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This sunday was my bands first gig this year. A nice three band matinee, at the Fiddlers Elbow in Camden with us opening the show. Decided to take the tube, so went as lightweight as possible, my bass (mendel Precision) and my tech21 dUg, going through venues Fender Rumble. Stage sound was great, audience was very receptive and we had a nice little suprise... We are an originals band, but frequently throw in a cover of Staring at the Rude Boys, by the Ruts. As were playing it, the Ruts bass player Segs walked! We had a nice chat later - great chap. All in all, a very enjoyable afternoon!

Hi BC-ers Firstly, Russ, thanks for your kind concern for my health. I'm glad to say that I'm very well and feeling good. Apologies for being elusive on the support side during recent months, but unfortunately, needs must, as outlined below. (I'll respond individually to those who still have outstanding enquiries) To explain briefly, what started out as a minor production blip with some custom parts further snowballed, compounding the issue to a level that required a good deal of hands-on work from me for several months to keep things rolling. Thankfully, we're through it all now, and our UK assembly supplier has bounced back. This period highlighted a weakness - support relying entirely on me. So, now there are 3 email support tiers: Info, Sales, and Technical, to facilitate sharing the load.

Last night saw my duo return to The Blue Boar in Aldbourne. What's been a good regular venue will sadly be ending soon. The current landlady / landlord are retiring and the local gossip is that they are trying to get out the contract early. Our show was moved back a week due to other music activity in the village and I think that hurt our audience as I had a lot of people who were coming who suddenly weren't. This was my local until we moved and I have been out of the loop. When we arrived the clientele seemed much younger than normal. The barman said afterwards that he thought being goth would mean we were very metal which to me summed up what an awkward fit we've always been on the local music scene. We set up and the younger crowd gradually left. Prior to going on, we had an audience of my wife, my stepson and a guy who'd added me on social media a while ago and I didn't know him! However, we were getting paid and I learned that the pub is open so sporadically at the moment that recent shows haven't been well attended across all acts. A genuine shame. The twist was that we played really well. I was on mandocello for most of the first set, finishing on the bass (my trusty long scale Hofner Verythin). The second set was three on guitar for me and the remainder all on the mandolin. My step son has Down Syndrome and stole the show by shouting "yes!" when I announced that we'd be taking a break in a moment. It was funny! He's a big supporter of the band as amongst other things, he really likes Nick (my musical other half). Thankfully it started to fill up a fair bit during the second set and a good night was had by all. Honourable mention must go to Nick's 87yr old mum, who apparently ironed our backdrop for us! I'd have done it myself, had I known it was bothering her!

Now to proper neck shaping with the first of my vintage tools a Stanley 10" spokeshave. Bought for £14.00 on eBay ... you will have to pay an awful lot for a modern tool as well made. Nota a Footprint (made in Sheffield) scraper in use too. Old, well made tools, if they are looked after, are a resource we can pass on to the next generation. In a throwaway world they feel wonderful in the hand and do a superb job. The neck is getting there ... and is WAY lighter! The brilliant news is that acetone rips off the old finish on the body beautifully ... so game on! Next the bridge gets the attention of my Stanley No 4 smoothing plane. This one is my pride and joy and gets sharpened and stropped till I literally can shave the hairs on my arm with it. It leaves a surface that barely needs sanding.

Finally been sent my FI4 VIP unit. Lovely. Obviously thanks are due to @GisserD who designed his own aftermarket mini housing years ago which undoubtedly created the groundswell for this official Panda one to eventually happen.

Not really a review, rather a shout out to RightOn. I've got 3 of them and find them excellent. However, the reason for the post is my most recent purchase. I emailed them late Sunday evening regarding a custom strap design. Nothing too elaborate, but they don't sell one I wanted. Had a reply 1st thing Monday morning saying that they could make it, no problem. Payed, and had an email confirming. It arrived this afternoon. From Spain!! In a lovely box, and purple tissue paper. Thats what I call good service. Many thanks RightOn.

NBD!!!!!

Latest State of the Board. Still thinking if I should get a comp or a chorus pedal

Sadly the video files we have of this bass are too large to upload but here’s a link to our Facebook page where you can see it https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1CTLc7Rn87/?mibextid=wwXIfr Here’s more pics of the finished bass

It's soooo nice to play!

Thank you so much for posting the update. She looks beautiful, to see his name on the headstock made me 😢 but the positivity she will bring will be amazing! I found Nick's original drawing of her at his studio. He too was talented at DT at school although he was always too busy impersonating our teachers!! Kat 🩵

Prawn in the USA - Bruce Springsteen Surely that should be Salmon Dave..?

Last Wednesday . I've been documentaryfied.

If you don’t want it going through your personal account, set up a separate account for the band with someone like Starling and make all payments in/out of that. 10 minute job to get one up and running.

Well, I bit the bullet and dipped my toe in the water of nitro spraying a body and headstock front. Previously I had only used oil finishes and wipe on polyurethane. I must admit it has been a very steep learning curve and introduced me to the world of grain fillers and sanding sealers. I used a Okoume JB body from China that was already semi-finished so was routed and sanded to an extent. I had not really heard of Okoume but I believe it is from the same family as Mahogany and is being used more often for guitar and bass builds. The neck is from China. I can honestly say the Chinese stuff is really top notch in respect of the quality and finish. The biggest issue, as I used rattle cans and sprayed in the back garden, was dealing with little pieces of crap been blown onto the finish when wet due to not having anywhere inside suitable to spray. I used Northwest Guitars paint and gloss lacquer as well as gloss lacquer from Nu-gane. I’m not sure I am in a rush to use nitro again as it is not as forgiving as finishing with Liberon Finishing Oil but certainly the clearcoat is a lot easier to rectify runs/burn through etc than using the poly. Blending in the headstock decal was nerve racking as well as the drilling holes for the pickguard, bridge, tuner screw and reaming out the tuner holes by a couple of mm as I was anxious about ruining the finish and having to go back several stages. I would also choose a 21 fret neck instead of 20 from now on as the fretboard overhang on a 21 neatens up the join where the pickguard meets the neck heel. Overall for a first spraying effort and only my 4th build, I am really pleased with how the bass has turned out……is it factory perfect?…absolutely not but for the intended sale price it is a fantastic looking and playing bass. if you’re interested in buying, it should be on the BC basses for sale thread in the next week as I am just waiting for a replacement bridge pickup as the first one was faulty, Specs are: Okoume body Roasted maple 20 fret, black block inlay neck with rolled edges Guyker tuners Gotoh bridge Wilkinson M Series pickups Bloodstone Guitarworks wiring with CTS pots and Spragg capacitor running volume/volume/tone Schaller type strap buttons I will get it weighed as soon as it’s all back together. I have and continue to learn so much with each build and my next ambition is to get to a stage with my knowledge and tools where I can turn a body blank and top into a body myself, route it out to attach a pre-made neck. My ultimate goal is to be able to make the necks as well but baby steps as they say…..

Hi to all fellow bass players from Cornwall (and Basschat members too). I'm also from the Bodmin area and another old guy (pushing 70). I don't gig or even jam, just enjoy tinkering/noodling with my 20+ basses plus a few six string guitars, synth, and keyboards. No idea what I'm doing - just keeps me sane on rainy days !😂

Chicken tikka - ABBA

What's for certain is that a decent passive Fender can sound as good as anything at any price. I prefer that raunchy Fender tone to most very expensive boutique basses.

While pretty basic compared to many of the examples in this thread I'm still pretty pleased with my latest DIY pedal - the Quasi-Jive! I had started to make a stripboard Jptr Jive when I realised a Zvex SHO clone PCB would get me 95 % of the way there. I added my favourite of the clipping diode options from the original Jive, and voilà! I'd like my toddler to decorate it but I'm not sure he has the attention span to finish the job.

So pleased its turned up in one piece! Let us know how you get on with it

My journey to double bass is like that of many, via the gateway drug of the EUB. The biggest difference on arrival at a real double bass is the string height/action and the physical right hand effort you have to put in to get the lower strings to speak with clarity and volume. Having transitioned, I went back to my NS NXT and raised the action up to double bass heights and gained a far more double bass type tone. But, as Ned Steinberger himself says, the NS EUB’s are not intended to be replacements for double bass, but are in fact to be considered an instrument in their own rights.

Roger Walters? I think he's Julie's estranged brother. Used to be a good brickie back in the day, eventually got sacked for tearing down the wall.

Finally been sent my FI4 VIP unit. Lovely.

NBD and my first Dingwall! Pic don’t do it justice. It’s prettier in person and is freakin’ light! Didn’t take long for my hands to adjust on the fanned frets

Im going to try to arrange another lesson, largely because playing his was such a different experience and demands a playing style completely at odds with my setup My natural style is pretty busy and harmony via melody/counterpoint driven, which my bass seems suited to, so Id be interested to investigate a completely different style and setup. Living in a fairly rural area, Ive not found anything in the way of jazz sessions near me (although the annual bray jazz festival isnt that far away) but there are a few irish folk and trad sessions nearby. It would make sense to learn a style thats more in keeping with whats available locally. Then, of course, theres the matter of owning an appropriate tool for the job. Best have a look down the back of the sofa and establish my budget...........

Yeah I just put it in my name and send payments to the other band members. It also makes it easier doing my tax self assessment as all the band stuff is in one place

By the sounds of it, 'f-ck all' can be defined as 'what goes on in the area where @neepheid lives'.

Now I want a pre with fondant fancy shaped knobs.

Happy days. Mr East makes exceedingly fine preamps.

Just bumping this to the top

Sole Only - The Police (again)

I mean for the price it’s worth it simply to use as an amp & cab modeler - you’ve got an insane amount of free open source NAM models/captures out there. From what I can gather you can run 9 fx blocks too making it more powerful than the Stomp (I’m not actually surprised, cos as great as it is, the technology is a decade behind). There is midi control too so you can presumably set it up so you can control those fx blocks via midi? I think this is a sign of things to come - over the next couple of years (or sooner!) the technology for all this stuff is going to fit on a tiny chip and it’s going to be able to be sold from manufacturers in China for buttons. I know you’re paying for all the R&D with something like the anagram but I think the days of paying a grand+ for modelers/digital rigs are coming to an end - the technology is going to be too good and too cheap elsewhere

Not been in the Cherry Tree since late 80's / early 90's too. Wasn't my fav pub to be honest. I had a few run ins with the locals when i was in my late teens and they tended to frequent it. 😂 Have you tried Girdwoods in Wishaw. Played it a few times with punk band and can be a good night. Dave

My Beedster II:

Simple rock covers band board. A pedal snake covers all connections: instrument chain to amp, send and return loop and 9v power. They all sit on a PedalTrain Nano. Right to Left: 1. SFX Microthumpinator (essential, wonderful, genius). 2. Korg Pitchblack XS Bass tuner (novelty over-priced trendy bass-specific tuner) 3. Origin Effects DCX Bass (always on posh tone enhancer/drive, sparkle box). 4. Origin Effects Cali76 Compressor (always on posh compressor) 5. TC Electronic Chorus (uses TonePrint Duff Chorus but dialled down a bit. Used for quite a lot of the set).

UPDADE!!!! It's arrived with Bass Direct and they're sending it out today to be with me tomorrow! To say I'm excited is an understatement... Update on the update - I have a tracking number! I may actually do an unboxing video on this one, I've never ever bought something like this before, a custom bass...

So I've made a tool to hold everything safe, secure and flat. It's now adjustable and is designed for 9.25" radius necks. Its easy enough to make it for flatter or rounder necks. I can move and adust the position of everything to keep it balanced. I've made it so it fits a guitar neck as well, so there's two clamps on the drill. This is a broken Squier neck from something. It appears that somebody drilled through the neck and out through the fretboard (wasn't me). Using this as a test to learn from. This is the 5mm drill and the laser guidance. I know the depth is 18mm as I already tested it. First 5mm dowel And all four done The lesson to learn here is don;t make the dowels too short First drills done. Drill, glued and inserted. Now we leave it for 24 hours to dry. I'll probably cut the dowels with a Dremel and then file down the tops by hand (carefully). Rob

TTFC's second gig last night at The Garden, Chorlton. Venue used to be Font Bar but has just changed hands, so all the signs still say Font. They're just getting live music up and running, so there isn't a ready made audience there yet. Fortunately it's a local gig for two of us so we brought quite a few people, to the extent where I knew almost everybody in the place! It's got a lot of potential once it gets a reputation and people know there's music on. Bar staff were super chilled and helpful, always a bonus and never taken for granted. We played well, although I made more little mess ups than I should have. The drummer is fettling the recordings, so I'll be able to agonise over them at my leisure soon despite being the only one who noticed on the night. Two 1hr+ sets and 30+ songs (most of them new to me) that haven't all embedded into the muscle memory yet. Gear was Fender Japan Kazuki Arai Jazz 5 -> HX Stomp -> GR One 350 -> PA. Footwear was Vans classic lace ups. A couple of phone clips from friends. If anyone can figure out how to let me resize them please shout up! WhatsApp Video 2025-06-07 at 00.13.50.mp4 WhatsApp Video 2025-06-07 at 00.13.48.mp4

Whilst we still have a handful of jobs left to do to fully finish the Nick Smith Midas, today saw a massive step forward seeing the frets leveled, crowned and polished, electronics wired and fully assembled and strung! We heard her voice for the first time today and the pairing of Aguilar Amplification HJ pickups and two band cut/boost preamp are sounding sweet! It feels bittersweet that Nicks vision has reached this point yet he won’t be able to see it or make it sing 😢 She’ll now be given some time to settle before setup and the last few jobs completed at which point we’ll tie down and announce the details of the charity raffle!

Thanks for this interesting review @mcnach ! I've owned the Joyo MA-10B for years and even recorded a small demo with it on a 6 strings fretless bass and it handled the low B quite decently ... at a low level. I also owned the Caline CA-100 B (around 85 GBP) for a moment, but didn't like it as much as the Joyo MA-10B, because it had to have the compressor and booster always on to get a usable sound. All the specs are here: http://www.calinemusic.com/index.php?m=home&c=View&a=index&aid=167 Then I bought this new Joyo DC-15B (around 185 GBP): it sounds like a real bass amp and has all the features of the expensive Boss Dual Cube Bass LX you reviewed (less the app option, plus 3 electric guitar amps sims and 1 FRFR acoustic guitar sim, which is my favourite for my fretless basses). Everyone trying it at home with a guitar or bass is simply amazed. I even rehearsed with it with my bass duet and it was fine sound wise. Funnily it's the size of a car battery... All the specs are here: https://www.joyoaudio.com/product/291.html