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Mine is ready, just waiting for the matching 6x10 to be finished 😍

Hi guys! Well - it's been a ride... I started playing bass October 2018 after a long time playing guitars. Because of this, I am used to 'good gear' and knew I wouldn't settle for bad quality or an uncomfortable bass - I loved bass so much I ended up selling all my guitars and guitar gear to fund basses... The list has been long! I've had Spector, Stingray Specials, a Sandberg, Lakland, a Sadowsky MV5 and a couple of boutique basses like the Merlos I presented recently, a Sei I got in a trade or my ex-mine beloved Alpher. It's been a total of 9 basses in about 18 months, Jesus! Of all the basses I've had, the Alpher Mako (Jazz) and the Stingray Special 5 (Cruz teal, lovely!) have been my favourite tones and basses; I love a good punch and fat tones regardless or the genre but still with some zing and growl on the highs. Now that I am opening up to play not just my neosoul project but also want to get into an alt/hard/rock band, I ended up with this as my 'only' bass - and here it is! It's a Sandberg Grand Dark from sometime March 2020 equiped with the Darkglass Tone Capsule - this has the new pickups (TM plus, probs made by Delano?) that do give it an extra punch compared to how I remember the VM5 I had about a year ago. It would initially put me off to have a hi-mids / mids / bass preamp with no highs but to tell you the truth I don't miss them! I push them a tad bit in my amp to get my fundamental tone and I'm ready to go - boosting the preamp on hi-mids is plenty to do slap but without the 'hiss' or extra noise so I'm well happy - also banging feature - same volume either active or passive. Lastly, the musicman pickup splits to single coil. The wood department is alder body, hard rock maple neck and a gorgeous, nice chocolate streaky pau ferro board. Coming in at 4.15kg so defo well manageable! For obvious reasons I haven't tested it on a band environment but I do have to admit I love it, I feel at home with it's tones and should be one I'm planning to keep for a while! the finish is perfect and it is plek'd and all that - you know how Sandbergs do, I feel like this is a tier up compared to the regular sandys with the revisited pickups and new preamp...! With this, I am retiring off the marketplace for a while now (gosh, believe me it's been draining!), focus on playing and learning more. That doesn't mean I don't need a Line6 HX Effects to cover compressors and whatnot but hey, amp and bass is settled at last! Best, Ander.

I have a scan of the original interview in which this bass is featured. That price, though.....Brrr!! Steinberger prototype

Hi folks.. Here is my ibanez 2388b/DX, its quite a rare/early one according to our resident expert @Bassassin who kindly helped me identify it.. it has dot markers with 2 dots on 7, 3 dots on 12 and 2 on 17 instead of the usual crushed pearl inlays. Its completely original, just missing the pickup cover, everything works perfectly and it has a lovely feel to it and a wonderful tone with the flats it's currently dressed in.. Thanks for looking... D

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It's Lee's birthday today, 73 years old.

Reading that was a rollercoaster of emotions for me... Starting with temptation and excitement (opportunity), touch of jealousy (''he must be upgrading''), then just... SAD. Fingers crossed we can all get out and gigging again

My Specsavers appointment was cancelled due to Covid

All set for Tesco....

You bought socks on eBay? Where do you live? St Kilda?

No-one understands how Gibson tone controls work, not even Gibson...

You're welcome 🙂 Single coil P-basses and Tele basses are my favourites. I've built a few so have an idea what works and what doesn't. There's another couple of single coils in the early planning stages, if I can sort out the humbucker issue I'll knock up a Tele bass too. Don't give up hope 👍

Those are Eminence Deltalite 2510, first generation. They were superseded by the Deltalite II 2510 some 15 years ago. The first gens had heat problems, which was fixed on the second generation with a better magnet heatsink.

Well......! My new baby - I've just made a new topic on what's led me to it, more pictures and how I feel about it but spoiler: LOVING IT!

I’ve just got a TM5 SL and it’s the same on both counts.

Not being a tease - I've done a bit of flaunting and am happy with the result and so have started the finish coats. And for those, I go back & sides, then top & sides, which I repeat however many times needed until I do a final top & sides. So of course, at the moment, you can only see the first coat of back & sides which is now hardening enough for me to do the top & sides

I love the New York Ska Jazz Ensemble. That one wasn't one of their better offerings. If you like that kind of thing, go have fun with them! Here's another cool one:

So I’ve put third coat on, let it cured, and then first coat of penetrating oil and pics are after first coat of high gloss oil. Still wet. Matching headstock. To be honest, after replies of you, I’m starting thinking about it😂. Will see😉 anyway...anybody has left handed precuted black nut for 5 strings Corvette? Or even blank one? Got only white bones ones. I’ll buy it. And now is time for some fretwork.

This year's Big Fat South-West Bass Bash is provisionally re-scheduled for Sunday 11th October, circumstances permitting. However, we will all have to self-isolate for 14 days before and after that date (😉just kidding... maybe).

You should wear a mask if going out Dave

Coincidentally, there is a quite well-known eBay purveyor of basses whose instruments should prove ideal for this purpose 😉

I get a lot of clothes online. I had no idea I was quite so decadent!?!

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An admirable ambition; I wish you all the best with it. I've little practical experience myself, but Our Eldest is setting up his own modest luthery workshop, so we have some tips that might help. There's more to it than just tools; you'll need some space to work in, dedicated to this activity. A kitchen table might do, at a pinch, for a 'one-off' experiment, but a workshop becomes rapidly necessary. In that workshop, the most important tool is your workbench. Our Eldest 'cut his teeth' by making his own bench, in the most traditional manner, with his minimal tools (handsaw, chisels etc...). He took the time required to make a solid, usable bench to last his lifetime, and that alone has given him much of the impetus to take on the making of instruments. First advice, then, would be to decide on a dedicated workspace, and have a look at the options of fitting it with the bench you'll be needing. They can be bought, new or second-hand, or made from scratch; this latter is an excellent 'jumping off' point for getting familiar with some of the woodwork skills involved. Here's a photo of the bench he made... ... and a couple of his first guitar ... Hope this helps.

That’s such a well-crafted bass part. Really serves the song but some nice/interesting movement in the verses. He’ll go far, this fella..!

Thank you very much Seashell! I'd just turned 55 🙂 I'm developing some lovely callouses now, and I'm at numb fingertips stage, but I love learning bass so much. May I ask, are you also a mermaid (scuba diver)? Just wondered because of your Basschat name. Also, what music genres/bass make you favour. Bass has made me realise that my musical tastes go beyond blues rock - I have been dabbling with bits and bobs by David Bowie, Michael Jackson, the Rolling Stones (of course), Sting, Fleetwood Mac, and my teacher has got me doing the Rock School series, and I have learnt to keep up with Green Onions (needs refinement though). I would like to be in a group some day too. So many people just seem to get the proverbial carpet slippers out once they hit 50, but I believe age is no limit, and with determination people can find a way to do most anything. Good to chat, Take care of you and yours, Dawn x

It would be so much easier if you just posted a photo clearly showing the current state of the wiring.

Well the postman came and I now have almost all the parts I need. I will send pictures tomorrow but I now just need to connect about 26 wires. I hope I can get some sound out tomorrow.

I'd go for the original, meaning the Paul Bigsby headstock that Leo nicked when they were still mates. A bit more swirly and exaggerated and when people say 'That's not a Fender headstock' you can say: 'Well, actually...' then bore them shirtless for half an hour and when they black out from the tedium you can nick their wallets and spend the money on hookers and crystal meth.

If you've got it, flaunt it! * * - Except for Covid-19, obviously.

I'm currently building a 54 style P Bass and have ordered a McNelly pickup. I've used quite a few of Tim McNelly's pickups on Teles and a Jazzmaster so I'm confident it'll perform. https://www.homeoftone.co.uk/collections/bass-pickups/products/mcnelly-p-bass-single-coil-pickup?variant=19320967303 On another forum I was recommended these UK builders https://www.herrickpickups.com/products/tele-51-bass-single-coil/ http://www.bloodstoneguitarworks.com/shop/bass-pickups I've no experience of them. Here's a pic of the build so far.

I went to school with that 'Korean' guy. He is 57 years old and comes from Ystrad Gynlais in S. Wales. He was doing these party tricks in the early 1980s at the Ebbw Vale Garden Festival dressed as a gnome. He has that brittle bone disease that stops him growing. He even nicked that bass from Percy Jones's dad's shed in Llandrindod Wells, the little turd.

Actually I think it does, but you have to crank it. Can throw some recordings together if you'd like

Then I thoroughly recommend either the Orchid Electronics or the Countryman 85. My 85 has been to pretty much every gig I've done for almost 20 years now.

Thanks for the replies. It was a really good deal £1039 down from £1999! However it was advertised as new not as ex demo or a return, but it's clearly had use. I think it's been dropped as the tubes are all askew, Valve 2 isn't operating and there is no output showing on 2, 3 or 6. Also the bias mode isn't moving the needle on any of the valves. PMT promptly offered a refund but I also emailed @Ashdown Engineeringand they have offered to collect it and sort it for me, they are only down the road! Super service as always. If it comes back working then all good, otherwise PMT can have it back and I'll think again.

Thanks dude, I had the bass muff for years, changed to a green Russian the up to the Russian deluxe, this is something different though, well worth looking into

Interesting. They all seem to have the same kind of layout and features. I do like the look of this one more than the radioactive snot Elf green or the red BAM200 (and I do like red). I wish they had a speak-on connector 'though. I could not see whether the Gnome has one, or the price... but I suspect it'll be a fair amount more than the £119 the BAM200 goes for. I saw there's a Gnome-i that can act as a USB computer interface for recording, That's pretty cool if the sound is good.

Neck was the most expensive part of my 51. body off eBay , I spent about $3 for the paint job.

Hey! I think we spoke on Facebook about your Alpher Mako. I am interested in Sandberg's especially this TM series you got, but I opted for a Maruszczyk and will probably bite at a dingwall in the not too distant future. I'm sure I'll get to Sandberg's eventually

Close ups (switched off and on)

Most of the mechanics are complete and I have started the wiring between the modules. The have done a quick audio test on the ICEPower module and connectedit to the pre amp power supply. Thankfully I get +/-15V as expected and music out of the speaker. I have added the green connectors to enable easy installation . They make it easy to connect the modules but the screw heads are tiny. As my parts order is still stuck in Asia, I va re-ordered the pots and a few other parts from a UK company. They should be here by the end of next week. You can see the mains and speaker wiring here. To keep things easy I have kept the jack extension speaker output on the top and wired it in parallel with the combo’s speaker. The ICEPOWER module can output 100 watts into 8 ohms or 170 watts into 4 ohms at 1% distortion. Many vendors quote 200 or even 220 watts for this module but that can only be achieved as high distortion levels (10%) still for what I want 100/170 is more than enough. Tomorrow I hope to cut out the hole for the speaker cabinet port as well as finishing the garden furniture.