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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

Yep, had a 74 Jazz bass and one of those pedals and sounded great - only down side was that I needed 5 strings!

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.

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

Phew! I was beginning to sweat over that. (guffaw guffaw) No really, I'm glad you've cleared that up. Heeheehee

If you buy new stuff you'll lose a lot more money when you trade up, if that's your intention. You might want to consider buying higher quality used gear to preserve a bit more second hand value.

So am I the only one not really understanding why 11 songs with weeks of notice is an issue? Are they 10 minute jazz pieces? A dream theater cover band? If we're talking standard rock covers then 11 songs should be very doable! Especially the if you want the gig!

Nope. There's something very British about a Shergold Marathon, though.

First off, welcome to the low-end. Onto business, unless you`re intending to use the Jazz/Rumble in a band scenario (where it won`t be anywhere near loud enough against any kind of drums) it will be plenty enough, with no distortion. I`ve had the Rumble 15 and it was too loud to have on full for home use. Similarly Squier basses are decent instruments to start out on, some pros use them as their main live instruments so nothing wrong with that choice.

Yes, the attention to detail was exceptional! As was the speed with which they got it to Leicester!

Ok guys, the Bass was sold to me, I traded it, I think for a Marcus Miller Jazz with a Status neck on here. I instantly regretted it as well but hey ho you live and you learn. So the connection we have now is Red Shuker Jazz Marcus Miller with Status neck

They have a keyboard player?

It fills my heart with glee to see that “bollocks” gets through the profanity filter. As you were...

Best learn all 11 songs; you'll probably have to show the other guys in the band which chords to play and the order they go in

I’d say the P will sell faster. But it seems what you really need is to sell both and get a sunburst P with a rosewood neck

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?

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"

I've said this before, but BC is one of the most polite, friendly and supportive forums I've ever come across. Mind you, what would you expect? - we're bass players aren't we ?