Rich

I haven't had to replace any of my Pro's pot shafts since my roadie trod on it the 80s. It was easy then, but now I'm not so sure. Paul's always been pretty good at answering emails in the past, I scored some new knobs from him last year via email. I imagine if he's not answering at the moment it will be covid-related somehow. Definitely worth trying the phone. If I'd thought about it back in the day, I'd have ordered more new shafts than I needed so I had some spares. Hindsight eh?

Oi, stop spoiling my surprise Seriously though, my actual plan is to use the original black plate (for reasons of cost) and apply some B/W check tape to it. Either covering the whole thing, or just a couple of stripes. I've found some hi-vis stuff that could be really effective under lights.

Or Chekov. (Pavel, not Anton)

I found these pickups in my spares box. They appear to have come from two different basses, god know which ones I thought the plain covers would work well with the black & white vibe. The neck measures at 7k ohms, the bridge at a hair under 10k. Again, we'll see if they work when they're plumbed in. I can always source something else.

The neck and headstock are fully sanded, the headstock primed and the first topcoats applied. More flatting and more topcoat awaits. Here's a teaser pic showing my re-shaped headstock end. Rather than lacquer the rest of the neck, I'm thinking of something else. Tung oil maybe? What do people think? Open to ideas.

I have a couple of decorative ideas too, but I'm going to make sure the thing works before I start tarting about with it

Hey all Not a proper build thread this, more of a refinish and upgrade. I've had this bass (or rather one a bit like it) hanging around for ever, and finally decided to do something with it while the bands are on enforced hiatus. Imagine this as a Jazz rathen than a P and you've got it. Red body, black hardware/PG. Anyway... as you may have seen in my status updates, I wanted to refinish it but couldn't decide on a colour so I asked the audience. When @TheGreek suggested white, a big lightbulb glowed into life. Black hardware... white bass... 2 tone... I'm in a ska band. Perfick. So, after a strip-down, the preparation. Sanding, filling, sanding, more sanding, priming, sanding, priming, yah de yah. That's where I am at the moment. Oh, and I've never liked the headstock shape much, so I've subtly reshaped the end. More details and pics as we go along. It'll be a rattlecan finish so it won't be perfect, but I will be doing my best I've never done a proper re-fin before so it's a voyage of discovery!

Enjoy. This is awesome.

Simple notes, intertwining... but you won't get to hear them actually intertwine unless you've got a spare 30 years or so.

And I want the neck wood back... Hold on, that won't work will it..?

Agreed 100%. Things like this will lead to a crackdown and then we will all be back at square bloody one.

Our school music department was hopeless really, massively underfunded. Our first music teacher was a knob who looked down his nose at anything more modern than Bach, and who tried to tell us that electric guitars were made of plastic. He left very suddenly and there were rumours that it was because he had tried to grope a pupil. His replacement was a much more amiable chap, who helped us out when my mates and I formed our dreadful 6th form band -- he let us use the music room after-hours and gave us the key to the kit room and (more importantly) the coffee cupboard. He also wrote all the music for the school play one year, which was a musical based around the great plague & fire of London. It was a lot more lighthearted than it sounds and was a great success.

I spoke to soon. Following discussions on messenger, it seems that sax and rhythm gtr are unwilling to start playing in public just yet, even with distancing in place. Fair enough. BoIIocks.

Brexit irrelevances removed. No more please, folks.

If I had to start again, I'd get a really top-class rig and a good mid-range bass rather than the other way round. Obviously, in an ideal world I'd be able to afford a really top-class rig AND a really top-class bass

Likewise. I've always assumed my stuff was mahogany but i'd love to know for sure.

Suddenly, from outta nowhere, it looks like we might have a paying gig next Sunday. 2 sets in the afternoon, outdoors at a pub just outside Chippenham. Our frontlady has done a visit/risk assessment and they're taking safety very seriously indeed. She knows what our individual concerns are and she's happy with their arrangements, which means I'm happy too. Yay

Any excuse for a brew

Yay! Welcome back matey oh how I remember your awesome pedalboard. Amazing otherworldly sounds from your (Roscoe IIRC?) bass. You're still on youtube too!

My pick choice is Herco's heavy thumb-pick. I find that I start getting cramp in my fingers if I have to grip a regular pick for too long, and the thumb-pick means this doesn't happen as I barely have to grip it at all. The other neat thing is that because it stays stuck to my thumb, I can switch between fingerstyle and pick on the fly -- between notes, even.

Oh HELL yes. Thank you v.v.muchly

I have only 2 regrets with my 2007 Shuker build. 1, I wish I'd originally specified the Delano pups I've since had fitted, rather than the EMGs I asked for. and 2, I wish I'd done it years before. Custom build wise, I'd love another one some day but it's probably out of reach. Maybe a Limelight '65 Jazz at some point, but I will be very strict on the amount of relic I want done (i.e. not a lot). And I've been talking with @Andyjr1515 about some renovation work on an old Overwater short-scale that will be extensive enough to pretty much class as a custom build

The lack of 'feel' would be the thing I'd miss. I like the idea of the vibrating platform things, but it nails you down to one small area of the stage and I wouldn't like that. Is there some sort of wearable vibration kit that could recreate the feel of a backline thumping away behind you, without having a backline thumping away behind you?