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A little while ago the Japanese Spector distributor ordered a very limited private run of Spector Euro CST's in a beautiful desert island finish over poplar burl, with an ash back, maple fingerboard, abalone inlays, EMG X pickups and the Darkglass Legacy (Haz-copy) preamp.... The finish blew my mind but I never thought I could get one. However, 2 bass sales and a very lucky timing (this bass was included in a shop 'sale') meant it actually became affordable. Cue the fantastic Danny Stewart at Bass Japan Direct who obtained the bass for me, checked it over, dealt with any declarations and couriered it to me in record time..... And here she is.... Just absolutely stunning and less than a 3rd of the price of a US custom equivalent! I think I'm in love!

Played for my Neice’s and nephew-in-law’s (is that a thing?) wedding yesterday at the beautiful Creeksea Manor in Burnham-on-Crouch. Keen readers who may recall I had a particularly painful experience at last week’s gig will be pleased to to know this one went much, much better. You may also recall that last week was challenging due to personal reasons, and I have taken steps to address them. As I was part of the wedding party for the day, I had to leave the other load in and do the majority of the setup. This massively helped me, not just my time being involved in the wedding celebrations, but also relieved some of the pressure I’ve been feeling lately with band stuff. So by the time the band had to make themselves scarce whilst the guests sat down for the wedding breakfast, most of the work was done. Just a case of plugging in my gear and a couple of mics afterwards, and a quick sound check. Everything was still dialled in from last week, so soundcheck was quick and easy. The reception was in a huge marquee, with a permanent DJ booth at the head of the dance floor, meaning the band were somewhat crammed in the corner, but still more space than we’ve had in some places. Usefully it also meant the soft drapes caught errant reflections and sounded great “straight out of the box”. Although it was quite a warm evening, somehow the thunderstorm the weather reports promised amounted to no more than a rumble and a couple of minutes of drizzle - but you could feel the mugginess in the air! Hazel, our dep co-lead singer for the night, did a fantastic job, and worked the crowd well with Liam, our other singer. At one point, they both got into the crowded dancefloor, getting people to join in on Parklife, which was a particular highlight. Another highlight was the bride’s brother singing Teenage Dirtbag (with my wife doing the girls' bit in the middle). When the bride first asked us if he could do it ages ago, I didn’t even know if he could sing. Turns out he can’t, but he’s very enthusiastic! Thankfully, he was in time and more or less in key, but moreover, he loved every minute of it, and the crowd lapped it up. Two hours of rock, pop, party and cheese later, we were done and knackered. I received a number of compliments from guests, including people who hadn’t seen us play before but had heard good things. So I’m glad we didn’t disappoint. A couple of people even said they were glad they had a good band as the DJ was rather lacklustre. Most importantly, my Niece and new Nephew were over the moon with their day and evening, and I went to bed feeling a lot lighter in mood!

Played the opening night at Wilderness with our functions band The Enrichments. Still absolutely buzzing! VID_20250801_015025_927.mp4

Hey, so I look after security at Pirate Studios and as you know I've already messaged you about this. As I told you, clearly and in writing, I didn't ban you for swearing at AI or the person who you thought was AI. I banned you for swearing at the artist support staff members who spoke to you on the phone and were trying to explain the situation to you. You talked over them and swore at them. The calls were recorded, I listened to them; and I'm not sure why you think then misrepresenting the matter on here is the appropriate response. As the artist support team tried to explain to you at the time, and I then did in writing, the alarm had been triggered by a previous customer vaping and this had been confirmed by our CCTV control room. We had called out a mobile response guard to reset the alarm but they were delayed. That was the situation you walked into, which you have every right to complain about - but lets keep it within the realm of the factual. I'd never ban someone simply for raising a legitimate concern, but I don't think anyone listening to the calls would disagree with my decision. I've now spoken to South Yorkshire Fire Brigade who referenced receiving a number of emails from you, our CEO, investors, our marketing director you started messaging on LinkedIn - so you can be assured this has indeed been flagged and looked into.

I know what you mean but I've been doing it for years and the only drawback I can see is that all my basses have gone from 34" to 35" 🤣🤣

Sorry, but I own the ULTIMATE guitar stand. It even has a sticker telling me so.

Tidied up a bit on here, I think that maybe part of this should continue as a private conversation while it is being resolved

I've got nothing until next weekend. Not my favorite gig. However, we get an air conditioned trailer. Maple Road August 9th, 2025 Major Goolsby's Stage Wisconsin State Fair West Allis WI. Daryl

Just got in from a rehearsal with my classic rock band, using my new Sandberg California TT SL. Went well though as it’s a jazz bass configuration I struggled a bit with the sound as am so used to a Precision type sound. However at the end the band said how good they thought the sound had been, with better separation on the instruments as my bass was lower/deeper. Was a dream to play though, and being 6lbs it was so easy on my back, don’t even feel like I’ve been at a band practice, was def a good purchase.

Just got in from a rehearsal with my classic rock band, using my new Sandberg California TT SL. Went well though as it’s a jazz bass configuration I struggled a bit with the sound as am so used to a Precision type sound. However at the end the band said how good they thought the sound had been, with better separation on the instruments as my bass was lower/deeper. Was a dream to play though, and being 6lbs it was so easy on my back, don’t even feel like I’ve been at a band practice, was def a good purchase.

***UPDATE*** The bass was found. And delivered at Tom Petersson's address today! It appears to be undamaged.

Well I think I've peaked today..... I saw another of the old GR410+ cabs come up for sale, didn't think I'd see one again.... So it's now mine! The one I took a punt on a few years ago is by far the best sounding and most powerful cab I've ever used, and I've had some GREAT cabs in my time! I present the 1400w 8x10" GR Bass stack of doom! 😈 Overkill? Yes. Fun? Absolutely! 😎👌

This one is locked for the moment to enable a period of calm reflection by all interested parties…..

What bass do you play? 😉

thanks Stub, long time reader, first time responder

From the other side.... When I turned 66 my dad was 90. His comment? "I'm not sure I can cope with having a son who's a pensioner..."

Not my vibe - but one for the flash gits among us 😂

I unashamedly love Reverend as a brand. Both their basses and guitars just look so cool and and great twists on classic silhouettes. Plus the build quality and pickups are great. Even though I don't own one, I reckon it was time to start a fan thread so people can post their basses (and guitars) if they want But the colours, man the colours. Just always doing something a bit different. Today is no different. A few new releases and I'm a fan of all 3 of the basses.

I know, but hear me out. On stage - a Hercules that grabs the neck and won’t fall over. No question. But at home, most stands are a bit ugly aren’t they. I saw this on FB and originally laughed - but then I bought one. I like the Danish design language and I buy most things advertised to me. https://openhagen.com/en-gb/collections/stands/products/nordic-fold-floor-stand it got me thinking about what other ridiculous stands there are out there, and I came across these. What’s that? No money for food this week? Well that’s because I bought a mini leather chair for my bass https://minimstudio.co/shop Does anyone else have some luxury stands to share? Im actually quite impressed with the Openhagen - it’s nicely made and won’t leave impressions on the carpet. It might be allowed to stay in the lounge.

Well then, with what amounts to a near runaway victory in these parts, we have a resounding outright July win for @Chiliwailer a well supported month with some great material and a worthy winner. With the formalities nearly complete ( I need to do the certificate) we will crack on with his choice of inspiration for us ... "It's summer, and if it were possible I know where I'd rather be right now.... I hope you all also find this image of trekking in Yellowstone Park inspiring." ✅ Entries must be <5 minutes and recorded between now and the deadline. ❌ No illegal samples, copyright infringements or other snide goings-on ❌ No Bagpipes, Please, I think they would get eaten by the grizzleys. ❌ No voting for your own entry. We'll know. And we'll shame you.. Deadline-wise, we will go for Midnight on the 24th Augustus ... Which in reality, means an early one on the 25th , unless I'm away on my holidays! A line or two of blurb as usual for the vote thread will be super duper smashing lovely. Good luck, Have fun

Challenge accepted 😂

Hi all, My 'Brooksy's Bass Corner' channels and platforms hit 5 years old today. It's been a head-spinning journey, that's for sure. I have a celebratory Live Chat over on the YT channel tonight from 8pm and I'll be running it via Streamyard so if you want to come and chat all things bass (or has that now officially been changed to BEHS?) either by text, audio or video, you're more than welcome. All the best, Mike

Bass playarrrghs, surely?

I don't know - reading the posts from both sides, I don't see anyone being covered in glory here.

It's OK, it's already dead.

By and large 50Hz tuning will give the best results with the average driver. Premium drivers may work better with 40-45 Hz tuning, but these aren't premium.

Progress on the main board over the last 24 hours:

Frank Skinner (voice of Ozzy's audio biography) on when he first met Ozzy. Frank: I used to be in a band who played Paranoid. Ozzy: So did I!

Sounds like this!

Hi Mate My alpha is not too far from your set up Although its a Nordy Bigman + NP4A (reverse P) with a uni pre as opposed to the J-retro. works a treat, off the top of my head there are gain trims for each pup, as well as giving it a good go over on pup heights etc, Does it work? hell yes!

I used this photo for another post yesterday This is my USA MM sterling, I was sparkly purple, I stripped it and went sonic blue nitro its not perfect, I couldn’t flatten the grain off in some areas even with grain filler, but its fine for me!

As you point out there is only one place where the fundamental makes the greatest string movement and that is the antinode. That's at the 12th fret for an open string but as you point out the middle of the string is different for each fretted note. (I realise you know this of course but others may not have looked at it this way) That made me ask the question: are there any notes where the fundamental sits directly over the pickups so I took a ruler to my bass. The answer was interesting: the 22nd fret on my Jazz bass is 28cm fom my bridge so the bit of vibrating string fretted there has the antinode/loudest point 14cm from the bridge and that is exactly where the neck pickup sits. It's more or less where the pickup is on my P-bass too. Coincidence or did Leo know something?t Anyway for any point along the sting we can work out how far the stiring will move for the fundamental and all the harmonics and you can work out a 'frequency plot' for every pickup position. We all know that there's less bass from the bridge pickup and you can get a bassier tone by picking strings further away from the bridge, that's a practical demonstration of this effect you can test for yourself. To save anyone doing the maths there are bits of software on the web which will allow you to 'slide' the pickups closer to the bridge or away from it and they will calculate and print out the signal/frequency response. https://till.com/articles/PickupResponseDemo/index.html

I drank a few beers for courage and ordered the Ibanez 😁😁

Two gigs yesterday, a noon hour bluegrass trio gig at a restaurant in North Bay where we have played before and then a set in the evening at a bluegrass festival with the full 5 piece band. Both went well and as a trio we are really getting tight on the vocals with traditional sounding three part harmony on a lot of the songs. Long day but a good one, I left home at 10AM returned at 11PM and drove over 300km. We will be playing two more sets at the festival on the weekend, lots of driving but great fun.😊

Some of you might recall that I recently bought a DeArmond Jet Star bass for the simple and highly frivolous reason that it made me laugh. Those who are familiar with the single pickup, long scale variant will also be aware of the decidedly bridgeward location of the pickup, leaving vast tracts of empty space on the body between the pickup and the neck. I think you know where this is heading. Well, a very nice chap in the States who makes YouTube videos (and occasionally posts on here - @Rib13Bass - shout out to you, bass brother) sent me a gift which arrived today... As Ozzy used to sing - what is this that stands before me? You gathered bass cognoscenti don't need me to tell you this is a pickup from a Peavey T-40/T-45. What is a person supposed to do with such a behemoth of a pickup? Oh, maybe something like this: So, the plan is to move the jack socket (currently front mounted) to the side to create a hole for the pickup selector switch. Will have to make a wee hole for a coil selector switch for the T-40 pickup. Oh and a big eff off hole for the T-40 pickup. T-40 pickup goes through the coil select switch, then onto the pickup selector switch, original pickup goes to the pickup selector switch, then the output of the pickup selector switch will be wired up to the existing harness at the volume pot. Easy as that! Now, where's my router...

Thanks for the kind words! Feel free to send me a message or email if I can help with anything. I’m always happy to chat about basses :). I post quite a bit on Instagram too if you’d like more stuff to look at!

A further bit update. I got an email back from Ashdown and they appear to be quite helpful. Rather than email anything they are going to give me a call, hopefully next week. For a company that is not getting anything, revenue wise, from this I'm really impressed. My background is as an electronics engineer before I retired, I stared off in comms and ended up in IT, so I understand that you can't just throw a speaker into any size of box and expect it to perform well. So off to do some research I went. Now I know that "a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing" but I had a go. Assuming that, as many think, these are Eminence Beta 10-B's, or a derivative of them, I checked the enclosure specs for them on the Eminence website, copy attached. Although the enclosure size and that of the BC110T are close, there is a difference in port numbers and size. I hate to ask for help, but can someone comment on these differences. Could I continue to use the port specified in the BC110T or should I go for the ones recommended in the attached. One further point. Initially I am just going to install the driver, and not the horn. My plan is to go step by step and assess performance one change at a time. Thats the engineer in me. Thanks again P.S. This is as much a project as something to use in anger. I have a couple of decent rig's I can use if I had the opportunity to play in a larger venue. Being retired I need something to occupy my time. I'm also building a VOX Phantom Tribute bass, converting a child's six string acoustic into a UBass and recently bought a Dan Armstrong body blank which will be grafted to a short scale neck I have lying around.

OK so I grabbed the Modal on sale or return and it does sound lovely. Fatar keybed is excellent. However some of the peripherals like the usb (type B !) seem a bit shoddy. It's by no means as solid and user friendly as the Hydrasynth. Will report further as I get into it, but the Yamaha MOX FX6 might have been a more sensible punt. Time to resist keyboard G.A.S !! Already got an improvised stereo rig (trace elliot ra300 ha ha) JOdeV

I think all of the Black Sabbath members have had something of a reinvention in recent times. If the stark reality of their hedonistic exploits in their heyday was laid bare and judged by the morality of the present day, I think they wouldn't be so accepted by the mainstream. I've said this before but it's a bit surreal to me as someone who's been a Sabbath fan since the 1970's to see how they've become part of the establishment and are now (rightly) seen as one of Britain's greatest cultural exports. It was unthinkable forty years ago that Ozzy's eventual death would garner such blanket media coverage and widespread public displays of grief. Sabbath used to be wild, inaccessible and mysterious. I preferred it that way. It's all getting a bit much. I suppose that in later life Ozzy was as much a raconteur as he was a musician and that's what people will miss.

Just thought I'd post the finished product. American Ash stingray body in gloss Musicman Hardware apart from Hipshot Ultralight tuners 8 Coil Herrick Pickup Controls are kill switch, then nfp filter preamp, then volume then 3 way switch (goes between 4 coil P humbucker, then full 8 coil, then 4 coil reverse P humbucker) Finally Status graphite MM neck with J Bass nut width

Wow, that looks absolutely stunning 😍 That's how the CST is supposed to look like! I think I had the same bass on my watchlist but our never-ending house renovation project kept me from going for it. Enjoy 👍

I had a J Retro Deluxe with a pair of stacked J pickups: the neck one sounded quite P like. I did find the preamp to be a bit bass boosted / scooped when set to the mid points on the controls so if it is an option to have a flatter starting point I would go for that - especially for P tones as that really is all about the mids. Not tried that preamp with a MM type. The only thing in my mind is that the right settings for the MM might be quite different to those needed for the P. MM often benefits from a bit of bass boost and a bit of a scoop and that normally kills a traditional P tone. If the plan is to use one or the other pickups then I don't see any downsides, but a mix of the two might be more difficult to dial in easily. Sounds like a great project though. When I was planning my PingRay I did think about having both P and MM but I prioritised the MM placement to match a 70s stingray and then meant the P pickup would need to be slightly closer to the neck than its usual position. So I didn't bother with the P. I did think about solving the problem by using a 51 P pickup instead as that was small enough to also go in it's traditional position. But in the end I just stuck with the MM. I might do it in future though - just for fun!

The beauty of getting as much out of a 12-string as possible is allowing the instrument to push the signal through a pair of amps. I owned a Waterstone Tom Petersson a few years back, simply pushing things through a single amp/processing wasn't the way to go. For me, I was always chasing a TP/dUg kind of tone, so a crossover was essential at the time (I used a Rolls unit) and pushed two feeds into a stereo poweramp and two cabs. The lows were pushed through something that could deliver a fairly robust phat tone (Sansamp BDDI) and the highs went through something that would deliver dirt (I went with a Sansamp GT2 which is effectively a guitar pedal and way more suited to the octave strings). Moving forward, the XB Driver pretty much emulates the above (and more). It's got a quite beautiful phat-sounding clean stage and a VERY gnarly drive stage; there's low/high filters on each of the channels (which are more suited than a regular crossover) which are engaged when the Crossover button (just below the red 'BASS' knob), which really brings the unit alive. It's a fantastic unit.

I was aware of the irony

Got my Cali ll TM SL Short ex-stock from Thomann. The only thing it didn't have compared with my configurator design was a roasted maple neck. I was happy to trade that off against immediate delivery plus a cost saving of over £400, which has funded the Aguilar pick-up set I've just had fitted. Now the Sandy is definitely 'the one bass that rules them all' - in our house at least 🙂 The pic is the shot of my actual bass taken by Thomann.