Leaderboard

Anyone who has read my recent posts will probably get what NSSBD stands for, but for those wise enough not to have read my previous outpourings, I shall offer you a clue. I have bought a Squier Mustang bass to try and beat the osteoarthritis in the fingers of my left hand. Today I have played about 6 times more than I have been able to play in the last six months. I'll add a pic if really necessary, but it's a standard Olympic white/tort/rosewood substitute Mustang. The Fender natural finish with PJ pickups played and sounded much better, but I was reluctant to spent over £600 on what is basically an experiment to determine whether I can continue to play bass or not. If it works, then it's worth every penny.

I shall look at the short scale bass thread after dinner. I bought a Squier Mustang today and have played it without any complaints from my arthritic finger(s) so far.

And if you forget the B in your Basschat search, you get a call from your IT department

It took forty years but I'm finally playing bass live after four decades of session and live guitar: Bought this and a Mustang SS last year, Upgraded to pickups to these Tone riders and replaced the electrics No flats, no fun. I've got Teles that weigh more than this, And used in anger at the bank holiday blues jam at the Bull in Downton: Hmm its only "The Thrill is Gone" but suddenly that Gma7 arpeggio on the turnaround is a lot further away than on my Tele... Digging in behind my new favourite Tenor player, a righteous blower who came up the hard way and paid his dues... as a Consultant Plastic Surgeon for the NHS... Liking this live bass playing thing and the VM SS Jaguar is definitely the right bass, just need to let my right hand find the sweet spot for my thumb, perhaps a thumb rest is in order. Peace out, A

Same for me Mick, my Mustangs have given me the opportunity to keep playing with bands, I think I’d have had to stop otherwise, though would still have played at home.

First time I picked up my SS Ray it felt like it was playing itself - remember those days? - days when playing was effortless, days before playing became physically strenuous - age does that - I joke with my aging friends that the MOT on this body has run out and it requires fixing up. Bad back? Got one...arthritis - yep, that too. Father Time conspires to take away that which we have always relied on. If a short scale bass allows us to cheat Father Time for a short while then so be it - I'll take any time or anything that allows me to keep playing.

They seemed to get some moderate response on the videos I saw… sometimes, with a “tough crowd” - put on a blinding show…not every crowd is going to fawn over you. maybe it was a timely reality check for a moderately popular/successful group who think they’re big time.

24 Hours from Balsa - Gene Pitney

I installed the PU’s today…tested. It actually plays very good with minimal adjustments. No shim. I lowered the strings a bit, a 1/4 turn on the truss rod. Sorry, I took minimal pictures.

You get baseball caps with pics of fish on just thought i'd mention 😄

So if you think someone else is not doing the grown up debate and trying to provoke a fight, why don't you do the grown up thing and ignore it and move on?

Further testing today. I added a nut to the output jack so it wasn’t so high on the control plate. And..I had to insulate the jack area from the paint-on shielding. It was shorting out the treble PU. It seems to have a very different sound from my other walnut bass of the same basic design. This one has a Maple/ebony P neck and new and improved PU’s. It sounds like it has more low end from each PU. Especially the neck PU. Played through this rig. Very smooth sounding if that makes sense. Especially for Rotos. More testing required. I’m taking it to rehearsal tomorrow. Also, for single coil PU’s, it’s very quiet…at least in my house… Thanks for your interest

Dalmatian Alley ～ Hawkwind

But not in Thaxted.

My Harley Benton Acoustic Bass is called Diesel, after my Black Labrador

The Model ～ Kraftwerk

Missed that last post, apologies @Reggaebass. Found an aged style string tree on eBay for a fiver - fitted and now we're done! (Apart from maybe a thumb rest or tug bar. Set up needs done but going to let the strings and everything settle until the weekend then have another look.

It's still no excuse for a newspaper article to consist of twitter posts. That's not news.

Two fantastic shows this weekend. One was a private function for a super-wealthy individual. We played in front of his lake on a mezzanine over a swimming pool and koi pond (and gymnasium with boxing ring). It was quite the eye opener into a very different world. Last night we closed a local festival to a brilliant crowd, many of whom had turned out just for us. We had a pro crew in filming too. No proper pics yet, but I’ve swiped a few from people’s facebook pages.

Yeah, great idea to slag your audience off. Doesn't make you look like a total and utter c*ck at all. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/royal-blood-big-weekend-mike-kerr-b2348031.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR36yc1vCTGt5kT-JSeruwMD6FYHOP-_Y8XGj87PhRbe2UV4d5rlVHdp9Mg#Echobox=1685430098

A Seafood Song - The Divine Comedy

I've had two signature basses. Firstly a Yamaha BJ5B which is the Terry & The Blue Jeans (well known Japanese surf band) signature bass. It was a limited edition of 50 instruments and the only way to get a 5-string bass with the SBV body shape without having something custom made. Unfortunately for me, other than the shape it had nothing in common with the SBV as everything else was taken from the TRB2. And combined with the fact that it was by far the heaviest bass I have ever owned, it was sold on when I had my big clear out of unused instruments. I currently own an Eastwood Hooky Bass 6. I have to admit that I'm a big fan of Peter Hook's bass playing, but I wouldn't have this bass if it wasn't for the fact that it's the only Bass VI with a suitably wide neck for my playing style. This is now my main bass with one of the bands I pay in and I can see myself keeping this until I can either get a Gus Bass VI made with the same neck width, or I no longer have a need for a bass VI of any type. I don't have a problem with signature instruments, apart from the Eastwood Hooky, the signature instruments that I have been interested in have been down the specifications of the instrument itself, and most of the time I have zero musical appreciation for the musician with whom they are associated.

Keeps the transformer away from the mic pres - less chance of noise. If something goes wrong, it's going to be the PSU, so again, user replaceable. So from a consumer pov, probably makes sense... and also makes the unit smaller.

The Headphone out can be reassigned to Aux 5 and 6 is you want. The design of the Ui series is such that it can be used as a stage box, as it is only 100mm/4" deep. Also, you can unscrew the rack mount ears. So that makes it much smaller. The downside is that it uses a brick power supply. It is a locking connector however and and can be velcro'd to the side of the unit.

Me too, and even worse when they call a car "she"....

I use a gator pedalboard bag, it’s a perfect fit for my extras, with a headphone case inside for all the small stuff. plus Two IEM/guitar combo cables three different length mains cables two guitar stands mic and lead, backup psu’s and a stereo 3.5mm cable. Plus a mic stand iPad holder in the outer pocket.

I have such a massive aversion to naming inanimate objects…. like cars and guitars. They’re just things…. not family members. But each to their own.

The PU’s are laid out like a Rickenbacker 4005. It’s wired stereo. Neck pu has plenty of bass and the bridge pu has the crunch. I run effects mainly on the bridge PU when I use them. Mix at the amp settings to my pleasure. In stereo mode, there isn’t any scooping…of course…in mono there is.

Mine are called "This one", "That One", "The One Over There", "The Other One" and "Darkinblad the Brightlayer, Destroyer Of Worlds".

+1 for the TC BAM 200 which I use as a practice amp (attached to a Warwick 1x12 kept at the rehearsal space)/spare. XLR and headphone out.

The maple Precision with maple fretless neck is called Sting as it's a replica of the bass Sting played in The Police. The sunburst fretless Precision is called Starburst after my wife said the colours looks like a starburst. The black fretless Jazz is called Lisa after my favourite violinist, Lisa Germano. The fretless Stingray when I owned it was called Pino.

The ToneMonster

Rock Bottom - UFO

Me too, but the element of surprise had lost its effect by the time I reached the 5th post

Now I wanna Sniff Some glue - The Ramones

Where did you get one of those? The wife, I mean...

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...

I have the Super Vintage as well and I love it. Just like almost everyone else, I run it at the end of the signal chain, as you'd do with an "original" amplifier. My setup is: Wireless/tuner, Compressor, BassRig I don't have much "drive" in the sound, just a very slight amount to colour it a little. I took the initial settings from the ones Origin suggest in the manual and tweaked them a little to suit.

Next is lining up the bridge. If ever there was a 'measure 14 times, drill once' it's this! First thing I did was to check the full movement of the bridge rollers from fully forward to fully back. Probably enough for a square-on positioning - but there's no point in even banking on that and so I will incorporate a modest backward sweep to aid the intonation of the bass strings. Then to position, I fitted a couple of strings, threaded through the stop tail to the outermost tuners and taped it into position. I could then slide the roller bridge under the strings and position it to scale length on the top E with the roller fully forward (intonation for the top E is usually relatively close to scale length but, if anything, will be a teen bit further back - it will never be shorter than scale). Then, once I'd positioned it so that the two strings were where I wanted them in relation to the fretboard sides, I could press the spike of a bradpoint drill in to mark the centre: Then use a forstner for the bridge insert-holes: And finally, with fingers crossed, hammer the inserts in and try it! Big phew! Then the same process for the stoptail. And, at this stage, I couldn't resist a quick mockup . There's actually a LOAD of stuff still to do, but my excuse for the indulgence is that I need Alex to 'play' the fitted strings so that I can fine tune the profile to his specific needs...so that means, at least, that the 6 strings need fitting. And surely they would be lonely without a few knobs and switches teetering at their intended positions: Oh - and it would be churlish not to wipe some of it with a damp cloth to see what the final colour is going to be ... I think it's going to be quite a pretty guitar! And that has Basschat up to date with Guitarchat. There'll be a week or so's gap before any more progress - I need Alex for the final fit of the neck profile and his availability and mine over the coming week or so mismatches to an almost impressive degree!

Just completed the 2nd to last weekend of gigs on our 'Bootleg Rock Show feat. Leather & Lace' tour! I'm loving it so much I don't want it to end.... but I'm sure we'll do it all over again later this year/early next year and possibly some European dates to come too! 👍😉 Friday We played a fun 'club' gig at The Concorde Club in Eastleigh, Hampshire. Stripped back production but same setlist and a much more intimate setting made for an enjoyable night for all... Saturday night was back to theatreland at the seaside classic Hunstanton Princess Theatre on the North Norfolk coast. Probably the best audience response so far on the tour...and we're really playing as tight as a 'gnat's chuff' now! 😉

Isn't one of the main reasons for switching between fingers and pick to get a different tone?

Do a Metro Express m5-24 you cowards

Always glad to oblige, 🙇🏼‍♂️. Actually, if anyone needs/ would like assistance with anything J-related (Japan, not just Jazz) please shoot a PM across. It'll be nice to have something to distract me from the STWA thread 😂. Happy to post links to local sites too...