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Hi, I posted a thread several months ago asking for views of Shuker's bass/guitar building course. I've spend last week doing this and thought I should let you all know how it went. The short answer - it was great and I'd recommend it to anyone. I went in to this course with almost zero woodworking experience. I can build a flatpack or put up a shelf, but that's about it. I know my way around basic guitar maintenance – I can do a setup, electronics work or a swap out a bridge for example. But I had never used a bandsaw or router before! Jon Shuker is extremely knowledgeable and patient. Nothing seems to phase him – he’s a great teacher! He was assisted by Tim, who is also very good. They were both happy to help resolve any shoddy workmanship, ensuring you come away with a quality end result. It was a very busy week. Within minutes of arriving, we were selecting our body wood – alder or mahogany – swamp ash is impossible to get at the moment. By the end of the first day, I had something resembling a bass body. The next three days, the focus was mostly the neck – which really is a huge amount of work. Cutting the basic maple shape and rough fingerboard, routing a truss rod channel. Sawing the fret-slots was far less daunting than I thought it’d be, aided by a nice tool that ensures it’s done precisely. Adding dot inlays is quite a fun job – although one ended up marginally off-centre due to my inability to mark a centre point! It definitely felt rewarding to spend time sanding the fingerboard until it was shiny smooth – it seems a much better finish than any bass I’ve owned. Between neck jobs, we were sanding the body, which seemed to be the one job that was never finished! The final day was mostly fretwork, soldering and assembly – and was definitely the busiest day, we were finally done by about 6pm. It's worth noting that all the hardware is top quality - Seymour Duncan pickups, Gotoh bridge, Schaller tuners. Jon even ordered some straplocks for me, rather than have me get home and replace the normal ones. The only job we couldn't do was spraying - apparently he's not insured for it. Given the short time, the choices of finish are quite limited anyway - I just opted for clear lacquer as I quite liked the grain. This is the final result – I’ve very pleased!

For info Dave, this is the one that escaped my cull. It’s been modded with a Jon Shuker neck gloss makeover and stainless frets. Plays very nice and not stupidly heavy.

All is right in the world…

I have a 2017 USA EBMM Sterling 4HH It has the slim neck and smaller body and a 5 way switching of the HH ceramic pickups. It totally killed my GAS

More pics !

Just soldering, intonation, setup and usual tinkering needed…

Inspired by the discussion on the thread about hilariously bad songs, can I invite you all to submit your nominations? Here's mine: The Flying Lizards - Money - YouTube

My latest

Deep breath’s everyone. Keep calm. Talk to someone if needs be but please try not to overwhelm the Samaritans. There could be a guitarist trying to get through admitting that he doesn’t know everything….. about everything 😂

In recent years i limit to circa £1k for gigging basses. My Warwick ive had since 89 and Overwater was for my 50th 11yrs ago. Those 2 never leave the house these days. Warwick was my only bass back in 89 and gigged a few times until work got in the way. I started playing again circa 2009 and never been busier. Dave

I can’t comment on the current Sterling series basses and neck widths but I have a Sterling SB14 which I think would have been a forerunner of them. If you can find one they’re an absolute bargain but you don’t see them often. It’s an Indonesian built Sterling with the smaller body, headstock, pickup switching options and jazz neck from a few years back which I believe were sent to the USA factory for final set up and QC control. Having previously owned and sold a ‘proper’ USA Sterling (amongst various other USA Stingrays) I much prefer my little SB14. Sound wise and quality wise I can’t tell the difference between it and it’s expensive USA big brother but I much prefer the neck. It’s still jazz width but it’s less full in the hand and has a satin finish rather than the waxed MM one. I used to cramp up on the old one but I don’t with this.

Sure - it's difficult to photo as it kinda wraps around my wrist...but here's my attempt.

One of my fave post punk toons evah

Oooo, never rush that sort of thing, for as we all know, 'Fender Precision' is an anagram of 'Reinforced Penis'... 😐🙂

I have removed the nylon tapewounds and installed an old well-worn in set of TI Jazz Flats off my Fender Jazz bass. Wow! They speak with more authority than the original Chromes and the tapes. Do they sound like an acoustic bass? No. Do I care? No. I have an acoustic bass for jazz and rockabilly gigs. The UB804 is just the beez kneez for my blues, americana and latin/gypsy gigs. Tinyd: I play a lot lighter on the Upswing than I do on the acoustic. It's a natural thing for me as the Upswing doesn't actually physically allow me to "dig in."

If I could go back in time to the mid 80's and give myself some advice when I first started playing that would be invaluable as a bass player, it would include but not necessarily be limited to; Pick up a short scale and stick with it. You're a short arse and 34" scale basses are way to big and cumbersome so don't waste the next 25-30 years fannying about with them. A 30" P or PJ is all you'll ever need. Do not - under any circumstances - buy that Trace Elliot SMX rig in the early 90's. Just don't. It's a gutless, one trick pony that will do your head in for years to come. Stick with the Marshall Jubilee rig instead. Or a Peavey of some sort. Learn some theory sooner rather than later. A little goes a long way. Don't play with loads of crap drummers, your timing is bad enough without those idiots hindering you. Learn more covers even if you don't like them. It will push your playing more than doing your own thing ever will. Don't gig on opium. Ever. I repeat, DO NOT buy that f@cking Trace rig no matter how cool it looks.

I’m in Dallas with work for the next 3 months and spotted a Guitar Center on my drive back from the supermarket today, so thought I’d pop in. They didn’t have a huge selection of new basses (although there were a couple of nice vintage P and J basses high up out of reach in their Premium section), but I sat down and grabbed a few to try. First one was a Yamaha BBP34. I’m a big fan of Yamaha basses and this is one of their relatively high end models (I think it was $1499). Played it for a couple of mins and it did absolutely nothing for me - I was quite disappointed. I couldn’t have told the difference between it and a $250 bass to be honest. Finish was fine but the setup was lousy, and it just felt disappointing. Next up was a Fender American Professional II Precision. This I absolutely loved, and it instantly felt comfortable. Great sounding too. Neck was very comfy - slim front to back but traditional P bass but width. Setup nicely straight out of the box and surprisingly light. This was up for $1500, and if I was in the market for a P bass (haha, which is pretty much all the time!), I’d definitely be considering one of these. Finally, and probably the most surprising to me, was a cheapo Sterling by Stingray SUB. Sticker price was $299, and I had very low expectations from it. Bear in mind that I’ve owned a couple of “proper” Stingrays in the past and have never really got on with them. Well, I plugged this in and was blown away. Build quality was great, it was setup nicely and neck was slim and frets were very well finished. No dead spots, 2 band eq worked perfectly, and it sounded great! All for the equivalent of £218, in a choice of a few colours (including a really nice powder blue which is actually called chopping blue for some reason). Quite taken with it, and I think I might grab one for the time that I’m out here for, and then donate it at the end of the trip to a local music group or something. Ordinarily I wouldn’t have given a cheapo bass like that a second look. Just goes to prove something we probably all know - you don’t have to pay a fortune to get a decent bass.

My latest attempt at home made video production. This is one of the projects I'm regularly involved in and we were doing a wee gig for a venue we have performed at several times over the past few years. Easy listening, it would be fair to say.

It's getting there 😊

I can't remember the exact tale, and probably no one in the band tells the truth about it anyway, but The Cure were signed to German label 'Hansa' in the 70s. The label wanted to promote disco and tried to steer the band in that direction, also the band were contractually obliged to record another single so they recorded this little nonsensical gem as two fingers up to the record company, so the story goes. Who says Robert Smith doesn't have a sense of humour. I actually really like it.

One of the best, yes that's what I said, live albums ever.... You know what "Live and Direct" means?

I'm only up the road from East London - J7/J8 off the M11 and you're welcome to pop up for a play on mine at some time if you like......

It did. It was oiled/waxed as per most USA Sterlings rather than a satin finish like the SB14 has. I found the USA one to be slightly deeper though and more of a rounded profile and my hand would cramp up a bit on some gigs. The SB14 is less deep and a bit flatter at the back although the same 38mm nut width. Its only a minor thing but for some reason my hand is fine on the cheaper bass. And I swear I cannot hear any difference in the sound at all - it's pretty much identical. I see you have a Sandberg VM4 in your collection - i had an old one of those and the SB14 neck is very close to that. The fingerboard radius is a bit rounder on the SB14 - my Sandy was noticeably flatter.

I'm gonna have to start talking to the people I live in a house with 🤯

I've been dabbling with the post-reunion albums over the last few days but, today, went with SIT and SSOASS. Two mighty albums. I love the production of SIT.

KiOgon loom will be a good improvement, much better quality parts. That’s one area where Squier keep costs down, whereas the new loom will most likely be same parts as what go in US Fenders.

I should have started with 5-string fretted and fretless as well as a double bass right away in my teens. 19 mm string spacing (fits my fingers), less slap, more analyzing, less flashy stuff. Some learning with effects (fuzz, comp, envelope, x-over). I would have had to learn meat and potatoes so well that everybody would have wanted me to play exactly that. Amps, a GK micro combo for double bass and a Glockenklang Soul and a lightweight 2 x 12" for electrics. Listening to Marc Johnson, NHØP, Edgar Meyer, Tom Kennedy, Pekka Pohjola, and Abraham Laboriel for flashy stuff and numerous no named heros for the functional and important meat and potatoes. Learning from BASSCHAT decades ago! This is so good place, Thank You All! I still try to grab ideas from you, although I learn slowly. It is never too late.

Yeah - I did qualify it as "apparently" "inspired by", because there looks to have been a lot of assumptions about it (which are not in MXR's interest to correct!). Ovnilabs describes it like this: "People who want minimal coloration will be pleased, but people who want "tone magic" will be disappointed. Because of the claims about the M87 being "based on" the Urei 1176, consumers may assume or wish that the M87 will give them a famous vintage tone quality. It will not. It's a great-sounding pedal, it's better than a good percentage of the other pedals out there, but it is not a magic vintage recording-studio tone box. It's just a good, clean compressor with some useful features, that happens to use a circuit and control layout similar to the basic concept of the Urei." -- http://www.ovnilab.com/reviews/mxrbass.shtml How important is "magic" to you, @SteveXFR? 🎩 DryBell Unit67 is another option btw. They describe it as an "an 1176 type of compressor" - interpret that as you will! 🙂

I totally understand those who find P's kinda clunky , flat and horrible....but its in that awkward simplicity where the gold lies. Fresh rounds and a pick with the tone rolled off a hair you get that beautiful archetyple punky/metal clang. Sling on a set of old flats and then play fingers with a light touch a hair south of the PU and you've got that low mid punchy tone that fits a million tunes. But play it like your not sure whats going on and it will sound lifeless and dead.

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Maybe the new Trace cabs will suit… hope they’re lightweight as (for me) a lighter cab is more importanterer than a light amp. What’s the point of a lightweight head if the cabs are heavier than the sun?

Good luck everyone

Skimming through my large collection of electronic there are loads of great covers e.g

Option 1: You’ll get around 300W into the internal speaker. Best thing is to go for the 1x15 RM can to match as it is the same. Plenty on here about the potential issues with mixing different drivers/driver sizes. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. It’s a lottery. Option 2: I like the OriginAL 500 head, it’s lovely. Less bells and whistles than the RM so it’s really a toss up on what you want the amp to do. For example the drive and compression on the RM head both give the tone something “more” in the mix. FWIW, I’d be looking at the RM800 which @FinnDave is selling on here. You’ll never need anything else power wise. EDIT for link:

This stunning cover has got to be on this list, although not quite as good as Manowar's I'd grant you @Barking Spiders

Possibly Mensinger? I had this until recently - whilst not fully chambered, it had a lovely rounded tone with some acoustic content

Not sure that the 2 or 2.67 ohms options are ones that many punters in TE's price bracket will be looking to make use of? There will of course be some (e.g. with two 4 ohm cabs), but I'm guessing for most of us a 4 or 8ohm load is what we're dealing with. But the TE 1200 putting 600W through a BF SC or, in my case, a BF BB2 or Fearless F112 means that those rigs can now give you a fantastic compact rig solution with all the headroom you are likely to ever need in situations where there is no FOH or PA support. Colour me very interested! Anyone have any ideas on price point? If it's Peavey gear I would be expecting it to be pretty competitive (i.e. not at the Bergantino / Mesa end of the scale).

I'm surprised its into 4 ohms. I assume it won't go down to 2 or 2.67 ohms, which is surprising as they will be competing with the likes of Bergantino, mesa Boogie and Gallien-Krueger, who all do amps of 800-1200 watts into 2 and 2.67 ohms. Still, the TE 1200 through a super compact should mean 600 watts through the 8 ohm load so still lots to be excited about.

That's so cool I'd have it on stage even if it weren't plugged into anything!

Sorry, but the most hilariously bad song does not involve the devil, demons, ghosts etc but an angel, well kind of 🙂 Disclaimer: Watch at your own risk. Don't blame me for PTSD afterwards 😉

despite not being the biggest fan of this track, I'm still looking forward to the album. I've always been a maiden fan since the 80's and I thank them for putting the fire in my heart to become a professional musician. Even though I have a slightly more 'tenuous' relationship with them these days, I have found myself in the position of knowing several ex members as friends as well as band mates. Some of the past events/ business dealings have left a slightly sour taste in my mouth, but I still metaphorically worship at Harris' feet as a player and performer. I'm trusting that there will be some fresh and amazing music forthcoming, and even if it takes me a few listens, I will still try to appreciate it for what it and they are now, not what they were back in the day.

I shall be resuming my cross-stitch map of Wantage.

Employers are reporting Thursday as the most productive day in years....

Body taken to 600 grit, cavity painted with conductive shielding paint, first layer of tru oil applied. Have read many different accounts on how many coats of tru oil people use. I'll try and be patient and see how far I get. Latest plans looking like chrome hardware, hopefully a roasted maple neck and then pickguard dilemma's!!!