Leaderboard

Out of interest, I just tried some nail varnish remover which seemed to remove the sticky stuff. I also removed the broken mechanism and replaced it with an allen head bolt (there was already a tapped hole) - works a treat! So ended up with a working, non adjustable stand, better than binning it.

I picked this up on Thursday and haven’t been able to put it down since (including last night’s gig). It’s a 2018 Fender Professional Jazz Bass, now restrung with Ernie Ball Super Slinkies. The pickups sound amazing and although I’ve never been a fan of maple fingerboards on a Jazz Bass, it just works for me with the natural ash body. This bass belonged to the bassist from Funeral For a Friend who I bought it off (nice chap) Here it is alongside my trusty P Bass wearing the obligatory TI Flats.

Well, finally, I got to sit down and test it. Thankfully it sounds like everything is hooked up right. Used my GK MB800 head as the amp. One must be careful when describing a cab one has built, because there is going to be some bias. Lol That said, it sounds like this: This is the frequency response chart of the cab that Stevie sent me. It sounds like that - everything is very balanced, top to bottom. (NB: frequency range on chart is 200Hz - 20kHz). The highs are really clear and present without being harsh. Superb. I have a Celinder Update which tests treble perfectly - it has about the most top end I’ve heard out of an instrument. This cab shows one of the delights, and pitfalls, of FRFR cabs. Every single string noise and bit of technique is highlighted - you must be very clean in playing. I elected to turn down a bit of the treble knob on both my Celinder Classic Jazz and the Celinder Update and I still had all I needed treble wise. Yes, I did the Marcus Miller slap thing and it sounded fantastic. The highs here are similar as the very best cabs I have heard in this area - the Fearless F112 and the Barefaced BB2. I’ve always said I liked the BB2 highs just a little better than the F112, but this cab I think pips the BB2. It’s close though. One of the design goals of the cab is that you can be immediately in front of the cab and hear yourself well. It achieves this well. The mids are even and I hear every instrument’s character clearly, mid EQ tweaks are clear. Very smooth. The lows I tried out in a few different ways. Keeping the cab off the floor on my workbench, the lows were even and clear, and you could EQ in a huge amount if desired. I always like to push cabs here and see if I can make them fart out. I maxed out both the bass boost on the amp and the John East J Retro pre - which is a frankly insane amount of boost - before I could get the woofer to distort a little. Took it like a champ. (The only cabs I have never seen distort with that much boost are the Fearless F112, which already has a walloping low end [probably a bit too much, but it is intoxicating], and the Audiokinesis Thunderchild. No coincidence that both share the mighty 3012LF woofer. However I often found myself turning down the low end on those cabs.) Once I put the cab on the floor to get the boundary effect giving a moderate bass boost, the cab sang. Beautifully meaty, tasty tone. Gorgeous. Balanced. Responsive to EQ and hand placement. Insert your favourite hyperbole here. Etc It took the B string well also. An even volume with all the other strings, even when turned up. No issues there at all. I do wonder if the cab will open up even more on the low end as I play through it. Wait and see I guess. Loudness. I haven’t fully tested it - it needs gigged at volume for a period of time to fully judge. That said, in my opinion it is louder than the F112 and equal to what I remember of the BB2. Very, very, very loud with 500W. Windows rattle, the house shakes, and I hadn’t even tried maxing out the gain/volume. I’m going to need to make sure no-one else is in the house before I can do that. For me it is certainly a one cab solution for anything I will play. Take what I say with a pinch of salt. I built it, after all. But in my opinion the nearest cab I can think of to compare it to sonically is the BF BB2. It feels like boutique performance for a lot less money. It’s an FRFR cab without a doubt.

We're even closer... Eude

Hey guys! I did a little solo piece on my Fodera 5 a while ago! Hope you like it 🙏

I'm thinking the loft definitely killed mine. However, with some judicious application of gaffa tape, we have a working stand again. Aradite, gaffa and WD40, if you can't fix it with any of those, chuck it!

I think you can get similar faults with other stands but the thing about Hercules is that they seem to acknowledge the problem and be quick to rectify it. I actually think it makes the brand worth using.

I’ve been working on the manual several hours each day for the last few days. Still need to alter a couple of things in the filter section and am awaiting clarification on a few bits elsewhere but I’ve got through a big chunk of it. I’ve still got the two biggest sections to tackle (envelopes and the new flexis). One thing that is proving tricky is the choice of how much new information to include which explains a bit about synthesis along the way. The manual is currently written in a way that assumes a lot of prior knowledge of synthesis and I think many users coming to this pedal don't have that knowledge. There is a bit of a time pressure, I’m doing this for free in my spare time alongside my full-time day job and it’s a lot of work so I’m not sure I’ll be able to turn it into exactly what I think it should be (at least not yet) but will do my best to make it more digestible.

Another impulse purchase on my part. This came up locally and intrigued me, I'm a sucker for black with gold hardware - I have a much loved BB3000 with the same. It's been heavily gigged by the looks of it, plenty of scrapes and dings but nothing overly significant. Played by a chap in an 80's metal band called Samurai! I've found a couple of photo's online of the bass in a strong hair-metal context (one of which I've added below...)! I've never owned a Jaydee before and can't seem to find much information about these online. I'm assuming it was a custom order. If anyone knows anything about them, I'd love to hear. It plays surprisingly well and has a massive sound, even unplugged. I would like to reduce the action a bit however the bridge screws (Allen key type) seem to have seized up and won't turn. Also, how do you lower the pickups on these? Cheers.

I use a plastic credit card as a fret rocker. Straddling 3 frets at a time only, the long side does the lower frets, and then switch to the short side as the frets get closer together. You should rock at the bass and treble sides of each fret, and the middle for good measure. High frets will often be at the edges and less so in the middle. Hope this helps!

New Cab Day I was originally looking for a 15" cab to pair with the Lil' Stubby but this VS-212 popped up on eBay this weekend and the seller let it go for £140. I was seduced by the vintage looks but it actually sounds really great with the head. A bit weighty at 30kg but manageable.

Exactly. I've always thought you find out what a company is really like when things go wrong and they have an obligation to fulfil, a single report of a customer who's had problems and has been treated properly makes me much more likely to spend my money with them.

Did a wedding gig at Chawton Hampshire - just 10 mins down the road for me. We got booked via contact on our Facebook page - was a bit of a surprise cos we don't do many gigs and it was quite short notice for a wedding. Our previous gig in June was at a pub in Alton; we did fine job but played to a relatively disinterested and sparse crowd, found out last night that it was the reason we got booked for the wedding, just goes to show that a disappointing gig can lead to better things. Back to the gig..Lovely informal and relaxed vibe - gig was at a farm in a marquee set up in a field. From the first song folks were up dancing and singing. At the end of the first set we had lots of positive feedback, this is great and gets us all well up for set two. Some tunes got extended as peeps are clearly having fun - a particularly lengthy version of Monkey Man due to bride and groom madly dancing etc. At the end a chap introduced himself as a fellow bass player and said some lovely stuff about the band - what a fab evening!

Ah well, I bought one from another seller at the original’s BIN price.

Have completed another Lego video for the band, is for the song, Reverse the Charges, that features on our third album, Demonic Dinner Dance, which we released in 2014.

That's more than likely to do with the performance of the cell than anything, the times are simply converted from the voltage readings. Some cells can have steeper drop-offs than others, so try a different brand or chemistry if it keeps happening. Mine's been really accurate so far, I always run it on Philips alkalines 'cos that's what the nearest shop sells!

We don’t do weddings often as we’re not that kind of band, but if asked we will consider it. Two occasions spring to mind. We played a wedding in west Wales, near Aberystwyth in 2015. That’s a five hour drive for us - no matter, we were promised hotel accommodation for 4 x band members plus 1 x driver/roadie. It was all in the contract, and we were paid upfront in full. On arrival we were told our accommodation wouldn’t be ready until later. Turned out the accommodation was in a pub, not a hotel, but that’s ok. Anyway we finish the gig, hit the free bar and eventually retire to our accommodation in the small hours. Turns out our accommodation is a twin room. For five men. We had been given a key to gain entry to the pub earlier in the night, by the time we got back there was no one to take it up with so we had no choice but to squeeze in. The prospect of sharing a single bed with our sweaty lead singer was too much to bear and I finally passed out, Norwegian Wood style, in the bath. Last summer we played a wedding in rural Lancashire. Again, a long drive from home. By now we’re a trio and we head up the M6 to the gig to play, again paid in full up front with the promise of a yurt each to sleep in after the gig. We play the gig (in a marquee, we were on fire incidentally, one of the best gigs we’ve ever played). We then hit the free bar again, and await the meals we’d stipulated in the contract. But no food, they’d forgotten to provide anything. Now this gig is in the middle of nowhere, with not even a phone signal, let alone a McDonalds within reach. In the end one of the guests managed to get one of her friends at a local farm to make us some sandwiches and bring them over, in the dark, on a bicycle. By the time we’d finished those we were suitably well oiled and taking it all in our stride. Eventually we started to run out of steam and decided to head off to our yurts. Or not, as the yurts we’d been shown earlier were now seemingly occupied by several guests who decided crashing the band’s accommodation was preferable to getting an Uber home. They refused to move, and our drummer, who isn't the most diplomatic person in the world (especially after inbibing several gallons of Peroni) flipped his lid. I distanced myself at this point as things were getting out of hand, and ended up sleeping in the hire van. In the morning I located our drummer asleep in the marquee, and no sign of our singer. He eventually resurfaced with a sheepish grin and we loaded the van for the long, jaded drive home. Next time we play such an event we’ll be more stringently enforcing the agreed accommodation, food etc. To paraphrase Terrorvision’s legendary rider: ‘No Moet, no show-et. No Chandon, no band on.’

We got one in the end 😀

Ok, good news. I managed to lever up the woofer and, after a lot of fiddling, get the mole pliers locked on, and unscrew the bolt out. When I checked the state of the hole behind, it actually didn’t look too terrible, and a T-nut still fit within it. I didn’t have time to get Araldite, but I did have some Loctite (not the same, but good enough as it turned out). I ran Loctite on to the ‘catching’ surface of the new T-nut, pressed it into place, and when it dried, ran some more around that. Then threaded a bolt in by hand to check it all worked ok. It did. @Phil Starrmade an important point about using T nuts. I unconsciously, I think, was leaning in hard against it when I was trying to thread the bolt in the first time around. So I made it pop out, especially when I cross threaded it by accident at the same time; it made it easy to apply too much force. Having determined that, I was wanting to avoid any issues this time around. So I hand screwed in every single bolt on the woofer to make sure none of them cross-threaded, making sure not to lean or press down when doing so, until they were all about half way in. Only then, did I use the Allen key to tighten them all to the full tightness. So, it’s now all put together. Tomorrow I’ll test it out and see if I’ve wired everything in right. Hopefully so! Then I can look at sorting the grill and badge. By the way, current weight: 28.3 lbs. Nice!!!

Some ideias using 2 basses , hope you like 😃

Wasn’t sure whether this should be in here or in Repairs & Technical but here goes…. The restoration of the electrics on my '83 SB-R150 is finally complete and I'm very pleased with the result. Huge thanks go to @Prostheta for his wizardry and patience and also to Rautia Pickups for the pair of MB-1E replacement pickups. This bass was originally listed for sale on here several years ago although I subsequently found it through an ad elsewhere (EDIT - I was actually given the heads up by @Fionn of the ad on FB). Turned out that the BC ad was indeed still live. I purchased it because it was in such beautiful condition, including the original case. The big (very big) and obvious issue was that the original pickups and electronics had long since been removed and disposed of. After conversations with Prostheta as to what was or wasn't possible I decided to push on with trying to get it restored to as close to stock as possible. The first pictures show the bass as I bought it, then with everything stripped out. Note the packers that had been fitted inside the pickup cavities to take the screws for the previously installed Armstrong pickups. Fortunately after some careful chipping away I managed to clear the old glue off to reveal the original pickup screw bushings. As you can see the loom (including 6-position Varitone and preamp) that Prostheta provided is a work of art and it seemed a shame to have to try and cram it into the seemingly tiny electronics cavity in the back of the bass. It was a squeeze but it went in and it is beautifully quiet running. No humming, no buzzing, even sat directly in front of the amp with the volume up to gigging levels it is uber quiet. Finally there are a couple of pics with this now complete bass taking its place alongside my R60 and R80. I may look out for a set of black or bronze pickup screws as the silver ones do stand out a little but all in all I'm thrilled with it. It sounds great with a powerful preamp and a huge range of tones and I know it’ll be good for years. I'm a happy chappy and I hope you enjoy the pics showing the seemingly simple but oh not so simple transformation. 😀

Is it Will Lee? Pretty sure he was with them around then. I think he played on their 1988 album ‘Remote’.

Hi all, First custom order for me. (from a luthier in Northern france) I'll try to make a brief description of what I have tried over the years and what I am looking for. I have had only one bass bought new back in 1996 : an Ibanez ATK300, and tried a fair number of second hand instruments, from the cheap old Japanese marvels to the modern and dull American Fender (am I biased ?). From this I have gathered things that prove to work for me : - Lightweight is not necessarily a quality - Ash body and maple fingerboard really sing - Those woods when figured look good - Hipshot lightweight tuners and A style bridge are excellent (from @TheGreek's Overwater custom jazzbass with all the qualities above) - A Precision pick-up is all I need. Passive. - ...but the neck pickup on a vintage Rickenbacker sounds really superb I have turned 40 and decided to thin down the herd and spend a freaky amount of money on a bass that will try to gather those things I like. An Atelier Z , a 78 Precision (of which I want to compare the sound with the bass to come before it leaves) and maybe another Yamaha BB should soon be on the marketplace. It will look like this : Specs : Flamed maple neck with natural pearl block inlays, 21 frets, 6 bolts, 41mm at nut Flamed ash (never seen this before, and the guy has a whole French flamed ash tree drying in his workshop) : looks really good Natural satin finish Benedetti pickups : Vintage P Splittable double-jazz humbucker, Alnico II, on the 24th fret 2 volume, 1 tone and split on the neck pickup Black Hipshot hardware The guy has started already, and first pics will follow shortly.

Great cab, it’ll pair really well with the Stubby. Love your Sandberg too, they’re causing me all sorts of uncomfortable GAS feelings at the moment 😳

Bloody wonderful!

Sandberg black labels are very very good and punchy Haussel do buckers and also a triple bucket in the same sized shell as an MM pick up Aguilar just brought out a new MM pick up

Interview with Al where he talks about the bass: https://www.musicradar.com/news/al-cisneros-sleepom-when-im-stoned-its-readily-apparent-whether-a-rhythm-has-a-shelf-life-or-not

more fretless bass from the 80s Elton John - Nikita | David Paton

I have had a few like that. No, you don't automatically get a make offer button, you have to select that. If I do it, I add an auto accept and auto decline price. If there is a best offer price it seems wrong to pay the full price. If I put something up for £250, I would probably put an auto accept at £240 and an auto-decline at £200, the rest will depend on the person making the offer.

Those are some killer sounds mate!

I have worked on production shows where we have stayed and slept in welded together containers, on top of three different mountain tops, down on the Falkland Islands, several times (Four to a room). It's enough to make you run away and join a factory. **

Very nice and very well played. 👍

Whilst anticipation is high in most (certainly in me) bassists, I think everyone gets that quality takes time. And I have the C4 to play around with until then anyway.... lol Keep up the good work, and stress levels low

Been considering the HD850s for a while and at that price I had to do it

https://www.facebook.com/groups/BassPlayersMarketUK/permalink/2636903222987956?sale_post_id=2636903222987956&sfns=mo

Funnily enough I saw these guys at a local festival today do just that.

I always quite liked this version of Helter Skelter, although I am not entirely sure why And this version of Day Tripper

Bass Bashes are great!

Hi, This is my 'new to me' 2005-ish Spitfire 5er. It has a maple top, snakewood fingerboard, bound neck and an ash body. It's been played quite a bit over the years, but the frets are in pretty good shape and the body is in good order overall, with just a few minor dings and some play wear on the Hipshot bridge. Hardware was changed from gold to black at some point and bass came with the original Schaller bridge and tuners. Anyone know this bass? has it passed through your hands? I'm interested to know a bit more about it's history. It came with a very low setup - 1.6mm at the 17th fret on the 'B', which is a bit too much for my heavy hands. It played cleanly all the way up and down the neck. I'm still getting it dialled in to my liking but so far I'm loving the way it feels and sounds. The pickups have a very clean and extended treble response, which puts my playing uder the microscope... going to have to up my game! Cheers, Alex

I have owned quite a few fretless basses but I've sold them all because of this beauty I got 16 years ago.

At this level of gear better doesn't exist. These are some of the best cabs made. Your personal preference will be what decides you to pick one over the other. I'd also add Bergantino to the list.