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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

Hi Basschatters! My website has over 700 FREE bass transcriptions on. Just help yourselves if there's anything you would like. http://tomreadbass.co.uk

...it stinks.

Nice theory but it's not that. I think it's just genuinely that they haven't stopped to think "how many do we need" and are thinking more along the lines of "what's the most we can reasonably ask for?" Anyway, I'm getting on nicely, I'm 8/11 of the way through composing my "cheat sheet", and as we all know, once you've decomposed the song enough to write the cheat sheet, it's as good as memorised. S.P.

Not sure if this might help but i downloaded it from somewhere to get a better understanding of chords. If not just download and store for future reference Jeff_Berlin_-_A_Comprehensive_Chord_Tone_System_for_Mastering_the_Bass_1987.pdf

Hi , yeah... I ! We are all only humans but I can honestly say i try 110% to match people's expectations. Dave's bass was actually Ex demo due to finding a scratch on it (god dammit I hate when that happens....) before concluding the deal. That being said i'm sure some people would send out hoping he'd not see it and then go "oh really?" but I care too much about my rep as a seller to even think to risk that. His bass was the lightest normal scale i've ever had in stock. Most Maruszczyk passive are about 3,5 kilo. I've just sold a 32 inch Chambered J that went below 3 kilo. Which is pretty outstanding. cheers

Welcome! Only thing I would say is about the kits is it MIGHT not be the best value, the amp will be fine but for the same money you could get a better Squier than the Affinity(I'm guessing) that's included. Going second hand might allow you to get a better bass, but there is just so much choice! Go and try a few if you can, the world is your oyster. You will never be short of good advice around these parts.

Auditions work both ways, not only are they trying you out, you are (or you should be) sizing them up as well. I can't remember ever learning stuff for an audition, I just turn up and busk it, it shows that you're flexible, and life's too short to commit to learning a dozen songs just so they can take the drummer's mate instead.

Everyone gets a p bass moment

Final two things before closing the top. First - a tip I learnt on my veneering jobs - is take a paper template of the chambers. Especially as this will be carved to within an inch of its life, knowing where the chambers are is pretty crucial. All I do is make an indentation on some standard photocopying paper, including some positioning datum marks: The second thing I do is WAIT! Once it's glued, it's permanent. So I need to walk away from it for an hour or so, then come back fresh-minded and recheck: has EVERYTHING that needs doing before that top goes on been done?

It’d be worth checking the pickup casings - My old telecaster needed an added earth wire to the casing when I added a 4 way switch.

Fret wire comes in a large range of varying heights and widths. It's down to personal preference. A lot of people go for "jumbo" frets, although you'll struggle to find a fret wire described as such on sale. The action is the gap between the strings and frets, so the height of the frets doesn't really have a bearing. However it sounds like you might prefer a shorter fret, in which case it's probably best to keep them wide to avoid excessive wear, especially if you use roundwounds

I started bass lessons about two months ago and I’m 55.

Absolutely - somewhere I’ve a DVD of him using this Basic 350/ST800 setup into a pair of Goliath II’s. Mind you, any good Jazz bass into a Sadowsky preamp does the MM sound for me..no amp needed 😜

Just do it.

Never mind the criteria. With these numbers it's just you and Stevie, face to face. Signed Sealed Delivered Sir Duke I Wish Do I Do Master Blaster Higher Ground Another Star Did I Hear You Say I Love You I bought all these on albums when they came out and apart from I Wish I've never played or bothered to learn them. Now I'm having a great time working through the list.

Sell both the P and the J. Then buy a sunburst P with a rosewood fretboard.

You should sell the Jazz as that seems to be the least used / attached to. But you have such a great selection that it is a pity to sell any of it. Have you looked into covering that £800-ish you'd get for the jazz in other ways? Like selling other bass related stuff or such?

Sell the Jazz. The P and the Warwick are earning for you. So, the Jazz is the weakest link

Agreed. Don't know about you but I genuinely enjoy learning new material, especially stuff I would never normally have tackled. The most fun I've had in the last month was learning Happy by Pharrell Williams, and learning it properly so that I could absolutely nail it. The band loved my performance at the audition for "first-choice dep bass player". So much so that they decided they needed a better full-time bass player. But because I play in other bands they also decided not to offer the role to me ... Bwahahahaha!!! Bands, don't you just love 'em?

What is this "upper register" of which you speak?

Fleet (Hampshire) A bit of a departure, this one. Week #1 DDD is the singer who wants to put together an Elvis Presley / Buddy Holly band. Now I've been here before, and I know (from bitter experience) that you can't put together the band and then look for Elvis ... a bit cart-before-the-horse that way. So here I am with the Elvis I need, he already has a drummer, I play bass, all we need is a guitarist, how difficult can this be? DDD says "let's catch up after Easter". I ask him for some YouTube of his own performance. Week #2 DDD sends me YouTube links of him fronting a serious holiday-camp-style 60s tribute act, full matching silver suits, the whole thang. There's not much of it, but he can certainly sing. He can't find a guitarist, do I know anyone? The email ping-pong continues, I suggest we meet face-to-face and have a chat over a beer, maybe even jam through some of the proposed material. Week #3 DDD wants to hook up but can't do so for a week or two. He starts copying the drummer on the emails. Have I found a guitarist yet? I'm currently chasing FIVE of the buggers. Week #4 DDD circulates a short list of a dozen songs, six each by Elvis and Buddy. I've found just one guitarist who seems to be up for this. We all agree to meet the following Friday. Week #5 My guitarist is up for it, but needs another week to prepare. Week #6 My guitarist is no longer my guitarist. He's decided to stick to bedroom widdling. At least he has a more realistic view of his abilities than most guitarists I've met. Week #7 DDD says he will try again to find a guitarist. I make supportive noises whilst quietly thinking "Game Over, move to radio silence". Week #10 (yes, 10) Things get surreal. DDD emails out of the blue - would I be interested in playing a charity gig on Sunday during the BH weekend? My reply was, and I quote: Deano can apparently bring in both a guitarist and a keyboard player. It's a MacMillans Cancer support gig at a big pub in Fleet. That's all I know. There's nothing on the Web about it and the pub is closed for refurbishment. Several days of email ping-pong follow between the three of us regarding whether or not there will be a PA, will there even be microphones, is back line provided, etc. What could possibly go wrong? Halfway through, Deano adds a fourth person to the email trail - who he? Is he a guitarist? Is he a keyboards player? Week #11 Silvie and I drive down to Fleet. We're taking no chances ... we've left the van fully loaded from Friday night's gig, with complete PA, bass rig, etc. in case we turn up to find a child's karaoke set being used as the PA. And yes, I've seen it done. At the venue we are greeted by the sound of very loud, very live music. There's a large beer garden alongside the car park, a very serious PA is in use complete with proper sound engineer, and the band before us are a professional functions band. Hmmmmmm. Whatever next. I meet the others for the first time. Deano and Roy (the drummer) are relaxed, the 'guitarist' is laid back to the point of limbo-dancing under toilet doors. I say "You're the guitarist, right?" and he replies "Actually I'm a bass player who dabbles in guitar". Oh dear. I ask him if he's worked through the set list. He says he looked at it briefly last night. "But what about the key changes and so on?", I ask him. "What key changes?", he says. Oh dear, oh dear. "Are you going to be OK?", I ask him. "I'll be fine" he says, "I can play anything, and I play harmonica too, and of course I'll sing a few of these. If I'm in doubt, I'll just copy what the other guitarist does". Oh dearie dearie me. We set up on stage and - inevitably - the layout requires me to stand between the two guitarists. In the event it probably doesn't matter, since the sound guy turns down the guitarist as soon as he hears him play. So, how did my audition go? Judge for yourselves - here's the edited highlights with all the cockups skilfully and surgically removed:

Just finished installing mine today...