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There's a very long thread elsewhere as to me leaving the band I'd formed seven years ago. People are just asshats really. Stupidly, it took a while to get over it; so much time invested and work to keep it together. I went out for an Indian last night with some friends and they asked whether I miss it. I just answered no and then showed them a photo (below) of the old band, headlining a gig in Reading last weekend playing to six people. It was precisely this, the unconditional acceptance of every gig offered and playing to next to no one (it happened) that led to the cracks. I mean credit to them for continuing to grind through gigs like this, but frankly it's just not worth the effort.

Last update for a while, here's the twins upright on stands just to get a better look at how they look. They are now hanging in an old wardrobe until they have hardened enough to be safe to handle without risk of marking the lacquer, somewhere between a week and eight weeks, I really don't know until they get there.

My 1980 Wal Pro 2E has been my most treasured possession since 1986. The only thing I would even momentarily consider swapping/selling it for would be another Wal, a five-string fretted one.

I guess Jimmy quit and Jody got married did they😂

Don’t think I have a number one bass anymore. I have a bass I gig more than the others and basses that would be tough for me to replace but none are sacrosanct. I keep thinking of selling the 3 non-cheapies and getting something really special but I doubt I’ll ever go through with it. Ironically my main gigging bass is nominally the one of lowest value (the Mustang on the left - the Jag is no longer resident).......go figure.

That must have been a terrible band - I never sh*t in the car, as mrs discreet moans like hell.

Now I'm wondering where I can get shoes in candy apple red...

Black wins! And it’s fitted...

It should bridge the gap between the bottom of the knob and the top of the pedal to provide friction. You could also do the brofressional thing and invest in some gaffers tape.

It’s only through pain that thou shalt find salvation....🤦🏻‍♂️🐒😁 under the blisters nice calluses are waiting, then the holy grail of the double bass player will reveal itself: taking teabags out of the cup without the need for a teaspoon (what’s a few germs amongst friends...)

Going to listen to this today. I also found out yesterday that there was a bonus track on the Cog CD In Search of Better Days called Liberation Groove, it’s a killer track but for some reason doesn’t appear on my physical CD! Whilst talking about new music I listened to the album Le Chic Remix by Dimitri From Paris this week, there’s some really clever work on old tracks but they have boosted most of ‘Nards lines in the mix and you can hear them so much better. It’s awesome.

Old thread resurrection. I’ve been hammering The Clash this week on the 800-odd motorway miles I’ve done. They’ve never been far away from my ears since I heard Bankrobber as a kiddie back in 1980. Simonon is one of my absolute heroes and the reason I play a white/black Precision. Has anyone cooler ever strapped on a bass guitar?

I'm colour blind. Explains the consistently crap playing.

It's true. I've been known to tap my right foot when playing my blue bass and tap my left foot with the 3 tone sunburst.

modified 62 top Pino Stingray 64 Jazz Family photo of the remainder, 65 and 62 2nd and 4th from left respectively. Thanks to Mark for assistance with image and kind comments below🙂

Just buy a '64 Burns Sonic and one of those toy Hartke combos and you'll nail it

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.

Not many of these about - looks in good nick.

I have a 1999 Corvette Standard as well which I did almost sell earlier this year, but just couldn't do it in the end, its not my main squeeze these days but it was for a long long time.

Erm

Yeah, me too...

You got one of those 4’ 6” scale basses then?

Microscopic spectacles... Don’t tell Mrs Travis, she’s thought 4cm was 12 inches for years now.

Yes - exactly that. You put a 1 or 2mm spacer behind the trailing side of the fence and line the router bit flush with that. As long as the fence is spot on where it is supposed to be, it works a treat. I'll try and find a diagram in the morning that illustrates it better than my dodgy description

Took the words right out of my mouth.

My regular builder would do one but he’s stacked at the moment and his lead time is months. You could ask one of the online builders if they would do one as a one off which is a possibility - or, buy a template set and have a go yourself The other option is a cheap squier and strip it!

This Is England is such an underrated song.

Easy solution, just don't look at your fingerboard or fingers! Incidentally, many years ago when I had our local guitar makers (Northworthy) make me a fretless neck, they asked if I wanted the dots "as normal" or "on the note" and I had them "on the note"; apparently some people who look at the side dots on a fretted find shifted dots on a fretless confusing. After all, fretted or fretless you are supposed to put your fingers very nearly in the same place. I think if I had a fretted bass made I'd have the side dots on the frets rather than between frets - whereas on my fretted Warwick (which started life as a fretless) the dots have been very carefully, and neatly, moved to between frets. Hey ho. PS: lovely photos (as usual) Sylvia :¬)

I downloaded 'The Rise & Fall Of The Clash' from Sky Arts last week. Really good doc - I'm a bit 50/50 on their output...love some, some less so. 'Sandinista' over 'London Calling' for me every time. It really concentrates much more on the fall...the post '82 events. Sad end, but very insightful into what a mess it became. A period often ignored as we're often subjected to all the' last gang in town' stuff, rather than the Strummer/Simonon hanging on as it collapses around their ears.

They are looking outstadingly good. On the stands or hanging in the wardrobe!

I feel totally sh@gged when I have to drive 3 hours to / from gigs having loaded / unloaded all the gear!

I`ve quit a few bands over the years, a couple because playing gigs was getting on the way of me being able to go to the pub with my mates, and a couple because I`d just gotton to the point where I was no longer enjoying it. One I quit was due to we`d been a regularly gigging band that rehearsed all the time, and went to 4 gigs a year with 2 practices before each gig. As such we were a poor tribute of ourselves imo, so I quit, so did the singer, and from that we formed the band we`re currently in. With regards to telling the bands, well the beauty of e-mail is that you can tell everyone at much the same time, and deliver the same message so that it doesn`t get twisted into a he-said-she-said scenario. But before those days, well I just told the person in the band that I considered to be the band leader, and left it to them to tell the others.

Why pay money for a down-grade?

Man, I've got like 7 subs and the most I ever get views wise on a video is like 50. If I was in your position I'd think I was doing really well.

Hey @Bassmingo, I've got an identical bass, that had exactly the same problem. I hope you still have the neck, as the headstock is distinctive with a black finish. All you need to do is loosen the truss rod and clamp it in a reverse curve position. Leave it like that for a few weeks, then re-assemble the bass. I did this clamping with some wood blocks, a long spirit level and a G-clamp. It takes time, but worth doing.

Hi , .... hmmmmmmmm..... 34 , Walnut body , Ebony Board , Maple neck. Bassculture 38hb the only reason i chose those pickups is cause my frog 5 has bassculture 48hb and i'm more than happy with the sound of it ..... not really anything more than that.

Go wireless?

No he’s on his way back from Cornwall, been bodyboarding/surfing with his grandad 😉

Just a guess, but alignment holes for when machining?

After playing bass for 30 years I've recently learned that you can avoid dead 'new' strings by adding a bend to the string just below where you cut it before fitting. Otherwise the string core can slip resulting in a dead sounding new string. The bend prevents this from happening. Unsure how true this but it makes sense and is easy to do. Maybe this was the reason?

Andertons do a quick look at the SWB Pro bass and our new Bass-Mosphere pedal.

After all these years, I still find myself wondering how Fender can possibly have re-invented such a simple instrument in so many ways. Does an American Standard Player Artiste Roadworn Signature model really sound any different from any other Precision? IME the only things that makes one P sound different from another P are (i) string choice, and (ii) fitting a hot pickup.

Would you actually use the "n" word in a performance? An artist doing original works may well want to ignite debate, or make a point. But a pub covers band? They've just picked the song because they like it. They are not invested in the subject. It doesn't mean as much as to the original writers - and the cover performer cannot truly know what the original intent was. I can't think of much more stupid (within music anyway) of the chance a white man might use the "n" word when covering a song in a pub. Might get a kicking, might even get a conviction depending on what the rest of the lyric was.