JapanAxe

I came to bass from guitar, and my assumption was that more pickups would equate to more versatility. I had also briefly owned an old Encore P copy, which I need hardly tell you was not a great instrument! My first few basses were therefore twin-pickup models, mainly mid-priced and active. One day I was in Denmark St and tried a CIJ Jazz, which was lovely but not quite there. Then I picked up a CIJ Precision and it instantly clicked - everything I wanted from just two controls. Sold. A well-sorted P is a thing of joy. It’s worth trying a few because they are not all created equal. If it’s not for you, cool, play the stuff that makes you happy. EDIT: I played a gig on guitar last night and the bass player was using a Jazz. It sounded great.

Super Twin and either Demeter or EBS head (see sig) according to my preference. They both have DI outs - job done (mainly by the sound guy/gal).

Probably time for me to clarify! Why I never ‘got’ ramps - because I never found myself thinking, ‘It would really help if there was a surface a small distance under the strings beneath my picking fingers.’ Why I thought it looked like a crutch for technique - I assumed it was to ensure that the player is always contacting the string with the same part of the picking finger; and to aid fast playing by preventing the fingers from going too far below the strings. I hadn’t considered the fact that it would make the playing area feel more like that of a double bass. My anti-gear-snobbery mantra (to myself principally!) is: Use what works for you. So my bad for casting aspersions on ramps in general, crack on and ignore my ill-judged comment.

I never got the whole ramp thing - it always looked like a crutch for players who haven’t sorted their finger-style technique. 👀

What are you doing up there? Don’t you know the money is in the first five frets?

At the risk of being serious, you don't need big hands or long fingers to play bass - just move your whole hand, otherwise you'll hurt your tendons trying to stretch between frets. / as you were

We generally don't have much of a problem with drastic humidity changes here in the UK, and I don't think that's the reason that most of us do apply lemon oil. I probably apply it every year or two - fairly sparingly, and diligently wiping off the excess. I imagine if you applied it too often or in too great a quantity, it would soften the fretboard.

Eclectic-ish. Some genres have little or no representation - classical, opera, trad jazz, polka, klezmer... I tend to latch on to particular artists rather than genres. This makes for some interesting juxtapositions in my alphabetised CD collection!

Ground bus added

This Friday I will mainly be playing country, so this, with La Bella flats:

Drilled the boards and set the eyelets:

Music stands on stage?

Congratulations - that was great to read, here’s to many more years of even better!

I’ve read that DC heaters can bring their own issues. Heater noise hasn’t been a problem in my other builds, and I can just try the options and see what works best. On all but my first build (which was a kit) I have drawn a full-size chassis layout so as to be sure that everything will fit without any parts fouling. I have chased the transformers...

Although it’s always sad to see our rig options reduced, I have to say my limited experience of Eden amps is not great. I used to play lead guitar in a band where the bass player was a serial amp buyer, and the Eden head he once used (Class D, gold colour, can’t remember any more) sounded very muddy to me.

Barefaced Midget Trace Elliot Elf Warwick Gnome Trend, anyone?

I tried to rearrange the central section of the layout to eliminate under-board connecting wires, but the new layout didn't really work so I ended up re-drawing the earlier layout. This time I added the volume control, which I may move to the other side of the tone stack. Now that I am happy with the board layouts, I have marked out the positions of holes for eyelets (dots), mounting screws (circles), and through-holes (diamonds).

I’ve been a convert to Barefaced for quite a few years now. For a small cab I love my One 10 for its gorgeous vintage voicing in a tiny package; for big gigs the Super Twin packs a huge punch and weighs only 17kg. There are plenty of options these days, all with their supporters. Why not buy 2 or 3 used alternatives through the BC Classifieds, keep what you like, and move on the others.

I have been carefully considering the grounding scheme for this build. I have rearranged the layout to employ a gound bus as described in Chapter 15 of Merlin Blencowe's book on guitar and bass preamps. All ground connections are made to the bus, which connects to the centre tap of the HT on the left of the drawing and to the input socket at the right. That is where it will also be connected to the chassis to set it at ground potential. The ground return for each amplification stage is made immediately after the ground connection of that stage's reservoir cap. The speaker sockets will not be grounded at the rear panel but next to the ground of C19, which is the reservoir cap for the phase inverter, as the NFB resistor feeds the PI grids. I have also moved the tone stack onto a separate board, which will be connected to the ground bus next to the reservoir cap for the first preamp valve. No other connections are shown - once the transformers arrive I will crack on with the full layout.

OK, looks like the Fuzzdog Dirt Dessert Harmonic Messulator.

Is the Prunes & Custard clone a kit, and did you build it?