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So many things in life are just designed to get in the way of what you want to do. The last two weekends we were away, this one i had 3 gigs! During the week I did get to do some sanding, all at 1200 after the colouring, and I found the joys of lintfull paper. If you rub it down with a paper towel, it only leaves lint where something catches it, so that is the bit that needs smoothing. I did all the final holes I needed for neck screws and jack socket. I messed up with the jack socket but luckily it didn't do any harm and didn't show. After having to go and get stuff I managed to put a coat of oil over everything. It looks a lot darker, I really like it, even the line down the back. Like this:

New rig finally sorted.

I put a teeny bead of titebond along the tang, then hammer in the fret and then clamp a radius block on until the titebond has gripped: Here's the board now with frets trimmed and chamfered:

Look like a whisker above 2mm at the 12th fret

Well, quite, but I came to this thread to watch/listen to a band I knew nothing about, and so gave it a go (otherwise why post these topics at all..?). It turns out that, like Lenny, I was, let's say,.. unimpressed, and chose to post in that vein. It's just my opinion, and for my part I have no wish to change the view of anyone at all, but it's comment on an open forum on a subject of interest to several. I'd have thought that all loyal views would be welcome, whether for or against. I'll post again in the same spirit on any similar subjects if I feel inspired to.

And we have frets! Ready to trim and bevel once the glue's fully dried. Then a demarcation veneer and then glue it on the neck

We also have a coffee machine now! Pop round any time @Quilly

Got a bit more done today, Headstock cut started to redo the taper and took some of the bulk off the back of the neck aswell

I had a rehearsal yesterday and our guitarist said he had bought the flagship Helix board to try instead of his pedal board and valve amp. He went straight to PA (we all go through FOH live) and it was incredibly good with none of the stress of mic’ing up amps and noisy pedal clicks etc. For me it is an excellent live solution and if you read /watch interviews with bands most of them will say the same about Fractal/positive grid/kemper. There isn’t enough difference live to warrant the pedal boards, and big expensive valve amps that need maintenance and care. I think there will always be the pureists, and I love a valve amp as much as the next guy, but in the gigging world I think the nuances of the analog kit is lost.

Little-known makes that deserve to be better known? (Speaking as a hard-core lover of GMR basses 🙂 - I wouldn't swap any of my three for a Maruszczyk any day.) Now that I've thought of it I'll start a thread in Bass Guitars.

Tuesdays. You can use them on Tuesdays.

Don't have enough space or time to contrast and compare my amps. Plenty of good reviews and youtube clips about but a quick summary. Edit: I have been using Markbass Cabs for over 10 years and more recently (last 5 years) Vanderkley or Barefaced with all the Class D amps mentioned below. Have used MARKBASS SA450 and Little Mark 500 for around 15 years, both excellent amps, the SA450 no longer in production. Little colouration so sound of bass very evident. Lots of tonal choice and VLE and VPF controls are great. Plenty punch and power. No mute Switch. Good DI out. Good value overall. GENZ BENZ ShuttleMax 9.2 and Streamliner 900. My preference is for the Shuttlemax which I have been using the most over last 5 years or so and I marginally favour over Markbass. Great sound, two channels, loud , punchy, excellent DI out feature laden but which I very rarely use. I find my Shutttlemax cuts through mix better than the Streamliner which is a great simple little amp particularly for warmer older school sounds, three valve preamp and far less features than the Max, Sadly Fender pulled the plug on the amazing Genz Benz range over 5 years ago. I have little doubt that the GENZLER MAGELLANs are excellent just waiting to try one out. GK 500MB, bought as a back-up, but excellent amp as first choice. More colouration than other amps here with a distinctive GK sound (which I really like), seems very loud for a 500W amp.great overdrive and boost. High end can be a but hissy and a little noisey Good DI. Great value for money. Phil Jones Bass D400 with C8 cab. I love the PJB stuff of which I use a variety and the D400 is most recent. Excellent clean HiFi sound, great for studio and practice. Nice low B for such small drivers, excellent for acoustic instruments. PJB gear does cut through the mix nicley, but to even begin to compete with other amps here and loud drummers here one would need to consider the D1000, which is close to a grand! SANSAMP RBI and CROWN XLS 1002 power amp. Great set-up, classic Sansamp grit for Ampeg-like tones, 1100W of power.but getting into rack gear here. QUILTER BASS BLOCK 800, Portability, great tone punch and power at a very competitive price, only Markbass and GK come close at this price point. The Depth and Contour controls provide all I ever need.( Siimilar idea as Markbass VLE AND VPF). I was very pleasantly surprised by this little beauty at under €500!! The QUILTER DI/line out is great and DOES vary with Gain and Master volume. Not overly impressed with T.C ELECTRONIC great fun TONE PRINT stuff but sound a bit synthetic and under powered to me. Had two combos, both with unusable humming DI outs!! Have gigged with HARTKE gear nice punchy sound, like the old HA3500, if it didn't weigh a ton. The new TX600 is nice but seems very quiet compared to GK, QUILTER, MARKBASS etc. Used an AGUILAR TONE HAMMER 500, very good indeed, nice gritty punch but cost quite a bit more than the QUILTER. I started out 45 years ago, with HIwatt 100, then Fender Bassman135, and then Acoustic Control Corp 220/406 which was my favourite. Have used HH, Peavey, Laney, Trace, Carlsbro (less said the better), but am now firmly in the Class D club, for portability as much as anything. In summary the QUILTER is a USA built unit that should be seriously considered by any player. BTW I have no connection, allegiance or affiliation to Quilter, but think I know a bargain when I see one. Hope my self-indulgent ramblings are helpful. Cheers

Indeed, if I whisker is .5mm

Blues song played backwards: my best friend's wife left him for me. Then I went to bed. Country song played backwards: My dog came back to life. The cows milked themselves. Everything is brilliant and I'm loaded.

I think the 14 days thing is only for distance selling/purchasing.

I'm with the shop on this. You bought it in person. They don't have to give you any return time at all if you decide you just don't like it. The Cooling off period for online sales is because you don't get the chance to try it before you buy. I'm still amazed that clothes shops allow changes for so long after purchase - the amount of people they must have buying stuff and wearing it for a party and returning it must be mental.

I’ll be the controversial one, then! As much as I love Fenders, sometimes I think the tuners look stupid. There; I said it! A full set of “T” (or are they called “Y”?) shaped ones would look fine, but if the rest of the hardware is that dark chrome I’d look for replacements in that colour.

perfect.

Imo if you use effects live, go for reliability. You can use whatever you like in the studio. The audience tbf nowadays doesn’t give a stinky poo about what nice gear you have on show. They just want to be entertained. It’s the disposable digital age we live in. Music isn’t top of the pops now pardon the pun. Heh.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I bought the Yamaha F310 yesterday. It was in definite used condition but played and sounded extremely good. Much better than my Fender acoustic! It was a bargain at £15 too.

Sanding sealer... applied with a brush dries quickly, will need a sand and a second coat

I'm sure I won't, which is why I'll get my tech to do it 🤣

A slight hiccup but as soon as it is my hands, I will take proper pics and share them here 😉

Both myself and my guitarist have gone Helix. The biggest benefit is consistency in sound and the ease in which we are able to set up the PA. We're not fiddling with buttons or tracing dodgy patch cables or balancing output volumes mid gig. The ability to create complicated signal chains with ease and the variety of amps, cabs and effects on offer do it for me. There's no way I could afford to do that in the analogue world. I'll concede that from a tone purist point of view the Helix isn't going to be 100% a match for valve amp and analogue pedals but for my live use it's ideal.

Eight posts up ^^ from this one, added to my earlier post. I can't see how to link to a specific post in a topic, as in the previous version of the site; sorry...

What do you consider to be essential spares to carry with you? (Or is that a bit mundane?)

I bought a set of Gotoh GB640 res-o-lite twiddlers for my thunderbird and got around to fitting them today. In my haste I think I could have fitted them a little straighter so I'll probably refit them at some point but I'm very happy with the classic vintage-cool 'long stem' look. The stock Wilkinsons were OK but in addition of look much better these are lighter and smoother. This GB640 set tunes the standard way, but there's also a GBR640 set which have reverse gearing like vintage Klusons and other modern versions that look like Klusons. Another difference common to the GB640 & GBR640 is that the baseplate fits flat without needing to drill dimples like you would for original vintage & vintage replica versions. They are made from something called duralumin alloy and weigh just 67g each.

I've been a member since the beginning - massive resource of knowledge. If you want to learn how to play bass, get better or get great, there a course. If you just want to noodle around - no point joining. If you are serious about getting better, there isn't a better online resource. In my opinion.

If you're OK with Jazz neck dimensions you won't go far wrong with a Squier VMJ, nice used ones turn up for around £150 - £200. Still kicking myself for selling mine.

@thebassgallery call ahead and tell them you want tea and biscuits

That’s a great way to look at it. if Scott’s courses inspire you to pick up the bass, then they’re doing the right thing!

They haven't had their day yet, but that time is coming. Maybe a couple more generations from now, but I didn't feel the Helix could replace my favourite analog pedals just yet. Things will change when you can design and upload your own FX creations to a modeller like the Helix, but some standardisation has to take place with a common open file format before that can happen. Tons of pedals are digital these days, but every one we buy needlessly converts to and from analog to digital, adding latency and reducing fidelity... Take away the physical components and you are left with the algorithm, which can be sold at a lower price. A system like VST FX for your DAW but on your pedalboard is required where you can buy effects for a few quid each or even free from multiple vendors and upload them. Closest we have to that right now is the Mod Duo on Kickstarter.

I think Scott's lessons are excellent. They work very well for me, and I've been a lifer for a couple of years now. Money well spent IMO but, like anything else, it won't suit everyone.

I had been considering joining for a while and this thread renewed my interest so I joined up last week. I'm finding it very helpful so far and have already watched a number of lessons. Very well laid out web site and the tutors including Scott are very likeable and easy to follow. Downloaded some of the podcasts too to listen to in my car. Like has been said above you need to put the time in to get your moneys worth and I'm fortunate now that my wife is out most evenings so once the kids are in bed I can have an hour on my bass every night.

Ah OK, tbh I've never really got too hung up on neck profiles. I'm no good on any shape lol.

This. SBL is well worth it if you've got the time to make the most of it.

Of course you can dislike Jerry Barnes. I don't mind him, but for me he gets way too slappy when the excitement rises. It is very tedious though to have to keep wading through dozens of, "It's not Chic without Bernard" comments. It is Chic if Nile Rodgers wants it to be even though Bernard isn't there. I like that Nile is still gigging and doesn't live in a timewarp, even though so many Chic fans seem to.

Without doubt Mick Karn was once of the most original players out there, that Japan catalogue still sounds like nothing else on the market. Lovely fellow, sadly missed.

Big time Precision GAS, but the Sire V7 needs to go first...😁

Although I am proud to be English, I cannot look at the flag of St.George without thinking "Football Yob".

and this.

I get a little annoyed when a band member leaves right after a gig leaving an hour and a half of tear down to the rest of the band. Blue

Liberace was alive back then and all... hmmm.

Pimped a Squier Bronco I got recently. Changed the tuners (elephant ears), bridge and added a hotrails, cream pickguard and pickup cover - to be extra pimpy!!! Super fun to play, the neck is very comfortable and fast. Gets big and thumpy. Depending on the amp can get a nice 60s p tone thump, but it can also dig in and growl when I want it to. Think my full scales may be taking a back seat for a while.