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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.

I've always considered Danni 100 x more sexually appealing than her sister and never the got the fuss about K's 'ar$3. I prefer more of a booty on tha ladies. Anyway, I digress. So, KM is slotted into Glasto's sunday afternoon 'legend' spot next year. When i heard the news I had to check to calendar to make sure I hadn't done a Rip van Winkle and it wasn't 1 April. I know a lot of blokes will go on about her so called award winning jacksie but the simple fact is her' vocals are thin and nasal and most of the disposable fluff she's come out with was written by supposedly professional songwriters. So, does anyone among us ageing geezers think she is a 'legend' and deserving of the slot?

No-one can deny she's famous and she's certainly had a successful career over a 30 year period despite very serious health problems at times. Leaving aside any physical attributes, I think she probably deserves her status. Incidently, I saw Danni Minogue some years back in the stage show Notre dame. She could certainly hold a tune.

Unless you are very keen on a particular bass amp sound, especially one that features a deal of valve-y distortion, I personally wouldn't bother with an amp sim for the bass. Most bass amps are simply devices with a baked in EQ profile and a means of adjusting some frequencies within certain limits. The average channel strip in your DAW will be far more flexible than any amp sim. Start by cutting the extreme bass and treble and then use the remaining frequency bands to get the bass to sit where you want it in the mix. Add some compression and you are done. If you are after some valve type distortion, there no reason not to use one of your guitar amp sims - after all until the late 70s there was virtually no difference between a guitar and a bass amp. The only reason you wouldn't put a bass through an actual guitar amp is that it wouldn't go loud enough and the frequencies are more likely to cause speaker over-excursion. Since your amp sims are just digital representations of the real thing, the worst that can happen is that you won't like the sound you get, in which case your can just try something else.

I had an SRFFmultiscale too and couldn't get on with it as the tone was just dull and flat. I had a 505, that was better but not that much character (quite a solid bass in other ways) Really nothing to do with the body though, the 1605 and 5005 have the same bodies and they are nothing like it, I think the difference is just down to the pickups. I did almost put some nord singles into the SRFF, but they are £300 for a custom set for that size, so that didn't seem a good deal when I already have all the others.

The way the neck swooshes in to the body, and the demarcation veneer, looks bloody marvellous! Its a pity it won’t make it to the next SW Bass Bash!

The only problem, and it is one I have come across in a couple of the bands I have played in recently, as well as at jam nights, is the nightmare of the left handed guitarist. I find it very difficult to 'read' the chords from the guitarists hands when it's al the 'wrong' way round for me! Some of the best guitarists I have had the pleasure of playing have been left handed....

I'm in the house band for a jam night. It's mostly blues but anyone can do anything and I just ask what he chords are before we start. This generally means the guy will realise it is too difficult when he starts rattling off a thousand changes or that it is straight forward enough. Get good at knowing the chords on a guitar so you can watch for the changes on anything you forget and just relinquish control. It made a huge difference to my confidence, transformed the way I play with my normal band to the point that we don't rehearse at all anymore and new songs get added to the list a week before.

A whole generation of kids including mine wanted to visit Australia based on Home & Away and Neighbours. These people are now running the media/music biz... Have you noticed how young policemen are?😧

Did her and Peter Gabriel ever hook up (as in romantically)? Artistically they've always struck me as counterparts of eachother. Kate is a very rare example of a mainstream female artist I take seriously and respect...for Hounds of Love if nothing else. Give me her worst effort any day over today's autotuned airbrushed hoes gyrating their way through ghost-written "club bangers". Urgh.

For that price, I'm ordering it. Not bothered if it takes a month and I save £30 odd. Looks like a nice piece with lots of cool pictures and detail. I hope the Wal and Steinbergers get the love they deserve!

Thanks - have just flown through my amazon account and ordered it. Don't mind it taking a month - I'm off work for 3 1/2wks from tomorrow anyway!!

The buzzing pole pieces is a fairly common, annoying problem. Nail varnish carefully applied to the top surface of the pole pieces can help, as can using the same type of foil used for shielding the cavity, fixed to the bottom of the pick up, so that it covers the base of the pole pieces and then solder an earth cable from the foil to a grounding point.

Military Wives were much better before they did anything.

VERSION: Floor TITLE: Basic amp patches DESCRIPTION: Basic Live tones set up IN DETAIL: Here are six patches for the Floor. SVT normal, Mesa 400+ Channel 1, Mesa 400+ Channel 2, Aguilar DB 751, GK 800 and the B15 Portaflex. The 'SW' in the preset name are my initials. These are optimised for my live sound with a Fender Precision. I send XLR to FOH and the 1/4" to a Barefaced FR800 for monitoring. I reduce the XLR output by 16db and use the volume knob to control the 1/4" output only. The sounds through headphones is slightly different. I initially created them using headphones (AKG 702) but then had to tweak for live use. Also in the patch is an IR block directly after each amp block. if you load these in to your Helix the IR is missing but ping me a message and I'll let you have it, or you can just select a cab block of your choice. There are a basic set of effects too. I included the graphic at the end of the chain just in case I needed to make any room adjustments but in the presets they are currently all set to flat. For me, the inclusion of the 3 band compressor at the beginning makes a huge difference as it tames the live sound and reduces boominess. The compressor settings are the same across all patches. The SVT preset has three snapshots too - clean, drive and distortion. Steve SVT SW.hlx Mesa 400+ Ch1 SW.hlx Mesa 400+ Ch2 SW.hlx DB 751 SW.hlx GK 800 SW.hlx Flip Top SW.hlx

Proof of the pudding...

A jam in my experience is thinly spread on hot buttered toast. S.P.

My Triplets...

Try spending a few hours with your radio tuned to Absolute Radio (or similar Oldies station) and see how many of the big hits from the past you can successfully busk based simply on the fact that you grew up listening to the song. If you have a talent for that, then you'll do fine at any jam session.

Ahhhh, but it's not necessarily the second thoughts: I traded an amp for a WA, played it for a while, had second thoughts and traded it back, and then bought another, and this one has stuck. If I had a fiver for every Stingray I've bought, had second thoughts about and sold, then a few months later bought another one, only to repeat the process, I'd have at least enough to buy a set of Elixirs... It's more to do with where you are at a specific time with what you need an amp (or any piece of kit) to do. I used to own an SVT and an 810. Never again, and not because I didn't like the sound it made... And on the back of that, one opinion on an amp is just that, and unless I knew that the person whose opinion it was had the same tone goals as I did, it wouldn't be any real use. I had a ToneHammer 500 and didn't like it at all, and I don't like Jazz basses (and they are two of the most widely liked pieces of kit you can buy), but I wouldn't expect a single person to listen to my opinion with anything more than a passing interest...a possibly a mutter of 'weirdo...' 🙂 You've only got to look at, for instance, the difference in the avatar pics of the inestimable Beedster above mine to see that we just might have different tone goals...so something I might be gaga for isn't gonna work for him, and vice versa. And that's a good thing, otherwise there'd only be one type of bass, one amp and one cab, and then what would we all have to parp on about? 😀

Amazing bass player. The bass line to 'The Only Living Boy In New York' is still one of the most sublime pieces of playing I've ever heard.

[quote name='Al Krow' timestamp='1510000365' post='3403193'] Cheers for the feedback guys and I'll see if I can get across to Westside at the weekend (@LoneFurrow - did you manage to pop in and are they still stocking?) [/quote] I did, and it was pretty disappointing from a bass point of view, to be honest. They had one Schecter Omen 4 (£449), and a JB63 Lefty (£1,999). That's it. A nice Mesa D800+ head that caught my eye though :-) They can get pretty much anything in that you want - up to ~ £500 without a deposit, but thereafter they'd prefer a deposit. Hope that helps.