NancyJohnson

Have you seen how far the tuners extend beyond the confines of the bodies? They're only going to last five minutes etc. 😏

Starts today. I'll admit once the videos start hitting You Tube I'll be planted in front of the TV for an hour each evening. Don't have and real bass expectations to be honest; it's all likely to be rehashes/repackaging of the same old stuff. I'd like for Gibson to announce the long rumoured reissue of the Thunderbird II and would like some more intelligence on the Sterling Bongo 5HH, but beyond that, no much.

Any movement from the SEBB massive for a Spring '25 event?

I loved my old 5HH, but the EQ was mental on it, which kind of ruined the experience. Admittedly, I adore the shape, but at £3K+ for a MM, nah. My only real opinion on any Sterling vs Music Man debate is that I've seen a few MM Stingrays live and I've seen a handful of Sterling Stingrays in action and while they look similar, the Sterling models are just missing something tonally; quite thin, not as full and not as burpy as the Music Man models. Now this might be down to Sterling users not sharing the same level of attention to set up/tone in as much of that curated by Music Man owners, but they just didn't have the oomph/rumble. I suppose if I could coerce my brother-in-law to pick up one at sub-$800, then maybe it could be a decent platform for customisation, but that would obviously come later.

I had the rack version (didn't like it), then (for some reason) bought the VTBass-DI version. Didn't like that either. Both got sold. I've been way happier with the BDDI/RBI, the dUg and the 2112-DI. If you want something that pretty much does the VTBass and the BDDI, just buy a dUg pedal.

Yup, delicious.

You know, I've seen this picture dozens of times and despite the ridiculousness exhibited, every time I see it I consider how useful (and more accurate in use) a soldering iron you hold like a pen would be. You'd be closer to what your soldering, less rotation.

I've fitted several John East preamps, I don't recall having to break out the soldering iron. The only fiddly bit is screwing the pickup wires into the terminals. As an aside, you're saying you're installing an East MM preamp into an ATK; I don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of every ATK model, but the MM preamp is on a Stingray-style control plate and it's almost certainly not going to fit any ATK model without the necessity of carving out the front of the body to accommodate it. You may want to investigate the rear mount Uni-Pre circuits.

Baby Sumo.

When I think about the stuff that was available to us late 70s kids, it does make it all the easier to pillory people going on about nut widths, weight, pickups etc. when everything back then weighed that of a small child, never stayed in tune, had action a half inch off the fingerboard and pickups that hardly had any output. I think we were lucky that we all seemed to know someone that had a dad with rudimentary carpentry and wiring skills to keep us in business.

Hamer did mess around with their bass headstocks, but this version of the 12-string is a belter.

I just keep looking at it. These pictures don't do it full justice. Thing of beauty.

Heads up. There's a special edition the new album by Envy of None (Alex Lifeson's ,post-Rush project) coming soon. If you're quick, there's a BluRay/5.1 version too but it's limited to 1,000 copies and only through the Super deluxe edition website. If you want one, be quick! First album was a belter. Head over to https://www.thesdeshop.com/collections/envy-of-none

A couple of years ago I bought a Hamer Cruisebass; it was a second year run and came without a scratchplate...always wanted a scratchplated one. Had a short dialogue with Tim at Gig.Ink, got a scan if a plate from a chap in the USA and got one cut. Arrived today. Before and after vanity shots below. I am so happy.

Nice. Go on. Buy it.

It's not seen much in the way of real action since early December TBH. Home use, more than capable. The amp seems happier/louder with a Barefaced Big One (uncertain what the ohm rating is) over a single Darkglass 1x12. Maybe a pair would be louder.

Wings Over America. 10/10

People too worried about originality and potential resale value. Assuming as you've had it 32 years, chances are it's a keeper, then. If it was me, neck off and eyes down for a full house.

By the look of that chip, sizewise it's fairly insignificant, it's not going to make any difference in feel with a nail varnish fix. Drop it in off a toothpick so as not to flood the ding; it'll self level. And repeat. If you're careful you might get away without any further attention. You can get yourself one of those finger nail buffer blocks and buff it out if required.

GAS/desire Vs Disappointment? Yep. Darkglass AO900 Various Fender basses Gibson Thunderbird NR reissue (first run) Tech 21 VT Bass (rack and stomp) ...probably more.

I had a 400* copy fairly early on my musical journey, I think it might have been a Hondo II. Overriding memory was there just seemed to be so little wood in the general area of the neck plate that when you got it in tune the neck pulled forward significantly. Action at the 12 fret was around a centimetre. It looked the nuts though. King of the hill for a bit. Part-exchanged it for a new Ibanez Roadster. Result.

Given that the original Schecter business model was pretty much what Warmoth are doing right now, it's a bit of a pity they're not a spares/build business anymore. Schecter are doing a handful of 8/12-string models, parts of which could probably ignite a bit of passion for bolting some different parts together, but right now neither this bass (or the dUg and Starmaker(?)) just don't tick all the right boxes for me.

There's a very sweary English guitar builder on YT that posted up a video over Christmas about a Glarry Stray copy. He said something about the setup along the lines of, 'all guitars come out of the factory with terrible action to cover up for the awful fret jobs'. This really struck home. I've lost count of the amount of guitars and basses that I've casually picked up in shops where the factory set up makes the instrument almost unplayable. The guys signing these instruments off in the plant need firing TBH. In over 35 years of playing, I'd confidently say that my (Plek'd) Lulls were the only two basses I've ever bought that played brilliantly out of the box and haven't required any tweaking. You get what you pay for, I suppose.

I'd never follow any manufacturer recommended settings. Just set your kit up as you like it. Too many variables.

Years back I had a Sunn Mustang bass; it was (I think) made in India and despite the name was a fairly faithful Precision bass clone. Needless to say, it was cheap and in pretty rough shape when I got it, so it got some necessary TLC and I ended up running it almost exclusively as BEAD. The neck was quite chunky, the truss rod worked and did the job intended, and it was very playable. Nut didn't require reshaping. I did though have shorten the spring on the saddle for the B-string so it could be intonated.