BrunoBass

Still cold from the back of the UPS truck is my new Harley Benton PB-50 which will soon be disassembled for some minor modifications: swap bridge for a more traditional looking example, reshape the headstock and apply amber tint to the neck. I may upgrade the pickup at some point but it’s perfectly adequate for now, and I will probably change the scratchplate for a white one. Also I’ll fit some flatwounds. I’m impressed so far, the neck in particular is fantastic. The set up is pretty good, it was even in tune. For £300 this would be a decent bass, for a little over £80 it’s incredible. The only gripe I have is with the pots. The tone knob did nothing at all at first, although the more I turned it the more it gradually came to life and now works - weird, it’s as if it just needed some motion to get it going. The volume control works, but instead of gradually decreasing the volume as you roll it back, it stays at a constant volume for about 80% of it’s travel before just falling off a cliff with a silent final 20% of the turn. Not a massive issue as I’ll probably change the pots. I was kind of annoyed at first, but then again have to remind myself it’s an €85 instrument. I think we are so spoiled with decent cheap gear these days we have high expectations even of budget stuff! So yes, I’m happy, and with the completion of my self build Precision two days ago that’s two new basses in 48 hours, can’t argue with that!

Good lad, well done. I hope he sticks with it.

George Harrison's Gretsch met a similar fate... https://www.beatlesbible.com/1965/12/02/george-harrison-gretsch-guitar-destroyed/

A well meaning friend who’d come to see us play decided to help load out and picked up our guitarists case which was lying flat on the ground. Unfortunately our guitarist hadn’t yet clipped the clasps shut, the case opened as it was lifted and out fell the Les Paul, broke a machine head and dinged the edge of the body. Guitarist unimpressed.

I’ve never tuned that far down on a four string - is B the lowest you can go before the string becomes too slack to vibrate properly? Would low A be possible? Just curious.

I wouldn’t make a habit of it. I’ll get my coat...

‘Landfill indie’, love it. Perfect 😂

If anyone’s interested, here’s the entire cost breakdown for building this bass: Body £38 Neck £29 Bridge £15 Neck plate £7 Bridge screws £3 Tuners £15 Grain filler £7 White spirit £2 Sanding block £4 Primer £6 Clear coat £6 Decal £12 Drill bit £3 Wet and dry paper £6.50 Pickup £18 Scratchplate £12 Tug bar £3 String tree £2 Orange paint £12 Polish £1 Grounding wire £cut from over long pickup wires Foil and glue £already had Wiring / pots £beer Knobs £donated Strings £already had Strap buttons £already had TOTAL £201.50 Some of the items are 'one-off' buys like wet and dry paper, sanding block, white spirit etc which I wouldn't necessarily have to buy again for the next project. All the hardware was bought new apart from the donated bits so I think if I bought used from eBay etc I'd easily be able to build something for less than £200. My J&D and Harley Benton basses cost around half of that sum, and are arguably better basses, but that's not really the point is it?

Thanks Andy, appreciate the tip too

As @PaulWarning says you get used to bad band names after a while. Arctic Monkeys is a terrible name, but once I'd heard it said a few times you forget how bad it is. it might sound silly, but i can put off a band by the personalities themselves. I used to really like Pearl Jam until i saw an interview with Eddie Vedder, who just came across like a complete knob. I still like their music, to a point, but I can't hear them without thinking 'what a ****'.

I’m buckled up for this one!

It sounded great thanks, I played it for an hour and am really pleased. I fixed the output jack (just needed the contact bending in a bit). A pleasure to play such a light bass, my dodgy shoulder is very happy. My fingertips are sore though, not used to those 105s! The band liked it too, so once I’ve fine tuned the set up I’ll take it to a gig. Here it is tonight alongside my number one, and the studio’s house amp.

And finally, it lives!! (Minus some knobs, I need to order those...) I set it up well, and I now have a low action and good intonation. It’s very, very light and is obviously quite neck heavy. But the strap I’m using is really grippy so it’s not really a problem. The Wilkinson pickups are a revelation; for twenty quid they’re incredible - all the thud you’d expect and really punchy, but if you turn the mids up on the amp it gets honky, almost Jazz bridge pickup like. I’ll definitely use them again. Brilliant. The only issue is that the output jack is intermittently cutting out, there must be something not connecting properly so it needs sorting before I gig it, but I’m going to give it a go at band rehearsal tonight and see how I get on with it. I’m really pleased with it. There are things I’d do differently next time, but that’s all part of learning isn’t it? I’ve leaned a lot, surprised myself and really enjoyed putting this bass together. I wonder what’s next?

So, a couple of weeks of inactivity. Frustrating as I was dying to get it finished. Anyway, a buddy of mine said he had some pots lying around that I could have if I bought him a beer. I bought him beer (several actually) and then he went on holiday. He got back the other day and finally I have pots! I shielded the cavities with kitchen foil, stuck in with my little boys Pritt Stick glue (works a treat!) and wired everything up. I had some old D’addario 105s hanging around that I took off my Jazz Deluxe when I got it. They’re slightly heavier than I prefer but on this P Bass they sound and feel great.

Thanks @Silvia Bluejay - it’s just been shipped 😁

I bought an Ashdown 300 4 x10 combo a couple years ago. It sounded good when I demo’d It, nice tight sound, plenty of wattage for pub gigs, just what I’m looking for I thought. It was very heavy though, but I thought I could live with it. Oh how I was wrong. Nearly put my back out trying to lift it into the back of my car, sounded terrible at gig volume, and just wasn’t loud enough. No amount of eq’ing could make it poke through the mix at a gig. I hated it and moved it on (at a small profit!) within a fortnight of getting it.

Thanks @kodiakblair , that’s reassuring to know.

I placed my first order with Thomann early on Monday, it’s now Wednesday and although I’ve had a confirmation email they haven’t taken payment or dispatched the item yet. The item is in stock so I’m surprised that they didn’t take payment and process the order on Monday when I placed it. It’s no big deal, I’m in no particular hurry and I understand the item is coming from overseas. I just wondered if this is usual for Thomann before I contact them to see if there’s a problem?

The King Billy in Northampton might be worth a shout? https://www.kingbillynorthampton.co.uk/

This question is very prescient to my current position, as I find myself increasingly frustrated with the way my band operates (I have a thread on this elsewhere, which goes into details). So, as I ponder my predicament I draw ever closer to the conclusion that it might be time to move on. I’m keen to avoid any repeat of the issues I currently face, therefore my next band should (ideally) tick the following boxes: 1. Location: ideally the band or band members should be fairly close to me. I already spend all day in a car wearing a groove in the M40, doing the same at night doesn’t much appeal. 2. I might have to try and recruit members to form a band, but having done this several times before I know what a pain it can be, so joining an existing band or nucleus of an existing band would be preferable. 3. Gigging or nearly gigging. I don’t want to spend months trying to get to a gigable standard. Something that I can just slot into would be amazing. Also, as much as I love gigging I don’t want to do it every weekend. Once a month is satisfactory for me. 4. I’m not interested in playing someone’s songs about how his missus left him and how he really misses her, I want to play covers. Floorfilling, crowd pleasing covers. Even if it’s not necessarily music I’d chose to listen to at home I want to play Saturday night songs that people want to jump about and get drunk to. Entertaininment is the name of the game. 5. No jamming. I hate jamming. Mind numbing nonsense. Rehearsal time is rehearsal time. Do your practising at home and turn up to rehearsal with the song learned, at the right tempo, in the right key. 6. Money split equally after every gig, after any necessary expenses have been deducted. 7. Lastly, I want an excellent drummer. There you go. I’m tired of all the BS, the egos and the politics. That’s what I want. Don’t want much, do I?

Thanks @kodiakblair for such an informative thread, very appropriate for me right now as my PB-50 should arrive this week (if Thomann ever get round to dispatching it...) 🙂

Some good points from everyone, and it’s heartening that they all seem to be on the same page as me. I hate the song Seven Nation Army and it wouldn’t bother me if I never heard or played it ever again. But it’s in the set, because people like it and it goes down really well. Mind you, I’m not keen on Sex On Fire either, we don’t play it because it’s ‘cliche’ apparently. But we should, and I’d be happy to, because we get asked to play it at every gig we do.

Did you order your J&D? What do you think?

Following, looking forward to this!

There are about 32 songs in our current set which I can play automatically, maybe another 20 that hang around the set and come in and out which I can play with a little bit of thought, and maybe another 20 that got rehearsed and dropped or were in the set long ago that I could just about stumble through without any prompts.