Johncee

The depressing thing is that when you do go to the trouble of putting them in, no-one else notices. But you do feel better about yourself...😂

Recently fitted Gemini Mountain Lightning pickups to my JB. They sound immensely good, and Mike is a great guy to deal with.

Unplugged quickie...(my previous description might not have been entirely accurate, but this is what I meant...😊) IMG_2802-1.mov

I play it slightly differently, with my index finger (not thumb) playing the open A (raking down from the D string on the G and F#) and an extra 1/16th note open A between each 1/8 note group. Would be a lot easier to demonstrate than describe...😀 The extra open A really helps to drive the rhythm along, and feels really natural once you get the hang of it.

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Bought HX Stomp + bits n bobs from Andy. Very helpful guy, quick delivery, couldn't be better!

Well, personal taste comes into it of course, but to my eyes the curves of both the Sadowsky and A-C headstocks flow naturally into one another, and work well together. The Sire headstock is just an awkward-looking mess that makes no geometric sense. One could well say "so what" and that's a perfectly valid position to take. 😀

Yes, I see you're right now. Had it down as a standard V7 when I saw them last night, but I was a fair way back.

Saw the Blockheads last night at Dingwall's. They were great. Isn't that just a standard Sire V7?

Cheers for the replies. I gave Gemini a call, and the chap there was really helpful so I ordered a pair of their “mountain lightnings” which will hopefully get my trousers flapping.

Thanks - just checked out their web page. Which jazz pickups do you have?

Hi Looking for someone to make me a pair of custom pickup replacements for my 1970's Fernandes Jazz Bass. The pickups on this are both "standard JB" neck pickup sized, so I need a pair of neck-pickup sized PUPs, but one needs to be opposite polarity, so I can't just buy 2 single neck pickups. Hence the need for a custom jobby. Any recommendations?

Ditto: mine took a while to come, but 100% kosher. Hope I didn't do anything incorrect by posting the link in the original post. Just thought it would be of interest to others. These genuine bargains/pricing anomalies do pop up from time to time on Amazon.😊

I never buy new basses, so not for me, but nevertheless the price looks OK compared with, eg Fender Custom Shop offerings.

NYXLs 55-110, 12.95 a set on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/DAddario-NYXL45105-Medium-Bottom-Nickel/dp/B01NAJH97M/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1XBGIJ4NPJRXO&keywords=nyxl%2Bbass%2Bstrings&qid=1699095892&s=musical-instruments&sprefix=nyxl%2Bbass%2Cmi%2C73&sr=1-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

I like it.

Whereabouts in Oxfordshire are you? There are top bow people in Oxford.

Can you give more details about the "teaching" cello? Edit: It's OK, I found it on Musical Chairs. Pretty sure I could find a home for this in Sheffield, if you struggle to sell it locally.

Definitely some early 70s Hawkwind (!) and Iggy & the Stooges in there too.

I’m an orchestral strings luthier. I won’t comment on how much a professional colleague charges for their work, but for those who ask the question “how hard can it be” ? please consider the following: The trade price of a good quality cello bridge is about £45 (B—grade)£65 (A-grade). Fitting the bridge is rarely straightforward. Compensations have to be made for often-encountered non-standard situations, such as strange placement of the bass bar, misaligned and wonky necks, neck angles, strange body dimensions, etc etc. The feet have to fit perfectly for optimum sound and playability, and the right amount of wood taken off to leave the correct amount of wood above the heart (and to compensate for the problems above you might have to deliberately cut more wood off one foot than the other), and it has to stand at the correct angle. You have to know by how much to pre-tension the legs so that the bridge still fits when string pressure is applied. The top of the bridge needs to be shaped to allow clean bowing of all strings, and to avoid bow contact with the treble side c-bout in some cases. Using a template for shaping is just the starting point here- it needs to be dialled in for each individual case. The bridge needs to be arched properly to combine structural strength with best acoustic performance. Just the right amount of wood is removed from every single surface of the bridge blank. And if you’re working to professional standards, it has to look pretty at the end of it. All in all it’s a good half day’s work. Possibly more in tricky cases. So put in a reasonable hourly labour charge for work by a highly skilled craftsperson, and you can “do the math” yourself. 🙂

Great to hear new material from Mr Rodney. Still, for me, one of the greatest voices in all music….