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And Nobby Holder on the other side.

Actually, my own photos are still OK on the thread - luckily I was already using imgur. The formatting etc is all over the place but - it being 27 pages long (!!!!), I suspect the photos are the only things most sensible readers might be interested in. There is only so much Andyjr1515 rambling most sane people can cope with. Certainly, that's a view expressed often by MrsAndyjr1515

I set the last inlays in the other headstock today, looks good I think Well that will be it now for a couple of weeks, we're off on holiday to the distant land of England. When I'm back it will be bind the headstock, cut the trussrod access slot and drill it's hole, Finish the neck tenon, fret the fingerboad fit the side dots and stick it on before carving the neck.

Having been an Ampeg fan for a LONG time, my days of lugging the full size kit have been drawing to a close. I picked up one of the Aguilar cabs at PMT and I'm blown away with how great it sounds. I road tested it with my 3 piece rock 'n' roll band last night and the drummer was asking if I had changed the basslines. "No, you can just hear it now!" I replied.

This is far too cool. I love it!

"Real bargain for the festival season". Great for banging in tent pegs...

Some of you may have followed the diary in the build forum, but for those of you who don't frequent those parts, here's my new ACG Krell E-Type 6: These are Alan's photos, but it arrived yesterday. Spec: Alder body Indian Cedar top 33" scale 24 frets Ash neck Macassar Ebony fingerboard (with a very slight radius) ACG RFB dual coils East Uni-Pre 4K I believe it's also one of the first with Alan's new headpiece, which really tidies up the string ends on headless basses! I've already recorded the theme for the new Basschat Podcast with it, loving the sound, so make sure you download that and have a listen when it's available in the next few days. Si

I use the ACS pro 17s and agree that I'm probably missing out on a hell of a lot when I do. Ear damage to start with. Ears ringing for days after a gig or rehearsal. The lead guitarist bawling out the rhythm guitarist. The singer bickering with the drummer. All just washes over me with the plugs in. Actually, I'm thinking of wearing them all the time.

Did I ever tell you about the time I was next to Shakin Stevens in the Gents...?

It's probably only experience that's missing, I'd suggest. Give it a bit of time, have a bit of patience and the gigs will sort themselves out as you become accustomed to the new sensation. Whilst you're waiting (it won't take long...), just reassure yourself that you'll be hearing the gigs (and more...) better, and for far longer, than if you were unprotected. Well done for taking the step; wear 'em systematically and you'll soon be fine. Just my tuppence-worth.

@ped Si

Thank you. Corrected and apology given. That's 2 spelling mistakes I've been reprimanded for in this post and that's before the chidings I expected for my depicted misconduct. But it's good to see that BC is doing its bit to maintain high standards, (oh no, I started this sentence with a conjunction).

By the way, I've just remembered where the Aluminium DB GAS started - the London Bass Guitar Show 2016. The ones below were not for sale - just there as exhibits. I think they belong to the previous publisher of Bass Guitar Magazine.

Thanks for all the positive comments - I hope it carries on going well!! I've done the neck shaping this evening - good old Shinzo rasp!! The neck is obviously a completely different shape to a normal neck being headless, short and single cut and I have tried this before so I was expecting a few issues but it all went smoothly. I had to make a couple of rough jigs to route along the join with the body with a round bit. I did this as I wanted the join from the back of the neck to the body to be nicely rounded (this might make sense when looking at the picture of the neck on it's own).I modified the round cutter like a template cutter by fitting a guiding bearing on the shaft. It only needed a channel a couple of mm deep so I cut that first then changed to a normal template cutter, made another jig then removed a couple of mm from the back of the neck leaving me a level surface to start cutting from. After a bit of rasping and sanding I ended up with this (note the threaded inserts for bolting the neck on with allen headed bolts): And fitted to the body this is how it now looks (note the previous scars on the bench work top where I cut a bit too deep with a router in the past...) Next job is lots of sanding of the body.....

This is now being shown on BBC2 at 9pm on Saturday 30th June.

One of those situations where I'd been lusting after one of these for so long clearly I wasn't going to be happy until i'd bagged one - and here it is! Its beautiful to play - even though it's 30" it doesn't feel at all cramped compared to my regulr 34" precision - it has the same sort of proportions, and same very Fendery sound. It's a 2013 Made in Japan model, with a slab body, 7.25 radius and smallish frets - kind of slightly bigger than vintage. Really lightweight at 3.5kg and pretty well balanced too. The condition is immaculate - the guy i bought it from was retiring from playing and selling off his stuff - he'd barely played this, and never taken it out of the house. Genuinely could pass for new. Its just had a set-up by our local luthier here and now has a lovely low action and strung with La Bella Mustang flatwounds I'm gigging at a little festival next Saturday and itching to take this along - I really, really hope it's a keeper, as I've had to sell my Epi Jack Casady to help pay for it

Hi All I’ve just finished a Thinline tele which came out pretty well…. However, I’ve found that the only time I have to practise is in the evening, when my two year old has finally exhausted herself from saying ‘no’ repeatedly and vehemently to everything. We live in a flat so to ensure I don’t disturb her I’ve also found that I play it unplugged. That works pretty well but I wish it had just a tiny bit more acoustic volume. So…… I’m wondering whether I should building something like this, that is fully chambered rather than only half chambered as the Thinline is. Me being me, though, I want to simplify things a bit. I’ve found that for me I really need to build in an incremental way - making each build only slightly more complex than the last. I know there are builders here who can seemingly conjure painfully beautiful guitars from clothes pegs using only spoons as theirs tools. That’s not me unfortunately. At the moment, I don’t want to do a set neck or a carved top or bent sides but I’m wondering whether a flat top, bolt-on neck, fully chambered (ie routed) Les Paul build might do the trick? If anyone wanted to offer up an opinion, I’d love to hear it. Specifically, I’m wondering about the following: Acoustic volume - do you think a fully chambered (routed) body like this would increase the volume a little bit in comparison to the above thinline? Should I also be thinking about making the top thinner than the standard 5mm or so which I would normally put on a chambered guitar? 4mm? 3mm? Is there any reason why a Les Paul can’t have a standard bolt on neck? I know the LPs have the neck at an angle. Is that because of the carved top? Or the bridge design? Or both? Does anyone know what the minimum height of that sort of bridge is? Lots of questions, I know. PS. Now clearly I realise if I want a bit more volume just a pair of headphones would take me about 100 less hours than building an entirely new guitar. But if I did that, how would I fill those 100 hours?

I maybe all 3

The Basschat Podcast Pilot ...

I've just watched the David Lynch film. What has he got against the band to make something as awful as that? I skipped through and found nothing I could watch. The mix was bad too. Much sibilance in the vocals.

Well it sort of is with heavy T-bird influences but agreed... So no takers for the Sandberg Chad Valley series...

I also think less scripted material would be good. Maybe with something like the neck stuff from spondon could have been a conversation

I have difficulty walking and talking at the same time. Heck no.

That's a nice one Sibob.

Yes, I find the 17db moulded plugs I use keeps everything sounding the same, but completely saps the energy especially from the drums. I'm sticking with them though, as I don't want the very mild tinnitus I have getting any worse.

I use the Pro17s... Used to use Etymotic £12 ones before that which didn't attenuate as equally over the whole frequency range - I found that with the Etys it cut down less on bass, so I was always too quiet. Now they can hear me! And, of course I can hear them too...

There is an absolutely riveting and hugely informative Les Paul build thread on the Telecaster Discussion Forum. the guy is called Gil Yaron (look him up) and he goes by Preeb on that forum. He is a genius, I think, and his eye for detail is incredible. He also did a fantastic Jazz Bass build, which is equally engrossing. you should find all the details you seek there.

I find these a really handy space saver when I‘m on public transport. The Markbass bass keeper. https://goo.gl/images/ikujby

...none of that belt sander nonsense. http://bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Hofner_1963_Violin_Relic.html Nice job, Hofner.

I use them, you’ll get used to it, try wearing them 20-30mins before you start playing to acclimatise. If you’ve come to using them from nothing, or even crappy foam things etc, they’re a big jump. Ultimately, it’s use them, or ‘get into the atmosphere’ and lose/damage your hearing quicker. Si

Things are going down hill fast today, sloppy spelling and grammar. Edited, thank you.

COPY AND PASTE MALFUNCTION ,I THINK ITS CO ORDINATES TO AREA51

^^^ wot he said

Misdemeanours (UK) Misdemeanors (US)

Thanks Andy. The body is indeed a sandwich. TBH I wasn't looking at the major work in the replies so I'll just leave it alone. Thanks for the replies guys.

Joined the fakers last week. Bought an Ali Ex 5'er from a fella on the FB page Saturday night. Right of the bat I spotted a few wee issues. Nut was off to one side. B&G barely registered on the neck pickup. String/pickup poles were off over the bridge pickup. The RIC logo had been sanded of the TR cover. First job,get that logo sorted. Had some adhesive labels so just printed out the RIC logo. I know this offends some folk but tough stinky poo. My old man knows better than to try telling me what to do so a stranger's outrage means nothing 🙂 Moving the nut took a dab of glue and no time. Turned the G saddle 180,that and the nut improved things at the bridge pickup. The neck toaster just wasn't wide enough for 5 strings nor was the Retrovibe one I'd had in the spares box. I've been impressed with the Warman jazzbar and used it a few times. This was a good excuse to order another. It arrived yesterday but this afternoon was the first chance to fit it. Bars span the string spacing no problem though tomorrow I plan on the parallel wiring option. It's a high output pickup and the change should balance better against the bridge one. £100 for bass,£18 for pickup,less than couple of hour work 😎

A shadow? You had sun in Derby? Ah OK not so thick, I was interested to know what they were like really but yours are more akin to mine, my favourite is about 0.5mm now but it's getting a bit shallow. Love the side dots on Mick's bass, beautifully done. One of the things I like about this build is the way the neck flows out of the body

Voting ends tomorrow night.

Good to see Jeff pairing the tried and tested jeans & Hi-Tec combination with a rather unorthodox (some might say daring) vest and blazer counterpoint there, I like it when musicians push the boundaries and really stretch themselves.

What's this 'passive' nonsense?

Ash Frankenbass, Kickass Bridge, Quaterpounders

A quiet evening in watching the telly for my Precisions - ok, that's all my basses.

An AVRI '62 Precision for you. (and a rather fetching rug) Has a somewhat challenging nut width, but that's offset by a truly wonderful House of Tone pickup. The original fell apart during a setup, and the raised poles where annoying me so off it went to pickup heaven Absolutely nails that P sound I've had in my head since I first heard Queen in the 70's. Nitro finish has very slight checking in places, and over all bass looks much older than it actually is without looking like a relic. I find it a wee bit tricky to play for anything other than simple rock/blues due to the size of the neck and my mangled hands, but its so worth it. Totally fits in with the band I'm in. Currently considering flat wound brands ;-)