EMG456

Used RS66s in the 70s and 80s but the quality seemed to change in the 90s and they became very rough to the extent that I was having problems with blisters etc. Switched to Elites then but have tried RS66s again recently and they seem to be good again. Status sell their own branded strings and these are good also- excellent prices especially for double ball end, but not very long lasting.

The bass is now in final assembly!! It will be ready for me on Christmas Eve!! I'm away then and not back till Boxing Day!!🙄 All going to plan then I'll be making the hour drive down to Moffatt on the 28th to pick this beauty up from ACG HQ. Better polish up my fretless chops!

When I have an update, you’ll have an update! 😀 Seriously though, the bass is somewhere in the finishing/ final assembly conundrum, presumably along with several others whose progress pics I’ve noticed in parallel with my build. I'm guessing Mr C will likely be flat out to get these done asap but we can only wait and see. I am certain it is close now!

Absolutely howling at these! Some much needed light relief - thanks!

Yes, I notice that every time I see a clip of Tony Levin on Stick, he seems to be mainly playing the "bass" side *or* the melody side, almost never both at once? One of the reasons I had for learning Stick was so that I could make a complete sound on my own, in the way a pianist can. so to this end, I've been concentrating on bass note and partial chord on the left hand with melody or other partial chord on the right hand. It's a bit of a handful especially when singing as well but it's getting to where I wanted it to be. As soon as a band hears the lovely Stick tones, they want you to play it in the band and it's then that the "less is more" discipline has to be brought into play. Have you checked out Kevin Keith? He does a great job of the funky bass line and melodic chord thing but again in a very intimate environment. Keep us posted on your progress - at 6 weeks I was lucky to string 3 or 4 predictable notes together!

Stubborn will do! As lfalex-v11 says, the strings are quite low tension and the precision of the build and fretting on any stick I've tried means that a very low action is possible. You are lightly tapping on the strings and it doesn't feel anything like tapping on a bass that's set up for normal playing. I don't think reach is an issue either, both of my Sticks are just about the same width as a 6 string bass at the 24th fret and one has ten, the other 12 strings so string to string spacing is a bit tighter. Of course the Stick neck is parallel. The other thing is, I wonder if I had been able to go into a shop and try one, would I have then bought one? I fear maybe not, because I was so inept on it I may have just said "mmm… not for me" It's not the first time that it's been mentioned that the Chapman Stick absolutely seems like a great idea right up to the moment you strap one on... I'm in Glasgow so if you're ever around these parts, you're welcome to try mine.

Yes- paired with a GK3 equipped bass works very well for a massive variety of sounds. Also quite a nice multi FX even when used with standard basses.

Even odder is that in an emergency, you can just play all the patterns you usually play on the bass but string to string jumps take you to the right note but in the “wrong” octave.

Haha - how did you come across this or is it already notorious and I just didn't know? Genius!

Bobby Watson on Michael Jackson's Rock With You.

Welcome to the crazy world of the Chapman Stick! The only advice I feel qualified to give would be to "stick" with it. (Ouch!) I don't know how you're feeling about it but I certainly thought that having about 33 steady years of bass experience before I started with the Stick would give me a head start but I actually found that my skills were not so transferable after all. I found the reverse 5ths tuning on the bass side very difficult for playing bass lines and found even interaction between the hands not easy, let alone independence! Fortunately, I'm stubborn and persistent so I'm finally getting somewhere but in reality it's taken me a lot longer than I thought it would and I'm still no virtuoso. Play as often as you can and pay attention to your setup - If you're playing out make sure you have the truss rod tool with you - the neck can move from one environment to another and if the action is out of whack, it can really throw you especially at the start. If you want to play "normal" bass lines on it, some players change the bass side to a 4ths tuning - easy to play fluid basslines like you are used to but against that you lose the compact open chord voicings that 5ths gives you. You're right to think that it's easy to take over a whole band's sound with the stick - played all at once it can be an enormous, dense sound leaving little space for anyone else but if your bandmates like it, they'll likely start to make adjustments to accommodate you. For example, the guitarists I play with will often switch to mandolin or Dobro if I'm going to be playing stick - there's lots of room to experiment and no real rules or traditions with the Stick - it's very much whatever you choose to make it. Also be prepared to make lots of new friends if you play it out. It may be different if you mingle in the prog-rock circles but for most types of music, yours will be the first Stick an audience has ever seen and the questions come thick and fast! 🙂 One last thought just now - Sticks sound much better in Stereo than mono, even if your just going through a mono setup like a bass amp - something to do with the impedance loading on the pickups I believe so if you don't have multiple inputs on your amp setup, invest in a little mixer - I use a Boss LS-2- and it will sound much brighter and livelier. Overall, my Stick journey has been at times frustrating but hugely enjoyable. It hasn't diminished my love for the bass but it has enhanced my musical knowledge no end and frankly I can't imagine being without one now. Best of luck and if there's anything you want to know, just ask!

Yep, that escalated quickly! Hindsight and all that - moving on the Buy It Now would have been the right thing. Good for the seller assuming of course that the sale goes through... I'm pretty certain that you could pick one up for a lot less but of course that one was in particularly nice condition. Onwards and upwards.

Here's the thing - this Kubicki is a top notch boutique bass from the early 90s albeit assembled by the Fender custom shop. New, they were priced alongside Steinberger, Alembic, Sadowsky, Modulus etc. and thoroughly deserved their place there. Lots of people nowadays routinely pay £2k-ish for a 1970s Fender. As long as you're not one of the "all you need is a precision with flatwounds" crew, this Kubicki will eat any of those dodgy Fenders for breakfast so £1500 seems more than fair to me. The interesting thing is that at the end of the day, it's all down to individual taste and what the market will stand. After this discussion, I now want an Ex-Factor. Fortunately for me I have an imminent bass arrival in the next few weeks so I will not be joining in the last minute bidding frenzy if there is to be one. And I can console myself with the fact that I already have a Key Factor 5 which goes both higher and lower than an Ex-Factor! Still want one though... GAS!

It's an unusual tuning arrangement so best to just watch somebody...

Could you say that any bigger?😀😀

Woodworking complete. Finishing about to start. This is getting exciting!

Any function bands I've played in and there have been many, the perceived success of the evening is generally directly related to the quality of the buffet!

Make a lower offer. Fill the frets yourself - it's not difficult and contrary to popular opinion you don't have to do it with beautifully cut pieces of thin veneer - just use wood filler in your choice of colour! Let it harden and lightly sand it smooth. It's not a vintage Fender although in fairness I have done this before to vintage Fenders! Pretty sure that's what Jaco did originally to his Jazz Bass.

To each their own but Kubickis feel and sound great and the pickups and preamp go from old school warmth right through to thunderous mayhem! If it’s the same circuit that’s on mine, it will have two active and two passive modes as well as an “off” position. Fantastic basses and the Ex-Factors are 32 inch scale. At £950 now and probably worth every penny.

Last time I checked - couple of years back, everything on the Wal still working perfectly!

Right, not having completely mainstream tastes in this bass lark, I've got a few rare-ish things in amongst the herd so, lets start with Steinberger and related. XL5W wide neck 5 string - searched for years before this one came up. Next up, XL2TA. XL2s are not that rare, even in White but the T stands for Trans-Trem so... Shouldn't really put this one here as it was custom built for me but it fits with the first two - Status Custom 6 'Berger Enough of that headless nonsense - this is more like it. Wal Mk2 5 string - not very rare? OK - the clue is here... Kubicki Key Factor 5 And last amongst my rarities - Ibanez Studio 8 - it even matches the couch!

Glad to see you're paying attention Mr C. Yes - that's the conversation we had - string spacing matches the pickups! Always a good thing!

That's a very good question and you'll probably laugh at my answer - I don't know! It's not marked on my spec sheet and I can't remember the exact conversation I had with Alan about it. Suffice to say that that particular aspect of the build is actually not that important to me - I've played Alan's instruments - quite a few different ones- and I've liked more or less them all. I'm guessing that the spacing will be determined by what lines up with the pole pieces of the pickups - that would be the overriding factor for me. I've got loads of basses, all with varying string spacings and indeed string counts and I seem to be able to easily adapt to them all so I guess this will be no different. Actually, I was more concerned about the flat fingerboard but just decided that it works on classical guitars and my Chapman Sticks so I'll get used to it. Fortune favours the brave... or so they say!

Wow, Mr C is motoring along now - mustn't get too excited. Looks like pickup and tuner routs are done and the lines for the forearm cutaway roughly marked out. Controls are all placed for the DFM preamp - not sure what the smaller hole is for - battery led? LoL - I'll need to look out the spec sheet!