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The only time I've had anything approaching a musical collaboration with my dad was when I used some of his ashes in an old 35mm film canister as a shaker. He never had a sense of rhythm when he was alive but I gave him one after he died. 😂

That`s the ideal for me for a covers band set-up, the main bit being non-heavy hitting drummer, worth their weight in gold.

Crazy to think how many there were - Len Stiles in Lewisham, one on Peckham Rye, and one just around the corner from Camberwell Green. All just a walk or short bus ride away! Getting proper nostalgic now

Better photo from Rebellion...

I have the red one with white stripe. Great straps - I like how the excess is hidden when the length is adjusted.

Oof!

Did you get this sorted? Preamps tubes can last for a very long time, but sometimes they crap out! JJ tubes are generally very solid and reliable

We Got The Beat - The Go Gos

This is for a Squier, so I knew i'd need a metric one.

Hi fellow Basschatters, this is my first post under this new account but I had an account here with the same name a few years ago. I've played a Yamaha BB for years and whilst I absolutely adore the thing, playing in a fairly extreme metal outfit always made me want something a little....edgier for the stage. I lusted after several pointy basses for a while and then happened to see this beauty listed for sale on Reverb for an absolute steal - think it cost me £350 in the end? I knew I just had to have it immediately - I'd never seen a bass in this shape before and the mere sight of the thing had me going absolutely crazy! Just look at that beautiful old school Jackson headstock. Couldn't find much info about it online but I've managed to ascertain that it was made in Japan around 2001-2002. Since it was so cheap I decided to splash out on some mods - most notably the gold Gotoh bridge, Wilkinson tuners, and some new knobs. I was going for the Subaru Impreza blue and gold kinda vibe there. The stock "Duncan Designed" cheapo pickups didn't sound awful, but the electronics were a bit dodgy when it arrived, the preamp had some kind of grounding issue. When this decided to die on me just as I was about to step on the stage for our debut gig I decided I'd had enough and swapped them out for an active EMG set, a 35DC in the bridge and a 35P4 in the neck. They really pack a huge punch and especially with some nice crunch they absolutely sing. This thing looks absolutely killer and sounds great to match. I've read this on here and various other places but it's amazing how different instruments make you play and even act differently, with this thing I just feel more lively and energetic and I even stand and move around differently while playing. The elephant in the room is the neck dive - it is pretty bad and is probably the only thing stopping me playing this thing week in week out. I've managed to tame it a bit by running my strap in front of that big wing on the body rather than behind it, and by attaching some car wheel weights to the end of my strap below where it meets the strap button on the body. But if anyone else has any tips on how I can tame this that would be amazing - it's a very light bass but the added weights do take their toll a bit... The other "small" issue is that this thing is absolutely enormous, the body is huge and because of where it sits on your body the first fret feels like it's in a different postcode. The neck dive doesn't help this either. But all told I'll happily accept these things just to feel as powerful as you do when wielding one of these things on stage.

Morning all, Some old-handers here may remember my bitsa-Jaguar. Known, by me, as the Surf-Jag. It's an old Squire Tele-bass neck with a custom made Jaguar-ish body, fully passive with Entwistle PJ pickups. It's great bass, now with multiple battle scars (it survived a fall off the stage at Brighton Pride a couple of years ago - just the bass, not me also), that I gig with regularly, but the new project I'm involved in, a New Wave covers band (everything from Joe Jackson via Prefab Sprout and XTC to Gary Numan, and everything late 70s early 80s in between), really needs a wider variety of tones from the bass than it can offer. I also sometimes struggle with hum on stage from the single-coil pickups. So I'm wondering about swapping out the passive PJs and going active (the bass has battery box already fitted for this eventuality). But what pickups and preamp should I go with? I'd even consider re-routing the body to fit some humbuckery at either or perhaps both locations. Anyway, suggestions, ideas and thoughts would be much appreciated (I'd also need somebody local(ish) to Brighton to do the work 'cause I think it'll be somewhat beyond my pay grade). Thanks in advance Phil

I’ve ordered on today racing red

Having not played mine for over 6 years due to having bought other similar Bass VIs and therefore having been in storage, I was finally able to get it out last week because I want to see if it would be slightly easier to play on a couple of recordings I was doing. I'd forgotten just how narrow and fat the neck was - it's almost like a semi-circle, and for me completely unplayable. In fact my guitars have wider necks than this Bass VI. As a result, it will be up for sale very shortly.

I remember Nolans. Being originally from forest hill I remember my dad taking me there at a very young age. That shop sparked a life long passion for all things guitar! But most of all I remember Music House in Catford, SE London. I'd spend most Saturdays there annoying the staff! Bought my first proper bass there, Yamaha bb800, got my first real gig there thanks to Brian the manager recommending me. Great times they were.

We use backline and vocal PA, and the drumkit isn't miced up. Our drummer isn't a heavy hitter. We set volumes to match the drums.

I'm glad that so many subsequent manufacturers have improved immeasurably on that bass guitar design.

Jump To The Beat - Stacy Lattisaw

FWIW, you can absolutely adjust that bridge to 19mm, I did with my old Roscoe. You just have to push the B and G strings to the outer edge of the saddle adjustments, and the E and D string accordingly. These bridges allow for left and right adjustment, I've even had mixed spacing on strings before for a Roscoe when I was trying some stuff out that was ultimately pointless. It does mean the string position on the fretboard at the 24th fret is 'slightly' closer to the edge, but it's so minor 99% of people won't notice, and who plays at the 24th fret anyway! I'd totally have a play with that adjustment as it might just solve everything for you. You prob know, but these Allen key slots are to move the saddles left and right. When they are all centralised (like they currently are), you get 18mm spacing.