Leaderboard

My 9yr old daughter has been bugging me to build her a guitar so I thought I'd better get started on it She's a bit too small for a bass at the mo so I had an old strat copy kicking about she wanted it orange after seeing my Jazz I'm just going to put a black pickguard on it and back cover and chrome hardware

I'll be along shortly...... once I've got my whole list together...!!😂😂😂😂

Sides trimmed and mahogany front and back blocks glued on: And the (unsanded) back also cut - leaving it oversize to allow both wiggle room and for the contraction when it is dished to its 15 foot radius: Much of the build will be done with the sides remaining in the mould: The top wood (sitka spruce) and bracing / kerfing wood is on order so not much more can be done on the body at the moment. While I'm waiting for the wood to arrive, I'll start on the neck and fretboard. Busy tomorrow but I should be able to make some progress on Wednesday

I'm surprised that this bass is recyclable. Everyone knows that Hofner basses are stuffed with dead cats and sawdust. Much like DFS sofas actually.

He does that. It’s mildly annoying as you end up planning your own projects- but in my case without the skills

Well today was a good day, one of those days when I remember why I like making things First job of the day was to get the necks glued on, a bit of masking just in case I got some glue seepage (I did and was glad of the tape) then some titebond and clamps and there they were, two bass shaped things Then after a couple of hours I gave the tops a light sanding and proceeded to spray, a total of three coats went on today. By the time i cut back the second in readiness for the third my worries from the other day about grain filling were completely put aside. Then the third coat went on and I have to say I was very chuffed, I'm not an experienced luthier by any means and I was very surprised how good it was looking, in fact I spent an embarrassing whole hour just looking at them. Days like that are far and few between, I hope all you other makers get them too, sadly its something that you just get used to doing and the novelty wears off eventually, that is a sad thing I think

The Parable of the Lost Bass Player. Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred guitarists but loses the bass player. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost Bass Player until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost Bass Player.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one Bass Player who repents than over ninety-nine (self)righteous guitarists who do not need to repent. We welcome you back, oh lost one....😂😂

Tell her that even fewer people will like her if she looks like Adam Ant.

Saw Chic and Nile tonight. Very enjoyable, they know how to put on a show. Bass player wasn't bad either lol. Actually, he was top notch. I was air bass-ing it tonight, sadly enough. I slap so much better without a bass.

Although I am currently MM-less, here are my previous 'Rays:

"Hey, you sass that hoopy Bluewine? There's a frood who really knows where his towel is."

Here's where I'm up to. Reshaped Headstock, decal added, tinted neck, sprayed scratchplate cream. Just a bridge ashtray and then I'll decide if I wanna smash the body up a bit! It's been fun.

hi guys & girls !! I'm joris and I leave in France and I salute all the members of Basschat who read this lines !!

In days of yore, there were way-stations, taverns and lodging houses all along every highway of this island. Travellers would be compelled to stop at one or other of these inns, as travel was on foot, on horseback, coach or bullock cart, and there was a limit as to how far one could go without feeding and watering both the rider and the steed. With the advent of alternatives, (rail, cars, motorways...), some vestiges of these services remain, albeit much evolved, but anyone trying to do things 'the old way' would have a hard tome of it, I suspect. Times change, and the services one needed, even in pre-war days, are now redundant, or so changed as to be no longer recognised. Farriers are now rare, in a not-so-distant future, local filling stations will be just a memory (already the case in some areas...). It's the same with local commerce, whether music shops, book shops, cobblers... There will be a place for niche outlets, but they will no longer be dependant on local trade, I suspect. There's no going back any time soon, so best to leave the sentimentality and nostalgia behind and make the best of what's 'now' and tomorrow. Is it a Good Thing..? Does that matter, as it changes nothing..?

This picture from my archive must from 2004 when I had a thing for Musicman basses. The last of these, the Pacific Blue Burst SR5, finally left two weeks ago. Its place has now been taken by a natural Sterling, the third I've owned over the years - I'll never understand why I ever sold the others.

The Sterling HH switching is the same as the 'ray, except the coils are in series. The 'ray is wired parallel.

Lot's of lefty basses in a limited space. This picture was a experiment with a extreme wide angle lens, just to see if I could make a acceptable picture with all the distortion going on, not a bad result I think.

I've had a good laugh here, you just make that look so easy! I'm impressed

Calling @cetera... I believe he has one or two bass guitars, if memory serves...

Buy it and find out...I'm fairly sure that Sylvia will "adopt" this long before you get the chance. 😃

Ha ha.... I need to rename the posting as I have done the measurements, basically using my trusty calipers on a picture of a Thunderbird at full zoom and then transposing measurements to full 34” scale. Thank you maths... the P is staying a P. As I do not want to tamper with the graphite neck I cannot get the front pickup in the period correct spot exactly, but very close and the back pickup I can get just right. Thunderblackstone it is! Project estimated start date end of August on a build diary near you , will focus on the build element first but if it turns out right I will also do a repaint in TB Pelham Blue at a later stage.

-

I think that's endemical on post 2008 Musicman Stingray5s/Sterlings. Back when the 3 coil ceramic PUs in Sterlings/Stingray5s there wasn't such volume or EQ mismatches as there are now with the 2 pickup models. Overall this Sterling5 HS sounded thinner than my old ceramic Stingray 5ers, most notably in the two "classic" Musicman positions (just the humbucker, series or single coil). I think the post 2008 redesigned EQ has something to do with it, modern Stingray5 basses also sound thinner than my old ones. In fact Ernie Ball seems to have played a real crappy marketing move lately, they sell you the 30th Anniversary Stingray5 with a "redesigned preamp", but it's in reality a pre-2008 3-coil ceramic PU Stingray5 with the preamp it had back then, exactly like the SR5s I own, just with the added binding and fancy roasted maple. I've tried 2 and they sound exactly like my old SR5s, the EQ acts the same (in modern Stingray5s, besides the obvious change to alnico, the EQ is more tame somehow, in old ones a little boost or cut goes a longer way). To summarize, you should expect not that much of a volume mismatch but certainly be ready to boost some bass on the onboard preamp when moving the switch from anything neck or neck+bridge to only bridge.

For me the HS is the best of both worlds. It retains 2 out of the 3 single PU tones you get in a regular Sterling H (series and single coil, parallel and single coil on a Stingray5 HS) and still offers 2 flavors of J (sorta') plus the neck pickup soloed. A tad more diverse than the HH model (which has 3 J-like tones, and series for each pickup soloed -parallel on Stingray5 HHs-). Here's a sample of the 5 positions it had (neckside to bridgeside, clean & compressed, then positions 1 -sorta' P- and 2 -sorta' J- picked widh SansAmp crunch). Also, here's a sample of the 9 positions in my current Ray35 "HS" (quite modded). I much prefer this bass. Half the price, similar weight and I added that single coil pickup (AliExpress creature -very decent sounding-) in a position that makes it a little nicer at the P game. The tradeoff of the closer distance between it and the stock humbucker is that J-like tones are a little "Spectoresque", there's a certain "metal friendly" but indeed nasal scoop to it, and also some combinations don't humbuck (there's no phantom coil in this so single coil is real single coil), not a bummer in any way as it's hardly noticeable. I also prefer this bass to the Sterling5 HS because I can mod it without remorse (it's intended in fact to be my "Sagrada Familia", a living creation) something I'd never dare on an EBMM (my Stingray5s, both old 3-coil ceramic, are in fact modded but nothing as invasive as adding a pickup).

This isn't the topic I expected.

Well I hope you are all happy with yourself. If it’s not bad enough having the loss of Barry Chuckle to deal with, Rock n Roll is a tall order.

I was doing my first summer season back then , I’m old now but was a great time to be learning bass lines .. Remember playing loads of Nik Kershaw in our sets ..The Riddle , wide boy .etc Also Level 42 , Toto , Prince and many others of that era ..I’d only been playing a couple of years so there were some challenging basslines to learn for me at the time .. I went on to work in many bands after .. but think this was my favourite time being a bass player .. skin tight jeans , yellow converse and a bleached mullet .. the fashion however sucked 😀

At least since its recyclable you won't feel so bad when it quickly goes in the bin.

I've never understood the "not versatile" thing, there must be an example of one being used in every genre of music to good affect. I think there are players that have a fixed way of playing that are used to being able to adjust from front to back pickup along with the tone or EQ controls to get a variety of sounds, imo it's the player that lacks the versatility not the bass.

I have two - my main and perfect JV Squire that is the best thing ever, and a backup/spare - @yorks5stringer ‘s old modded PB50 (that I may be modding further). I could fit another in the rack though...

True. Without wanting to sound bitter, because it really doesn't worry me, but more often than not the 'bricks and mortar' shops are by far the biggest let down. Hence why I really don't worry about the decline of them. Things have a way of sorting themselves out. If online is better then we will continue to see 'real' shops close. But if, as folks seem to feel, 'real' shops are better then they will win in the end and online shopping will see a decline until some sort of equilibrium is reached. More worry over nothing I feel

Two I enjoyed learning a lot were alive by pearl jam and sweet child o mine, both easy enough to get into quickly but enough bits to be fun.

Crikey.

The Blues for me. Every blues song always seemed to be held together by the bass. Forget the "widdly widdly" guitar, it never interested me that much, but simple lines played with feeling get me every time.

Be sure to have a draft from the firkin whilst making the kerfings else you'll dehydrate in this heat.

Well, being in London it shouldn't be too hard to find a used BF to see if you like the sound. If you don't, you can sell it at around the same price, and if you do, you can sell it and order one with a painted baffle or tolex or whatever would make you happy visually. That said, the Vanderkley is an awesome cab. Hard to go wrong with one. Clean, deep, great definition. It's just that if you want (sonically) uncoloured, the BF might be even closer to what you're looking for.

Roadies will seriously damage any gear given time. If I was using roadies I would always flightcase my gear. I've never seen these guys look after anything.

Stingray 5 (2000), Stingray 4 (1987 & 1978). 1978 since sold

pointing at ME at full on

You could use either the effects send or the line out. The advantage of putting the tuner in front is that it will mute whilst tuning.

Is steam bending a valid technique in making acoustic bodies? We made a wooden box with a hinged lid at one end, it was fed from a metal bucket with a sealed lid and a couple of electric kettle elements, it pumped steam into the box and drained the hot condensing water back into the bucket via a pipe. The wood comes out like a dead eel, it's best done with green wood but the great thing is once it cools and dries for a while it is completely seasoned. Everybody I've seen seems to use those bending irons

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

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.

I think that the selling point is that a Stingray has a pretty unique tone, which works well in most genres. Coupled with this is that Musicman have always had a consistent build quality, something you can't really say about Fender over the years.

And don't forget that producing any significant output at 30hz will, in an awful lot of venues, sound godawful...

My own Jaffa P bass. Love it.