Bassfinger

Indeed it often is, but unlike tab I can at least read the damn stuff! 🤣

Try as I might I just can't get my head round Tab, so I stick to a mix of sheet music, listening to the somg, and improvising.

I'd never sell any of mine. If I did I'd only have to but another one to replace it.

Blimey, they are going up indeed, and by a lot at that. Perhaps in some ways understandable as the cooking MIS models were always over rated. With the increasingly excellent finish and playability of the Indonesian Squiers I can see some folk defecting from the big F in favour of the more cost effective option. PS, I like the seafoam green model in the middle. Smutty.

Steinberger Sprit, through an Ernie Ball lead, DI'd straight to the desk at the Futureworks studio in Manchester. Nice and simple, like me.

Does look saucy, but edging ever closer to Fender money.

Hold my beer and pass that hammer.

Oh, I hope you like my improvised string retainer. Lets hope I don't get prosecuted for defacing currency - pretty boys like me get passed around like currency in the chokey!

This was a bit of spur of the moment project after realising, as many of us often do, that I had almost enough randon parts laying around to make an entire bass. Aside from the PB headstock decal, neck plate, pickup and strings, all the parts used were left overs from previous builds and upgrades. Neck from a seller in Ireland some years ago. I suspect Chinese in origin, but its not bad at all for all that. Boot polish used to very convincingly dirty up the playing area at the rear, then given a slight amber aged look with much Danish Oil. Very cheapo tuners from an old upgrade elsewhere. They actually work ok and hold tune well, but they do look cheap. This is the one item I may yet upgrade to better items. Gear4Music ash body from a project that never got finished. Very, very nice, if somewhat hefty. Warman pickup - inexpensive high performance. Wilkinson bridge. Would have preferred nickel, but I had a chrome one in the box, and after a bit if dulling down looked acceptable. Pickguard from my collection. The poly on the body is very high quality, very smooth, deep and tough. If you're thinking of a Gear4Music body you have my highest recommendations. It was a bar steward to even scratch! I threw bunches of keys at it, sanded and gouged thorugh it, and used a schotchbrite pad to laboriously dull the finish down convincingly. For poly I've achieved a halfway decent aged and knackered look. Black Buck furniture wax used to darken the exposed wood scars and worked deepcinto the scratches tomsimulate grime and dirt, helped in with careful use of a Zippo. The final finish is a lot more dull and tired looking than it appears in the photos. Pickguard aged with the scotchbrite pad and the wax dye used in strategic places to age it. That doesn't show up on the pitcures vey well. All chrome attacked with 800 grit wet and dry to remove the shine, and at strategic points rubbed through to the copper base plating beneath. Scotchbrite pad then used to remove the scratches and really dull it down. Everything soaked in salty water for several days which further dulled it and darkened the copper so it didn't look fresh. To my mind the chrome hardware and necks let down a lot of relics so I put a lot of effort into these. I even went as far as ageing the control knobs. Random stickers. Can't remember the make of the pots and jacks but very high quality items that have been through several projects now. All set up and settled in after the last few days. It looks like it's been used hard but not overly abused, and plays very nicely indeed. I hope you enjoy looking at it as much as I do playing it.

A very loose approximation of my '69 precision, but this one I'm not afraid to use out of the house.

Its the Retrovibe Route '51 in 9.2k flavour. I chose the cream bobbin for a classic period, albeit Fender incorrect, look. Very reasonably priced, adds a little more punch over the original pickup while maintaining that single coil clarity. I did consider a humbucker, but didn't want stray too far from the original sound (plus Im not afflicted by any hum on mine). The Retrovibe stays fairly true to the original tone, beefing it up a bit without changing the essential character of the sound.

Being an HB underneath is nothing to be ashamed of. A decent body is a decent body, and the tree never knew nor cared which brand of bass it would end up in.

The pickup is beautiful too!

To my mind punk was, and still is, divided into those that just made a noise and were in if for the shock value/money, and those that were genuinely good musicians. I'll let you decide who goes where on that one but it's probably apparent who goes into what camp there. There was a small sect, more post-punk, that tried to be the latter but weren't good enough musically to pull it off. The Undertones, perhaps?

I run less high end and a little less mid when pick playing, which is most of the time. But it's as much a taste thing as anything sunstantive about the right way or otherwise to set up for some sexy pick action.

4004LK. I could scrape togeher the cash, at great risk of divorce, but finding one is tricky. Then if I ever did get one I'd be frightened to gig it.

A bit of a spread. My Geddy Lee was nearly a grand, and my '69 Precision somewhat more, but generally my fleet hover around the £400 mark. The cheapest, a used Ibanez, is the one the boys in the band love the sound of, so thats my main live tool with the added bonus of it not being heartbreaking if it were to get damaged. So, going my my impartial bandmates, none of who play bass and have no axe to grind, the cheapest is the "best" sounding - no correlation with price there! Conversely, I find the Geddy Lee is the nicest feeling to play.

As well as the 10 mill liability cover the MU also give 2 gees of equipment cover for free. That works out perfectly for gigging purposes for me.

To be fair, the Court ultimately ruled in LZ's favour on appeal for Stairway, making it twice they had won in front of a judge. To be double fair, they never made any big secret about the sources of their of trad and blues inspiration and would happily discuss it if asked in interviews. They weren't deceiving anyone. And they pretty much shut all the detractors up with IV.

She has a cracking voice for the blues.

NRC, better known as eBay!

Am I the only one that prostrates themselves before God as thanks that Brian May hasn't released his own signature range of wives? And the Brian May glute strengthener was an absolute waste of money.

I love PJ's. Turn down the superflous bridge pickup and they make excellent basses.

Luton might be a bit much for even the most streetwise Bronx native.

I eagerly await the Brian may official Y fronts. I've got a pointy stick on hand to keep the groupies at bay.