Leaderboard

The neck is starting to look more like it now!! I cut it roughly to size then trimmed on the router table. This is a little more difficult to do than a Fender type neck due to the angled headstock. Just takes a little more thinking about. This one is even more fiddly as it has a finger rest built into the fretboard, just needs a little patience and a bit of swapping of router bits to complete. A smidge of sanding later and it fits really nicely into the neck pocket: The headstock has also been drilled to accept the Gotoh tuners. This was done using a Forstner bit to get a really neat cut and finish - the head was clamped to an offcut of wood to ensure there was no tear-out when the bit cut through to the other side. And the fifth hole? Just decoration as I have done on my previous basses. Next task will be to fit the Luminlay side dots whilst the fretboard is still square after which I'll start the neck carve and radiusing the fretboard. Cheers

Tres amusing, i must say I reckon he really doesnt want this bass

I thought I only had 10 basses, it turns out I have 12. How did that happen?

Body Shape 'n Split Coil... anything else is P Bass+

Absolutely loving this DeArmond Starfire short scale, fitted with tapes, it's a total funk machine. Lovely low action, and a surprising range of tones depending on where you place your fingers. It sounds amazing with a palm muted pick. I'm trying felt picks to protect the tapes, but it has more attack with a regular pick and sounds big through this TCBG250. I've never been much of an effects guy, but on a whim I bought a Zoom B1on, and man, there's some very useable presets in there.....

Thanks guys. This .!!!!

Very true. However we're finding that we get lots of compliments from the more discerning members of the audience about the sound and the balance of the band; that has to do with us having a soundperson our front, and also getting the right mix so that the instruments don't fight each other in the same sonic space. Those punters who have no idea about good sound or balance - i.e. the majority - and only drunkenly yell for Johnny B Goode (in our case), don't realise that they are enjoying the gig so much because the sound is perfectly mixed, balanced, EQ'd to the room and exactly the right volume for the room and number of people in it. That's totally fine by us.

Dare I say frets?

I agree... end of! Will it stop me buying/trying other basses and equipment... NO because I came to the conclusion some time back that what I want/need/desire is in no way connected with what is needed/wanted in a live band/music setting. I've been around the doors long enough that I've met myself coming back into fashion and I've even bought back instruments/equipment that I sold years ago (now the proud owner of my original Thunderfunk AND Tech Blackcat amps) but it's for my own personal gratification. A classic example of why it matters not one iota is that I recently went down the route of IEMs so that I could see how little gear I needed to gig. I threw myself in the deep end; bought £50 IEM, borrowed a transmitter, ditched backline and rocked up to my band gig with an Aria Sinsinado bass which I've never gigged EVER and sounds nothing like any of my other basses. I went through FOH band PA and at the end of the gig, the drummer hadn't noticed and the punters didn't give a sh*t and did the dickish things that punters do when tanked up. Did I enjoy it... No. So back to sourcing my fave backline and playing whatever bass colour goes with my shirt!

Gaffa tape is like the Force. It has a light side and a dark side and binds the universe together.

She's been completed and uploaded to the Fodera newborns!! I'm still processing a lot of the details but its safe to say I'm absolutely stunned. https://fodera.smugmug.com/Newborn-Gallery-Vol-VI/Newborn-2165/

Just realised I've never actually posted a pic of my three. Let's remedy that.

Just been chatting to the owner of these two 1964 Precisions, he's gigging them in a few minutes. Holding them was a near-religious experience.

And glued with ebony-dust-mixed-in-epoxy and sanded: Tomorrow I will be cutting the semi-circle at the overhang and then I think I've run out of excuses not to fit the board onto the neck

It's 2022. I'm genre fluid. 😺

Not sure we could even agree on what makes a bass a bass.

I only have one, but it exists in 17 different dimensions simultaneously, so to the untrained eye it superficially appears to be 17 different basses. I did try explaining this to Mrs Shaggy.......🤔

Beethoven's fame was built on his public performances. He also conducted his own works.

Don’t mention the war, I did once but I think I got away with it!

So true. And also the quality of the soundman which can make the worst bass sound passable and the best bass like a bag of spanners

A higher action limits the amount of mwah, as does a technique that avoids too many slides and vibrato.

With Jack Daniel’s what? 😆 Actually I’m in Yorkshire, where we use vinegar off us chips for such purposes....

Early 90s with ‘Scream’ and early/mid 00s with Double Cross. Good times. Still got the jazz bass and bassmaster funk. (Albeit in need of repair!)

I Will Always Love You Dolly / Whitney

Guns And Roses? Homer....? No, see, look.... you said "Beethoven" and then...... actually no forget it, the joke just isn't funny when it needs explaining. 😐

£368.99 at GAK now, just treated myself 😂

That control plate gave me cause for concern until I realised that it was the carpet reflecting!

changed again replaced the walrus ages with a moose electronics Cosmic Trigger and trying put the Kma Great Disruptor in place of my Boss PW-2

The double bass room seems to be the best place in the country for a bass at that price. I’ve bought two from him over the years, he’s a lovely guy and was happy to let me spend a couple of hours playing different instruments. I think it’s probably the only place in the country where you could play that many basses for under five grand, and it would be worth a visit just to experience the huge range of tone and feel you can get, so that you’d have some context in making a final decision.

I have to admit I enjoy a good Steak and Guinness pie. Add a stick of cinnamon and a wee touch of fresh ginger - that’s the secret!

Probably the single most important suggestion on Basschat. Ever. Good things come to those who wait.

Thanks to everybody !!!!

I, weirdly, still read wanted adverts. I must say they've changed over the years. Wanted, sax or bongo player. Really? Not much difference there is there? 6th member wanted for "Gypsy punk band" what's that? and what instrument? Then, I see something for a bass player, any age or gender, bit of Americana, a few pop and rock numbers from the 60s up to the 2000s. Must be easy going and have a sense of humour. Sounds perfect until they ruin it all with "Looking to gig two or three times a month" Bugger, they sounded great up until the playing live bit. I just can't be bothered any more. Not even sure why I've still got my bass gear. Might even leave BC if I found a "Can't be arsed chat"😂

Lol as a former soundman for our church band this wasn't unknown on a Sunday morning 😅

I don't have it to hand, but it's identical to this one : I have it on good authority that Fender discontinued this range of basses because they were talking business away from the custom shop. The metal covers were punched out on the same machine Fender used back in the day for the originals, and the fingerboard is the same round laminated one that Fender used back in those days.If you can get on with the neck profile they are a lovely bass.( Why Fender made them so chunky I have no idea! Some Jazz necks were a bit chunkier in that era, but I have never encountered one quite as big as these)

It also depends on context. The audience at the Dog and Duck couldn't give a rat's @ss about the low mids vs high mids balance of your bass and amp (and will generally yell for Sex on Fire or Don't look back in anger) whereas if you are playing originals in big venues with a dedicated fan base your tone matters more. Speaking as a Dog and Duck man 😀

Back in my guitar shop managing days I’d get so frustrated with people who refused to accept we didn’t have boxed up instruments out the back for every guitar on the shop floor. “You mean I have to buy this one?”. Yes sir, this is the instrument that you liked so much you wanted to buy it. If we had another one, how do you know if it’s as good or if you’d like it as much as this one. It’s not the brand, the price, it’s the guitar in your hands to judge!

I was fitting a new set of TI Flats to a newly acquired short scale bass. It did occur to me that I was cutting off rather a lot of the end of the string but I carried on regardless. About 2 and a half strings in I realised I was trimming down a long scale set, the short scale set - bought especially for the bass - were still in the packet on my desk.

I've been very lucky to experience both ends of the spectrum. From starting out at 17 in 1987, lugging around big old bass rigs, driving the length and breadth of the country to gig, to having roadies, tour managers, drivers, A&R men and even a chef and makeup artist to do literally everything for me. I've done thousands of gigs over the 35 years of playing, from the nastiest, smallest, crapiest pubs known to man, to the weird and wonderful like bowling alleys, a barbers, a steam train and a passenger simulator plane, to stadiums, music halls, festivals, theatres and Radio 1 roadshows. I've loved every minute of it and being in a band, with mates, sharing the highs and lows and being in a musical gang is the best thing in the world. It's not easy, far from easy but with the right attitude of all in it together and a healthy work ethic of everyone pulling their weight then it's the best thing in the world. However, now I'm in my early fifties, the shine is starting to come off a little. Pre-Covid, I was playing over 100 gigs a year, playing 50's Rock 'n' Roll in working mens clubs, festivals and some pubs and despite the money being good and in most cases, an audience expecting us, the lugging of gear, setting up, dressing up, performing, packing away and getting home in the early hours did get tiring. I loved it but the longer it went on, the more I was finding I was wishing I wasn't out gigging that night and was staying at home relaxing and watching a film. For the last year I've been playing in an acoustic 3 piece playing a mix of originals and covers and only doing a couple of local gigs a month in pubs or music venues. It's been really refreshing and enjoyable and very musically creative but I do still get moments when I wish I was not going out gigging but then I end up really enjoying the gig and glad I did have the opportunity to go out and play. One thing that has really helped is slimming my gear down and making it efficient to carry. I have a Barefaced Two10 which is super light and can be carried with one hand. I have my pedal bag that can go over my shoulder, a flight case with leads and stands, a bag with my amp and back up amp and then my two basses. So I can do everything in 3 trips, even 2 if I wanted and it's all lightweight. If has made such a difference. Saying all of that, I have played for 35 years and in 3 years I'll be 55 and I've kind of pencilled in that this might be a good age to call it quits. I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to want to play in pubs, lug gear about, get home late in the hope that it was an amazing gig when the reality was a disinterested audience who just wanted to hear Wonderwall or Sex on Fire. I feel it's more of a young mans game these days and I'm quickly leaving that demographic. Family commitments are also increasing with my daughter getting heavily involved in motorsport and I feel like there are other thing to see and do in life, for example road trips around the Swiss and Austrian mountain passes in an old sportscar. Either way, people should enjoy what they do, be it gigging, home recording, studio work, streaming etc. I'm of the generation that gigging is what you did so it's all I know so I have no regrets but whatever you do to express yourself and be creative, if you enjoy it then keep on doing it. Life is too short at the end of the day.