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We can say all we want about how good it all looks but a happy customer is priceless Job well done

Well, I've had the bass for a few days now and I thought it would be nice to post some feedback. The top line is that the 'vision' I had for a custom built bass has been brought to wonderful life by Andy. The main design brief was for a Jazz-influenced 'working' 4 string that looked good but didn't scream 'look at me'. For me, a triple tick has been achieved. The light weight of the bass, at 6.5 pounds, was almost disconcerting when I first picked it up. But after playing it for a few days I ask myself 'why are most basses so heavy?'. I set Andy the challenge of block markers on a maple fret board. They look and feel beautiful. So far, I've only used the bass for personal playing and one band rehearsal. Through a Phil Jones Bass Cub the Norstrand NJ4 pickups I went for sound sweet although there's still some experimentation to be done on bass and amp settings. The whole attention to detail and quality of build is fantastic. Andy is a great craftsman to work with. He doesn't impose his views but will advise where things can be done better. Bottom line; a very happy customer.

We did Rock City once, supporting Buzzcocks, definitely a highlight for me, I've seen so many huge bands play there, it was quite a honour to be on the stage. I love that venue!!

I don't have any inside knowledge at all, so please don't let this start any rumours or anything but it occurs to me that if a manufacturer HAD to change a bridge for some reason (the old one is no longer made, cut costs, aesthetic reasons, supplier problems, import restrictions, a million other reasons) then a press release that says " we have new bridges because they sound better than the old ones!" is a lot more marketable than "Stephen from accounts forgot to pay our old supplier so we had to get different bridges. Don't worry, they sound fine!".

Had to learn this track for a gig I did recently, so today I thought I'd record it with my very recently acquired NYC Sadowsky. Check it out here:

Your review reads almost word for word the same as mine for my Psilos Bass. Andy clearly knows what he's doing...

Depends if he calls me 😂

Aw you guys! Double basses and romance together make me very emotional indeed. That’s love with a detachable neck right there....❤️❤️

Just to chime in on the volume of the trickfish .5k head. I have and use one. It's loud at 8ohms through the 210v cab. Cuts through two Marshall valve heads and 4x10 stacks and a hard hitting drummer. Actually it really compliments the sound providing an awesome low end for the guitars (80hz switch is amazing, it almost feels like there is s sub tone running underneath the main tone) At 4ohms with an 8x10 the amp is a monster. Never had to push it!

Rare-as-hens'-teeth lefty Eminence, with massive thanks to @Happy Jack for his generosity and organisational skills in a. ordering it as a pressie; b. having it secretly delivered to his little sis in Pasadena; c. flying both of us to Pasadena on holiday, and collecting the parcel and taking it with us on the flight home. Since it was packed in a golf club case, I was none the wiser until we finally opened the parcel at home in London. Kudos. The bass is NOT as red as these photos show, despite my desperate attempts at colour correcting in Photoshop. It's more of a brownish-red tobacco colour. I feel I have finally graduated from beginner's upright to a slimmer version of the real thing! 😄😍

While I don't have any current love for Laney, a long time ago I used to run a rig - 2x15, 2x10, big old DP150 head (I couldn't afford the DP300). I'd never loved whatever was passing for the affordable/budget end of bass playing back then...people just too obsessed with Marshalls to be honest. Anyhow this was my set up. It was furiously loud and I never ran it more than about halfway.

Thanks, Neil I'll track down one of your gigs sometime soon and take a few live shots in between some enthusiastic heckling

good evening all had a look at the lacquer today (impatient) and decided it was hard enough to work on so I put it back together, have a couple of issues like I cocked up the wiring, the tone is like another volume I must of put a wire wear it shouldn't be ill check it out later, I have to fit a black jack socket when it comes so ill check the wiring then. On the hole I am very pleased how it turned out sounds luvly with them flats on don't know about the tone lol,

The pickguard has arrived, and very nice it is too. Nice touch to sign and date it on the back The second picture shows it on the as yet, un-yellowed body, so it looks a little bit odd, but it's a nice fit and when compared to the black one from my son's Westfield copy, there's quite a bit of difference in fit. I'm so glad I waited rather than use the black one to create an un-yellowed patch, as the different profile would have caused a problem

Keep trying to snag a gig there, spoken to Ben many times but just can't get us in the door. Last time I played there was as a 16 year old in the upstairs function room, pretty sure it kicked off then too.... Our favourites are the Bowling Green in Horwich, Steamhouse in Sale (a 1 minute drive home always helps) and the brilliantly named Polished Knob in Todmorden. All 3 are favourites for the same reason - the folk there love a live band and aren't shy to sing & dance along from the start. Makes it so much easier to get into the gig when there's a bit of feedback from the punters.

Ah, of course - I did see that. I suppose you were so dazzled by it, that you couldn't see him clicking "buy it now" on his laptop!

Or me! lol

Here`s to hoping the "modern" sound-person doesn`t add in a huge kick-drum sound to the mix. With bass-lines/playing like PPs would be a great shame to trample all over that with this modern phenomenon.

Lots of post today, 5ltrs clear gloss nitro, 5ltrs thinner, 5ltrs acetone (nail varnish remover :) 1ltr anti bloom thinners, 25oml black nitro, 400ml black grain filler, 400ml clear grain filler so won't be long and it will be in use me thinks

Juicy what he did there?

Might put a bit of zest into your playing

Second weekend gig with the Wirebirds yesterday, when we were the final band of the 3 day Follyfest in Faringdon (market town between Swindon and Oxford). The rain managed to hold off, and we had a blast playing there (again - our 6th year). I would have taken the Alembic, but as the weather looked rather dodgy, I took the Gibson instead, its second gig in the year I've owned it, and to be fair, it deserves to be taken out more often, it acquitted itself very well. No idea what the backline was, it was supplied by the organisers and I just plugged in, tweaked the EQ and played. Someone who was there (obviously!) sent us this pic:

He called me, but I can’t make it unfortunately.

I think I half agree, in that the modern incarnation of the blues is not the modern blues. I more than half agree in fact, cos I can’t think of a better contender than yours. There’s either no equivalent or that’s as good as anything.

I'm dead chuffed for you matey. It's an admirable instrument. Well done Andy!

I’ve just ordered a Gruv Gear duo.. 30 day free returns if it’s not suitable. Can only try it 👍

chrome on white for me

I got this one last week. Plays just like any other P. Has a good rounded sound, haven't found the dead spot yet. Lowered strings to my taste and no fret buzz etc, intonation bob on. Pickups seem just fine, but slightly quieter than my USA 60th P. Tuners are quite ok. £619 from PMT Manchester on price match. Doesn't come with a gig bag, but they gave me a used one to get it home, as I am a 'frequent flyer' with them. Bought a white pearloid scratchplate to replace the plain white one. USA 60th anniversary P that I mentioned. Scratchplate also swapped out from white.

Exactly! Whoever is playing won't be rubbish.

Odd time signatures counted in 8th or 16th notes are Ve-Ry-Diff-I-Cult (5's) or Ve-Ry-Ve-Ry-Diff-I-Cult. (7's) - This works well with 2-3 and 2-2-3 groupings.

I was referring to you Spondon but now I've realised you were there too, so there was opportunity to have had a go - I'd have happily let you try mine. It was the jetglo one. Yes Norris's is a genuine but someone else brought a faker.

Is that like receiving an explosive wedgie? Hazardous.

I had no idea I was talking the truth in my reply! See here. 😮 😎 😍

There are a couple of easy tells, more obvious than a Fender (there are so many variations in Fenders, "upbranded" Squiers, fake decals); I don't think there are any factory fakers which are an exact copy. The current Chickenbackers are an easy spot - they are a different scale and the bridge is wrong. There was a site, joeysbassnotes.com, which spelled it out, but it appears to have gone off the air. Here's some of mine: A Hondo II and a CMI(?) Japanese I'm currently working on: Both have single truss-rods, the Hondo's treble pickup is in the wrong place (ignore its bridge, that's a Hipshot), the CMI's machines are standard Japanese (the Hondo's machines are replacements), the Hondo has a bolt-on neck, the jack sockets, the strap button position, the split-shaft pots and push-on on knobs. These are the typical Japanese machines. A nice Shaftesbury I sold. The Shaftesbury is one of the best ones, with a thru-neck. Note the same machines. This one has a real Rickenbacker bridge/tailpiece. From a distance it looks right, but up close it's like Joanna Lumley wearing makeup. The weight and general feel are wrong. Only 1 truss rod. The back of a bolt-on neck CMI with wavy non-Grover machines which I sold. No 4001/4003s have bolt-on necks and those machines are unbranded. The skunk stripe is too wide. The strap button is usually in the wrong place. Some have shonky treble pickups, like this Diamond (Aria) branded one; this was my 1st faker, which I sold on. The finished Diamond. Replacement machines' posts too wide, strap button wrong, wide skunk stripe, bolt-on neck (notice the stripe isn't full-length), jack socket says "Stereo Sound" not "Rick-o-Sound". And here's the above CMI (4001 copy) alongside a Rickenbacker 4003. Skunk stripe, machines, pickguard, strap button, bolt-on, position dots for control knobs. (The neck pickup position is OK - that's a 4001/4003 difference.) Just like with any copy, they look fine from a distance, but a little bit of sleuthing and you can pick out the details.

Clearly given the shape of the case, the guitar is a Mustang.

D’Addario Pro Steels and Elites Stadium Series Stainless spring immediately to mind.

It's confirmed - delivery to @Len_derby tomorrow evening Here it is with its little brother: My 25" scale (PRS-scale) 6-string electric on the left is 5lbs 14oz; Neil's 34" bass on the right is 6lbs 6oz

@rubis - managed to find the other shots I was looking for just now - these are outdoor shots on the day I actually sprayed it. First one is the daphne blue as is, and then the overspray so you can see how it looks prior to ageing, relicing and so forth! And here are some outdoor shots after the relic process - it's a heavy relic as I was going for a proper battered look.. Hope that helps - if you need any more help just give me a shout.

Corvette 5 string, Bubinga body. 2000 Streamer Stage 1, 4 string 2005 Corvette 4 String 2004 Streamer LX 4 string Fretless 2008 Fender MIM, with Bill Lawrence P-46 pickup and Babizc bridge I guess I'm progressing towards playing a 5er, but don't want to ditch the 4s. I find the 5s heavy. I did own a Thumb 5 string too, but sold it.