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If you're going to patronise people (that means "talk down to" for all you thickies out there ) then at least learn to spell pigeon.

When I was in a local pub (Forest of Dean) someone made a crack about shagging sheep, to which an old soak at the bar shouted: "We don't shag sheep, we rape outsiders." It was crude, but got the point across adequately.

Not convinced.

I felt this just warranted its own thread.

I'm dyslexic. And because my dyslexia can make written communication difficult for me to read on occasions, I do my very best to make sure that what I type is clear and legible. Occasionally my brain will run ahead of my fingers and I'll miss out words or put the wrong ones in when autocorrect collapses two half words in a new single one. You've probably all seen them in posts from me. It's also why I rarely post from my phone or iPad, because the typing interface on those devices is just too much hard work for me. I can read properly formatted text because I've trained myself to be able to do it. However when confronted with something like the OP my brain simply shuts down, and I have to move on. Luckily for me it is only occasionally a problem, and I've only had to block a few posters here and on other forums because everything they type sends my brain into meltdown trying to decipher it. The OP is not dyslexic. They are either too lazy or too stupid to take the time to try and communicate in a clear manner. And because they haven't done that, they have run into problems. I also feel sorry for anyone who has to try and unravel what has been written. I wouldn't want to deal with someone like that on eBay (or anywhere else) either. It only takes 10 minutes with a book or a decent quality newspaper, to realise that you do not format text like the OP has done, so why do people still persist in putting spaces before punctuation symbols, typing everything as a continuous stream of consciousness without breaking it up into neat paragraphs? If you can't take the time to make your post legible, I certainly can't take the time to try and work out what you are saying.

I think you should take the time and patience to point out why xgsjx is wrong, because I think he's pretty much hit the nail on the head.

Sometime I think I'm the only fool 65 year old with the same spirit for gigging I had when I was 12. I'd be in heaven if I had gigs 4 nights a week. I love late nights, love the club bar scene, love the money and most of all the attention. I must have signed 5 CDs and several gig posters this past Saturday night. I love that kind of stuff. Blue

Yes it's a looky-likey. With regard to the mod, weirdly I have carved up my older Telebass because it is more road-worn and had been modded anyway for another pickup but the Blueflower is all pristine and it feels sacrilegious to start digging away at it! I have the tools, routers and the skills. As you say, I will know it is there, even if it is obscured. I have another pickup which may be a bit hotter and would have no qualms about swapping that but harming those flowers seems cruel. They are real flowers....

TBH almost every broadcast radio station tends to repeat itself. Stick with 6 Music for a couple of weeks and you'll be just as fed up with hearing the same songs over and over.

Of course, that's different - guitarists have always been a lot more deluded than bass players. Anyway, I've got a brand new car and it's made me a really good driver, so there!

The Blues Brothers!

But in face to face spoken communication no one would be allowed to ramble on like the OP. It would be broken up into more digestible/intelligible chunks by questions and other interruptions. And informal shouldn't also mean incomprehensible.

For me GAS : 1: Its the hope that the next thing is better than the existing thing and might make me play and sound better than the last thing with less effort on my behalf to make that so, because the new thing is that much better. Some things I see in the basses and bass equipment for sale ads instigate an instance " Maybe if I get that I could get, or at least close to, that sound that ........ gets. " Like watching Tal Wilkenfield and wanting a Sadowsky or Marcus and wanting a MM Jazz and so on. Its like there could be some instant fix to bass tone problems that the regular gig throws up due to the room ect ect. 2: Its purley being inquisitive. You don't know till you try so you must try. 3: Nostalgia That's my take on it. A story....true story. ( Sorry its one of my essays) A few weeks ago I went to check out a Status I'd seen advertised. I was curious to see what it would be like more than anything and the price was well within reach. The GAS for it was probably because I've seen and heard many a good player use one to great effect so there was a bit of "if it works for all those guys..." Anyway it turned out it wasn't for me and my GAS for that particular model has been satisfied. Whilst I was there the seller casually mentions he has a few Wals, an Alembic and few other top shelf basses hanging around and would I like to check em out? I'm now fearful of a GAS overload and maybe I'd better not. It could be depressing going home to my trusty Jazz having played these. But the result was I actually didnt like the 4 or 5 string Wals, the Alembic or the 4 string Status. I liked the 5 string Status from a certain point of view but not enough that I really needed one in my life any time soon. All of these basses would have up to that point been on my wish list and any bassporn pictures of them would have me drooling. I was completely not taken aback with any of them. If anything I found them surprisingly uninspiring. All these years wanting any one of these. I left there feeling quite good about it. I am not suggesting in any way these are bad basses, just not what I personally expected them to be. They could be sonic Nirvana and the bass of a life time for some or most but TBH I prefer my Fender over them. Maybe when I was younger I wouldn't have known the difference because I didn't have the experience or knowledge about what works for me best. Neck width, balance, string height, weight ect... probably wouldn't have bothered me back then. I would have in my early days of bassingdom , fuelled by GAS, usually because its the latest thing in bass fashion, taken an instrument and struggled to get it to sound like I thought it would sound and moved it on when it didn't. I wouldn't of known about how the width of a neck can help or hinder me or that active is not really my thing back then. Same thing with amps and cabs.

I like the idea of the 'Drag' control. - I'd love to be able to adjust the flamboyance of my stage costume mid song.

There may be a few reasons why your luthier can't get the action any lower. The fact he hasn't told you what his reason is on your bass might indicate he's either: 1 - Not interested in working on your bass. 2 - Not much good at communicating. 3 - Lacks skills. Problems that can limit how low the action can go can include: 1 - The nut being high - solution: file the slots. 2 - The bridge won't adjust low enough - solution - shim the neck. 3 - Lowering the action further causes fret rattle. This can be because the tops of the frets are uneven (as discussed earlier in this thread) - solution level the frets. 4 - Truss-rod problems meaning the relief can't be set low enough. Solution - work to address this issue, which may mean major work. We can't really say a lot more about this without seeing the bass. A Yamaha bass should be pretty well made, for a mass-produced production line item made by people who've been trained to do the job to meet a need of the factory to work to a defined specification level. The problem with any bass made in these conditions is nobody who made your bass is actually a luthier. Wood is wood. Yamaha may buy good wood but wood moves in the process of drying out and aging and a visit to a good luthier may be needed from time to time. This is especially true if the bass you picked up is a "Friday night" item from the production line. As I said in an earlier post; taking it to an experienced Basschatter, who knows basses might be a good start. Here's the thread with a list:

'Chemical Weapons, fine. Nukes, great. But even in the face of utter destruction we will never stoop to deploying weapons such as these against our enemies'.

Is it good for metal?

"We will dominate the world... of table tennis"

Perhaps, but sadly a complete non-starter for me; since to learn said basslines would involve also having to endure Morrissey's voice. In short; a step way too far.

I liked Gladiator by Hans Zimmer and particularly the tracks with Lisa Gerard on. Blackhawk Down was also in the same vein.

The Gig with Dream Tröll was a massive success, we almost hit the venue cap. Made tons of cash and paid every band and I'm 80 quid up. A fantastic night all round.

"For sale my beloved <bass/amp/cab etc.>"

A little while ago I posted an ad from this person from JMB. Many (though not I) thought his attitude was fine. He has now posted a new ad in an adjacent area and I thought it was worthy of some air-time: Hello, I haven’t advertised in the Dorset area before. I’ll write slowly so you’ ll understand me. I’m an experienced bass player looking to join other musicians with experience to play just about any genre, there’s a posh word for you, genre. I’m willing to commit to only one band, don’t want to do dep work, that’s short for “deputising “ as you say in Dorset. As I’ve said, I’m experienced and just looking for the right opportunity playing music . I have professional gear and reliable transport. I don’t have a pidgeon loft, so use the internet to get in touch.

ok, so notible differences: 1. its not got the Fender logo (because its not a Fender - theres no way i could experiment with £1500 worth of bass). I would have considered putting a decal on, but the finish on the V4 was that good and gloss varnish finished it would be a disaster to strip it all back. 2. the hardware isnt Fender and the bridge isnt a schaller 3d. Because im no expert i decided to get the V4 as it had good quality hardware as standard in chrome and had the exact same harware available in gold, so in theory it should be a straight swap over without having to re drill or glue any holes. 3. the scratchplate is 3 ply but it was impossible not to spray over the middle ply of white which would have given it that scratchplate outline. 4. just need the gold pot knobs and jack nut. 5. ive decided for the moment to leave the strap locks in chrome as i dont want to swap yet as in case they dont hold properly and i get a mid gig shock! 6. theres a slight rise at the bridge, and a small hum at high levels, but im going to get that looked at. 7. the string retainer needs either a longer screw or repositioning despite being a direct replacement, but should be a 2 minute job. All in all the bass plus parts, paint etc came to around £260 - which is fantastic value.

Bubba Ho-Tep is not only an amazing film, but also has a superb (if limited) soundtrack. Couple of variations on a main theme and a score, but all done by one guy on a budget in a short time apparently. The main theme really is great imo. If you like films that involve a geritaric Elvis and black JFK battling a mummy, it might be your cup of tea.

Mine matches my Markbass head.

That looks very neat, and actually what I was expecting to see myself. I was a little shocked when I took the cover off last night. The last time I soldered anything I burned the carpet and my finger

Yes. No matter how desirable a bass seems or how expensive it is, it never comes complete with great technique, feel, groove and tasteful note choices. Bottom line is, it's always you, a plank of wood and some wires. That is all. The rest is entirely in your head.

You don't have to tell me what it is I invented the damn thing!

surely that's more of an impossibility than a mere oxymoron? ** ** everyone knows guitards cannot string such a coherent sentence together

How about a logo with a play on words of some sort? Maybe based on your name or something? Looks blimmin marvelous by the way.

"Apparently Trump has challenged you to a duel with this thing"

I'm actually considering selling my Peavey to be honest along with a lot of other bass gear as i want to fund a Mesa Subway rig this year. I have a Dingwall NG2 that i prefer the tone plus the spacing is more suited to me. Thanks for the advice tho. Dave

a lot of cover bands just play the same songs gig after gig, then wonder why they can't get a crowd when they play twice a month. Don't be lazy, change your setlist often.

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?

"Yes, we have found The West's weapon of torture"

The cultural context of TOTP was very different. We all watched it and we all talked about it. Now there is very little commonality in our media experiences and I think we have lost something as a consequence. Twelve year olds don't discuss pop music any more. Too much porn available.

Wouldn't he be better using a multi-FX / modeller I stead of a laptop? He could then actually switch effects in real time, and not have to worry about its ruggedness, as they're designed to be used on stage. Something like the HD500x, Helix, Axe FX, Kemper etc. All more rugged than a laptop.

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

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

Yes, quite a lot! They work well, as long as you don’t use much drive or boost the lows much. You can also turn off the circuitry and use it as a “flat” active DI for piezo pickups. These are my rough settings for EUB with Realist pickup..

I've never heard it called a "Jazz Bass" before.

Atmospheres and Lux Aeterna by György Ligeti in Kubrick's 2001 A space odyssey. Beautiful micro-polythony.

Draw a penis on your face to make people think you fell asleep at a party.

Also worth checking out are mid 1980's Westone basses; these were made by the same team, Matsumoku, that were behind the early 80's Arias.

Detail shots. Exchanged the black pickguard screws for chrome ones for a nicer visual contrast. The triplets together will follow at a later time.

Made the new pickguard today, looks ugly due to the protective foil that's still on.