrato system. Colour-wise, I have to say I really like the white of the Squier although I'd be tempted to go slightly less "yellow" any maybe have a bit of a metallic flake in there? Maybe have some red somewhere to echo the tort on the Squier? Cost... The list price for a standard G3 Baritone is currently £4500.

Of course what I really should do is to get Simon Farmer to make me a suitably modified version of the Gus G3 Baritone which as standard has a 30" scale length and a nut width of 45mm...

And let us not forget that the only reason the more unpleasant brick wall limiting that can be found on some CDs didn't make it onto vinyl, is because the production and playback mechanisms simply wouldn't allow it.

Unfortunately not yet. We're 3 rehearsals in to our new guitar-less format and have 4 songs partially rearranged to suit the new line-up and 2 new songs about 3/4 finished. However we will be going into the studio as soon as we feel we are ready.

IME most 3M spray glue is nasty stuff so make sure you use it with a mask in very well ventilated area.

You can get a perfectly suitable hot glue gun plus 12 glue sticks for £7 from Hobbycraft.

Me! The guitarist from one of my bands recently decided to leave and we decided not to replace him, so I've been using a Bass VI. I share the bottom end duties with the synth player, so when I'm playing in the upper register he's holding down the bass, and when I'm doing a more conventional bass line he's playing the melody. Works very well, and it gives plenty of sonic space for our fantastic singer.

I spent most of the 80s and 90s playing in bands that used lots of synths and other high-tech gear in the days when it still very expensive in real terms. The band I was in during the 90s regularly had £30k + worth of gear on stage - synths, samplers, a digital mixer, and a sequencer to control it all as well as complex guitar and bass rigs, plus the drum kit, consequently using a £5k Gus bass (going into a rig of similar value) at a Terrortones gig didn't really concern me!

I once took my 3 Gus G3 Basses and and Gus G1 Guitar to a gig. Total value along with the bass rig I was using at the time, somewhere around £25k...

And Ed Friedland says that despite their looks they are mini(stacked?) humbuckers. The Revelation 6-string bass looks interesting and according to the Hotrox website they have them in stock, so I may go and check one out next week and see if the 43mm nut width is sufficiently wide for me.