Dom in Dorset

the Thunderbird is the Marmite of bass, i love them (hate Marmite). I've got an Epi, it's one of the most playable basses I've had, tried a Gibson on sunday, quite different and more strident tones, loved it too. There is a facebook group devoted to the Thunderbird.

The acoustic fretless with tape wound strings is mine. I was very much taken with an Alembic that I tried (I'm told , one of their cheaper ones) anyone know the model? Growly tones that I'd never be allowed to use!

Yes, thank you John (Old Slapper) it was great. The world needs more free-form bagpipe , bass and drum jazz exploration type stuff.

Please bring your Gibson T bird!!!!!!! I'd love to try it.

Not tried the others but an Epi if set up nicely is a delight.

width and depth can vary, what are you playing now?

To save people trawling through the thread to look for it: 11th July 2-5 p.m In Shaftesbury. Shaftesbury Christian Centre, Christies Lane, Shaftesbury SP7 8PH I don't have anything that exotic or expensive : Ibanez Acoustic Home made fretless acoustic I might bring my twin neck as a work in progress I've also got some bits and pieces that I've borrowed from the shop that I do repairs for (gig bags, cases, tuners, couple of cheap basses) I've got a gig tonight, one saturday, then this sunday, shaping up to be a good weekend.

The only stuff I've tried that they do is "Shine" basses, I've tried two: Active five string semi hollow body- nasty looking(IMO) quilted maple, it had a nackered truss rod. It was for sale for spares (might be at the Dorset bass bash) Passive (?) six string , nice if you like lots of strings, low B a bit muddy but that could have been the amp. Good value , I think it was £299.

Rather wonderful and quite safe for work. [url="http://vimeo.com/12658207"]http://vimeo.com/12658207[/url]

While window shopping on ebay I found this: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Steinberger-XL2-Bass-/130404248617?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item1e5cb2ec29"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Steinberger-XL2-Bass...=item1e5cb2ec29[/url] The seller says that the neck has a bit too much relief , but has no truss rod. I had Hohner copy for many years and this had a truss rod at the top of the neck, however the Hohner was made from wood. Is it true that Graphite Steinbergers don't have a truss rod?

I couldn't find a lefty neck for £50 at the time.

Ok , I've been side tracked with gigs etcbut I'm back onto it again. I've settled on a boby shape, the starting point was a Peavy Zodiac (thanks to Flat Eric for the pattern) . I split it and moved the curves around a bit and the result is this (MDF pattern): I'm still playing with scratch plate shapes. the controls will be in a trench half covered by the scratch plate. this means that I don't have to worry too much about them getting in the way when i'm playing the lower neck. I've started on the actual body: It's made from cherry, partly because it looks nice, partly because I had some lying around. Concerned about weight I put it on the scales and it's 2.9kg, CH guitars' catalogue has Les Paul bodies that come in at 3kg , I'm confident of losing 1/2kg from contouring and routing. Next I've got to save up for pick ups and pots.

You used to be able to get stuff from Halfords for polishing car bumpers ( chrome ones) called Autosol? or am I thinking of anusol? PS I 've just checked with google, it is Autosol it's £5.99

[quote name='silddx' post='879566' date='Jun 28 2010, 09:33 AM']I thought I was a cracking set. It did what it was supposed to do. Top class professionals at the top of their game. Extremely entertaining.[/quote] You can analyze as much as you like but the bottom line is : it's entertainment. (IMO it was pretty serious entertainment)

[quote name='hubrad' post='879662' date='Jun 28 2010, 10:46 AM']I've seen the Picato folks putting the strings together.. how they don't rip bits off their hands I don't know! By all means rough out the setup with old strings, but an experienced setterupper friend of mine says you need new strings for the final tweaks as old strings, even under tension, will be slightly kinked. Even as I type that last word I can just sense some of the replies![/quote] I agree , it has to be new strings for the final 2%. A kinky black nylon G string could cause all sorts of problems.

[quote name='Hutton' post='879644' date='Jun 28 2010, 10:28 AM']Black nylons on and off 50 times - now there's a thought! [/quote] I'm surprised that it wasn't my G string that broke. But seriously, I think that it hadn't fully understood the harm that the prolonged set up did. With an acoustic there's no screws to adjust so you file down the saddle bit at a time, it took bloody ages and I did get a bit anal about it, I still think "maybe I could just lower the...NO! STOP IT'S GOOD ENOUGH!!!" From now on I'll use old strings to do the set up. I posted this as a warning to others not to make my mistake and don't try to break the tape, it's tougher than human skin, it cuts like a razor.

I had something similar, sadly no roadie with spare bass in the wings! See "Black nylon" thread for details.

I was playing a gig on one of the small stages at Glastonbury, during the second number I noticed that something felt wrong.. I was playing my acoustic fretless with black nylon strings (Picato), the nylon covering had come loose on my A string and was moving up and down the string under my finger, the tone of that string also went fuzzy and week. At the end of that number I took a look and made an attempt to remove the covering...silly idea, there must be about 100 yards of black tape wrapped around that thing. I then made a second mistake of trying to break the tape... it cut my LH index finger!!! Nothing serious but rather anoying. I think that the problem was caused by the fact that those were the strings that I used when I set the bass up, I had make a saddle ivory and nut, it was also my first fretless set up and I must have had those strings on and off about 50 times. The repeated up to tension, down again must have done some harm, also I suspect that high temperature also played a part. In the end I pulled the tape tight and tucked the loose end under the bridge and played on. I had a spare set and replaced the string for my next gig. I'm keeping the old set for future set ups, I'll then put on a new set once I'm happy with it.

I was there and thought that it sounded great, the bbc (IMO) often struggle to capture the true sound of Glastonbury gigs. I own one Muse album, I like them but I'm not devoted to them, I though they were excellent. The bass player's style is quite solid No nonsense stuff but it works. He seemed to be playing through effects and it seemed to me that he was responsible for more of the band's sound than I had previously thought. Certain bits I thought were guitar or keys were actually (or so it seemed ) processed bass sounds. I have no problem with the use of extra musicians (the keys player was featured quite well on the screens on the sides of the stage) .If the bass player wants to change bass every song ...so what? No exactly Rolf, but Muse were good.

Didn't someone find a Tutmarc bass in a garage sale a few years ago?

At some point in the 80s K made some P bass coppies that were .....good! My first bass was one , they had a Dimarzio Pick up (if memory serves) ,they were set up nicely , fit and finish was good.They weighed a tun! Obviosly made in a different factory and just badged K.I can't remember what happened to mine , but I've met others who've owned them and they have agreed , yes , they were good!

The K Tablecaster, cut from an old table top, some still have Formica on them.

I'm surprised that you had to go to so much trouble to get shielding foil. try this: [url="http://stores.ebay.co.uk/CH-GUITARS_Electrics-switches-pots_W0QQ_fsubZ7581993QQ_sidZ55431421QQ_trksidZp4634Q2ec0Q2em322"]http://stores.ebay.co.uk/CH-GUITARS_Electr...634Q2ec0Q2em322[/url]

I'm with Green Angels , Avalon Cafe sat 11.30-12.15 and with Back Before Breakfast 15.30 -1615 Both bands are playing other stages at other times , I'll worry about it when I get there.

I'm building a twin neck with two CH necks. They look good, not had time to finish the job yet so I can't say what they play like. CH are easy to deal with and reliable, most of their stuff seem to fit the bill.