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I love these posts that say "My XX bass is fantastic. Brilliant value, best neck I've ever played, etc, etc. Now for sale in the Marketplace"...

I like Barefaced Cabs, but if weight were not an issue I'd use Markbass cabs. I love 'em. If they are guilty of colouring one's sound, then it's a colour I like. I've used Markbass rigs a lot as backline and I'm always pleased to see an MB rig because I know I'm going to be heard, I'm going to hear myself, and I'm going to sound good. So I play better. They're relatively expensive because they're well-built. They're not actually that heavy, either - only when you compare them to boutique, ultra-lightweight cabs. I'm a fan of Markbass combos, too - the 1X15 combo in particular is fantastic. I have a theory (possibly insane), that bass gear manufacturers know that a large percentage of their customer base never play outside of their rooms and tailor their products accordingly. Markbass may sound a bit flat in your bedroom, but at a venue they really kick it out and sound very punchy, articulate and lush at battle levels and 'in concert'. OK, I'm done!

Duke of Edinburgh, Barrow in Furness, 2002. I left a really good extension lead there.

Heaven- 2 minutes to midnight. Hell- trying to learn 2 minutes to midnight.

Blocks & Binding I think

Any excuse to pop a picture of this 1981 SBR-150

It was New Year’s Eve 1999/2000 for me probably. Local town put on a free outdoor event for the millennium and we played the night on a stage in the square. The police thought there were 4500+ people there and it looked like it from the raised stage. It was a pretty incredible sight and sadly I have not played to a crowd that big since. We played covers so it was easy to get people singing along, and as much as I loathe the song now, having 4500 people sing Angels with you is pretty mind blowing and I won’t forget that volume, power and sound of that many people singing.

Markbass sounded good to me when it first appeared and it still does. I'd be delighted if the fickle finger of fashion pointed away from them - presumably this would cause a glut of used MB gear to appear on the market at knock-down prices..?

I have not read the whole thread but there is both a lot of good and bad info on this thread so I will put in my 2p. For the record I am an Electronics Engineer and advised on the design of the HPF on passinwind's HPF design. However that was all his work and I take no credit for it. So what is an HPF? High Pass Filter or less commonly called a Low Cut Filter. So why do we need one? Bass guitars and DBs and the whole system between them, and the Loudspeaker, produce very low frequencies that do not add to our sound. These VLFs work the speaker hard and rob us of headroom. How do I know if this is happening to my system? If you can see the speaker moving, that is caused by VLFs. Take you grille off and watch the cones while playing. Your eyes will not see a cone vibrating at 25Hz* so if you can see it move, it is below 25 Hz and well below Low B at 31Hz. Watch the video of the Micro Thumpinator in action on the SFX site to see the effect.Microthumpinator web page My amp has an HPF do I need an external one? It depends, some built in ones are too shallow. 12 dB per octave is too shallow, 24dB is the minimum in my opinion. That rules out the Broughton. It would be better than nothing but imho not much. What if I just turn down the bass? Most bass controls will affect frequencies in the low mids and higher and have a big impact on your tone. Do I need a variable or adjustable HPF? If it works it does not matter. The Thumpinator works well and also the various FDeck versions from the USA, are good. Variable Filters have a bump at the f3 point. No a good design will be flat to all intents and purposes. If a fixed HPF works well, what benefit would a variable HPF bring. Mainly to help tame room resonances/boominess in conjunction with the normal EQ. It can also allow you to experiment for yourself, a variable HPF can start the cut-off higher for a 4 string than a 5 string. Alternatively it allows you to tune the response so as to just remove the unwanted VLF stuff leaving more of you tone intact.

Sly & The Family Stone December 10th, 1969 Madison Square Garden. Band Of Gypsys, 1969 NYE Filmore East NYC. Blue

It`s the Markbass cabs that are the culprits. I`ve found they have a high-end roll off that means whatever sound you get working well with them, when DI`d the sound is much harsher and treblier than you`d want. Many cabs are voiced a certain way - my Ashdown ABMs add in a lot of low-end, something I found out when I switched to them from Barefaced which really were as close to flat as I can describe.

Headless If only to see the perplexed look on the average punters face when you step onstage with it

It was terrifying and great too!

Okay, cool, I'll switch up brands next time. I think they're seated fine as far as I can tell, no movement, fairly neat and tidy, doesn't look any different from any other bass I've got, no damage or anything unusual. I've been in search of a bass playing friend for that reason! Unfortunately just haven't had the time to cross paths lately, I'll see if I can arrange something for an upcoming gig. I've only found guitar players to ask lately. They seem confused at the size and lack of extra strings and tend to just blackout. Alright I made that last bit up. Thanks for your advice!

Thank you sir... yes it has. I knew that fitting the Ultralites would have cosmetic consequences, which is why it took me so long to get round to fitting them - but function trumped form in the end - and though the tuner-hole issue is annoying, there is NO neck dive whatsoever. The bass hangs on the strap exactly in the position that I play it and no effort is needed to hold the neck up. That, plus the fact the bass is incredibly light for a Jazz, makes it a delight to pick up and play so it was well worth doing. My P Bass seems like a real boat anchor by comparison, though it's still less than 9lbs. I've also realised that most basses do have some sort of neck dive issue, though it only really manifests itself when it becomes extreme. I think Ultralites are a great affordable upgrade if you want to instantly lose 1/2lb of weight from your bass. Except where originality or style would be a consideration, of course. I just wish I'd fitted them in the first place instead of the Schallers.

The Birthday Party at the Electric Ballroom 26/04/83

Great work and pics, I'd like to hear them too

OK...so it wasn't technically today but I wanted to at least get a gig under my belt before shouting about it! Limelight 69 P Bass in aged Charcoal Frost. Plays beautifully and is quite a stunner. Looks like a different colour depending on the light!

Yes the adapter will complete the circuit and shorten battery life without the cable plugged in, but if you found the fit of the cable end into the adapter was tighter than the adapter into the socket (if you see what I mean), that would be a bonus

Raz bought my Mesa Boogie rig from me. Absoulute gent, very organised, reliable and great communication throughout the deal!

Rickenbackers?

Even the photos are good! Quality work all round.

Think I'm probably not the only one on here who has had to sell a great instrument when finances dictate it?

Well done. It is odd to see an ibby headstock on a warwick shaped body. Well worth the effort just to see that.

Love this sound :-)

That looks really good, do you think it would look better with black hardware?

Haha I seem to have a bass for every dislike apart from single cut but as I used to own one of them as well I will give you all a middle finger and say F**k you, you want boring buy boring, me I want buckeye burl roasted maple, gold hardware and a generous portion of points!

No, I got 2!

Oh, my!

Blimey my original post isn’t far short of ten years old now! I’ve now seen the Stranglers 21 times, and I did in fact buy a Shuker JJ mk.1 (no. 006) in 2009 which I still have. Still love seeing them live, will be seeing them in Bristol again next month. Although it’s a shame Jet isn’t with them live any more, I think Jim McCauley does a superb job. The green 60’s P bass wasn’t nicked, it got smashed in Sweden, but Jon Shuker repaired it and JJ still has it. In fact it was the black one which was the heaviest, but it had the better sound-the green one was lighter but lacking in the sound department-JJ’s Shuker signature model is meant to be an amalgam of both basses.

I dunno... I actually get on better with women I dont like. It's not necessary to impress them, so the pressure's off.

It might be worth looking at a baritone guitar hard case such as this 'extra long' Gator case (£80): https://www.andertons.co.uk/guitar-dept/electric-guitar-accessories/cases-bags-for-electric-guitars/hard-cases-for-electric-guitars/gator-deluxe-molded-case-for-electric-guitars-extra-long I believe the overall length of a Mustang is 107cm and the overall internal length of this case is given as 106.7mm so it might just fit. I'd be interested to know myself!

There's one on Gumtree for £65 ATM https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/sx-bass-guitar-red.-4-string/1284552627

Worth a enquiring about these for £70 but they are listed as out of stock unfortunately http://www.shortscalebass.co.uk/product/flightcase-for-fendersquire-mustangbroncomusicmaster-bass/ I was lucky enough to get a Fender Mustang Hardcase with my MiJ Mustang but there is NO WAY I would fork out the £200+ for one, not worth the retail price !

Heaven - Drummers who can play and understand the relationship between drum and bass. Hell - Drummers that can't count, can't play in time, follow the vocals rather than beats or time and make it up as they go making it different every time.

Sorry, but if you don't hear the difference between ebony, rosewood and maple, it's about time to make an ear test as there are huge differences in tone. I know that most the musicians are almost deaf and only hear harmonics, but stop this please : it's not only a cosmetical difference, it's a tone difference. At a time, for some personal reasons, I had two identical Leduc MP 6 strings fretless basses (neckthrough abd bubinga wings), but one had a pau ferro fingerboard and the other a Brazilian rosewood one : there was a BIG difference in tone between the two. Strangely I ended up keeping the pau ferro one that had more bite and high mids, which was what I was looking for at the time. In November, I bought another Leduc MP 6 strings fretless I was hunting for 10 years : quite similar in contruction but the wings (flamed maple top over ash with a mahogany veneer in between) and the fretboard which is Brazilian rosewood. Soundwise you get a more present fundamental, more low mids and less high mids, so a hugely growling and mwahing fretless. I know I'm a bit harsh on this subject, but I'm really fed up with these comments. It's like saying that a carrot tastes the same as a cabbage.

Check out Ataxia. Lally, Frusciante and Josh Klinghoffer on drums. Joe plays nothing more than the songs need.

No need for them to be mismatched if the maker knows what they are doing. I have no reason to doubt the recommendation of Markbass who happen to suggest the exact setup I am after. My present TE setup certainly isn’t mismatched either.

This is a great way of clambering up the learning curve First of all, the neck pocket. When you say 'it's not a p-type neck' that could mean a lot of things! If it is off a Fender or Squier or any of the myriad copies of those makes, the likelihood is that most P-bass type bodies will have a neck pocket that is broadly the right shape. You might need to add a bit of veneer to the pocket sides to tighten it up, or sand a touch off the sides to loosen it, but it should be close. If the neck is not from a fender-ish copy of any sort, then it is very much not likely to fit a P-bass type body at all. So first question is - what is the neck off? (Pics?) Next is what the others say above. Basically, the bridge position is determined by the scale length and where the neck is once it's fitted snugly in the neck pocket. So the next question is again the neck - what scale length is it? Just measure from the nut to the 12th fret. Then double it gives your scale length (a P-bass will measure 17" to the 12th fret, giving the 'standard' long scale length of 34") Again, if the neck is 34" scale and is off a Fender-type copy and the body is a P-bass copy, it is likely that the bridge holes will be in the right place. If the neck is not 34" scale, then you would definitely need the bridge in a substantially different place, to the point that it might not even be feasible. If the neck is 34" scale, but not a Fender shaped heel, then the bridge position would be calculated once the neck pocket had been sufficiently modified and the neck position confirmed. Hope that helps Pop a couple of photos of the neck headstock and heel and the nut to 12th fret measurement and we'll be able to give you a better answer

Why is it both my soldering ( or soddering irons as the yanks say) irons have burnt out...cannot now connect up the new pots today.

The charity gig at the Grove Tavern in South Wimbledon one Sunday afternoon about 10 years ago, but this time there will be people in the car park waiting for the scrote(s) that broke into my car while I was on stage.

The modifying itch is here again! I just can't get used to the one that only has the P pickup, I really miss the bite a bridge pickup gives me. Time to start on a PJ, or to be more specific - I am going to add a J pickup (dual coil with a parallel/series switch) to my PB-Shorty.... Which will turn it into a PJB-Shorty. I've already got the pickup, a couple of small but essential parts are on order for this modification, once these are in I'll be doing some updates here. This realization also means I need to rethink the plan I had for the 51-P conversion. For the time being this one will be on hold.