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If this catches on, it's going to kill the 'basses for sale' section of the forum! (If anyone wants to buy anything I have advertised after New Year's Day, I promise them complete discretion and anonymity!)

To be fair they'd both get it!

And there rests the case for the prosecution, M'lud...

I should be so lucky

I've stained the neck and fretboard and started applying the finishing oils. Ref the fretboard and neck, the owner has always preferred a strong amber tint. For particularly the fretboard, to contrast it needs to be lighter or darker than the top. I did a few trials (my own inclination was to go lighter, like @Len_derby 's, rather than darker) but in the end we pitched for a match of a bass he sent me a photo of and which contrasts the other way round - strong colour neck making the body top actually look a decent number of shades lighter than it actually is. Fascinating stuff. Anyway, I'm about 1/2 way through the finish application and this is how it's looking: Couple more days of finish application and then that can be sitting hardening while I do the remaining jobs. Oh yes, and there's probably Christmas in between those two sets of activities

Finding it extremely hard to leave this bass alone, I actually went and found where it was hidden last night...

That would be an ecumenical matter.

The book is only £18.19 NOW on Amazon. Out of stock but delivered within a month...

I only put my head above the parapet at blues jams, where a basic 12-bar can take you most of the way, but "Hey Joe" keeps coming up, "Black Magic Woman" and "Hooch Coochie Man" and "Crossroads" are usual suspects too. And "The Thrill is Gone". It does bug me that the bass player is expected to just know anything that comes up. I play as many open blues jams as I can - it's really good experience - but almost all the time either the guitar player(s) just announce what they're going to play, or (even worse) everyone else gets together on the other side of the stage and then someone walks across and tells me what they've decided to play. I've had to learn to listen for the first few bars and then blag it, but that's good experience too and I'm slowly getting better at it.

I don't think so! A fatter string requires more tension in order to make it's higher mass resonate at a given frequency. More mass and tension require more energy for the same amplitude. Apart from the fundamental tone, harmonics appear along the string. The more energy, the more harmonics. As those harmonics are multiples of the fundamental frequency, the result will be a richer tone, not a fatter tone. As the proof of the pudding is in the eating, I analysed the waveforms produced by both, thin and fat strings. It can be clearly seen that the percentage of harmonics versus the fundamental frequency depends on string gauge. In other words: Thinner strings produce more boom. In the graph tone, gauge and tension are listed.

Well this was unexpected! A tax rebate, a few things going well and a quick trip to Denmark street led me to acquiring a brand new, 3 EQ USA stingray! it's a bass I'd always lusted after, but like so many you see your hero's play it but you don't know if it's going to be practical for yourself. I played a Sterling by Ernie Ball a few years ago and didn't think much of it. This USA Stingray has such a punchy and rounded sound, it's like a recorded and processed bass sound but coming from your fingers. As I said to the guys in the shop you can drive yourself mad looking at a plethora of options online, sometimes you just want to play something and go "yep! That's the one". I played a USA Jazz too and really enjoyed that, but felt the Stingray was better suited to playing live in my covers band which is leaning towards becoming an 80's cover band. So here it is. I also have to say the guys in Wunjo are superb. No pressure sales, gave me a good trade in on my old jazz bass too. Top marks for customer service!

Having been messing about on my acoustic guitar for a few weeks, I picked one my basses up last night and you know what I actually enjoyed playing for me and playing stuff I enjoy it was great with a drum machine and lot of different effects

I was going to say "westcountry"? Glastonbury's over two hours north from me. Eden is westcountry. (Tongue in cheek disclaimer for the argumentative types) I don't know why anyone gets upset over these Glastonbury bookings, it's a mainstream pop festival and Kylie is a mainstream pop star whose been churning out hits for three decades. I'd have thought that qualified her for 'Legend' status in the eyes of the average Glastonbury goer. I'd be fairly content to have had her longevity and success, as would many more on here I'd imagine. Never mind keep knocking her.

Har, challenge most definitely not accepted. Another project is the last thing I need! You, however, have all the Hohner parts already - all you need is a cosmetically challenged Peavey to go with it. If only there was one around...

Easy, Dave. Take a large mirror to the jam ...

I just concentrate on getting a good signal to the recorder, I run out of the DI out on my Markbass LM3 and couple that with a Red Audio 6 Condenser mic in front of a 1x12 cab, between the two signals I am getting all the bass tone I need for a recording

Unless we hold the bash in Hawaii - which I personally would be up for 😎

An early Christmas greeting from the Family...

How's it going guys? I just published my guide to chords on 4 strings. It's got 4 essential tips you can use to find your own awesome chord voicings. Take a look! https://onlinebassguitar.com/bass-chords-4-string-players-guide/

I could contribute by offering a space to keep it or any of your other basses in case they feel left out a bit.

I know what cetera really needs is a whip round for a new bass - he's not got quite enough to choose from...

That's def a beer or two i owe you next time you are up here with your new project.

the Ramones went off a bit after their 8th Album

I posted a brief comment on another thread about playing acoustically, and doing so piqued my interest, so I thought I’d share it. I play bass in a purely jamming/hobby/non-gigging band (by choice, as we’re mostly in our 70s!), but have decent soundproofed facilities, with full PA, drum kit etc, so we don’t spare the volume when rehearsing. But we gave our first 'performance' last night, in front of our wives (!) in a living room, so went acoustic. No mikes, the drummer used a drum box and tambourine, I did use an amp, but very low. To our surprise, we thoroughly enjoyed it, even though any mistakes tended to be more obvious, not that there were that many.....

I used them for my first 2-3 years of bass playing until I understood there were other string brands. 😁 They eat your hands, eat your frets and die quicker than any other string I've tried, usually after one gig. Started using D'addarios and Elixir (when flush) and have never looked back!

It looks like an ashtray.

I bought a 5 string set of TI flats about 2 years ago. I'm hoping to get at least another 10 years out of them!

I've found them consistent for years, one gig, dead.

And the sellers name is ....... scotdexte Methinks the cheeky chappie is having a laugh.

Luke, this cab is aimed at the owner of the newer class D amps producing 500W into 4 ohms and 300W into 8 ohms. Unless you run your amp flat out, there's not a huge difference between 300W and 165W - so I suspect you'd be fine. This cab will certainly go as loud with your amp as any other 12" cabinet out there. It will obviously not be as loud as a 2x12" 4-ohm cab though.

So, no change there then ...

Now that's something I've never considered. I'll add a large mirror and stand to my gigging kit right now! Only problem is that the guitarist will only be able to see me in the mirror and will think I'm doing it all wrong!

Isn’t that bonnie raitt, not riatt?

We need to knock up (or find) a definitive list of models, it’s a minefield.

There are U.K. dealers selling relatively cheap bows online, or you can get them through Ebay from China. However I tried the China route and the bow was already bent on arrival. I did get my money back but I had to send the frog end only back to the dealer.! You may be able to hire a French and German bow from a bass shop but seeing where you are located, that may be difficult. Are there any orchestras you can contact to see if any bassist can help, with lessons or hands on advice? I’ve had a French bow for years and now believe I should try a German one. I seem to have problems holding the French bow so one day I might try a cheap German bow, maybe a cheap graphite type one. Good luck.

A bit too heavy with the mascara. Not a good look.

Kind of new stuff, then

Andy, sorry I've only just caught up on this but have read from first till last in one sitting, enthralled (really, I don't get out much🙄) This is really a great technical build, lots of creative problem solving and an end result that looks amazing. You really couldn't ask for more in a build thread. Eggnog all round. 😀

Well done Roger, I do so like a happy ending!

I have a Firefox extension called uBlock Origin. Whenever I see an animated gif on this site (or indeed any other, but this one does seem to be a particularly bad offender), 3 mouse clicks is all it takes to never see it again. uBlock Origin is also available for Chrome. S.P.

To be honest I’m glad you’ve removed the temptation! Enjoy it buddy.

This is the modern world. Fakery everywhere. The fakery is even fake.

Oh dear... Went in to PMT Southend, paid for three hours parking and wandered into the shop expecting a lengthy, soul searching wrangle with the issue of going over to the RnR killing dark side that is an FRFR setup. The excellent staff there set up a QSC K12.2, set it to the bass amp preset, I plugged my bass into my Fishman Platinum, set everything at 12 O/C so I had the flattest sound possible and started playing. It took twelve minutes to see the light fully and six of those were just waiting for the assistant to return. So I am putting two basses and my AER Basic Performer up for sale and as soon as I've shifted the AER this will be my new setup... ...I didn't have to discuss anything with the shop assistant, I was fully prepared and armed with all the possible info, how simple it actually is to make the right decision when you have a huge 38 page thread like this that does all the arguing and comparison for you, all one has to do is go in, try it out and confirm it. This is exactly what makes Basschat a massively useful and important resource for its members.

I've said this before, but I think it bears repeating. I paid just over £2k for my Helix and RCF745. My previous big bass rig which was mostly bought second hand over 10 years ago cost me more, and while it looks impressive on stage the Helix RCF combination is far more versatile. One thing did occur to me recently; a lot of the gigs I play are supports to well-established goth/post punk bands where the headliner will have brought an Ampeg stack or similar. I set up my RCF in wedge mode just in front, and still looks as though I'm using a big impressive bass rig while sounding infinitely better!

It’s lovely to see an expert at work. Genius.

Flight cased in ears porn.

I spent a sunday morning in Westside's shop a couple of years ago, officially trying out AER amps. But they sat me in a bas(s)ment that was lined with Schecter basses so I couldn't help but try a "few". They are certainly very well made out of good quality materials and look really nice too. However I wasn't overly impressed with the sound, which was rather dull and "generic" (characterless). The ones I did like were those with the EMG pickups and a coil tap (effectively taking them to single pickups rather than Hs) - bit more life. Some of the "dullness" may have been down to the AER amps which are very accurate but a bit flat sounding (not much "zing" unless you press all the colour and contour buttons) and the fact that my amp of the time was a big heavy Trace GP12SMX thing that had zing in spades (but a certain lack of subtlety or accuracy). Anyways, a trip to Westside is a great idea, they were simultaneously helpful and non pushy, have a huge number of Schecter basses and will let you play with them until you're bored or buy one. Given your list of past basses, I can't see you'd find a Schecter an upgrade mind; IMHO a stingray would knock the socks off any of them (but then, I like Wals and you don't much so ...)