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well it was Friday actually 😅 I struggled to sell my D roc which was a surprise,so contacted Mark at Bass Direct who gave me a very generous trade in offer against a Canadian Dingwall. So here it is,my gorgeous ABZ & I couldn't be happier,it makes a fantastic partner for my Combustion. Ash body,Wenge fretboard & totally passive. Compared to the Chinese made Dingwall I have to say the Canadian made one is definitely of a much higher quality & it shows when playing it. Not that I'd dis a Chinese Dingwall,they too are totally awesome basses.

Was given this bass yesterday. Made in Japan, early 90s from what I can tell. Was filthy but, once cleaned up and restrung, it plays brilliantly. Oh, there was a hard case with it! 😁😁😁

Last night the acoustic version of Maple Road played an outdoor show @ Sahale Brewery in Grafton, 7-9 pm. Big beautiful 3 level patio area, plenty of room for social distancing. Very cool appreciative crowd. Next weekend will be our 8th week in a row of gigging. Blue

I played with one of my 'part time' bands yesterday. Boy was that good therapy. Mellow set with a couple of the guys out, so drummer used cajon and I stripped back to more rythmic, basic playing. We were outside early start and finish, and a largish crowd were sat relaxing in the sun and were highly appreciative. When I get on top of this something else will come along, just need patience.

I missed out on the one that was for sale on the forum last week and I think that for the first time ever was genuinely disappointed that I hadn't seen it sooner so set about looking for another. A casual browse on Facebook marketplace brought up one about 20 minutes from my house and another two PMs from members on the forum who had them as well. I decided to go with the one on Facebook as it looked really nice in the red ( I must admit that I also like the green and blue ones ) and picked it up. I gave the fretboard a good clean with lemon oil and the body a wipe down with a clean microfibre cloth. This was followed by a new set of D'addario Prosteel EPS165 strings plus a 135 B that I had bought separately some time ago A quick play revealed that it badly needed setting up and when I got the capo and feeler gauges out I discovered that the neck was poker straight with absolutely no relief at all. The truss rod nut was quite tight so I gently moved it and thankfully it began moving no problem at all ( I wonder if this was why it had been so straight, maybe tightened really tight and the owner couldn't loosen it) I had to remove the little black plastic thing that protects the body from the allen key as I couldn't get the allen key in properly with it in place It is in incredible condition, I can't quite work out how old it is. I tried one of the websites and was told it was 1989, 1999 or 2009 by the serial number. The plastic is still on the control cover. There are a couple of light dents in the paintwork but no scratches and the only damage to the paintwork that I can see is on the headstock. The hardware is a little tarnished in places due to age but everything works I absolutely love it and the only way that I can describe the tone is that it is very 80s and will really suit a lot of the stuff we do with the band when the time comes to gig again. Anyway, enough waffling - now the pictures:

So it's the band leader's 60th birthday, he's been on full-on shielding for over three months, the best we can manage for a birthday gig is to play his back garden in a civically-responsible, socially-distanced sort of way, and Paul The Drums turns up without his cajon. Solution? Raid the shed, of course ...

Its exactly the same thing on the bass as the sax. Ok, the register and purpose is the same but if you can hear the tonality as a sax player, the only thing stopping you doing the same on a bass is familiarity.

I'm slightly late (as always) to this thread but have been reading it with a lot of interest. I've had numerous forays in to 5 Strings and have always beaten a hasty retreat back to the land of 4 strings because a) its what I'm used to b) struggled with the width of the extra string on the fingerboard (an old hand injury) and c) never had the courage to gig with one and always reverted back to my P Bass at the last moment (this last one has often been an 11th hour decision that has cause me a couple of stressful moments trying to effectively adapt my neck geography the spot rather than stick with the 5). Lockdown has given me time to re-evaluate a lot of things, including my bass playing: that and joining a new band just before the world went crazy (crazier) which actually justified the low B. Now having had some decent time to play a 5 string and develop my own technique that doesn't hurt my left hand (certainly not trying to stick to the one finger per fret method) and to really "learn" the 5 string has been a revelation. The scales have certainly fallen away from my eyes and I actually find it more intuitive than a 4 string to such an extent that I haven't really picked up a 4 string for the last couple of months and just concentrated on the 5 string. As someone on this thread said and I couldn't put it better myself, sticking with it and not trying to switch back and forth between a 4 and 5 has helped me massively. Having played bass for many years and considering myself to be pretty competent on the 4 string I'm sure I'll switch between a 4 and 5 at some point but at the moment, running back to Mummy is too tempting and I really need to work on the muscle memory to play a 5 string, especially if I intend to gig with it at some stage (fingers crossed). I certainly won't be taking a 4 string with me when I gig just to avoid all temptation. 35" is just a bit too far out of my comfort-zone and I really notice a massive difference when playing a 35" scale bass, so I'm sticking with the venerable SR5 for the time being.

You’ve kept your pole dancing skills under wraps. Respect!😁

By coincidence I have arrived at Y in my alphabetical play through my CD collection. This little lot is up next:

Ahh, can't wait to watch this! Recorded it. I had my stag do staying in the band's accommodation at Rockfield 4 years ago. Kingsley gave us a tour of the studios on one of the days... I'm intrigued about which of his stories made the cut 🤣

You're a lovely bunch. You know that?

Just completed the mods on my Electra VS4. It now sports a Martin Herrick '58 P bass pickups. Martin tells me he made one of these for a big Iron Maiden fan then made a couple more while he was at it. Mine is #3 of 3. Cracking pickup it is too. Electronics are all passive now with a V/T/T set of controls per spec of the Warwick Streamer CV basses that have a bass and treble tone control, made up for me by our very own KiOgon. Not sure how much I'll use the bass pot but I had a third hole in the pickguard and thought "why not?". Plus I've yet to find a reliable talent control circuit. Taking the bass to band practice tomorrow for a good work out.

Our lockdown cover version of "The Power Of Love" by Huey Lewis and The News. S.P.

Mine offended me so much, i took a jigsaw to it.

Exactly this ^^^ for me too. I also play a bit of piano and guitar as well, so came from a chord oriented background which I guess must have helped. As has already been mentioned, learning to recognise certain progressions in songs comes with experience over a few years - I'm 62 and am still learning though! Personally I've always found that my love of popular music from say the 1950's onwards has been of immeasurable help to me in so many gigging situations. I listen to the radio as often as possible, which works as a kind of subliminal revision that somehow seeps into my memory. Must admit some of the recent styles and sounds of top 40 stuff do leave me struggling, but you never know if the situation might arise when you need to know a song, or at least have a good stab at it!

I had one exactly the same! Swapped it with @yorks5stringer at a bass bash a couple of years ago.

It’s great to have both, they will give you massively different things depending on your situation and it leaves you 3 rigs 110 2 x 110 ST

I love this track/version. Reminds me of being a kid in the 70s. If I’d had a tough day at school or felt a bit ‘lost’ in the world I’d retreat into this and all would be good again. Still makes me feel that way...

Well... Tried a load out and the squier Jag 32" knocked them all out of the park for me. Got all the sounds I wanted and it was so nice to play, really liked the P basses too but the Jag's neck just felt better in my hands. Tried a talman too which was great to play, but the feel and sound of the squire just edged it. Thanks for all the advice! I'll get some pics etc up shortly.. Need a practice amp now! Really interested in the rumble studio 40 or rumble LT25 as a starter just for noodling with backing tracks.

Wooo! Nice gift!

One thing to realise is that it's not always essential for the bass to follow each and every chord change in a lot of songs; perhaps even more so in the folk idiom. There will be exceptions, I'm sure, but many chord changes are rather 'decorative', or bringing melody or counter-melody, rather than changing the fundamental structure of the song. As an example, I would cite the Ralph Patt 'Vanilla Chords' website, where the basic, stripped-down version of many tunes are laid out... Jazz Web Page ... OK, these are jazz tunes, but if we compare the usual 'Real Book rendering of most of these, we're looking at a Black Page of all sorts of altered chords, with substitutions galore and flattened wotsits, passing tones et al, bringing interest to many songs, but not really useful to the bass player. The Vanilla version gets back down to the chase. Following the other players fingers is an excellent trick, but it's sometimes better to close one's eyes and listen to what's happening; after a while the 'patterns' become apparent, and next time round you'll not play that 'bum' note, but the simple, basic note that the song needs. At worst, it's OK to not play for a verse (maybe the first..?) and join in once it's been round one time, which will add 'beef' to it when the bass is added. It's OK to drop out for a spell, too. There are no rules saying that you have to play all of the time..! Hope this helps.

I trust that you know where the notes are on the sax, so that, when you're 'thinking' them, they get sounded..? The bass is exactly the same, if you've that same familiarity with bass note production. All that's required is the same level of experience playing bass as you have playing sax; the 'process' is identical, as it is with a keys player, or guitarist, or whatever. How do you do it..? Play your bass behind more and more stuff, in whatever genre you wish, and it'll soak in, as it did with the sax. There are 'standard' chord progressions, notably in the Bebop and Real Book repertoire, so, if you are 'into' that stuff, look 'em up, listen to 'em and play along. My usual encouragement applies, of course... 'It's the first forty years that are the hardest, after which things sometimes tend to get (slightly...) better.' Hope this helps.

Jeez, I made a rod for my own back there! My entry for the Basschat July composition Challenge, inspired by the photo chosen by last month's winner.... er.... Me! I initially wanted to go for a jazzy 60s lounge act feel, but struggled with the jazzy chord timing (something to work on for another time), so went back to the drawing board for the next best thing, the mid-90s, faux 60s English indie janglepop.... You know, the ones that played authentic period instruments in the hope that they were imbued with some ancient pop magic from the ghost of Lennon. Recorded in Cubase Elephants, I used my Jake 5 (I always do), through a sim based on an old HiWatt, and my old Westbury Standard, again through the Helix, in a patch I tweaked to get the sounds I seem to remember from that era. Vocals through a battered no-name mic with a cleaning cloth draped over it in lieu of a pop-shield, in the front room, with the sounds of next door's telly in the background. Drums courtesy of the Mrs and Roland. All plug ins are the standard Cubase ones. I really need to get into mixing and mastering, I just went through this track by track until I got it as close as I could to sounding ok, but I still wish the vocals sat in the track more. I'm sure there's a better way.

She only had one job...

These are fun, too; I have a set...

If you're going to process freshly cut wood to be useable what you need to do is dry it without getting so many splits that it will only be suitable for the fire. As a wood turner, what I do is keep the logs in 1m to 2m length, paint the ends in PVA glue and stack them in the dry. For a bass body or neck, you will be wanting boards of about 40mn thick. Yet you also need to a low for movement of wood, so I'd have the wood cut into 50mm or 60mm boards for drying. Then paint the ends again with PVA. For valuable timber, I'd paint the entire thing. Then stack the boards with an air-space. The people processing the boards would also take out the central core of the tree for you. This is the part that carries most sap and will cause most splitting if left in. When the boards are dry, in a couple of years, they will then need to be cut roughly to size for your body and go through the thicknesser, to reduce them to 40mm and make them evenly flat. Trim the sides square to the faces glue together, to make a good body blank and you're off on a normal bass build. Now looking at the logs you have: They look to me like a type of pine. Pine often has a serious amount of sticky sap that I wouldn't want for turning. It mad dry ok for a body. Yet with those diameter trunks you won't get much from them in boards. Tree surgeons generally take wood away as part of the service, but the wood is normally more of a problem to them than an asset. They will be only too pleased to give you wood. Their problem with this is the time spent with us, messing about with small amounts of wood, costs their time. What normally happens, in the USA, (don't know about UK on this) is wood gets sent to power energy plants and burnt for power generation as "green" energy. It also probably goes for chipboard and MDF. I hope some of this helps, even if it's not great news.

The drumming, bass & guitar playing are just perfect, restrained and just enough. Keith sings this really well.

Could it be the difference between playing solo and in a band mix? But it's great to have both in your armoury regardless - I find the differences between my basses stops any one of them going stale / feeling samey; they keep each other fresh!

I made a new scratchplate for my Hofner Club as I really didn't like the anemic looking white pearl one it came with. When it was off I was very tempted to leave it off. The only problem I had with was that the control panel stood out as even more odd with no scratchplate. The bass was black though it probably would've worked better on sunburst. I've just had a google and you're right, the Verythins do look better without the scratchplate. Get it off! 😁

I've been all round the houses with this. I've had big old amps and cabs. I've had smaller class d amps, and half way cabs (barefaced etc). I even went small using helix stomp modeller and class d. All did a decent job. Cant complain. However, I've now gone back to using class a/b amps and a 410. The stomp was good, but not a great DI. No matter what I did, it just wasnt a great bass sound. It was there, but not great. Was that my fault or the helix? I dont know. Maybe theres too much to play with, or maybe the technology just isnt there yet. No one ever mentioned it, but it just didnt have the depth or sparkle to me. I plug in my abm600 and it's there. Every time. Great sound (pre or post) nicely balanced and no hassle. Has the power and sound I like on stage and the di sound that sound guys like. I always find a medium to big powerful amp and cab onstage help create a great rhythm section. It has that slam that you and the drummer can create with - remember hearing the bass and its sound isnt just for us bassist- and it just has that warm sound to make you raise your game. As much as I liked the stomp, I never really got that feeling with it.

My 'fendery ones'.

Might not be strict Afrobeat but Bokante is definitely lining the rich African soil.

Please forgive the ostentatious title, some of you will remember a discussion a while ago regarding tool sharpening and my insistence that sharpening jigs are not needed; well I was asked to write this about how edge tools are sharpened in a professional cabinet making shop. Now please don't try and compare how a jobbing chippy sharpens his or her tools on site that is a different story but cabinetry and Luthiery have a similar need for tools that are precisely sharp as opposed to being sharp enough. I will honestly say the one machine/power tool I would not do without is a wet grinder, I would rather rip boards up with a ripsaw and plane them flat and to size by hand than do without that and have done in the past. Why you may ask? Well when you are trying to do fine work in wood the single most important thing you need is control and with cutting tools the only way you can get that control is with very sharp tools, not almost sharp or even sharp enough, to get precise cuts first time and every time they need to be sharper than that razor you shave with each morning and kept that way. It is a job that can be tedious if you let it be, the trick is to let it not be and to do that it needs to be quick and easy then it can be seen as a way of releiving your mind from the concentration levels of doing careful work for long periods. Lets have a look at my sharpening area What you see is a wetstone grinder, a tub of water and two Japanese water stones which a are wedged into wooden blocks to keep them from sliding in use; they are then kept in the tub of water when not being used. Above these I have a variety of gadgets that are associated with sharpening various tools but there is only one of note, the grinding angle gauge The wetstone grinder is used to give a hollow grind to the edge on a the cutting tool at a set angle which is determined by a little gauge. Mine is a 25 degree gauge which is a good all round angle for many tools giving a nice balance between durability and sharpness. The blade is clamped into a sliding carriage at the correct angle like this Then it is simply a matter of switching on and moving the blade from side to side until you have a fully ground hollow edge that is square. I've tried to illustrate that with these photos as best I can You can just make it out but notice that ragged burr on the edge. All we have done is to prepare our blade for the real sharpening: In days gone by various types of oilstones were the way to go, when I was an apprentice I had a prized set of Arkansas stones but things thankfully have moved on some since then, we have the waterstones, diamond impregnated tiles, ceramic stones.... My own favourites are the waterstones and I'll explain why. Waterstones are a man made brick for want of a better term, made of precisely graded grits, they are bound together quite loosely so they actually wear quite quickly in comparison to other types but that to me is an advantage. When you sharpen a tool you abbraide it's surface so tiny particles are removed, these can become embedded quite firmly in the stone and cause something called glazing which reduces it's efficiency. Waterstones on the other hand break up very slowly so the particles are freed stopping that glazing. The downside of that of course is that the stone can quickly wear out of true, thankfully it is so easy to flatten unlike the old Arkansas stones that needed taking to a stone mason. To flatten a waterstone just get a strip of 80 grit sandpaper taped to a flat surface and give the stone half a dozen rubs on that and the job is done, easy. Another great advantage is that water is used a s a lubricant so rather than having oily hands after sharpening they are merely wet and the stones can just be put back in the tub with not further cleaning or drying needed. I have two stones, the large red one which is a 1000 grit stone and the yellow one which is a 6000 grit, I use one at a time, they are both out above just for illustration. I don't have photos of the actual procedure but it is easy to understand. To start sharpening you stand in front of the stone (1000 grit), one foot in front of the other (important). You take the blade in both hands with some fingers from each hand on top of the blade to give it full support. Place the blade on the stone and feel for that hollow grind, there is a point where it sits flat and stable. Now you can either sharpen at that or as I do lift the blade a tiny amount so I only grind the front edge. Lock your elbows tight into your rib cage to lock your arms rigid, then rock backwards using your legs, so weight shifting from the front foot to the back foot, that stops the blade rocking. Do that four times and you should be left with a tiny shiny flat across the whole front edge of your blade. If you look closely mine isn't even, my stone needs flattening (OOPS!) but looking closely notice the burr Change the stone to the 6000 grit and do the same again, remember this must only be done backwards never forwards, the stones are too soft. So four times then flip the blade over and place it flat on the stone, slide the blade over the stone backwards four times. Repeat that two or three more times until when you examine the edge there is absolutely no sign of any burr and the back face should be almost a mirror finish. That should give you a wholly flat edge, for a bench plane you may want to give that edge a slight curve, to do this I use an extra pass over the 6000 stone with pressure on one outside edge then the other and that will be enough to give you a nice edge for a plane And that is it, just give the blade a quick dry on a towel along with your hands and back to work but be careful, that blade will be sharp and i mean sharp. The grinding procedure isn't done every time, just when the sharpening procedure starts taking longer as the flats get bigger; typically I sharpen four times then regrind. Even with regrinding a single blade can be processed within a couple of minutes. I keep four to six plane blades above my bench and sharpen all of them at once, that way I am less likely to be tempted to use a dulling iron when it is so easy to quickly change and it is quicker to sharpen six once then one six times. I hope you can see the logic in that method, every cabinet shop I have been into uses that exact method so I assume that it is probably the best and easiest way of doing it, being quick and easy you are more likely to want to do it and the more likely your work will improve. One last thing and this is actually the very first thing with any flat blade. The back face of a cutting tool needs to be flat, when you buy it it won't be, not even close. The first job with any new chisel or plane blade is to flatten it; how depends on how bad it is. Sometimes 10 minutes on a 1000 grit stone will do it flattening the stone a couple of times, if it is really bad then some 80 grit carborundum powder and a piece of glass it the way to go. Once it's flat then it will stay flat as long as you keep your stones flat but that back face MUST be flat to get the best out of your tools. Very briefly the reason why: A chisel is used mostly but supporting the back edge on work that has previously been cut, either to the side or behind the cutting edge. The back of the chisel is used as a rest and as a guide for progression, if your blade isn't flat then it will either dig in (blade concave) or ride up (blade convex) and that will never ever let you produce good work. Plane blades Other than you wont be able to sharpen properly a bade that is hollow along it's length one of the most important pasts of a bench plane is the cap iron, unless that is in intimate contact with the blade face it will clog up and even with the sharpest blade in the world that plane will not work or certainly won't be capable of quality work but more on that again.

I can't wait to try this! I imagine I'll likewise use two packs and split them depending on the pedals. Thank you for the heads up on this technique, I had no idea at all

A nice little Alton Ellis mix, you will recognise the Bassline on track 2 🙂

Stick-on feet are a cheap solution for light Class D heads, but surely bigger Class AB and valve heads still come with proper feet unless they are purely intended for rack mounting.

And Darkglass asking £300 for distortions !

I really like the baby-pink colour.