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…. So after buying a superb secondhand Vigier Excess 5 from Mattbass6 on this forum, I realised I’m not such an intuitive 5 string player and sold it on vowing that I would get another Vigier. Being simply blown away by the craftsmanship I had to get a 4 string. One pilgrimage to Bass Direct in Warwick (thanks Ashley and Mark) later, I am the proud owner of this beauty… My goodness it’s fast, punchy, modern and I love it! 😊

I'm currently waiting on my 30" Marusczcyk Jake P with Koa top to arrive here in Las Vegas from Germany. I received the finished pic of my build a week ago. Equipped with a passive Nordstrand NP4A pickup and Hipshot hardware. Really looking forward to getting my hands on it in a week hopefully. 😎

My twopence worth!

Always liked what he brought to U2. A perfect fit for them IMO. My fav song New Years Day. Great bassline and the song that made me sit up and listen to them.

I ended up taking the DIY option. The lining was a dog blanket 🙂

We played a very short notice wedding gig on Saturday as a last minute replacement for another band who had to cancel due to covid. The landlady of the pub we'd played the previous Saturday recommended us and we got the call on Thursday evening. We had to get a dep drummer we'd never used before who turned out to be excellent. In the end we had a really good gig, plenty of guests up and dancing, free drink and buffet and the venue was amazing. The Old Palace at Hatfield House, Herts, built in 1485, this must be the oldest venue I've ever played at.

Just been to mum and dads. Found the pic!

I used a lot of Trace gear back in the day, but I don't ever remember seeing a combo in this configuration before. Built like a tank, and weighing like one too, no doubt!

Matte guard fitted and looks the part!

7.00pm tonight - My Planet Rocks with JJ Burnel A one hour long interview, plus him picking some of his favourite tunes.

Adam Clayton was one of the reasons I picked up the bass in the first place. The Joshua Tree came out when I was in my early teens and I thought his playing on it was what kept everything together and really brought the whole album alive. I'd give my right arm to be as inept, talentless and successful as him

Ever noticed how few successful bassists play million notes a second slap? There are many more who have sold millions of records with nothing more than simple, solid lines with solid timing.

The Old Cold Store in Nottingham on Thursday night supporting UK Subs. Great gig despite terrible on stage sound, just a positive attitude from everyone and super tight Our bassist and front man both tested positive for Covid the next morning so our final gig of the year on Saturday was cancelled. The guitarist and I are both fine (negative PCR tests), it's just such a shame to miss the big tour finale I do have one more gig this year, this time on guitar for Julia Mosely, hopefully that'll be good

This one made my credit card sweat...

Higham Ferrers Town square, Sparkle ...Christmas lights...cold but great fun ...huge sound ..over 500 people ...

What's better than learning bass with your metronome, drinking coffee and watching your toddler get up to mischief? Not much! Thought I'd post a positive post, sure why not.

McDonalds! The Harley Benton of take-out coffees.

It is a strange thing and I can’t get in to any other bass than a Fender or a Squier either. I’ve had Yamaha, Ibanez, Westone, LTD, Epiphone, OLP and a Danelectro since the ‘70s but for some reason just can’t ‘become one’ with any of them. They all (mostly) sounded good and played just fine but Leo’s stuff always feels and sounds just right. I have a theory it’s a lot to do with subconsciously hearing a P or J on nearly every track on the radio for years and it’s such a comfortable tone that simply ‘sits right’ our heads and nothing else will do. Believe it or not, right now I’m gigging with a 2000 Squier Standard PJ with all original pups (turns out the split jobbies are actually Alnico which they fitted at one time) and it’s honestly like and extension of me and feels so damn right in my hands and ears. The mind is a weird thing but once you can get around brand snobbery life’s a sunny day.

Any excuse to post these again!! The two tone sunburst finish and gold pickguard look absolutely tremendous together!

Yes I have done. No one really notices. If you want to try it tune a 34" scale bass a whole tone down to DGCF. Put a capo at fret two and you have a 30" scale EADG bass. Nice!

Erm, it’s shorter. I gig all the time with a shortie, easier to get around the board, I just put a gauge up on the strings to tighten things up to more comparable to my long scales. Sound wise, I actually prefer my jmj Mustang to previous Fender Jazz/P basses I’ve gigged in the past.

I've seen people play amazing sets using Squiers and a rag tag assortment of amps and cabs. I would gig a £200 Squier Affinity without batting an eyelid and feel nothing but pity for anyone who looks down on me for it. Honi soit qui mal y pense, and all that. Some may point out that I have a USA G&L but as it's an L-1000 (a bass I had admired for some time) I didn't have much of a choice. There is no Tribute model - hell, for the longest time there wasn't even an option to buy one new. But if there had been a Tribute L-1000, I'd have saved myself the best part of a grand and got that instead, Tributes are fine* basses. Tangent alert! *Fine as in wine, not fine as in "acceptable". Also see use of the word fine in NE Scotland - pronounced a certain way means "very good indeed" instead of merely acceptable, often prefixed with "fit" (what) - the delightfully alliterative interjection "fit fine!" (often heard after telling someone you're having mince and tatties for tea) can be loosely translated into "very good!", "Aw man, you lucky so-and-so, I wish I was having mince and tatties for tea" or the rhetorical "how good is that?". Want another bonus NE Scotland thing? The word "rare" can be used in a similar way. Very confusing when applied to commonly occurring items. "I played a rare Squier Affinity P bass the other day" ... Also it is theoretically possible up here to have a RARE well done steak - although you should be having it medium at the very most, you heathen

All valve goodness!! 90’s SLM cab 🚕

A friend of mine in France is selling his original very very very rare Vigier Arpège 5 series I : https://www.zikinf.com/annonces/annonce-1996126

Looking for a Bassline to work on today I came across this version of Babylon Bridge, I know Dillinger did it but I’m liking this

For context, haha… love this guy. last time we played together was his wedding. That was 4 years ago.

Half tempted to place a bid but TBH it wouldn't get used. This, according to the ad, is one of 60 which Mike had built in Japan. Looks clean enough. Currently £175 but has 6 days to run. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234296431363?hash=item368d27d303:g:4~EAAOSwScxhmPzV "Hi, The bass looks in great condition. I only had 60 of these basses made, they were made by Nanyo Boeki, the same company who made the "Bass Collection" basses sold by Barry at the Bass centre in Wapping London. They came in master cartons of 30 basses (so two master cartons) The E.Q. was designed by John East of J.retro fame, and was made by John in Oxford. These E.Q.'s were fitted to the basses back in my Essex workshop along with pickups, strings and final setup."

Hello all! Recently purchased one of the new Squier Classic Vibe "Late 50's" P basses online. Took a little bit of a chance, as they're a fairly new model and don't have any real reviews as of yet from what I could tell! The bass arrived today, and I thought I'd come on here to give you my first look conclusions. Straight out of the box, it was immediately apparent how well this bass is made. I'm not even joking, Squier have knocked the ball out of the park. The CV line has always received high praise for quality, in particular the necks (more on that later) but I was more than a little impressed. The white colour is hard to photograph, but looks sublime in person. It's slightly transparent, and I've seen a couple of people compare it to Mary Kay White. I can't make the comparison myself having never owned or seen a MKW in person but this bass is certainly a looker. The gold anodised aluminium pickguard is to a high standard and compliments the colour scheme very well, although I'll probably pick up a black guard at some point incase the need for a change strikes. The glossy neck has a beautiful vintage tint to it, not overbearingly orange like a few other "vintage style" basses I've seen and not pale, fresh maple either. Just nicely in the middle, and the finish itself is of outstanding quality. Not a blemish, ugly mark or any other concerning sight on either the body or the neck. The hardware also is well made, and feels quality. The tuners move freely but with just enough resistance to feel sturdy. The bridge also is well made, and I was pleasantly surprised to see threaded saddles on there too! Played acoustically, the bass is surprisingly resonant and loud. Always a good sign in my opinion. Plugged in, this bass speaks with typical P bass authority. Very pleasing indeed, and it just has that quality that separates a good P from the rest. Total Fender tones through and through, courtesy of its "Big F" designed alnico split pickup. I can already tell it'll be a joy to play live, and no doubt will sit in a mix beautifully like only a well made P bass can. On the note of playing live, this particular bass is definitely on the sturdier side of things. I don't have an exact weight, but this is certainly not a flyweight by any means. Not hugely heavy either mind, but being a P it balances well on a wide strap and feels perfectly comfortable. Now, in my eyes there is only one minor niggle with this bass. The Neck. It looks absolutely beautiful, from what I can see its a 1 piece maple job with a skunk stripe. It even FEELS great, as I've so often heard of the CV basses. The issue here lies solely with Squier's blurb. They have advertised the bass as having a 1.685" (42.8mm) nut width, which would be in the ballpark of the wider but you would expect of a 50's precision. However, upon checking this with a set of digital calipers the nut width is definitely the standard modern 41.3. not exactly a deal breaker to somebody who wants a great playing bass with some vintage styling (me), just a word of warning to the players looking for a cheap alternative to an AVRI, or the real deal. There seemed to be some confusion when the bass first arrived over where the truss rod would adjust from but I can confidently say it's a headstock adjust. All in all, despite Squiers confusion over what many people would say is a make or break measurement and possibly even a/the deciding factor in buying a bass this is a brilliant bass at any price point. Plays outstandingly, looks absolutely beautiful and sounds every bit as good as you'd expect a good P to sound. They've made a good one here and if you're looking into these, you will not be disappointed!

Inspiration Initially tried to do some thing free-form and moony sounding, but scrapped it and wrote something song-based on the acoustic with moon based lyrics. But even that ended up sounding completely different when transferred to electric guitar etc. Tech: all the usual: Daw: Studio One , Drums: Red Zep programmed via piano roll, Bass: Vantage, Guitar: Squier Tele, Vox :Shure SM58

AFTER! I'm a total tart...

Greggs, the squier of coffee?

I asked that very question a few months back - this was the reply: Thanks for your interest in the Short Scale StingRay! Last year's finishes are a tough find in stores now as we only made about 200. It wouldn't hurt to check with our distributor in the UK to see if they are aware of any new ones still available with stores. United KingdomStrings & Things Ltd.Unit 3/ 4, 202-210 Brighton Road, Shoreham by Sea, West Sussex BN43 6RJ+44 12 734 [email protected]://www.stringsandthings.co.uk/ We were hoping to launch 2 new standard production colors this Fall, but production capacity has been tight through the pandemic and that is not looking very likely now. We may still offer some limited ones directly through the Vault later in the year, https://shop.music-man.com/instruments.html! Thanks! Best Regards, Music Man Customer Service Team

I've learned a lot about sanding! Patience with 600 grit gets rid of 'smeared' textures left by the original shaping of the body, even though they didn't look like a fault. Also a tip on line for sanding back red/orange after staining, then doing everything in yellow really brings out the paler medullary rays. This pic before adding a touch more red around the corners where there were a few 'thin' patches. Sadly, in the 20 seconds between doing the yellow and taking the pic, the alcohol had flashed off making the figure less dramatic. Hopefully the tung oil will bring it back.

I’ve not intended to but I’ve spent many a Saturday morning browsing basses while having a coffee, and a few hours later I seem to have bought one 😁

All my basses are passive and other than a pickup selector switch and series/parallel switch where appropriate, they are wired straight to the output jack, no volume, no tone controls (P bass and MM go straight to jack, nothing in between). Outside of pickup selection and series/parallel, all tone shaping is done with outboard as it's more flexible.

How to spend a sunday morning!

Slightly odd that people are telling each other that what has obviously worked for them for years is the wrong way to do it. If it works for you then who cares? If it's your routine then don't change it.