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So, the last piece of the puzzle turned up today, and I now have an Ashdown ABM600 EVO-IV and two Ashdown ABM210H EVO-IV Pro Neo Cabs. Nice and portable, plenty light enough, and that lovely Ashdown ABM sound.

I haven't posted for a little while. Is this type of 'shaming' the type of thing Basschat has been reduced to now? Really uncool guys. Really uncool.

Birthday gift from my wife. I never fail to appreciate how much manufacturers are able to cram into ever smaller enclosures.

I'd say get it done. Original frets don't add much value to a bass IMO, not in the same way an original finish or pickups etc does. I think of them as a necessary replacement at some point in the life of a bass, similar to strings.

Every model of bass has a different tone, every model of amp has a different tone, every model of speakers has a different tone, even strings have different tones, and every player has his own tone preferences. The only way to know what works best for you with your gear is to experiment.

Get it done, otherwise what’s the point of having it? That said, it’s a bound neck so take it to someone who knows what they’re doing.

For those reasons alone get it a nice new set of frets and keep playing it for another 27 years. Your fear is understandable - the changes to tone caused by the frets wearing have been very gradual, this will be a sudden change (albeit not necessarily a noticeable one). Going for super Jumbo stainless steel frets will definitely change the tone, where as something like it left the factory with (medium height cupronickel or silver nickel) would be a more sympathetic/appropriate (?) choice. Go for it! 😎

I will be asking if I can review these new cabinets in Guitar Interactive Magazine.

We do a couple of Smiths songs (This Charming Man and There Is A Light), and they're two of my favourite songs to play; the bass lines are great fun, and they always go down a storm. People like to think they're singing along ironically, but they're really not... 🙂 Sadly, Morrisey himself has personal opinions I'd rather not contemplate, although that can be said of quite a few people in the business. That's where the phrase 'Never meet your heroes' comes from... Musically and lyrically, The Smiths were an important band, and yeah, they were very Marmite - at the time, I, like some people in the thread, couldn't get past Morrisey's schtick, but in later years I've come to like the tongue-in-cheek lyrics, some of which are genuinely brilliant. Oh, and it's a measure of the 'love it or hate it, but you can't ignore it' nature of Morrisey's delivery that any time someone sings a Smiths song, they're irresistibly drawn into a Morrisey impression...our singist tries very hard; he starts off in his own voice, and three lines in he's hooting and parping... 😁

Thanks GreeneKing It’s definitely a genuine post. I’m a friend of the guy (Steve) who passed on (April) and have come here on behalf of his wife (Lisanne) who has asked me (and lots of other musos) to help locate it. Please do let me know if you hear anything or you can go back to the original Facebook post if that is more comfortable for you to do. regards

Put together out of some Squier bass and parts from here;

Seen lightning bolt live three times in my life, each one louder than the last. Noise rock is about as useful a term as rock itself - it´s applied so liberally to bands that are so different to each other that it doesn´t hold much weight as a genre. Sonic youth, shellac, the jesus lizard, there´s far more digestable entries in the canon, and then something like the locust, which makes lighting bolt look like baby shark... Personally I´ve always thought of lightning bolt as a really really loud jazz band that get stuck in a 30 second time loop.

How dare those pesky youngsters go around enjoying music that the older generation don't understand. It wasn't like it in my day.................. oh, hang on.

Just picked up a 78 P bass and not just any old Precision, it’s my first decent bass, the one that I cut my teeth on and then sold about 33 years ago. I sold it back in the 80s when I started using active basses. I had two precisions and sold the good one as it was worth a few quid more! Always wished that I had sold the other one instead. It just came up for sale by a guy who's got a studio in Leeds. The only problem is that I paid five times what I sold it for all those years ago! I remember somebody here posting about buying back their old P bass. Like him, I’ve had a couple of precisions, but they never seemed to compare to ‘my’ old P bass. To me, Fender Precisions define what an electric bass is, despite me happily using many other basses over the years. I remember that when I originally bought this bass, I knew that I was now going to be a proper bass player! You have to remember that when I started playing, virtually all of our heroes played a precision! A few played Ricks and the odd one played a jazz bass, but me finally having my own P bass was a big thing! Quite emotional to get it back...

....Wow 😮 Stumbled on this archive by John K, whilst looking at some potential bass overdrives, some real interesting stuff, plus lots of soundsamples. This guy really is a masterbuilder, loads of interesting stuff here👍 http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/Overdrive-Pedals.html http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/index.html

Punt taken Wont be here till late Dec /January ??? according to Amazon Maybe the builder grows them from seed

I know he's a misanthrope but I didn't realise he had it in for cetaceans as well.

I wanted the combo so I had the option for 1x10 or 2x10 with the extension. I’m in a 6 piece band so stage space is at a premium for smaller venues. To my ears, I think the elf sounds great for what it is. I’ve owned Trace heads and this isn’t pretending to be one of those I don’t think? Just a nice little modular setup which is light, portable, doesn’t break the bank or back and sounds good. I’m happy with it and would recommend anyone to try it out if they are looking into 1x10 setups.

Peterbuilt in Netherlands:

Get a used Squier classic vibe (around 200-300 euros), then get someone who relics guitars/basses to relic the squier, get them to upgrade the electrics and machine heads (should be around 500-600 euros), which is within your budget.

I like plastic wrap too. Some carriers say black wrap causes probs for inspection. Its mandatory for palletised ships. I also sent my JJ build Bass build crated. Again, no probs. I think a crate is a good thing to make for all basses not just £1500+ vintage basses and technically the original flightcase it came with (with original price sticker) deserves shipping protection. 12mm Featherboard, 2-3mm ply, screws. It can be reused/upcycled/repurposed or turned to kindling. I feel bad about styrene though, looking into alternatives..

I like Lightning Bolt. Noise Rock has been around as a genre since the early 80's though, and got increasingly popular in the 90's (though largely remaining an underground kind of genre). Sonic Youth properly being the most popular band of this genre. I played bass in a noise rock band myself around the mid 90's, and later in the 00's in a noise rock and hardcore influenced math rock band with the same lineup, but with an added extra bass player (where I had more sort of a "lead" bass player kind of role and the other bassist sticking mostly to a more traditional supportive bassist kind of role). Basically it is just more or less experimental rock, partially drawing inspiration from early punk and incorporating noise/atonal and sometimes improvisational elements from avantgarde music and free jazz. This is a great album from Lightning Bolt :

Guys I can’t thank you enough for the responses. Quality stuff. I think my Jazz bass is beyond another fret dress, perhaps I should’ve said this earlier, so I think I’m gonna go for the refret. And whilst I may have one eye on its value I don’t think I’ll ever sell it. I appreciate the comments regarding these two points. I just wish I’d never had the Floyd Rose trem fitted..., I’m joking, I’m joking 😁

An original on which I contributed the bassline and BVs was played this afternoon on the radio. OK, it was internet radio being broadcast from someone's back bedroom somewhere ... we're not talking Radio 2 or Capital here. But it remains my first ever radio broadcast. Box ticked. Next up? Television. 😂

Thanks, all looking good at this stage.

I'd say a Yamaha BB. I had the BB425 and found it hard to fault as a five string, the low B was good and strong. The string spacing is just nice, too - not too tight at the nut or the bridge. Too heavy, sadly, so I had to go elsewhere. But Bas's 1025 would be a peach. Having said that, I'd be very curious about a Harley Benton 5er.

That’s a stunner Al ☝️, I’d like that in a 4 string

Wrong again. He was a Communist. Communism and Socialism have little in common. Communists believe all property is theft. The Tory rags use the Communist slur to denigrate anyone who believes in a kinder, fairer system of government. A cheap trick that seems to work with the hard of thinking.

I’d get it done, though if you’re feeling unsure then a decent stop-gap could be a fret dress (might send that idea to J.P. Gaultier!). That can often put a bit of life back into worn frets...

Have you seen his hair? 🐩

Looks like someone over on TB has beaten Epiphone to it and had theirs resprayed PB. The good news is the shade in the pic is a lot more accurate to what PB looks like in the flesh. The bad news is that it's gorgeous and may lead to some holes in wallets!

Yep. The plan is to go with 2x 1x12s.

My father in law has a 73 P bass in the same position. The answer is leave it if it is retired and purely on show, otherwise life goes on and you should get it done. Do your research, get a refret done by someone who knows what they are doing (rather than just someone who does setups) and there is no problem.

Wishing you a successful recovery.

The new pitch shifter is excellent. Finally dialed in a great pseudo 8 / 12 string dUg inspired sound. Very impressed. 4 Snapshots all set up - including being able to turn off the 'octave strings' when needed. Rhythm Guitarists - you are no longer needed!

There is a simple mod, removing a capacitor, that will improve the performance of the English Muff'n for bass. I went a step further and changed the capacitors in the tone stack as well.

I too started my venture into upright with a Stagg. I just couldn't get on with those awful brackets, supplied with the bass. I've owned & tried several EUB's and like @Silvia Bluejay, I find they all tend to swivel whilst playing them... with the exception of the Eminence (the T-bar attachment worked pretty well IMHO, though it could possibly have done with being a bit longer). Since these days I only play upright when I'm doubling up (i.e. half a gig on Bass guitar, half on EUB) - I find a stand, like @Paul S uses, is the best method for me. I appreciate that there are many who prefer to move and "dance" when playing upright, but it wouldn't be practical to store an upright on stage, and be swapping over between songs... Besides, I still play my acoustic upright too (though mainly at home these days) - so I'm doing at least some practice on that.... Before I sold my Stagg EUB, I got a second-hand stand from a group on FaceBook. I think it was a cymbal stand, if my memory serves me correctly.... Anyhow, I opted for a fairly heavy duty one, and it was fairly stable when played. The only downside was that it was quite heavy additional "baggage"

I think Tony is a massively underrated player and should be spoken about more often than he is. His work with Colosseum and Greenslade was exceptional.

Send Brian a message through his eBay shop. https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/earlpilanz?_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2754 If he doesn't already have you just send your existing one to use for a template. There's been plenty of satisfied BC customers in recent months.

I find that an EUB without a fake bout (or a 'bracket' or 'spacer' or whatever it may be called) tends to spin, so my fretting hand has to do the fingering of the notes and the stopping the neck from rotating. So I need a bracket, and even better, I need a bracket AND the peculiar but highly useful T-endpin Eminence uprights have. @Passinwind, I hear what you're saying, and tripods for EUBs do look naff (and ugly) but my NS NXT is so easy and comfortable to play it makes anything else feel like too much like hard work! 😄

That is your opinion. Other people are allowed their opinions regardless of you deeming them to be morally right or wrong.