Leaderboard

Well… I love 51’/tele basses. Had a very nice custom shop “sting” and have had a MIJ reissue at some point. Saw this on a facebook page and just went for it. Thanks to @walshyfor doing the middleman bit. So spec is Fender neck - stripped, nitro refin guitarbuild ash body, nitro BSB fralin pickup Gotoh reverse machineheads bakelite pickguard bakelite saddles etc some posh pots and capacitors etc. Fender covers all slot-head screws as per early 51’s needs some tweaks to suit, but it’s ace. slightly heavy at 10.5lbs…but it’s a resonant chunk.

Annual Otis Jay Blues Band show at the local Forest Arts Centre, New Milton. Sold 100/130 tickets for a three-band bill - all good clean fun and a joining-in audience to boot. Great to have pro sound and lights. Sandberg VM4, GK MB200 through Barefaced Two10, DI’d of course.

So about 9 months ago I became a double bass player - I bought a second hand Stentor '1950' bass in a very fetching blonde - and was lucky enough to get a spot in an established rockabilly band within four months of starting to play. That's not some prodigy genius, that's hours and hours of practise and 40+ years as a guitarist. All in the garden was rosy ... well, I kept looking at eBay adverts for double basses - not sure why - I mean one 'musical wardrobe of doom' in ones lounge is a big enough statement 😁 Luckily my wife thinks upright basses are lovely bits of furniture as well. These other basses I looked at were all fixer-uppers, as I am fairly handy - owning a guitar pickup company helps ... as does a father and grandfather who were engineers. However they all were a bit pricey considering they were unknown quantities two or three hundred quid is a lot to shell out for something with no bridge, a fallen soundpost and poorly done neck repairs ... so I kept my hand away from the bidding button. Then late one evening I saw it - bass shaped standing by some wheelie bins in the pic - no idea what size 3/4 or whatever and £49 with no bids ... er ...and no scroll and peg box either!!! So for fifty quid it came home with me ... Well, I determined it was old 3/4 (but quite dainty and slim compared to my Stentor) plywood ... Czechoslovakian ... I think, not valuable in the least (especially wrecked) with a painted (and thoroughly manky) fingerboard. A perfect candidate for fixing up. My first thought was to graft on a scroll and pegbox, but the guitar builder in me reckoned it was probably easier - and a more sound job long term - to replace the whole neck. I know - I'm a certifiable loony - but after I copped a look through the unoccupied end pin hole and one look at the two honking great wood screws holding the neck (as well as god knows what glue) I thought 'no ... that there neck has got to come off, and if it's going to come off I'll replace it with a new one - and fit an ebony board - So here are a couple more views before I started . .. ... nope the flame on the neck (like that on the body) is painted on. Normally if this were a guitar I'd have used hot water to soften the glue and with palate knives and wiggling I'd have removed the neck intact. The fly on the ointment here are those two big screws ... so butchery was needed sadly. Plenty of measuring up first ... This is where I planned to get the ball rolling by removing the neck along the dotted line My Japanese Ryoba saw made fast work of the sad bit ... and left this As soon as I saw evidence of PVA bodging adhesive I went for isopropyl alcahol rather than hot water to start freeing up the bits of neck I'd sectioned out (being careful to avoid where I thought the screws were. and there she blows and it's bloody HUGE - the plan had been to wind it backwards into the body ... but it was so loose it just fell in. Lots more dribbled alcohol (sounds like my weekends) and the other one put in an appearance Messy ... but we can fix that. Extraneous holes to fill with properly cut wood plugs (not dowels) and loads of claggy white glue and hide glue to clear up. I measured the heel block depth and cut a plug for the central slot/hole from a part salvaged from the old neck heel ... and will cut two more for the old screw holes. So for those that are interested ... I have ordered a neck and fingerboard from China maple/ebony ... it'll be interesting to check out the quality ... I bought some tuners for my Stentor and they were amazing for the price. I made a dummy neck 'plug' so I can re build the sides of the neck pocket against a 100% square sided former. and this plug will be used in drilling for the neck bolts ... yes this bass will sport a bolt on neck More soon.

Found it…

I shan't say anything other than this post is offensive. Carefully considered offence. Especially to those of us with hearing loss or those of us that have been doing this for a long time and have evolved with many ƙinds of tech. So, what's being said here is that because I'm passionate about big valve amps, I like my hearing impairment? It's difficult to interpret this in any other way. It's a nasty vibe. Hearing loss/impairment is not a joke and ACS wasn't a thing we were aware of in 1985. It's rare that we see such a vibe on BC. The original post has the sanctimonious air to it that tries to belittle those that don't align or agree. Vile.

If anyone is inclined to opt out of this month's challenge due to real or imagined ethical concerns about this months pic being AI generated, here's a pic of the real Ralph in a rare moment of being awake during rehearsal, guarding my pedalboard for some reason.

Free reverb available till the 22nd of May here: https://www.soundtoys.com/product/spaceblender/ SpaceBlender is your portal to a new dimension of space and time effects. It’s an experimental reverb that lets you create unreal and imaginary spaces – shapes, textures, and tones otherwise impossible in the real world. Not had a chance to have a play yet, but the site I found it on said that another reverb hasn't impressed them the same way since Valhalla (which is also free and worth having for all of your psychedelic space sounds!).

My main ‘band’ is an acoustic / electric duo, ‘Milestone’. What makes us unique? I think it is mainly how we let our audiences pick what we play. At most of our gigs ( decent pubs, cafe bars and private parties ) we run a request system, where we put forms on the tables with space for 3 songs, then try to play them! We do anything from the 1920’s to the 2020’s really, and have literally thousands of songs to call on. Of course we get plenty of requests for stupid or little known stuff, but we try to cater for as many styles as possible. We both sing, and sometimes the limits of just having acoustic guitar and bass can be rewarding as well as limiting. What do we have that others don’t? A truly phenomenal guitarist and singer. My mate Gary is generally acknowledged as being ‘the’ guitar player in our area, and never ceases to amaze both me and our audiences. He can play pretty much any style of stuff, and sings well too. My role is to keep things anchored and add harmony vocals, and somehow this combination works really well. We’ve been doing gigs as a duo for over 30 years ( without ever having one rehearsal! ) and have developed that telepathy that makes playing together so much easier. Our best selling point? We can play gigs anywhere! We can adapt what we do to suit pretty much any venue / occasion. Last week we played at a rural village hall for a VE Day party, this weekend we are in a great local music venue full of musos who come to check us out. Birthdays, weddings, themed parties, pub acoustic gigs, we do ‘em all! Gary is a pro player, and I’m semi retired ( after being pro as well) so we can ask for good money too. Areas we can struggle in ? Not much really TBH. We do tire of playing some of the more obvious stuff, and sometimes have to chuck in a few of our choices to compensate. Also two blokes in their late 50’s / 60’s do have some limitations , but we manage pretty well most of the time. I absolutely love being in the duo, and can’t imagine it not continuing for a while yet. It’s great having just your best mate as a colleague - none of those stupid band politics to contend with, although he can get a bit loud after a couple of glasses of Pinot 😆

Well, I just made Grand Master somehow, clearly not for my bass playing. Is it a coincidence that it’s also my birthday?

I bet someone sent him a telegram at the time slagging him off

IEM rigs work great for some players, doesn’t work at all for many players. It depends very much on the particular application and situation. I don’t like it where a player denigrates another player’s choices based on only their particular choice, even if that choice may not reflect the other player’s needs or situation.

Happy birthday!!! I had no idea, but it turns out I too am a Grand Master. That's bait.

So, I basically only play Rickenbackers these days, not that I have loads. I have a Fireglo 4003 from 1999 that is my main bass until I started travelling. Last year I bought a 2009 4003 in Mapleglo, which after Fireglo is my favourite colour. Then, bored, late at night I came across a 1984 Mapleglo 4003 on Guitar Center. I don’t know what more to say, it’s basically the same bass but older. Neck shape is different but every Ric has always been different for me. It’s incredible

I thought a “sound check” was the only opportunity for the guitarist to practice, no?

Your focusing on the practical protection for doing this rather then the principle here. Tech companies (billionaires) are using media and content that has been provided for free on the internet to train its models and effectively replace humans in the generation of creative endeavours. And charge us to do so. It may not mean much to you, but for lots of people AI will be an existential threat. In my industry it already is. This stuff is funny, but it normalises what is effectively theft. 16,000 artists against it here: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/jan/21/we-need-to-come-together-british-artists-team-up-to-fight-ai-image-generating-software 1,000 here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyd3r62kp5o.amp More here: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/10/24/artists-statement-opposing-artificial-intelligence-content-scraping People against machines aren’t luddites looking to stop progress. AI (in its current forms) isn’t progress. It’s derivative rubbish.

Gigging in a pub? Soundcheck 'till you're happy. Gigging in a ticketed venue? Be done and dusted before they let people in. ...IMO, of course.

Option 2 every time. You can't sound check at low levels as you won't hear the low end. You have to sound check at gig level. No need for 5 minutes though! Line-check everything then do 30 seconds of a section of a song where everything gets used (IE don't check the verse without BVs, check the chorus with BVs).

I think whoever did that has moved beyond the realm of supplying a semi-vintage bass at a more affordable price into out and out fakery, no matter what they say. Luckily they don't really know what they're doing - I may be wrong but I don't think any '60s necks had employee name stamps on them - that was a '70s thing.

Thanks for all the kind comments. The original mix is actually a re-purposed version of something I wrote back in 1984 for the synth-pop band I was in at the time.

I'm now a one-man band (that's what I am, nobody knows or understands) after being forced to leave my covers band through illness (stroke) So my unique points are: 1. No gigs, no audience (except my cat who doesn't rate me at all) so readily available 2. Unique wobbly sax tone (embouchure shot) 3. Quietest bass sound ever (headphones only for occasional practice with Youtube) Perfect for funeral parlour mood music,,,

Read some of @joel406 other posts last night, seems he only has one thing to say, but boy he really does like saying it 😒

As it turns out, I can! I didn’t realise there was anyone still making them - but there’s a fella on Facebook who’s in the Future Impact group, and I’m now in touch. Yay!

"So much for free speech in America". Funny how those who bang on about "free speech" get twitchy when others exercise their right to it, isn't it? Btw, this is the UK. Instead of being a grown-up and saying "Let's agree to differ", they throw insults around and behave like kids in the playground. I suspect this is because they are really looking for validation, so when someone disagrees with them, they cannot deal with the existence of a contrary opinion and take it as a personal affront. Truly a sad state of affairs. Love the thread title, too. "How freedom feels", rather than something adult, such as "I prefer not to use backline". Enjoy munching those freedom fries and wearing that MAGA hat (which, if you check the label, you will find was made in China). You have yourself a wonderful day

It's quite clearly a reshaped Harley Benton headstock. Bunch of amateurs.

They didn't - as I think I mentioned, slab boards were phased out in '61/62, and didn't show up again until 1984. That neck is in no way authentic. I'd guess Warmoth/Allparts with Fender Pure Vintage tuners. Actually, thinking about it, one of my statements is inaccurate- slab boards would have featured on the original Fullerton reissues, so 1982 was when they came back, not 1984. The neck in question is not in any way a Fullerton reissue however.

I joined a new 'second' band last month, and at a practice with them they have an XR18 and each have a P16-M, and it is genuinely amazing - I have been playing with a mono IEM for many years now, but after that one practice, I don't want to do that any more! Luckily for me, I don't have to as the singer and guitarist don't have IEMs, they don't like them, so it is me and the drummer, so no problem getting stereo apart from the wireless. I use an XVIve iem, which I am happy with, but la while back I bought a really cheap lekato MS-1 that was just over £30. I assumed it would be poor, and because I got something else at the same time, I never got round to trying it. I tried it last night, and it really worked well. So I have a gig on Sunday and I am going to use it there.

I tend to dip in and out of Alborosie tunes , I used to play a lot of his basslines, I’m liking this and we all recognise the bassline

Another one on the 'Reggae Fever Oldies, Vol 1' compilation: Prince George 'Babylon Kingdom Fall' 🔥

When he shows the headstock. Clearly a slab.

Having a standard pre-agreed half song or chorus to quickly run through after telling everyone in the room what you are going to do seems to be a fairly professional way to do it regardless of who is already there, and saves the back and forth as to what the band wants to play or random jamming (which feels somewhat less professional!). I can possibly see how IEM mixes may not change much between gigs and thus a soundcheck is less necessary, but I don't think I would ever NOT want to do one!

What is the budget? The other question is, do you have any brand loyalty. If the thread goes on long enough you will end up with recommendations for every major bass cab known to man. As @taozero said above, The LFSys range could suit but similarly the Barefaced range get a lot of love too. However those long stretched arms will need to dig deep into your pockets for those. It is barely a secret the @stevis has been working on a new range and I know they are close. These will be lighter and lower power handling but two should do it.

Not soundchecking is extremely unprofessional. No faster way to clear a busy pub than starting the gig and sounding shit. You'll never get booked again.

I welcome any AI that can crunch millions of numbers and free up time for more important stuff, or advance healthcare. However, when it comes to the arts & creative, be under no illusion - AI isn’t being pushed for the good of humanity. it’s being pushed because it’ll make rich people richer. It can’t create anything new, and all it’s doing is diluting the gene pool with sludge.

Phenomenal back catalogue (on guitar as well) and overall contribution. I think she also still does online tuition. What an underrated artist, and seemingly without huge ego problems.

I’m in the ‘jacket covering the headstock’ camp I’m afraid 🙂. Si

If you're going to soundcheck then do it properly and quickly. We play in pubs. We've played together for years. We are very familiar with our equipment. A quick line check is plenty - does it make a noise? If so then stfu 😂. It's very rare that it doesn't sound good from the start. There again we only have the vocals going through the PA. There is absolutely no need to mike up the drum kit in the Dog and Duck and spend half an hour trying to get the kick drum to take out the back wall. Keep it simple, keep it under control.

'51s are the new black Andy. You watch, this time next year they'll all be playing them 👍

Are your certificates here ... BC cert April 25.pdf yes, but I can't see it DOH yay , done it Edited to put the correct cert link in

You're in a band with Elton John? Well played.

We have one song that uses all our elements and also doesn’t appear in our regular set (that’s key to the soundcheck). It has vox, backing, all instruments and the drummer’s FX pad. We tell the audience we’re gonna have a quick sound check, play the intro, a verse, a chorus then end it. Then tell the audience we’ll be back in ‘x’ mins. I have a wander out front while we’re playing the verse to gauge everything then nip back on stage for BV in the chorus.

I've a fond spot for those threads which provide an answer to a question that wasn't asked, always entertaining

Here's the deal on Sovtek and Chinese tubes: In the West military devices, like radar and communications, converted to SS early on, being much lighter than those powered by tubes. The USSR didn't have the SS tech that the West did, so they stayed with tubes much longer. Tubes also had the advantage of being immune to electromagnetic pulse, which fries SS devices. That was a concern during the Cold War. Without the demand for tubes for the military and civilian devices other than musical instrument amps, and because making tubes is environmentally a problem, Western tube sources disappeared. Since Soviet gear still used them, and they didn't care about environmental issues, tube suppliers in the Soviet bloc remained. Musical instrument amps remain as the #1 users of tubes, most of which still come from Russia, China and Slovakia. Those that are still made in the West are much more expensive, as their manufacturers have to adhere to environmental regulations that pretty much don't exist in Russia et al.

I sort of hope it is a mod - I rather like it if so. In the first image, it looks like the head could be tucked inside Billy J's bassist's jacket? The second looks a little more clear but still hard to tell. I expanded the images as much as I could - anything but get on with work.