SpondonBassed

I'd say that is a good place to start. Counselling can help you find your focus in life again. You've got to have people in your life to hear your ideas otherwise you are just living inside your own head. It can get gnarly in there sometimes.

I think John Patitucci said that when you do finger exercises that you can sometimes feel pain but that you should not be in pain from doing them.

Not at all. Everyone goes through crises at various times in their lives.

Have you spoken to your GP about the feelings you get when you're isolated? It's easy to be self critical when there is no-one else there with you to give you a reality check. It is not uncommon for creative people to suffer with dark thoughts. Help is available in many forms to help you cope. I hope you get back to playing with your band soon.

With it being fretless you'll end up with lovely clean lines to go with that fine grain, assuming it's going to be unlined or with subtle position markers. It ought to be a minimalist masterpiece. Good choice.

Glad to hear that the loss of seven inches is not the carnage that might be imagined from such a topic title. Happy NBD!

I'd sooner wire a UK plug on rather than use an adaptor too. Please don't tell me that the essential life skill of safely wiring a mains plug has been lost to the latter generations. I'm glad to hear that you've received the important bit though Ant, the bit with the strings. Even if you can't hear the subtleties of the amplified sound you can at least start toughening up your fingertips with repetitive rhythmic exercises.

That's a unique piece of kit. I wish you many happy years of use from it. The effort you have put in should ensure its longevity.

Are you going for a natural finish? You've got some interesting contrasting grain runs to play with.

Welcome Pintspiller.

Good work, well done.

Welcome Gramps.

That headstock is especially nice. I like how the machine heads seem to have sunk into that thick finish.

Of the two I'd choose the latter.

What about black binding on a natural top with the black pickguard, natural sides and the blackened back?

Welcome Alan. (I've always wondered what one Wold all on its own looks like...) You know you can only play one at a time right? Okay, I'll let you off, no-one else sticks to that rule here either.

Welcome Ant. As mentioned, there aren't any really bad basses these days. My tip would be to try the basses you are considering on a strap before you buy. The thing to avoid is neck dive if you can. It's an added hurdle to overcome that you don't need starting out. Issues such as the height of the action, the pick ups, your choice of flats or roundwound strings etc, can be sorted down the line.

Thanks for this but excuse me... my brain Hertz.

Don't forget unicycling! Glad you've got that sorted. It sounds quite nasty. There is nowhere on stage neither left nor right where you can stand with that condition and wearing glam rocker pants! Folk would think you are smuggling kiwi fruit.

Too much? I think not. Gold would complement the rich burl.

It's that or a truss I suppose. When us blokes get to a certain age and body shape we can't count on predictable danglage any more. That's why we enlarge our gussets I guess.

Possibly. The bigger high street outlets are also a threat remember. Foulds, one of two decent sized outlets in Derby, has recently expanded. They've opened a guitar, bass and sheet music shop in the Strand Arcade. The original shop in Iron Gate continues to sell a wide range of instruments and accessories. I've always liked Foulds but then it is handy for me to visit. I like the new outlet even better. They've got plans. I imagine it is getting hard for folk who don't have easy access to the larger towns and cities where such outlets can still be found. You could argue that they are causing the demand for online shopping though and look at this whole Internet is killing local industry notion with a slightly different perspective.

I feel a little uncomfortable if I dress on the right. It's not pleasant and it often results in crotch manipulations that make it look like I am a fan of Michael Jackson. Ow!

Cool. I've lost count of how many builds you've done in a relatively short time. Not counting batch-builds, you must surely be breaking some record or other.