Doctor J

When this came out I was playing in a hard rock cover band and used to listen to it on the way to rehearsals. Beautiful fugging album. Timeless.

Ok, first problem, and it's a big one, is that the D and G strings are not held down by the string tree. This will change the attitude of the strings over the nut on a Fender style bass where the headstock doesn't lean back. Take care of that first. You should get a little more clearance over the first fret from the D and G. It's important, that's why the string tree is there. Second. It's time for truss rod to be taken out of the "setup" discussion. The truss rod is there to align the neck to your preference and counteract the effect of seasonal changes on the neck. It's not really part of a setup discussion. Ideally, your neck should never move but it's wood, so it does, and that's why there's a truss rod. There's an ideal way your neck shoud really conform to and that's what the truss rod is for. It shouldn't be part of the setup discussion, in my mind. So, what does this mean for you? Let's do some basic steps. 1. Hold down the E string at the first fret and the last fret. The strings, under tension, are pretty much a straight line and can be used as a guide to see the state of your neck. With the strings held down as described, you should see a small gap between the bottom of the string and the top of the 8th fret. This gap should be about the width of a business card. Less than 1mm. Have a look at the G side too. There may be slight differences. Adjust the truss rod in whatever way it takes to make this happen iwth a happy medium on both sides. Do this before you do anything else. This is the most important step. Get it right. Take your time. Looking at your video, I think you need to loosen the truss rod a bit. Do this but bear in mind that your final adjustment should be, like tuning, tightening up, so you'll need to go too far the other way and come back, if you know what I mean. 2. Once the neck is in shape, you can worry about the setup. 3. Setup is nowhere as complicated as people make out. Adjust the action to your taste and playing style. There is no right way. It's entirely personal. Me? I like quite a low action but I know lots of people who are the opposite. I don't measure, I go by feel. I like a little bit of fret grind. However, you know best how you play. Set the height of the strings to how you like it. Easy peasy. 4. Adjust the intonation. Depending on how you set the action, the length of the string, relative to scale, when open and when fretted can differ. That's where intonation adjustments come in. Get a good tuner. Play the open string and tune to pitch. Play the string at the 12th fret, if the note is sharp, adjust the saddle so you lengthen the distance of the string from the bridge to the 12th fret. If you're flat, shorten that distance. Easy peasy. You're best doing this with new strings but, even with old strings, this is worth doing. 5. If you do 1-4 correctly, you should never need to set up your bass ever again if you keep the same type of strings. All you'll need to do is tweak the truss rod twice a year. Once in the Winter and once in the Summer, to align it as in step 1. Once the neck is aligned, your setup should never really need to change.

In this troubling anecdote, it is the dude who has the overreaction, no?

When he's doing BVs call out if he hits a right note.

It looks like they were inspired by the Lace Helix with that one

It's a Fender Perlican. I'll get my coat.

They were shite.

@BCH Well, Christmas has come and gone, does that beaut live up to expectations?

Brutus are cool. For me it's Matteo Mancuso. This kid is extraordinarily gifted. I might have to try to schedule a trip to see the wife's family if ever he plays down Sardegna way.

Tell her you've got a new song for the setlist

It's an Ampeg VH-140C. Imagine a JC120 with a gain channel designed for the perfect, and I mean perfect Death Metal tone, at probably four times the weight. Pure solid-state insanity. Amazing thing, but still has the stereo chorus clean channel for some bizarre reason.

Every time you feel the ding under your thumb Give yourself a wipe, they've treated you like a bum 😉

Jack Stratton in 20 years

If it's got a scratch It goes back to their patch If it's got a ding Send back that thing

Two amps. Guitar amps, though. The first, we stumbled across in the mid-90's. My mate Big Al was looking for an amp and we came across an Ampeg guitar amp, a 2x12 combo, in a shop. Neither of us had heard of an Ampeg guitar amp but tried it out anyway. Within seconds, we knew there was some kind of witchcraft going on and Big Al told me to stand guard over it while he legged it to try to find an ATM to get the cash. Years later, after he had stopped playing, I bought it from him for 50 quid more than his asking price and still have it to this day. When I was gigging as a guitarist, I used it at a couple of gigs. Combos are not the done thing in the world of Metal. One sound engineer was particularly sniffy when he saw me lugging all 35+kg of it in. "Don't worry" I told him, "it's nice." When it was soundcheck time he spoke to me through the montor, very mockingly "Well... let's hear this nice amp then." After the gig he came up and asked me what the model number was so he could try to get one himself 😆 I've never seen another one. The second was the head I bought to save me getting a hernia from carrying the Ampeg. I bought a Fryette Deliverance, based on a few sound samples but mostly because it had sacrificed features for pure, delicious tonal goodness, and a switch which offered you a simple choice. More or less? I always want more. I gigged for a few years with it, always getting compliments from lads carting the obvious Mesa Rectifiers, Peavey 5150s and Marshalls around. When that band split, I figured my guitarist gigging days were behind me and would have no use for an excruciatingly loud 60W amp, so I put it up for sale. The guitarist in a band we had done a few gigs with over the years offered me asking price and I was happy for him to have it. A few years later, I got a call from the singer of that band. They had split up a while before and he was putting that band back together but without that guitarist and wanted to know if I would be interested. Life is more interesting when you say yes, so that's what I did. Shortly afterwards, we were offered a gig supporting COC. I would need an amp. I checked the local ads but nothing really appealed. The week before the COC gig what should I see but an ad for the Fryette. Yer man would never have sold it to me, things being sa they were, so I had to ask a friend of mine to buy it on my behalf. I used it for the next couple of years with that band before I quit gigging for good after I used it at Bloodstock. I see it as providence that I got it back, so have invested in a power soak and still have it at home, using it for recording these days.

Here's one you may not know about, which I just stumbled across. It appears FMIC licenced instruments under the Fender brand in the early 90's, to be made in sunny Brazil, which were known as the Southern Cross series. Despite the shonky looking headstocks and cheapo parts, these things appear to be legit. https://www.fuzzfaced.net/southern-cross-stratocaster-en.html

One for those who must be seen with the appropriate logo.

What an idiot. He didn't actually log the acidity of whatever it was he used to get rid of the paint in order to have somewhere to log the acidity of whatever it was he was going to use to get rid of the paint.

Beast of an instrument.

Serious business. Lovely 👍🏻

No, no, hang on... if you lie on the floor... on your back... and you play the guitar bit... and the bassist lies on top of you... no.... hang on... if you're on a hammock, face down... you play the guitar underneath the hammock and the bassist lies on the grass... no... hang on...

Amazing looking thing, would love a go of it.

Ooooh nice. I wouldn't be able to wait until Christmas.