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I'm not sure how much he actually paid for it but I heard he was going to party like it was £19.99

I replaced the Bassculture MM pickup in my Elwood L fretless today with a Delano MC4 HE/M2. I have the 'single coil' HE/M2 versions in my fretted Elwood L and have been knocked out by the articulation of them, so I finally got around to fitting an MM one in the fretless (after 10 months since deciding to do so). The Delano is, to my ears, a much sweeter sounding pickup, the single coil and parallel setting in particular now have real character, so much so, that I may start using the parallel setting as my go to tone. A big shout out to Reinhard at Delano, who got the wiring info from Maruszczyk so I could just drop the new pickup straight in using the existing loom, I know he had to really spend some time on the phone getting the wiring info for the Bassculture.

Pre Basschat I had 16 Bass guitars and 1 amp. I now have 18 Bass guitars, 2 Electric guitars, 4 amps and a few effects. 2 of my basses are in bits for repairs or mods and since joining I have moved 5 basses on. I probably spend more time playing with them than actually playing them - I particularly enjoy getting hold of something unloved for cheap and then cleaning it and setting it up back to former glory.

To quote the late Fred Dibnah, technology doesn't make things better, it just makes them cheaper and quicker. You can keep your CNC machine...

You are supposed to wash them??

Yoiks, when I come across various posts about tones, rig set ups, custom jobs, string selection, rewiring pick ups etc I feel very random and amateur in my hit n' miss approach to bass playing. In 25 years I've never replaced any factory settings and tend to do nowt more technical than playing about with combinations of effects settings and tones controls on the bass and amp. Just wondering if anyone else is like me in this respect or would your bands not allow you to get away with it?

Just finished The Craft Room, a really good read, well done. Weekend Rockstars was great as well. Looking forward to your next book.

The thing is that Bobby Kimball was, once upon a time, one of the greatest singers around. It is quite shocking that he can actually sing that poorly...

Ive got a cs64 which has a slightly different treble pickup, similar to the original horseshoe treble pickup, and I have had the same problems you have. I have tried one of these,. http://www.rickysounds.co.uk/Bezels.html with not too much success, and one of these Zero-Mod 4003 Thumb Rest , https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/221890260822?chn=ps&adgroupid=13585920426&rlsatarget=aud-295856144804%3Apla-142405565106&abcId=&adtype=pla&merchantid=115189455&poi=&googleloc=9045772&device=c&campaignid=207297426&crdt=0 In the end I put the cover back on the treble pickup [which I had removed with some difficulty], and i found a position which was reasonable comfortable. Good luck with the hunt, and if you find a miracle cure please let me know. Still sounds great so its worth persevering.

I manage to throw away some more sawdust today, yey!! First job this morning was to finish off the jig to enable routing the shape and the cavities. Doesn't look like much but it took ages Ah well done now! After that I took the body Mahogany out of clamps and cut it in half. Then I planed both sides diagonally both ways to flatten them, 2 passes in each direction was all it took, then with a sharp iron planed along the grain to smooth them, again a couple of passes wad all it took both blanks finished off at about 43.1 / 43.2mm so that's going to plan. too Next was to draw around the template and bandsaw the blank to shape. next I drew the cavity positions and rough drilled them out, I removed a bit of the waste with a chisel and that was me for the day, cream crackered! The pickups arrived too, yey!! Routing tomorrow perhaps, maybe a day off weather permitting

Ditto, in the last couple of years I have done a light refurbish on a 5 string, cleaned up and defretted a 4. Also quite major work on a ukulele banjo, all bought and sold (at a profit) via the bay.

I'm making a mental note of all the various permutations for future polls: Do you play in a 52 piece orchestra and use compression? Do you use a compressor but can't tell what it does? Do you perform solo bass/vocals with drums on backing tracks but still use compression? Do you have a comp on your board but only use it for specific numbers/styles but otherwise compression is not your thing? Do you use a compressor more at a gig or in a studio than at a rehearsal or when you are less familiar with the material rather than when you know it well? Do you use compression except when you're aware the PA / sound guys adds some? Do you find it hard to tick boxes or have really never been comfortable with multiple choice Qs?

Sorry, fryer, it's LMC Audio: http://www.lmcaudio.co.uk/acatalog/LMC_Web_Catalogue_12__Drivers_53.html. - although they're not much cheaper when you add VAT. Plenty of cab designs on this very Basschat forum. In fact you're spoilt for choice. Start here:

That sounds like one of the better ones!

Pre Basschat I had 1 bass, 1 amp and a minimal selection of effects for years. Now I have 4 basses, 6 amps and God only knows how many effects pedals and sundry other stuff. I'm not looking for an elusive sound or tone or anything else - I just enjoy mucking about with stuff and usually losing money in the process. No harm done except to my bank balance but life's too short.

My TM4 sadly was always bottom of the class and never came close to learning how it to play itself. It had to go...

It looks great! Nicely done indeed. The matched headstock - which I don’t like - looks good and I quite like it.

Just a quick pic with the rest of the family........

http://www.whtimes.co.uk/what-s-on/music/ska-and-punk-bill-at-hatfield-forum-hertfordshire-1-5532793

Need a catorgary who uses a compressor but can't tell what it does lol

Well - I was fully expecting that the first shot at the block routing would end in a scrapper. But - unless I mess up getting the ebony rectangles in - I think I was wrong! To my utter surprise, the block routs appear to be clean-sided and in the right place: All of the inner rectangles have been routed flat but will be chiselled individually when I fit the ebony rectangles - they must be deep enough to sink in the sides without being too deep to below the fretboard height in the middle. Back to the reason for the repositioning on the template.... Basically, the fretboard blank is double-side-taped to the metal template for both fret slotting and for routing the rectangles. In both cases, the template is positioned by use of a small index pin. However, in the fret slotting jig, the index pin is offset to the position of the cut: However, the template rectangles for the blocks are in line with the index pin notches in the template - not offset: And so, after fret slotting, the fretboard blank needs to be repositioned so that the rectangles are central and also that the index pin notches are now in line with the fretslots and not offset: I'll bet that's as clear as mud, isn't it

Not random, amateur or "hit n' miss" at all. A lot of folks on here give the impression of being far more interested in collecting / swapping / playing with / showing off their toys than in music. No shame in not being one of them.

I'm also an engineer, based in Yorkshire and use phrases like 'It'll be reet'

Shared this on the Facebook Yamaha Attitude page. Hope you dont mind @bigsmokebass..

I wouldn't get the PF range of cabs. They generally do "Honk" even with swapping the head around and spending ages on E.Q trying to get rid off. Try some local shops? PMT have 4x10 ashdowns/fenders etc for £400 - £550 . Take your head down and have a whirl if your serious about buying one

+1 for the Epiphone Jack Casady. I'm on my second, after selling the first one then regretting it. On your point about quality - Gibson's woes have nothing to do with Epiphone - being made in China/Korea and far away from the USA. Also bear in mind that the Jack Casady is arguably Epiphone's top of the line bass, so they want to impress you, they want them to be the best that they put out. Worth pointing out that Jack Casady himself uses stock basses straight from the factory ("no ringers" as he put it in an interview) - it would be a real shame if the knuckleheads in America who seem hell bent on grinding the company into dust put you off this excellent bass. Bear in mind that the JC is almost completely hollow, no centre block. It's super light and will feedback, if you want it to. But stay a respectful distance away from your amp and you'll be fine

I’ve got to suggest the Mesa M6 as well, the most lovely in-yer-face punchy sound in my opinion. I’ve owned a lot of amps & of them all, this was the one! Got a Mesa D800 now and it’s a great amp but not even close to the M6, again in my opinion.

Good job. See if the older screws are all accounted for, you don't want to find out there's one stuck to the magnet after having all the trouble of reassembling the cab. The wax is just an anti-tamper thing. Not very eficient as it broke off without any tampering from you... glad it wasn't sent back under waranty or it could have been a tough situation to handle.

I`m currently in an originals band and the answer is yes, I would go to see "us" if I weren`t in the band. We`re playing music that I love, on a scene I love (but that I wasn`t aware of until we started the band I should add). Up until this band I used to go and see local covers bands regularly, as I just love music, but I do so much with my current band I hardly ever have the time to go out and see a band locally, on those weekends when I`m not gigging the feet are up storing energy for the next batch.

yep same here which is why I carry a sack truck with solid rubber wheels for my 410, PA sub etc..

I've got a bass bar and it works well. Mine looks very similar to the base of a music stand with a T bar to support the bass. It's handy if you're doubling and doing fast change overs. I would prefer it if I could adjust the height a bit more, but that's not a big deal and it may well have changed since I bought mine a few years ago. There's a few other brands doing a similar design such as K&M and it certainly beats leaning your bass against a chair!

Heres my Sandy PM4. Its an old one (cant find a serial number anywhere....) but a fabulous bass. Almost plays itself. sandberg 8 by Jon Ashbee, on Flickr sandberg 7 by Jon Ashbee, on Flickr sandberg 5 by Jon Ashbee, on Flickr

It's bad enough seeing the first Christmas ads on the box in September, now you've gone and started it in May I'm tempted to lock and hide this thread.

Not "best" maybe, but my J&D jazz sounds at least as good as many Fenders I have played and/or owned. Still a very giggable bass (admittedly with replacement Tonerider pickups). But as the best tone I've had was from my Status series II, no.

Form Factor Bi1000 400w or 1000w true RMS. Powerful and loud as hell with a tonne of bass on tap and an intelligent easy to use EQ. Version 2 is out in about a month where they should have tinkered the issue where the DI was affected by the master volume (DG M900 also does this so its not poor manufacture!) and thus is not anymore. https://formfactorpro.com/collections/bass-amps here it is on a Supertwin. Good luck on your quest!

I am an expert here on compression, and I can categorically say that sometimes I cant hear it, out of the context of a mix. Because you just cant, not a 'transparent' compressor with a soft knee set to just pull everything up a couple of dB on the softer stuff especially in parallel. Good luck to anyone who can, you're definitely not normal. But put that in the context of a mix and if you know what to listen for you can hear the difference the compressor makes. So why bother if its that hard to consciously perceive? Because perception isn't conscious, psychoacoustics are hugely important and influential and definitely can make a band sound far more pro than the level of the venue they are playing in. Lets put it another way, would you rather an expert live engineer use everything at his disposal to make your band sound as brilliant as possible regardless of the venue, or would you prefer him to keep some of his tools in the box? Do you think your punters would tell the difference between Dave the drummer throwing some faders up on a shitty 6 channel Behringer desk and Wes 'The Wesernator' Maebe with a Midas Pro One and some choice outboard? What about Wes using the same desk as Dave and a few choice dynamics tools? I reckon Wes could make my band sound better live than I can with the same gear literally anywhere, he's the absolute canine undercarriage at his job, so I'd be some kind of an idiot if I didn't feel that. What does he use to achieve this? Simple, the basics that every sound engineer understands: good mic placement, good gain structure, good dynamics control, good spacial and additive effects, great musical understanding, great ears. He will use compression all over your bass to make it work in the mix better, think I'm kidding, check this out and especially this where he daisy chains two 1176s, the man is a master of compression, its his bread and butter. So what does this have to do with the OP question? Its simply the wrong question. It actually shows why most bassists probably shouldn't be trying to use compression, because it breaks down like this:- The audience should not generally be able to tell that a compressor is being used per se, but they will know that something is different if you turn it on and off. It depends on what the compression is for. A transparent gain riding compressor is going to work at a psychoacoustic level. On the other hand if you are using a compressor to drastically change the envelope of your bass sound then every single punter will hear the change as you swap it in and out. Its just a daft question really. Think like a bassist and you cant tell what its for, think like a sound engineer and you cant imagine a world without compressors on nearly everything.

The thing is that I would notice if I didn't have my 1 knob compression at 9 o'clock. I doubt anyone else would. Even my brother rhythm guitarist says that bass is just bass to him and any subtleties of my bass tone brought to his attention seem to elicit little interest. As for the audience, I'm pretty sure that as has been said many times before, most would only miss the bass if it wasn't there, let alone discern any difference. The thing that folk readily notice is the volume, "the bass was loud". I think Motown did a lot to bring a good bass-line to the attention of the listening/dancing public. A few other popular songs had strong bass-lines like 'Hit the road jack' and 'These boots are made for walking'. I'm happy being part of the rhythm section, I like locking in with a good drummer and rhythm guitarist who are also good team players. But the subtleties we enjoy getting out of our instruments, thumbs & plectrums, strings, nuts, bridges, pick-ups, pedals, amps, speakers and techniques, for the most part are like trade secrets shared and assessed and discussed like new/old recipes by the connoisseurs of the art who are I'm happy to say venerable BCers.

the first tune I played bass on, as an accompaniment - it just kind of gelled. It was after this that he teacher said "you're actually a bit better at this than you think you are" and made my day

Albatross (Fleetwood Mac) takes some beating.