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Basschat to the rescue. a very friendly owner of a 63 “pure vintage” reissue bass has offered his flat covers and thumb rest so I’ve snapped them up and will return the incorrect items to the shop.

Anyway - using router guide bushes and bearing cutters to take the ash excess off about 2mm at a time, some noise and lots of dust later, we have a basic body shape You can see here how much scooping's going to go on in the next stages! And that's to get it to 30mm max. I might go even slimmer if I think it's going to balance OK...

Trump isn't the problem with Gibson's potential for recovery, but the continued presence of Henry Juszkiewicz very much is. A while back Gibson's main creditors but together a package that would have allowed the company to continue trading as normal, but the stumbling block was that they insisted on the removal of Henry Juszkiewicz as CEO, and he wouldn't step down, hence the current Chapter 11 situation. Personally I can't see any future for Gibson while Henry Juszkiewicz retains any role whatsoever within the company. So either he will be forcefully removed (if that is indeed even possible) or Gibson will collapse completely and the name and IP will be bought up - Yamaha's name has been mentioned more than once in this respect - in which case they will cease to be a US company and Trump will no longer be a concern. Also I can't see what the big deal is with US-made instruments. The products of all the big US manufacturers are without exception vastly over-priced compared with what is actually on offer. It's not like the 50s and early 60s when US manufacture counted for something, and the rest of the world was still lagging behind when it came to both design as well as actual build quality. Nowadays great musical instruments are being made all over the world, and TBH at an equivalent price point for mass-produced instruments the output of just about any-non US factory is far superior.

Its been a while and this is really late but... I was on the hunt for a head and having taken a trip to the big smoke to no avail I decided to take a trip back to one of my favourite shops PMT Birmingham as it was in my old stomping ground. looking to demo a couple of heads Orange 4stroke,Ashdown ABH600 etc so needed to pick a bass to try them out with. Hidden at the back where they put some of the used equipment a silvery glint took my eye! The bass looked used had some marks and crazing in places I had heard good things so decided to give it a go. It sounded and played beautifully but I wasn't looking for a Bass really but I just kept playing and playing. A brew a bit more playing and finally a deal for a head and the bass came about. Now the special bit is the bass had a couple of quirks but after a chat with the staff and emails from yamaha all became clear the bass is one of the demo/proto basses made to take to trade shows/let artists use I believe 4 were made and this is one of them (picture in another thread here https://www.talkbass.com/threads/yamaha-prototype.569739/page-2) This explains the age related marks and knocks etc. Anyway it's a stunning bass and plays amazing with cobalts on it.

Right, I had this feeling that I was being held back by something and realised it was the colouring. I would go and sand a bit then go and sand a bit more. I have all the bits, the only things I need to drill were the holes for the neck screws and the jack socket. Basically, I was procrastinating, and I had a bit of a colouring anxiety. So I decided, I wanted it red, I have the red and everything else, so if I just do it then it will be done. So I did it (well, I drilled one of the screw holes for the neck then realised I couldn't find my 13mm drill for the collet after doing a 14mm one and it being a bit loose). So I pained it red, with a small paintbrush. It drank up the red like it was going out of fashion. I will go over it again tomorrow, but it has taken the red fine, the line on the back that was worrying me, well, yes, you can see it but no it isn't bothering me. Some bits are redder than others, some a bit lighter. You can see the grain and all the imperfections in the wood, and turns out, I love it. It has an imperfection that I like, I can see the bits where I left a little mark, that I remember doing, I see the bits where the wood is different, where i have been watching it as I was working on it. I don't think it is going to win any awards, but It feels really 'personal'. It will be better once I oil it after the colour is done, but I am pretty happy with this. And in putting the neck on to take pictures, I can carry it round with the neck without dropping it - I guess the pocket is tight enough! Yes - I know I need to repaint the garden table!

Wow it's been hot today. Didn't get in the workshop yesterday, I think I slept most of the day. Started the day by planing the scarf joint flat, I checked the necks for flat and they were both still good. The next step was routing the truss rod slot then making the template for the headstock then drew it onto the wood and bandsawed the shape out then used the offcuts to add on the missing bits on the wings. While the glue was drying I played around with the placement for the tuners as my initial drawings didn't look right. I made a test piece from some MDF just to be sure. Once the glue had dried I again bandsawed the rest to shape and marked out the plan view of the neck and cut that slightly oversize. Now it looks more like a bass. Tomorrow I will I think scribe in the neck joint to fit the body then make a start on the fret board, actually more accurately I'll make fret template for my home made mitre box. Moving on from there, I'll leave the necks be until the fretboards are fully finished then I'll have a last check for flat, glue on the headstock veneer, cut the truss rod access slot and drill through before gluing on the fretboards. That I think will be the ongoing plan

Exactly why I drive a relic'd car!

Because we are converting a 4 string to a 5 string which happens to have a rosewood bridge (that, once again, isn't an off the shelf buy), Simon had to make a new bridge. He just happened to have a block of left over rosewood that was the exact right size. Because we couldn't find a piece of plastic/graphtech or bone long enough for the saddle, brass was used.

Oi! I'll have you for copyright!

The Rumble 15 is pretty good for what it is, and that's a home practice amp. However, the bass in that kit is from Squier's "Affinity" line. Again, this is very much a beginner instrument, with dubious quality control, and you may find you outgrow it very quickly. To buy a Rumble amp and a Squier "Vintage Modified" Jazz bass separately would cost £400 total. This is probably about £100 more than the pack you're looking at, but will be a much more "future-proof" investment and will keep you going for longer before you need to upgrade. S.P.

Yeah but in this case 👉 I 👈 am the drummer's mate 😝. S.P.

Yes! In my experience, it's always been drummer related. With a better drummer, I also find that my own playing usually improves too. Weak link in any band brings everybody down.

I avoided them for years because I thought they were boring. Then one day I decided to see what all the fuss was about and instantly fell in love with the sound.

2024x I can't believe how good it is.

I think it's more likely that any they do stock take a long time to sell, mainly because they're gash. 😋

Would a re-finish involve stripping back to wood, re-painting, then applying the orbital sander for a while..?

Whatever the number, it'll be one less than the combined population of bassists think they need.

I don't get why european bass players like to fosters and moan about the American presidents so much. Clean up your own house......oh wait, we sent a rep to improve the royal line. Things will get better.

I did once see: "Fender Roadworn bass for sale. Mint condition..." I did laugh.

Some guys are too old at 25. Depends on your disipline, apptitude and ambition, not age. Blue

Keep the basses, get a new wife.

A bit like an old Landrover, an outside toilet or a Yorkshire pudding.

They're as American as an apple pie made by an American using American apples, in America. I love 'em (Precision basses, not so keen on apple pies, difficult to get the intonation right).

I'd put the Jazz neck on the precision body and hide the Jazz body & Precision neck from the missus in the loft.

Cort basses are the nuts

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I will only wear a thin natural cotton t-shirt while gigging, anything thicker between the bass and my stomach affects the tone too much. Heavy knitwear will definitely result in a woolly tone, whilst synthetic fibres are good for slap.

That will cause low frequency cancellations. Put one cab on the floor, aimed at the drummer, for him to hear. Put the other on top of it aimed at you for you to hear.

Thanks @dood interesting article – I particularly like the Producer Switch bit ! Glissando – I suppose it makes sense thinking about it logically – I also liked his description of frets: railroad tracks clicking away Very smooth playing on that Lukather track too

I really don't care if my relic bass gets a bit more relic @Musashimonkey said, the freedom is lovely.

Have this little beauty for a few months now so time to post a pic or two... I wanted a light weight Precision due to having alot of shoulder and neck pain recently and I found this nice demo at the Bass Freaks online store with a good discount... its only 3.1kg (6.8lbs) so feels like wearing fresh air... simple passive no frills P bass with Delano pickup... sounds great, plenty of bite and bark but can do old school really well too with flats... I've become the regular bassist for a busy blues band and this is the perfect bass for the job... its so light and comfortable to play that I'm finding myself grabbing it now for all my other gigs as well (pop & rock covers mostly)... overall I'm very impressed with this lovely instrument, I never thought I'd buy a red bass but I must admit its really grown on me 🙂

Good advice. We'll erect a lamp post in her name.

So a couple of hours have gone past since I did the above and I've come back to it and I can't think of anything I've missed. And so, having popped a couple of locating screws in in the pickup positions, it's being glued as I type. And you all know the mantra. This time it's in the key of F#: "You can NEVER have too many clamps!!!"

I sold a Nate Mendel earlier in the year. The new owner had no idea which dents were original or added my me. 😂

In England there is apparently a 1 in 37.3 chance of meeting someone who plays / has played / owns / owned a bass guitar. That is according to my book of entirely made up facts.

Between us we have 30, if we extrapolate those figures that means there are more bass guitars than humans!

It needs to be anchored in the thicker parts of the neck, so yes, within the heel

I don't know why you don't just say what you mean. Heeheehee On the UK ice cream industry; you could argue that the price of a ninety nine is threatened by the possibility of US owned Cadbury having tarrifs imposed upon Flakes. Anyone who wants to point out that these aren't imported from the US to the UK ought to take account of the fact that this is already a flaky opinion and they should not encourage me to derail this topic any further.

Has to be the most realistic way of looking at it.

I'm in Bangor.

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.

Wow, that´s along story. Here we go: Passive pickups can be seen as a mixed circuit which consists of resistance, inductance and capacity, hence creating a resonant peak at a certain frequency above which the frequency response is going downwards. This resonant peak is highly important for the sound of the instrument because it sits in the presence area of our hearing range. Now if you plug such a PU into an amp then the amp´s input impedance will interfere with this resonant point, usually lowering and eventually broadening the peak as well as lowering the frequency. We´re used to that and we want to hear our passive instrument like that to a certain degree. To make things worse the cable has it´s impact, too, as it sits between amp and PU. That´s why some people like cables of a certain length. Now there comes the DI with it´s own input impedance, typically 50kOhm for a passive DI and 1MOhm for an active DI. This again will interfere with the PU resonance and alter the sound. And things get more difficult if you go through the DI unbuffered into an amp because that will increase the load on the pickup and the resonance point will go lower again. Technically spoken both input impedances are parallel to the pickup giving an even lower impedance than each single one of DI and amp. For historical reason most bassamps have an input impedance of 220kOhm (many exceptions, though) while guitar amps typically have 1MOhm. To have a proper matching between output impedance of a PU and input impedance of an amp/DI the later one should be x10 of the source impedance. Pickups of passive basses have worst-case output impedances of 17kOhm, hence there should be a load of at least 170kOhm. Passive DIs cannot deliver such high impedances. They are the wrong choice. You´re better off with an active DI. Active basses have worst case output impedances of a few hundred Ohms. Here both passive and active DIs are fine regarding impedance matching. The PU resonances are already buffered by the active electronic inside the bass in a way that both DI and amp cannot have an influence on that. For the studio nerd there´s more to check out: if we have micpres with variable input impedance then this will be the next parameter to look for in a chain of passive bass, passive DI + amp. A lower input impedance setting of the micpre (e.g. certain vintage Neve preamps have this possibility) will be reflected through the transformer of the DI. That means the DI seems to have a lower input impedance than it´s nominal value (wrt 1,2-1,5kOhm input impedance of the micpre) and will load the pickup even more down, eating the treble range even more. Historically this problem has been recognized in times when there were no active basses around. The solution were active DIs, back then made with tubes. All that is theory. You will not destroy either bass, amp or DI with the technically wrong choice. It does influence sound, but if you like it then all is good. If not, then see above.

Updated board, now with added whammy I've always hated using bigger pedaltrain boards, having to use pedals on the back row. But the PT booster really does the job, makes such a big difference:

That’s what I meant

Sell he bass you play the least.

That thought crossed my mind too. Mind you Id have expected something like "removed the troublesome complex pick guard and electrics and replaced those bog standard Bartolinis with some Chinese howlers. Now a sublime sound"

First thing that comes to mind is a Marcus Miller P7. P body, jazz neck, PJ pickups, plus active preamp. Easily found for under £500 new. Not sure about weight as I've not owned one, but should be fairly light (especially the alder models). Not sure about Squires/Fenders specifically, I'm sure others will though

He only committed a bit of fraud - not murder, for Christ's sake!