Stub Mandrel

Everyone knows that the look, scarcity and cost of timber are what influence the tone and playability of an instrument more than anything else. If stiffness, rigidity, strength to weight ratio and consistency were important characteristics for electric instrument bodies they would all be made out of plywood. 🙂

Dakota = Sex on Fire in Wales...

This, or anything else that causes the supply rail voltages to 'collapse' at different rates.

Far from it! My divorce has been the best thing ever for my bass playing 🙂

Some may find this interesting... I'm getting divorced and have been spending most of my time in the workshop that has become my office, a detached single garage, concrete and dry lined with insulation behind plasterboard. For the last couple of months I've had my TE combo in here with the gain well up and the output on two clicks (which is quite loud). I'm now just left with orange practice amp, for the first time I've been told to turn down. My guess is that I'm pumping out a lot more mid-range, which is travelling further.

Perhaps re-update the first post? 🙂 Are there any recommendations for accommodation on Saturday night if I decide to make a weekend?

I've been looking for them for ages, and while packing up my workshop contents a few days ago I finally found some cans of pipe freezer spray. These are just compressed air, so no nasty solvents. I've already made some tweaks to the relicing on my Flea bass to make it a bit more natural looking, essentially carefully blending some of the more obviously artificial marks together to get rid of patterns and without greatly increasing the amount of relicing. Armed with a precision heat gun (actually a temperature controlled solder rework gun) set to 300C and the freezer spray I had a go at checking the nitro finish. The main challenge was spotting any missed bits, not helped by the fact that applying hot air makes the pattern disappear! I brought out the pattern in two ways - I attacked it with the dirty brush I use to clean machine tools, and I wiped over dark oak stain and then wiped it off again. This has also brouht out some opf teh otehr relicing a bit and dulled a few spots where my 'tuning' revealed bare wood. I'm happy with the result by I know many people won't, it's such a 'marmite' topic. All I can say is since getting this bass it's the one I always come back to and for the next nine days it's the only one (of ten) I have with me 🙂

Leading by example?

If they "Want more attack" whack them over the head with your bass 🙂

You've swiped my battery charger! Those are based on 'power pole' connectors - they are the dog's do-do's for high current 12V use, I use them for my astro kit. I made 3D printed panel holders that allow them to be recessed possibly a bit fragile for music kit without a redesign.

I once made a little combo with four 4" speakers. Last year (or the year before...) I put a small port in it, which improved the bass response. On a hunch I removed most of the wadding inside and it improved the sound and volume - I think I had over damped it. It's worth experimenting, you can alwasy put it back in.

They only have one rhythm pattern and they've got it down to a tee, so why change? tum-titty tum-titty tum-titty 🙂

Corollary to Godwin's law: "As a discussion on the Internet grows longer, the likelihood of a comparison of a reviewer being compared to Gary Bushell increases."

Quite heavily reworked when Soundgarden covered it...

I am so lucky... Two days ago I topped up a plastic container with some bits of tooling, it isn't big but now weighed a few Kg. As I lifted it up it slipped and all its weight went on to my right hand ring finger which couldn't take it pulled back and snapped out like a bowstring. I really thought I had pinged the flexor tendon, but fortunately I still have full movement. It's still a bit sore and pretty painful whenever I accidentally put a load on it - even picking up my phone. The pain is in my palm and the top of my forearm, so I think both tendon and muscle have been hurt. Ibuprofen helps a bit although I'm not meant to take it, and I can still play with my index and middle fingers and gently with the ring finger so hopefully no long term issues. Main worry is on Thursday all my machine tools are being moved so I will have to be very careful.

I never had an issue with UFO - who could criticise with the band who came up with Doctor Doctor* or Lights Out? Def Leppard were always cheesy. Running Free was the first song my mate and I learnt (as in chunking along with barre chords) when we got our first electric guitars - it had just come out. *The purest heavy metal always has a bit where the drummer ticks the cymbal bell - none of this cowbell nonsense 🙂

I never objected to listening to NWOBHM bands and as the Friday Rock Show was the guide to what's hot and what's not I got to hear plenty of it. At the time I was most into 'first wave' bands like Sabbath, Zeppelin, Purple and derivatives like Rainbow, as well as Hawkwind, Stranglers and punk (thanks to my slightly younger brother) as well as more proggy stuff - Crimson, Greenslade, Gong and a big slice of Neil Young. I suppose I was just old enough to have got into all the 'classic rock' before it hit, although rock was heading that way before it was defined. The one band I have always struggled with is Def Leppard, which is ironic that as far as 'heavy metal' bands go only Metallica and Led Zeppelin have outsold them (I don''t count Aerosmith as metal). Not sure if Kerrang!! has been mentioned? It's been through a few changes since but it was the 'def' guide to the NWOBHM back then.

Of course if the instrument contains ebony or rosewood you will probably also need CITES certification... https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cites-imports-and-exports#import-by-post

A chap I know/knew had a spot on his radio show in the early 90s..

Fingerstyle or do you wimp out and use a plectrum?

Ok back to the subject! I enjoy playing bass for its own sake. Being in a band is great, and I can't wait to move and the end of lockdown and to start tarting my talents around South Wales, but I have no trouble finding motivation to play bass on my own for hours. Guitar is a contrast, I run out of enthusiasm much faster.

Somewhere I have an off the radio tape of a live Eurythymics concert, possibly Galsto from the late 80s/early 90s. What sticks in my mind is this Tourists song which was a real tour de force. This the original: