Leaderboard

Friday and Saturday was QuoVention, a gathering of Status Quo aficionados in Bilston's Robin 2 venue. Seven tribute bands over two evenings including guest appearances from Quo drummers Jeff Rich and Leon Cave and Rick Parfitt's replacement, Ritchie Malone. All the bands were excellent and gave the punters what they had come for. The backline and drum kit provided for us did the job perfectly and the sound engineer put in a sterling shift over the piece. The event took 18 months to organise and was a great success. Bands and fans came from England, Sweden, Belgium. Germany and Scotland. Back to publand for our next gig to bring us back down to earth. Ha ha.

The latest addition to my main board. The daschund adds a bit of low-down character and helps to initiate conversations with women.

Option 4 - Bass tuned to Eb, and chuck a capo on the 1st fret for the E standard songs.

My Latest update with the MXR poly blue...the Lightstone Tubebass 2 @ the end of the board is the Bomb!!!

The vast majority of pictures here are of the top of the pedalboard (understandably), but I recently did some work under the hood - changed my PSU to a Cioks Sol and made a power pass through to a side mounted power socket.

Great isn't it!! here's some more info

I'm doing this in U2 Tribe (U2 tribute) I have a bass in standard tuning and a bass in Eb The songs are grouped together, so I'm not constantly changing basses It works very well for me

So I'd been trawling about on tinternet for a new Squier Affinity active Jazz (the nice seafoam green one) and in among the usual suspects - PMT, Andertons etc was a company I'd never heard of called 'SCAN'. A bit of research revealed that they have fingers in a few pies, Computers, Cameras, Gaming and musical instruments. The bass was a tenner cheaper than elsewhere (apart from Thomann) but included was free postage AND a free pro 'set up' costing £100 according to their website so I pulled the trigger hoping that things would work out well....and they did! Ordered the bass on Sunday, arrived on Tuesday really well set up, good comms, fast delivery and that free set up? Very happy bunny. Would be interested to hear others experience of Scan.

How does the guitarist manage this? Personally if 90% of songs are played as per recorded but the guitar/bass tuned down a 1/2 step (i.e. bass player in the original band plays in the key of G, you play your G but it will sound F#), I'd go with that and then play the 2 or 3 other songs up a semitone (original is G but you are hearing F# when fingering G and they actually want G... play G# and associated notes). That sounds harder to explain than it is to do! LOL

It would depend on what I needed to play and how many of the songs were challenging to play in E or Eb without being able to use open strings.

This sloppy finishing is what they chose to photograph to launch the range? Don't ever change, Gibson 😂

Only one left now, but couldn’t be happier.

A Growler means something completely different in these parts and I don't see any photographic representation! 😄

in red

They want me to sing now, the fools. I can only just play most of the notes in mostly the right order, I can't remember the words as well. Hanging Around is a bugger to play consistently, I keep missing the octave. Sample set list for your edification: 1. Mach Dich Lieber Anders Tot 2. Sometimes 3. Princess 4. Hanging Around 5. Better Change 6. Golden Brown 7. No More Heroes 8. Duchess 9. London Lady 10. Get A Grip 11. Goodbye Toulouse 12. Nice 'n' Sleazy 13. Peaches 14. Ugly 15. Walk On By 16. We Are The Firef***er

Cheeky...

Sparkly sunburst is, to me, like putting glitter on a turd to try to make it more attractive.

Love seeing your bottom

What is the problem? Simple and proven solution is a 5-string bass. If You want to stick with a 4-stringer, just play E flats an octave higher and try to imagine how much easier life could be with a 5-string bass. No pun intented, it’s just how I see it.

I first met Mark when buying my Bergantino cabs, when the Bass Direct showroom was his rehearsal studio in a barn on a farm. I feel another visit coming on.

Perhaps I'm reading a different thread to you but I get the sense that the vast majority of members here think very highly of Bass Direct. I'm sure if Mark or his colleagues were unhappy that this thread was running they'd have got in touch with the forum owners?

Ta folks, I've gone with 4 for the moment. Might change my mind and go 5... We'll see. And yes, I can see the damn tape is lifting already 🙄😄

Apologies for being late to the fight, gents. This is very true, and a great option for anybody who doesn't want to get their hands dirty putting together a varitone (Fabergé eggs are less of a challenge). That being said, I am of the opinion that the modern pickups are not as good as the originals were, or at least an original pickup that is in good condition. Kent Armstrong makes excellent repros (https://www.armstrongpickups.com/collections/kent-armstrong-bass-pickups) including a bunch of options that were not even available, such as an MB format MM Stingray pickup (I have a genuine Rautia white case MB-MM somewhere in the lair) and the MB-II/III equivalents which were in principle a pair of J-ish style bobbins like the MB-I/1E, but half-loaded with slugs/bobbins in a P-bass sensing pattern. My RSB-600 test bass runs an MB-II with an SB-1000 circuit, and that thing is gutsy. The wider half-loaded coil has a different character to a proper split P, however I don't know if Kent loads his identically to the originals. There have been excellent comments on them though, so they're an option. This might sound self-serving, but believe me, it's only snobbery 😉 but the reissue electronics are absolute trash. Aside from the LED blinker (which most 80s SB-1000 owners want for a straight retrofit) the preamp itself is as cheap as they can make it. Still using op-amps whose topology was cutting edge when Ozzy first crawled out into the smoggy Birmingham sun, plus rotary switches and pots that are cheaper than a three-dollar pistol. If one wants to restore a vintage SB-1000 to a high-end spec, I'd recommend going for a 70s-style circuit (passive mode backup is a silly place with those dual value pots) build over good quality pots, an NSF GX 321-379 rotary and one of my retrofit preamps. Like I said, this sounds dangerously close to being self-serving, but honestly....it's snobbery. Which I am aware completely goes against the thread principle being "Budget Aria Pro II SB-1000".... The MB-II/III/IV pickups were a P-bass sensing pattern under the case, but with the same interlocking ABS bobbins and wind format used in the MB-I/1E. The SB-1000 pickup is a big fully-loaded ceramic humbucker. This is an MB-IV under the hood. These were not encapsulated like the first three/four variants: Not the best photo, but illustrates enough about how Aria Pro II/Matsumoku didn't waste anything when it came to recycling parts and making multiple options over the same underlying design. This was the point where Matsumoku started to tighten their belts in design. The SB-1000 pickups had two ceramic bars, whereas the later pickups cheaped out by not encapsulating (in fact, a good thing) and using one AlNiCo magnet plus a steel spacer. What I wouldn't give for a NOS box of those ABS cases.

Yes, I used it for a lot of recording and live work with a fretless Warwick. Dead easy to get a good (enough for me) tone. Well built.

The Digbeth heads don't get enough recognition either. I was in the studio a few weeks ago and the engineer brought out an SVT for me to go through. I did use it in the end, but I was A/Bing my Digbeth and the SVT and I was getting very similar tones from both. The guy was very surprised. I'd really like a Digbeth preamp to go on my board.

Perhaps something else to consider: I like having a separate DI, I have this £10 SubZero one that works fine, but you can spend more on things like the Radial ones. It is passive (no need for power), small, cheap, tough, has ground lift, pad (with 0, -20 and -40db), and line through, they are things that a lot of expensive 'all-in-one' preamp and DI boxes don't have. It also means that you don't have to have your preamp and DI combined in a fixed position in your effects chain (although some preamp/DI pedals to have pre/post and effects loops, but a lot don't) and it opens up the possibility for using all sorts of other good preamp pedals that don't have DI e.g. Solid Gold Beta, Xotic BB, Origin DCX, One Control 360/Crimson red etc.

Personally I’d either go for a four string with an octave pedal or a pitch shift pedal to drop everything a semitone - unless it was a studio gig.

2. If it was me i would just use a 5 string.

That's @lowregisterhead of this parish @woodyratm mentioned having both a CW1 and CW2 and talked about doing a comparison video, so you're probably not crazy.

Hi Strange definition of "fun" I hadn't seen before The original work for this started with a Prusacaster (https://blog.prusa3d.com/the-prusacaster-how-to-design-and-3d-print-an-electric-guitar_71962/). I built that using an Ender 3 Pro 3d printer. I can't remember the neck I used but contrary to what the reviews said, it wasn't a very good guitar. Its bulky, quite awkward to use and I thought I could do better. The last version is a very long way from that Prusacaster and has nothing in common with it, possibly apart from a bridge. This is (I think) the sixth version. I could have brought a genuine 62 Strat if I put my own time in as a cost To build the latest version requires: 1. A pillar drill. There's a quite a lot of aluminium inside and on the back of the six string. It requires quite a lot of either drilling and then tapping screw holes in OR using industrial adhesives to bond aluminium together. The adhesives are not fun to play with. Drilling and tapping aluminium is easier but hard work. A hand drill is not accurate enough. 2. You need to be able to cut and shape aluminium to get the cut aways, so a finger file tool is helpful. You could do it by hand but thats a lot of work. 3. You need to make a lot of tools to get the drilling right OR to hold the aluminium in the right place if bonding. 4. You need quite a few clamps to hold things in place for glueing the body together. 5. There are a range of screws, from M2.5's for the back plates to a section of M3's of different lengths and different heads. I have two screw boxes each with 20 compartments of just M3 bolts. Button headed, countersunk, black, silver, cheese headed and so on of different lengths. 6. You need to be able to design a pickguard as they are specific to the pickups. You need to choose pickups. 7. You need to design and solder a wiring loom. 8. You need to be able to use a slicer to create negative volumes for printing (this makes sure there are voids) and to pause printing to add in a number of M3 square nuts. Octoprint is a help here. You also need to create different printing infills for different parts of the model. 9. You need to design the neck module to hold the neck in the right place, I have always brought second hand (and decent) necks but every one is different, so I have a 3d scanner to scan the neck to get it right. 10. You need a glue that will weld the plastic together. In the UK I use FloPlast, not sure where you are. 11. You need to be able to properly use Fusion360 as that's where all the files are. 12. You need copper tape. The actual printing isn't too bad. It's around 70-100 hours depending on your printer, a modern printer will do it quicker, such as a Prusa Mk4. I have thought about doing a BOM and releasing the files but I cannot support it and I know from bitter experience releasing free software, I had loads of people wanting help or changes, and I simply have no time to do that. Simple things like their bridge has different screw holes to my bridge, how do they change it in Fusion 360? Perhaps FloPlast isn't available in the UK, can they use brand X or brand Y glue? I use metric screws for everything, in the USA, metric screws are less popular than imperial, so can they use a 1/8" as opposed to an M3. Can they even buy an M3 square nut in the USA? How do they align the neck properly, I made a laser guider to check its correct, why did I do that? Because I made a mistake in the measurement, cut and drilled aluminium and was out by a mm. Learnt my lesson the hard way as I threw about 2-3 days of work away. Nothing in the above is difficult to do in isolation, it's a lot to do if you've never printed a guitar before. If you really want to print it, I'll help you do it, with no issues from me, but I don't have the time to put the files up and show people how to make it and make a BOM out of it all. Thanks Rob

I love Tobias basses but they're long gone as an entity, this is just a shape that Gibson owns. if I wanted a cheaper version I'd keep an eye out for a used Korean Toby Pro from back in the day and stick some high end electronics in there, or just get a K series MTD which is the real budget Tobias. These do look nice though, it's such a killer shape. This is £400 if anybody is in Edinburgh and wants to save some £ https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/684422607244565/

So I spend £4k plus on basses over a few months and I don’t even get a sticker. That’s it, they’re dead to me now…..

My uke-n-backer!

They will be bloomin' expensive in the US if they're Chinese made given recent events...

I just spoke with Dawn at Status and they are NOT closed at all, she let me know that they are currently not taking new orders but are still up and running for strings/parts/cases/their knowledge etc...

Ibanez should make an SR300 Passive, with a Single P Ultra Sleek 5 Ply Jazz Nut Neck, 24 Fret, Worn Pebble Comfort Body, Single P Pickup, mine is wearing a Kent Armstrong Hot Vintage @Andyjr1515 waived his hands over the body...

I haven't got much else going on, Dave, so why not use the time productively. TV is unbelievably s***. No gigs. Practice loses its appeal when you have no gigs to prepare for (I do practice reading, though - guitar and bass dots). And I read a lot of books. You would be surprised how much you can get done when you really want to.

It’s best not to change half way through the survey as the results will be affected, but adding the advice from @Burns-bass (if you agree) into your Methodology section would score you extra points if you self-critique; getting in there before the person marking it does

I came across Washington Miniaturas on Instagram and had my own mini bass made. Great comms with the guy who makes them, it took a couple of weeks and only cost about £120. It’s about 30cm long and even comes with a cute little stand!! I highly recommend him if you’re looking for a miniature version of your own bass (I mean, who isn’t?). Check out his work on Instagram, they’re brilliant.