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I'm rather hoping I'm not the only Talking Heads fan here. I've always been fond of their unique approach to pop/rock/funk and Byrne's unconventional style/lyrics. Tina Weymouth is a big part of that, also. The simplest of basslines that fit in perfectly with everything else. Two great examples (and both great tunes)

If anyone is interested in how these are with flats, I've put some Chromes on and I doubt I'll be able to take them off now. Even with rounds I found all pickup positions very usable, but with the flats I've managed to make the neck pickup sound closer to a P Bass, whilst backing off the bass and treble a touch. Doesn't sound as P like as my Fender P, but it's passable and great in the mix. Great slap sound too with both pickups on. Very happy bunny

Yes Stop Making Sense was an amazing experience for me too but this is the concert I would like to invent a time machine for. At 49.05 they play the best version of Born Under Punches ever, I can listen to that for days.

That's astonishingly well-crafted and meticulously detailed, a genuinely jaw-droppoing level of craftsmanship. It's also really, really ugly.

Had a good time Friday evening, on our way on holiday, we stayed overnight with my cousin. Nothing unusual, maybe, but I was in bands with him in the 60s and early 70s (the latter being our age now!). Unfortunately we usually only meet nowadays at family funerals...... He still gigs occasionally, and has a collection of rather nice guitars, including a mint Gretsch White Falcon and various Taylors and Martins, and an acoustic bass guitar. So while our wives were yapping away in one room, we were happily jamming through 50+ years of music memories. Great stuff! Anyone else done this? Malcolm

Everytime I see one of these Stingrays I can see the money falling out of my account. I daren't try one as I know the outcome. Oh, go on then.

Late to the party, but so's Discreet so that's OK. I do this for fun. The money's nice and I do expect to be paid, but enjoying myself is way more important than the money. [Cue lengthy and tangential posts by pro musician Basschatters explaining why I'm undermining their market and need to change my attitude.] In the OP's situation my only real questions would be: Am I still enjoying playing this music with these bandmates? If I devoted this particular time & effort to finding another band and then playing that music with those bandmates, would it be likely to be more fun? If my limited career as a gigging musician has taught me anything, it's that every band has issues, every band has problems, every band has a list of reasons to make me want to throw my toys out of the pram and flounce. Which makes flouncing a less attractive option, since I know what I'll be walking into next ...

done

@OP You thought you were joining a band but it now turns out it's a floating cast of musos backing up a couple of troubadors. Shame they didn't make that clear to you, whether through cöck-up, conspiracy or carelessness, who knows? Anyhow, keep taking the gigs and the money, and use the opportunity to do a bit of networking (maybe steal the drummer) while looking for the full time band. Keep working with these guys until you don't need them anymore then very politely give them the Spanish while leaving a hook in them in case they need you again. So, rather then them using you, you're using them. Frontmen, eh? You can't live with them and you can't kill them, gut them, wrap them in chicken wire, tie some weights to them and throw them off the back of a boat.

I'm Carlo, currently living in a Florida swamp by way of NYC and more recently China. I've been playing bass since 1962 and started building basses in earnest in 2010 after exiting furniture design and returning from Asia. I had quit playing in the early 80s, keeping only a 1960 EBO and a '77 StingRay. Picked it up again around 2002 and have since acquired too many basses. Here's my 1965 UK Vox Phantom and one of the clones I built a few years back. I owned a Crucianelli Vox version in the early '70s. Sad to say, it didn't hold a candle to the original. I've also owned a number of British sports cars and Triumph motorcycles which definitely were instrumental in forming a DIY attitude!

Well Lurks, I have indeed decided to get back on me bike....! We adopted an 11 month old boy back in March and needless to say have struggled to find the time for the comp..I think the brain forgets what it was like first time round (or at least mine does !!).. Anyhow, I've got some basics done,under the working title of "Hazy Sunday on the moon " !!

Looks like I'm free for this now! 😊 Got A couple of sets of 5 String Dean Markley Helix strings that I've never opened that the raffle is welcome to. Might have a couple of things for the For Sale table, but not sure yet. Attendee list 1) Cetera - Spector NS2 & Legend 4X, Dingwall NG2, Epiphone Vintage Pro Thunderbird, Yamaha BB3000, GK800RB head, Genz Benz Neox212 cab, Tech-21 Dug DP3X preamp/pedal 2) Ezbass - Maruszczyk Elwood L 4 string fretted (J pickups), Maruszczyk Elwood L 4 string fretless (MM pickup), Rickenbacker 4003s, Rob Allen MB2 fretless, Phil Jones Flightcase + PB300 3) Happy Jack - AliKat DB #004, Mike Lull 54P, all I need to play a doubling gig (that evening) on those two instruments 4) BlueJay - Eminence Upright (left-handed), loads of camera equipment 5) obbm - Fender Precisions, Sadowsky HPJ, Bergantino NV115, Handbox WB100 and if room Quilter BB800 + BF One10 + Nate Mendel for sale/trade  6) Nancy Johnson (Paul) - The Big One, rack (GED/poweramp), possibly the dUg DP3x. A bass. 7) MacDaddy - Shuker bass(es), Snapdragon Folding bass, Flattley Bass Poison Ivy. 8 ) prowla (Paul) - Maybe a Ric or two and fakers, maybe a couple of Statii, maybe J- & P-basses. Probably a Markbass amp & cab and a pedalboard with some FX. 9) Stingray5 - Old faithful Stingray5; Tune SWV4-BB bass; Eden EC180 1x15 combo. (I also have a gig that evening so may leave the Eden in the car but happy to bring it in if anyone asks). 10) TrevorR - Wal Pro II E, Wal Mk 1 Custom, Aria SB700, MarkBass LMII and Traveler 2x10, pedalboard. 11) TheGreek - Mesa M Pulse 600 head/ Powerhouse 1x15 cab and The Psilos bass built by Andyjr1515 12) JapanAxe (Graeme) - most of the stuff in my signature! 13) Wolverinebass (Andy) - Maybe some Wounded Paw effects/signature preamp and a bass. 14) Silverfoxnik (Nik) - Roscoe Beck 5, Gibson Thunderbird, BC Rich Eagle, plus my Ampeg V4BH Rig 15) Paul The Drums of the Junkyard Dogs, with kit. 16) Frank Blank (Frankè Blanké) Rob Allen Mouse, AER Basic Performer, Fender Modern Player with modded fretless neck, Ibanez SRC6/SR500, cake. 17) Ordep - Noble Preamp, Modulus Jazz, Fodera Monarch New Std, Amp, pedalboard depending on the day’s mood. 18) ChunkyMunky - Yamaha BB1025X, SWR Redhead combo  19) Jabba the Gut - TC Electronic RH450, RS112 and some own build basses 20) Thestick - Vanderkley cabs, Aguilar ag700 head, selection of basses 21) Mr & Mrs Hamster - Tea, coffee & cake! Might bring a couple of basses too 22) bassace - usual double basses etc. 23) OutSpoon (Steve) - Fodera Monarch Standard Classic, Sandberg California VS5, Maybe a '94 Stingray? TC 208 combo or PJ Double4? 24) Walman - BF Super12T, FPPR Status S1 (yes that one ), Genz Benz Streamliner, Helix Floor, and a load of EBS pedals for sale 25) musicbassman - planning to come, sorry I've nothing of great interest to bring with me, just some respect for all you guys bringing your treasured possessions to display. 26) Kebabkid - Sire Marcus Miller V7 (4 string), Roland Bass Cube 120XL, Zoom B3 & EBS Octabass 27) Graham (still tentative at the moment) - Lakland DJ5, G&L USA SB2, Yamaha TRB1005J, EBS HD350, EBS Neo 2x12, EBS Microbass II, EHX Big Muff Bass Deluxe, Joyo Orange Juice 28) NickD - Maruszczyk Jake 5P+, Maruszczyk Elwood L5A, Markbass 121H, Zoom B3, Bass Soul Food, EHX Freeze, Mooer Tender Octaver, Ebow.

No need to say,if there wasn't Neil,there wouldn't be navarone

Info from the man himself: http://www.smithbassforums.com/showthread.php?s=9c378f5b2737d1f2378ffc114a3e7b45&t=2

Welcome Zapdady. You needn't worry. We all know the answer to that one... GAS. Some of the great bassists have started out in the horn section too. Have fun. PS: Do you tune down to E flat?

Hosco body, Wilkinson pickups and tuners. Chinese bits make up the rest.

Good evening, ZD , and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share. I suppose we should really leave you to find out for yourself, but, to avoid future disappointment, and further expense, on your part, I feel duty-bound to disclose that you'll never get the trumpet sound you're striving for, even with all those pedals. Sorry to have to break it to you like that, but I think it's the kindest, in the long run. ...

Started with a Schaller 471-8 Functionally great, but a little overdesigned, e.g. the gronky coarse adjustment is aesthetically challenged compared to a TOM solution. Unnecessary if the saddle carriers are properly located. Four saddle (12 string ) prototype using pieces from my standard 4 string bridge/tailpiece and some .020 aluminium in situ with prototo (misdrilled) tailpiece. Then it got ugly... more Al, more butchered bridge parts and Francis, the Talking Mule. Essential for developing my 5s, 8s, 12s, and now, 10-15s. Only way to find out what pickup sounds how where. In this case ThunderBucker Fiver pups. Also helps in finding balance points and strap button locations. Now with TrembleNO™, the aspirational whanger system. Amazing what odd bits you can find in a drawer to screw into an untapped hole in .020 Next: Bring up the Body.

The specs and even the shape of the thing suggest to me that it’s aimed squarely at guitarists. I suspect this won’t do a great job with bass at all...

Tomorow i will go to a profesional car painter to paint it. Here you can compare the size with my 40" scale p-bass and the 34" scale vig cobra

That's where you're going wrong - you're meant to film yourself playing bass

I might bring a Rickenfaker along, with a real Ric TRC, just to see if folks can tell the difference...

Remain In Light and Fear Of Music were the peak, IMO. There was a time there where they were the best band in the world. The Stop Making Sense reading of 'Heaven' will be played at my funeral.

Leeds for gigs but York for culture, history, lack of yobs and general niceness

Thanks for that. I larfed. (Mainly because it worries me to think I may never be able to buy a "dumb" telly ever again.)

It was, but a bit of zoot suit going on there too, I think DB had his creative roots in '50's & '60's small-town Americana

Hi, Si Only just caught up with this bit of the changeover. Now I understand why @jebroad manfully stepped into the breach! Huge thanks for sorting the previous bashes and best wishes for your next big adventure!

Thank you. Talking Heads were one of my favourite acts of the eighties. Their hits are like milestones in my memory as they accompanied major steps forward in my development upon leaving home for good. For example; the Gate Theatre at the head of O'Connell Street in Dublin showed the film Stop Making Sense every weekend for what seemed like months when it came out. People would attend and behave as if the Heads were performing live for them. I went once myself and found lots of people were going each weekend. That was a life affirming experience for an early twenties lad such as me. I liked Tom Tom Club too but I felt it was a distraction from the main Talking Heads vibe. It also felt like the two bands co-existed on an uneasy basis. That one film was a masterpiece in its simplicity. From the minute it started you were in the audience. The complete lack of narration and visual prompts made the experience even more real. It was the next best thing to being there and in some way it was better because of the choice camera shots. I'd imagine it was not nearly as easy to make as it was to watch. I'd like to see it in the cinema again but the feelings of oneness with everyone and the consequent buzz can never be recaptured. I'll probably end up buying it on Blu-ray or DVD audio.

Stop Making Sense is excellent.

I watched Stop Making Sense last Sunday and it was so damn good I watched it again today. I dislike concert films usually but Talking Heads are so damn good. Tina Weymouth is an excellent bassist, just like you say, simple bass lines that serve the song, height of the art as far as I’m concerned.

tom tom club were awesome

Netflix would be a better option... Lots of great shows to get into and only £7.99 subscription. I rarely ever watch 'actual' TV.

Planes, we all need them but most people struggle with them through no fault of their own. The trouble with them is they are so abysmally finished which has fuelled the emergence of so called super tools such as Veritas and Lie Nielson... No I'm not knocking them, they are lovely things to own and use but they aren't really necessary your average Record or Stanley can be made to work far better than they do out of the box. How much better? Well get them fully sorted out and they are unsurpassable, many years ago I bought at huge expense some Norris planes, which are the Rolls Royce of bench planes but my Record planes work equally well now, I ended up selling the Norris'. OK so if we view the humble bench plane as a kit when we buy it and don't expect to take a fine shaving with it no matter how sharp your blade is we won't be disappointed. Planes to me come in two main types, your standard bench plane, smoother/Jack /try/jointer and the variable geometry planes such as the humble block plane, variable geometry? I'll explain later. Much of the way we can tune these planes work for both types so I'll concentrate on the more complicated bench plane. First lets familiarise ourselves with the thing and it's parts. We have a body, wooden handles, a Frog (that holds the cutting iron), a cap iron/chip breaker (curling iron in the picture below), a locking lever and lastly the actual cutting iron. Each of these parts play a critical role in how the plane works and none of them are even close to being satisfactory out of the box sadly so you'll need to spend half a day fixing them. The first job is to take the plane fully apart noting how it goes back together. We will look at each section in turn: The Mouth Looking at the picture above you can see that the leading edge is perpendicular to the plane base, that isn't good. We need to get a set of needle files and a second cut small file and file that leading edge to 45 degrees, it's not easy and will take a while. You need to bring that to an edge meeting the plane base and we need to check that the new profile is truly square with the plane sides. Why have we done this, it is to give room for the shaving to curl away from the cutting iron without clogging the mouth of the plane and that's it. The Frog Place this in position on the plane base, give it a bit of a rock to see if it wobbles. If it does you need to carefully file bits of metal away until it sits firmly on the plane base, this is a straightforward job. You also need to check if the blade supporting face can sit 100% parallel with the mouth's leading edge. Lastly you need to check that the cutting iron sits flat on it at the very bottom where the edge of the cutting iron bevel is, also at the top of the frog too so when the iron is locked down it sits 100% flat, so you may find yourself doing some more gentle filing. This is so the cutting iron is stable and vibration free during use, any vibration will render the plane near useless The Cap Iron Pay attention to this, the cap iron is at the very heart of the plane's function and more critical than a sharp blade. I'll explain its function first this time. It's whole purpose it to bend the chip as it is cut from the wood and basically break it, not into bits but breaking the chip from advancing into the workpiece and thus creating the typical curly shaving Notice two very important points in that illustration, the closeness of the chip breaker to the cutting edge (less than 0.5mm and the narrowness of the mouth opening, again less than 0.5mm. Those two things are what make a plane create a good clean cut. The breaks as said breaks the chip and the mouth stops the chip advancing into the work piece, with me? OK so the cap iron needs the following doing, it needs to sit flat on the cutting iron, at this stage your cutting iron needs to have been sharpened and the back made fully flat like I explained in the sharpening thread, if it isn't do it now. We need to ensure that the leading edge of the cap iron(chip breaker sits on the back of the iron with intimate contact as in 100% perfectly, if it doesn't shavings will get in there instantly and clog the plane and it will not work. Start off with a file and create a little angle back from the leading edge, there isn't one shown it the illustration above and that is wrong, why, well when you assemble the cap iron and blade and tighten the screw you bend the cap iron down and the blade up, this will open up a gap at the leading edge (clogs). Once you have that leading edge take the cap iron to your sharpening stones with are or need to be 100% flat and grind the leading edge with the 1000 grit stone, check it back on the cutting iron, look carefully for any gap on that leading edge and carefully work to eliminate it. This may be a slow job, it once took me nearly a day to get one done for some reason I forget. Once you have it on the 1000 stone you need to polish the front face (the bent bit). I find the best way is to roll it down the 1000 grit stone very carefully so the bottom 6mm or so is evenly grey, then take it to the 6000 grit stone and polish it to a mirror finish but also paying attention to the mating surface to the cutting iron too, very like trying to sharpen the thing but only gently just to remove that burr. Once done recheck that fit on the cutting iron just in case you've opened up a tiny gap, if so regrind it on the 1000 grit stone.... don't skimp on that, it is critical. Why did we polish the front of the iron, well it lets the shaving slide very smoothly away from the mouth, is it really necessary? Yes, try not doing it, trust me, polish it. So we are very nearly there! Now we need to reassemble the plane, firstly fit the frog, position it so the cutting iron is very close to the mouth leading edge. This is a variable setting, for fine bench work set it close, about 0.25 -0.5mm, for fitting doors and windows open it to 1mm; it just lets a thicker shaving through and advances the length of wood that can be lifted off the work piece during the cutting process. You also need to make sure the cutting edge is parallel to the mouth opening. Once set, carefully remove the cutting iron holding the frog firmly and then tighten the frog down with a screwdriver, recheck the cutting iron with the locking leaver in place and then fit the handles. Flattening the base of the plane Sadly the base of a new plane is a bit of a nightmare, they are finished on a belt sander believe it or not and are near useless for fine work, you need to flatten it. Now thankfully the base doesn't need to be flattened all over but it needs to have the front leading edge or toe, the front and back of the mouth and the heel all in one flat plane but the more you can get flat the better. You will need a roll or part of a roll of 80 aluminium oxide sandpaper, a long flat surface and some time. First job is to back off the plane iron about 0.5mm inside the plane body but you need to keep it there along with everything else, fully tightened just as you will be using it later on. Take your 80 grit (or coarser/faster, fined/slower) paper and clamp it to a flat surface ( a planer bed or circular saw table, anything that is truly flat, even a piece of 50mm wood if it is really flat) so that it is quite tight. Take your plane and put it on the paper, you will need to use the plane over the paper just as you would over a work piece, so pressure on the front handle pushing on the rear then relieving the front pressure and transferring to the rear, lift up and do it again. After a couple of minutes have a look at the bottom of your plane and you will see what needs to be done. Every plane I've done needed a lot of work to get the front and back of the mouth flat, maybe an hour or so work. You will need to change your paper when it gets dull too. Once it's done and you have a largely flat plane you're ready to impress your socks off. Reset the cutting iron in the cap iron and fit it, lock it down and adjust it so the cutting edge barely protrudes, run it down some smoothish wood, it should cut like nothing you've ever used before, the surface should shimmer, the shavings should come off gossamer thin looking like lace (if the wood is open grained) if you have paid attention to all the above. There are no if's or buts with this one, that is the only way to get a bench plane to work, some may be better or worse when you start but they will all work when they're done. Any problems, check your cap iron fit first, the chances are they will lie there. Ongoing maintenance, sadly there are a lot of strains and stressed in a new plane body, your nice flat plane will tend to get out of true, you may need to check it and reflatten every now and then, I seem to remember doing mine every month (just 5 minutes) when they were new, now 30 something years on it's just once a year. Variable geometry planes The block type plane, these are different as they have no cap iron and have the bevel uppermost, why? Different types of wood/grain direction needs different cutting angles. Endgrain (butchers blocks for example - block plane!) needs a low cutting angle, flat wood grain needs an average 45 degrees but some very difficult woods need a steeper 50 degrees (York pitch) which is more of a scraping action Looking at the above you can see on the block plane we can vary the angle of the bevel (you only need to vary the actual honing angle not the whole bevel). You can get block planes with a basic angle of 20 degrees and 12.5 (I think it is) to give you a wide range of possibilities. Setting these up is very similar to the bench plane except for there is no cap iron, the frog is also non adjustable so you may need to do some filing to get that flat and square but the mouth should be adjustable instead, remember to bevel the leading edge to 45 degrees like the bench plane. That is about it I think, I tend to set my mouth opening very narrow on a block plane, maybe less than 0.1mm to help get a better finish It may all seem a bit of a phaff but it really really is worth doing, I promise you your planes will be objects of great pride when you're done, planing will be a pleasure as shavings whistle off the wood leaving surfaces that don't need sanding (grain depending of course), joining planks of wood with invisible glue lines will be easy and the quality of your woodwork will increase tenfold

Weekday delivery from Swedish hub?? Might be awkward for collection..

Don't get hung up on the through neck. I own a Streamer Stage 1, it's nothing like any Yamaha I've owned. Not in feel, sound or playability. Same with the Spector it sounds and feels like a Spector. All great, all different. BB3000 or BB1200s that's the fight. The quality of the early Japanese Yamaha basses is remarkable.

A Westone Thunder Jet had 22 frets, fabulous necks, too. I believe some of the later 1A models also sported 22 frets. Might be possible to get either as just necks.

It's also 200W, which could be a limiting factor with the single 12" speaker. I'm hesitant over the low end roll off at 47hz and an SPL of 129dB.

Not true, maybe you didn’t read all the specs or watch the video. This has 16 presets, accessible via a proprietary 4-button switch, expression pedal or anything which sends MIDI PC messages (though again it looks like there’s an extra box required similar to the SA Hub to access the last option)

Wow! £14,000!

I lost faith in couriers earlier in the year when then cracked my SC3. What annoys me more is now they charge you to do a job - pick up and deliver a parcel in the same condition as it was picked up - a job any of us could do, but if they dont manage to do that job - either by non delivery or arriving damaged - you dont get anything back unless you have paid extra to insure it!! and then theres a million caviates to try and stop a pay out. In what other job are you allowed not to do what youve been paid for and then only allow rectification in the form of compensation by the client having to take out their own insurance policy against you not doing your job??!! drives me crazy.

I've been away for a long weekend, which is why I haven't responded to any PM's or this thread. Thank you for your kind words and thank you @jebroad for taking on the mantle. Mrs O. and I are emigrating, well, I'm emigrating, she's going back home, early next year which is why I can't guarantee to be in a position to run it. It may be that we haven't yet left, in which case I'll definitely be along, but also, we may have gone or be in the middle of going. We're going to open a B&B in Northern Germany, not far from the Kiel canal. If it's allowed then once we're up and running I'll advertise it on BC in case anyone wants holiday accommodation in the area.

Don't normally post in here, because it would quickly get boring for you to read lol, but this weekend was special. 8am Saturday: Leave High Wycombe in the band van, destination: Troon in Scotland for a wedding. 4:30pm Saturday: Arrive in Troon after a chilled drive with a couple of hour-long stops. *Play gig* 12:15am Sunday: Leave venue for High Wycombe 6:20am Sunday: Arrive back in High Wycombe, leave for Hemel. 7:00am Sunday: Go to bed 11:30am Sunday: Take the family to 'A Day Out With Thomas The Tank Engine' in Aylesbury 😂 Until next week lol Si

Here my GF (goat friend)is helping me Just glued the maple fretboard layer and the side view

Modest too.