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No, not all immediately recent - obtained over the last year in various ways. First one was the Thunder 3 fretted, acquired locally about a year ago. It was the classic been under the bed for 20 years job, but had a failed pickup, green frets & was a bit sad looking generally. I could see it was fundamentally sound though and just needed a lot of TLC, which I gave it & got the pick up fixed by Kent Armstrong via my local (most excellent) music store, Kempsters. Second one was the Thunder 1A, picked up off of here about 6 months ago. Paid probably top dollar for this one, but it did come with an original case. Also needed some TLC but not as much as my first one did. My first ‘proper’ bass as a teenager in the ‘80’s was a Thunder 1A. By now I was smitten with my more recently acquired Westone’s, & the 1A sounded even better than I remembered when played through my modern decent backline. So when a mint Thunder 3 fretless came up for sale about three months ago at Bass Direct, I was in like a shot! No second thoughts. Due to a talent shortfall on my part, the fretless will probably stay a home player lol. The fretted 3 & 1A have both been out on rehearsal duty already & sounded brilliant. I’d never owned a Thunder 3 before and after playing bass for 40 years or so, I’d say the one I have is one of the nicest basses I have ever heard. Very happy with this trio, it has to be said 🙂.

I just stole this off a local Facebook page 🙂

My slightly altered lineup; my black bitsa (currently “for sale”), my new CV Mustang with fresh scratch plate, and my old faithful JV P.

Joe Public: "Boring old Fender, always rehashing J's & P's" Fender: "Here's our new Katana." Joe Public: "What the hell is that? Booooo! When's the next J or P out?"

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

it’s obviously not an original, but…. Had no idea this was posted on YouTube. I was helping these guys test their new camera and audio kit. A mate sent me the link. Not sure how I feel about it as I hate my voice and hate seeing myself on camera. It’s why I play bass for others, so I can hide. But I guess it’s out there now, and you only grow when you put the lights on.

It was 1985, I was 14 years old and it was a very hot summer's day. I was doing what I was always doing, riding my BMX outside, practising stunts to perform as part of a freestyle team that performed at school fetes, village fairs etc. over the summer holidays. I was aware of music as my mum, dad and two older sisters were all music mad and would be constantly playing Jazz, 80's and all sorts of music throughout the house round the clock. I was aware that Live Aid was on throughout the day and would dip in and out to watch some of the artists I was aware off, mostly artists that I knew from my sisters playing them but if I'm honest, I found a lot of it a bit boring. However, by chance I caught U2's performance. I didn't really know the songs or the band but quite liked it but what caught my attention was Adam Clayton. Remembering this was the 80's, he was strutting around stage looking super cool, pixie boots, confident and looking mega cool. As a geeky, spotty teenager, I wanted a piece of that. I had no idea he was playing a bass, let alone a sunburst Precision but from that moment my mind was made, I wanted to be in a band. 36 years later, I've been playing bass for 33 years now and made a career of it. I've been on TV, radio, multiple tours, written music for adverts, done 2 John Peel sessions, XFM, Virgin and Radio 1 live sessions and many other incredible opportunities. Even better was getting signed and the producer of our album was a gentleman called Mark Wallace (It Bites, Travis, The Primitives). It turned out Mark was the engineer on U2's Joshua Tree and produced all the b-sides so it was great to have a connection with where it all started for me. So I'm not sure if you would say it changed my life, possibly you would as it steered me into a life and a career in music, giving me some incredible opportunities that I would not have experienced if I have not by chance caught U2's performance at Live Aid.

This is something different...

I have my TC112s. Well, I also have my BC112 cab but you have seen that! Do you want it recording again, I could bring the camera, and maybe we could actually record the audio too

Brilliant, we will be doing something in the side room with home built cabs it would be great if you could join us there tomorrow with your two cabs.

This was recorded with a cheaper than chips amp through my smartphone... Le Fay Remington Steele 6 RHT CC CAP Big Block.mp4 This is the amp : https://m.thomann.de/gb/joyo_ma_10b_portable_bass_amp.htm Strangely, it sounds amazing at, of course, low level. I also bought this to use if off the mains, but it can also work on batteries : https://m.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_powerplant_powerbank.htm

I’ve posted it before, but now it’s getting some gigs under its belt, I thought it deserved another pic 😊

Twerp!

Isn’t it a direct copy of the Fender Roscoe Beck bass? Lol Si

Here's Hugh being typically charming to the audience at Guildford University. He starts with "Have you all got yer Crackerjack pencils? Stick 'em up yer derrières, then!" After playing Hanging Around, he finishes with "Guildford University never respresented Guildford. We hate playing to elitist audiences, so fukk off!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-_vHvYWDLA

Nice bass and it’s great that your wife is helping to feed your GAS. Which reminds me that there is a formula to determine how many bases you should own. I got this from another GAS inflicted forum but it applies equally here: - The correct number of basses to own is n+1. While the minimum number of basses one should own is three, the correct number is n+1, where n is the number of basses currently owned. This equation may also be re-written as s-1, where s is the number of basses owned that would result in separation from your partner.

Took my 1001M out for a "proper" spin at band rehearsal last night and a 2 hour gig tonight - first time since getting it a few months back. Had no problems powering my BF BB2 to hold its own with a full 5 piece band. Its core tone is definitely more gritty / "dirtier" than my DG M900. I need to spend a bit more time getting my ideal "base case" EQ settings - I was playing a passive Yamaha BB1025 tonight and maybe a sensible approach is to stick with that "threesome" till I've got the base case nailed. It was feeling a little too full on bass particularly on P or PJ, but even a relatively slight bass cut on the amp and compensating boost to the mids at 450 Hz felt a little boxy. So I'll need to tweak it a bit further to hit the sweet spot and also have a listen from the audience rather than just in the mix with the band. But overall, this is undoubtedly a kick-ass amp! Gig was a lot of fun too - crowd definitely up for letting their hair down on a Friday night!

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

Following several enquiries, Jack has asked me to point out that he doesn't have a cardboard box big enough to take a beech tree, and anyway he won't sit in the wood all day waiting for your courier to collect. 😉

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.

Friday night was my last gig with the Flotonics, the photos are from soundcheck. It was a birthday party on a farm (hence the trailer stage and outbuilding backdrop 😃). I followed Google maps directions getting there, luckily I drive a pickup truck! The tarmac quickly vanished when I turned onto 'duck street', I didn't see many ducks but plenty of geese, chickens, pheasants and partridges on the dirt track. The set up was a rectangular patch of grass surrounded three sides by farm buildings. Hog Roast, horsebox bar, couple of fire pits and bales to sit on...right up my farm track! (That doesn't sound right 😆). It was the new guitarist's 1st gig and he sounds great, it was good to meet him and play alongside him. Hopefully I'll get to play with him again soon, I'm still going to dep when needed. The actual gig was beset with one major problem...the singer had a cold and we only managed about a dozen tunes over two sets! Shame that my last gig was a damp squib! I'm going to miss playing with these great musicians and I've certainly learnt a lot and improved as a bassist and as a human I guess. I'm looking forward to the next project whatever that is, I haven't decided yet!

My two Thunders.

Potting doesn't affect interference noise. Wax has no RFI shielding properties. It can help to minimise microphonic effects where the pickup magnets/coils move in relation to each other.

The Lumberjack song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FshU58nI0Ts

Thanks chaps I always find some basses/brands lend themselves better to being either 4 or 5 strings and (for example) have always preferred Fenders as 4 strings but Stingrays as 5. My experience to date had always been G&L 5 strings, so trying a 4 string has been a revelation for me and I much prefer them that way.

Very interested to see these.

Ideally very small. The original cab for these amps was 200 x 130 x 170mm, with a 4.5" speaker. I'm not too fussy about the bass response & tone as it's only for playing to the baby when we're away from home. (He likes 'Reach' and by S Club 7 & 'Rockabye' by Clean Bandit! FML!). I can use headphones for me to practice. I might try to recreate the Hotone cab myself... What could possibly go wrong?

Nothing outerworldly, but: - guitar with octave pedal of some description - electronic piano through Big Muff - pedal keyboard of electronic organ - piano (incidentally all in the same gig coz we were a trio without bass player) - electric piano - Casio toy ewi type instrument through pedal or synth - synth - flute through Korg MS-20 I'm sure there is more. Loved creating unexpected, weird sounds that I thought worked.

Hey teebs, not sure how teeny tiny you want to go , but miss RB bought me this to play my phone through and you can also play your bass through it, it’s a proper mini amp, it doesn’t rumble the house down 😁, but it works

Looking forward to the bash tomorrow. Marshall DBS200 combo is now sold so I will bring my home build 1 x 10" combo as well as my BC 1 x 12 cab.

Mine will have its first public outing for 18 months tonight on the back of a Trailer. THe house PA may or may not be any good so both amp and Basschat BC112 MK3 will get a good workout. I have never really had to have either anywhere near flat out so it will be interesting.

An old gem that pops up now and again

I was always a bit disappointed that none of the bands I've been in wanted to do Derek Bailey and Jamaaladeen Tacuma's "Mirakle". I suspect it would have set the dancefloor alight at next Saturday's punk Dollfest! 😎

Less than 36 hours to go! *jumps up and down excitedly*

This :

Finish test!

Just fitted fender high mass bridge... Needs a proper setting up.. strings are a bit clanky. I just need some decent chrome tuners now... The HB ones are awful, anyone got advice for direct replacements?

That would do. The larger the cab the lower and louder it can go with not much power. That's why even in home hi-fi big cabs ruled through the 1940s, when 25 watts was a monster amp, and they still do with Singled Ended Triode amp aficionados.

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

Now in a smaller package, surprisingly good quality and sounds wonderful... £20!!😲 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/114854801274 Bit o spray n new knobs 👌