Leaderboard

When it's a P-rick? Sorry - as you were...

Just got my hands on a rather splendid Washburn Chicago Series B-80 from around 1989 Superb condition with a very fetching Blue / Pink crackle finish, 2 band active, thru neck with a 'Stephen's Extended Cutaway' amazing condition Had quite a high retail price when new, I got it for considerably less I play in an 80s Rock Tribute show so its ideal www.that80srockshow.co.uk , although not everyones cuppa tea \m/ I can find very little about these basses .... anyone know anything?

Good evening, fellow bass humans. I'm Jam O'Malley, I play in a band called forest of fools, and we are a six-piece festival band featuring bass, melodeon, drums, percussion, vocals and sousaphone. We call the genre Jump-Up Folk, and it's a high-energy mashup of folk, funk, drum & bass and psychedelic. I play a Warwick Thumb BO 4, a Warwick Infinity SN 5 (tuned E-C currently) and occasionally acoustic and fretless if I get carried away... Mostly playing through a Markbass 15" CMD combo - 18kg! - perfect for trudging around muddy UK festivals! I've spent a while gawping at the incredible basses and wealth of knowledge on these pages and I'm excited to be a part of it. Much love, J

Best if just one of us suffers

She's no looker, that's for sure!

Appreciate the advice all. In the end I bought those Glowtech ones. Really easy to apply and work a treat. I bought a keyring UV light to charge em with and they worked great. They feel pretty well stuck on too. problem solved. As for "Why worry about seeing them?......" Why do you think?

That's great that yours was perfect out the box, was no problem tbh for me because I would be setting it up to how I like it and I do love cleaning my instruments as well. It is amazing just how well these basses are and how much bass you actually get for the money

Ooooh, I like that But then again I like fish fingers in gravy.

If this pedal will achieve anything, it will bring this young 'rapper' with his fistful of $1 bills a few more hits on his Youtube channel!

The Plastic Mojo Band played our first real gig this afternoon, and I thought it might be interesting to compare stories. (It's probably been done here before...) We came together as a workshop project a while back, which led to a friends-and-family gig in March with a few peeps drifting in off the street. Decided to stay together as a band, using a practice room over a local pub. The landlady overheard us and asked us to play this afternoon, clear that we would just be background noise - which suited us, as it took some pressure off. Apologised that she could only give us beer and food and not money - we weren't expecting even that! This a completely acoustic gig. (Yes, acoustic bass.) We started inside the pub, which has a decent piano, but the very few customers were all outside in the good weather, so she asked us to play outside, which meant that the keys player had nothing to do for the rest of the afternoon but drink with his friends. (We did drag him up to play hand percussion for a couple of songs.) A new (very good) guitar player who we'd barely met. Our excellent lead singer couldn't be there. Luckily we're a blues band, and can jam most of the standards. We played for three hours (well I did, the others drifted in and out) making up most of it as we went along. We got a bit of applause, and we've been asked back, so we must have been ok. I've been playing om's and jams for a few years now, but it's still sinking in that for the first time I've played a gig that was booked by someone I didn't know, and thanked with food and beer. After 45 years of believing I'd never be able to play at all. I realise this will seem pretty pathetic to many of you, but we all have to start somewhere... So how was the first time for you? :-)

Well, I didn't do much this weekend as it is really hot and everyone was out wanting to enjoy their gardens without the sound of routers. Not that anyone else around here cares but I do. I did actually do a bit of sanding on saturday morning. The shed is almost ready, so won't be a problem for long Anyway, couldn't let the weekend die without any work, so I routed the pickup and neck from the template to the depth of the smallest router I bought (I think half an inch). Did the whole thing by router, what fun that is! Anyway, it is enough to see how it is going and enough so that if I need to change anything I can. The pickups fit well in the holes. A bit too well, ie, if I paint or finish it with anything then it won't fit any more, it is a little snug! Haven't tried the neck yet, but I believe that is a little snug anyway, because it is what I was most concerned about. Anyway, it now seems to be becoming a thing, slowly but surely.

Also message Ashdown to see if this is a fault they`re aware of, and if they can advise as to how to progress. I`ve found them excellent on customer service issues and having their advice to provide the seller with could be a real help.

Just gigged my Greenboy Fearless Dually 2x15 (built by Tricky Audio) - as always, very easy to load in and out of the car and roll through a crowded beer marquee (or pick up and waddle with for a while where needed!). A lovely tone from the Faital 400s, suits a P in a blues/rock/soul combo beautifully. But most importantly, the colour matches the bass

+1 for paulownia if you want lightweight. Check this out on eBay: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F332551617312 Although it looks more Explorer like than the TB it’s described as, nothing a bit of sanding won’t resolve for something a bit more ‘Bird-esque though!

Oh dear !! £19.99 Vs Buying Nitro Mors, buying heat gun, 4 burns using said heat gun. 3 hours sanding, apply sealer coat,more sanding.£15 on two different sheers of paisley,£7 on spray paint. 5 minutes to balls up job. 5 hours stripping the whole bloody lot off again. Best I go for a lie down in a quiet room

You never know, it could just be a matter of time. Just don’t tell the wife

Good stuff. In all fairness an hour before visiting the shop I’d been fiddling with my MkIV Trace, so anything short of military grade would have felt less robust by comparison 😆

What’s the reason for the longer scale? If you’re going to go small, might as well go SMALL - and half scale makes sense due to the use of standard strings etc. I’m not convinced that anything longer in the same octave would achieve a better sound. Then again it could be about feel, in which case you have my permission ;). You’re about twice as tall as me so think it might be about right!

If the ground lift stops your equipment from humming, it's probably doing its job. All the stuff has to be earthed, but preferably only earthed once, otherwise, in some cases, tiny currents can circulate between these multiple earths, giving off hum. The ground lift will break this 'earth loop', but the equipment is still earthed, by the other part of the circuit. It's just no longer being looped. Use the ground lift, then, if it stops the hum, as you're still protected by he rest of the earth circuit. Hope this helps.

Not enough string trees for me

If you're getting hum on an un-connected amp or combo that's another problem entirely - perhaps it's worth Portable Appliance Testing the amp to make sure there isn't an earth problem? Otherwise, a 230V isolating transformer may help...

Ground lift exists to disconnect the earths of connected equipment to prevent earth loop hum... So it doesn't actually disconnect the earth connection from the equipment, only from the return cable in an xlr in/out.

It's active, currently at work will post picture of the control cavity once home.

Sounds cool. Even though it’s quite expensive, it’s probably about half you’d expect to pay for a custom full scale instrument I guess. Having found the perfect full scale bass this whole half scale thing is great fun. Interesting to use a split pickup. Given the scale length I wonder if the tonal difference will be amplified between the front and back portion of the pickup. If so, you could consider reversing the pickup too. As I got lucky with my Wing I’ll probably get a fretless next. Think it’ll really ‘sing’. Not sure whether to get a matching colour and wood type or go different. Can you imagine how cute a double gigbag would be lol

This is interesting, it's got me wondering about my Encore P. There's some history here: Including the comment on headstock shape that "Fender style ones were the earliest, made in India. They had another typical feature - square, boxy string trees instead of the disc shaped ones." That seems to nail yours as 1980s.

Right, you're still trying it out, good idea. 12" speakers only handle around 300w whatever they say about 1000W amplifiers but EV's are good and you have the subs so all in all the PA should be louder than the RM's, certainly a match. The RM's sounded to me like they have a mid bias which makes them pretty punchy, that's if they were the same ones that we tried out at the bass bash a few weeks back. (Thanks Ashdown). We were very impressed with the RM's at the price, and that voicing works really well in difficult rooms. Maybe that is what you are missing. You ought to be able to get something similar back using the Ashdown graphic. I'd start with the 30Hz right down and a touch of boost at 100Hz then maybe tweak the mids a little.

I have a rehearsal on Saturday morning. So if it arrives on Friday I might give it a run out then. Dug's tone will work in a 25 piece big band jazz ensemble, won't it?

Ah, the joys of working from home I don't reckon much work will be getting done that day though! lol!

HA Gross Si

If anybody is planning on stripping the finish this is what you'll find. Between the varnish,photo flame paper and sealed top coat that peels off you'll lose about 1.5mm.

No such thing as mistakes. Just opportunities to play something new, different and interesting.

Bank holiday made use of! Just a rough demo mind but I figured it's a composition challenge not a mixing/mastering challenge.

Here’s the revised shape I’m not entirely sure how the bolt on neck will work but I’m sure I’ll figure something out Just in case I doesn’t work out here’s another version

PS: Knobs ...and to finally finish off, some control knobs. I wanted something different to the usual Fender types knobs. These are Gibson style clear knobs and they look great! Done.

It's easy to confuse the terms 'cheap' and 'inexpensive'. They are not, however, completely interchangeable. Cheap in price does not systematically equate to cheap in quality. The opposite is also true: higher cost is not necessarily higher quality. Just sayin'.

Got the routing done except for the bridge I’ll wait till I get that first Funny you say that, that’s what I have done I had the same thought last night (great minds and all that!!) The arm rest is ok I kind of play with my arm diagonal anyway as I find that more comfortable Got the first coat of poly on, I was going to go Matt but I think this one should be gloss and looking at my last build I’m going to refinish that one gloss as well when I move the bridge, Just in case anyone notices I’ve still got the clean up the bottom of the neck pocket.........

I like my gedo if it's any help, only the cheapest ones are far Eastern, mine is half carved and Romanian, the full carved are made in europe somewhere and their workshop fitted my choice of strings and an adjustable bridge to a professional standard.

I could always paint the top third pink to make proper neopolitan

Nice Song as well .

Oh yes, just received my Sire V7 today from Thomann - exactly the same as yours! Mine was perfect straight out of the box ... fit and finish is immaculate in every respect and the set-up was spot on. It even arrived from Germany still in tune! The neck is a gorgeous hard rock maple with hints of flame AND birdseye figuiring. Result! It is incredibly resonant unplugged and on a par with my Shuker. Overall, my Initial impressions are that I am ASTOUNDED at the quality of this instrument at this price point. I would not only say that it is better than my Mexicano Fender P bass ... but compares very favourably with my 1976 Fender jazz. Even if I had paid £1000 for it I'd still be happy. Agree about the preamp - I love it.

I had a really nice JJ jewel, which I used at work to take soul band rehearsals. It had got knocked over once before and had a hairline crack around the neck pocket. One day we were working on ‘performance’ and they decided I should demonstrate the Pete Townsend leap I was on about, which I promptly did. Upon landing, I felt the strings go slack and the body drop, which I caught. Looking down the neck was completely separated from the body. I put the dismembered guitar on the floor and the trumpet player asked me ‘Is it dead sir?’ When I confirmed i thought it indeed was he picked up his instrument and played the last post as solemnly as he could manage, the cheeky begger.

particularly like the first track. She's got a lovely set of pipes and a bit fit looking n' all!!

Update: Thomann have said I can have the bass repaired in the UK and they will just refund me direct

I had several BEAD 4 stringers, to be honest I did not have to make mods at all, the bidge fit and so did the nut. If this were me I would buy a reasonably light BEAD set (5 string set, delete the G string) 0.125 or 0.130 max. In my experience you most times do not need to mod. Whether a 34"A sounds very good I will leave to your ears, for me I would go with a 35" neck which is one of the reasons I ended up going 5 string many years ago now.