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Look what arrived yesterday - My long-awaited Spector Forte 4 in Trans Black Satin. It is a custom order that is modelled on a NS 4. It comes with 2 EMG 35DCX humbucker pickups, 3 knobs (volume, blend, stacked bass and treble), and the HAZ 18V preamp. It differs from a NS 4 by having swamp ash wings, no fancy tops, no high gloss finish and no inlays. It is pretty much a no-frills version of the NS 4. As I do not own and have never played a NS 4, I do not know how close it comes to the original. However, what I do know is that the sound is huge (sorry, neighbours 😉 and it nicely complements my other Spector basses. Big shout-out to Mark and Ash at Bass Direct for making it happen!

Every time I see a Topic entitled NAD, I always (and I mean always) think of

And on to the bending. A bit scary, because there is a very tight bend at the waist and, for bending, specifically Red Gum is a new variation for me - and some timbers bend great and some don't! That said, it is a type of walnut and walnut usually bends well. This is my bending iron: And then this is most of the rest of the stuff: A water spray bottle, the all essential thick gloves, the mould and - a bit of a brainwave which was a 'I don't know why I didn't think of that before' moment - the four body-shape cutouts from when I made the mould just clamped together in the vice. First step is a very thorough soaking: Then it's a case of pressing the sides firmly over the (very) hot pipe feeling for when the wood relaxes slightly and moving round a touch, re-wetting and repeating frequently and just easing the side round, checking often with the mould whether the curve is the correct radius. Now - this is one of those times when 'he makes it sound so simple' is a bit misleading. Because, if ever there was an experience element, it is here. Press too hard or too fast, or have it too thick or too thin or too dry, and you can either start hearing the fibres start to fail - or simply SNAP! And if it's the latter, then it's a whole new back and sides set because they are always sold matched. So, it's not for the faint-hearted. For the main curve, I was happy this would be OK. But that sharp bend at the waist...hmmm... For that, I turned the iron round to be able to get to the tighter radius of the pipe: Hand bending alone, I got to within around 15 degrees of the amount of bend that would be needed. This is where those body-shaped offcuts came into their own. I basically got it as far as I could round the pipe, then re-sprayed and popped a caul at the waist line and just slowly and evenly clamped it into the body shape - a bit like a manual and non-heated version of a Fox bender (an expensive but effective bit of kit that they use a lot in the US and a number of makers in the UK, particularly those who do repeat builds): And it worked. A very tight bend on each and no split grains to have to reinforce or re-orders to replace snapped sides necessary! And here we are - this will dry in the mould and I will leave it here, clamped in place, until I am able to add the kerfing strip, tail block and neck block (don't worry, @Si600 - I will explain later) to both the top edge (running along the floor in this shot) and the back edge (uppermost in this shot). The kerfing will stiffen the sides and enable the whole assembly to hold its shape, free-standing out of the mould:

Ok so I bang on about compression too much I know, but this tutorial here actually shows a few things I keep on about really well. Namely compression is only evident within the context of a mix, and it doesn't wreck your dynamics. Now this is all very much from the perspective of s mix engineer, but honestly, that's how you should be thinking about compression anyway. Enjoy 🤩

I've been working on this for months. But it's all done now! I've talked about modding a BB into BB-Ray on this board before. I've bought a BB-350 (which is an excellent player!! that neck!!) and modded it into a stingray. I used this preamp kit: https://www.musikding.de/Classic-Bass-Preamp-Preamp-kit This is a original stingray '77 clone 2EQ. And it sure sounds like a Stingray!

Well...it ain’t no natural miller no more (spot Walshy’s gold leftovers)

Just to say that I’m so glad I went with Dave Wilson rather than having a go myself. @walshy beat me in the queue. And his latest absolutely looks the dogs danglies.

In two months time, Britain will be full of people who travelled on a crowded plane (with recirculatory air supply) to Spain, spent two weeks partying in pubs & clubs (mainly with other Brits), travelled back to the UK on another crowded plane (with recirculatory air supply), there to be greeted by reminders that it is awfully awfully unsafe to go and see a band play at their local. The sooner we abandon this hypocritical sham, the better. Will there be a second peak? Yup. And a third and a fourth. Get used to it. It's now part of your life, my life, and everybody else's life.

How about a basic turntable set up: Turntable - Audio Technica LP60XUSB £119 Amp - Cambridge Audio Topaz AM1 £99 Speakers - Mordant Short M10 £59 All available from Richer Sounds.

It’s been a while, but lockdown has really got me playing properly again. I had one of these about five years ago but (regrettably) let it go as part of a part ex on another P. I’ve been keeping half an eye on eBay for the last few months to see if one would come up again, and on Sunday night my wish was granted! A White, active USA SUB, delivered to my door in short order, and it’s full of unmistakable Stingray zing, and I love it! It’s basically immaculate apart from a bit of wear on the paint which is understandable for something of this age. Very happy.

I love the sound of my little Ashdown CTM30 but, even though it's really loud for 30 Watts, it's still a big ask for it to cope with the noisy lot in my band. After confirming with Dave Green at Ashdown that the amp will be okay at 2.67 Ohms, I decided that adding another cab to shift more air would be the way to help me be heard. I managed to find a very scruffy but working 410 cab not too far away and going cheap which I picked up today. I plan to re-cover it with tolex (as the carpet covering is literally hanging off the back of it) and give it a bit of an overhaul. Anyway, got it home and thought I'd see how it all stacks up. I'm now wondering though if it might actually be a bit much! 😳

New amp day for me, mostly driven through boredom as I was not totally unhappy with my previous main head. I wanted a change, however, and so here it is: I have yet not had a chance to really play with it and it will take some time to dial in what I need through my BF Big Twin II. My Glockenklang Blue Rock was a little "stiff" in feel, but boy could it play a good clean sound and quite loudly when asked for; this is definitely a muddier and more bass heavy, albeit a bit more alive, which is what I am after. The Glock is also a much better build quality but also much heavier due to the huge power parts. This is physically much smaller. This is 1200 watts the Glock was 1000. Both at 4 ohms. My next gig will be a post lockdown picnic for the village, in a field with no PA or FOH. This should be able to be heard!

Or even your NADs.

Very nice amp. Let me know when you get bored again!!

If the BB2 (and the BB1 and Big One) before it was that flat and uncoloured as possible sound and as big a frequency range as possible. then putting the speaker in a smaller box and not having a horn is going to change the response and not be as big range... as you can hear! The smaller box chops of the top and bottom of the sound in a way I really don't like. I've currently got one of Stevie's BCCab which has the same objectives of going for FRFR, I've owned ACME B2 before that which did the same (and were what Alex used before he started building his own) so I love my raw sound. The SC does not give me that. Now for balance, so it doesn't come across like I'm Barefaced bashing: in the mix for a lot of people the SC might work better, esp for rock/pop/indie stuff, there's a mid punch to cut through, no lows to mess with the kick drum and no tweeter will be better for OD and distorted sounds.

I think in this case a Barefaced cab and class D amp head would be more space saving, and in all likelihood will be more powerful as well.

Nice move by G&L. There seems to be a gap in the market for short scale basses between £400-£800. The two things I didn't like about the original were the weight and the paint jobs. These new Tributes seem to rectify that. Good range of solid colours to choose from and the body is made from basswood instead of alder so that should help rectify the weight problem. Strung with La Bella nickels is also a nice touch.

Take Chris Squire out of the band - what do you get? I think the actual answer is ABWH but moving on this didn't do it for me... karaoke sounds, aimless bass noodling and then some grand-standing with your mates. RW's quality control meter's been broken for years...

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I'm currently bidding on a Mac mini, i7, 16GB RAM, and SSD storage.

Ah - IMHO everyone should just buy a BB2. It doesn’t care what you do to it. Pub gig? Yep. Local beer festival, massive tent? Yep. At home practice cab? Yep. Stupid amounts of sub bass from your octave / synth etc pedal? Yep. GK amp at full bore with a low B hammering away incessantly? Yep. I’m quite a fan. My only problem with the BB2 is that I didn’t buy one years ago. It just puts out what you put in, at the volume you want. It still makes me and the band stand around it between sets and in rehearsal breaks saying things like: “I’m sorry, but how does a box that size do all that bassing?”

Here's something I originally did on my Moog Subsequent 37 but have redone on C4: Patch is here: https://neuro.sourceaudio.net/preset/ZzaOJACaMw

Here you go (NS2 ultra amber burst on a 5A maple)

Well... at least we can’t see the headstock!

Often tracking numbers don't register. Reverb are VERY good at this stuff, you will get your money back if there's any problem, and Paypal gives you even more protection (doesn't matter that it went to Reverb then to the shop, that's no different to eBay). It'll work out one way or another

All from scratch Andy. Quite a lot of routing is needed under the pickguard to accommodate the preamp and 18v.

Didn’t think you did, but there’s enough folk who like nothing more than moaning about barefaced and don’t want to give them the chance to start!

So... I must admit I'm weighing up Candy Apple Red versus getting some dark blue transparent lacquer... but meanwhile: The fretsawing was hard work, the rasping nerve-wracking and the sanding had sweat literally dripping of my nose. Not sure whether to knock the bit on the tuner side off as well?

Isn’t the point of the SC and the 12XN that it isn’t the ‘Barefaced sound’ - it’s actually the sound you are putting in amplified, and with no offence made, it’s means you don’t like your raw sound without speaker coloration.

Turned out talking to you guys about narrowing my choices was a mistake! Will have a look at these two

For anyone who’s interested, tonight at 19.30 on BBC4 , Toots and the Maytals at Glastonbury is on .

Why?

It’s not as daunting as it first appears. Would be good if some others learn how to do it too - it’s a bit lonely being almost the only person writing patches for it and sharing. 😆

Am going to check an SL out on Monday while I'm picking up an N115 Cab, there's an N210 there as well. A friend's thinking about buying the head. Better remember to take a Bass 😆 Will report next week I guess.

Personally, I’ve never had a problem remembering the notes within the stave. It’s the ledger lines that trip me up.

Thank you to everyone who offered advice. I think this is the winner. The recipient is, in my opinion, tone deaf, and definately not into hifi. His partner is also musically illiterate so I think this will be fine. A decent sound and the satisfaction of spending a little cash. All help is much appreciated. Frank.

Funnily enough we went out in the kayak today and paddled up the creek off the River Fowey to Sawmills Studio where that album was recorded, it's only accessible by boat, a very long woodland footpath or a quick run down the railway line from the nearby village of Golant, where after a couple too many in the village pub, a member of Supergrass (can't remember which one) slipped and cracked his head open on said railway line. The joys of recording in Cornwall.

Its always handy to have soldering skills. Its not hard and can save a fortune.

That chickenfoot cover is outstanding. Sammy Hagar is a force of nature.

So my delivery arrived from @Ashdown Engineering today, the eagerly anticipated Nate Mendel CTM300 and the matching 610 I had commissioned to match. What a beautiful pair! They sound bloody lovely and arrived just in time for a live stream gig we have tomorrow. Can’t wait to crank it up! Oh, the little box is an ABM600, not tried that yet! Huge thanks to Mark, Lee and @AndyTravis for hooking me up and getting me front of the queue. A few pics for you to look at 😁

The only thing that moves on my Val Doonican tribute band gigs is the rocking chair.