Stub Mandrel

One thing I would do is insert a jack lead and then see how far I can trace continuity from the tip and ring (separately) back into the electrics.

Their bass player does bear an uncanny resemblance...

The music shop where my brothers live survives by being at the heart of the local musical community, they do PA hire and that means they know everyone. Plus they teach which helps bring more people into the community. It helps they are really nice guys and happy to talk music forever! They are doing deliveries during lockdown.

Great stuff Blue. I'll watch more later. For others - they come on at about 38 minutes until about the hour.

Lovely (muchly improvised I am sure) bluesy bass wombling on this one:

There's a guy in Leicester who has stockpiled Sansamps...

Don't forget how personal 'that' sound is -and how much it can depends on the instrument as well as the amp.

It's not as simple as that for VAT registered businesses.

When I bought my jazz, I tried it out on a Markbass, then a Rumble. Nothing wrong with the Markbass, but the Rumble was easier to get the sound I wanted from.

Heroes. Stay with Me Sunny Afternoon (actually descending, they are usually ascending...) Fool for Your Lovin' The Real Me Can't Get Enough And most famously, Hey Joe Is that enough for a start? Very often, but not always, as a part of a walking link. Also often in pairs going up a fifth or down a fourth.

Brilliant, no excuses now...

Why do four-note chromatic runs work so well (at least in some genres - blues and rock especially)? And why do they tend work best in certain parts of the scale (e.g.up to the fifth or the root of a major scale)?

As basses don't (usually) have tremelo bridges, I think string pull angles are aesthetic rather than a real issue (in fact the geometry is such that a sideways pull can be used to make up for a low break angle. I always use a finger poke beyond the nut before being happy with my tuning anyway. That said, parallel strings do look nicer, although it's not a killer issue for me. I really, really struggle with droopy tuners though - I like them ideally all parallel to each other, or 90 degrees to the sides of the headstock. If a convex edge means they angle in, they can look a bit crowded, but better than a random angle with no relation to the other aesthetic elements.

If you make a guide using masking tape or card, it's surprisingly easy to cut neatly with a hand saw.

Try some music you enjoy listening to but wouldn't normally play along to. Funk classics are a good choice I find, something like Ball of Confusion or I Feel Good is a joy to play but challenges you to get in the groove.

Or anything with a rosewood fingerboard - how do prove that even an early 00s Squier is legal?

I was thinking Summer Breeze, but it made me go hunting more 🙂

Maybe not?

Much prefer fingers. Pickwise, for bass my favourites are my 'Lemmy' branded ones that measure up as 1.17mm, held fairly loosely. Thinner ones just don't seem to deliver much more snap than I can get with my fingers. For guitar ideally 0.5mm Dunlop nylon picks for strumming, small hard picks for lead.

That's possibly the issue if they are pickups with strong magnets. What happens is that the pickup 'retransmits' the signal from the plucked string into the others and this can produce a surprisingly noticeable effect (I've had it before, always cure by dropping the pickups 1 or 2 mm).

That's impressive. Channelling the Isley Brothers with that guitar?

I took one bass lesson some time ago, hoping it would help me get back into things. I was clear I wanted advice on my technique, but I just got modes and scales. I've made massive progress just by learning loads of songs, most of which were beyond my skills two years ago.

This is something you are doing chiefly for pleasure and the satisfaction of progressing. So follow your heart and your inclination and don't be ashamed to stick to the music you enjoy. My only advice is a change is as good as a rest and keep a bass somewhere - especially as changing between instruments, even just for the odd twiddle, helps improves skills on both! 🙂