NancyJohnson

Just wanted to pass on a little advice on this subject. I've never really been a fan of maple boards, much preferring rosewood/ebony, so a while back I researched easy methods of staining a lighter board to near-black, so a couple of days ago I had a go. If you look at the photos, you'll see I did it on one of my Lulls (gasp), the board on my JAXT4 (mahogany) would darken a bit after an oiling session, but was very light compared to the ebony of the NRT5. The board is quite open grained and would take the stain easily enough. I'd done a bit of pre-research and the one product that came up time and again was Fiebings Leather Dye; I picked up a small pot off Amazon (£6.00), put on some rubber gloves and fished out some cotton buds. I masked off the nut and set to work. To be frank, I was pooping myself while I was doing it. I let the leather dye set up for a couple of minutes and wiped away the excess; the dot markers took a little of the stain, but this came off with a little methylated spirit once things had completely dried (24 hours). The neck doesn't have any binding and the wiping down after applying ensured nothing went where it shouldn't have. [edit] I also masked around the heel joint so none of the dye got on the body. I'm very happy with the end result. BEFORE: AFTER:

This thread is a belter. A definitive list from me would include: Any Fender basses, Any bass that's a sunburst or natural finish, A proper head (or any make), much prefer a racked pre/power set up, Heavy cabinets, Flatwounds (this is a given, I've not used flats in 30+ years and that wasn't through choice) Purchases aside, any band I join has to be friends and fun first, music second. Learnt my lesson in 2017.

There always used to loads of Grassroots basses in the Ishibashi U-Box. I think they were something to do with ESP, the budget end of ESP (viz. Squier); beyond that I know very little.

Right here we are then. 2018. We are bass players, we desire new equipment periodically, so what's on your 2018 GAS list? Just to get things going, for me I'm still looking to land a series one Hamer Cruise Bass, but other than that, I'm eager to see just how good Tech 21's dUg pedal will be. [edit] My good lady wants me to get an EUB, believing it might be a good alternative for my deteriorating thumbs. Wonder what one of these would sound like going through a dUg? Teehee.

Happy New year to you too and to all our global family.

This is pretty much spot on. We put the TV on about 11.45pm and were flipping through a few channels. Watching NR, you kind of knew that a) the BBC weren't going to cut until the last possible second and that b) NR had little intention of stopping a few minutes shy of midnight so that the BBC could cut to the Embankment for a bit of a firework build up. I watched a few minutes of Jools Holland. This show/format needs to be put out to pasture.

There's a lengthy thread elsewhere discussing Ringo's talent. Honestly, I'll admit I'm not really a fan of The Beatles, but I do wholly acknowledge their legacy and it was listening to Sgt Pepper for the first time that caused the Ringo-disdain to manifest itself...just listening to what he was doing on what is considered to be an epoch-making album left me cold. If nothing at all, it does give us the opportunity to enjoy and bask in the glory once again, of that fantastic dialogue from Red Dwarf's Parallel Universe episode: HOLLY: This is parallel universe, innit? RIMMER: What do you mean? HOLLY: Well, for instance, in this universe, it could be that Hitler won the Second World War. It could be something even more incredible, like perhaps Ringo was a really good drummer.

There was a load of decent US stuff back then. In hindsight, my obsession with Kiss was somewhat overwhelming and it was like taking Geoff Barton's word on things a little too literally, whatever he wrote positively about was almost certainly going to appeal to me. Starz have stood the test of time very well.

My wife is/was a huge fan, but her interest has waned somewhat, lack of new material and diminishing returns. I think they've been a great singles band, but I'd find it difficult to pick more that five non-single tracks that appeal to me. It is a great feeling to acquaintance yourself with a band with a huge back catalogue...I've experienced this with XTC for about the last three or four years. I liked their singles back in the day but beyond that I wasn't interested for precisely the same reason as you; too much Kiss and Rush and Starz and Aerosmith and and and.

Best drummer ever. Not.

I've never understood the fake logo thing. I can understand the distressing of an instrument to create a certain look, but putting a fake logo, a fogo™ if you will, has always seemed inappropriate. Much as I have an issue with this, credit to Limelight for producing basses with their own logo on them. Much tidier.

I've used a black oil on the JAXT4 fingerboard this morning...it was looking a bit brown by comparison. Much nicer.

Registration card says 10.8lb. It's comfortable!

Well, it arrived a couple of hours ago. It is a thing of beauty...neck profile is great (I have no idea of the radius), very shallow/flat. It was set up pretty much how I like it straight out of the case, nice low action, a bit rattly but not unplayable. It sounds fantastic, but my fantastic would be another person's meh I suppose; I had about fifteen minutes at volume while the wife was out, but then work intervened. I've done a side-by-side with the JAXT4 for comparison. Just as an aside, I love the knobs on the new one, I'm going to hit up Lull for a set of three for the JAX. More later.

It'll be in my grubby mitts tomorrow...28th. Woop.

Nice!

I would say I've done about 40, but I left the band I started six years ago a few weeks back, so that total isn't going up. There were a few high-points, Dublin Castle, Camden, an insane show at The Fighting C*cks, Kingston and two Italian gigs (in Milan and Turin) despite the Italian shows being the grounds for my subsequent departure; spending a few days with people you honestly don't really like just sped things along a bit. A lot of those gigs were good, but there was direct correlation to how the enjoyment waned and how playing became a chore as the year went on. It just wasn't fun [with them] any more and I believe the throwing of my bass across the stage at the end of the last gig I did with them reflected just how unhappy I was. Anyhoo, moving along, new band is up and running, initial home demos are promising, a little different to the old act, so we'll see where things go.

I've been on an XTC thing for a while now. I'd wholeheartedly recommend the new Steven Wilson remixed stuff, especially Drums & Wires.

Japan - Obscure Alternatives This is the one for me. After a teen dalliance with a lot if US and Canuck rock, things did an about face and Mick Karn bought things home. The album is so varied; rock, cod-reggae, Satie, top 40...what he played launched a brace if copyists and opened my eyes to what could be done on the instrument. Sure other great albums followed by different artistes, but this us the one for me.

This. Resonance? Are you holding a note for ten or fifteen seconds and expecting the note not to deteriorate? Nah.

That Hofner is lovely. Now I have GAS. Damn you.

With all due respect, this type of comment kills me.

These lists are so subjective. 'Best players...' says who? It's not very encompassing; no Geddy, no Macca. It's more populist than anything else...as I was running through it, I was wondering whether Adam Clayton would come up. I wouldn't qualify Mike Kerr or the dude from QotSA inside anyone's top 17.

Always up for a challenge, I had a good old internet trawl on this one; scant evidence online does lean toward Gallon Drunk. Funny is it? It was only 1993 and it seems like the dark ages. If you were to fast forward 25 years to 2043 and ask who were third on the bill when <insert band name here> played <insert venue here>, you'd have zero problem finding out what you want to know.

And it's finished...holy fecking crap!