Born 2B Mild

One of my lads, who isn't a bass player but is a fine guitarist, is bringing his VOX VT30 Valvetronix 30W Guitar Amp Combo along. He wants to sell it. Well you never know!

...and I sold the Schroeder to Bassjamm originally! Great to deal with, and would happily do so again. He's a Thoroughly Nice Bloke.

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='403862' date='Feb 8 2009, 10:21 PM']Thanks a lot fellas - no it's not the blues band - I didn't get an audition. Anyway, here's the repertoire (there's more to come apparently) - I won't know what the set will be on Friday until I get an email tomorrow...(sorry about the caps - it's cut & pasted) CHASING CARS – SNOW PATROL MAN WHO CANT BE MOVED – THE SCRIPT DREAMS CATCH ME – NEWTON FAULKNER WHEREVER YOU WILL GO – THE CALLING VALERIE – ZUTONS WORD UP - CAMEO RUBY RUBY RUBY RUBY – KAISER CHIEFS SEX ON FIRE – KINGS OF LEON CREEP – RADIOHEAD SUN GOES DOWN – ARCTIC MONKEYS WONDERWALL - OASIS SHE’S ELECTRIC - OASIS ITS ALL ABOUT YOU - MCFLY I PREDICT A RIOT – KAISSER CHIEFS CRAZY LIL THING CALLED LOVE LONG TRAIN RUNNING – DOOBEY BROS MARDY BUM – ARCTIC MONKEYS MONY MONY – BILLY IDOL RUN – SNOW PATROL CRAZY – THE KOOKS LONG TRAIN RUNNING – THE DOOBIE BROTHERS BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY – THE VERVE VERTIGO – U2 MAKE A MEMORY – BON JOVI AMERICA – RAZORLIGHT WHISTLE FOR THE CHOIR – THE FRATELLIS FARAWAY – NICKLEBACK ADVERTISING SPACE – ROBBIE WILLIAMS UNIVERSALLY SPEAKING – CHILLIES UNDER THE BRIDGE – CHILLIES WONDERFUL WORLD – JAMES MORRISON KAYLEIGH – MARILlION POWER OF LOVE – FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD IM YOURS – THE SCRIPT DRUGS DON’T WORK – THE VERVE KARMA KILLER – ROBBIE WILLIAMS DELILAH – TOM JONES TIMES LIKE THESE – FOOFIGHTERS WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS – GREENDAY LIVING ON A PRAYER – BON JOVI BED OF ROSES – BON JOVI BETTER MAN – ROBBIE WILLIAMS BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS - GREENDAY Talk about diverse [/quote] Nice. I am familliar with 40% of the above. I must get out more.

Thanks guys, this gives me food for thought. Before I start discussing my desires with luthiers, I thought this kind of digging around will throw up some of the options that have been tried and what users reactions there are. Any other experiences welcomed.

I'm gradually ticking off my preference choices for the day I commission a custom six string bass (probably headless). The way I want to play this instrument will differ from my style using my regular 35" five string, and what I'm hoping for is to get the length of the neck shorter to say a 33" or 32". But is this really going to screw up getting a clear low B? Or can a combination of bridge type, woods and string type overcome this? I'd be very interested in anyone's experiences of medium scale ERBs.

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='404061' date='Feb 9 2009, 09:50 AM']I'm looking doubtful now unfortunately - I joined a new band yesterday who rehearse on Sunday afternoons. I'm gonna try and persuade them to start at 3pm so I can at least have an hour at the Bash - my ears usually give up after an hour at these gatherings anyway. Be a shame to miss it cos I think it'll be a good'n.[/quote] If you can't make it Al, can you organise a Lanc bash so I can come and check out your new pre-amp etc?

Niceguyhomer ...the [i]best [/i]home-delivery gear service in the world of bass! Can't recommend him highly enough. Thanks for selling me those Bergantinos Al

I've just bought a second-hand six string bass guitar. As you can see from this photo, the tuners are a mix 'n match job. I asked Tony at Axesrus to identify and recommend a replacement set (gold), but he said he hasn't got owt like them. Can anyone else suggest a source (preferably UK)? As well as keeping in tune, I'd rather they didn't lose their colour easily too!

[i]Spotted by Yorks5stringer in The Guardian; an insight in to our guest speaker's background...[/i] [b]Daydream believers[/b] (The Guardian, Saturday 7 February 2009) Many of us harboured childhood ambitions - but would you risk leaving a comfortable, well-paid career to follow your heart? Hazel Davis meets those who did and who have never looked back While his friends might have been kicking footballs about or dreaming of the day when they would bring home the grand prix, a 12-year-old [u]Jim Fleeting [/u]was doodling complex diagrams of guitars and working out how they were made. Like many of his peers, however, Fleeting's early passions were sidelined when he found himself on the career treadmill. "We didn't do any practical lessons at school really and when the time came for university, I figured a science degree would set me up." Fleeting eventually went into IT because he "figured it was something to do". But he always resisted progressing within the field. "I turned down the offer of management positions three times before I really thought they would sack me if I said no again," he says, laughing. But Fleeting was earning a good wage, living in London and enjoying his 20s. "The fear of dropping everything was always with me," he says. "None the less, I always felt I was in a grey room, creatively." A successful guitarist in his spare time, Fleeting got to the point where he was spending much of his income on hand-built instruments. "Things came to a head when I put a £1,500 deposit on a guitar I would have had to wait six years to actually own," he says. Does Fleeting's story sound familiar? A recent report - Dream Jobs - suggests that up to 60% of the UK's workforce "drift" away from their early aspirations. Published by workplace HR communications specialist CHA, the report calls it "career drift": people eschewing their ambitions in favour of more immediate roles. But back to Fleeting's story. While holidaying in the Basque country - "We were miles from anywhere," he recalls - he started chatting with his friends about their dreams. He returned home, full of resolution, bought a book about guitar making and began an evening course. "The first time I got a bit of mahogany out, I had no idea what I was doing but I put the plane down and saw this shiny pink surface. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I thought, 'this is me'," he says. Fleeting continued his evening course, saved some money, quit his job and finally took the plunge with a course at the prestigious Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery in Arizona. Fleeting - who today runs Jim Fleeting Guitars in Ripon, North Yorkshire - is now one of the UK's leading luthiers. "Going from someone who had no ambition, I now have a crazy amount," he laughs. "I work as much as I can because I love what I do."

Got it ...and I'm absolutely chuffed to bits. Too busy playing with it to yak on here right now, but I'll post more soon.

[size=3][i]Announcing ...the World Premier ...to a selectively invited audience ...on the 15th of February in Manhattan (er ...well the Manhattan Snooker Cub, Harrogate) Mr NiceGuyHomer and his amazing TONEtastic, PRE-AMParanormal, understatedly stupendous ...ACG-loaded, Spectacular Spector Bass Geeeeeetaaaaar! [/i][/size] I look forward to it, but I worry that life might not be the same again

[quote name='yorks5stringer' post='401422' date='Feb 5 2009, 07:51 PM']£50 so far, another £450 to go....bump[/quote] I wish you wouldn't keep bumping this. At this rate, there's more prizes than tickets sold ...and I've got TWO!

[quote name='yorks5stringer' post='401940' date='Feb 6 2009, 12:44 PM']Definitely around 10 Cold Heat battery operated soldering guns ( just the thing for your toolbox at £6.99) and a feeler on my Hartke LH500 valve preamp head ( assuming I get the LMII back by then...!)[/quote] I've got a spare eminence 15" I'll bring, plus the bass featured below, if it hasn't sold by then.

Richard Thompson ...scores on every front.

This has been a really good thread. I've learned more about custom builds for sure. Before I joined BC I was aware of Overwater but not much else in the luthier world. I want to commission a custom bass eventually, but I'm still settling the spec in my own mind, and am likely to be doing that for a while yet. Jim Fleeting's planned talk (“from design to realisation”) at the Yorkshire Bash is likely to be well attended, me thinks!

Exactly a year a go, I struggled to sell my Gibson Thunderbird IV vintage sunburst with case. It was just before I discovered basschat. I sold it via ebay for £550 in the end.

[quote name='Old Horse Murphy' post='400074' date='Feb 4 2009, 03:40 PM']Hmmmm. If we were French, we would be on Strike over these handles you know.[/quote] Or we can be British, and go on strike over how the handles should be British

Yeah, don't tick the box to say its for a raffle ...I did but didn't realise it would stop the gift aid. Oh, and by the way. The organisers of this raffle & Bash are independent of the draw itself, so we want the fun of going in for it too!

[quote name='Monz' post='399955' date='Feb 4 2009, 01:37 PM']STICKER Put me on the confirmed list too please Also I would like to donate a Digitech Bass Squeeze to the raffle prizes... Used but boxed and in excellent condition, hell... I'll even stick a new battery in it for the lucky winner lol[/quote] What a STAR! The raffle prizes (so far) are amazing. Tickets are about to go on sale via a new thread, courtesy of Yorks5stringer's superb organisation skills.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=320337809246"]If only I had a spare grand[/url] Anyone's here?

Bring what you are thinking of floggong soon. For you, that means EVERYTHING

[quote name='neepheid' post='399805' date='Feb 4 2009, 11:20 AM']Bats? Err, I ate them? No, that was Ozzy.[/quote] It's crying out for a Gotham City theme a la [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=40119"]this thread[/url]

But where are the bats?