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Now's the time to spring like a panther: send your drummer down to audition. When he gets the gig he can tell them he'll only join if he can bring his friend (you) in on bass. Then you both turn up for the rehearsal and sack the other band members. Then book some gigs in this band's name; leave it a while then cancel them at the last minute while savagely insulting the bookers down the phone. Then announce the band is folding. Arm long, vengeance total. Proper job.

*walks around the Happy Jack-Bluejay household, looking at the ceilings, and whistles* Nice light fittings we have here...

True dat. But that envelope filter has got to be used sometime, right?

Wow.... I thought I had issues with 7... I’ve now showed the missus how our spare room is going to look based on your photos..... apparently that’s where I’m now sleeping! 😩

I look at all those basses and think, "You could have bought a really great bass with what you spent on that lot!"

I’ve been listening to a lot of Crowded House this week in the car. I’ve been a fan since the eighties (before that, if you include Split Enz); they’re one of those bands I always go back to, Neil Finn is one of my favourite songwriters. I like Nick Seymour’s bass playing too, very understated, plays for the song first and foremost. He also does this thing where he sometimes holds the root note even after the chord has changed, or shifts to the root note of the coming chord in anticipation of it’s arrival. I like it, it adds a tension or an urgency which is very pleasing.

I've got a (welcome) gap between commissioned full builds. I probably have a rebody of a Cort Curbow coming up (more of which later) but, in the scheme of things, that isn't a major undertaking on a par with a full build. So, as some of you know, one of the things I've been doing in the extra time is sorting out a better arrangement with routing - I've invested in a self-assembled foldaway router table and am currently building a thicknessing rig. But I've also been looking at the crazy amount of 'oooh that looks nice' wood that I've acquired over the past few years. In amongst it is this - some of which isn't faring well in my far-from-perfect wood storage: On the left is a sister set of back and sides lacewood and mahogany/walnut neck offcut from Chris's (our band's vocalist) dreadnought acoustic that I built him back in 2015: Next to that is another neck offcut - maple /walnut and lastly an offcut of Macassar ebony fretboard from my recent 6-string electric build. Well....that's most of the wood for another dreadnought - with a choice of neck to boot! And I've got a bit of time on my hands And I've got a few new things in the workshop that need testing out. And I've always wanted, and never had, a dreadnought. Hmmmm….it's tempting!

Well it turns out it’s never too late to give up on your dreams. This is my band from the 80s with yours truly on bass!

OK, good news is that all components are usable, size-wise - even the macassar ebony fretboard offcut It also gives me a choice of two neck wood combinations - maple/walnut /maple or mahogany/ walnut / mahogany. I'm tempted to use the maple...harder to work but might add a touch of brightness for the fingerpicking side of things...

Things were cramped in the old house so wall hangers and racks were used,the new place is much bigger 🙂 4 x racks of 7 + 10 tripod stands in the living room, 2 are kept propped against the couch within arm's reach. Spare room hosts another 4 x 7 racks,basses unused for ages like my Curbow,Dano and Bass Collection live in gigbags in the wee cupboard. Only 51 Peaveys in this photo. I blame the double bass 😄 Happened at Xmas, Wunjos kindly swapped the Sub by SBMM for a GK Plex instead.

My one and only bass, always wanted one and have zero interest in any other. Teal green and does everything I want for the bands I have played in, never fiddle with the EQ, everything just set flat out, may just knock the tone pot back a bit on some numbers.

Fairly sure i’ve not even played 43 basses, let alone owned (4 at separate times)

The black pickguard looks ok too

Have a Bergantino HDN 2x12. Imported from Germany excellent sound But I do have it paired with the Bamp using its 2x12 profile Well pleased with the sound my other choice was going to to be the vandercleys

My wife is out shopping and I'm enjoying Humble Pie, Rockin' the Fillmore

I'm absolutely sure there's a clever link here to 50 Shades Of Grey ...

Hurt his feelings. Tell him to stop or he's fired.

Surely something "offensive" is something which is defined as contravening the overarching social/legal/personal/sexual norms of the day/region/person. So, I suppose, yes nothing is intrinsically offensive in a way that you might be able to apply a physical test to it - but only in the same way that nothing is intrinsically "red": that is simply a word which we use to describe a phenomenon that satisfies certain criteria. I'm not sure how useful it is focus on this point. Two thoughts occurred to me while reading through this thread, as a white male of just less than 40 with a very foreign name and 50% Asian parents: 1) As a youngster on holiday, the wee chap who came up to me and announced "you're a Paki" was using that language deliberately to offend, intimidate and injure. The word may not be intrinsically offensive but his use of it was deliberately so. Ditto the woman who came up to my mum in a shop, pointed at my dad and said "my father was killed by one of them in the war" (one of what? - no epithet was used but the insult is explicit.) 2) A more trite example. There are probably over 30 of us at work who share the communal milk. There are no rules applied to its use but if someone came in and used all of it to themselves every day, it would not make them a champion of libertarian values: it would make them a selfish oaf, unwilling or unable to see the consequences of their actions on others. Which is my long-winded way of saying that while I would in no way support a ban on any language that pub covers bands might choose to use, it has to be acknowledged that language is a phenomenally powerful tool, even a weapon, and those that use it indiscriminately (or childishly seek to offend simply for the sake of doing so) must be prepared to accept to the opprobrium of those with a broader scope of experience.

I often wonder if drummers do that because they think they sound boring, and want to seem skilful. Sorta like guitarists and, who knows, maybe even bass players sometimes. I know that I sometimes feel that I’m just playing boring repetitive crap, and stick in some pops or something, and o& course it falls apart. Other times, when I am feeling confident and in the groove, it works a treat.

I think that my musical training (A-level + grade 8 bass trombone) has certainly helped my bass playing. However I do use only a tiny fraction of that knowledge when playing most of the time. My guitarist is self-taught, he can't read music. He probably doesn't know if he's playing a first or second inversion of a chord - because that's not the way he thinks. He certainly knows exactly what he is doing though. He learnt by copying his favourite guitarists. Now, if he's heard a song, he can play it - with all the correct chords, solos and little nuances. I didn't particularly enjoy my A-level music. I found that analysing and deconstructing music took away some its "magic". Similarly, "unconscious competence" can be a beautiful quality in a musician. Look at how many bands had cracking a first album or two, and then went off the boil once they "knew what they were doing". Having said that, I'd still recommend that bass players learn some theory. Not every player is a savant, and may need to make an effort at playing. A good understanding of time signatures can help you nail a groove. Knowledge of arpeggios and chord structure can help you come up with interesting bass lines.

I don’t agree that people choose to be offended. People do however choose to offend. I can think of many words that are offensive in their use; it would depend of course on your gender, sexuality, race, religion or appearance whether or not you do find a particular word offensive. Of course if you’re a straight white male without any disability then you probably wouldn’t have encountered a problem.

Is it wrong that I don't actually know? They are in various places, some in our rehearsal room, some in my man cave, some in pieces awaiting fun projects, some in the living room and some in the dining room. From where I'm sat I can see nine. The thing is two are ukes, fretted and fretless, two are full sizes acoustics, fretted and fretless, acoustic db, eub, fours, a five, short scale long scale, bass vi and so on, all very different from each other. The silly thing is my main gigging electric bass is a Variax which has most of my other basses included in it My family don't go without, all the bills get paid and we don't particularly want or need anything we haven't got, so it's no biggy keeping them all, it's my hobby. If hard times came knocking I'd just sell most of them.

As I understand it the words ar$e, junk and slut have also prompted nervous broadcasters to whip out the bleep button around Christmas time. And just as well; these are words that could quite clearly bring society to its knees. So let's just substitute 'sit-upon', 'dangerous drugs' and 'a person exercising their right to (either sequentially or simultaneously) engage in coition with multiple partners. It's for the best.

The free use of language doesn't oppress, controlled or compelled use of language oppresses. Please expand if I'm misunderstanding you.

Well, I can understand, to a degree, but anyone who is into The Blues will know the song and understand you are not speaking from a personal point of view but merely covering an old classic. I am a married man, so should I avoid covering any song that mentions attraction to a woman who is patently not my wife? I think things can be taken too far. It didnt stop old blue eyes singing "Something stupid" as a duet with his own daughter. Its a love song by the way.

I'd never change an "offensive" lyric if I was covering a song. The composer wrote those words for a reason and I think it's a greater offence to bastardise someone's art than to offend someone who deams their language to be inappropriate. It's your God given right to be offended and it's my God given right to offend you. Words are not and will never be violence; "Sticks and stones... Etc." to equate "offence" with "assault" is a very dangerous road to tread in my eyes.

The trouble is , is that all of the double Stingray pickup'd basses , all have the rear pickup way too far back - so not getting that 'Stingray sweetspot' . The only mainstream maker that I've seen 'dong it right' (subjective, I know) , is Warwick, with the Doublebuck

Here's mine I went for a bit brighter orange That yellow one would look awesome with black hardware!

And on a likewise note I also use cheap basses for the majority of gigs these days. Some of my basses are not so much valuable but irreplaceable (or very difficult to replace). The quality of bitsas (and many 'cheap' basses) is quite remarkable and once the volume is raised any subtlety is lost on for me. Tha 'banana' / 'custard' yellow body looks good to me.

It's entirely possible that's where I will end up too

A Tolex cover would fix that. In my long ago youth they came standard issue with Fender amps. I wonder if Acus offers one? Probably as a £100 option. 🙄

Thanks everybody for your help and encouragement, this has been heavy going, I'm a bit out of practice but you guys make it all a lot of fun, something easy like a Fenderbird next time! OK maybe not. I gave the necks a sanding first this morning and gave them a dose of clear grain filler; same as the black but a lot nicer to use. I set those aside to dry and moved on to the tops of the bodies after yesterdays session. They looked so much better after being left overnight, first job was to remove the tiny aris or sharp edge where the lacquer climbed the side of the tape leaving a raised burr, I used some dry 1200 grit very carefully and it came off really well and felt pretty good all around. I then got a scalpel and used that as a scraper to clean up the top edge of the binding but only roughly as I would probably get grain filler over the edge later on. Once I was happy with the top I needed to flip the body to work on the back so I made a couple of stands to screw into the cavities to protect the fresh paint. That allowed me to give the back and sides a light sanding and give them a coat of grain filler, that was put aside and I sat down for a cup of tea as you do After the necks had had 4 hours I sat down outside and started to clean them up with some 240. It looked great, no need for a second coat so I set them aside and when the bodies had 4 hours I had a go at them, they were the same so apart from some masking I'm ready to whack some sanding sealer on first thing and hopefully get a couple of coats of clear on the necks and the sides and back of the bodies. I will be so glad to get them sealed just to stop that binding getting dirty, you only need to look at it sideways and there is a dirty mark on it! Fresh grain filler Ready for spraying after masking

I'm looking forward to this one, I wouldn't know where to start, I think I would end up with a lot of shavings and a little bit of firewood if I tried

Greetings to everyone! People many know of my dedication to being taught correctly. I view being taught well as a narrow principle dedicated to the learning of music on our bass. I see reading and harmonic studies as the way to do this because I notice that almost all other instruments seem to be taught this way and with a great deal of success. Being taught this way gets us to learn correctly so that we can play anything that we want in any way that we want, which might be called Art! My views only affect people that choose to be taught. Self taught players aren't privy to my thoughts because they don't depend on other people for their musical improvement. Any thoughts about my opinions? Regards, Jeff

A back up amp and dirt in your sound are 2 different things. Get a good second amp and a pedal that works with any amp you buy.

Some amazing basses in there Chris 🙂

I'd personally regard the setup you've outlined above as more "mid" than "low" most passive basses have pretty pronounced midrange bias - in terms of aggression think Lemmy (Ric through Marshall valve head with mid EQ on max and treble & bass on min.) For active basses; Warwicks are known for midrange growl, but of course an active bass and any modern amp will do pretty much any range you want

RIP. Chris was a true gent. I am lucky enough to have spent time riding motorbikes with him, and even luckier to have an acoustic bass he made me

You'll need to stay close by. Last time I tried this it was literally 1-3 minutes to sell out.

Currently four - visited Bass Direct last week and traded three basses for a Dingwall ABZ4 - not quite sure how we're getting on so far - fanned frets aren't a problem, but the four way selector is proving to be... odd. Also got a Sterling Ray 34 that came secondhand from Andertons - trans white and it arrived the day before my visit so never even made it to the website - lucked out on that one as it's wonderful! There's a Hudson PB5 that is waiting for some TLC on the fretboard and, last but by no means least, a Bass Collection SB100 in metallic purple that used to belong to The Greek and which is the only one that's not on the "might sell this" list. Max I've had at one time was seven, four still feels like too many.

I own 6 basses. Not because I'm a collector, but because I've never sold one. They don't really take up that much space when they're in their cases. S.P.

Big shout out to Markbass UK (MSL Pro & Real Electronics) for a 24 hour turnaround on a small LM800 repair!

How about Marshall amps..? They have a lot of fans, I'm told. ...

I just read the review of the amp in the mag. NO FAN!!!!! WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO! I hate fan noise with a passion. @ryanowens does the bigger version have a fan? Your website doesn't actually say either way. It's such a big selling point for me that I always look for whether an amp has a fan or not.

this has given me a feel of a tune I did many moons ago , I think I might try and get that vibe on this one , it was an instrumental though , and I think you would all miss my dulcet vocal tones , so I think I will have to try even harder to squeeze them in this month

Isn't that a piece of foam you put under the strings near the bridge?......

Easiest way is to use an outboard pre. I have an MXR MX80+. Works great. As mentioned above an EQ pedal would also work as most have a volume boost. The real answer is to splash the cash and fit a John East J-Retro Pre. That'll fix it. G.

That's an amazing collection of transcriptions. Thanks for making them available. You don't know how helpful this is.

Have this little beauty for a few months now so time to post a pic or two... I wanted a light weight Precision due to having alot of shoulder and neck pain recently and I found this nice demo at the Bass Freaks online store with a good discount... its only 3.1kg (6.8lbs) so feels like wearing fresh air... simple passive no frills P bass with Delano pickup... sounds great, plenty of bite and bark but can do old school really well too with flats... I've become the regular bassist for a busy blues band and this is the perfect bass for the job... its so light and comfortable to play that I'm finding myself grabbing it now for all my other gigs as well (pop & rock covers mostly)... overall I'm very impressed with this lovely instrument, I never thought I'd buy a red bass but I must admit its really grown on me 🙂