Leaderboard

So after many questions and wanted posts put up I finally made a decision and it was bang on the money. After many years of playing precision basses, I’ve been looking at alternatives as I find the USA precision bass necks a like bigger than I like and can cope with. After deliberating over Sadowsky (Blooming expensive and I don’t get on the the jazz offset body), Warwick (Lovely looking basses but again couldn’t find what I was exactly after) which finally lead me to revisit Musicman. I’ve had the odd MM Stingray and Sterling bass over the years and I always loved the feel/playability of these but struggled with the onboard preamp mainly because I didn’t really understand how they worked many years ago due to being young and inexperienced. I finally decided it was time to revisit owning one and see if for once, and for all if I could make it work for me...... Its a 1996 Ash Body Stingray, the colour was what one me over as it’s very pretty but after using it at practice last night, I think I’ve finally cracked....I still may look into a John East preamp for it in the near future but I’m thoroughly pleased with it. As usual it’s never an official new bass day without pictures:

Beautiful bass, collected this week, bought from @Mickeyboro. Hoped I might hate the strings as they're blooming expensive, but I love them. I also love the sound. No eq needed on the amp at it's first outing today. Only fault I can find is the jack socket doesn't hold the plug, keeps on falling out. But the neck, balance and sound are perfect

More of the usual unfunny, sexist sh!t that portrays women, especially wives, as complete idiots, or harridans hell-bent on denying husbands the enjoyment of their hobbies. Sad, boring, and mostly untrue. But hey, the 'funny article' doesn't suggest comparing your guitars to her handbag or shoes, halleluja! And a guitar-playing wife is totally hot! That's all right, then.

The back of my Hofner Comittee; it's maple.

Ssshhhh! , it may be a spoof 👀

Watch the whole show ..

Unlike most of the quotes in this thread, when Neil Young said "now I'm livin' out here on the beach, but those seagulls are still out of reach", it was littoraly true.

Oh now I want to eat chocolate fingers.

Never ending story... Ready ? Ok, I warned you, here are some of the basses I've owned over the years (lots are missing). As you can see, I like wood ! 😎 ACG Harlot R 5 : Alembic Spoiler Koa S : Alpher Mako Elite Custom Fretless : Aquilina Triton 5 Fretless : Aries Bajadera 6 : Aries Senes VS 6 Signature : Aries Senes VS 6 Tomek : Basssline Buster CW 6 Fretless : Berne Harpobasse : Byl 6 Custom : Capelli Custom 6 : Capelli DM Signature Pro : Celinder Custom 6 Michael Andersen : Conklin Groove Tools GT6 : Conklin Groove Tools GT 6 : De Gier Elevation 6 : De Gier Origin Deluxe 6 Fretless : Ernie Ball Music Man Sting Ray 5 : Ernie Ball Music Man Sting Ray 5 : Ernie Ball Music Man Sting Ray 5 Fretless : Esh Custom NFS 5 : Esh Impact 6 : F-Bass BN4 : Fender Jazz Bass Natural 1976 : Hohner Professional B Bass VI : Ibanez Affirma AFR A104F Fretless : James Trussart 6 Fretless : Jerzy Drozd Obsession Basic 7 : JP Basses Lucii 6 Fretless : JP Basses Plume 5 : Ken Lawrence Associate 5 : Kramer 450B Fretless : Langowsky AJ6 : Laurus Quasar SL 190 Grafite 6 Fretless : Leduc Contr-U-Basse 6 Tony BERTRAND Custom : Leduc MP 628 SF Fretless : Leduc MP 628 SF Fretless : Leduc 631 SF Fretless : Leduc PAD 6 : Leduc PAD Rock 5 : Leduc U-MM1 6 : Leduc U-MM2 6 : LowDown Custom 6F Special Fretless : LTD B-206SM NS : Mayones Comodous Custom 5 : Modulus Graphite Quantum 6 : Modulus Graphite Quantum 6 : Modulus (Graphite) Quantum 6 : MTD 635-24 Fretless : N.Y.C. Empire Bass 5 by Fodera : Neuser Courage 6 : Nexus Gom Jabbar Magellan 6 Fretless : Noguera Expression Plus Deluxe 6 : Noguera Fairplay 6 Fretless : Noguera Harmonie Standard Custom 6 Fretless : Noguera Trinity 8 Custom Bruno Ramos : Noguera Yves Carbonne Signature 8 Fretless Paul Lairat Gabriella 5 Fretless : Roscoe Century Standard Plus 6 Fretless : Rybski 8 : Rybski Tomek Gassowski Fretless : Sandberg Thinline Custom 6 Fretless : Sei Flamboyant 6 : Shuker Series One 6 : Sivcak OSCII 5 : Skjold Whaleback Exoctic 6 : Stanford B61CM5 FL OP Fretless : Status Electro 4 Fretless : Status Electro 6 II Jonas Hellborg : Status S2 Classic Bolt-on 5 Fretless : Status S2 Classic Neckthrough 5 : Stradi Symphony Bass 5 Fretless : Tune BEB-6 : Warrior DM4 Custom NT : Warrior DM7 Custom NT Signature : Warwick Corvette 4 Fretless : Warwick Fortress Masterman 4 : Warwick Streamer Stage II 4 : Warwick Thumb 4 : Warwick Thumb 6 : Wood & Tronics Zoid 5 : Yamaha TRB-5P : Yamaha TRB-6P : Yamaha TRB-6P Fretless : Yamaha TRB-6P Noguera Fretless : Yamaha TRB JP II :

Watching this great footage of Otis Redding, in what looks like a school hall, presumambly ending his set. Obviously I've only got eyes for the diminutive Dylan Thomas lookalike on the bass. I love it when people have a sense of humour on stage, it always makes the gig a happier event. On this you can see him exchange smiles with various members of the band and right at the very end, after someone finally manages to restrain Otis coming back ... again ... who is left shouting 'once more!' as the rest of the band scarper as fast as they can? Always the bass player. Not just the calmest, the most intelligent and musically knowledgeable, the best looking and the coolest, but also the funniest.

I recently did a veneer job for Rog (see Build Diaries) and presumably it was an OK job because he entrusted me with his BEAUTIFUL Bass Collection 4-string to do something really scary! Changing retro-fitted Abalone dots for some ebony ones to get it back to as close to 'dotless' as possible! Here were the dots (the photos are a bit out of sync): This is not a difficult job - but it's not for the faint-hearted. Or for those who don't sharpen their chisels properly I only started taking photos after I'd already got one out - so ignore the missing dot in this shot. First task is getting a dint in the exact centre of the shell. I use a very sharp-pointed punch: Then a 1.5mm drill in the centre dint. (I told you the photos are out of sequence...here you can see the sharpie blackness Rog has been temporarily using on the other abalone dots): Then the slightly scary bit - both for the owner and for the modder...especially if they value their bradpoint drill bits - drilling out the shell! : Which gives you the new chambers: Which you fill with some ebony dots, wood-grain aligned and glued with epoxy mixed with ebony dust: Then trimmed flush with super sharp chisels: Scraped flush with single-sided razor (actually held in both hands): Which takes off all of the previous finish and therefore has to be done for all fret positions for an even finish: Followed by a fine sanding with a piece of scrap maple high-precision mini sanding block: And finished with a whisper of good quality danish oil to reseal it all: And lastly go and buy a new brad point drill

I played 3 of these at NAMM. Brilliant instruments. Carey has made a great homage to the original bass. And as @Sibob said, they were really popular at NAMM.

By all accounts, these were VERY well received by all who played them at NAMM in January. Si

It was the picture of my evident joy on unboxing the bass! Let's fan the flames...

Bit of Walnut on the back of my Mania 4string fretless .

Is it the black one..?

I’ve been following the development of this bass for over a year now and have to say I love it. FWIW I seem to remember Carey Nordstrand talking about the switches in a video months ago, saying he took great pains to have them be as reliable as possible. Black & Tort or Seafoam Green for me, I reckon. Though I won’t be in a position to get one until after the pandemic realistically.

To be fair, if that was on canvas and hung in a corner of the Tate no one would think it out of place!

That's cheating already..! I recognise the satellite photo of the North Japanese islands..! ...

I've been playing for 35 years. I'm a failed guitarist (found playing those weedy little strings very problematic) so a mate of mine who wanted to form a band said - "why don't you learn bass? It's only got 4 strings and must be easier than guitar?" (sound familiar?). I bought my first bass (a "Craftsman" Precision) a week after Live Aid in 1985 and a couple of months later had a Carlsbro Cobra 90w bass combo to go with it. About 15 basses and a few rigs later, I've settled on stuff I'm more than happy with. Still think it's the coolest instrument in the band, and found that it "wasn't easier than guitar".... I've also worked with loads of great people, and am still friends with most of them even now after all this time.

Aye...resistance is futile 👍

I started on drums when I was 8 because my Dad was an ex-pro drummer and I therefore assumed it would be easy. Surprise surprise the logic of an 8yr old me was highly flawed and it didn't last. At 15 2 friends and I were getting into a crop of new bands and decided we wanted to be in a band of our own. We all saved up for our instruments over the course of a few months. As we saved, my best mate and I used to chop & change as to who would be the bass player (the bassist was generally regarded as the cool one at that point in time). I think being tall and slim meant the bass suited me better and fast forward 32yrs it is still my main instrument of choice. Over the years I have learnt guitar to a reasonable standard and can play mandolin and a few other stringed instruments. Bass seems the most natural and effortless for me and it's usually where I get gigs.

Right. I have now uploaded most of the stuff from the archive. Still have to upload the seven pieces mentioned above and one or two of the old ones (the Coltrane Love Supreme charts for one) but we are pretty much there. I won't post the charts on here in future, just links to the website. Remember, it's all free and I am just putting up stuff I like rather than anything with a commercial bent. You won't see any slapping or tapping on there as I can't be bothered with it 😉

So how long have you been playing bass, and why did you start? I think I started playing bass around when I was around 16 or so, a couple of years after I had started to learn how to play guitar, which makes the time I have played bass about 27 years by now, most of that time having had bass as my main instrument of choice, although having continued to play guitar on the sideline all along. It all started one day at band rehearsal where I by pure incident picked up the bass players bass and started playing, fell in love with the sound and feel of playing it, right there on the spot, and soon after answered an add by a drummer and a guitarist/vocalist seeking a bass player for their original band. After an audition session I got accepted as their new bass player, and even got a lot of praise for my capabilities on bass from the drummer, who happened to be a, for his age at that point, really skilled musician that knew how to sight read music, and who beside drums, played both piano and guitar on the sideline (that drummer and guitarist/vocalist being the same two people, though in a new different original band, that I much later since recorded a 2 track Single and a 4 track EP with, which were released on a small independent record label that some of our mutual friends owned, before I eventually decided to leave that band, much to my later regret, though I did get to contribute to a few of the compositions of their later full length album, even if not recording anything for it). The first few months with that first original band I didn't even own my own bass yet, but had to borrow one. Though soon after I decided to put my primary focus on playing bass over playing guitar. For some reason playing bass just came much more natural to me than playing guitar, like the instrument just felt exactly right in my hands, and as if I must have been thinking much more like a bass player than a guitarist all along, like apparently I just had a natural understanding for how the instrument worked and talent for coming up with and playing just the right bass parts for songs relatively effortlessly, that I for some reason just didn't possess on even just remotely the same level and same degree on guitar (even if eventually I have gotten quite good on guitar too, but ironically mainly from the experience I have acquired playing bass).

Basschat group hug!!!!!!

Looks like a James Brown checklist.

I concur - 74 neck, unknown maybe Mid/late 60’s body. it’s owed a nicer pickguard/scrachplate - a nice player grade jazz of various vintages.

It’s all been said really. My guess is a neck replacement, on a bass that has seen some serious mileage. No dates on the neck is common for around 74, so that fits the bill with the 4 bolts and white markers (not black).

Got myself into a photography mood... Here are a few more I've just taken of some of the flock.

I agree about the Big Splits - they look great and certainly get aggressive when you dig in. I think if I had a second bass I would definitely like something with Nordys in, for a different "flavour". Although the Delanos are no slouch when you dig in either.

Post covid update! 😅

Or you could send it to me and I'll fix it for you 😎

Although obviously some things get repeated in time, and you often miss something in the many pages a thread runs, but that was litterally the original post

I think a scratchplate might look better.

Well, after an evening of soldering and swapping through the 3 different pickup sets, I've settled on the Delano set. Not that I don't like the Big Splits, but the Delanos got much closer to the sound in my head - also with series/parallel/single coil switching, loads of options (which all sound great) on tap. Also loving the Sonar preamp, probably the most musical sounding pre I've used. Interestingly, the stock MK1 pickups sounded great with the upgraded preamp - if anyone else has the MK1 pickup/pre combination, I'd definitely recommend swapping out the pre first. So in summary, holes drilled and switches wired in, very happy!

I've always had a preference for the shorter scale length. Back in the day it was the early Gibsons rather than Fenders that floated my boat - probably because two of my heroes played them (Jack Bruce and Andy Fraser). I moved on to Fenders in the '80s but then back to s-s Gibsons. Nowadays there's a huge choice of s-s basses and I wouldn't play anything else. More comfortable to wear and play and I prefer the subtle difference in sound that comes from the different s-s overtones. The only word of caution I usually add is that, if you're a P-bass worshipper, don't expect any s-s bass to give you exactly that (although I can get close enough with some of mine).

Well, well, what can I say, I failed 😉

If anyone is curious about this: I bought the 80/20 strings and tried it out myself on my precision bass: They have a nice sound to them, i would say full.. They have an awesome feel to them, really easy to slide and a softer tension when bending/plucking, which is caused by the lighter gauge.. 45-65-80-100, the coating and string material. But they are not being picked up well by the pickups, probably less prone to transfering electricity things.. How do you call it? Less magnetic probably. And because of that, the gain should be set about 20-25% higher compared to 'real electric bass strings' and it may cause some more electrical interference on the signal of the bass. It's not like HUGE, but not sure how it's like on other bassguitars though. I will keep using them for a while

Labella Deep Talkin flatwounds, no less. Smooth, responsive, articulate, almost addictive to play. If a teenage boy was given a bass with these on he'd never discover masturbation.

Just been listening to the playlist...Bass player is rubbish... Check @4.20