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His signature bass did inspire me to make a Bitsa. I don’t know much about him as a player though. I did weaken in the end though and went active with a John East EQ so more of a Ray/G&L combo. Has anyone tried a Joe Dart. I like the idea of a single control?

Not at all sure what could possibly be in that box that's just arrived: Well - you could blow me down with a feather! :

Fender Mustang Bass, crafted in Japan sometime between 1999 and 2002, sporting a Fiesta Red finish and an aftermarket brown tort pickguard.

Surely the video was tongue in cheek and not meant to be taken seriously? That said, Vulf are better skilled as musicians than comedians.

Board rewired and switch programmed for my first band rehearsal since March 2020 tomorrow!

Yesterday was the first gig of the year. The BB1025 was fantastic 😆 Here is a phone video from the gig. The bass sound was DI from the Bergantino to front of house. Use 🎧 IMG_1548.MP4

Colin Moulding.

You have to remember that Joe Dart plays in a band whose most interesting album was ten tracks of silence.

Started to roughly improve the profiles of the wings prior to gluing to the neck, I want these as rounded as I can get them however the lower horn has a sharper point which I really like, it'll make sense later on! Another check to make sure I'm not taking too much off prior to glue up! Started tapping away on the upper horn to start the weird taper down to the neck con cave feature most single cuts have! 40mm bowled down to 20mm will take a while but this is a start! Felt like I had enough of the bottom wing down to get it glued on, it will help me decide where I want the scoop on the upper wing before I glue that on too, I don't have so much a belly... Rather ribs... They need a tummy scoop too! That's it for today though, got a Chinese on its way (2 hour wait mind!!!) And me and the missus have lots of Fargo to catch up on! Thanks for looking!

It SimS to be a pickup. 😎 I'll get my coat.

Marathon - Rush (only those of a certain vintage will get this)

Some might say 'honestly rated'... no transient power, music power or instantaneous power nonsense that's used to double or more the power of (say) class D amps. Plus they put out their rated power with minimal distortion unlike many cheaper amps. I can say Trace Elliot kilos are heavier, though.

Metal Box - Jah Wobble That is all.

The bloke in 999. No idea who he was but nice bass parts. ‘Feelin alright with the crew’ springs to mind

I can get that tone on my bass Joe, and can do without your rather dismissive attitude towards active basses. All I do is switch the 3rd switch from left down, whilst the far right one simultaneously is flicked up, then turn the middle knob 45 degrees towards the front pickup, and keep the knob nearest to me slightly sou-sou-west facing, the main volume knob full on and the “semi active” pull knob is pulled up, or is it down...hold on no it’s up and the 3rd tone knob is off and middle pickup is “in phase” with the thingy dial, no, it’s not, it’s the parallel rotary dial switch that is moved 3 clicks towards my moustache, I think, but definitely while using .90mm rubber/foam custom hybrid plectrum. Nailed it Joe 😝 loser.

And to add to the Elrick love, here’s my NJS5 which effectively replaced the bass I sold to @Al Krow, because black: Effectively the same bass, but with ‘Jazz’ aesthetics and the switches on push/pull knobs. Si

I've never really been that impressed by technical prowess on any instrument. For me the most important thing is the music itself. People producing music I like inspire me to carry on creating my own music. People producing music I don't like also inspire me to carry creating my own music in the hope that maybe mine will be popular enough to displace them from public consciousness.

No More Heroes - The Stranglers

The first bass I ever played, an Aria pro II SLB PJ (which actually belonged to my missus) was a lovely black one. I've very recently re-joined the club with the newest addition to my herd. Not come across this brand before, but I'm completely blown away by it:

This. As most here will know, I’ve owned a couple of dozen Rics from all eras and have played, at the very least, several hundred. I’ve also owned Seis (5?), Alembics, Wals, Jaydees, early Warwicks, old Fenders, new Fenders, a Pedulla and countless other things. In my 40 years of playing I’ve tried to play pretty much every bass I see, just in case it’s great (at least up until recent years when I pretty much know what is going to work at a glance). What basses do I still own? 2 x 1972 4001 basses and a custom made copy of my main one for dodgy gigs. Many people don’t get on with them, which is fine, but bear in mind often they’re coming to them from playing a completely different instrument, or simply don’t like what they’re about. I learned to play on one so all the things that many find weird I find normal, and vice versa. I love the ‘classic’ tone (almost all of my favourite-sounding players have played Rics), I love the looks, I love the necks (except for the period where the 4003/4004 necks became pretty big). I prefer the necks on my ‘72s to anything else I’ve ever played (except possibly my old ‘71 21 fretter) but the profile is different even from ‘73 Rics, never mind all the other variations over the years. They do vary a great deal; no two of the ones I’ve owned have been the same in feel or sound, and to be honest of the hundreds I’ve played I’d say only a dozen or so were really very similar to each other. So in a nutshell, if you find you don’t like them (although you really need to play a lot first), you’re not missing anything. If you do find you like them, then you maybe have been missing something, which is exactly what I’d say about every single bass on the market. And everything really. Books, films, foods, clothes, whatever. No one else’s opinion really means anything unless you know they like similar things to you (or hate things that you like), you need to try them and see what you think. One other thing, as CV said, I don’t tend to think they work that great with modern rigs, so that’s something you may need to bear in mind.

Norman Watt-Roy But then you figure out that playing isn’t a competition

Would have loved to see the magic band. Major influence on my guitar playing a long time ago. As a counterpoint, I Just remembered one of the most encouraging events when we played on the same bill as Isaac hayes and he came up to us after our set and said 'I really dig your music man'. Having the approval of black moses was mind blowing and gave us encouragement to keep going.

I don't think I've ever seen anything which discouraged me. Great music and musicians make me want to play. Crap music and musicians make me want to play too, just better than they were 😀

First of all thanks to those who have been following and engaging positively with the Bassworks build diaries involving stock and custom builds for clients. I'd like to tell you about my "Dream Bass" service. I design your dream bass for you AND you get a voucher for £100 off your instrument if you wish to proceed! Normally this service costs £25, (or $25, or EUR25). For a period of time I will offer a group of 3 Basschat members this service for FREE, per month. I'm not offering this elsewhere. It's exclusive to Basschat members. As well as a clearly identified discount, we'll spend 30 minutes together by video conference to scope out your detailed written specification which I will document for you. You'll get a high resolution 2D colour render of the bass, a fully detailed cost breakdown and an easy stage payment plan where the build time can be tailored to fit with your cash flow situation. So for example if you want to delay the spraying of the instrument whilst you save the cash to fund that - you can do it! There is no obligation to proceed at all. IF you do choose to grace me with an order, we'll create a build diary on Basschat too. This will operate as a competition. Here's what to do if you fancy a shot... 1. In this topic describe your dream bass in your own words, colour, materials, hardware and (if you play in a particular genre) what main genre(s) of music it would be played in. No pictures, just your words. 2. A panel of Bassworks judges will consider the submissions made by the end of each month. 3. As long as there are 3 great concepts per month as judged by the panel, those 3 Basschat members will win the Dream Bass Service for FREE that month. Feel free to watch the video over on my Bassworks Facebook page. Hit my page and then search the page for "Dream Bass". Thanks for reading and have a Funky Friday...

I guess if bass players were asked to name some good players from the New Wave era (UK definition not the US, which includes Level 42, Duran and synth pop! 😕) they would mostly come up with Norman Watt Roy, Bruce Thomas and Sting. I've recently being playing stuff from my punk/New wave collection, paying more attention to the bass, in particular the first 2 Undertones albums. Tasty bass lines by Michael Bradley throughout both. I think I recall Ali McMordie of SLF being mentioned recently on BC and their back catalogue is chocka with great bass. Just wondering who else's playing you think really stands out on which New Wave albums.

What's Going On was 50 yesterday, and as a celebration (and if any album is worthy of such, this one must be) Craig Charles has what sounds like a great show from 6pm tonight. A host of current artists are recreating the album, along with interviews with people who were involved in the album, or worked with/knew Marvin.

Absolutely. I only commented to let people know the documentary was on, come on Ray, back to the gentlemanly civility of The Den, my round.

Their third album, the sublime Empires and Dance, has some great bass from Mr Forbes. The whole album sounds like it was built around the bass lines and sequences. One of my favourite albums of all time…

Would you call earlier Simple Minds New Wave? Derek Forbes basslines on this album have always been some of my favourites... (And he apparently played bass on Kirsty McColl's New England so he's period correct)

Paul Gray - Hotrods

It's been about for a while - surprisingly, with little interest...

Alister Donaldson (Ithink) of the Rezilloes, the bass playing their first album was something else, and it could be heard in the mix, Top of the Pops is right at the edge of bass my playing abilities

So it didn't go too badly at all, nice fit just need to continue to blend it down and in to the volute, hindsight would have been to sink it in to the headstock a couple of mm and sanded it flush... I know for the next one! Routed the cavity cover recess and started a finger groove to remove the cover I'll only be able to finish this when the wing is glued on... Got the hole drilled for the pickup cables pre glue as it's so much easier! Jobs list is building up best get cracking!

It is, well spotted! Knobs: volume, pup blend, 3 band EQ. Two switches: mids f selector and active/ passive. It does sound fantastic - maybe I'm still on honeymoon with it, but I've not really been able to put it down since getting it a couple of weeks back. The kicker which, I know you will appreciate, is that it's just 8.4 lbs. I wouldn't have had the confidence to get one new, but a 2 y/o one at used prices and set up perfectly with upgraded pups and played-in by someone as capable as our own @Sibob was too tempting to resist. Zero regrets in doing so - I'm a convert!

I don’t really understand the concept. If I come across somebody who is brilliant, be it as a writer or player, I just find it inspiring. I’ve never thought “I can’t do that, I may as well stop”, in any field. I’ve seen it happen though. A friend, who was an excellent guitarist, fell apart the first time he heard Yngwie. He became obsessed with him and eventually gave up playing because he just couldn’t play like that. The great irony was that the more he tried to play like that, the further away he got from what he was good at, which was more of a Lindsey Buckingham via Neal Schon thing. It was really sad to see.

Here's one I made for Mark Newman, again, it's a 32" variant.

And here's Peter's Zoot Funkmeister 32" 4 string body now routed and ready for it's sealer coats before applying the final colour.

Unfollowed. Too much cow poop going on.

…and their film Bunch of Kunst (2017) is on Sky Arts tonight at 10pm.

I've owned and loved a couple of Harleys, but never wanted to touch a Rickenbacker. I kind of get your analogy, though, both appeal to niche markets and are subject to scorn from the mainstream.

I've got 4 4003's in different finishes. They are a bass on their own and if you amplify and EQ them right, they cut through with a tone like nothing else. And they are a big talking point, too. That said, I am into my Fenders at the moment.

I'll be video reviewing one of these fine lil beasts very soon. It's sat on my desk here at the moment! Oh and another cool lil dude from Barefaced too, for another review!

I started with the Ibby neck. The headstock looks ugly as, so I decided to reshape. Nothing spectacular. I also routed of part of the facing (some sort of plastic) where the logo was. The plan was to add a maple cap to replace the bit I routed off and take the shine off the remaining plastic (as I will be doing the same with the pickguard) for a mat finish. That said, I think it looks quirky as is, so may just round off the plastic and leave the wenge/bubinga exposed. Sometime a bass designs itself.... Thoughts?

I'm holding off on changing the title until I've got the deposit down for the hall (should be in the next week or so).

Had a bit of think about best place for HPF when introducing new low freqs via octave-down and filter, and decided to compromise by putting it mid-board immediately before my little Zoom multifx but after all the additional low-f stuff. I'll have to 'fess to having an ulterior motive in that I've got a couple of pedals offboard that I was really keen to find some space for, so I took the opportunity to sling the Thumpinator below board as an "always-on" pedal and have now slotted in a Pigtronix Octava in its place.

I just picked up one of these.. Not sure if (or what) fits 80's post punk goth, but it has a lovely lush chorus and is paired with a sublime (IMO) phaser (two JAM pedals in one). I only picked it up a week ago, but it aint been off since, both home practice and at rehearsal. I also have an MXR and a phase 90. I love this more.. FWIW i use chorus and phaser on low speeds, there is also a vibrato built in to this, so much of this review is wobbly higher speeds.. anyway, this is my 'this weeks' recommendation

Which is why I'm blaming you for my latest purchase...