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An alternative, more visually pleasing approach would be to tie a large, colourful helium balloon to the headstock. The more neck heavy the bass, the bigger the balloon. Thunderbirds generally need a giant rainbow coloured unicorn. 😎

Sorted, bought an Ibanez SR500 of a fellow BC member. Thanks Stuart!! Off to find an amp!!

So kind of you But no - this is paying forward what others have helped me with. I suggest getting yourself a massive jug of Pimms on this summery day!

I've experimented with many solutions and the most effective was still a little inelegant. I have a canvass pouch designed to hang from a belt or bag whilst out hiking. This pouch holds a water bottle. So when I cycle to my rehearsal with my tiny travel bass I take the bottle from the bike, fill it with water at the rehearsal room, clip the pouch to my guitar strap (at the bum end of course) and the weight of the water precisely balances the instrument without me having to carry anything heavy on the bike (which would kind of defeat the object of travelling light). I carry the bottle anyway and it becomes lighter throughout the ride as I consume the initial quantity of H2O. So I rehearse with a bottle swinging at my hip. Perfect if, as I say, inelegant. I am therefore adapting the idea for when I'm actually gigging with a neck heavy bass. Quite simply velcro attached to the back end of the strap and a certain number of curtain weights sewn into a flat pouch with the other half of the velcro sewn to the pouch. Balanced bass? Remove the pouch, neck heavy? Velcro it on. The 'certain number' of weights is arrived at through trial and error but by using three smaller pouches rather than one big one I can stick on differing amounts of weight to suit each bass on a case by case basis. Or a bass by bass casis. A bag of curtain weights, yesterday: Pictures to follow. When I've actually done the sewing.

Looking for a jazz neck for my P bass, found this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202542172424 I think he has assembled it wrong. Shouldn't the strings go in the front?

Right, photos time. My Stanley Clarke.

I'd use whatever the manufacturer says is good for bass fishing

Orion is a very comfy set-neck ride

If you think it would help I'd be happy to give that a go, as long as it was fully funded of course. Maybe the hotel in Antigua where the rehabilitation would take place should have a catchy name like Antigua Support Scheme Inclusive Therapy Care Home, although a bit long it could be abbreviated.

The difference is it doesn't shine - it glows.

Relicing = a very good thing. IME.

To stop neck dive on my EB3 I pass the strap behind my belt.

I'm very much in the realms of a cover being a version of a song, not a slavish copying of the original. That, in my opinion, is the job of a tribute band.

Sounds a lot more organised than any I've attended! Chord sheets are a great idea. I'd also start a Facebook page and encourage any musicians to nominate songs they'd like to play (e.g. posting a YouTube video), that way you could end up with a bunch of strangers agreeing to learn them before the night and playing some lesser known tracks that otherwise wouldn't have a chance.

Now there's a prog band just waiting to happen

Relicking most definitely exists in lots of other areas, shabby chic furniture, ratlook cars and bikes, ripped and faded clothes, tarnished and dented brass instruments, scratched and faded string instruments, etc. All fair enough, whether you like it or not doesn't matter as it's most definitely a popular style, the one thing that does matter is that Antigua finish exists and only exists in the guitar/bass world and should be stamped out. Even the bizarre world of fashion or the unemployable that declare themselves 'interior designers' wouldn't stoop this low, so what does that say about lovers of Antigua. Wronguns the lot of ya!

Cuzzie.. That blob of solder was absolutely it...near it there was a bare wire in amongst the birds nest. I have resoldered to wire to the blob and guess what.. It is absolutely quiet.. No more fizzle. I have maxed out the treble on both bass and amp everything remains quiet. Please PM me your PayPal addresses and I will send you the price of a pint.

As @dmccombe7 says, the black labels have twin pole pieces per string. The pups in the photo above are definitely Sandberg’s “standard” models, hence the little Sandberg logo (4 dots) on the corner of each pickup. Black labels look like this:

Totally normal for that model, bridge weighed about the same as the rest of the bass

Hi basschat, i've been using this exercise as a warm-up and warm-down for a long time and thought i would share! let me know how you get on, Bill.

Some videos are very good as learning aids, others are just folk enjoying playing the bass. I don't laugh at someone who is clearly inexperienced and just having fun, plenty out there who could laugh at me if they wanted to. I prefer love and support to criticism and sarcasm - but then I'm a bit soft. Learning someone's interpretation can be a great starting point, assuming the ultimate goal is to improve one's ability to 'hear' a bassline and produce our own interpretation. If the cover deviates from the original that should be the first thing to stand out to us. We can then find where it should go and thus our skills improve. So any video ultimately can be a learning tool. Even one we might deem as 'wrong', assuming that term can actually be applied to music.

It would be a very pleasant surprise if the Mooer could do what the FI does. I would be happy to be proved wrong.

Here's an early Tokai Jazz (c.1981?). Originally fretted, the bass has a small issue with the truss rod so a few years ago, while the repair chap had it on the bench, I asked for it to be converted to fretless (now has a nice Indian Rosewood board).

As long as the DB sounds good through the MB, that would be my choice.

Everything you need and more is in this thread 😀

I wrote to Amazon Customer Service to get an explanation (why cancel my order and get the book back on sale within 2 weeks) - and got none, really. The book is however no longer on sale by Amazon.

Thanks for the over share, Ricky.... 😀

Finally had the time for the final glueing. If I can find some time for painting and assembling next week it should almost be done!

The bottle counterweight solution

Alright folks! I've already posed this in the "gigs" section of the forum but I'm super proud of it so I've got to be a cheeky bugger and post it here too. It's a full set, all my own material, from a gig I did last month at the 3 Minute Theater in Manchester. I'd love to hear what you all reckon. X

@prowla is indeed in... Updated Attendance & Gear List: 01. Silverfoxnik - BC Rich Eagle, Ander van der End JB5, RBV5, Ampeg V4BH head and matching cabs. 02. Hamster - Tea, Coffee, Pastries, the Wife - might bring a bass! 03. @Frank Blank's Acoustic Corner - Rob Allen Mouse, Godin A4, FRFR setup (QSC K12.2 and Fishman preamp). 04. RodFunnell - '78 Stingray, Assorted Warwicks, Vanderkley Spartan, Mesa Prodigy 4:88, Barefaced Big Twin T and it's still a few months away so maybe more! 05. obbm - Sadowsky Metros, Handbox WB100, Bergantino cabs. 06. Cetera - Spector NS2, Spector Euro LT, Hamer Impact, Hagstrom Super Swede, Italia Imola GP, Fender FSR PJ, GK800RB, GenzBenz Neox 2x12 07. @NancyJohnson Lull JAXT4 & Lull JAX/NRT5, Darkglass A/O Head (will probably be old hat by then), 2xAguilar SL112s. 08. Rumblefish - Rumblefish bass,Wal Bass, MB Mpulse 600,Berg CN212 09. Steve Browning - SVL & Fender Precisions, Mesa Walkabout 15 10. @Stingray5 - MM and Tune basses, Trace Elliot or Eden combos, Boss GT-6B. 11. ChunkyMunky - Builds of mine (P5, J5 etc), SWR SM900, a Greenboy/Fearful build or two and some other assorted goodies. 12. samcrabtree00 - Warwick Streamer Stage II, USA MM Sub, Genzler Magallen 800, Barefaced BB2, Various effects 13. TrevorR - Wal Custom and Pro, Aria SB700, MarkBass LMII & Traveler 2x10 14. @Graemeross 4 Ps, 3 Js, 2 Aria SBs , Darkglass MT900, 2x Barefaced BB2, HX Effects with Line 6 G75 wireless. 15. prowla - Rics, Warwicks, Statii (whatever I chuck in the car!), Markbass EVO 1 & 1x12. Maybe a Minitaur & 12-step (if I've got 'round to figuring out the 12-step by then).

Two covers to take off!

Both my basses are passive - a P and a homemade Jazz style. I've been using a Sadowsky outboard for - must be nearly 20 years. It's the original belt clip model, which is still going strong. I don't use it to sculpt my tone, but simply because when using it I can hear my bass in the mix without turning up the volume. It just sounds better. A much tighter, more defined sound. It brings out the detail. I occasionally add a fraction of bass, but never touch the treble knob. No other preamp, or active bass, has ever given me that tightness (though there are many I haven't tried), and I would dearly love to know what it is about that preamp which does this. I know it boosts at 40 and 4k, but I have never been able to find out why it works this way. Whether I run into an amp, or a SABDDI or a straight EQ pedal, or simply into my computer to record, the belt clip makes it sound better. Maybe there's some kind of built in mush cutter. Or maybe it's highly trained pixies.

I have one of these, crazy right....?

I've seen some far more niche products, but they're probably not things I should post here!

Not seen Sid & Zillah since early 2000s and lost touch. Last time I worked for them was 11th Aug 1984 when they backed up New Model Army (yes, with Stuart Morrow) at Klub Foot. I keep in touch with their later guitarist Steve.

Yes Wingbasses are amazing and they don’t just look like a mini bass (like the marleaux) they are more like unique instruments in their own right. I love mine (in my avatar!) However more mini basses on the market is a good thing. Everyone loves them when they try them.

Very recently bought a 3Leaf GR2 pedal off Ian. Smooth transaction, fair price, and a pleasure to deal with! Thanks buddy!

Just brought a great fretless Jazz from Dougie. Fantastic chap to deal with - all perfectly as described, extremely well packaged and very prompt with communication/delivery. Highly recommend. Thanks very much!

Routers are hugely fun, and they will also completely ruin everything if you don't watch them every second you are using them. They lull you into a false sense of security. you are shaving everything off nicely with a template and they same so simple to use and so great. Then you realise you just want to take a mm off the side of a cavity, you dont have a template for it but what is the worst that can happen right, just a little bit. So you shave that mm off, and it works fine. So then you notice another bit, so you do that. Now you are all confident, so there is just that other mm to shave off and voom - you go over by a bit. Oops, so never mind, you can just even it off by shaving the sides off. oops, that was too much. No problem, you can fix that....

Strikes me that rather than falling out, the two of you are on the verge of starting to step up to the next level. You need to tell him that you can add to the songs, but he needs to trust you and understand that you'll develop your style over time. You don't say what style of music you are playing. If it's funk you are going to be putting in very different 'fills' to blues and if it's death metal you might want to simplify your bass lines (joke). I'm not a flash bass player at all, but I love putting in little runs and decorations (just not at turbo speed). Knowing what key you are playing in, understanding a few basic scales - pentatonic major and minor are good starting points. You can't go far wrong putting in a little run up or down to lead into a verse or chorus. Another trick is just playing an inetrmediat noe (e.g. the the third or seventh note of the next chord) ahead of the first downbeat to 'lead into' the change. Very cliche but it's popular for a reason.

I was disappointed to find out that Don McLean's most famous song, American Pie, had nothing to do with pastry.

The T bass had a 3rd pickup for hum cancelling only

I have been to quite a lot of jam nights over the years. I think some can be cliquey, and some can appear so but actually the host is juggling competing priorities the punters don't know about, and they jump to the wrong conclusion. Certainly a long-running jam will grow to reflect the taste of the hosts as they will give longer time and more prominent slots to people they rate - that's natural and OK by me, as long as less able people at least get a chance to play at some point. I love going to jams if my band's having a quiet month as it gets me out the house and playing in front of people with no hassle/gear/organising. I also love how it develops my playing and overall musical awareness. Playing with a group of randoms of at-times extremely mixed ability is a great test of how your decision-making as a bass player can hold a fraying song together. Helping the drummer find the 'one' in a bar; sticking to roots to help a guitarist understand the key or progression; controlling the dynamics to encourage a guitarist to stop hair-dryering the front row with a blistering solo for a sixth minute - it's a fun, low-pressure way to develop skills that have helped me become a better group player. You really understand how quietly influential the bass can be in shaping the tone and colour of a song. It stretches your listening and reacting muscles in a way that another run-through with your well-rehearsed band doesn't always do. And occasionally there is some unexpected musical magic and you step down off the stage with the sense that you really made some affecting, spontaneous real music. That feels great. It's also the best way to meet/hear players who you might want to use in the future in a band, or who might want to use you, or to test out players you've found via ads without going through an excruciating formal audition.

I used to be a pick player as for me it suited the music and was the most natural way to play. Today I play both fingers and pick. The picking hand should be the most automatic process possible and follow the feel of the bass line and song. You don't limit yourself to up/down/up/down as the most efficient process, that's just utter rubbish. It should be what the bass line dictates. As an example, this is an old video (2008) of me playing pick to one of my own songs. The intro is all down strokes, it's the only way it works to give the desired effect. Then the verse is up and down and a mix of both, again, because it's what works. Its all about flow rather than technique. There is also no conection to what the fretting hand is doing. They are both seperate processes. The other thing to notice is if you listen with the volume off, my movement of my picking hand is consistent. This is what I mean by it being an automatic process. My wrist or arm is not changing or moving in different ways. I guess its similar to constantly strumming a guitar. Finally, most of the movement/strokes is in the wrist. So much so that my wrist used to lay against the top of my bass and rub the skin away on my wrist.

Sold a pedal to Max, instant payment, good communication. Thank you for the transaction.