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Careful, if you say the R word out loud in front of the mirror 3 times John Hall appears and files a petty lawsuit against you.

Forgive me, but Bridgehouse's Shuker with the truss rod failure has to be up there!

I think a fair few people know of Binky and his Buckeye Conklin cousin!

@Happy Jack has a few weird ones, but I'd say this is the most notable... 😎

Quick pic with the amp on top.

I got a PM that just said of, to, for, with, on Turned out it was Prepositions via PM.

I'm probably known for having a VERY large number of basses, including numerous Spectors, a very rare Staccato MG, Axe bass etc...... but I'm guessing this US custom Spector NS2X (Spectorbird) is probably one of my best known (the only one in Europe!)

You can do a lot with drawings in terms of the geometry and dimensions of basses - especially full-size - but there's nothing that quite substitutes for trying it for real. So another example, maybe, of my slightly unconventional approach. It was clear that the heel of the new neck was wider than the pocket of the Rascal by about 3mm. On the other hand, the nut was narrower - closer to a Jazz at 38mm. My suspicion was that the whole taper of the fretboard probably needed reducing to start at 38mm at the nut and end at a Fender width at the 21st fret. But it's a lot easier to confirm that if you can fit the neck into the pocket, and put the real bridge in position and put a straight edge on it. So it was worth my while to chisel both sides to fit the pocket. And to prove that my ability to chisel has improved from my early wood-massacre days : Nice snug fit... ...meant that I could check the straightness and also place the bridge in the correct place and put a straight edge from the nut to the saddle. And sure enough - to avoid excessive distance between the fretboard edge and the G and E strings at the upper frets, the whole neck wants the taper reducing: You can see here the excess heel area that I will carve to blend with the revised body/neck joint: At the same time I will be tweaking the profile shape to match @scrumpymike 's present Rascal. All basses have their own feel but, hopefully there will be a pleasing familiarity when playing. And aren't I worried that the neck pocket is so much smaller than a 'conventional' bass? Well not really. My mod with the curved plate takes only a teeny bit of pocket away from the original Rascal size and is no smaller that a 6 string electric where the total string tension isn't hugely different. What I will do as a belt and braces, is fit stainless set screws and threaded inserts so it can be bolted up really tight without fear of stripping threads. So it doesn't worry me about it 'clapping hands' in the middle of a performance. Especially as I will be probably at least 180 miles away when if it does that

Don't feel left out - Teebs mines his emojis from the tears of orphans....

At the risk of sounding like blowing ones own on the most popular of bass forums, I bring you some news (which means a great, great deal to me) that I hope you will be pleased to read. I am super happy to have been invited on board and have joined the brilliant team over at Bass Guitar Magazine. To begin with I will be bringing you a column each month best described by BGM's editor in a recent social media post: "At the recent UK Guitar Show, a reader of Bass Guitar mag suggested that I run a monthly column devoted to solving bass players' problems, gear-related rather than connected to personal grooming or relationships, I should add. "A capital idea!" I said, and pondered who the right hack would be. Ideally someone who knows bass gear inside out, is an experienced writer, has the right facial hair and whose picture in the mag won't scare cows at 100 paces. I'm delighted to announce that the great Dan Veall is the chap who got the gig: you can read his first column on 10 Dec in Bass Guitar and 24 Dec in Bass Player. Round of applause for new bug Dan, team! "

I'm sure you're right about the output being unaffected (I haven't run any tests) but that's not really the point, is it? That level of highly-visible incompetence is an early warning that the same (pah!) attention to detail has been applied elsewhere too. If I get a letter from a lawyer or an accountant that contains spelling mistakes, it doesn't mean that the legal advice or the tax computation are necessarily wrong. But it does mean that I'm dealing with someone who either can't be bothered to, or who cannot, check their work. In a world with so many choices available, why would anyone opt to do business with someone that inept?

Just like a genuine CBS '70s Fender 🙂

Incorrect 🤣

THere's even a coffee-drinking one!!! I feel like I haven't lived

McNach emoji tour of the World:

where did you find those emojis??? !!!! PS: in case that English flag was there because of my Scottish location... as much as I love Scotland, the coffee situation is the same (but improving rapidly too ). I am Spanish and got hooked on coffee in Portugal, where every little tiny cafe/bar had delicious coffee, and I just needed to ask for a coffee. Just coffee. If I wanted milk, or diluted with water, I'd ask separately. None of this having to study a two-page list with names I would never remember, and then get to the till and forget under pressure, so you blurt whatever you could remember "what did you go for?" "surpriseccino coffee" "I didn't know they made that one" "they do, just for me"

This can be a negative feedback too for two shipping companies, but I think is more important to see the repair of a broken Laurus headstock. I’m not a luthier, so please don’t curse me that I don’t have a repairs stand, table or... I don’t know. Regarding the negative feedback, be careful if you want to send parcels through Colissimo and Posta Romana (French and Romanian national mail). I don’t know where was the idiot, but was easy for him to destroy a bass guitar in a bombproof parcel. You can see in the pictures the headstock before and after the shipping, plus the repair. Many thanks to ABM Germany with the perfect customer service and, of course, the high quality products! As you can see, I tried to put those individual pieces, but appears some cracks under the screws on B and C strings (too thin wood there). Then I bought another headstock piece that works. Unfortunately, they don’t had a black one, so let’s shine a little bit 🤩. In the end, please excuse my English and “enjoy” the pictures!

Heads up, next year we are going full Helix floor. Just thought id warn you now 😁 EDIT: You as well Paul 😉

Well, I wasn’t sure this bass was staying, mostly due to the ergonomics of it when playing seated, however, having purchased a Kliq Aircell strap and having it set short, so quite high, it’s become really comfortable. Today sealed the deal, I sat down and vowed not to get up again until I had a good fundamental tone that I could then alter, song by song, with the Stomp. Surprisingly I found a good tone reasonably fast at which point I started to play some funk on it, blimey, it sounds so good! Now I’ve finally got used to the fact that it is the most beautiful bass I’ve ever seen I am now realising it is also quite the most beautiful sounding bass I’ve ever heard. I think it’s a keeper...

My HX Effects arrived yesterday and first impressions are very good. It seems to be well built and the basic features seem easy enough to use. I was going to buy a 1-Spot CS6 power brick to use with it but thought I'd give my existing 1-Spot plug a try first (I'll only have the HX Effects and a G30 receiver on the board). So I bought the 1-Spot 'Line6 Converter' (CL6) and the 'Reverse Polarity Converter' (CYR) and it appears to work fine. Certainly none of the reported additional noise to my ears. I'm pretty green when it comes to effects and the settings to get the best out of them so I'll be looking forward to see what patches and tips will be available to download on the other thread.

Here are my best and worst. Second one wasn't what I thought it was when I won the auction.

Your basses do appear to have glory holes...

Baroque nonsense? BAROQUE NONSENSE??? You're only 10 miles down the road from me, I'm on my way down now with a single white glove... prepare for a glove slap to the face and a challenge to a duel sir!

90% plus of the gigs and recording I've done since being on BC have been my sunburst (Love the way the bass plays. Still hate sunburst) Precision with a black scratchplate. No point putting it in this thread. It'd be like turning up at a concours de'elegance with a white Transit.

Like all good stories, it has a beginning (look at this innovative, unconventional, beautiful bass), a middle (CRACK!), and an end (not just fixed but improved!).

I'd say it was Basschat famous before the truss rod failed for being one of the prettiest instruments we've ever seen on here.

My Shukers'?

I haven’t seen half of these basses before! EDIT : there's only 3 basses I could save from a pawn shop sale after theft. The OBBM stingray, nobody really knows who owns it. It's a bit of a mystery bass. Probably been stolen and parted out now. 😜

My go to bass that has kept me gas free for 6 years since I bought it from @Lozz196 Classic 70's Precision, with a Badass II, SPB-3 pickups and a Tort pickguard, jazz bass knobs. Currently debating whether to add in a Tonestyler. Love this thing.

I'd like to think this isn't something you'd forget in a hurry: Ot this:

I’ve never been asked to sell a bass to as many people as this...

Probably these: Although having said that the fretless 4-string is currently for sale so may not be mine for much longer.

Sounds like the band leader is telling you he wants a short change, ie up to the 4th for the second bar. A long change would stay on the root for 4 bars before moving to the 4th.

I did that. I sat there with my second finger extended and said quite innocently "I use my index finger, mostly, because this one doesn't bend." (I had an accident when I was young, and it honestly doesn't bend 😂)

Well, I say this is the most lovely bass on Basschat, anyone who disagrees is sadly deluded. 🙂

I mainly used a hammer 😂

Funnily enough, I played a 40th last week, and before we started the second set the DJ was playing some banging dance choon*, which went on and on and on, so the three of us (we're a trio) started to play along (it was two chords, basically) while we were waiting for the thing to end. He clocked us, and dropped the song out while we carried it, then brought it back in again, then out while we picked it up etc, for a couple of minutes. Great fun... Any time the singist/BL suggests something new, I love the challenge. * I'm 55, gimme a break here...

@Deedee - congrats. Probably entirely Dave's fault, but the HX Effects does seem to be getting a bit of a second wind with BC'ers over the past couple of months. I guess the lack of faff of not having to connect up to an additional foot switch, midi or otherwise, and particularly the 6 scribble strip display & to a lesser extent the 3 additional blocks seem to more than offset the lack of amp & cab sims and DI out for the HX Effects fanboys.

the last kippers I had were smoked in Grimsby.

You called...

I love the smell of kippers in the morning, it smells like... victory.

Now the anxious wait for delivery 🥺

Very '70s pub scene - Feelgoods, Nine Below Zero, Eddie & The Hot Rods. Nice one Clarky

Must admit i like that low end thing that you talk of @mcnach. I've never really tried the bass on passive mode to be honest. At the very least i'll have it on active mode but all EQ centred. Because the treble control becomes your tone control you can't go straight from active to passive and have same tone like my Thumb bass. I have been running my VM4 with pick ups on centre point with a slight boost on bass. Thru the Mesa rig it gives me a deep warm tone. Not my usual or preferred tone for a bass but it suits my band at the moment. Normally i'd go for a more hi-mid punch to a treble edge sound with a fair bit of low end depth. If i turn the PU selector slightly to the P pick-up i do get more edge on the tone. It doesn't take much on the bass to get a tone i need or want. Such a versatile bass. Plus i'm using flats at the moment on a trial run. Wasn't sure about them on Sat nights gig but hearing the various youtube clips posted by audience with phones i'm really liking the tone i have. My perception on stage while playing is different to what i hear on the clips. Weird !!!!! Dave

If you are referring to this one... then yeah.

They should all come with a gallon of petrol and a box of matches....