Boodang

I've found the tri parallel mixer to be so useful it's now at the heart of my pedalboard. Apart from being able to switch between channels, parallel effects blending has become a big thing for me, and some effects like my Solid Gold FX supa funk do not like a hot signal, so with this I can tame the level going to the unit but increase on return. A very versatile little mixer.

This defines what ISN'T a bass. They might have called it a bass guitar but at 24" scale it's more guitar than bass.

Well you could say that but you could also say why read a BC thread when you could be practicing! Of course, by discussing what defines bass guitar you are digging into it's provenance and the wider question of how we see its role in music.

Despite it being called a 'bass guitar' I always think of it as a solid body version of a double bass, so an extension of the violin family not the guitar.

EHX tri parallel mixer... would this work for you? It can switch between channels or you can have them in parallel.

For me the benchmark is the double bass where the low E is 41hz. After all the bass guitar is derived from this.

Hmm, let me think about that offer.. for a nano second!!!!

Obviously still a work in progress. It will end up with a Babicz bridge and Galli Synthesis flatwounds.

This build is an accidental byproduct of another thread where I was looking at the Seymour Duncan Weather Report pickups and contemplating a 'Jaco' style bass. So, I contacted my local luthier, who's done lots of work for me, to discuss the project and as an aside he showed me a body he had made a while ago but had never been taken further. However, I'm so taken by the body that I've decided to take it further but it's certainly not going to be a Jaco bass! The body is a mahogany core with a flamed black walnut top, plain back and two maple stripes with a very contoured shape. It's going to be a set neck of mahogany with a maple stripe, graphite reinforcement, double action truss rod and a slab rosewood fretless fingerboard with maple fret lines. 7.5" to 12" compound radius with a '61 spec 36.5mm nut width and slim C jazz profile and a 2+2 level headstock. It's going to have 2 jazz pickups, for now the Weather Report ones as they've arrived, but we'll see how they go and I've potentially got the Nordstrand warm and wooly's in mind for this. I'm a passive bass guy, so this will be double stacked volume/tone as I like the tone pot for each pickup and the passive interaction of the pickups. I play finger style and pluck mostly over the board around the 18th fret area. I prefer to have the board under my fingers, so for those moments when I pluck further back I'm having the fingerboard extended up to the neck pickup to act as a finger ramp.

I remember the klaxon event, I'm not sure what was more of a noise, the klaxon or the slap happys!

As these cables are low capacitance and as my main gigs are more jazz orientated where I'm sitting down, I'm going to use them live as well as the studio as it's not exactly a harsh environment (although I'll use my normal cables for the Sex Pistols tribute band gigs I think!). The biggest damage will probably be to the braiding from the coiling/uncoiling but I'm sure they are not that delicate. After all the only way to really preserve them would be to not use them.

Palmer PWT12 would power the lot. It also has 4 outputs that are variable between 9 and 18v just in case. I've got 2 of these on my board and can't fault them especially at the price.

At the next gig you can make, turn up with a bass guitar and go all 'Billy Sheehan' on them to see how much fun you can have with them. That way the decision to stay or not will probably be taken out your hands!

Wenge makes a great neck, not necessarily in the spirit of a classic P bass though! But that's not the point and would definitely make for something interesting. I was looking at the Warmoth site and there's certainly some interesting options but... I was in a similar position recently as there was something very specific I wanted neck wise, but fortunately I have a local luthier who is very good. Advantage to that over Warmoth is you can talk over every bit of what you want. See if there's someone local-ish who can give you that personal service.

So, all you have left is 90% of the bass?!

Hey, this could be a new BC game, identify the bass using only the pickup cover as a clue!

Yep, other than that incident it was a great show if a little noisy. The best bit about these shows is not the gear but the masterclasses they lay on, which are worth the entry fee alone.

Now the drum show is loud. Was at one of the shows in the Olympic with my daughter, went to one of the masterclass events, it was friggin loud! We were standing just in front of the desk when we heard a crash behind us and my daughter felt something brush her back. Turned around and there was a ceiling tile with a rather large transformer attached (for the lighting?) buried in the desk! The desk was one of those with just a large screen and was totalled but still working. An inch the other way would have had a different outcome.

Oh great, a room full of tippy tappy heros!

Hmmm, I can try out some new bass cabs... through headphones! Worth it though just so you don't have have to listen to the cacophony of dozens of weekend 'slap happy' heros pulling out their top 10 greatest chops.