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So, after making a resolution that 2021 was going to be a fallow period, I well and truly fell off the wagon in terms of bass purchases. The positive side to it is that I actually sold a lot more gear than I bought and managed to recoup quite a bit of money net net. I think this really has to be it though for a considerable time. Funny, I always seem to buy more gear when I'm not gigging. It must be some form of comfort blanket. Anyway, from left to right: - Custom Fretless with Fender Japan neck - G&L CLF L-2000 - Stingray Special 5 String - 4003S - Guild Starfire 1 - Fender US P Bass - Lakland 44-64 No Jazz Basses? Nah, I've had plenty of those and they don't work for me sound-wise or ergonomically. Despite owning many of them I never seem to learn!

Loads of fun today... a few of us (including @warwickhunt, @cd_david and the God-like Dave Wilson) got together to shoot the breeze. We all turned up with a handful of basses each, apart from Warwickhunt who literally brought a van-load. All good fun - some rare birds, and some whacky stuff amongst the usual... \ \

Main job over the weekend was fret ends/level/recrown/polish. For levelling I use a box section of aluminium with emery cloth double-side-taped to one side and use it as both the level gauge and leveller: For the fret ends and recrowning, I find the Chris Alsop crowning files just right...clearly designed by someone who's done the job himself... In this shot I'm just holding it for the camera - in use it fits nicely in your palm giving great control, but is short and so it much easier to use as you get to the over-body section than the longer types of files. I rough crown it using the diamond edge itself and then run through 400/800 emery and then 4000/6000/8000/12000 micro-mesh cloths using the Chris Alsop file as the former: And - you'll have to forgive the appalling winter/full cloud cover light - done: For the back and sides, I've been doing the initial Tru-oil slurry and buff stages as I've been going along, which has given me the drying time while I've been able to be do other stuff on the finish list. But on Sunday I was able to give it its final slurry with 2000 grit emery. A break in the cloud gave me a rare bit of winter sunshine: I've hand polished the fretboard and headstock ebony (again, using the micro-mesh, running progressively through the grades of 3200 to 12000) and will do a final buff later today. For the main ebony panels, they need a final Mirka sand and then the same treatment. All going well, both jobs will be able to be done by the close of play this evening. I'm pretty sure that gets me to the stage of progressively positioning and fitting some of the hardware.

Just for fun 🤪

I bet you all thought I'd forgotten about this one I've been a bit heads down to try to get the ebony guitar build finished - on track with that and so thought I'd better give @Happy Jack 's neck a bit of love (in a manner of speaking ) The plan is - as far as possible - both necks to feel very similar. On that basis, I have measured the Lull neck depth to include the fret thickness. On a 'measure 14 times and cut once' basis, I first took the bulk off on the band saw and then moved onto my trusty spokeshave: Clearly the volute will be much, much smaller than this below but this now has the 1st to 10th frets to within 0.2mm of the depth, including the fret depth, of the Lull. At the moment, the neck thickens a little early from the 11th fret towards the heel, but I will leave it there for the moment and straighten it up a touch when I start the neck carve proper: You can see how even this small headstock angle gives me a helping hand with the break angle and the ability to use Hipshot/Sandberg type string retainers. I think I've said before, but there will be an extension to the fretboard the other side of the nut, carved to meet the scoop of the headstock. Next job is the neck carve which, with luck, will start tomorrow. But first I'll have to sharpen the spokeshave blade...rock maple is tough stuff!

I've drawn a trial tracing of the Aria shape on it. Definitely liking this. As long as the decal follows the curve nicely, I think I'll go with it.

I really like the older, curvier version of the Aria headstock, for some reason.

How about taking a bite out of it 😁

So 2021 was due to be a fallow year in terms of gear buying for me but I fell off the wagon early and to say I didn't buy much gear this year couldn't be further from the truth. So, to finish off the year in style I decided I wanted to add another P Bass to my collection, before trying (really trying) to be sensible next year with my purchases. I wanted something different to my number 1 P bass that I could primarily string with round wounds, but similar enough that I could dial those buttery P Bass tones in when needed. I didn't want to spend a huge amount of money though. Anyway, speaking to an old mucker of mine yesterday who plays mainly keys, he told me he had just got hold of a new Lakland Skyline Special Edition 44-64 that he can't quite gel with. He said wasn't too far from me this weekend so we arranged to meet up and he popped over today with the bass. It's in an Ice Blue Metallic finish with a Jazz width neck and for something I wouldn't usually like, it sort of works for me looks-wise. Practically it's a wee bit heavier than I would usually feel comfortable with (it's 9 1/2lbs) and I'm not a fan of PJ's but I forgot just how good Laklands are to play. This one is exceptionally playable and on a strap it really doesn't feel heavier than my other basses at all. Sound-wise the Jazz pickup is noticeably quieter than the P bass one (as I've found with most PJ's) and even when both are blended in I can't hear any discernible difference to a usual P Bass pickup. Build quality is right up there as it is with any other Lakland I've played and man, that neck is just something else. I've got it for today and tomorrow to see how I get on with it. Weight aside (it really doesn't feel that heavy on a strap) and the fact it's a bit gaudy for my usual tastes: Oh, and the fact it's a PJ, it just plays so well. I'm really tempted, especially as GG has them in their sale currently (£899) which is less than annex-demo they're also advertising with a bit of damage!

I bet there's at least one bass chatter who writes hold music? I'm on hold to Eon now. There's a fairly nice piece that starts with what sounds like harmonic diads played on bass. It then layers up with some guitar and a bit of percussion. It sounds like something someone would do at an open mic with a looper, except it just goes round and round and there's no vocal. One section in particular had me thinking - do these companies ask the composer to deliberately attempt to get the caller to put the phone down? I'd be interested to know what sort of brief you get There's a slightly out of tune guitar just running down the major scale, over and over again and it feels like it's screaming at me JUST HANG UP

Here is my pedalboard with the latest updates. Thanks for watching!

Got to be this one. You could say you did it as a tribute…

Who can blame ticket buyers? Covid is far from over and anyone who thinks it is is clearly misinformed.

Yeh, right. Recision Bass Shame it's so far away, he who shall not be named would work wonders with this!

Always loved the 90's Washburn headstocks, just pointy enough but with a nod to the classics too. I still have the 5 string version of this.

I have finally watched it all and loved it. I'm wondering how many of us will now start looking for Fender Bassman stickers online......I know I have! I used to occasionally visit a client about 15 years ago in Saville Row and found the shots of how the street was in the 60's fascinating. As someone said earlier in this thread - Ringo was a machine - always ready to go! It was also good to see who played which parts on tracks I've always loved.

I've watched all of it now, and followed it up by watching McCartney 321 (Rick Rubin interviews, sort of, McCartney). There should be a lot in Get Back that is very familiar to anyone who's been in any sort of band. But then you have to think about the work rate, and the success of that work rate the was The Beatles. Help, Rubber Soul and Revolver all recorded in approximately a year. 3 weeks after recording Let It Be they're back in the studio recording Abbey Road. It's really something. One of the most poignant parts is in ep1, where George has quit and Paul and Ringo don't know if John is going to turn up either. Paul says 'and then there were 2'. Paul's face is one of this could be all over, and that he's losing his creative partner. Mccarthy 321 is worth a watch. I think it's ep5 where there's a bit of a look at bass specifically (not a huge amount).

It could have been a good forum. The technical threads and advice were good, there was good stuff on self build cabs for example. All of that got drowned out by most of the rest of it being plain stupid. It often struck me that many contributors probably spent too much time on the internet with their trousers and undies keeping their ankles warms.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Seems I beat a few Basschatters to this so first of all, I'm sorry. But on the other hand if I don't like it I know I shouldn't have a problem moving it on. Oh, but I do like it, so, erm, sorry again. I am lying dying of Covid 19 so buying pedals on Basschat is my only joy right now. Also I can't work so can't afford to buy pedals, but, well, what you gonna do? Anyway, it's amazing. I see what all the fuss is about. I must confess the thing that attracted me initially was the effects loop. Don't ask me why, but I'm a sucker for them. I managed to use it for ten minutes before having to lie back down. But what a ten minutes. I set it to a down filter and it is the most gurgling, liquid, squishy, blurping filter I've ever heard. I glooped and wurbled happily for my ten minutes, so happily in fact that I didn't even try the effects loop.

New neck turned up yesterday, it's one of these things with a blank canvas for a headstock: The question is: what shape to choose? The one thing it's definitely NOT getting is a P/J/T shape. I've been checking a few out and there's a couple that have floated my boat (Wal, Peavey, Aria, see below) but I haven't decided yet. Any ideas? Sensible ones plz. I've got a custom 70s-Fender-alike headstock decal coming, so there's got to be room for that. I like the curve on the bottom of the Wal & Aria ones, as I could make it match the decal.

It's a pretty wide range already. 4/5 string multiscale (standard and premium options) 4/5 string normal scale (standard and premium options) 6 string multiscale 4 string standard shortscqle 5 string short scale multiscale. They'll probably keep it much the same with some new finishes at best. Seems to be the Ibanez way.

A few more from today.

I didn't know you were in contact with my ex-mother-in-law, Andy?

That'll buff out! Well someone had to say it. 🙄

The latest iteration of my beautiful half DIY disaster-

Well, if anyone's interested, Paypal has found in my favour and I've been refunded, well before the 'deadline' for Bax to respond, so I presume they must have agreed with my that the sales tactics are unreasonable.

Still loving mine. I use it all the time especially in the lounge. I think I’ve got my basses pretty much dialled in now. I rarely plug the transmitter straight into a bass; instead I plug it into the Backbeat pack. However I did plug it straight in to my Celinder the other day and it emitted a rhythmic pulse at about 80bpm constantly, whilst the bass itself could be heard underneath fine. It was fine having the backbeat in between. So I’m not sure what’s going on there - the pre in the Celinder is 9v but quite unusual I suppose - I could try changing the dip switches as maybe it’s something to do with that? I almost never use the 3D setting - I find it a bit too strong - if you turn your right ear away from a real amplifier you can still hear it in your right ear quite a lot, whereas in this mode the headphones make it too quiet in the furthest side. I also find the headphones a tiny bit tight on my (big) head - I’ve stretched the metal fingers that hold the cups a little bit to ease some of the pressure which has worked ok. Finally I think the headphones slightly lack treble and boost the low mods a little. This is apparent when playing music into them but also when I transfer settings across from my VB99 which has, from what I can tell, identical patch parameters to these. On that I use Beyer DT770s which are very flat and unflattering for listening to music but playing bass through them (and on top of music) sounds like you’re doing so in a very natural sounding way, rather than a crowded soundscape. Once I pinpointed that with the WAZA it’s easy to compensate with a slightly higher compressor ratio and lower threshold and by EQing the upper mid and bass parts of the signal to match as closely as possible. And all in all, I like using them for streaming music as regular headphones so I’d rather that have a more flattering sound for that. Mine have been absolutely rock solid, I’m so happy with them and think only a couple of tiny things would make them absolutely perfect: - adjustable ‘pressure’ on head - audio output/through mode - software could be more intuitive especially when it comes to banks and effects - 3D-ness is a bit too strong (see above) - It would be useful to have somewhere to store the transmitter on the headphones; some sort of clip or Jack which doesn’t engage said transmitter. Using the case is only so practical day to day

I know you said not Fender but this looks cooI IMHO

smuggle them via the 6 counties, with a man with a van service, plenty of that going on 😉

My Sire U5 arrived from the UK and it’s a cracking little number . (I think that’s how you brits say it..)

Dirty Boy - Cardiacs

Baby Heart Dirt - Cardiacs

I've got a beef with this post...

Logically, the damages should be all the revenue the Plaintiff lost from Spotify as a result of Taylor Swift's plagiarism, and that's an amount that could easily run into pennies.

Had a good chat with the band and they all agreed about the volume issue. It was an issue before I joined and the previous bass player went out and bought the custom molded plugs. Its mostly pub gigs we do with the odd thing on a proper stage with sound guy and big PA.I have bought a set of KZ ZS10 pro IEM. On recomendation of all the info I have learned off this forum. At the very least I will have a nice set of phones for home use if it doesnt work out with the live thing. I will order a headphone amp,probs the Behringer. I think some of the band may have a go at some point but at the moment its just me. Which is fine as I am the one whos is moaning about sore ears. We have agreed to keep the volume at a decent level in future...Let's see how that goes. Will try them out in house first,then maybe practise. If it all works out I may pay a bit more for a decent set but looking forward to giving these a go.

It's been a bit 'head down and battle on' with this one. Added some luminlay side dots and top MoP dots to the fretboard: Made some knobs: Fixed the magnets to the control hatch and the flush-fit truss rod cover: I'll be staining the spruce under the thumbnail cutaway so it blends in better: Note the headstock swifts also added. The positioning was thought up by Jack and his good lady. I think it's great And that's the basic build done Still to do is the final finishing, the fret ends/levelling/etc and then just the installation of the hardware and electrics And so, just a couple of gratuitous mockups and then, sometime back end of next week, I should be able to show the completed guitar

And the tort wallpaper