Leaderboard

So Mrs B and I are having a drink and a chill, and out the blue she says ”Can you build me a bass..? I quite fancy one to learn on” ! Is this a trap?

It'll be 8 years tomorrow. Eight. And there's still a Simon-shaped hole here that will never be filled. Luv ya mate.

Hi I know you are moving on but, as a bass builder, just to put your mind at rest: it is exceptionally unlikely that the twist problem is anything you've done. My reasons for saying this: As folks above have said - with a single truss rod neck - in my view, the truss rod does not do anything about twist. It does not cause it and it cannot cure it. I'm pretty sure the Jazzus is a single truss rod neck. The truss rod adjustment is a routine event - especially with changing weather conditions. Adrian M explains this himself in Part 1 of his YouTube set-up guidance videos (which are good, by the way). He himself in that video adjusts the truss rod under full string tension. Adjusting with no string tension is also OK. Unless a bass has been left in exceptionally poor storage conditions (eg, I make an assumption it hasn't been left in a car in full sun in recent weather or anything of similar extremes) twist is usually an issue whose causes would have been already present in the timbers or construction at the time of building. It is entirely possible that this would have been undetectable at the time of making so it is not necessarily a sign of poor quality control. As the neck moves, through playing or through weather changes, those underlying issues can sometimes start to show. On a relatively new bass, therefore, I'm surprised that there is any argument other than to replace the neck FOC (I think the neck is bolt-on?). It is usually no-one's fault - but it is, in most likelihood, a fault in the bass.

Look, I don't profess to being a Nirvana, Foo Fighters, QoTSA, The Crooked Vultures or Probot fan, but I do find Dave Grohl somewhat endearing. This has just dropped on YT. The first eight minutes is documentarist, the final 23 minutes is an instrumental track wholly recorded by Dave Grohl. It's pretty intense. It's also pretty good.

😂

Not a lot to report today, got the last three coats of nitro onto the backs and the neck. Tomorrow weather permitting I'll finish off the fronts and let them hang for a while and move on to the next project

Here's mine which I still own: It's Burns Sonic from the early 60s which I got second hand in 1981 for £60 including the original Hard Case and a Fender-branded strap thrown for good measure. It's far from original, although most of the modifications were done before I got it, and all of what I have changed - replacement bridge, machine heads potentiometers and capacitors were done to keep the bass playable as the old parts had worn out. I used this with the first two bands I played with including the demo recordings that nearly got my second band signed to CBS records! It doesn't get much use these days as I play 5-strings and Bass VIs, but I'm toying with the idea of using it as a basis for a custom Bass VI build.

In my head, the lower (bass) strings should be fretted and the higher (treble) strings should be the fretless ones ...

Swindon? Why such a roundabout place? OK I'll shut up!

If you'd like an objective road tester , i'll volunteer. I'm prepared to drive to Swindon if you can too

Neither did I. This is of course a lie to make you feel better. I did. And I neeeeeeed that tube sound for recording.

Sage advice. I will wait for at least 50 more replies before even vaguely going near a “buy it now” button

My motto is 'Procrastinate Tomorrow'.

Yes, high-level GAS is when ignition occurs, your buttocks get singed and you leap up and get the credit card out! I'm down to two, but trying to justify a Vintage 4V MN purchase. It's very affordable, it's the right colour combo (no refin needed), the hardware and electrics are of sufficiently good quality to make upgrades uneccesary, it plays very nicely, it sounds great, it looks the business and... you just can't have too many P basses! Have I sold it to you yet?

Just following on, XLR cable arrived and all connected up. Definite difference from the treble perspective. Whereas via the 1/4" jack output I rolled the treble back to the 10 o'clock position, with the XLR, the same treble response is closer to the 3 o'clock position. Much better.

I must add, and its by no means rubbing anyone's face in it; my Maruszczyk that arrived two months ago was beautifully built. There are clearly issues with some that are leaving the factory, but they're not all bad so don't be put off or disheartened.

It wouldn't all fit onto a dvd. It would have to be a streaming service

The blooper reel?

quite clearly you are wrong, why are you visiting drum and guitar forums? You can't be a real bass player, you must be one of them musicians I keep reading about

I'd have no problem with 200w and a 1x12 with no PA for that gig. You really need that much kit for a wedding band? Who are you covering? Sabbath?

wow I'm knocked out by the response - thanks @SpondonBassed, @TheGreek, @Dad3353, @bigsmokebass, @Teebs, @Misowaki, @Grangur, @BaggyMan, @HCC - there's lots here for me to try. First up I lowered both the neck and bridge pick ups under the G string and noticed some improvement straight away (hats off to @TheGreek!) - I ran out of adjustment pretty quick, so also raised height of the string a little. End result, definite improvement over most of the fretboard. I still don't think there's as much punch as from the other strings, but I'm encouraged now to tweak some more based on the feedback and see how much more improvement I can get. Will feed back. Thanks again, glad I joined. And @TheGreek - your joiner joke, oh dear 🤪

Buy that bass. That'll do it!

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

2nd May 1997

Lovely looking - but a bit out of my price range and I’m looking for something to sit on top of my barefaced Compact - I think that TE would crush it!!

She's a keeper!

I wondered what the arrows were about...

The semi hollow 51P was gigged at the weekend - and great it was too at 7lbs and nice and thumpy

Apparently it’s not a trap.. she’s picked a body shape and everything. Cor.

Helpful, and roughly what Bigredx was saying

Thank you so much for taking the time to do the recording. Wow, that really is impressive!

Holy Cow Batman, that is Blaaaaaaaakkkkkk..... The Wikipedia pics look like they have been created in Photoshop by removing portions of the image, they just look odd. (the cynic in me is hoping that that isn't how they were made?)

That's the best one.

It was Axe as advertised on the back page of Kerrang when I was 15. When I upgraded a few years later I defretted the Axe with a pair of pliers. As far as I know it's still lurking in an eave's cupboard in my parents house.

It was a red Sunn Mustang precision, the one that looked more like a Yamaha RBX than a Fender. I had it 3 months before moving up to an Aria Pro MAB20/5 5 string with my 16th birthday money. I spent most of my formative years playing the Aria and still play it on occasion. Sold the Sunn. Never really missed it. It may have been my first, but the Aria is the one I'm sentimental about!

After dabbling on a Vox stroller, bought from my Mum's mail order catalogue, Marshall Ward, my first venture on bass was a Vox Clubman bought from a friend for £5. Shorter than short scale, no truss rod and smaller than small machine heads. The previous owner had replaced the Vox pickup with a Burns Trisonic which unfortunately was thicker than the body so a wooden bowl shape was glued to the back of the body to cover up the hole. I also bought a linear 50 and a home made 2x12 to use with it. How was I to know one of the speakers was blown? Can't remember what happened to that bass.

I reckon most of those tools are for launching at your bandmates to win an argument. They're not needed for the instrument, they're set and forget.

Bought a GK MB200 from Deedee after I posted a wanted ad. Great basschatter. Amp arrived quick and just as described. 👍👍

What more can I say than, One of us! one of us! one of us! Welcome aboard🤣. Regarding the bass, if it’s still not how you’d like it, take it to a guitar tech or luthier to have a look at, it may cost a little bit but you might find out something new that you can keep in mind for next time and also share it here as one of your first posts 😉 wishing you luck sorting it.

Zoom B1on. Portable (tiny, light), battery powered and lasts ages and sounds great.

Different pickups and from the looks of things different pickup placement - IMO the extreme closeness of the pickups to the bridge and neck respectively is an important aspect of the sound. I don't know for sure but I would imagine that the all-important 2 pickup selection will put the pickups in the more conventional parallel mode rather than series as it does on my Sonic bass. Also if you think these make a significant difference; neck and body woods are different and the overall construction of the two basses is completely different. About all they have in common IMO is the Burns name and the scale length.

People can put a spin on anything, it seems. I'd like to hear that bass through a fluff filter

I think you'd need an LED indicator ring around the knob to indicate the preset position, like the TC RH450/750. That design but with a blue coloured smooth circular line instead of red dots would fit the bill. Either that or motorised knobs!

So much misguided hate... So Nick Rhodes might not be the greatest technical keyboard player in the world, but he's most definitely the right synth player for Duran Duran. In the same way that Adam Clayton is the right bassist for U2. I had a listen to Jordan Rudess, and while he's got plenty of keyboard technique I don't think much of his sound design abilities. He'd be completely wrong for Duran Duran. And if the OP thinks it's so easy why doesn't he apply for the role?

The thing is, it’s only TC that admitted it. Given the shared technology, I bet there’s a few others whistling on the sidelines, hoping no-one will notice.

When not playing bass I mainly play acoustic. I sold a Takamine 12 stringsome years ago because it wasn’t getting use. But I missed that lovely jangle so I bought this Taylor 654ce when I saw it and it’s superb.

I have done it, and it can work, but it is very drummer dependent. While people did it "back in the day", you really need a drummer who is aware of how they played in that era, or at least one with some restraint and sensitivity to the ensemble sound. A kick-heavy rock or funk approach rarely works with unamped bass!

Hi Basschat! I recently purchased a beautiful Ocean Turquoise 4-string jazz elite bass, and had our monitor engineer send a desk recording from one of our recent shows @ Alexandra Palace, I'm super happy with how its tracking in a live situation, thought I'd share it and have this thread for other people to share their live recordings of their Elite's! (precision + Jazz)