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I couldn't understand half of what I just read so sympathise with the woman from eBay!

Mine's probably Lateralus, lots of excellent bass work on there (not just the intro to Schism that everyone and their cat seems to learn )

I used an AO pedal last night on my gig (and the gig last weekend too (irish/pop/rock covers) and I swear the tightness of the bass and low end (with a CAli 76CB in the signal chain too to be fair) when playing "Should I Stay or Should I Go" really jumped out for me. It had great bottom end retention, nice and crispy in the highs without harshness - I know what I mean - I saw one guy mouth to his mate "That rhythm section is tight as f*ck" and this was at 8pm in an Irish bar on St. Patrick's day after the spectacle of the 6 Nations. I'd say 'the sound' contributed to that as much as the playing. The AO is quite a versatile unit and I'm not a massive DarkGlass fanboi in terms of how I've heard a lot of folk use their gear. It sounded great in other tunes too as did my Bass Soul Food. I guess knowing the strengths of a piece of gear and maximizing it to work for your rig/band is the key. All those pre-amps bring something to the table. It's nice to have the choice really! It's not gonna be as dead on old school as an Aggie TH head for example but I can make it work in my covers band to roll off treble and add a bit of gain here and there or go balls out for 7 Nation Army etc. You may disagree, I'm not that bothered

For you maybe, not for everyone and it’s entirely unfair and unhelpful to pigeonhole them as it depends completely on the context of other kit used and other instruments played with. Its like me declaring I am the most handsome man in the world, when even my mother thought I have a face for radio. A good thick Scotch Broth could be eaten with a fork and the rest mopped up with a nice crusty roll, and that is a very heart warming meal If you are after a thin, insipid watery soup just like England’s 6 nations campaign, then yes, a fork is the wrong tool for the job

It's 4 years since I bought my first PB-50. I'd just signed up on BC and had no idea who Thomann were, that soon changed First time I viewed their site the PB-50 caught my eye but it was £76 and £76 buys you nothing remotely playable. Bought one anyway just out of interest. 2 1/2days later a big box of goodness arrived. Now I don't have a list of conditions when it comes to basses, I like a decent neck, a bridge that holds strings,tuners that hold a string in tune and a pickup to convey bassy sounds. PB-50 delivered that Interest in these spike everytime @discreet posts one of his mods and I will post headstock templates out to any BC'er who fancies having a go themselves. The templates started off for use with a router and guided cutter but as yet no-one seems to have used one. @MrTea suggested I do a post on shaping the headstock so here goes First thing I forgot was to take a before photo so here's the Thomann link. https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_pb_50_sb_vintage_series.htm I use the Mike Dirnt headstock shape and print on 200gsm card The set up on the newly delivered PB was great so the neck was left attached. Removing the tuners was first job. I'm working from the back so left the bushings in place. The screws can sometimes be awkward so if you've an old PH1 screwdriver,file the tip down and it'll seat itself into the screwhead better. The printed template has the tuners marked so align them with the holes and draw round the template. Remove the large areas with a copingsaw or in my case a pullsaw. ( in the photo is a router template made from doubled up floor tile) This is the rough cut, then I used a rasp to clean and round the shape. Sorry I forgot to take a photo after the rasp stage. After getting close to the pencil lines it's sanding next. Make sure you check the front face when sanding as you may not be sanding vertical. If you veered away from the lines you can hide it by sweetening the edges of the headstock. At the tip there it looks irregular. I managed to chip a bit of the front face so it's actually tape holding the glued in chip you're seeing The boss reckons I should tackle the 2 saddle bridge next. I masked off the edges so I had witness points then removed the bridge. Lady Luck came calling and the centre screw on the 2 saddle bridge matched the centre screw on the PB's bridge but I glued and plugged the other 4 holes.After fitting the bridge using only the centre screw I added the new Herrick pickup,this way I could run a string from saddle to nut and see they went over the pole pieces. Another thing was the bridge base was smaller then the PB one so the machine screw on D&G got swapped for a longer one (just robbed it from the PB's bridge) All lining up the back got masking tape before I drilled for the through body holes. Thought I'd a picture of the 4mm pilot holes but guess not The string ferrules had a 9.5mmm body but the rims were 12mm. Marked the depth on a 12mm flat bit and drilled for the rims,then swapped to a 9.5mm countersink. Tapped the ferrules in with a mallet and it was ready for strings and set up. I really shouldn't have bothered with the 2 saddle bridge, intonation is a hassle and I've decided to fit an ashtray There's also a bit too much shiny wood showing so I'm thinking about a scratchplate. Still undecided about the logo, I wished the HB logo had been in a different area so I didn't cut into it Looking at it now I'll get a Benton logo printed up and fit that. No shame in playing the HB

1st rehearsal today with the Glam covers band and it went exceptionally well. The guys are all seasoned musicians to be fair. 8 songs virtually completed just a few wee bits to tidy up like how we do the endings. Other than that it went exceptionally well. I put a lot of work in beforehand and almost nailed the 8 songs first time around. All that and at a decent playing volume too. No sore ears and didn't even need my ear plugs. Might look for a 2nd guitarist or keys player to fill in during solo's tho plus keys would allow us to do a wider range of Glam songs. Dave

I'm only wading through this topic in the hopes of learning about compression. I would therefore like to thank those who have posted calmly and rationally and shared their knowledge. As for the OP, I can't tell you if an audience would notice or not but I can share one little tale from my years of bass playing. Packed house, lively gig band steaming along nicely. Suddenly a thingy came adrift inside my amp (my tech savvy mate fixed it and glued it in place, been fine ever since) the immediately apparent effect of the loose thingy was to reduce my previously warm, rounded yet punchy and dynamic bass sound to a terrible quacking fart such as a giant duck might produce were it to have imbibed with undue vigour of Mr Perrets Traditional Stout. The actual volume remained reasonably consistent but the tortured distorted sound was like the world's worst fuzz box put through broken speakers. I have never produced a more dreadful noise on stage either before or since. Now, the moral of the story is this. I soldiered on, ashen faced through the final numbers of the set, the only saving grace being that there wasn't long left to play. When we finished and a happy appreciative audience was congratulating us no one knew why I was apologising for the bass sound. I mean no one. Not the paying public, not my mate who had a special interest in the rhythm section and was stood near my side of the room, and yes, you've guessed it, not one member of my band noticed anything amiss. So polling us based on what an audience does or doesn't notice, seems to me a little unlikely to achieve much. Still, I shall be pressing the compressor button on my amp in future so this thread has been useful, if a little painful at times. There'senough anger in the world. We could try meeting it with love maybe. Just a thought.

Just email Adrian like we used to before the configurator existed. He's really easy to work with and I'm sure he'll be able to make it for you. Really like your idea. That would look great and be really unique.

Its a compelling reason but if I had to just learn the stuff I was going to play in one of my groups I would have probably given up bass a long time ago!

I don't think it is that, John (although you never know). I'm going by the fact that my wife's pottery glazes do the same thing - again when the bond with itself is stronger than the bond with the fired clay. I think she calls it creep - although she may have just been referring to me generally....

Pre Cuzzie: No pedal boards, no PSUs, 3 pedals (hardly ever used) Post Cuzzie: 2 pedal boards, 3 PSUs (one spare), 10 pedals (and a bunch bought and sold in between) Folk - be warned about associating with this guy. He's not good for your wallet... (Fortunately second hand pedals can be moved on with minimal loss = free rental, and a fair bit of fun in the meantime trying them out).

Played Pilton WMC and Village Hall last night with the Bad Cowboys. Told to arrive at 7.00 as PA would be provided. Massive PA, helpful crew and the wall was posted with all the enclosed. Pilton is the nearest Village to Glastonbury, for those who are unaware. Gig went well and at the end this nice chap with white hair was very keen to be photographed with us. He's in the middle, I'm on the left: apparently he's some local celebrity, I'm not......

Ignore any Behringer sneering; it's a good little unit that does a job and costs little. It's not ideal for what you want, however. How do I know..? I've got one, for exactly the same reasons as you. I don't use it; now, though; I replaced it fairly rapidly with a s/h Tascam 144 interface (bought through the Marketplace here; thanks again, Paul...). Why..? One has very little control with the Behringer. No way of setting the input level, not much in the way of monitoring options; the sound quality was OK when everything matched up and the stars were aligned, but my interface does a far better job all round; I have it permanently plugged in as my 'sound card' for my PC. Recommendation: don't invest much, if anything, in the Behringer unit, despite its qualities. It's useful for recording DJ stuff, or HiFi output, but not best adapted for guitar/bass use. Look for a reasonable interface instead; they often come up in the Marketplace here for little money (and can be bought at budget prices new, too...). Just my tuppence-worth; hope it helps.

If you put a few drops of water on the ding, put a damp cotton cloth over it then gently use your steam iron to get it nice and hot, you'll probably be able to steam the ding out. Edit: That's assuming it's still bare wood

After a couple of slurry-and-wipe sessions with Tru-oil, I've then given it three wipes with slightly thinned Ronseal Hardglaze applied, as usual, with a budget soft micro-fibre cloth. Although the new formula Ronseal is a bit quirky and doesn't self level quite enough, this is probably the quickest I've got to an acceptable finish at 3 days total from sanded wood: After a week of letting it harden fully, I will polish it up properly with Meguiars Ultimate compound but this is perfectly tough enough for normal handling already so hopefully the build will be finished over the next 2-3 days

The Cheap Trick setting did cause me fire up eBay to see whether there was a B12A on sale anywhere.

http://youtu.be/bSABkZfh8-A

Mrs G took me today to a Barnardos charity shop in Bishops Stortford. There in the shop they have a full PA system with 2 speakers, amp and stands. All for £130. Seems like a bargain to me. I know nothing about PA systems and don't recognise the make, but they say it's loud.

I haven't seen this mentioned, so thought that I would share it for those who might be interested but didn't known about it. Stuart Clayton is doing a "Bass Lick of the Week" series for a year on his YouTube channel. He's about half way through the series now. The licks are usually 4 bars long which he plays twice through, with music in notation and tab showing, at the start of the video. He then takes you gently through the lick one bar at a time in a nice, clear manner with no jokes or rambling. The licks are in different styles, some played with fingers, some with a plectrum; if you are not keen on one, just try the next. I would say that they are generally intermediate to advanced level. If you are into grooves/licks then you'll probably appreciate this series. Here's a link to the first of the series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MBspU7_Ot4. I have no affiliation to Stuart or Bassline Publishing. I just think that this series is first rate and that Stuart is a class player and teacher. Credit where credit's due.

You’ve done a really good job!! I second SpondonBassed you will inspire others to give it a go!! Also yours and others write up of the quality of the HB has prompted me to start looking at their 5 string PB (I personally like the look without the pickguard!!......)

It's good of you to share it. I've seen inspiration taken from these sorts of projects by members who might not have had a go otherwise. I applaud you saying that you will reinstate the HB logo. From what I hear they're very good for the money.

Waterfalls was on my to-do list, thanks for saving me the trouble! Great tune and always good to have an excuse to use an envelope filter.

This is how mine is looking. I suspect it won't get much closer to me than this picture!

It was the successor to the Overwater explorer I still own. As I remember it was a very nice bass(though it was a long time ago). Any bass over 30 years old is considered vintage. Saw a lesser version of mine on sale for £2000!! But the owner felt the shape was a big seller. Be surprised if it didn't turn out to be a bargain. That said I would still try it first.

Blimey, I hope I never come across a Bass Boiler ! Still, at least the strings would sound brighter afterwards.......................

About 18 weeks. It's a reasonable wait but in the world of custom builds that's still very quick.

I’ll ask the drummer, he’ll know.

Taped the neck up and have been working n the frets. I've used a beam to level the frets (needed very little work - which was pleasing)., then I've re-crowned them and polished the ends. Time to remove the tape and start assembling this now. The only thing left to make is a small plat to go under the string retainer just to raise it a little. I'll do this this afternoon while Leicester beat Chelsea in the FA Cup......

My dad was wrong

Welcome Akio.

Me neither, but I don't tell my wife if I've bought a bar of chocolate when I've been out. Gear is OK, but I really get told off if I eat too many choc bars!!

Exactly my thoughts. Unless you're starving the family or depriving them of all reasonable luxuries, why should you feel compelled to lie to them when you buy music gear? Did they not know that you were a musician when they met you? And if you became a musician after you met them, should they not support you (like presumably you support them in their career/hobbies)? I really don't understand.

hi all, weather in ellesmere port not bad, light snow, roads clear, nothing like redds or owen's

That is a great tone and very cool playing!

GAS, for me has always been a distraction thing. Constantly looking for something to do up and improve and find that "great sound" that will make me a great bassist. This journey has ment I've had over 45 basses in 8 years. The fact is, the more I stick to the same old favourites, and play that same few basses, the more the love for those grows. I'd love to get down to 1 bass and really love that 1 sound. (With a stand-by, of course!)

I am with @Bigwan on the Two Notes and Hartke VXL, so much so that I layer them together, and I would not part with either one. Personally I would disagree with @dannybuoy for what genre you can use the LeBass for, it is entirely possible using all its dials new settings to get something that may fit for your needs cross a wide range of music, depends on your other stuff etc. IMHO the best value pedal is the first generation Hartke VXL, second hand you can get for around £40 sometimes less, it’s a bombproof chassis, and you can get a bass funk sound, to break up on the signal, you just need to understand the Hartke EQ and it’s shape circuit. In a lot of ways it’s better than the second generation model, they tried some refinements, but it made it too refined for my tastes, and lost its edge, I also like the older more basic look.

Much like the problem some people have with traction control in cars - if you take the time to learn about it and work with it then it can be a useful tool. However if you either don't understand how it works or use it properly it feels obstructive and unnatural.

If you run out of butter, mash cheese and milk together to make a tasty dairy-based alternative.

Not especially rare, but the couple on eBay at the moment are silly money. £700 ought to buy a tidy one, and they're really lovely and unique basses. Stay clear of the active II & IV models if for recording as they can be noisy (the I and III models are passive / stereo).

Sounds lovely! what the signal flow?

Lovely!

Rose-tinted rear mirror..? I can certainly remember, 'back then', seeing loads of bands with questionable 'musicianship', but with a gimmick, or hype, or some sort of non-musical 'feature' that got them noticed. Were there good musicians too..? Certainly, but not at the top of the tree. Some names..? OK. Soft Machine. Top music; little impact. Matching Mole, idem. Duff music that got attention..? Crazy World Of Arthur Brown..? Status Quo..? Bay City Rollers..? Some that had both music and appeal..? Cream..? Fairport Convention..? Is it different today..? I doubt it, although I'm no longer 'following' today's trends, so...

I tried out a number and plumped for on an Aguilar AAG700. Does "vintage warmth" rather well, but can give you clean when you want it. Doesn't do outright dirt, but I don't want that anyway.

Keep it in the house and hide it in plain sight. Put it next to the sofa with a cloth over it, tell her indoors it's a new table. She'll be delighted. I kept a half-finished cab in the conservatory for ages with a table lamp on it, she didn't notice it for years...