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It took a couple of goes to get the bridge in the correct position (good thing about there being so many fixing screws was that I only needed to use two for the first trial - enough for being able to fit the strings straight but un-tensioned. Those first two screw holes will need to be re-plugged ) but got there in the end in terms of the strings lining up correctly with the fretboard dots: And with that done, I could start on the bridge pickup chamber. Those who have followed my previous threads will know that I detest routers and certainly wouldn't willingly use them on something as old and fragile as this. Instead, I start with drilling the corner radii and positions of the pickup base plate and scribe a line tangential to the two corners: Next, I rough out - for a full humbucker I would use a Forstner bit but, for this extension to the existing Jazz p/up chamber, just a brad-point drill: And then next, out come the sharp chisels and mallet: Don't worry - the red next to the chisel is some silk from the test-strings I use for the on/off/on/off malarkey that is necessary for this kind of work. The blood from my missing finger is out of picture on the carpet And twenty minutes later, we have a chamber: Finally, a quick restring to check it does actually line up. Phew! So tomorrow, I will re-plug the two erroneous bridge positions, take out the P pickup and start thinking about both the fitting of the Thunderbird-ish neck and the surrounds to hide the gaps.

Some lacquering! I like to put a couple of coats on maple fingerboards before fretting. I don’t like the Fender method where it’s flooded with lacquer after frets are in!

That Kala Bass sounds well cool....

As someone with 2 Dingwalls, I did not need a 3rd (or the 2nd but let's not digress). However thanks @MattParkerBass for pointing this out on Facebook Marketplace. The cons ? Missing the pickguard (apparently it was stolen at a gig ?!), as well as the magnetic battery cover oh and it's a 6 hour round trip. The seller was collection only but was willing to hold it for nearly a week for me, so off I and the wife trekked on Saturday morning to central Cardiff. Picked up the bass and had a nose around the city, and left before the Rugby finished to avoid the chaos that would likely ensue. n.b. to Cardiff city council, you need to sort your bin men contracts out. According to the Dingwall FB Group, this is one of 66 in this finish globally, so that's pretty cool. I had a spare Combustion pickguard knocking about, so routed out the extra pickup gap much better than I expected to. Not sure the white will stay, but it's good for now, as is the pickguard off entirely. Dingwall are sending me a new battery box cover also, result. It's surprisingly different to the NG2 which is a bit lighter (fewer pickups aside) as well as a the NG3 being quite frankly louder with an identical setup. I think this and the D-Roc need to be keepers (please don't laugh @AndyTravis) - as they do everything for me sonically, ergonomically and aesthetically. We're on nearly 8 months for the D-Roc and haven't had the itch yet, so fingers crossed.

It depends on how tired I am (and motorway closures), but there is something quite satisfying and peaceful about driving home after a successful gig.

I love driving. I love driving on empty roads and I love driving at night, so driving home after a gig (good or bad) is no big deal for me.

It’s ok to not enjoy gigging. I have played most genres, in most European countries, in pubs, at weddings, festivals, functions. I’ve been paid well, paid badly and not paid at all. I enjoy the camaraderie, playing with other musicians, the opportunity to visit interesting places and meet some interesting people. But once on stage with an audience and having to perform, I lose all enjoyment. I’m not nervous, I’m diligent and learn my parts (and often others parts), I look good so I’m told, and hold my own with anyone I’m on stage with. But I don’t enjoy gigging. There’s nothing “wrong” with me, and I get a bit tired of the lack of acceptance that some people don’t like gigging. It’s nothing to do with not having found the right band/people/venue/pay/underpants/ burger relish or whatever. I accept that probably a majority of musicians here love it…good, I’m glad for you, truly. I hope you get many opportunities to do the thing you love. Just stop telling people that they should all be the same as you. There. Hope that clears that up (said the pharmacist to the bishop)

I must be totally weird...after reading all theses hate gig comments..... Im 65, been playing double bass/electric bass since the age of 8. Played in bands aged 14, been all over the UK gigging and loved every single moment...from the rough and ready gigs to the very top end big payers! I love the drive to and from gigs, setting up and ragging down it just ticks every box l've ever wanted to do. I really do understand all the things everyone detests about gigging but for me, playing bass has been a privilege and a totally pleasure.....

Miss Stiletto & Wine - Cliff

Little update. Almost immediate reply from Max at SFX and the Thumpinator is now winging its way back to him for diagnosis 😎

The Revolution Will Not Be Televized - Gil Scott Heron

Well in the end I bought a Sunburst 424... and wow , really pleased with it...

I’m sure Douglas doesn’t mind me correcting his mistake. After him picking me up on my casual use of the apostrophe many times, it’s a rare (but probably futile) opportunity to try and even the score.....😆

Doin good mate. Keeping busy. Let me know how the gig went Daryl. Doing a wee jam session spot this Sunday afternoon with guys i played with in 80's doing Pink Floyd, Alex Harvey and a wee bit of Hendrix. Had a short rehearsal with them tonight for an hour and it seemed ok. Took me back to my younger days LOL All the best Dave

Sadly at around the same time I was known as Purdy, although for much the same reason

The Beatles were just a second rate Oasis. Lennon would have been nothing if he hadn't ripped off the Gallagher brothers

Congrats to @xgsjx , @Nail Soup, and @upside downer on a deserved joint win last month. Without too much fuss, the picture choice became incumbent on xgsjx, who provided the following image and a proper inspiration it provided too! so here they are choose your favourite 3 from the following 1 @Leonard Smalls A couple of rainy afternoons have caused this to happen... An evocation of short-lived 60s US sci-fi tv show, in dub! 2 @Dad3353 He's still a long way from home, and the paving is slimy, slippery and dangerous. There's something stuck to his sole. If this is the Future, I'm glad I won't see it. 3 lurksalot Its kind of a heroic homecoming theme ....honest 4 @adamg67 I’ve tried to go kind of “directly” from the pic, imagining the protagonist walking forward, imagining what happens next and thinking, “if that’s the music video, what’s the music?”. A driving insistence to keep moving and the drama of what is encountered on the way. 5 @xgsjx Got mine finished & it's went a very different direction from what I thought it would. 6 @Nail Soup The picture gave me vibes of looping and continuation, so a repetitive bassline and yes it goes on a bit 🙂..... The words (such as they are) came from a bit of word association: Blue Circle > Cement > Concrete > Abstract Finally, the sad death of Keith Levine means I tried to channel some KL/PIL. 7 @upside downer The image didn't half make me think of the wonderful worlds conjured up by Douglas Adams in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books so here's a space-time continuum, jolly romp of a tune named after the supercomputer built by hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings interspersed with a few words from the book. What I'm saying is that the lyrics are by Douglas Adams. I hope the executors of his estate aren't litigious. Thats the lot have a listen through , wonder at the talent on show and throw three ticks in the boxes of your choice before midnight on 30th Nov . Enjoy

Watts Going On - Marvin Gaye

One of the most stupid/hilarious anti Harley Benton comments I've read recently (and they're almost all just cut and paste by people with zero real life experience) was a guy who says once he'd cut off and thrown away the awful strings it was a much better bass. The instrument came with D'Addario strings as standard.

Oh bloody hell

sorry wrong forum

I hate rehearsing. Playing tunes over and over again. Pointless. A gig is worth 1000 rehearsals. If it's rough round the edges you'll learn what you don't know when in front of an audience. You can't replicate that in a practice room. Practice new tunes in the practice room, get the tunes right then gig. Over rehearsing makes everything stale.

I've been putting these up on my YT channel. Give us a quick subscribe etc if you could! https://www.youtube.com/@d6bass

Great clip. Nails all those "Is it the player or the gear" discussions.

At our recent bass bash the RST was pretty well the lightest thing there, it is really remarkably light (especialy if you then go to the euro, which is most certainly not lightweight!) I would go for a quality make such as Switchraft (and it is an output socket, often known as a switchraft stereo barrel jack socket)

On My Radio - The Selecter

The 8th of Noughtober 2021?

I’ve been pretty selfish about what gigs I do and with whom I play. I’m retired , and don’t depend on the money. Not that you make a lot playing mid sized rooms. So if I don’t think I’ll have fun , I pass. And I tend to like the rooms I play. Generally know the regulars and staff, and am under no illusions in terms of what to expect. It’s still good.

In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel Time Stand Still - Rush Cliffs of Dover - Eric Johnson The Rain Song - Zeppelin Glittering Prize - Simple Minds Belief - John Mayer Kid Charlemagne - Steely Dan Red Rain - Peter Gabriel Book - World According To Garp - John Irving Luxury Item - My Simon & Patrick Rosewood Pro

Jim Bergantino was discussing updating features on the B|amp on TB. I suggested that the 3 memory slots included the FX loop. He did it. I am available for R+D work.

Woodwind, I've read the posts here. I don't think anyone hates gigging. I think we all struggle with certain aspects of gigging. The only exception would be for those who have a real fear of being on stage. Who hates a well paid 40 minute gig with first class dressing rooms and sound and lights provided ? I struggle with the longer gigs. 3 hours is our limit and even 3 hours are tough for me at my age ( 69 ). I also struggle with places that book bands but don't understand bands or how to treat them. Blue

Got on with sanding up through the grades on the radius this morning. Didn't take any pics at the time, but took some when I finished for the evening. The pics don't really do it justice, sanded up to 10,000 grit and it shines! The grain is fantastic. This afternoon I moved on to the neck profile and thinning out the back to the required thickness. Looking at around 18mm at the nut and 20mm at the heel... thin neck! Marked out and then on with the Shinto. Almost to the line. Just need to level it off and then I can start doing the rounding of the profile.

As a teenager in the early 90s, my Dad had just bought a CD player for the first time and his cousin, who was doing some building work at our house, decided to buy all the Beatles albums on CD. As he didn't have a CD player himself, he left the discs with us until he got one. This left me with all the albums (including singles compilations) to play to death whilst I was at home on my own. This left me with a great appreciation and love of their music, even though I wouldn't say theirs is my main taste. I found the recent Get Back releases fascinating to watch and devoured all 6 hours with glee! As I have said before, after starting as a drummer, watching Paul play the beginning of "I am the Walrus" in the Magical Mystery Tour film made me realise the bass player was much cooler than the drummer and got me to switch!

The guys who made the Matches?

Booked in for a visit to Zoot Towers on Friday 2nd December - whoop 😎

As a child of the late 50’s , the Beatles were incredibly important to me and my interest in pop music, which has remained to this day. Then I heard The Stones and the Beatles took a back seat for the following decades. Still a massive Stones fan, but I must admit the recent documentaries on Macca and The Beatles have made me rediscover their greatness all over again. I think that both bands have been key to most of my contemporaries, and influenced so many others along the way.

The Beatles are becoming increasingly significant to me. Or perhaps I ought to say their significance is becoming increasingly clear to me. The more I study what they did, the more I learn of the context within which they did it, the way they anticipated musical genres by many years. Their songwriting skills, their experimental side, their willingness to work with the creativity of others, their ability to absorb influences of other great artists of the time, and the blueprint they created for future generations to follow all suggest to me they were pretty damn important. I wasn't of the Beatle generation, they'd gone by the time I began my musical journey. They excited my instinct to kick against the establishment which seemed intent on repeatedly telling me how amazing they were. So I didn't pay them any attention until the 90s. My drummer at the time told me to go listen to a couple of albums, and I was genuinely astonished. Abbey Road was one and it blew me away. I couldn't imagine how it must have sounded to folk when it first came out. Mind boggling I assume .

Flying to Finland stupid o’clock Monday morning so yet to work out when I can collect but… I would like my business trip to go by quite fast please 😀