All Activity

Caps will go pop any day now, no doubt.

I have no doubt at all that a Serek or a Wilcock would be sublime. But having a tragic history of expensive = better, the joy of the NEWPORT is that it was as cheap as chips. It is entirely functional, the finish is exemplary and the neck pickup solo'd just delivers. All for £230 on ebay. The seller had put a deeply weird custom pickguard on it which looks like something I would have designed when I was 8. That is not a compliment. But this does not matter becaue it was cheap as chips.

Black plate, a la George Harrison telecaster.

I'm up for a zombie thread resurrection when it comes to lauding Yamaha basses! Currently have a BB1200 and an SB500S. Both fantastic instruments, the BB1200 is simply consummate. It isn't flashy, it isn't particuarly exciting to look at, but in terms of playing feel and sound it just gets on with the job of delivering excellent results in both departments. The SB500S is a quirky number which I enjoy because of that - the somewhat wonky body shape is what chiefly appeals, and despite being a J bass in disguise, there's a bit more going on in these pickups than a standard J, couldn't tell you why, must be the way they wind 'em. Historically I've had a BB300, BB350F, BB450, BB614, BB434. Honestly, if I could have any of those back again, it would be either the BB300 or 450. I don't really like where the most recent BBs have gone - they've done something to the body shape that makes it seem less "broad" to me, streamlined it. Didn't keep the 434 long, didn't appeal to me as much in the sense that it seems to have had much of the quirkiness tamed out of it. It seemed like a slightly different shaped, generic PJ bass to me. And if I could have any Yamaha which I don't already have, it'd probably be a BB1200S, just as a counterpoint to my 1200.

I remember back in the 80s a M8 of mine had an Amstrad Tower System that he proudly told me was 500W... It even said it on the box. But that was the only quoted figure, and it said in tiny letters, PMPO. So things haven't changed! By contrast, my hifi power amplifier comes with an individual test certificate for that particular amp, signed by the tester, which quoted a whole raft of figures for outputs at various loads and frequencies, slew rates and who knows what else+ the most exciting of which was 962W/ch @4ohms for 1KHz with THD <0.05%. There was also a 20 year guarantee, which has just run out!

Vincen Garcia plays the hell out of his BB, whether with his own band, or when backing Cory Wong. But yes, you're right - they don't seem to be a popular choice these days amongst visible pros. I've had a few in the past, such as a TRB6-II, Nathan East TRB5, and a Sheehan BB714BS which was the boomiest thing I've heard in my life. If you want to vaporize the underwear of the girls in the front row, the BB714BS is the bass for you! My one small complaint with the TRBs is that the preamps are always a little artificially 'plinky' sounding. Apart from that, Yamaha make seriously nice instruments.

I'm really sorry to hear this, but it's super helpful to see honest feedback, so a heartfelt thank you for posting it! Unfortunately the drawback of and being effectively a one-man business* and making everything entirely by hand is that we do need to charge a little more than some other business models do in order to cover our labour costs. Just as a bass made using hand tools will take more time and therefore cost more than one made using a CNC machine, so does a scratchplate. For anyone interested, here's a short video showing how we make each pickguard by hand As it's mostly just me here, at busy times (over xmas and new year in particular) I do have to prioritise making scratchplates over responding to emails- however, we do have a direct order form on our website now, so the old system of needing to message us directly to request a price is obsolete for all but the most awkward of jobs. (Basic modifications are free of charge when ordered via our builder) Despite setting up the order form, I still get a vast number of emails and quote requests a week, but also need to actually fulfil orders, so it can be a difficult balance to strike during busy periods! However, I do personally respond to every single email and enquiry that reaches me as soon as I am able to. The advantage of making everything by hand though, is that in addition to being able to make pretty much any shape imaginable from over a hundred materials, we also offer a 'perfect fit guarantee' and are always super keen to rectify any errors where possible. @three -If you haven't already, please do get in touch if there's anything I can do to correct the 'not perfect' bits you mentioned 🙏 For anyone else interested in giving us a go, we do offer a one-off 20% discount to BC'ers- just drop us a message via our website for a price A typical bass pickguard from us will currently set you back around £55-70 plus shipping, (pre-discount), lead time is approx 10 working days once I have both payment and your original guard/template(there are no standard guards!) Appreciate this is a bit of a long response, hope this is helpful..! Huge thanks also to @Buddster for the kind words! Cheers, Steve *just for clarity- Jack's Instrument Services and Tiny Tone are separate companies- Tiny Tone was set up in 2020 to handle all pickguard orders separately- this way Jack can focus on his luthier work at JIS, and as his sole employee at TT, I handle all pickguards, pedals and wiring here.

TC Spectracomp. I much prefer it to the big box Cali, FEA Opti and many other super expensive alternatives.

Was the BDI21 but currently the Valeton GP-5 which cost £39 on Amazon.

I have a bit of a problem and hope that some of the technically gifted on here may be able to help. I'm currently( re-) refurbishing my old Gibson Ripper - a long story. It was recently re-finished very beautifully by Bow Finishing. During the process, a Supertone bridge was fitted. The new scratchplate with a new Ripper bespoke circuit arrived from Armstrong last week (pickups tested and updated etc.) and I'm now re-assembling. However, as I tried to re-connect the grounding wire from the bridge (original and pretty fragile) to the pot, the wire snapped at the edge of the hole as it enters the cavity. As one might imagine, the language was dreadful. As the finish is new (poly), I'm pretty concerned about trying to remove the bridge to insert a new earthing wire. The language yesterday when the wire snapped would be as nothing to what might ensue if a piece of finish came away with the bridge. So, a question: is there an alternative means of ensuring good string grounding without a wire from the bridge to the pot? I'm hoping that there's an ingenious way of achieving the same bridge-wire-pot outcome without risk. If not, I suspect that the re-wiring job is one best left to the professionals (my cack-handed amateurism is potentially dangerous). Thanks in advance

So, three months on, and I finally got to gig the ELX18P bins and WOW! These things move some serious air, are a one-person lift, and fit through your average door frame without taking your knuckles off. I actually had to modify the EQ at halftime as some knowledgable punters I know from other bands commented that the bass was overpowering (never a complaint I have had before). Mind, yesterday was a pub gig, whereas next week we’re in a larger social club setting so the bass might be slightly less present. All in all, very happy with these bins in combination with my EV ZLX15P tops.

Jealous Kaeng Pa Gai - Roxy Music (for all you Thai curry fans!)

I have the Wonderlove mk1 as well as GR2 and Proton mk4. I really like both of the older ones and the Proton is on my guitar board. If its not too pricey and if you think you can move it on if you dont like it I would go for it. I will be keeping the Wonderlove and GR2 for a very long time. I am though currently using my IE XE as a main filter for more synth 90s dance music my two bands are doing and I feel it does a great job of that (and takes up less space) but any of my 3 Leaf pedals could do the job to be honest.

I've used a Zoom B1on for years, prefer them to the B1 four, in fact I recently bought a back up B1on off here and sold my B1 four

Great amp that, I should never have sold mine.