Leaderboard

About three weeks after I ordered it, the acrylic light-up 5-string bass is here. Unusually (IME), it came in a foamy bag in a polystyrene box and nowt else - no cardboard box. So, to avoid polystyrene particles everywhere, the box got opened outside. It was almost in tune, so no need to send it back. I fine-tuned it and had a little plink. It needs setting up - the neck is slightly back-bowed and the action a little high but it's quite playable. Checked with a micrometer and the neck is about 22.5mm at the first fret, a bit thicker than I like - probably about 5-string Precision thickness, not a complete baseball bat. And now the bit you all are wondering about: It did interest Pixie the microcat. One of the LEDs at the 24th fret is out but I don't really want the stress of sending it back for that. There's a single PP3 battery to power the lights and the bass itself is passive, VVT (the T doesn't seem terribly effective). Sound is pretty good, the neck pickup has a nice mellow tone to it. I need to find out if I can get Schaller straplocks onto it. So that's another task. I suspect I'll need to use the original screw2s to maintain the thread in the acrylic but fortunately I do have a pair of mark 1 Schallers sitting on my desk. It's a bit on the heavy side but I generally play seated anyway so that's not a bother. Not something to play a whole set with but I fancy doing a few songs with it.

Difficult gig last night but also a huge honour to have played. Found out earlier in the year, one of my long term friends called Matt has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and has only got about 18 months to live. We go way back, something like 32 years and he used to follow one of my old bands and eventually became our roadie. I actually met him in 1991 in the queue to see The Alarm at Brixton Academy and when my other friend introduced us, he told him I play in a band which Matt responded by saying, I bet you're not very good, you'll never play Brixton Academy with your band. Funnily enough, exactly a year later, we found ourselves playing Brixton Academy, not once but twice and my friend Matt was actually there as well. We'd planned to play him a private, intimate gig sometime in October, with family and a few friends. However, he found out he now only has 3, 6 to 9 months left so we brought the gig forward to last night. He had no idea so it was a huge surprise for him as he thought he was just leaving Cardiff to see friends in Reading. We had people flying over from Germany and driving to Surrey from Portsmouth and Cardiff. Anyway, as you can imagine, it was a very intimate gig which was in a beautiful church in Wokingham. We set it up as if we were doing a rehearsal so the 12 or so people were really close and involved and felt part of the band. We had a joint friend play some Alarm songs first and then we played. It was very moving with lots of tears and the family couldn't thank us and everyone enough. A very special gig and not quite processed it all yet.

Delayed update to our weekend adventures as I was cream-crackered after it all! Saturday we played at an exhibitors-only gig at a steam fair near Taunton, out in the back of beyond surrounded by railway lines belonging to the West Somerset Railway. The ground was still pretty wet after all the rain but no real problems. The crowd were farmers, steam and real ale enthusiasts and they intended to enjoy themselve to the max! From an 8:30 start we ended up finishing after encores at 11:30pm - got back home at 1 am. While loading up we found we had to dodge around half a dozen traction engines and steam rollers parked up right outside the marquee, chuffing and puffing (that was just the owners!) - the first pic was taken at midnight - my Jeep on the left, 10-ton steam things on the right... I was up again at 7am for the local West Bay Days event - I'm on the committee as treasurer, entertainments booker and stage manager, as well as playing bass in our band at 5pm, so a pretty full-on day finishing at midnight after paying the last band. We had six acts this time: Nina Garcia, a very talented local country-oriented solo vocalist/violinist with backing tracks Sugar Rush from Weymouth, a three girl + 1 bloke heavy metal band (yes, really...) Mustang Sally (my lot doing a wide range of covers 1960 - 90) D-State - very competent covers band in a more 80s-10s vein The Loop - A funkity funk outfit d'Ska Assassins - a seriously good six piece ska outfit with great audience interaction Being on both sides of the event (booker and performer) I immediately saw that I'd made a mistake by booking the lady-driven metal band. They were all very good musicians - their young bass player was the equal of, or better than, any of the others there that day. Their vocalist had Tina Turner-level lungs, and their drummer and guitarist were equally good - yes a bl**dy good outfit - but NOT for a 3pm slot with many young families and old farts in the crowd, which rapidly halved in size when they took over from Nina at 3 x the volume. Wrong band, wrong event, wrong slot - my fault. My lot had fun and a very good reception, and as both organiser and player I was glad to see the crowd filling out again for us and the acts that followed. The crowd redoubled again for the Ska band, the skankers went bonkers and it finished up a great evening nicely. We appear to have made a very good profit on the event and will be making donations to local good causes as a result - we're not-for-profit - but OMG I'm still tired after stage managing, playing, then today counting and banking the takings! The other pix below show me spanking my new-to-me Harley Benton short-scale, an aerial view of the stage area at night, and the start of the fireworks display. The vicar on the committee claim that he's only 'in sales and marketing' but weather-wise I'm sure he knows someone very high up in management!

Of course Gibsons are made in a garage. It explains their terrible quality control.

Cici here! Well, sadly I can’t help being a girl, and I have long hair because I like it. It has nothing to do with my playing, and I’ve never rested on my looks to gain followers, nor am I interested in anyone who does. I take great pride in being the best musician I possibly can be, and it’s about the music for me. I also dedicate a lot of my time to trying my best to help other people pick up the instrument, sharing any info I have, and seeing where I can push the instrument in my solo bass jams. I’m not interested in being an ‘instagram girl’ so please don’t diminish me to that, and take the time to truly look at what I do (whether you like it or not is fine). Thank you.

I’ve noted a few discussions lately on the Squier Classic Vibe 50’s P-bass, so I thought I’d post my mods to one that I did a while back - at least a couple of years ago. I’ve always had a fascination about Chris Squire’s modded Telecaster bass - since seeing that picture on the little booklet that came with the Fragile album. When the Squier CV’s first came out I thought to myself - hmmm, you could do a nice “Squire” modded version to one of those. So, the first thing I was going to do was to add another pickup at the bridge position - then things went a little bit crazy. Seeing as it is an “inspired by” rather than a clone I thought - what about a humbucker in the neck position ? A mudbucker would take up too much space, what about something alternative - how about a Ricky, given the Squire connection. After a bit of rummaging around the internet I came across Creamery pickups in Manchester. As it turned out, as well as a toaster, I ended getting a set of 52-Pbass pickups too - Alnico 2 for the middle and an alnico 5 for the bridge. A three hole telecaster control plate was bought which needed a little bit more routing of the existing cavity so that the concentric pots fitted. A Jazz Bass pickup cover was used to cover the bridge pickup. In a final bout of madness I got the luthier who did the work to add the “Squire” decal. How does it sound ? Well, the middle pickup has a lot of that early 50’s sound - great attack and definition. Maybe not as much weight as a 57-Pbass but has some nicely judged mids. The bridge, having alnico 5’s is quite aggressive but not thin and nasty. I think if you like Jean Jacques Burnel’s sound you’d like this bass. The toaster has less mids than the P-bass pickups but has a bigger bottom. With all three turned on it sounds almost active ! So, all in all very pleased with the way it turned out. Going forward I might be tempted to sand down the back of the neck for a more satin feel and get a bone nut installed. I really do like the smaller body shape on these basses - very comfortable. Sorry for my ramblings - hope you enjoy !

I can also recommend this, for... err.. the inside story.

Latest incarnation - fairly simple, but high quality. Hugely impressed with Genzler gear.

I happen to be a card holding member of The " Old Farts" union. Blue

… and if you really want to get into the detail and the nitty-gritty of Fender from the start through to 1970 then this is the place to look. The depth of knowledge and level of detail is phenomenal (not to mention the fabulous images) - and it was certainly news to me that in the mid 60s Fender toyed with a ‘slant frets’ instrument (the ‘Marauder’)!

… on the subject of excellent books on Fender, this is definitely worth a look. It offers a detailed look at Fender over the first 75 years, covering most/all of their output - guitar, bass, amps, keys etc. It also comes in a very natty tweed-style cardboard wrap. Not reliced!

Now this looks good! https://www.boullard.ch/en/product/guitars-bass/basses/electric-basses/4-strings/201377-fender-limited-edition-mike-kerr-jaguar-bass-rosewood-fingerboard-tigers-blood-orange/

Can't believe I've done this. I've been playing for 25 years or so (with a gap of a few years in the middle) but I'm no more than an enthusiastic amateur. My main 'gig' is in the band of my church. Always said that one day I'd love to get a really nice bass, and that day has arrived. Sold my previous pride and joy (motorbike) and have put some of the funds to work on this. Just had delivery of this beautiful Sandberg California TT4 in aged rochfort blue. Just getting to know it a bit, but overjoyed with first impressions on noodling about with it! I love the attention to detail which has clearly gone into the aged finishing.

OldGit did that to me once... I sat in with his ceilidh band so he could play his bari and do some calling. He knew I hate soloing and that the last thing on god's earth I wanted was to take a solo. I'd even reminded him. So of course, halfway through one of the songs he was calling, he turned with an evil grin and pointed at me and bellowed "BASS SOLO!". And the entire band stopped, leaving me all alone. In a song I didn't know. In B flat. The git.

The posted image does have gold hardware too, but it's not that clear due to the reflections. TBH I'd rather get a Squier SS Jag and some cool pickups and design my own.

Aw boo, "tiger blood orange" isn't a what3words location

ABM1200? It doesn't go to 2 ohms, its just to ABM600s power sections in the same box, each power section is the same as the ABM600s power section, and each has an output that can go down to 4 ohms.

Nice work Ash, does make their initial response above look a bit daft - just looks very similar to it - may as well add "it`s a bass, they all look the same".

Yes, just firming up a date. Hopefully will be announced very shortly!

It'll be full of Gibson branded tat, it's not about selling guitars at all, anymore. They're trying to position themselves as a "lifestyle brand" like Hard Rock Cafe, Harley Davidson or any other business you see dopes paying crazy money for the privilege of advertising and associating themselves with the logo. It'll be clothes, umbrellas, stools, fridges, ashtrays and any other overpriced crap you can stencil a label on. Bleed authentic, as that creepy guy said in the video. Coming soon, for all your overpriced merch needs, the Warwick Wigwam, the Orange Outhouse, the Marshall Mausoleum and the Fender Fold-up Bed. Buy, buy, buy!

Just had confirmation from Tony this morning..... Pretty cool this and this £129 is out or was out on a European tour that included many festivals including Glastonbury!!!! Get one bought guys

Of course Rob recovering is the main thing and were he not to have continued in any way that would be understandable. Whilst I'm sure they'll be very well made, they're just not what I'd be looking for in a Status sadly. The main question is, how will they get by with no 11th version of the Kingbass?!! Just think of all the Mark King fans wailing into their handkerchiefs realising that they still can't get a new Kingbass (affects high pitched voice) "exactly like Mark has it to play Mr Pink on!"

Warning — he has a deep passion for bass and bassists. I wouldn't go to his house if I were you.

Effectively identical to a Teisco EB-100 'Tulip', but a circular pale patch on the headstock means it's a Kay. It oozes Kay quality... or teh lack of it, maybe 🤣 At least it's possible to turn the tuners by hand.

Dead Loss Angeles - The Stranglers

Both made by J Douglas Guitars in Leeds. First was the multi coloured, so pleased with that I asked John to make another, this being active.

I've never used pedals when playing live, partly because a pedal board its something else to lug around, takes up valuable floor space on stage and is yet another source of something to go wrong. I've seen boards on here with 20 or more pedals, does that mean that even when all are bye passed the signal still goes through 20 patch leads and 40 jack sockets? If so I'm surprised anything at all comes out the end.

Yeah new to me too - I'll get it and see!

The Status Graphite Facebook groups are buzzing with news of new Status basses, the Series 23 with graphite-reinforced maple necks with phenolic fingerboards. Rob has updated his site too. Exciting, but weird too!

Well that sounds like a store you'd pop into once.... think it looks nice then exclaim "I'm not paying THAT much!" and leave, never to return... The article also references Fender opening a flagship store in Tokyo. I guess they don't need one here as most guitar stores have boring walls full of their gear anyway...

I don't have a problem with import taxes and VAT. IT's been an accepted part of buying from outside of the EU in the past, and I have probably bought more musical instruments from the US and Japan than I had from the EU. From my PoV I just have to accept that everything I buy from abroad will incur VAT (and import duty depending on the price). What I do have a problem with is the increased unreliability of shipping for anything coming into or leaving the UK and the increased administration/paperwork for anyone sending stuff abroad. @Steve Browning who hopefully has the relevant information: Are all these import/export item codes and EORI numbers something that was in the pipeline anyway for international shipping, or was it specifically triggered by the UK's leaving the EU? Even the mighty Thomann aren't immune from these problems, because while they may have sorted out the calculation and payment of VAT and import charges at source they are still insisting on using DHL for UK deliveries and returns, when it has been proven numerous times that the UK part of the organisation are simply not up to the job.

Primarily meant for my banjo-dobro hybrid, but still works well for bass too:

Really pleased to see Rob back in good health and seemingly not ready to give up. My chances of being able to order a new Kingbass went from 0%, to about 1%. So, it's progress at least.

2 statements. I haven’t played a gig in the last 20 years. I didn’t ever play a gig with a pedal. Bass - lead -amp.

Definitely check out LTJ Bukem and the Logical Progression, or Progression Sessions series. They came as a two disc set, one with MC’ing and one without. The genre was billed as “intelligent drum & bass”. They are heading for 20 years old now, but I think have aged well.

Noticed this on Amazon the other day and bought a copy. It's an interesting read for those of us who look fondly upon these rare instruments.

Gigrig Quartermaster is good.

And I went with the Harley Benton jb-62 jazz bass, rather lucky for me I ordered it for the bargain price of £105 new and the week after the price went up to £138. Anyway aside from some fret buzz from some uneven frets it is actually very nice, there neck feels nice and the caramelised maple neck looks miles better than the horrible stark white maple necks that are on a lot of basses, the nut seems well cut, tuners are surprisingly pretty good, not gotoh or hipshot by any means but better than what is fitted on most of the Mim Fenders I have played. pickups sound good, nice and bright, punchy, does that cool scoopy jazz tone with both on full and as good as any stock jazz bass pickups I have heard, even the stock tort pickguard is pretty well done Now I just have to find the funds to get the frets sorted and I will have a cracking bass