SpondonBassed

Doesn't it all come down to how badly you need to sell your bass or indeed any object of desire? If you're desperate to pay the mortgage you might have the luxury of a month until the payment is due. If you are short on the household budget for the week you will want money a bit sooner than that and you would take a loss on the sale to make the deal. @TheGreek, I'd guess you aren't in either of those situations Mick. I won't suggest the pawn shop then.

Welcome Andy.

Dang! Thanks to @TheGreek's observation I now see a Victorian lady sat in her corset with a giant angry duck on her lap.

Welcome Malcolm. I am envious of your jamming band.

As we know from Andy's spaniel face top a couple of builds back, the hardware could render that a secret feature.

Yeah but 500 Miles at 150 bpm is not exactly marching pace... Heeheehee

I helped Jack do his first ukulele fretboard this way. His kit had been supplied with a ready slotted fretboard and a length of fret wire. I made up a press tool from a specialist pair of vice-grip pliers, suitably modified, and pressed the frets home. When done the fretboard was curved by the summed effect of all of the fret tangs trying to widen the slots that they occupy. The board was flexible enough to be clamped flat against the neck. We used Superglue after. A little drop at each end of the fret tangs wicks in and makes a swift bond. He bonded the fretboard to the neck with Titebond when the frets were set. Jack doesn't have the confidence for this sort of work so he bought a couple of ready made necks for his next few builds.

Welcome Drew. @ped's relentless pester power wore you down then. He's been a busy lad this weekend. Heeheehee. It shouldn't be a problem finding bass buddies in your area. The trick for me would be to find a couple of drummer buddies local enough for me to stop by for a good old rhythm section workout with no agenda any time it's needed.

No. For the avoidance of confusion; with no tension on the strings the neck should look straight. When the strings are at their correct pitch and therefore under tension they should bend the neck slightly so that there is the slightest bow under tension. This is known as neck relief. If it goes the other way reducing string height will cause the strings to touch down around the middle of the neck! '“Relief” refers to a very slight, intentional up-bow that lifts the strings a little higher than they’d be on a perfectly straight neck. Some players (like me) prefer a perfectly straight neck, but a dead-straight neck may not work for someone who really plays hard but still wants to have very low string action. For those players, a bit of relief is a good idea.' Stewmac's Guide (For experienced tweakists only)

Welcome Sandy.

Welcome Bean9seventy. Having had eight years of pestering hyperbole about Basschat from our (anonymous) promoter you risk being underwhelmed by the actual experience. Sorry about that.

I remember Charles Aznavour!

Welcome BassAddsLife. Does this mean we might see your build in the Build Diaries?

Welcome Dave.

The bridge cover is sometimes affectionately known as the ashtray.

Welcome Jeff. Have you tried to tune it yet? You might be lucky enough to have got it set up to some sort of standard already. With a new instrument it is not always obvious how to get the best from it. As a new player you have the added complication of not yet knowing how you will be most comfortable with it. Satisfy yourself that the neck is true. A new instrument should be supplied with the truss rod set correctly for standard gauge strings. Usually, a neck (with strings tuned) will be straight but for the slightest visible bow towards the strings. Generally, string height should give enough clearance above the frets to eliminate fret buzz wherever you fret the string along the entire length of the fretboard. Sometimes a little buzz is acceptable but that's an individual thing and often has to do with the style of music being played. The clearance should not be so great that you can't fret a string without fouling the adjacent string. If you need to drop the string height significantly it might become necessary to adjust your pickup height relative to the new string height too. Make one small adjustment at a time and note the difference(s) to the sound and feel of the instrument. It's easiest to do adjustments in quarter turns of the allen key. Count the turns and apply them evenly to both sides of the saddle if the saddle height screws are in pairs with the saddles level. Soon you will get a feel for what's going on. If you need to adjust the truss rod tension or set individual saddles to get good intonation on individual strings, get specific advice for your instrument.

Welcome Most. My knowledge of East Anglian bands is limited to the Kipper Family (Henry and Sid) of Trunch.

Welcome Armitage. I enjoyed your YT clips. Great hat too.

Welcome Paul.

I think you need to consider making a similar adjustment to your pick ups as the strings now sit closer to them.

For some that would be the gross pay for a week's work! I'm not talking about a desk job either. Christmas Gifts Under £300

That'd have to be a serious marmalade sandwich habit.

I always had the suspicion that we are a bit of a laughing stock for anyone who has lived with snowy conditions for more than a week at a time. Thank you for that.

You suggest they are being mardy, I would hazard a guess and say that they are probably just nesh. I cannot comment on your assertion that they are also gets however because I am far too polite. Incidentally, what sort of incident would you have had in mind? A public flogging, a tar and feather dress rehearsal, waterboarding with melt water from the flurry of snowflakes that made them stop at home perhaps? Better luck next time.

May I suggest you do a video montage of the difficult bits of the trip so that it can be used as promotional material down the line? That sort of commitment ought to be recorded for posterity.