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I wanted to just say publicly how much I enjoy this forum. I may not be a very active member at the moment, but I thoroughly enjoy the content on here, and especially the people. Indeed, a huge thank you to forum member Raymundo who, about 18 months ago now, saw my post on here that, due to financial difficulties, I had to sell my beloved Brook acoustic bass. Ray immediately got in touch and offered to lend me an acoustic bass to tide me over. I have just given the bass back to Ray (I still hope to be able to buy back my Brook shortly) but this lovely act of kindness will never be forgotten. I truly think bass players are the loveliest of musicians- humble, extremely musical, empathetic, and without any delusions of grandeur! An example of this is the thread on Depression. Such a thread is unheard of on other forums. Indeed, on a guitar forum I belong to, discussions of people’s mental health is positively frowned upon! The way people help and support each other in that thread is really quite beautiful. Anyway, just wanted to get that all off my chest. Hopefully, at some stage in the next few months I will have my bass back and continue with my project of exploring solo folk bass!! Robbie

I was teaching one of my A level music students a couple of years ago, talking specifically about his composition and where he could go with the bass line,. I recommended he listen to Danny Thompson, to which he replied that his mum , who was in a band, had worked with Danny Thompson. Anyway, a couple of weeks later he says “my mum asked me to ask you if you could give her guitar lessons”, this student knowing that I am a bit of a fan of alternate tunings. I asked him more about his mum, and which band she played in. “Oh you won’t have heard of them” he said. “She is the lead singer in Lamb”. Talk about OMFG! “But Lamb are my absolute favourite band, they are what inspired me to get into music technology”., fast forward a couple of months later, after she got back from a tour, and I’m talking to her about how she recorded the orchestra parts on Gorecski, and working out a Dadgad acoustic part with her for an unplugged version of her most famous song, Gabriel!! Robbie

is this some sort of weird Fleetwood Mac tribute?

Likewise its just a great place to hang out and have a blether, get things of your chest and offer any help, advice you can. I've gained loads of information from the guys on here. I enjoy the posts where people offer help with gear like your own situation. It gives you a sense of pride and a happy feeling to know that people will lend gear to complete strangers who are having a bit of a hard time. You hope that others would do the same for you if you ever needed it. The words of support you get can bring a tear to your eye at times. So many touching stories on the forum and hopefully the comments help that person get thru a difficult time. We've had people going thru difficult medical issues and letting us know what going on in their life and the comments seem to help them get thru it. Its just a great place to be. Dave

Just two and a=half years ago I took posession of my custom built "Mouradian" by AndyJr1515. I am posting after all this time to say I am still besotted with this bass. It is now my go to bass and in my mind the best I have ever played. (biased? maybe!) It has always been rock steady. I have never needed to adjust the neck or string height. The cream finish has aged a little and is slightly darker now.

With regard to the mental health support that bassists give to each other, this is perhaps not too surprising as being bassists we've had a lot of experience of dealing with mental health issues from our respective band mates😅

So I received some cash for my Birthday and decided I would buy myself an nice ash p bass body but with jazz routings. I looked thenm up and for a one piece it was going to cost £230.00. A lot of money but if thats what they are. So I contacted the firm to see if i could see a picture of the blank they would use ....they wouldnt do that until I had paid. So I declined as I have seen some lovely ash and some awful looking ash. A little dissapointed I decided to see if I could build one myself for similar money. So I purchased off of sphock a Bandsaw, pillar drill, router. £95.00 total Tempate kit £55.00 Bit of ash 38.00 total Router bit 22.00 I have no woodworking skill at all...what i do have in abundance is ...stupidity that this is going to be any good....who knows! If the body turns out ok I am goi g to have a go at a neck.

Splendid. I'm printing this out and leaving a copy lying around the house, just to add perspective to any discussions about new basses entering the fold... 🙂

I shall have to suggest this as our next album title. We play soft-rock ballad covers.

Slowly, slowly...…. Finally got a little bit of time to get on with a few jobs on this build. I've been waiting for some fret wire for about 3 weeks and finally it turned up so off we go! First up I cut the fret wire to length and nipped the tangs at the end so I can fill in the ends of the fret slots with ebony powder and glue. This should leave the slots looking nearly invisible, but if not, at least very tidy. I have a small block of wood I keep the cut frets in so I know which one goes in which location. Next task was to use a radiused sanding block to radius the fretboard. Checked my measurements and used a 16" radius block starting off with 180 grit, then 320, 500 and finished with 800. I'm pleased with how this piece of ebony looks and how it has finished so far. I have an arbor press fitted with a fret caul and it makes fretting a neck reasonably straight forward. I've used masking tape on the board to protect the ebony whilst I do this. First few frets fitted: then some more... all fitted.. I've trimmed the fret end but they still need filing level to the board before I can fill the ends. Getting there, finally!!

If I'm house bassist at a jam, I'm happy for people to play through my rig (obviously), but if they don't have an instrument, they use my knockabout eBay cheapie. Playing one of my decent basses is a no-no unless it's a friend.

Superb reading skills. You can’t bluff in that environment when the client changes arrangements on the fly.

I've said it before but one of my favourite things is gigging on a multi-band bill and discovering the bassist from the other band is a member on here.

Good man, @Raymondo 😎

The know this Meme is doing the rounds again, causing Nick a bit of a headache, bless him. I think @cetera needs to replicate it to take some of the heat.

*starts new thread: Please remind me: Tv program featuring a bass between a rectangle and a Thunderbird* 👍

Am I the only one who read this thread title and thought it was going to be about Boris Johnson’s selection of close co-workers? No joke, I really did think that.

Remember to count your fingers before cutting out the body and afterwards as well. If there's a discrepancy, call 999 right away. 😃

I've been house bassist a few times over the years, those that rock up without a bass better be able to play upright or five string as I've not got anything else to lend them.

Are you sure it's not a Fenton Weill?

Stands for that lot would cost more than my entire collection...

Anglebird seems a good name for it

First of all: an immense Thank you to everyone! The response, though typically BC was far greater than expected, and gave a lot of purdy pics. I'm with @Unknown_User, coz this is fun! As to Andy's proposal: WOW! Methinks that is a close as we're gonna get, and maybe if these existed several decades ago, this is the one I was in fact looking for even though I remember and saw it as more "rectangular". Mind you, I've been doubting myself, as many different pics of Thunderbirds give many different impressions, and also they came in a plethora of variations - with for example different placements of the bridge (dunno how they do that - I'm no specialist in these models). The thing I remember from that bass, and from what I thought I saw on the telly is exactly this character of obviously stemming from a Thunderbird but with the angles that count being closer to 90 degrees than in an original Thunderbird. Andy's Rex does that exactly - to my eyes that is. Maybe you guys provably see it as much closer to a Thunderbird, Idunno. Yes indeed. I fully agree with you there, and I did try both before and after posting. Many of the programmes they show here in Norway can be seen online afterwards, but many can't. I've scanned what I can, but haven't found it. Should of course have made a note right away, but overestimating my memory is one of my weaknesses. If the programme was Norwegian, you wouldn't be able to see it outside Norway - hence my attempt to play it online and make a screenshot. Also, admittedly, my brain functions so unwell these days, that I might have seen an ad on my computer whilst watching tv - the bass being in the ad but my sick brain remembering it immediately as if the bass was on tv. Therefore I've trawled my papers in the hope of a possible ad appearing again. BTW, that would be Lord Bertie to you, but as you know I'm more of an Algy type. 😁 (Young uns: look it up! 🙂 ) Thanks, folks! Lord AlgyBertie

Already? It's only been 13 years. i hope they haven't rushed it.

It is very kind of you to thank me in public Robbie, much appreciated. I actually had a brilliant night out in Bath ( it was convenient for Robbie to get to then) when I gave you the bass and loved that old guitar shop you showed me. There was an amazing coincidence when arranging to get my bass back...….. I live in Ilkeston in Derbyshire and with Robbie being near Bournemouth ,finding a mutually convenient meeting place was a problem ( short of me having a night out in Bournemouth but I've been there before 😉 ). I went to Stroud on Friday to see The Achievers (AGAIN @Jack_Stroud_Bass ) and arranged to meet Robbie at the station to get my bass....on Thursday I was chatting to my neighbour and he mentioned that he was going to Bournemouth On Saturday for a holiday...he met Robbie and got my bass saving him a 7 hour round trip...how cool is that? !

Nice one @Raymondo BassChat rocks!

Loved this band since Undertow. I wonder if I'll get told off for having an erection in work? And don't you dare tell me that no one will notice!

I still love that little recess for the Smoothhound at the back. Being able to not only go wireless, but making the wirelessness "invisible", is the sort of detail that really gets my underpants thrumming. S.P.

Lol thanks for the replies chaps,much appreciated & made me laugh. Actually ended been a cracking night. My method was to ask in a rather harsh manner " where the f#$k am I supposed to go then,the f@cking car park" (yes I can be quite blunt) Suddenly in a flurry of movement several items where moved & hey presto I had some space 😁 They are great guys though

Oh we did! ... the light hearted banter sadly got lost in a bunch of folk seeing red (and gold) and discussions about the unimportance of low end crud. W@eude you have believed it?

Thanks for the comments guys! Yeah, I guess it might look like I have a thing for black and blue but the truth is I'm colour blind so I change out LEDS where possible for blue ones which are easier to see, and being diffused light, they don't piece my retinas like some of those MXR white ones! The clock is a DS Engineering Cronograph and actually saves me hunting around for my phone when playing or worse still, rudely checking my phone between songs to see the time. Don't tempt me with blue led tuners my ST300 mini and full size are going nowhere! 😂

It's great to read this kind of post

Try a different 2x12. The orange sounds great but is really a 1x12 in disguise and is not the loudest out there. You may find that a single good 2x12 is all you need.

Rather than everyone posting photos, Bertie old boy, can you remember what you were watching? Channel etc.

Cautiously looking forward to it. I would like there to be a bit more variation to the songwriting than 70 minutes of open string drop D riffs in odd time signatures. I jest, should be great. Saw them at the Academy in Glasgow on the 10,000 Days tour in 2006. The venue was pretty small and they had a stripped back light show, so you could really just watch and listen to them play. It was a brilliant gig. Maynard was dressed in luminous orange suspenders and was wearing an oversized cowboy hat. Considering the gig was in the south side of Glasgow in the middle of summer he really didn't look out of place.

Outdoor shooting today. ...

That's why we make quite a few different amps... Saying that we have sold way more GB heads than we originally planned for. We were simply happy to work with and make an amp for someone we consider a true bass legend. It was never about sticking his name on an amp and hoping that will equal sales... Lol, so we have heard... To be fair its not just the UK... We will happily put the Rootmaster 500 up against any lightweight amp, class D or not... If anyone wants to come and do this here you are more than welcome just let us know and we will get the coffee prepped.

Another BassCamp story, sorry. So here I am, on stage in the bar, playing/trying some basses. To avoid playing a riff composed by one of the bassists around, I chose to play some Obscure, french tune called "Soul Music Airlines" by Michel Jonasz. (look it up, it's a cool song). I get out of stage, and then Etienne M'Bappé (you know Etienne ? ) approaches me and says : That's a nice riff ! I said thanks, it's a song from Michel Jonasz he says : I know, I composed it. That's why I think it's a cool riff. badum tsss.

Yeah, when space is tight it seems like it's always us that gets the short end of the stick Here's how I handle it; " There's not enough room for your amp, you'll have to DI through the PA." Me; "No , I'm playing through my amp" Blue

I’ve arranged to buy a used LT tomorrow. Fun times ahead!

Hi Hugh, The video is informative and it's a good start, although it contains a few innacuracies that I hear being perpetuated, and a couple of points that I personally disagree about (but that's just my own view, of course), so I would have loved a slightly different take which covered those points... But of course, it's your video The first thing I would change is the active = higher output equation. You hear that everywhere and it's simply not true. Some active basses are high output, most are not, some are quieter than most passive basses. It depends on the preamp design and sometimes there's even a trim pot internally to adjust the output. Of course, if the active bass also has active EQ, and you boost it, you'll end up with one loud bass, which may explain this view of active=high output, but I think it's important to realise that it's not true. For the same reason, I hate seeing active/passive labels on amplifier inputs. In most cases, the passive input (non attenuated) works best for any given bass, but a guy with a Stingray would just plug into the active input without thinking... and on some amplifiers the attenuation circuit is pretty crude and not great sounding. The main thing with active basses is the low impedance output, as @itu pointed out. This allows you to be somewhat resistant (no pun intended ) to losses experienced when using long cables and passive instruments. However, your signal may become low impedance pretty early after leaving the bass if you use any number of pedals that would convert the signal. So it's not necessary to have an active bass to benefit from that, in principle. Some people talk about passive basses as being 'pure' but then the signal goes through pedals, often, through preamps and amplifying circuits... (shrug) I also see the equation active/passive as related to tone controls. It's true that most active basses have active EQ, but they're two different things. An active bass simply produces low impedance output. This can be achieved with or without active EQ. You may have EMG pickups (active) and passive tone controls (or no tone controls), or passive pickups and active EQ (most active basses), or an active preamp with separate tone controls, which could be passive, like on a G&L L2000. I think this is an important distinction to make. There's also the issue with passive = noisy. I just don't think that's correct. Most active basses are essentially passive basses with an additional active preamp with EQ capabilities. If anything, the chances of noise are higher on those because often the preamp designs are not terribly good, and they're limited to working with the voltage provided by one or two 9V batteries. A good preamp is very quiet, 'though. With regards to the use of batteries, the expense and chances of them dying mid-gig... I think that while not untrue, these factors are exaggerated. Expense: batteries are not that expensive, even if you buy singles at Sainsbury's, and they last a LONG time. I'd imagine most people spend far more on strings than on batteries. Just cut back one pint every few months and you'll be ok Dying mid-gig? Yes, it's a possibility... and it's happened to me. Once. On my Stingray. And boy, was I happy that I had a bypass switch installed on that bass (Stingrays don't have the active/passive option stock), as within a few seconds I was able to switch the bypass on, and carried on -albeit with a different tone- until we had a break and then changed the battery. However, it's very easy to avoid. Not fool-proof, as illustrated above (I'm a pretty good fool 😛 ) but it's simple: replace the battery at regular intervals,don't wait until it dies. Some preamps continue working fine until the battery reaches a threshold and just dies rapidly... others give you plenty of time with the signal degrading progressively. The best course is just to replace the battery before it happens. Most preamps would last a year if not a lot longer on a single Duracell battery (don't cheap out, cheap batteries almost invariable end up not being cheap at all). It depends on usage. My main bass, a Stingray, gets a lot of use and lasts well over a year. I replace it once a year (choose a date, stick to it, so you remember it easily). If I think I've been very busy and it was my only bass, I might change it twice a year. Other basses may last longer/shorter... whatever, choose a frequency whoch will be several months at the very least, and you will have no trouble. Of course, you may forget one time, like I did, and be on a specially busy period, like it was for me, and that battery died onstage after nearly 2 years. So having a bypass switch is never a bad idea. Another thing I'd add, which is related to the battery life, is to point out that the preamp is switched on by the act of inserting a cable into the socket. Some people leave basses plugged in constantly: that's using up the battery even if you don't play it. Switching it to 'passive' doesn't stop that, the preamp is still on. So always unplug. In fact, I'd say always unplug even on passive basses: saves someone tripping on a cable and pulling your bass down with it... But that's just me.

Haven't been on BassChat for a while and just stumbled across this thread today. Westone Thunder Basses? I bought a Westone Thunder IIIA from the Bass Centre in 1986. I think I bought it because it didn't look like a P-bass and it was red. I'd been ripped-off by my local music store when buying my first bass - a Squier JV 57 Precision with a twisted neck. So I decided I'd go to the top. I figured the Bass Centre couldn't afford to damage their reputation by selling me a lemon but it took some courage to go in to their shop as a novice bass player. But I did and boy was I glad. They treated me with respect and dignity and gave me the best advice they could based on my playing abilities and my budget - and for 360-quid I wound up with a red Westone Thunder IIIA plus gig-bag. That was thirty-two years ago and its still my main gigging bass today. The gig bag died years ago though. I wouldn't class it as a cheap bass either. 360 quid wasn't cheap in 1986. Mid-priced would be more accurate. I haven't seen too many red Thunder IIIs... well three to be exact. Mine, a red fretless in a second-hand shop that I should have bought and a picture of a red one online somewhere. The rest seem to be walnut brown colour. The red ones are louder! Years ago Guitarist magazine published a list of all the guitars and basses imported into the UK over a certain number of years. I can't remember how many years the list covered, nor can I find any reference to it anywhere but I DID see it. On that list it showed that there were only 20 (I think) red Westone Thunder IIIAs imported into the UK. They were imported by FCN Music of Tunbridge Wells who went out of business a million years ago. I didn't dream it, I definitely had that copy of Guitarist mag but its long-gone. So, in the UK at least, I would rate my red bass as fairly rare. I've had various modifications made to my bass over the years (all done by the Bass Centre). Badass Bridge, EMG pups, EMG Bass Tone Control, Gotoh tuners, Schaller strap-locks, replacement pots, jack sockets, control knobs and switches, fret polishes etc. but I've kept all the original parts safe in case I ever feel the need to put it back to its original spec. Its a fantastic instrument. Incredibly well-made and very stable - thirty-two years remember. And I play it in incredibly unforgiving circumstances at outdoor gigs in the Middle East and in my freezing cold air conditioned apartment. It thrives in both environments with an occasional tweak of the truss-rod. Good piece of kit, shame they went out of business.

Not always a name that springs up in combo comparisons, but check out the Peavey max combo range. I gave the older 112 200w combo and it's immense. Bought a fende rumble on trial and kept the Peavey, much better amp, the rumbles are ok but too muddy sounding. The Peavey 110 are 100w and the newer 112 is 150w and is a cou Le kg lighter than the older one I have, but you don't really need to full 200w as it's really load, and all have Di out built in.

Beats me, but as I got "I Wish" and I need to dash out to rehearsal, I'll stick this one up too and give us a couple "in play":

Neck plate & control plate should be ok for powdercoating but bridge...i'd get rechromed, powdercoat can part fill any grooves/guides in bridge. For chromers i'd look at those who chrome classic motorcycle parts...

I didn't get the play on Friday as I tweaked my wrist getting my suitcase out of the car (doh) so I thought it best to leave it, I had a good session on Saturday learning "Peg" by Steely Dan. The rum was nice too! There's such a treasure trove of info to get through out there. I think it's interesting that the Talkbass Ken Smith club thread is only on it's second volume at fifty pages, where Fodera, Spector, Pedulla etc, have had many, many more volumes - I guess for some reason they never caught on with that forum as quite the fashion accessory as some of the other builders, but those who have played them rightly revere them. There are some good threads out there about Ken's acerbic style - a thread on here where someone complained that Ken wanted to charge $100 to ship a replacement pot to him, then people started rubbishing Ken so he joined the forum to explain why the cost was so. Various people complaining about inflexibility of customisation, which I'll get on to. Ken's very much like Jeff Berlin, both are New Yorkers (a famously short, straight-talking people), and when you know as much as those guys do and you know exactly what works and what doesn't, I suppose they just have little time for alternative methods when they know what works and what doesn't. People complain about Ken not offering maple fretboards or crazy wood combinations, not being willing to move the pickup positions or fit different pickups or preamps; he's said many a time that he won't change something if it will make an inferior instrument, and this is where Ken differs from other shops. He isn't building you your dream bass that you came up with, he's building you his dream bass, his vision of what a perfect bass guitar is. Some guys were upset about this, but Ken won't put his name on anything that isn't stellar and his 40 years of experience and his order validates his approach. I find him a fascinating character, he's one of these ultra-talented people who seems to do well in anything he tries. A successful studio session musician and professional concert player, particularly on double bass, got into upright bass restoration and repair and then decided to make a bass guitar that was designed and constructed with the care of an upright. I suppose 40 years back when he was starting this process, other guys like Mike Pedulla, Vinny Fodera and Stuart Spector were having similar thoughts, as really high quality instruments that moved the game on from Fender's designs didn't really exist, other than Alembic. I did find some of Ken's pointed comments about bass builders in NYC charging a fortune to be amusing. He talked about the exorbitant price of some NYC builders basses when they weren't really offering anything that you couldn't get elsewhere, except as they worked in inner NYC they were charging a huge amount to cover the rent, but they were also covering the lifestyle and sports cars off the back of their business. He said "I'll sell you a bottle of Coke for a dollar. A guy from NYC will sell you the Coke for 3 dollars and show you his rent bill so you feel good about paying 3 dollars for the Coke, but it's still the same bottle of Coke". There's certainly no love lost between him and Vinny Fodera, but for the most part he doesn't really seem interested in what other builders are doing, I like his single-mindedness. It has produced the fantastic instruments that we love. I like the fact he doesn't hide his displeasure with how the older Burners and KSD basses turned out. Some of his comments about John Patitucci's move to Yamaha were a little off-colour by 2019 standards, but again I think there is no love lost between them either. I guess the way John tried to make subtle digs at the basses he was more than happy to play for so many years didn't sit well with Ken. I also found out that John had initially wanted a maple bass, I believe it was the Smith Jackson six string #5 with a flamed maple body that John was after, but it was purchased by a guy who irrc was a rep for Ken, who ended up teaching the Talkbass member who told the story. He took photos of it at his teacher's house and it s a glorious instrument. John Patitucci ended up with the #6 6 string they made. He later said he changed to Yamaha because he wanted a bass with "real bottom end that could really hold it down with a band" - if anything I think his Yamaha lacks punch and bottom end compared to his Smith sound and I say that as a current owner of a Yamaha custom shop instrument, so I'm not picking sides in the brand war, and also as someone who still intends to own a Yamaha JP bass some time - I nearly bought one a few weeks prior to getting my Ken Smith. Reading all of the threads really gave me an appreciation of his design ideals and did also make me question how much the Japanese Burners made by Sleek Elite in Japan are "real" Ken Smiths. I know they are his design, his electronics and he inspects and sets them up before they go to the customer, but they're built in Japan, by admittedly very talented luthiers. Now, Ken's transferring his production from Pennsylvania to Kevin Brubaker in Maryland. I don't know if Ken's team are going, I guess they have something in place so Kevin can keep up with the demand but again, this will create a "pre-Brubaker" Smith tag. Even if Ken is 100% happy with Kevin's builds, which seems to be the case given Ken has given his public approval of the first Smiths made by Kevin, a Smith built by Brubaker is a Smith as far as I'm concerned, but the market won't see it that way. Smiths have always been built by many hands, but I think the fact that Ken won't be in the workshop every day will affect used values of the Brubaker instruments. Certainly as Ken moves into retirement I think the desirability of the older basses will increase again. That said, I think he's the kind of bloke who will struggle to retire, he's a high achiever sort and I think he'll always want to be involved. I think he is certainly the most interesting bass builder as a person that the electric bass has ever seen. But, all of the politics aside, Ken as a person etc, I think Ken Smith basses are just the best. They have a sound that nothing else can replicate - the US Peavey Cirrus basses were considered closest but even they are a way off. Smiths look and feel incredible. Anyone that hasn't played one really needs to jump on the chance if they ever get the opportunity to play one.