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how hot does the iron need to be? also, it's fretless, will I burn the fingerboard wood? Can I put a cloth over the board to help

For me the difference has been the need to adjust the bridge height, while swapping from a set to another (GHS and D'Addario). Soundwise I cannot say anything reasonable: when changing an old set to a new one, the sounds are so different. But how about trying two new sets?

I would really try to find a older used CMD121p Combo, I went down this route for a long time before I moved to an ampless setup , The cmd121p is perfectly loud enough for a 50-100 person gig... at perfectly giggable stage level volume with just the combo part ... but you can send a XLR line out to the PA for even more volume ... Or add any cheap ... or matching cab later down the line to use the full 500 watts of the Little mark head unit. I'm not sure what they are going for used these days £350 - 400 ? But would foot the bill

I've removed boards before via heat Steam/iron pretty much this method Take your time and work on a small section, Do not force or try to pry the board away from unheated/glue melted sections, you have about 2mm of wood under each fret and the board will snap if you try and force it You might need to reroute the rod channel if you can't find a direct fit replacement dropping a dual rod in it ok & you should be able to clean up the neck/board for re gluing with a little acetone/nail polish remover, use a blade edge to scrape it away (don't dig in) a wipe down with clean water (don't let acetone soak if it's a lam neck it might weaking the glue joints) One thing you might want to try before your go for taking the board off is to get some heat directly on the rod's nut by applying the tip of a high watt soldering iron to it, that might be enough to break any corrosion/bonding between the nut/rod (that is if it isn't cross threaded) Good luck

I’m not well today so not working and watched that between dosing in bed - it was really good

My very long-running band (40 years, on and off!) are about to release our second ep... The first one was just named after one of the tracks (Feed The Creature), but we feel that we could have something a bit more descriptive of all the tracks, or at least summat witty. Currently the holding title is "Glorious Times" (after one of the tracks - other tracks are "Penny Arcade", "Tall Buildings" and "(I bit my) Mother Tongue"). Any thoughts? We're sort of EDM Funk Rock - Spotty link below to first ep. Suggestions have been "It's All Bollocks, Never Mind" (!), "Best Enjoyed In Retrospect?", "Pot Holes Present Challenge" (?) and "The Deva Sessions" (songs were written especially for a gig (rare!) in Chester...

I always asummed that that Fodera type single cuts must be all about the ergonomics given that the aesthetics are so divisive.

Thanks for your reply Love your comments 👍 I did in fact touch base with Steve Wishnevsky a year or so ago when I enquired about him putting together a five string fretless for me. In the end I concluded that his basses were just a bit to quirky and bohemian for me, though I do still have one of the Chyla's on my wish list ☺️

my mate who knows a thing or too about electronics has recently replaced the battery in the transmitter of my Boss WL-20 (the receiver is ok), if anybody else wants it doing he says he'll do it for £25 including return postage. PM me

One of the luthiers I contacted said he would be okay with defretting it and to take it along so he could have a look and give me a quote. but in any case I will be leaving it as is, apart from the new strings. at least that is today’s answer 😁

The block inlays i think are fine. I saw someone playing fretless with similar inlays. They are no where near where you would fret a note in any case.

Thank you very much for your reply. You've raised some interesting points all of which I'll take on board (especially the advice on buying a strap. I like too your observation about 'feeling' the vibe through the uncut upper horn - that appeals to me too!). Oddly enough it is the BTB865SC (and the BTB845SC) I have in mind !😍

I will let you know, was going to do it today but both my wife and son are off sick. Honestly, I am the one on the chemo medication and told don’t be around sick people and I the only one who doesn’t catch these colds etc.

I got a Roland SP-404 MK2. It's a great bit of kit, you really get a lot more for your money with these things that sell to a wider audience than Guitar/Bass players. Economies of scale I guess. For live multi-fx type stuff it has instrument level input, and 'input fx' setting that includes guitar amp Sims (unfortunately no Bass specific amps) and stuff like the 'warm saturator' that I like for a bit of drive and EQ (even though the name 'warm saturator' seems to imply wetting yourself.... perhaps that says more about me though!), you then have the buttons by the screen for a single fx on/off 'filter and drive' etc (the effects can be re-assigned), and then 3x additional fx that can be put in series or parallel but are trickier to access so are good for always on stuff like compressor. It also has some interesting fx you don't usually find on multi fx, e.g. Vinyl and Cassette sim. It is not ideal as a traditional multi fx replacement (not stompable, no tuner/mute, input fx settings aren't changed via patch changes), but it could make do - especially for home use. What it wins on are some of the quite unique fx. .....and of course live multi fx isn't its main use, it is a bonus though. Mostly it is a decent sampler/trigger, sequencer/production tool, and can even be used as a DJ controller. Battery powered too, it should keep me entertained on my train commute. I could see myself using this placed up by my amp to have on for 'always on' bass fx and occasional fx on/off via the buttons, but that's only probably worthwhile if I also use it to trigger samples and loops -otherwise a cheap stompable multi fx would be more appropriate.

Without hijacking too much - is there a noticeable difference in quality between the US built and the Japanese EX models? The latter I’ve seen tend to be at least £200 cheaper.

Liking that a lot. Thanks for sharing @cetera Dave