Leaderboard

Singer decided that we were leaving out too many big songs so rearranged the set list to start the night off big. It went well. Packed venue (the Horn, St Albans) with a great crowd singing and dancing along to everything. Sound was fantastic, just one of those nights where even the minor things that go wrong somehow work out right.

This arrived late this afternoon, bought as a B stock item for £167. Even took the liberty of paying it over 3 months with paypal. Gave it a thorough look over, set up and play and all I can think of is that some of the fret ends were rough. Since fixed that and I have to say I am hugely impressed with this much bass for so little money.

Sitting in the corner... the black headstock kept getting at me... out with the sander, now much much better... And to think, Ibanez cover this up on almost every SR with a facing?

DI on the end is the Orchid Electronics Micro. 9 volt was powered by USB

I've had my HB Mustang for around a month now and around an hour ago my new bespoke scratch plate arrived from Scratch-It! I cannot recommend Tim and Scratch-It enough - first class service, excellent communication, most importantly a good sense of humour, plus prices that are a good chunk cheaper than the couple of places that quoted me for a bog standard plain black plate. My original plan was to get a plain 3 ply black/white/black plate for it as I don't like tort, and the stock plate looked particularly hideous against the sea foam green finish, IMO. But for £40 delivered I have something totally unique and looks fantastic too!

The pickguard was made by Brian Pillans of https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/earlpilanz An absolute perfect fit and adds a bit of vintage vibe reminiscent of my ’69 EB3 and SG basses. The Hipshot Supertone bridge is great, I have previously fitted a 3-point gold one to my Epiphone Rumble Kat, so I knew what to expect BUT I did not expect the fixing bolts to have an Imperial thread. The 3-point bridge is shipped with both M8 Metric and SAE Imperial threaded fixing bolts but since Hipshot’s target market for the 2-point bridge is old Epiphone and Gibson basses they only include the SAE fixing bolts. Marcus at Bass Direct sorted the problem and it now appears that in future Hipshot will be shipping both types on the 2-point Supertone bridges. ( got an email from Oscar Yuan at Hipshot confirming it). Happy days 😄

I’ve not written a new bass day post before but if I don’t do it for this bass I’ll never do it. I sold my flat at the end of 2022 and my partner and I are now renting somewhere together (i.e. a home that could house two people and bass gear) while we save for a new place together. I figured that this is probably the only time I’m likely to have the cash balance to justify acquiring my dream bass (even if only for a while) so I went for it. Shortly before Christmas, I was lucky enough to have my prayers/wanted ad answered by a kind member of this forum and acquired my holy grail bass: Please meet the newest member of the family, a beautiful Wal Mk III 5-string with shedua facings. It’s absolutely thunderous and everything I hoped it would be: the preamp is a dream, the B string has the smoothness of my Warwick Streamer’s mixed with the raw aggression of a Stingray, and the gorgeous tiger-esque facings seem to move in the light. I’m sure like many folks on here, I’m a big fan of Justin Chancellor’s playing with Tool (I tried quite hard to avoid saying I am a big Tool fan/fan of Tool there) and the preamp gets me in the tonal ballpark (my playing is miles away from his though, sadly). While not really on topic for the NBD post, I was lucky enough to bump into Justin Chancellor when Tool were in London last year. I was entirely starstruck and stunned into incapacitation for a short while before recovering my senses enough to ask him if he wouldn’t mind signing a wedding card I was carrying for my brother and his now wife as they met owing to a mutual Iove of the band. He was very gracious and my partner and I seem to take it in turns to wear my/her hoodie that he gave to me at the show. Anyway, back to the post… If you happen to see me posting basses and pedals in the classifieds over the next few months, this is the reason why. A big thanks to those that helped make this happen, particularly @dyerseve and @TrevorR. May you all get your holy grails in 2023!

A few years back I importedt an old '64 P bass in bits and in quite a sorry state. The previous owner had been able to afford a neck refinish from John Kallas (owner of JohnK Vintage Guitars who's built or restored some crazy amount of instruments over the years!). However, he ran out of money and offered it as a parts bass to get it finished. When he first bought it, the entire neck & body had been stripped back & finished some sort of horrible, slightly sticky to the touch, lacquer: Here's how it arrived to me in it's original, but totally knackered, case: I contacted a few people about refinishing the body but quotes were either really high or they didn't want to take it on given how nasty the existing finish was. Then, one day, I was chatting to my good friend, and local luthier, Julian Mullen. I mentioned that I wasn't sure what to do with this albatross and he took a look at it. He had actually closed the refinishing part of his business because it was too time consuming and a pain in the donkey to try and run a paint shop. He had a good look and confirmed that everything definitely appeared to be original and that the first colour would have been Olympic White as you can see the overspray in the pickup and wiring cutouts. He then said he had just one pack of genuine US nitro paint kicking around in his workshop and it just happened to be Olympic White - it then became a bit of a challenge for him and he decided to take it on. One of the first things he discovered, having stripped away the lacquer, was that the body was a little thinner than it should be for a '64 but that he could rebuild it up using a few more layers of paint than usual. This was no easy job as it required several coats of primer and nitro with full sanding down between each one. ules is something of a perfectionist and carried this out over a long period, making sure it was completely dry and ready between every coat. He then fitted all the parts that came with it, pickguard & pickups not show in the pic above. After all this work, this is how it looks now, I couldn't be happier: All pics taken on my phone so apologies for the quality. I've tried to show the true colour of the paint and this has darkened the board and guard a little. The guard is a lovely deep red tort and the board has some really nice dark grain running through it that almost looks like ebony (it will be brazilian rosewood). Hopefully you can see that the nitro is already checking nicely and the neck has begun to do this as well (the neck was refinned back in 2011 so it's had a good 10 years to 'catch up' with the body finish). It should now continue to age gracefully

"Yes dear, I'm selling all the old parts like you said I had to. I have them listed on Reverb..."

I'm sure I've seen threads about Scratch-It on Basschat before but a search doesn't pull back the results I was looking for, so here's a new thread! This afternoon I received a new, personalised scratch plate from Scratch-It! https://www.originalscratchplates.com/ It was designed for, and is now fitted it to, my cheap and now cheerful Harley Benton Mustang bass. The new plate looks absolute class, IMO, and is a perfect fit. Not being a fan of tort scratch plates, the stock tort plate didn't do it for me and it especially clashed against the lush sea foam green of the Homer Benton ©️. I knew when buying the bass that the first upgrade was always going to be the scratch plate so had budgeted accordingly. My original intention was a plain 3 ply B/W/B plate but the quotes I got from the well known suppliers were a lot more than I was expecting. A couple of mates had had work done by Tim at Scratch-It in the past so he came highly recommended, so I took a look at the website.The website didn't have a template for the HB Mustang (Harley Benton MV-4MSB Gotoh) which isn't really a surprise as it's only been on the market for a couple of months so I dropped Tim a line to discuss what I was looking for. At all times from initial contact to delivery communication was quick, friendly, and helpful. I'd knocked up a crude mock-up of what I was looking for in PowerPoint - yeah, I know, but I don't have any dedicated graphic design software and wouldn't know what to do with it even if I had - and emailed it through with an explanation of what I was trying to create. Tim immediately understood what I was aiming for and a couple of hours later had emailed back a mock up of my design which nailed the image I had in mind and also sorted out a couple of imperfections in my original kack-handed design. And the finished product was through my door in under 2 weeks, not bad. Not bad at all. Especially considering it's a totally original design and was under £40 including delivery - and that included the mock ups, fine tuning my original idea, laser cutting the new plate from my original to ensure an exact replica and a perfect fit (none of your hand cut imperfect tat here thank you very much) as well as postage costs. Basschat is a great community when it comes to recognising exceptional customer service and Tim and Scratch-It are up there with the A-listers. Here's one we prepared earlier.

So here's a random thing I did recently... Most Maiden songs can be 'reggaefied' it seems.....

This was monstrous! Obnoxiously loud and punchy, lots of fun.

They have M&S that far north? 😁

If one is merely dipping a toe in fretless waters a good budget option is the Harley Benton Progressive - surprisingly decent and compares favourably with much more expensive instruments.

Take This Ring ～ Toni Braxton

Got a lovely unsealed maple neck on my '04 Stingray. It's got a mildly grimy vibe to it that it's had for many, many years. Don't think it's going to go away any time soon, I'd just embrace it if I were you!

My rig for our upcoming Franz Nicolay support slot

An update on my HB Mustang-alike post above. It's here and, despite not having the same nut width as advertised (it's 38mm, not 41.3mm), I'm very pleased. A little fettling and modding has taken place and now it's good to go. Got out the screwdriver, soldering iron, fret finishing kit and some copper tape (it's a bit buzzy, but so was my JMJ pre tape and this has a single coil to take into consideration) and battle commenced. Installing the balance pot was definitely the way to go for me, there are now 5 definite tones to be had with, as expected, a kind of 60/40 split, favouring the neck pickup, being my favourite. These Roswell pickups are really punchy and very articulate and not just for money, they are just good pickups, although the edges of the plastic covers are a bit sharp my liking, particularly the bridge p/up, but that's potentially an easy fix down the road (I think plain, solid tops would look ace). Ran some 800 & 1000 grit, followed by some micro mesh over the fret ends and it's much nicer, despite catching the paint work with the emery paper in the lower cutaway like the doofus I am . Some neck relief was required and seems to have settled down well, the set up is now about 2mm at the 12th, with plenty of room for more adjustment in the bridge (the tops of the saddle grub screws are quite sharp and need some love from a file). In conclusion, I'm very pleased and, for the money, I think these these are unbeatable. It stands up well side by side with my other 2 shorties and I have no qualms about gigging it, in fact, given the cost, it'll be the perfect bass for less salubrious venues, without having to sacrifice anything tonally.

Here’s the latest mini board I’ve settled on, primarily for heavy sounds, but it’s so versatile it can quickly and easily serve as a backup to my main board. Fuzzrocious Cat Tail -> HX Stomp -> Sansamp. All powered by a Cioks SOL. Si

Watching the "for sale" ads I can see that there are many of us who are downsizing or clearing out gear which we aren't using. I, for one, have far too much gear but that doesn't stop me from acquiring more. I also note that at the moment many members are selling to fund other purchases because seemingly money is tight. Between us all we must have enough parts for several builds which would be more cost effective if we could trade x for y in the marketplace. I'm looking for a gold bridge and gold tuners but have a chrome high mass Fender bridge and numerous chrome tuners that I would trade and others might want. Same with pedals which I'm sure are on peoples GAS list. I know that money is tight - the news tells me so - why can't we go back to the good old days where we could barter two fish for half a sheep? I'm putting this out there to gauge whether there would be any interest in adding a "Swap/Trade" option to the Marketplace.

How are you finding the Slicer? I used to use the double pedal version a lot many years ago and loved it. I've been using a Mooer E7 for some arpeggiator style work, but I'm really tempted to pick up the new slicer. Interested in your experience.

Because I could/wanted something else/thought it would make me sound better/thought it would look cool* *delete as applicable

I've posted on the Harley Benton Mustang thread a picture of my new custom scratch plate from Scratch-It! fitted to my HB.

For myself it was that quest for the perfect sound. In many cases it was having heard others use something and thinking it sounded great, then finding it did once I bought it. My quest stopped when I used an Ashdown full rig at a gig, it was the nearest in sound & feel to a full Ampeg SVT rig than any other brand I’d used, but in a set-up I could carry.

In my case, the never ending search for an amp that will make me sound 'better'. I have finally come to the conclusion that the money would have been better spent on some lessons and earplugs 😂 What was I looking for? Well, when I discovered class D existed after my break away from playing it was mainly having something the weight of a biscuit tin to carry about. But I eventually figured out that there was something missing to my ears after I had been through all the usual suspects on my list. Most things sounded fine at home but when I tried them with the band there would be something not quite there for me. So that covers most of the changes i think. There are a few in there that plain didn't work for me like the Thunderfunk and others that in hindsight I would cheerfully have again such as the Ashdown ABM600 or EBS TD650 And I think the other motivation for the changes is that it's my hobby. I don't really do much else apart from work and raise my family. I don't drink or smoke or spend on myself in any other ways and was fortunate enough to have a job that paid enough for me to treat myself now and again. Most of the stuff was bought second hand and then moved on without too much of a loss and the money put back into my toy fund until something else interesting popped up on here mainly. Also my wife is an enabler - she comes from the 'if it makes you happy, do it' school of thought so I suppose I don't have a braking system either.

Jesus died of a stranglew**k - The Kuntz

This has recently come into my posession, a lovely old MK4 GP11 preamp - judging by the numbers inside, it was made in May 1985. It needs some rehabilitation and a gallon of contact cleaner before being put to use but it's super cool! The build quality is fantastic. 😃

Yeah, I use Fender Flats on everything when I need flats. They can be cut to shorter scale just fine too - people say it will destroy the flatwound strings but I've done this since 30+ years, never had any problem. I have one of the basses strung with a shortened 9050 ML set since 2005 and these strings will live longer than I will.

Take comfort in the knowledge that your ruby will have a much more comfortable neck than the Blueboy.

Don’t think you can go far wrong with a puma, form factor is just as you wish, and the ‘taste’ control really gives some grind if you want. Definitely not bland in my humble opinion, but each to his own hey! My 900 and bb2 really is a one rig for all set up. Good luck with your search x

Up until Basschat: Vox 15 watt practice amp Fender Bassman amp & 410 Laney Linebacker 150 watt combo Trace Elliot GP7 300 & Peavey 115 Black Widow Hartke HA4000 amp & XL210 & 115 Marshall MB450 amp & 410 Marshall DBS4500 amp & VBC412 After joining Basschat: Your guess is as good as mine, far too many to remember but includes Ampeg, Aguilar, GK, Markbass, TC Electronic, Barefaced, Eden. Currently: Ashdown RM500 & ABM600 amps, 2 x ABM PRO NEO 210 cabs It’s funny that I have better recall for the pre-Basschat gear, possibly because I had it longer and didn’t spend a great percentage of my days online reading up about my inevitable next purchases.

Current bi amp rig for Rock/metal covers band... Laney takes care of the lows in a big way...rest runs fun stuff. Spark is a new addition simply to boost level for my P bass as its output is way lower than my Jazz and Dingwall. Would like to swap out Demon FX pedals for DG originals but simply don't have the cash...and from my research pretty much sound identical...maybe one day. Apollo 2 phaser is a staggering pedal on guitar or bass. Totally nails that Lizzy Alibi tone.... Chorus lands well for Sweet child of mine... B7k clone is set with low drive and really gets me the Harris clack along with p bass and flats. Octave used conservatively on Land of confusion ( disturbed) and lay down your love (Whitesnake) really thickens sound. Sheehan pedal ( my fav) for all the Mr Big/ winery dogs stuff... I am trialling the Joyo battery power supply with this. No issues with charge times..it runs this lot for 4 hours plus... But to reduce anxiety levels at gigs I charge it in the gap between sets... No cables ..no ground loops... No earthing issues.. and cheap...and if you don't like it use it as a battery charger for your phone..it has usb out! I ditched my George Ls to try Harley Benton solderless patch cables ..unbelievable value and am running 3 boards without a single issue ..the sockets are super compact as well. Have recommended to loads of people without issue...

@Al Krow the mothership has landed! Going all out digital. It'll keep me busy for a while - especially when I start using midi. I don't think there are many sounds this lot can't make.

This is what i landed on after a few practices and knob twiddling.

Me too.

If a spring washer doesn't work, then the tiniest drop of clear nail varnish on the thread will act as thread lock

Love this Ashdown Studio 15 for my needs, especially being 72!