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And as promised, some fancy pics

Well, the good news is that you don't hate Tobacco Sunburst. You hate Three Tone Sunburst.

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

Strong word isn't it? Hate? A couple of years ago I had a dream (nightmare) that I was driving around my locale, visiting friends, in a clapped out old Austin Metro. The jalopy in question had been finished in tobacco sunburst by a previous, semi-professional, pensionable rock guitar wombler, who needed to express his intrinsic love of everything rock and/or metal to absolutely everybody he passed on the street. I'd found myself the owner by virtue of being unable to afford anything else. Each body panel had individually been resprayed tobacco sunburst... the roof, wings, doors, hatch and bonnet each had that brown middle moving into red and then to black along its edges. The stanchions that held up the roof were black, as were the bumpers. I woke up and was awoken to a basic internal disgust for any guitar with a burst finish. At first, I thought it a mildly amusing figment of my imagination, one that I would soon forget. But I can't. My dislike tobacco sunburst has since extended to any type of burst finish, surpassing my previous best dislike of coffee table basses... even more that the nausea I feel when I see quilted maple, which looks to me like baby has just vomited a Farley's Rusk on my shoulder. I despise it. I see perfectly good basses that I'd like perhaps to own, but couldn't entertain the thought of buying just because of their finish. Is it just me? What is my problem?

I'm not a carpenter and use a drill guide like this one.

The law's been pretty clear about two tone sunbursts for the last 9 years or so. Here's a breakdown of what's legal and what isn't: The sentencing tariffs vary from community service (for a RW board P-Lyte) to a minimum 5 years custodial (for an unbound Ric 4000).

I've no time for that bandy legged, aren't I hard, Poundland Stevie Wonder-U-Like dwarf... but my God he always got lucky with rhythm sections.

Remember to set up a dedicated user on the laptop and have all internet, notifications, alarms and updates switched off. Otherwise prepare for embarrassing hour long waits whilst it updates and unmistakeable windows themes tunes coming in at will. Even a usb going on and off will cause the alarms. And set so your screen saver doesnt kick in and lock your laptop mid playing.

Had several brown bursts at the weekend - poorly tummy.

When was after a Yamaha Bex4 it seemed all anyone had bought were the trans orange or blue. I'm so glad I hung on until a tobacco burst one came up for sale. I've seen plenty of blue and orange but you don't see the burst one very often. Isn't it a beaut!

‘Tasteful Slapping’

So my white one, up there ^^, can stay as it is. As today I traded my Musicman Stingray, that wasn’t being used much, for this (that I didn’t even see was on here, Hi Dave!). I’ve been after one for decades. Just never managed to nab one until today! I’m beside myself with joy, just looking at it gives me a huge smile!!

Can you read SPL charts? This compares response of a Simplexx 15 sealed and ported with the Eminence BP1525 driver. Note that if you want to get the same response from the ported as sealed you can, just back off on the bass EQ, which also reduces power draw from the amp. The chart only extends to 200Hz because above that they're identical. The ported advantage in low frequency sensitivity is there, but it's not huge. Now consider this, a maximum SPL chart, which takes into account the response, the driver thermal power handling and driver excursion limit: The sealed cab doesn't even come close down low. The difference is attributable not only to the output added by the port but also the reduction in cone excursion that porting results in, and it's excursion that primarily limits how loud a cab will go below 70Hz or so, not the thermal power capacity. You can get a ported cab to sound like a sealed cab, but you can't get a sealed cab to deliver the low end output of a ported cab. There will be those who say otherwise, but in controlled double blind listening tests when EQ'd for the same response listeners are unable to tell the tone of one from the other.

To echo what the others have already said, I had a great time. It was great to meet a bunch of bass players with all sorts of backgrounds and interests, and play some really lovely and diverse gear. Thanks all for a great time. See you next year!

There's some excellent bass playing waiting for you when you get there.

At one point with the Pogues covers band, I was swapping between banjo, bouzouki, fiddle and mandolin for different songs, all 4 instruments routed through the same acoustic guitar amp which I used as a monitor and then DI back to the desk. Something like this would have been very handy - I cobbled something together using an LS2 and both inputs of the amp if I remember rightly.

Well, it's getting closer. The last bits always take an age but I'd be surprised if I can't finish it this week. Final weight, putting everything left to fit on the digital scales, is looking like a touch under 5 1/4 lbs

Ooh, you're going to Hell for sure!!

The Rutles: "Ouch!"

That... rippled beige texture. It reminds me of quilted maple. Gross.

Top Tips: If you think you sound good with 1 cab, use 2 you'll sound even better. If you think you need 300 watts, get 500 watts, turn up and play lighter.

Also, everyone should invest in a roll of ProGaff - you can tape leads down with it and it doesn't leave awful residue. Comes in numerous colours! Lots of flight cases on the tour, all of mine have a white strip of tape on, with my name and what each case is for. Same with the guitar stands, plus, strip round the bottom of the legs, show up under minimal light so you don't trip over them!

I hate TSB and also hate gold, except when they are together on a '57 P, when the sum is greater than its parts:

It's John Carpenter's own soundtracks for me, Halloween,Assault on Precinct 13, The Thing, Escape from New York. They fit the film's mood perfectly.

Great post, but in my experience it often really is the drummer's fault.

Nice Zon @ Bass Direct http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Zon_Sonus_4_LH.html

Herring pickup? That sounds a bit fishy. For my next PB I was thinking about a dual-coil pickup switchable between series and parallel. Then you could have the 51 single coil tone and the 57 humbucker tone... would that work?

But you don't own any of it, you just rent it.

Sad... used to be a national touchstone. You'd watch with your Granny who like Lena Martell. Your sister would like Duran Duran. You'd be waiting for the Smiths. OK I mixed up the time-zones there but you get the picture. Now the charts are just anonymous. Does anyone know what is no 1 this week?

@discreet Beat me to the reply I used the exact same method. Used a 12mm flat bit first to give me the cut for the rim then a 9.5mm countersink with a pilotdrill bit to finish. Drilling the 12.5mm first I find easier,the point drops right in the pilot hole so it's bang on target.

1000 Brownie points for your thread title......................... Nick Fyffe was the bass player. Great phrasing, this should be on every developing bass players 'to learn' list.

Round these parts it's known as Turdburst I certainly don't care for it myself, particularly when it's a slightly dark cruddy brown colour fading into a darker dark cruddy brown colour. However, add a tortoiseshell scratch-plate to a sunburst finish and it becomes an affront to all that is good and holy. This pretty much sums up my reaction to said abhorrent combination.

Heart - Barracuda Simple enough, but I defy anyone to do it without having to count the bar of 5/4 in the verse.

Too much heft.

I'm now eyeing up that tin of high VOC hardglaze that I have sitting in the garage. There must be at least a litre left in the tin. I wonder how old it is, what state it's in and how much it might be worth to someone

heyyy its my pic ! ! just send email to adrian, the configurator is really time consuming to setup so they cannot do every single possible option in the world. they do still do old fashion / style orders where you write emails and all

I remember St Patricks being a big thing in the states.

or - Brand new, I've only had it for three months...

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

I’ll ask the drummer, he’ll know.

A lot of musicians forget that a gig is not just about music but also about visuals and the general feel. It's a show! If the people on stage don't look like they're enjoying it then most likely the people in the crowd won't be enjoying it. I also think each band member should wear one piece of clothing to show some effort has been made to look uniform/like a group. Too many bands forget this or say image isn't important compared to the music... erm it is.

You're in the middle of a gig, the crowd are roaring for more and your bass goes out of tune. You kick in your pedal tuner and ... nothing! It's borked. What to do? Simply ask the venue owner if you can use his landline phone. Pick the receiver up, crook it to your ear and tune to the dial tone - a combination of 440hz (A) and 350hz (near as dammit F). Because it's an interval either (or both) notes will do. And because you haven't dialled anyone this hack is totally free! Hey! Presto! You're back onstage and ripping the place up with your blazing licks.

A bit of a pain to take a door to every gig just to use it though!

Can you not do this yourself..? Duplicate a dozen CDs, get a dozen crystal cases, print out a dozen labels and CD inserts and you're done..? When stocks go low, print out another batch. Of course, if sales take off massively, there's still time to get a more 'pro' approach, but until then... No good..?

Here you go - from another forum(!): "The top picture is an uncompressed signal, the bottom one thru a high-end compressor pedal. You can clearly see how it's worth every penny".

i saw this a while back whilst browsing, looks interesting to me, a 2ohm option would be nice but isn't a deal breaker. the feature list is pretty good too, 4 band eq, switchable from active to passive input and a switchable onboard compressor. and it's got 2 speakon connectors. if you compare to the quilter then this has (to me) a much better spec list, eg. headphone output and an aux input with a volume control makes it a great practice tool at home. and a mute switch is one of the things i miss on my markbass if this had a different badge (Fender/Ampeg/gk/etc) and was 100 quid more i'd expect that we'd be buying them in droves and raving about what a bargain they were! matt