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The best laid plans and all that.... Anyway, after managing to get down to three basses (P Bass, SR5 and Fretless) I called in to PMT Cardiff to buy some strings but on the way in my wife spotted this gorgeous US G&L CLF L-2000 in their B-stock section and said "ooh, that's a really nice finish on that bass". I hadn't actually seen it at that stage but on closer examination she was right. Not only was it a lovely looking bass, it was also a really, really decent price too, especially as the only thing I could see that was slightly wrong with it was a very minor lacquer chip near the truss rod access on the headstock and a tiny bit of a lacquer ding on the bottom edge. Other than that it was spotless. I spoke to one of the staff who told me they'd had it hanging around for a while but had only just put it up for sale and would I like to try it. After play it for 10 mins I fell in love with it. I've had a couple of G&L 5 Strings before but this was the first 4 string I'd tried and it's something else. It's a lovely light weight and the electronics sound amazing- more organic than say a Stingray, but equally more hifi than a P Bass. The neck is lovely too. The guy could obviously smell blood in the water as he offered an even bigger discount than on the ticket but I decided to be sensible for once in my life and walk away. About an hour later on our way home my wife asked me why I didn't buy it and I explained that I couldn't really afford it or justify it at this moment in time. She told me to use some of our savings if I wanted to, so when I got home I called the store and asked them if they'd accept an even lower price for it: they wouldn't but reduced what they'd offered it to me for even further and threw in free next day delivery. And here it is. So anyway, as I was saying I'm at four basses, which is obviously far better than three

As a bass player for over 50 years now I feel compelled to present some advice to anyone in a local band to ensure you're capitalizing on the opportunity live shows give you and to make sure your connecting with you audience. Because everyone has internet-connected phones, it's far too easy for people to become disconnected from your performance and relegate your music to background noise. However, there are a number of pitfalls I see band after band falling into that are easy to avoid. Take or leave the following, but I can almost guarantee that bands who put these things into practice will see improvement in their short and long-term audience engagement and growth: 1. Plan what you are going to say to your audience whenever you are not playing a song. I see far too many bands get stone-faced, have awkward pauses while they stare at each other waiting for someone to say anything meaningful, and then vomit up some meaningless word salad that people instantly forget the moment the next song starts. In addition to planning your transitions so that you don't look like idiots, make sure you include at least something that can potentially produce an ROI. Mention where people can go to find your music, when and where your next show is, your social media handles, etc. 2. Stop turning your backs to the audience! Doing this occasionally and briefly is fine, because I know sometimes you get into your groove and face each other, etc. However, I've literally seen people turn their backs to the audience for anywhere from 30 seconds to over a minute, and that is a VERY quick way to get your audience to disconnect. While we're on this subject, LOOK THEM IN THE EYES occasionally. Yes, it can be awkward if you overdo this, but neglecting eye contact all together is an egregious sin. Remember, that part of what you're doing while performing is selling yourselves to the audience. In sales, they always teach you to make eye contact with your customer, and this is no different. 3. Plan your set list to follow some kind of dynamic roller coaster. In other words, don't do a bunch of fast/heavy/upbeat songs in a row or vice versa with slower songs. Have some ups and some downs. Vary it up. Tell a story with your selection of songs and make their ordering purposeful and thoughtful. Designers of roller coasters understand this concept. They make the ascent to the top of the first drop deliberately slow to build suspense. They also don't have every twist, turn, and loop feel exactly the same. There is variety, and that ultimately bodes well for everyone. 4. If you play covers, spice them up a bit. Obviously, I'm not asking you to fundamentally change the song. However, adding some kind of twist to make it your own and the listening experience unique for the audience will make you more memorable. If your audience is engaged with you, and they should be, they'll pick up on even subtle things you do and likely appreciate them. 5. Talk to your audience before and after the show. Thank them for coming, and encourage them to follow up in whatever ways you have open to the public. Take selfies with them. I guarantee you that people appreciate this, whether it's apparent or not at the time. People will remember how you make them feel, and a pleasant conversation with them will drastically increase your chances of building a more long-term fan base. I would further state that you should be doing this on social media as well, even after you become "big". 6. Move around and get animated when you play/sing. Obviously, if you're doing highly technical stuff, then you can concentrate on your playing as needed, but don't stand there the entire show like a plank of wood. If it's not readily apparent that you're having fun on stage, I guarantee you your audience won't either. There are probably allot of variables depending on the band, what do you think. Blue

That looks like a flying V that's been delivered by Hermes

It's not an "or" situation. 😆.

I have a PJ Mustang and rate it very highly. The pickups, on mine at least, are very good, IMO. Possibly a little shy in the low mids but on a short scale that actually helps keep the tone from getting too muddy. A little push of the EQ around 350-400Hz will fill the gap should you wish to will bring back those frequencies but we're talking a nudge rather than anything extreme. Mine has had a couple of cheap mods, one of which was to swap the 3 way switch for a blend pot as this opens the tonal options right up. Both pickups blended 60:40 neck/bridge tends to be my preferred setting for most things. It's also had new quality volume and tone pots which seemed to really open the pickups response too. The bridge pickup on mine isn't weak and pairs well with the P. I also have a JMJ Mustang and it's a very different beast to the PJ. As has been mentioned above, the neck on the PJ is slimmer and more jazz like. It's tone is clean and clear but doesn't lack character - I played it side by side with @Adee's American Performer Mustang and in direct comparison the PJ had those classic Fender tones whereas the more expensive Performer was much more polite, it was more even across the frequency range but just sounded a little bland compared to its cheaper sibling. The JMJ on the other hand is a very big, warm and vintage sounding bass. But what a sound! And forget what everyone else says, rip the flats off and put some rounds on it, it just sings with rounds whereas it sounded a little choked with flats to me. The neck is also totally different to the PJ, it's much more chunky and the headstock is noticeably thicker too. But still very easy to play. Oh, and it sounds immense! Despite both being Mustangs they are 2 completely different basses in terms of tone and feel. But both great in their own right, IMO.

Also, we’ll done to Happy Jack for keeping bees! Love those stripy little bastards!

Not wanting to be left out of the Scottish BCer pile-on (I'm in West Lothian) - hi Andy and welcome to BC! And if your profile pic's anything to go on, welcome to another orange Ibanez EDA owner!

Beech can provide great facings, for example on this Wal I had made many moons ago.

Almost forgot Gus basses. Not sure if those are chrome dildos or those hand rails that pensioners use to get in and out of the bath. Either way an odd choice to stick on a bass.

Live After Death Close the thread

I So there goes my “I only need two basses” ethos! Bought this from @jezzaboy (who was awesome to deal with BTW), who was I’m guessing the 2nd owner. It looks unused! Proper shiny and no marks on it. There are a couple of manufacturing issues though - the bridge looks marginally off-center, but looking at Google Images, they all look it, so maybe it’s just my eyes! There’s also a finishing flaw where it rests on you knee - no biggy really, but it’s there. I’ve already ordered an aged mint guard from Earlpilanz on eBay. I will probably also pop a @KiOgonloom in at some point. Also need to get it to my excellent local tech Ed Purcell (Instagram @edsintheshed) to get the action nice & low. Its doing what I wanted it to do though - making it easy for me to pick up & noodle during the day! The neck is finished well and is comfortable to play, and the whole thing is tiny! I don’t know what I was expecting, but it’s definitely smaller than I thought it would be 😂 UPDATED PIC WITH NEW SCRATCH PLATE - oh my…

WARNING BASSCHATERS... Over recent days it seems a cluster of what can only be described as 'Dark Materials' has been forming... Initial analysis shows the majority are of 'Metal' construction and emenate from the Far-East... While other, more complicatedly formed items of particular interest involve 'Wire' and possibly 'Magnets' and are belived to be of UK origin... Possibly as far as Hastings!.. What are these for?.. and should i be unduly concerned? I'll report further if the situation changes.

Well we do complain that companies like Fender aren't bringing out new designs. Moral to the story: Be careful what you wish for...

Even better...

At some point I heard music that did change my life as it inspired me to play an instrument (piano) then later change instrument to guitar, then bass. It has given me opportunities to compose, meet people, perform etc etc that I would not have otherwise experienced. But it's also the emotional response to music that is amazing. Hearing something that stops me in my tracks. I saw it in my eldest spawn (about to turn 18 in a few weeks! arrgghh) when she was 2 years old. She was just walking around the lounge and I put some Mozart on. It was the Clarinet Concerto in A Major. She stopped dead and tilted her head towards the stereo and didn't move for a good 10 minutes. It was fascinating to watch her be so absorbed by it. Did it change her life? She's a really really good clarinetist now. I think I can spot when that seed was planted!

Still responding to support help on an older product - got to give you a pat on the back for that agedhorse.

Like a lot of instruments they make a lot more sense when they are actually being played rather than being viewed in isolation... That me BTW for those of you who are relatively new to Basschat...

The problem has nothing to do with tubes or anything like that. Generally the power supplies are not repairable because the safety certification (especially in the EU) depends on many critical factors within the power supply itself. It's no different than trying to repair a conventional power transformer that fails... it can't be rewound without break-down voltage testing and re-certifying as the EU safety regulations view these parts as critical to safety. This is true of all SMPS (including those integrated into class D power amps, mostly designed in the EU by the way, we are not allowed to repair except for a limited number of specific faults). That said, I see a failed NeoPak SMPS maybe once a year at the most, and I'm the factory service guy (the brand is still supported, but sometimes it's not economical to do so outside of N. America. Generally I can repair most defects, but some components are no longer manufactured and as of the beginning of this year I don't have any of those components left. I did have a few replacement supplies, but none are left. The amp was discontinued 18 years ago, and though I still support just about everything with the amp except the parts (specifically the power supply) that I do not have. I can support any Fender authorized service center in the EU that is willing to work on it though. They are not easy to work on however (even with the factory test fixtures), they are tricky and depend on critical timing throughout the circuit. They can also be very dangerous without a transformer isolated test bench and equipment. Most techs don't work on SMPS for these reasons. Regarding the more recent amps that use the ICEPower modules, these are all still in stock (still a current part) and available to any Fender authorized service center through the Fender EU parts network. For those in N. America, there's an $85 flat rate factory service program for all of these amps. I know that doesn't help you, but those members in N. America may find this useful. If you message me, I can look to see who in your area might be an option. The challenge is that the cost of repair is likely more than the amp is worth because of the amount of labor involved. If you were in the US, I certainly look at it, but even if I couldn't fix it, I would make you an offer because it still has value as a boneyard piece.

Sounds like you’re not very passionate about anything. Some of us are. Music is by far the most important thing in my life (well, bar my cats) and has been for most of my life. This week I’ve listened to music I’ve never heard before that has caused me to break down sobbing, because of how moving it is. If I was told I could never listen to music again, or never write music again, I would end my life. Seriously. 😡

I recently picked up a very nice Player Series P Bass in a lovely butterscotch finish. Weighing in at 8.5lbs the bass is super-resonant and sounds great. The previous owner had put a white pearl scratchplate on it, but other than that it was stock and in very good condition. However, as an eternal tinkerer, I decided to pimp the bass up and made a few basic modifications: Hipshot HB7 tuners - much more stable and accurate tuning with these Hipshot Kickass bridge - a new interpretation of the classic Badass bridge, very impressive! Dunlop straplocks - these go on all my basses Fender pickup and scratchplate screws - all changed just to get rid of some rusted screws Fender thumbrest - I don't use them, but I love how they look on a P bass in the tugbar position CTS 250k Mojotone vintage taper pots - the original Korean pots were nasty .047 orange drop capacitor I did toy with the idea of changing the pickup, but it sounds pretty good so I have left it alone for now. I'm really pleased with how it's turned out.

Hi all, Thought I'd share a good story. I recently bought a P bass without a pickup as I had a couple of spares. I installed the first pickup (BKP '58 P) and noticed noise unless I'd touch the strings. I went in again after being unable to sleep (it be like that sometimes I guess!) to change for another pickup (Herrick split '58 P) in case it was a pickup issue... And funked up the electronics further; since my soldering was poor, I somehow made the volume pot work from closed to fully opened in half the run of the knob - further than that there'd be no sound whatsoever. Some would optimistically say I upgraded the knob to a kill switch almost, but let's face it, it was a mess. I got a quote for my technician for adjusting repair swapping pickup and electronics and with the help of this forum diagnosed that if the noise disappears when touching the strings, it may be a shielding issue, especially considering this bass had none whatsoever. Ordered copper shielding tape just to entertain the idea of doing it myself for £5 - it arrived this afternoon and with the whole evening ahead I decided to try myself. I AM IN NO WAY AN EXPERT BUT THOUGHT I'D SHARE WHAT WORKED FOR ME! I removed all parts of the bass including the bridge to review the grounding/earth connection (a first as well): Stripped the whole thing down: Started easy with the reverse of the pick guard - the point is making a Faraday cage, so it needs to be a copper tape covered enclosure: My first tip: use the tape on top to rub on the edges of the pick guard so that you know where to cut, take half a millimetre or abouts in so that the tape won't show over the pick guard from underneath once installed. Second tip - don't underestimate an actual pen/knife cutter! I did it all with scissors and whilst it worked okay, it would've been easier for the holes specially. I was thinking of doing half the thing but the top is easier which is what I left for the end so since I was on it I shielded the whole thing. Moving on to the cavities. Again, I started with the most difficult part, the controls cavities. My take was to cover the walls first, this time allowing a millimetre or two extra so that it would fold over the face of the bass (careful to not offer too much lip folding over as that may show over the pick guard! 1mm or 2max is safe tough. Once you have the walls covered, doing the base of the cavity is easier than I thought. Then once you have the gross covered you'll have to invest more tape in covering the irregular (non square parts) of the cavities. One annoying thing about copper tape is that it curls up the moment you remove the reveal the adhesive part - advise online would say to remove the non-coppery bit instead of the copper but in all honesty I couldn't as the paper is thicker than the copper tape. What I did would be holding both edges of the strip as I remove the paper cover so it wouldn't curl up. Another tip - I was initially neurotic about holes (screw holes, cable holes in the body etc); I was thinking covering them would mess up my chances to reveal those holes in or that I'd have to push them with the cables when installing again - silly, I know. Just get a paper clip or a pair of tweezers and feel through the wood to pierce them. This is much easier than making cutouts and trying to avoid the holes etc, and also ensures 'the cage' is covered all around. I then moved onto the pickup cavity: Job done! I'm aware I could've documented strips here and there but I wasn't initially planning for this post even, sorry! From then, solder back, screw it all in and throw a quick prayer to Jaco that it works. I spent some extra time cleaning the soldering as the ground soldering was a bit messy on the pots thanks to my previous attempts. Sucking out the extra lead with a tool was really useful and cleared things up. Another note, I should've bought/had a multimeter at hands reach to check for continuity of the layers of copper foil. It all worked but in hindsight I would've preferred that over praying it works, even if it's Jaco we're talking to. As mentioned, I closed all in, plugged in et voila! all working as it should and the noise is nonexistent in clean, and a slight bit present on distortion (but this is distortion at 2 o'clock on a Darkglass microbes anyway with the compressor up, understandable). Also the cleaning of soldering did pay off as the volume pot is back to normal operation! This has been a good learning that sometimes we're too scared to touch things up - the quote I would've gotten in most luthiers would have been £100+: £20 pickup install, £20 review electronics, £40 shielding, £45 general adjustment... £125 altogether! It has been a good 2/3 hours with The Walking Dead in the background and £5 for copper tape - probably not my fastest job but believe me, the beer after tasted glorious. I have been the kind of person that has constantly taken guitars and basses to luthiers/technicians at the earliest chance for adjustments and anything else - bass after bass I've realised that those guys that said 'learn to do it yourself' were right all along! Personally I find that small tweaks on each bass that came through my hand has offered me more insight into how to take care of my gear. To think I was terrorised at the thought of touching a truss rod! I have since done adjustment works for friends and acquaintances and been praised for the results, so I hope this post helps encourage people to take up on it, the satisfaction and the savings are worth it! Best, Ander.

Tommy - The Who

I knew @owen and @ped would show up in this thread! @Ped - they slimmed down the L1000 and L2000 and used a "Mid 90's L series shape"

Perfect for a Steely Dan tribute band.

Wow! So much in the future. How did you build a time machine?

Can you get a 15" speaker in a 10" cab? 😗

No coincidence that it’s available in Oct 😂😂

Right key might be the best place to start...

I see them as chrome balloons, like the ones you make balloon animals out of.

Phil Lynott, on Live and Dangerous version of Emerald, introduces the song with somnething like "Is there anybody here with any Irish in them? Is there any of the girls that'd like a little more Irish in them?"

From Deep Purple - Made In Japan Ian Gillan - "Can I have a bit more monitor if you've got it?" Anon (Off-mic) - "We want everything louder than everything else." Ian Gillan - "Ha ha yeah, can we have everything louder than everything else."

My new RM800 met it's partner in crime for the first time this evening - a Barefaced Big Baby II. Smart little rig and sounds great at home -straight out to a gig tomorrow night for a proper test!

Simple. Small.

Hi Steve if you play metal and punk you won’t do much better than your orange terror bass, I had one of the early models and it died on me a few times , I think there was a design flaw with the first model. I’d go for the mk2 for that money I think they ironed out all the potential issue. To get an all tube head as loud as an orange terror bass you’re looking at an SVT . I don’t think a 100w valve head will get you there . That’s just my tuppence worth

Yup, “this is what not to do when a bird sh&ts on you”. \thread

And I find myself wondering when someone posts a photo of a Fender P or J bass (or copy of one whether it be high or low end) which attracts lots of admiring replies, what exactly makes this particular instrument any different, and worthy of special attention, from any of the other hundreds of P or J basses that get posted (or indeed any different to the hundreds of P and J basses hung on the walls of shops waiting to be sold). I'm sure if it's your P or J bass then it is special to you, but that AFAICS is it.

Looks more like some sort of prehistoric fish to me, what was it, a coelacanth?

Barefaced One 10. Whether that is tiny enough is your call!

Me and one of the guitarists are desperate to do "Bad case of loving you" by Robert Palmer. The drummer claims nobody in the world has ever heard of this song, nobody will sing along or dance along.... What the actual!?!?! It's a classic.

Well at least you're sticking with four strings.

Of lilies and remains - Bauhaus

I received a text from him last night: Hi it’s Ben from basschat, can I have your bank details again please? and I’ll sort out your refund for the Zuma ASAP apologies and thanks I responded with my bank details. An hour or so later I received a text containing my comments in the post above. Followed by 3 more texts as below Oh dear !!! Whistle mate ! After this second text I responded with Will be going to the police in the morning. Don’t bother getting in touch again you can explain yourself to them To get the final text Scum

Nice! Jaydee-esque.