SpondonBassed

Violated... as if with a root vegetable?

Does anyone else think that YT is getting a bit more intrusive just lately? I rarely stream anything from them now. Much better to download and play clips offline. No banners suddenly covering the fretboard just as you try to copy the notes. Great playing though. Well worth looking at.

That's got to be a hard alloy of aluminium to last any length of time. How do those do on wear and tear on both the plectrum and the strings?

Can I borrow one of yours on a month's trial seeing as you aren't using it for gigs...? Thought so. Sorry to bother you. Heeheehee

True enough. It had Hipshot machine heads and Dunlop straplocks fitted. In addition the headstock was colour matched (black) and branded with the name "Stingray" in a custom typeface by David Wilson. I didn't have to do anything to it other than fit a new battery and tune up. I wouldn't change a thing about it. PS: It looks like I should have said "Welcome back". You've been a member for a while.

Welcome Abe. As a hobby bassist, I only recently got into pedals with my first and only purchase, a Zoom B3. I can see the advantages as you put them. Then I got a gift of a SBMM Ray34 with upgrades. Included were a Nordstrand pickup and a John East preamp, the three band one with mid sweep and the Bass/Treble modelled on the classic Stingray two band. As a newcomer to anything MM, I am seriously impressed. I might even try to get a classic Ray since I'm enjoying this one so much. Funds don't allow for that however so it's a nice dream to hold. As I haven't yet got used to using a three stop pedal, I favour the onboard amp despite having to keep batteries fresh. If I was gigging though, I might go the other way and run everything flat through the pedal.

Good luck!

I think they're proper tasty. Peach Zefir Torte

I bet they're hard to light.

I like to use a plec carved from the toenail clippings of giants. It's a bit difficult unless you have some magic beans with which to grow a beanstalk. In the meantime, have a search within the forum for "plectrum" and "pick". There have already been lots of discussions and suggestions that may be of interest. Jack

That's been dropped, hard. It might have displaced the magnet inside the speaker too.

A good pair of scissors should work fine with light gauge aluminium.

I was like that. In the end I promised myself a five if I got to the stage where I could play through a set uninterrupted without a lot of mistakes. I put in some serious practice and got there. Then I started with my first affordable five, the Steinberger Spirit in my signature file* below. I had a few songs in my set that needed drop D tuning or a low B string. My latest bass, the Yamacore is tuned BEAD just for a laugh. I have a couple of fours and fives now. I won't look at a six (er, yet). *To see this you must have viewing of signature files enabled in your account settings.

One of these? They aren't great for the smaller diameter bits. They tend to wobble at the speeds needed for the smaller bits and the bits can break very easily.

That's odd. When you say "chuck" do you actually mean collet? If it looks like the one above, you only have four diameters of collet to choose from. If you get a chuck; It allows you to grip a greater range of bit diameters. It is not as good a method of gripping a bit as the correct diameter collet but it should not matter for a drill bit going into timber. If neither of these work and you have a tiny drill bit to use, a pin chuck might work for you; This can either be used in a larger drill or you can spin it by hand if you are skilled enough not to bend the bit and break it off. As you've already found how unwieldy a full size drill is for a small bit, I would recommend spinning it by hand after you've tried a test piece and are confident in its use. New items made to look old are not really my thing but I do admire the project. I think you will end up with a nice instrument at the end of it. You will likely be looking forward to your next build too.

Welcome Tony. My best advice is for you to learn what G.A.S. stands for. I say this because you have it bad. Heeheehee. Just like most of the membership here at one time or another. You'll go far.

Have a look at the one I sometimes play. It is a burl veneer rather than grain but it might help you with your thinking. It belongs to a friend of mine. Squier VM Jaguar (Modified by AJR Guitar Mods

It looks like the grain might be nice under that.

I've just recently become the happy owner of a Nordstrand HB coupled with an East preamp. Very nice. Ray34 placement is well crisp, as you put it. Yours may end up being positively brittle. I will be interested to hear what you make of it.

That's going to be twangy. You'll need extra tough callouses if you routinely play above the pup. Interesting.

Alfie mentioned that he has a book out. I ordered the paperback directly from him. Very easy transaction. Received the book two days after. Having read the first chapter I'm looking forward to a bit of quiet time to get stuck in. It's great to have the benefit of the experience accumulated by one of our forum's career bassists to learn from and maybe have a laugh or two. Very satisfied.

Welcome Slide. You'll be right at home in the Build Diaries. Enjoy.

Can't wait for the NBD post.

I love the attention to detail. Threaded inserts in wood. Proper engineering.

My understanding is as you say, lots of different reasons why someone might suffer. My own case, I believe, is related to my nasal problems. I used to get sinus related headaches. I was told it was because of hay fever but nobody could say why it affected me all year 'round. It was only in my late forties that a GP looked at it seriously and said I had allergic rhinitis. I used to suffer as a late teenager into my twenties and early thirties. It seemed to fade away for a decade or so but then it returned. I had occasional migraines with aura as a twenty something. They also disappeared and returned. Two years ago I was mentioning this to my current GP. He thought that the tinnitus and the migraines might be related and he referred me to have scans of my head. He said he thought there could be a cyst affecting a nerve or something like that. I was just starting to deal with Jack's emerging problems. It became a full time occupation keeping him safe because of his mental state at the time. I had to cancel my own referral to deal with all of his. They were accumulating. I have had these problems since puberty so I felt it an acceptable sacrifice since the attacks were occasional and weren't getting any worse. I have since picked up on one of my other health issues but again, Jack's treatments have been the focus of attention since the work he did to build himself back up went to waste during shielding. The maintenance therapy had been stopped you see. I've had some investigative scans on myself that have come to nowt. Unless there are life changing consequences implied I am not yet ready to entertain more hospital referrals for myself on top of my current care duties so it'll have to wait. I find I can regulate the noises in my head by making my own noises. It usually involves be listening to music or making it. Singing helps a lot. I found that out when I was a member of a local choir. Again, care duties made it impossible to guarantee attendance at all performances so I dropped it when it became less informal and more of a committee exercise. Voices sometimes cause me grief however. Loud children in particular. It's cruel. I sometimes have a hard time with Jack's twin grand children. They're only three, bless 'em. Like all healthy children they can be LOUD at times and without warning. It's a real job keeping my cool with them sometimes and I have to withdraw if it gets too uncomfortable. This is how grumpy old men come into existence. If it isn't piles in their backsides it's the noises in their heads. I feel the red mist coming down around me... Heeheehee. Mustn't grumble though eh? A soothing cup of tea will help.