TrevorR

Will play it at the services on Sunday morning and evening then it’s off to @Bridgehouse next week. On the mix I suspect it’s partly proximity to the amp but we do like a rock band type mix at church, though not loud, but with plenty of bass in it. The Hartke 12 is the bass monitor so I set that to balance against the acoustic volume of the drums then my floor monitor is forvocals, keys and guitar. No bass in the floor monitor. we have some nice subs under the stage though!

Will see it I can send it off to you this Thursday. Can you PM me your address and a contact phone number for the courier. Thanks.

OK, so here are some vids of last night's practice. You'll need headphones to be able to hear what the bass sounds like. The various songs were using a variety of settings on the bass so hopefully you'll hear a difference. Just TBA, these were mostly running through some new songs to start pulling them together so apologies that the performances aren't so polished. Also, we had some of our teenagers having a go on drums and keys so, again, give them the benefit of the doubt - it was the first time Emma, for instance, had ever sat behind a drum kit with a band!!!! Here's where I managed to switch the bass off at the start of the song... Same song with a pick and Emma on drums... First time running through this tune... Finally, noodling with the pick around the Owner of a Lonely Heart main riff and running through all the various settings...

How about a medley of Mistletoe and Wine/The Millennium Prayer? That’ll clear the dance floor and no mistaking!

Purely a case of dodgy “wrap the hand around and hold it like a baseball bat” technique at a couple of points... with thumb behind it was fine! 🤣

Well that was fun! Took the bass along to rehearsal at church tonight to put it through it’s paces. Sounds great. First impressions... the body sits really well agains the body. Nice and light. Those pickups... crumbs. They are loud, the output must be about the same as my Wal... and they’re passive... Ker-umbs! Really enjoyed using the bass. Don’t think it’s a neck profile I would ever grow to love. Too deep and square and the volute at the end butted against my hand at low fret positions in a slightly uncomfortable manner. But all just personal preference. The sound was really versatile but I really don’t like the switching. I still think you could get the same functionality from a 3 way pickup switch and a 3 position coil switch. Plus, with the set up the pickup switches should be up for off and down for on. And yes, I did manage to switch the bass off... at the start of a song! Lol! All that said I really enjoyed playing it and everyone loved the design. I’ll probably use it for the Remembrance Day services on Sunday- I rather like the idea of marking that day with a bass created not so far from Flanders’ Fields. I took some vids so I’ll see if I can compile and post those some time soon.

Just spotted the hollow headstock... interesting. Weight/neck-dive reduction? Headstock design is one of the hardest bits of a guitar to get right aesthetically. And we all have a personal list of the brands we reckon have failed!

The guitars look amazing but I hate that headstock. Given the very high level of design and organic shaping everywhere else on the guitar the squared off shape looks undesigned and an after(un)thought. Can’t wait to see how the bass looks!

I use Italia Leathers 4” straps on all my basses. Those would be far too thin for my Aria or Wals. Happily use one on an acoustic guitar though...

As Esther Rantzen used to say onThat’s Life, “If it looks too good to be true it probably is!”

I’ll nominate “Love Is An Open Door” from Disney’s Frozen. Cheesy, cheesy ditty but in the background Abe Laboriel Sr is laying down some amazing, tight bass playing! Exquisite fills being thrown in here and there and the slap line on the second verse and prechorus is simply sublime! Really! Frozen!

Well I thought I should do an unboxing video... and then I thought “No, no SBL-style ‘Look at this bad boy’ shenanigans” from me. I will try post some playing videos later as I’m planning to take it along to our church Worship Team practice on Thursday. It seemed unscathed by the journey all save the E string needs raised a bit for my tastes - it’s just too growly and snarly for me. I will need a touch more string height. Just on the E. Instead here are a few unboxing photos - it was certainly well wrapped. I’ve stowed the packing away for next time. In the flesh the bass is a lovely as I remember from the SE Bass Bash. There are things I would change, some places where there could be improvements but those are more or less polishing rather than problems. Anyone would be proud to have this bass slung around their necks.

Look what was waiting for me when I got home from the office!!!

GB’s over complicated for what you want. I use VoiceRecord Pro as itallows you to save the files as MP3s, export them etc. Other apps will be just as good

Blimey! Three manuals, pedals, phasers and photon torpedoes!

Blimey! Starlord’s let himself go!

There really were some lovely basses at the Bash this year. He Mouse was stupidly good, as everyone has said but the one that most smacked my gob and made me fall a little bit in love (OK a big bit) was one of @cetera‘s Spectors. This finish to be precise. NB no photoshop involved, just a very slight change in camera angle... get a load of this if you missed it...

Happy for it to come to me next. I’ll PM you...

Fantastic blog (as usual)! Brought it all flooding back. Great idea to be using some of Richard's talk for the next podcast. He was so entertaining. Disappointed at the poor quality of your photography this time though. The photos of Jack are fine, but those ones of that bloke in the blue shirt with the camera strapped around his neck. I remember him being much more handsome in person! Shame about the photos of Paul too, there are some subjects who are too much of a challenge even for the greatest photographers! 😂

Oops, I think that was a reply that never got sent a week or so ago... where are we with the bass’ location and next moves. Or has it all gone quiet in the absence of @Grangur to keep it going? As and when it does get to me I wondered that there are no other London Surrey Berks Herts folk who would be interested in trying it and doing a review? Tempted @NancyJohnson @Wolverinebass @Happy Jack @Hamster @cetera @Graemeross Or any others?

That would be brilliant! We can work out logistics somehow...

Easy answer... immense levels of processing power that would make the guys at Cray feel ashamed. All crammed into a compact mobile housing with a range of hugely sensitive sensors built in. Amazing thing the brain.

It's an unashamedly populist explanation and I'm sure that academic types could poke many holes in the details of the explanation but as a layman's guide to how scales and temperament work this is a good watch. The whole of the Howard Goodall's Big Bangs series was hugely informative, watchable and entertaining.

What do you mean "in all likelihood"...? I was there too! I didn't spot one of the 15 basses correctly!

This looks like a bit of a bargain... same model as mine with the preamp on the upper bout... https://rguitars.co.uk/collections/faith-guitars-uk-specialist/products/faith-ftne