Frank Blank

Updated FOR SALE list: 1. Mesa Boogie Big Block 750 Amp, Footswitch & Rack Case, £550 o.n.o. - Silverfoxnik  02. Schecter Diamond P5, 5 String Bass & Gig Bag, £350 o.n.o. - Silverfoxnik 03. Behringer 5 Band parametric 19" Rack Unit, £25 - Silverfoxnik 04. Fender Nate Mendel Precision , £575 - obbm 05. "I’m thinking of having one of my basses for sale.", £TBA - ezbass 06. EBS Compressor, Chorus & Octave, Dr Green Bass reverb & Joyo D-Seed echo and a small Pedaltrain board & bag (Mini I think), £TBA - WalMan 07. Fretless Fender Modern Player, £250 - Frank Black 08. EHX Hot Tubes Nano overdrive £39, Biyang TR8 Tremolo £25 - JapanAxe 09. 10.

Yes, you have to go, like I did, just be prepared to yawn, perhaps take something to read?

Me too, I’ve seen them twice, the last time being at the O2 last year, both times were lacklustre performances, like they were just going through the motions, with or without Becker. I love SD but do be prepared to be disappointed, I left the last gig half way through.

I will be bringing a fretless Fender Modern Player that’s for sale.

That’s a good saving, I might grab some!

I completely agree.

I do! The bottom Alex is now a bank, the crew that used to inhabit the top Alex are probably more likely to be found in The Railway these days. I’m not a native Southender only having been here for ten years but everyone here gets a bit misty eyed about the top Alex. Where in Westcliff were you?

Good on them!

I think this is a general rule of thumb with clip on tuners, the more you pay the more durable they are rather than actually being ‘superior’ tuners.

The strobe clip on is perfect for exactly this imho.

I do t feel proficient enough to do that yet, although I do think it is something that’ll happen with time, which is an improvement on how I felt at first, until then I need all the help I can get!

Duh, sorry, repeating your post essentially.

Have you set the Polytune to bass? They come (usually) set to the guitar default. I had the same problem as you until I switched it to the bass setting then it worked on the deeper notes.

I use the TC Polytune and the TC Unitune on my fretted basses but I must admit I prefer the Peterson StroboClip HD on the fretless.

This is a new one! Great idea though...

Yes, I have considered these but I don’t really need the luminosity, perhaps if this first solution doesn’t cut it.

It’s a solution, sure.

I have had stickers and tried markers, I just want something permanent and it’s such a shame to sully this beautiful instrument with such things.

My fault entirely, I’ve included a close up now so you can see how small the fret line ends are. If it were marked (dots wise) like an unlined fretless with the edge dots marking the fret positions I’d be fine.

The dots are not the problem they are fine, it’s the ends of the fret lines I need to see.

I was lucky enough this year to acquire a fretless Rob Allen Mouse, until I played one I didn’t realise it was my dream bass fulfilling instrument. It is almost perfect apart from the fret marker lines are difficult to see from the top edge of the neck and do not extend down to the bottom of the fingerboard. Before... ...before the play in the dark, don’t look, have an unmarked fretboard contingent get on my case, yes, perhaps in the future when I’m a far better player but for now I need all the visual help I can get from the markings on the neck, actually feel free to persuade me otherwise, I never underestimate the wisdom of the BC community. I digress, so my bass is going to the luthier tomorrow to have some kind of fret line extensions put in that will extend down the width of the fingerboard. Much as I have complete faith in my luthier (it only took me thirty years to find one who actually produced excellent results) the thought of a saw cutting through the neck of a bass that I love more than 99% of the people I know* is rather nausea inducing! I will do an ‘after’ pic once the work is done and you are all welcome to come try it out at the South East Bass Bash. *this is actually not too difficult as I am an equal opportunities misanthrope.

I dough my peasants cap in deference to your magisterial cape of burpanunciaton Sir.

Strength - the ability to burp reasonably long words although I have not yet attained my sorely missed good friend Paul Raven’s (RIP) eructation goal of burping the word archbishop, however I shall continue to seek this holy grail. Weakness - I cannot stop buying clip-on tuners.