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Plastic love - Mariya Takeuchi

What a fantastic finish, I love the depth. Great stuff to look at for a long time after a cheeky smoke.

A perennial problem, this. We have had similar issues in our band. Our KB player, whilst very able, has relatively little experience of playing in bands. We have had to educate him regarding the difference between playing solo piano/keys pieces, where he can play a melody, chordal accompaniment and bass part simultaneously, and playing in a band context, where clashes with other instruments, notably the bass, are inevitable unless he thins out what he does and treads carefully. The issue is worst when the keyboard sound is similar, tonally and in attack - think electric piano and similar - to the bass. Soft or sustained organ or brass sounds are often less of a problem. There are two ways around it. Either the keys left hand has to mimic the bass part exactly - a bit pointless as it's duplication - or stay away from the low end altogether. In our case, we have asked the keys player to split the keyboard - say with brass on one end and strings on the other - which enables him to fill out the overall band sound better and avoid the clash with the bass. As we play classic soul, that works well, but it may not be so effective in other styles. And of course, it depends on the keys player's ego allowing him to be directed. Encourage your daughter to stand her ground and insist the keys player stays out from under her feet.

I asked this question today..... .....and thanks to a few members am now aware of some tools of which I was completely oblivious, specifically a step drill bit (genius) and a tapered reamer. So, it seemed it might be useful to start a thread in which you could let us know which tools you use for which DIY jobs on bass, especially if they're old school and manual 👍

Yeah in this case i concur that its not necessary but a peek at them to evaluate the state of them would not be completely unwise ( what with it being over 40 years old and of unknown background). In my day job in Broadcast Engineering we are often replacing CAPS on PSU's in ageing broadcast kit in the transmission that remains on for 24/7 ( SDI routers / vision mixers /Camera channels etc and the like) so it would be a formality to check and replace any problematic ones. We have old kit that hasnt been switched off for 10 years that works fine, but wed be very afraid if it powercycled...

Thanks Paul, luckily the 12mm dowels appear to have a grain running across, I'll have to wait and see but I'm optimistic 👍

Have I got news for you..it’s Ian Hislop.

The Bicycle Thief (Bob Forrest, Josh Klinghoffer) - You come and go like a pop song. One of my favorite albums. I finally managed to get this album on vinyl. These are pretty scarce as only 500 are made. When offered for sale, the additional 7" bonus is often missing.

It's really a matter of personal preference. Most 12-string players prefer the octave strings above the bass strings. This has become the standard over time. When playing downstrokes with a pick, you hit the octave strings first. But not a lot of players use only downstrokes when playing with a pick. And there are some players who prefer it the other way around; the octave string below the bass string. It is called reversed triplets. When you play finger style you'd hit the octave string first. But the difference is hardly noticeable. Since you really hit all three strings at once. The biggest difference you'll notice between the two is actually on your fretting hand. Pressing three strings down with your finger feels quite different when they are reversed.

That's a truly stunning-looking bass, and I'm glad to hear the sound does it justice.

Wood 'Plugs' would(!) Be better as Dowel will show End Grain, which might need attention before a finish. Or...

Longshots in a pub carpark in East Manchester this afternoon. Bass player with a Capri Orange P and a fridge. Respect!

Thanks, and interestingly I bought not only a hand-held reamer today but also a step drill bit! I'm aiming to use the former but will have the latter on standby. I love the fact that whatever job you need to do, someone has invented a tool. However, there is one major problem - knowing what that tool is called! I'd never heard of a step drill until I searched reamer and they appeared low in the results 🤔 This is the body in question, I'm hoping next time I post a photo it looks a whole lot better