Leaderboard

And here she is, the object of my affections. One Y.O.B Fender Precision Bass (1976) Of course in natural with a rosewood fingerboard. This is a very specific configuration for a reason. Firstly, because I grew up listening to Queen. The late-70's mid-d80's era of John Deacon's "main" precision bass actually had it's sunburst finish removed to natural, rather than this one that came as is. Said Precion bass ended up having a refinish in black with gold hardware, which is rather sexy! Anyway, I digress... I've been trying to find this spec bass for ages and have never been able to afford one. (I've just sold lots of bass gear!!!) Also, many years ago, my mum helped me buy my first precision bass (which I tried to re-buy last year when it resurfaced some 25 years later on this very forum, but the seller wouldn't budge). I've always felt rubbish about selling it, so it will help put my mind at ease now that I have replaced it. - Funnily enough, same colour scheme! And, finally, to bring this long tale to an end, I have of course a huge thank you to make. WUNJO GUITARS https://www.wunjoguitars.com for being, frankly, bloody amazing in all of this. I've had so many conversations with Jimmy in the bass department that he's practically family now. They kept on at UPS every day and would not let this situation drop for a second. They've displayed a customer service that I've not experienced "when the sh*t hits the fan" and get my thorough thumbs up. I'd also like to thank Tom who stepped up to the challenge of recording me a whole bunch of videos so I could see and hear the bass in action as I was unable to get down to London to see it in person. Now that we are getting acquainted, me and the bass are gonna see if we hit it off together. We've just played through the whole of Queen's The Miracle from start to finish and that went pretty well.

Lest I forget it (not that you could ever forget such a shape), the Mouradian-esque built for @gelfin

Good advice on looking after 'em above, but just in case you need more cables another day, this site is the 'go-to' source for all the cabling needs, at more than reasonable cost, very fast service, top (and I mean top...) quality, run by our very own OBBM, a long-established, highly respected member here... OBBM cables ... What is my relationship..? Only that of a very satisfied repeat customer, for both standard and custom cables, nothing more. Just remember: Cables = OBBM. Hope this helps.

I used a V7 5 to record our last CD so I thought I'd take a punt on one of these. Hard to fault at the price I think.

Well, in response to the Basschat FB page, I will relate the story of my newest family member - a 2005 Fireglo Rickenbacker 4003. I asked for your opinions some months ago about whether it was worth trading my Spector in for a nice Ricky. Almost unanimously the members of this group said no, and I am glad you did! The Spector is the best bass I have ever played, but I still felt the pull of a Ricky. As a lifelong Rush and Yes fan, I just had to get one. So, I finally took the plunage got the 4003. Well, for those who know, none of this will be a surprise, but for those who don't, here's my review. It looks great and it sounds great, but my Ged, it's a pig to play. I still haven't tamed it. Not quite sure how to get comfortable with it. I have tried it slung low and now have it up high, which is a bit better. But I am a fingers player and found it ridiculously unfriendly on the right hand, so I am learning to play it with a pick. This is a whole new technique to get my head around. Any advice on how to get the best from a Ricky, I am all ears! I do feel I have to add that I love it anyway! I will overcome this plank! PS. Anyone who mentions the shed, dies!

I've more often than not joined bands that were of a better standard than myself. The best and quickest way to improve IMO is by playing with people that are a step above you.

It’s almost as if there had been some kind of avoidable event where a third of the population had voted for something that meant the pound dropped in value...

Collection only

I don't think it'd pay well anyway, moneys too tight to Maension

Just picked the bass up. Turns out he checked the electronics, truss rod, action, and set it up amazingly for £28. He had the bass for 9 days. The Sei now plays beautifully with the low action I wanted. I can't recommend this guy enough. His name is Lance and is in the Evesham area.. https://www.guitarstudio.co.uk

I just like big bottoms. I can not lie.

We're hosting a masterclass with the bass legend Victor Wooten. Click the banner below for tickets, they're going fast!

Not music related but I've always loved the story of the stand up comedian who started his act with the line, "Hello, I'm schizophrenic." A voice in the audience calls out, "Well, you can both f**k off, then!"

Well if we're posting our own, here's my "Nozcaster" thinline tele - my first and only completed build so far

Thanks,! The gold bass is a one off, started out as a 4 string. I rerouted the neck pocket and dropped in the neck from my BigBottom 12er when I was developing the current 12er bridge/tailpiece. BigBottom and NR 12s

These are my roasted maple neck Musicman basses - 2014 Neptune Blue mahogany Sabre with roasted flamed maple neck, and 2018 4HH Special, Aqua Sparkle with roasted maple and ebony board. They both have stainless steel frets. Note the back of the neck colour is consistent, and although the headstocks are darker (lacquered) there's not a huge difference. My 4HH Special was a customer order placed on 14/4/18 with Andertons - so you can get the colour you want if you persevere - the same was true of the Sabre, and various other 'odd colour' Musicman basses I've bought new. Note the new tuners have a much thicker tip area - feel really comfortable to use. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder - but think my 4HHS looks great. Ive used it now in two gigs with a fairly loud blues/R and B band (v loud drummer!!) - outdoor gigs. The bass sound has fitted the mix very nicely (generally using the dual humbucker or single bridge humbucker settings). I've used the outer single coil setting a couple of times but it simply encourages me to play Marcus Miller quotes. A couple of things I've really noticed - using the classic single bridge humbucker setting, even cranking the mid range (yes, to hear myself v said drummer on occasion), the sound simply becomes more focussed but retains that Stingray Bernard Edwards type sound. I rarely crank the mid on my regular 4HH in H mode as it sounds too much to me - that bass needs a bumped mid in dual H mode though as it naturally scoops. Altogether I'm really pleased with this bass - super playable, light, sounds great, big range of very usable sounds and also turns heads - Saturday night, under a lighting system our lady singer danced over playing an item of percussion and said 'is that a new bass you have there' as it shone in the multi coloured lighting - and then proceeded to make female Kenneth Williams/Frankie Howard sounds of approval - she looked well impressed!!! 😂

My builds.

A great result, congrats on finally being united with that fine looking instrument. What a debacle though! However, it may be that all that angst will actually add to your enjoyment of it. Thanks for sharing the experience, I think we all felt somewhat invested in the outcome.

Goodness me, thank you. 🙏 That’s really thoughtful Aside from this debacle I’ve not been “in a good place” for a while now, so these words mean more to me than you realise. This bass is to remind me of where I came from. Ey, no pressure ‘76 P, alright?

That is an ending I like May I say Dood, although we never had many (if any) dealings on this forum, I've always respected and valued your considered and knowledgable input on many topics. So I probably speak for most if not all of basschat that you absolutely deserve this positive ending. I'm positively thrilled for you!!!

Happy for you Paddy. I've had a couple of CL heads ( not the svt2) and you just cannot better the All valve ampeg sound imo. And man! What a price

I started work a couple of weeks ago, and have taken some pics so I'll start a build thread soon 😀

Because it looks like that😂

My Main gigging rig. Mesa Titan and powerhouse 210 + 410 cabs. the markbass on top is for emergencies.

I've been listening to Fields of the Nephilim a lot over the last few days. I loved their gigs back in the late 80s/early 90s. These tracks flow into each other. Tony Pettitt is very underrated

Playing in bands with people who are even better than they are, of course!

Bore oil, fingerboard oil, lemon oil, linseed oil, walnut oil all do the same job, pretty much. I don't need advice about what to clean my fingerboard with. I was just wondering if I could get some more of what I already have. Seems like the answer is either "no" or "here's the answer to a question you didn't ask". Internet...

Started the neck carve. It will probably take the rest of the day off and on but the bulk is removed: Other than checking the neck thickness with some calipers, I'm carving this one pretty much entirely by feel - sitting in a chair, holding it like a back-to-front cello and using a variety of tools including spokeshave, cabinet scrapers and microplanes. I often tweak the shape in the same way once the guitar is fully finished and strung up, just using a cabinet scraper and finishing off with sandpaper, followed by a quick reapplication of tru-oil slurry and buff.

I like that!

Nice playing - sounds great - I saw Ronnie Laws around 79/80 - great gig 👍 Encore eh? My son still has one of them (was his first bass many years back) - has used it to record several times and people have asked him what year of Precision he was using to get such a good sound!!

Learn to coil them properly, always remove them with the jack, not the cable. Thats it pretty much.

Option 2 Mother of Pearl is a natural product and natural products vary...otherwise they don't look natural. Those blocks look perfect

Here's a couple of mine..... (Edit: Mods, am I alowed to post my own? If not, please delete!😁)

Shed's alright but the trainers clash with the bass. 😜

Fnar, fnar.

BLOOD The very first pub gig I ever played was at the Salmon & Ball in the East End, a corner pub with doors onto Cambridge Heath Rd and Bethnal Green Rd. Maybe the area has been gentrified since then ... it certainly wasn't bloody gentrified when I played there. We set up with our backs against the East wall of the pub, between the two doors, and started playing. Halfway through the first set a couple of black guys came in, bought their drinks, and sat peaceably at the back of the pub. Some of the white skinhead types at the bar were giving them the eye, and the atmosphere went thoroughly rank. It didn't help that our keyboard player was black. Sure enough, after a while a couple of these East End good ol' boys decided to start something and headed to the back of the pub. There were some verbals, and then one of these idiots decided to do it like they do on telly and knocked the end of his beer bottle on the edge of the table = instant lethal weapon, right? Erm ... no. I come from a family of coppers going back to Victorian times (believe it or not) and one thing I've heard plenty of is that when you smash a glass or a bottle like they do in the movies (with a prop made of sugar), the most likely outcome is that you end up with a handful of broken glass. So tough guy idiot #1 is now standing there with blood spurting out of his hand, tough guy idiot #2 looks like he's going to cry, the two black guys seem unimpressed, and the landlord takes over. This being the heart of the old East End, the guv'nor looks exactly (and I mean exactly) like Grant from Eastenders. He drags them behind the bar so that he can run the cold tap over the damaged hand, then produces a mass of that blue kitchen towel they use in pubs and gets tough guy idiot #1 to mash it up in his hands, finally escorts them to the Cambridge Heath Road exit and shows them the way to the nearest A&E. He's done this before, hasn't he? We're still playing. Next, the guv'nor starts taking tables and stools and builds a barricade (seriously, I'm not making this up) against the newly-bolted door onto Cambridge Heath Road. Then he goes to the door onto Bethnal Green Road, which is actually a pair of narrow doors. He closes and bolts one of the narrow doors and takes up position in the narrow doorway that he's left open. His white t-shirt has been liberally sprayed with the blood of tough guy idiot #1 which makes him look a lot like Bruce Willis in a Die Hard movie, and there he stays for the rest of the set. People in the pub are allowed to leave, people outside the pub are not allowed in. Unsurprisingly, by the end of our first set the pub is empty apart from us, the guv'nor, and a barmaid. He pays us off, apologises to us (!), and we very sheepishly break down and leave. The most astonishing thing about this story is that I ever played another gig.

What's the betting JPJ never played Lemon Song exactly the same twice!!?

Yes, it was a worthwhile experience! *I love that song so much

Seeing as it is a recreation of how a jazz bass would be after 57 years, I would say there is a reasonable expectation that it would last at least half a century!

Maybe he had notoriously very bad smelly feet?

To be honest,...I have no real Effects on my Board. Tuner, Compressor, the VONG Filter, wich is an adjustable High Pass and Low Pass Filter + an adjustable +16db Boost on the Foot Switch, a Polarity Switch and a DI Out. The WTDI i only use as a 3-Band EQ for my passive Yamaha BBG5. It stays "off" when I play my Lakland. When I am home I use the DI Out from the WTDI to go from there into my Tascam Interface for practicing or recording at Home. In our Rehearsal Room or on Stage i use the DI Out from my Mesa.

I think they suit some people. I personally don't feel the need. I always carve necks for guitars and basses intended for my own use to a soft-ish 'V'. That gives me a feeling of a very slim neck when moving up and down the board, but a comfortable thickness when using barre chords and the like.

Well done @Grangur , excellent work mate.

Personally I'm another one who likes to play with musicians that are better than me, or at the very least will push me, and be technically demanding. Depends on the circumstances - sometimes the band doesn't demand that level of technical complexity, and that can still be great fun, but the aim is always to get out and play gigs, and you need a level of competence to do that (well, possibly not...I have examples of musicians who play regularly and an an offence to your ears) But I'm done with keeping the rhythm guitarist because he's a great bloke and always buys his round if he can't actually play the guitar very well. I now have a very simple test - if i can play the guitar better than you, by definition you are not a good enough guitarist to be in a band with me. I am bang average at the guitar... ...that said, the most fun i ever had in a band, and the one that got the most gigs and earned the most money was one where I played guitar and the bass players (we had a couple over the time i was in the band) were a triumph of enthusiasm over talent.

assuming that your bass has the standard 4001/4003 tailpiece, the strings pass down the side of an array of raised metal arches at the front, with adjustment screws on either side. Below these arches, the screws should raise and lower a piece of foam (black in the picture), which is designed to damp the strings, stronger or weaker depending on how much the screws have raised or lowered it. In mine (actually a 4003 bridge put on my much older 4001 as a replacement) the sponge was always in contact with the strings even at the lowest the screws would drop it to, so I gaffa taped the foam which makes it compact enough to keep it below the strings as I don't want any damping. A far easier alternative would just be to remove the foam completely. Of course if wouldn't need this if they just left off the whole damping array in the first place, because you would be able to damp the strings with your palm as normal. Bit like the large bridge pickup cover, looks cool, but is a really stupid idea playing wise. If you want to be able to damp with your palm then you can get replacement bridges that allow this, or if you want the damping permanently "on" or want to be able to adjust it, then what you have can do that.

Thanks for the info, I REALLY like it as a shape, very cool. Eude

To learn and stretch yourself? If there isn’t at least one musician in the band im in awe of i get bored quite quickly. Luckily, im mediocre so the bar is set fairly low!

A few of mine

If they plan to try you on more than one of their originals, don't be shy about asking them for charts. If they haven't even bothered to write out the chords ("oh, this one is really simple, you'll pick it up in no time"), then invite the guitarist(s) to play through the song while you quickly chart it for yourself on the pad you remembered to take with you to the audition. You'll probably need to borrow a pencil, mind.

Could it be a Schecter? Logo has similar looks.