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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

If you end up using just the Rumble amp sim, may as well save money and just get the Rumble V3! However the SVT and Bassman models sounded pretty damn good to me in the demos.

The 500 will be loud enough for any pub/club gig when paired with an extension cab to get the full power I reckon. Never tried the 800 but it gets some love on here.

Well I’ll be on tour round the UK with my next acting gig from mid-July onwards. Due to be in York in March 2019...by which time I’ll likely already be the proud owner of a Wingbass

The Fender Rumble 100 V3 has served me well. Can't fault it.

The split pickup is mainly aimed toward my collection of analog octavers. I may even put some Labella Black Nylon Tapes on it too. Honestly, the difference in tracking stability between my Sandberg VS4 (p-type) and my MTD Super 5 is pretty massive. All of my octavers track the Sandy like bloodhounds whereas the Super 5 is much more prone to glitching. I’m a little surprised they’ve never done a split P Wingbass before given how perfect they are for us bassists who are octave junkies. You may have a good point re: reversing the pups - although the fact it’s tuned an octave up could mean it won’t make a blind bit of difference? I.e. it’s not much different to me just playing my Sandberg P high up the fretboard? If it were something like a Kala Ubass California (massively cut down scale but still tuned at normal bass pitch) I suspect there’d be a more vast difference to be found between standard and reverse orientation. Still, definitely worth investigating... A concern i have is that because I’m going for a slightly extended scale compared to the standard Wingbass format, Andy won’t be able to provide me with a gigbag that fits and I’ll be in the lurch attempting to fashion something myself or have it swimming in a guitar bag. Another thing to think about!

I was amazed the first time I picked up a V3 100w combo. Great tone out of them too. I remember being less than impressed with the earlier Rumble amps.

AFAIK the Hohners were designed to be contemporary licensed all-wood versions of the L/XL series Steinies (and the guitar versions). I briefly owned a fretless Hohner Jazz copy that was easily as good as a MIM Fender. Never owned a B series but I had a Jack for a while. Really good instruments, even if they did kind of "defeat the object" of the Steinberger at least in terms of construction.

I had one of these, bought mine new in 1994 (for the tidy sum of £139), with the same white pickups, headstock shape and it was a hefty bit of wood. Came in a era-typical metallic 'aged' white... ah, they were innocent times...

If I go fretless, it's pretty much a fretless jazz bass. The majority of ones I've played in the past were Fender Jazz basses (though the Breedlove was rather nice too, hence considering the Warwick Alien). Don't get me wrong though, I do appreciate your input & advice. I'm still very much in 2 minds.

I like fretless basses. I fell in love with the sound of a Rob Allen 4 string fretless bass. It just sounded better than anything I'd heard before. So I bought it and discovered 2 problems. It was fretless and had 4 strings. Although I'm very set in my 5 string ways I'm sure I could have coped with either "issue" on its own but together I just couldn't make it work for me. I used it in the 2 bands that I thought would appreciate the fretless sound. One band leader shrugged his shoulders and said it was OK and the other said he preferred the sound of my Precision! So I sold it. I think the answer for me is a 5 string fretted Rob Allen, but that's a different thread.

I’ll just push him back in, one sec. *gnnnnhhhhghh* OK as you were. Admin stuff etc.

That’s why he isn’t allowed to wear shoes!

@BrunoBass Shame you didn't make it to the Bass Bash; we could've put them side-by-side (I think yours has a better finish!).

+1 to this If you have found 'your' perfect fretted 4 string in your Ibby SR1000, it seems criminal to defret! (Particularly if you're after a 5 string fretless). If you love the look and feel of an Ibby SR, and are happy to stick to a 4 string then you could do far worse than get an Ibby Portamento SR700. There's one in the FS section right now, I believe For a 5 string fretless worth considering the SR705 - it's a lovely bass (which I recently managed to get in a trade from a fellow BCer). I'm also a bit of an Ibby fan (cue obligatory pic ):

^ This It will probably be a bit heavy and you will want to put some better strings on, but I would heartily recommend something like this Harley Benton from Thomann: https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_b_550fl_bk_progressive_series.htm?sid=df3d9ef6c1dcc84bc1c58f4f3e612d3d Other colours are available, but at around £140 this will be unbeatable value for money and almost certainly a decent player - and probably a lot cheaper than defretting your Ibby (which would be a shame and a compromise)! If you read my build threads, you will know that I build high-ish end custom basses....but I never hesitate recommending Harley Bentons for people to try out new things and styles. I personally have never come across a bad one yet. And you can get a decent one for less than it costs me for the wood for just the neck alone of one of my builds!!!!

Not the luthier's madness in this case though...

That looks fine, + to + all the way through. If both speakers are working and there is plenty of bass it's good.

Unless this is a rhetorical statement (like 'Its hot, I want an ice-cream'), stick a request in the items wanted section. You might get lucky.

Cracking basses. The Ambrosia Maple (right) weighs 7lb, Bloodwood (left) weighs 12lb. Bloodwood doesn't float in water,that's how dense it is Though Steve-W briefly worked for Ovation Guitars he's always been involved in hillbilly music. That's his market, $200-$300 hand made basses,that they look hand made is intentional. Let's face it a $20K Fodera AJ would look out of place in North Carolina (median family income $48K).

Good point, and we might do in future. It's not a commercial pub, but run as a non-profit social enterprise community centre (and an excellent pub too), which was why were were there in the first place, and were happy to play to support them. I don't think we'd want to ask for free time at a time when they could otherwise have another band there paying for it, but we might try to negotiate something off-peak next time we play there.

If I was in a function/wedding band, I'd opt for no backline. Just a decent FoH & IEM. Much easier to set up & get everyone balanced properly. May be worth employing a soundy if needed.

Why not call their bluff and get everything set up but back off on your bass to the pont where it`s virtually inaudible, then when they tell you it`s still too loud ask them all to stop playing, then you play at your cut volume. At this point you`ll for one no longer have them blaming you for too much volume, and then not have to worry about buying ne "more suitable" gear. I emphasised that as your gear is fine. I think @bertbass may have hit it here, a keyboard player with a busy, heavy left hand.

Not a single problem here I'm guessing. Are you wireless or have a long lead? Take a stroll out front during a sound check and listen for yourself and then decide if your bass is too loud or not. If it's OK out front, which is where it needs to be nicely balanced and you still can't hear what you're playing, you need to get your cabs nearer to your ears or perhaps tilt the cabinet back so you can hear it. Does the keys player have a busy left hand? Your band mates could be hearing that and blaming you. Is the guitarist stealing your frequencies? Too much bass on the guitar can sound an awful lot like bass. Do you cut a lot of mids? This can cause you to not hear what you are playing and to turn up to compensate. It's very unlikely that your gear is at fault.

6th form college, it was a “battle of the bands” (shudder) 4 songs, 15 minutes. Loved every second. Knew I wanted to do it forever.

Excellent. Now to start looking for gig number 2.

Well, just so long as they don't move about during the gig ...

Well, its not good value if it doesn't work Having said that, I doubt it is an Ashdown amp thing specifically, things can and do fail when they are new, from all brands. I would sent it back as faulty, as it is faulty, describe the fault, that after an hour it cut out, so it cuts out when hot, then not accept anything other than a replacement or a refund if they can't replace. No reason you have to worry about how you approach it, if they know it cuts out after an hour they are either going to just send it back to the manufacturer (most likely) or test it for an hour (unlikely).

Absolutely this. I've had a five for a few weeks now and I find it much easier and more intuitive than the four. Having two full octaves over five frets anywhere on the fretboard has made it instinctive to root on the B string whenever I can. And it makes a huge difference to reading too - I'm trying to wean myself off tabs.

Just ordered the paperback from Amazon. Here on Tues 8th just in time for my weeks hols at Loch Ness. The first book was brilliant and from what i've read on the reviews this is just as good. Thanks Dave and here's hoping for a 3rd book in your series soon. Dave

Bought a bass from jflesh and I'm very pleased with our transaction. I'd happily deal with him again. Many thanks Guillaume.

Somewhere along the line amongst all the corporate branding, collector-targeted pricing and buying up random companies to produce tat with a a Gibson logo on it they forgot to make serviceable, pro grade instruments at a price a working musician is willing to spend. They have been relying on brand aspiration and rich collectors for years and this has come to a head, I know only a handful of gigging musicians who regularly use their guitars, maybe things are different with classic rock bands but still... I have a friend who is one of those "I want the guitar my heroes played" type guys, traded a lovely LP Studio (black with gold hardware, great sound and played itself) and £300 cash for an absolute dog of a LP Standard. Had a neck repair in the usual spot and can't hold its tuning for the duration of a song, weighs a ton, sounds terrible and can't be set up to play anything like his old Studio. He's well chuffed with it though, it's a burst LP Standard which superficially resembles what his heroes played, even though they wouldn't touch it with a bargepole. This to me is what Gibson are now - a prestigious brand with nothing behind it. A new regime would be the best thing that could happen to them. Besides it's not like the Gibson of today bear even a slight resemblance to the company of old who made all those great guitars you hear on classic albums, that went long ago.

You need one of these....

Little update! Neck carve next apparently Si

My V-Types:

As Wilko Johnson once said "If you make a mistake, just look brash and the audience will think they heard it wrong"