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Massively overpricing coupled with a steep decrease of build quality will see off even the most iconic brand eventually.

If that was true Rickenbacker should've folded 40 years ago. Ricks have always fallen to bits if you look at them funny. Maybe Trump will succeed where John Hall's bloodyminded incompetence has failed. Probably because Fenders were designed to be mass-produced inexpensively & they've sensibly decided to maximise the cheap & cheerful end of their product range for the last 35 years or so. Can't help thinking their cleverest trick might have been to persuade some people it's worth paying £3000+ for a bass/guitar that's fundamentally identical to a £200 one with Squier on the end.

Having worked out the carve shape - and therefore the thickness of the body at various points in the cross-section - I was able to rout the main chambers and cable routes. Control chamber-wise, we are going for a Master Vol/Master Tone/Blend option, with the pots following the curve of the lower bout. Theoretically, I could rout deeper at the areas further from the neck but the swampash is so light it really won't make a difference. The rout in the top is more for aesthetics than weight. Bear in mind that the top will be curved and so this will slim quite a bit, it will eventually give the illusion of being a semi, when it's actually basically a solid: Before popping the top on, I will line the f-hole chamber with some redwood veneer to further give the illusion of depth.

George W got in by accident. After screwing up so much and taking the country into an unnecessary war and getting US soldiers needlessly killed you'd have thought the US citizens would have turned around and said no more. But they didn't. . . they bloody well voted the idiot back in! Trump is a far more dangerous character because he is totally uncontrollable and seems to have no idea what effect his words have on other, equally dangerous, leaders. I can understand why he got in this time, but he's a bully, egomaniac and unconcerned by any view point other than his own. That's why he likes Putin so much. Two sides of the same thuggish coin. Trump for a second term would indicate the American people really have no idea what is the best for them. A trade deal with Trump? That is the really frightening thing. For anyone who thinks the EU exerted too much control over us, wait till the details of the UK/US trade deal emerge. We are going to be royally screwed and with no way out. Oh, and Gibson are in such a bad shape because they are badly managed and charge top prices for poorly made instruments. Talkbass have had ex Gibson employees posting that one reason for the bad QC was they were on a target of instruments to be completed each day. The target was way beyond what could be achieved in the time so the manufacturing process was rushed, corners were cut and inspections were derisory. Gibson's did make instruments that had a good reputation, they don't any more.

True, but why not? Trump claims EU steel is unfair competition, meaning the U S steel industry is simply not up to speed and fails to compete. We could do the same to their musical instrument industry. Even better, tarrifs on all the junk food they dump on the unsuspecting.

I nipped in to toolstation on the way back from shopping and picked up some 600 and 1200 paper. Now I have done the body in 1200 I can see what you mean. It felt smooth before I started, but after doing the back with the 1200, the other side suddenly felt as rough as old boots

Age has no influence on if you should do something in life or not, only ability and if you want to do it or not. Being 42 is no age either, only half way through your years. I say stop thinking about it and go do it, you don't know the fun and enjoyment you are missing. As a tip for when you get started, don't pack your bass away in its case with the intention of getting it out to play each time. It won't happen I promise you. Leave it out somewhere where you see it or walk past it all the time. You'll then get the urge to play it more often, usually at weird times like before going to bed, waiting to go out as your other half gets ready, sitting waiting for a courier, waiting for the kettle to boil or the oven to warm up but it means you still get to play it. Pack it away and you'll never play it I promise. Second tip, play everything, literally everything, play along to your favourite advert, genre's you dont like, songs on the radio, literally everything. At this stage, be a sponge so be as open to everything you can and take everything in as there will always be something you can learn from. Final tip, there is no right or wrong, there is music and expression and how you play and express yourself is your choice. Don't be told you are doing something wrong but be open to learning a more efficient way of playing.

Hi All, Arrived yesterday a new ACG TKO from Alan. It is one of two he has made and it is absolutely stunning, the photo's only get you 90% there. The texture within the wood itself really adds something. It comprises: Black Limba body and top. 3 piece Maple with carbon Rosewood neck, 30.5" scale. Hipshot Type B in chrome.Hipshot string tree, Gotoh GB7 tuners, Dunlop straplocks, Newtone strings. ACG PB pickup with Alnico magnets. Weighs around 7.5lbs (not put it on the scales yet). It has what I would call a true PB sound but with more tonal variation available. Can't wait to try it out at band practice on Tuesday.

What a great idea. I recommend exploring if you like the vibes. Every cover is awesome. Members of Vulfpeck, Knowler, Postmodern Jukebox etc can be noticed there.

Love these guys and associated bands, you should check out Pomplamoose too:

I've held (my) fire until now....!

That is both weird and wonderful.

I think the important thing to note about Hooky's melody lines, especially in Joy Division, is that he'd often be adding an open string 'drone' alongside the line to keep some low end, e.g. She's Lost Control. He did this less so in New Order, though there was usually a Moog Source or similar synth pumping the bassline out, and his Clone Theory chorus sound would cut through most mixes! This is my recent attempt at a definitely Hooky-influenced bassline!

About 5 years ago my next door neighbour, a lovely German lady, decided to learn double bass. She was in he 60's. She plays jazz and her band (she already runs her own band!) is rehearsing next door right now. 3 years ago they were always out of tune and there were bum notes all over the place. These days there are hardly any and they all sound sound pretty good. They are not picking the easy songs to play either. If anyone wants to play bass be it like Adam Clayton or Charlie Mingus. . . just do it. Have fun.

i think linking it to trumpy pumpy or any politician for that matter, and inferring that gibson's decline could be terminal because of politics is a bit disingenuous - gibson's ceo and his board chums managed that all by themselves with their executive "lifestyle choice" decisions without any need for political scapegoating

doesnt work very often ( imho ymmv mcton etc etc) this example works extreemingly well great player great tune

Let me know what you reckon folks, I think this is better than my last one but It's still irks me that my vocals are pitchy in places. I suppose I'm making progress though so I should chuffed about that. 😊

Thanks @dmccombe7 😊 I have the harmony vocals coming off the backing tracks with the drums. Long story short I recorded my album then just used the drum and harmony vocal tracks for the live tracks. Thanks @BreadBin that's very lovely of you to say. 😊 I'm beaming now chaps, you've all made my day. 😁

I think you might find that 320 doesn't look as good as it feels once the finish goes on. Edges are unforgiving. If you are unsure, prepare a test piece to the same stage and apply the finish. You might find that there are finer grades of abrasive to work through yet. On the other hand, you might be happy with the finish as is. Now that you have power in your shed, It would be worth clamping a good anglepoise lamp to your bench. This will help when natural light is of poor quality. Maplin used to do a good one that had a ring tube with a large magnifier at the centre for less than fifty knicker. It gets lots of use. Good progress! From a standing start you've now got a lickle workshop and a taste for whittling. Just be aware that sheds can become storage bunkers during the colder months. If that happens, it is very hard to come back from.

I have asked the original thread that Funkinshui posted with the details about this fraud be put on hold as we wouldnt want any details that have been mentioned interfere with any trial results. So please dont ask for details as the safest thing to do at this moment would be to not mention any, there is a basic explanation at the begining of this thread, the person involved as scammed many others as well as us, it is going through the legal proceedings at the moment and as soon as we can tell you anything we will do, at the end of any case we will give you all the details we can. Thank you for any donations so far and we are nearly halfway to recovering what Funkishui lost, when his bass was stolen. Cheers everyone, you guys and girls are amazing

Thanks for all that @Grangur, much appreciated. The cover is all plastic (no foil covering) by the way. I suppose I'll just have to plug it in and see what happens. Unfortunately I can’t test it at the minute as it’s in pieces, but once I get it back together I’ll see what it’s like through an amp. It won’t be tonight as I have to help my daughter with her GCSE chemistry revision! I hope she appreciates the sacrifices I make for her 😀

Fixed.

No one has suggested that the Commander in Chief has caused Gibson's woes, the OP and others simply suggesting that his ongoing antics may not be any help in getting them back on their feet, to sell more guitars, or be profitable - or Fender or any other US industry to be profitable for that matter!!

They have a keyboard player?

Hi @Golats, You're no idiot. Lack of knowledge isn't lack of intelligence... I hope. Anyway... Can you please check if you have a black wire going from the back of one of the pots going to a hole in the body in the general direction of the bridge? Also, in the pics, above the same volume pot you're talking about, there appears to be a stray black wire with a bobble 9f some sort on the end? What is that?

Age doesn’t matter, what really matters is having the time and energy to practice every day, and having the balls to get up and play in front of people. I only started in my mid 30s, around 10 yrs ago, and I’m in a gigging jazz trio, regular gigs, jams etc, I’m doing ok. I practice a lot though. It’s worth mentioning that for most of those 10 years I’ve been self employed so I’ve been able to put time aside to play and practice whenever I want. I think the number one enemy of learning anything when you’re older is lack of time and energy.

Thanks guys! 👍

Mid 2018 family pic, pre ACG, which should arrive in a month or so I think. L-R Bass Collection Jive fretless, 2006 CIJ Mustang, 1971 Precision, Lakland US custom 44-94, Lakland Skyline 55-01. Si

I had my first guitar at 16, but sat behind the drum kit in bands then, in the 60s. Scroll forward many years, my daughter taking Music A level, playing in our church band, I picked the guitar up again to support her, but changed to bass when a much better guitar player joined. I’d be in my mid/late 50s by then, and at 71, I still play in a church band, as well as a jamming band with blokes ofmy age. So my message to the OP is go for it, and follow the great tips given in other posts. And ENJOY!!

That should work - a jack plug on the mixer end, a jack and a trailing socket on other end. Plug the jack into the IEM unit (you can leave this permanently rigged up) and plug the monitor jack-jack cable into the trailing socket.

I don't think it was an error making all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff, I think their main error was buying loads of other unrelated companies and running them very very badly.

get a dog and a nice motorhome

Yes, he was selling loads as neck blanks. He was called to remove a wooden conservatory, it was about 50 years old and made of paduk and mahogany, this is from that, it’s been around a bit. But 950mm to me says headless!

Cheers for the feedback @SpondonBassed and thanks for taking the time to check it out. 😊 I'm glad my crude advertising methods worked haha. 😂

I've always thought that too. Isn't it the same with die-hard Harley Davidson owners? Image is all.

'The figure is reportedly caused by unfavorable growing conditions for the tree. The Sugar Maple attempts to start numerous new buds to get more sunlight, but with poor growing conditions the new shoots are aborted, and afterward a number of tiny knots remain. Birdseye Maple is frequently sold in veneer form, but solid lumber is available as well. Being tiny knots, the birdseye figure is most noticeable and pronounced on flatsawn pieces of lumber' I don't know if that helps??.........

Never too old. Find a good teacher and learn to play songs that you love. Devote at least 1/2 hour /day. Teacher can help you to stay motivated. Enjoy the journey.

Quite a lot of excellent answers in the thread below...

I'm Denbigh so we've almost got enough people to start the North Wales bass bash 😀

Well they fit perfectly, and keep it the right height. I'd definitely recommend them, they feel much smoother than the stock ones too.

My mate had a band which has now disbanded I think which had a great name for a bunch of codgers getting together to play: 'Old Country Union' That name always tickled me.

I agree. Looking at it another way... a shortened bottom would look hornier. (It must be that time of year where I usually get referred off to have my bumps felt)

Shows how long it is since I uploaded to Photobucket. Just deleted my account. Now I'm in the market for a new host.

So, my machine heads have arrived from Kala in the US and I have now posted them and a set of Pahahoes down to Toby. He has reached here. Toby is ready to do the neck once the machine heads land because then he can get the headstock right. Exciting times indeed.