rushbo

Mainly 'A', sometimes 'C' and (hangs head in shame) very occasionally 'D.' Up until about five years ago, I used the "ever-decreasing halving" method that a few people mentioned earlier in the thread. I never had an issue with any cables, doing that. In fact, the only issues I've ever had were with broken/dodgy connections in the jack. Now, I buy good quality leads and look after them. I haven't had to change a faulty one for years. The key seems to be to avoid tieing the cables too tightly, so whenever I used the "halving" method, I was always careful to make the loosest knot that would keep the cable together. Method 'A' makes the cables very easy to unfurl, but the "round the elbow" method is by far the quickest - well it was for me. Don't tie the cables too tightly and don't pull them out of a bass or amp by the cable - always grip the plug. Aside from that, any method that gets the job done is probably fine.

I'm delighted with my Sennheiser XSW-D Pedalboard wireless set-up. It's not the most high-profile of wireless units, but it's the best one I've ever used. I started off with the Line 6 G30 which gave me six months of good service before it started to drop out pretty frequently. I had a SmoothHound which worked really well and I gigged it regularly for 2-3 years before I swapped it for the Sennheiser rig - mainly because the receiver doubles as a tuner and I wanted to keep my pedalboard as small and simple as possible. It's been rock-solid reliable. It's not the cheapest (Andertons have it for £299) but it's really well made and so far, it's been brilliant.

Yep. I might nail it on as well. And possibly a wooden stake. And welding. And gaffa tape. And some clamps. And pay someone to hold it permanently in place. That's the price you must pay if you are a disciple of The Way of Tort.

Thanks for the tips... I think double sided tape should do the job, but I'm trying to find one which will keep the plate in place, but won't take the finish off the bass when I inevitably change my mind and decide to flog it.

Back support?

If you choose anything other than the multicoloured one, someone should be sent to your house to give you a good, stiff talking to. I'm not a fan of MM basses, but that looks gorgeous (with the psychedelic plate, natch.)

For the vast majority of the gigs I play, I'll always take two basses. The second bass often gets a run out in the second set. I haven't had a bass fail or a string break for years, but if people are coming to see your band, they're there see you play, not to watch you try and whittle a bass from a chair leg as the only instrument you brought to the show is defunct. If, for whatever reason, you can only bring one bass to a show, it's always worth having something in the back pocket that the band can play while you change strings/leads/pedals or pants.

Thats gorgeous, that is. And the chronicling of the process was a proper hoot and very relatable. Good work fella! PS: Dare I mention that it would look even more snazzy with gold hardware..?

Yeah, I think tape will probably be what I go for and it's a typical glossy Squier finish, so it should be resistant to most mild adhesives. The "trial plate" I'm using to gauge how the finished thing might look, is coping pretty well with just being friction attached via the neck pup at the moment Yep, and I would also come to that conclusion, 10 seconds after I drilled loads of holes in the bass... I'm using a white guard I've got in my parts drawer to give me an idea, and currently, I prefer it to the "naked" look.

I'm amazed it took as long as it did to get that reply... You may be right, hence my quest for a "non permanent" solution. And by the way, It'll be a tort guard, too, so flame on!

I've just picked up a lovely Squier fretless Jazz bass - the "Jaco" model, without a pickguard. It plays great, sounds gorgeous but... I think I'd like to add a pickguard. My plan is to get a guard cut, but with no screwholes, so I don't have to permanently mark the front of the instrument. I realise that I'll probably end up selling the thing on as I really suck at playing fretless bass, so in a vain attempt to keep the resale value intact (and prevent me frpm butchering a perfectly fine instrument with a poorly wielded Dremel), has anyone got any suggestions? Two-sided tape is probably the way forward, but can anyone point me in the direction of something strong and thin, but which won't damage the surface of the bass?

I was asked to write his obituary for Under the Radar magazine. If anyone is interested, it's here: https://www.undertheradarmag.com/news/former_smiths_bassist_andy_rourke_dies_at_age_59

Perfect.

If you played bass in an indie band in the eighties, Andy Rourke's level of playing was probably your aspirational goal. His contribution to The Smiths was as huge as it is underrated.

That's so... smooth. Not the kind of thing I'd normally look twice at, but that is rather lovely. 36mm at the nut is a little on the dinky side, but as I have delicate, girlish hands, I could cope. Thanks for sharing that.

I was never too fussed about strings and never really sought out one particular brand, or even a particular string gauge. That was until I stumbled across these bad boys: I know they're not ultra-light, but they're certainly way skinnier than the 40/45 gauge strings I'd used previously. I find they've got plenty of low end, they're easy on the fingers and are so easy to play. Not stupidly expensive either. Highly recommended - well, by me, anyway!

Currently in stock at Fair Deal Music - a shop about 20mins from Rushbo HQ: I would happily gig with that any day of the week.

Swapping a bridge over is fairly simple on a Fender. As long as you make sure you get a compatible bit of hardware (ie five screw-holes correctly aligned) and the right screwdriver, it's a straightforward job. I've had a few bridges in my time (cue; "what did you do in the war, granddad?" jibes) and I didn't feel they changed the sound of the instrument profoundly at all. Aesthetically, they made a difference, but in terms of tone - not so much. I have a Badass II on a Fender bass, which is OK, but it's a big ol' lump of metal to have on a bass. One of my main gigging basses has a Schaller 3D bridge installed and it's superb. It's not got a huge footprint, and having the option to alter the string spacing can be a real boon. My bridge of choice on a budget is the Wilkinson WBBC bridge with brass saddles. It's a drop-in Fender bridge replacement, it looks great, does the job brilliantly and you don't need to sell vital organs to be able to afford one.

Blimey. "Grab yourself a bargain" says the seller. Or, you could get a Jazz bass copy from FaceBook Marketplace, pop down to HobbyCraft and get a glue gun and lots of shiny things and order a custom, mirror scratchplate. Hey presto! A very similar outcome for well under the starting price of this piece. And you get to play with a glue gun, which is always fun.

This was probably a very amusing idea which really shouldn't have been more than that. There's such a disconnection between the vocal delivery and the lyric that it just sounds like a prolonged joke. The arrangement is nice, and with a cello or a viola playing the melody line it might have worked, but to me, that sounded pretty bad. As a reciprocal arrangement, maybe someone should ask BlackBerry Smoke to do a version of The Flower Duet from Lakme.

"If you know, you know." I'm a wimpy, liberal, white collar, art school dropout, but when I see that phrase used in ads, I feel like I would be able to deal swift, devious and painful retribution to the perpetrator.

I was very much in the "seventies good-eighties bad" camp when it came to Roxy Music. That came to a grinding halt when I was asked to write a piece on the "Avalon" album for an online magazine. The band that recorded that record is a completely different one (in approach and ethos) to the one that recorded "Roxy Music" in 1972, and once you appreciate that, you can start to enjoy "Avalon" for what it is. My favourite Roxy album will always be their debut, but "Avalon" is a great piece of work. Just in case you're interested, this is how I tried to defend the indefensible... https://www.popmatters.com/roxy-music-swan-song-avalon

Sadly, I've not notated any of line bass parts, other than putting together a very basic chord chart.