bass_dinger

SEO? Search Engine Optimisation, I see. When I did a search for "is Letts Bass any good?", this basschat.co.uk thread was the second result, after Letts Bass own website, with third place being taken by a Trust Pilot review page, showing an average of 2.8 Is that what @Burns-bass meant by SEO doing its work?

Allegedly.... We understand this for what it is - a humourous remark, so full of hyperbole that it is obviously not true. But let's not defame a person who is struggling (and perhaps failing) to maintain his own reputation. I am mindful of the thread about Mick Mason, that had to be pruned of various remarks, so that only the facts remained. Here, the facts regarding Letts are enough to tell the story about his business practices, and personal morality. Yours, taking this thread far too seriously. Bass_dinger

Dobieman Gray?

On reflection, @BigRedX is right. Indeed, the basses that I wanted did come up, and I now own them. Better stop looking at the website, therefore!

I am considering whether I want to look for a local amateur dramatic musical group, and audition as their bass player. So far, I have found a local group, which I will go to see shortly. But I wondered if anyone here has had experience of orchestra pit work. I am not a proficient reader, but can manage with a few hours of practice. Should I bother? Will it be a great musical experience? Or will I be beset by problems and stress?

https://intl.ishibashi.co.jp/?https://intl.ishibashi.co.jp/&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=20615437353&utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=20615437353&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwzby1BhCQARIsAJ_0t5OpPPUwo6wBvcIdgB4Fny2YDYbtH9YKW7-EaXLYZFsnRT4fF-1Xn_8aAgMxEALw_wcB This'll be the Ishibashi shop. I shall have a browse, safe in the knowledge that what I want is so obscure, that they won't have it in stock.

There is no finish on it at all - the previous owner stripped it off. ("I took the neck off. So, I may as well totally ruin it by taking the finish off too..."). I don't know what the original finish was, but I am guessing some kind of clearcoat with staining. I wondered if the refinish would count as a repair and a return to original - or if, as @neepheid says, a frivolous upgrade from a perfectly functional bare wood. Functional, but prone to damage (knocks, accidental staining, build up of skin oils). Consider this - the neck repair involved applying a finish to the replacement neck, and that is judged to be a repair that is acceptable within the rules. So, should the body refinish likewise count as a repair?

I seek an adjudication from fellow Abstainers. In 2023, I knowingly purchased a £150 bass with a twisted neck, and had planned to buy a new neck when funds allowed. Full story here This month, the credit card bills for the new neck are due - thus, I am paying for the new neck (along with shipping, import duty and other taxes) in August, amounting to nearly £600. So, my question is, does this repair of a 2023 item count as a repair (which leaves me still in the game). Or does the fact that I willfully purchased something pre-broken make it a project rather than a repair? If so, am I out of game for 2024? Further arguments to consider: 1. Double Jeopardy. I was out of the 2023 Gear Abstinence Thread for the purchase of the same bass (plus its sister bass). Can I be convicted twice for the same "crime"? 2. Substance over Form. If the repair costs four times as much as the bass, is the repair the substantive purchase that we should be considering, and not the minimal purchase cost of what was effectively a neckless bass guitar. 3. If I pay to have this same bass refinished in 2025, would I be out a third time for the same bass? And if so, does it feel right that a project spanning three years should cause me to fail the Gear Abstinence challenge in three successive years, when I am seeking to reduce my expenditure on new bass guitars by spreading the costs. Yours, taking this thread far too seriously, Bass_dinger

The dog barks were in time with the guitar intro - if each bark was a drum beat, it would amount to a nice drum break

Certainly, the short trousers add to that impression! You look very excited to be at the gig.

Me, looking uncharacteristically cheerful while holding a bass guitar (which is why my portraitist snapped the photo). I might use it as my avatar.

https://www.stevelawson.net/ His website is active, and takes me to his Facebook page, in which Steve Lawson himself is very active - bike rides, meeting Doug Wimbish, celebrating significant anniversaries. I am pleased to see that he is still posting, still active, and still studying for a PhD.

They were all furloughed. The government was paying them 80% of what they usually scammed from their victims...

It seems to me that churches with musicians end up with more musicians. That makes sense - a lone bassist in one congregation, a drummer alone in another congregation, a violinist elsewhere, can't do anything much. However, put them in a single church and they all benefit.

How did it go? Good practice with the little bass? How was the Sunday?

New rota should be out by now - how's it looking, for you?

Oh you tease! While we are waiting for you to reveal your GAS, can you share a little about why you won't be getting another cello?

On reflection, I like it enough to throw more money at it. So, I press on. Next step? 1. Find someone who can apply the finish 2. Contact the company who may have made the bridge, and ask if they have replacement parts. The company is based in Germany so I shall be asking my German wife to send an email in the appropriate language 3. Decide on the strings. I have a set of SIT strings on my other bass - pressure wound - that I like. 4. Find someone to rebuild the parts into a usable bass 5. Get a Hiscox Lite Flite case for it 6. Get a strap for it.

So, time for an update. I was expecting the new neck to click into the old body like a lego brick, but there is a gap. The luthier tells me that he left a gap to accommodate the finish. However, the original neck did not need a finish to bridge the gap. Perhaps he is right - maybe the finish will bridge the gap. Maybe I am right - I wanted a wood to wood joint. Whatever, I was so disappointed that I put the bits under the bed, and left it.... Here's some photos - bank card included to show the tight but extant gap. Very pretty, but not what I expected...

I'd be all over that, if it was a 2-string. GLWTS.

The neck is due to arrive today, via USPS, HM Customs, and Parcel Force. So, it seems a good time to consider the finish on the body. I explored the possibility of using the blue of the 8 string Washburn bass shown earlier in this thread, and asked the original luthier what the colour and finish was. "Feibing’s leather dye cobalt blue. Can get it on eBay" It turns out that it is actually the Navy blue (there isn't a cobalt blue). Next I was asked "Are you going to be staining the bare wood, or spraying the color on after sealer coats? We floated the color on between clear coats at Washburn. But you can stain directly to the wood before clear coats as well. Staining the bare wood will bring out more of the curly figure." I said that I liked the idea of staining the wood - but that I would be asking an expert to do it for me! For staining the bare wood, the recommendation is that I should instead go for the Feibing’s light blue. "What I would do is get the navy and light blue. Stain with the navy, then back-sand it with 320 grit, then stain again with the light blue. Will really pop the curl." And he shared an example. "That is a combination of staining and floating color between clear coats. The bursted edges were separated." It is also beyond what I can do! I am thinking that this is way too ostentatious, and too flashy. However, the alternative (a wipe of Danish oil) seems to waste the opportunity afforded by the wood.

I was wondering too. The best that I could come up with was Jean Michael Jarre.

I had the same thing with mandolins. There's relatively little breadth of choice in England nowadays, compared to when The Acoustic Music Co (TAMCO) shop was open in Brighton. So, I planned a trip to the nearest shop, in London - Hobgoblin in Rathbone Place. None of the recommended instruments that I had shortlisted excited me - from £250 to £1,500. Hathway, Kentucky, Ashbury. However, Macs in Rathbone Place had a range of Eastman mandolins that worked for me. So, had I ordered on price and recommendation, I would have been disappointed.

That's why I prefer shops - not because they are cheaper, but because they provide expertise. That said, I have most of the high value items that I need, but I plan to buy an Eastman mandolin from the same shop that demonstrated the mandolin to me. Interestingly, the person who showed me the mandolin in 2024 was the same person, in the same premises, who took my order for a Lowden guitar back in 1992. In both cases, I was able to try before I buy, and that was worth the extra cost. The premises were Ivor Mairants, now Macs.

Unscrew strap button. Place strap end near hole in body Screw the strap button on, through the strap, into the hole. Buy new bass? Buy new strap.