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If you haven’t seen it in ‘build diaries’ I’m about to turn this modified Musicmaster into a lovely fretless.

Good News - Guest Update I have confirmation today that Matt Gleeson of Monty's Guitars has agreed to come along and do a chat, demo and Q&A session on Monty's bass pickups. He'll also be telling us about Monty's future bass products (really exciting stuff) and will be listening to all your feedback on needs and wants regarding bass pickups, preamps and anything else. There'll be some Monty's booty in the raffle too. There'll be a couple of Monty's-loaded basses for you to try out and we'll be offering a pickup fitting service on the day if anyone wants to buy some and get them fitted there and then. Donation to charity £TBC for pickup fitting. We've agreed to do the demos through a couple of different amps (full valve, hybrid analogue, Class D) using an LFSys Monaco @stevie so that we get as transparent and as full a sound as we can from the pickups.

None of us will get bigger than this. A few years ago I played with an ex-ELO guitarist. ELO were playing a packed Wembley Stadium. The keys player was first on stage and had to press a button on the keys which kicked off a preprogrammed introduction and the first song. The whole band would join in at various points. It was pitch dark on stage, about 70,000 people started cheering and the keys player hit the delete button! That was it. No backup, no introduction and no first song.

I bought a flight cased Peavey 215. The seller helped me load it into my hatchback, but when I got home I found it was so heavy I couldn't get it out of the boot!! In the end a neighbour had to help. I was very red faced after this one. There were 2 gigs, one was called Blues On The Farm and the other was called Blues At The Farm. I went to the wrong one! I turned up at Blues On The Farm in Billericay to discover I was the only person there. The band was waiting for me at Blues At The Farm, in frigging Chichester, 156 km, a 2+hr drive and 4 counties away!!!! It was a festival and fortunately the 2 bands after us were already there and didn't mind going on early!!

Fretless neck is here. Bolted on (first time I’ve done that) and tuned up. It’ll need time to settle but it sounds brilliant! I’ll leave it for a day or two as currently there’s a bit of back bow so once the strings add some force the other way it’ll either be right or need some truss rod adjustment. The fit and finish of the ebony board replacement is great, I think it’ll come up really nicely with some epoxy.

New strings. I mean - WTF?

Well, this is a NBD thread I honestly didn't expect to make. Some of you might know that back in September 2024, I set myself a challenge - to achieve a "giggable" bass in a £150 budget - new parts only, ignoring postage costs. The core component of this challenge was a bass I spied and really liked the look of - the Fazley Hot Rod - a no-nonsense, pickguardless FSO, reverse P, volume only. Bax are the only vendors of these as far as I could see so even though they were out of stock and on back order, I laid down £84 for the bass. Yes. £84. Unfortunately, most people know the story now - Bax went bankrupt in early 2025. Womp womp. And you know how it is with companies going bust - the customers are at the back of the queue when it comes to making things right, so honestly I had written it off. But, Bax coughed back into life after being bought over. Then I started getting emails suggesting that they would be honouring past orders. I was sceptical, but I played along, answered any questions I was asked (confirming the order details, and a bit later on asking if I still wanted to wait, or take store credit). I opted to wait and have the order fulfilled as originally intended. Well, would you believe it? Look what arrived this morning... I tell you something for nothing - there's a lot of bass here for £84 (well back in September last year they were, they're £94 now - oh no!). It's the neck which surprised me the most - absolutely no raggedy fret ends, and even a very slight attempt to roll the edges of the fretboard. No swarf in the nut. Tuners are serviceable - not the smoothest turning but no play in the gears. Bridge is a BBOT - it works, nothng more. The only places I could see where money had been saved are in the finish - it's a bit uneven in places (but you have to look closely in the light to see the unevenness) and then the pickup. The stock pickup is comically low in output - I was giving it a test in my Tascam Bass Trainer and with the input level set to 10 (the maximum) the Fazley was barely getting to half way on the input monitor! Of course, the stock strings are hot garbage, thin, rougher than Rotos and went straight in the bin. In probably the quickest time from receiving a bass to replacing the pickup (about an hour and a half) I had the stock strings in the bin, the fretboard oiled (because it looked as dry as a camel's hoof) and the stock pickup out and a Tonerider Duke in there. What a difference! Much better output. The stock strings weren't giving the truss rod much to do - after I put my beloved D'addario XL nickel rounds on it, the neck was a banana and I had to tighten the truss rod three quarter turns! Further tweaking may be required, but I gave it a quick and dirty setup and now it's playing great. So that means so far I've spent £119 (£84 bass and £35 pickup), leaving £31 in the budget. I was expecting to have to change the bridge and/or the tuners, but in all honesty they have been unobtrusive and perfectly serviceable. Which leaves more room in the budget for some silliness/extra credit. I think I will fit one of my preferred Sire/Reverend style 3 string retainers, and I will fit a silly knob - which was the plan originally, but I stole the one I ordered and put it on the Epiphone Em-bassy (which I got when I was sure that this one would never materialise). EDIT - because people like to know - this particular bass weighs 3.6kg - or a smidge under 8lbs.

I’m 5’6” and I play a Dingwall. I look, frankly, ridiculous.

Noticed at half time that one of the PA tops wasn't showing the little blue power light. Waited until the rest of the band were looking the other way before flipping the switch on the back.....

Having owned this beauty for a fortnight now, I have to say that it not only looks stunning, but plays beautifully and sounds just like a good Spector should! 😎 I'm impressed with the onboard Darkglass Legacy preamp too - a decent attempt at a Haz clone for sure...

I was waiting ......... until I have enough experience. But as a teaser .... I too have had a Monaco for almost a month. 2 Pub Gigs 2 Outdoor Festivals 4 Rehearsals On it's own in my "music room", it's REALLY GOOD. I've had 2 * Vanderkey 12 EXT's, Mesa Subway 15 plus 12, and a Barefaced SuperTwin. The Monaco in terms of a really even and pleasant sound across the frequency spectrum, is the best yet. Gone is the endless tweaking EQ to tailor the sound. In Pub Gigs, I can hear what I'm doing, the band can hear what I'm doing (😳), to the extent that the drummer keeps telling me my bass is too loud in his monitor ( even though it's not going through his Monitor!), and, unprovoked, the Guitarist likes it, and say's its so much more "even" across the frequencies than previous cabs. In rehearsals (which are in a small space and VERY loud, it's great ..... no problem with volume. At festivals with full (BIG) PA, it's good, but, I'm driving it with my ABM 600 cranked to stupid volumes which I'm uncomfortable with (as much gain as the VU indicates is "OK" and master volume at 3 O'clock!!!) This is because the band are not used to utilising Monitors which have more than vocals in, and in both festivals there has been no floor wedge for me .... so stage volume is necessary for the band. Still great, and the sound is fine both on stage and off. But at 8 Ohms, I'm worried about the ABM 600, which might be running out of puff. So, not a speaker issue!!! So, could buy another one, or get a bigger Amp. Trace Elliot TE1200 now with me and in my music room it's great ......... rehearsals and gigs next week .... I'll keep you informed. One other point It's really easy to carry around and transport ..... much more so than 2 cabs or the bigger Supertwin. It a big hit with me!!

A few pics of my archlute (Austrian, 1973); sometimes referred to as a theorbo, but a theorbo is more usually a shorter baritone instrument, whereas this is the full bass daddy, an inch under 6 ft long. I do play Renaissance 8-course tenor lute (included in last 2 pics) for scale) but I've had the archlute lying around for years without getting to grips with it. Actually not an insurmountable step, as it's essentially a standard fretted tenor lute with a set of unfretted bass drone strings on the bass side, like a harp. It was mainly used for continuo playing to accompany voice and/or other instruments, but there was solo music written for it mainly in late Renaissance / early baroque Italy by composers such as Kapsberger . A few regrets with this as I traded my favourite mandolin for it (a 1975 Mike Vanden F5), but if / when I finally hang up the bass guitar I'll hopefully have the time and motivation be able to tackle learning it. Also the 5-string banjo sitting idle in its case.....

Remember, he who dies with the most toys wins!

Au contraire - I love new strings. Zingy and clean sounding. Woooonderful! A guy came up to me on a gig last weekend and commented that it was so refreshing to hear "the clear articulation and individual bass notes". I rest my case, your Honour. 😁

Not quite... "Pocket" can be described as a “sweet spot” where the music feels solid and unified without feeling overly rigid or stiff. It's sort of more "feeling the groove together" rather than rigidly playing to a metronome. It's like the difference between some heavily music-schooled jazz bands that, while exceptionally tight and right-on-time, just lack that syncopated groovy feel.

If anyone was thinking of fitting a Hipshot Xtender onto their Sandberg Lionel you need a BT7 which is the closest match as advised by Sandberg Only slight drawbacks are the ferrule hole needs enlarging very slightly and you need to drill 4 small holes. Other than that easy fit and works great!!

Well, the first cabinet is finished(ish). It just needs covering and tidying up. With a large degree of trepidation I tried it for the first time tonight. I was a little concerned as the amp output is rated for a 4 ohm cabinet and the speaker is 16 ohm. Having spent the whole of my working career in electronics I knew it was safe, as the load was higher which meant the output would be considerably less. But what would it sound like as I'd used a different speaker than the cabinet was designed for. Well it sounds great. With all the EQ controls on the TC Electronic amp set at 12 o/c I had a huge range of tonal control just using the guitars tone control, and as for volume it's all I wanted, enough for my jam sessions and more than enough for small venue gigs or open mic's. I decided to omit the horn on this one, I am thinking of using the tweeter that came out of the damaged Ashdown cabinet in the second build. If it doesn't work I've enough ply left over to make several more front baffles. I didn't extend the port, I used it as it came at 120mm, so perhaps some tweaking there at a later date, but to be honest I don't think it needs it. When I turned it up in the dinning room it rattled the light fitting in the ceiling. I've bought some 4 way stretch camper van carpet and spray glue to cover it, in red to match the amp. Thank you so much to Phil, Bill and everyone involved in the original design and in supporting me during the build.

Anyone remember the Sue Ryder bass frenzy years ago? That was BC hype in full swing 🤣

Some people can get away with it... Didn't know what time it was The lights were low I leaned back on my radio Some cat was layin' down Some rock 'n' roll 'Lotta soul', he said Then the loud sound did seem to fade Came back like a slow voice on a wave of phase That weren't no D.J. that was hazy cosmic jive There's a starman waiting in the sky He'd like to come and meet us But he thinks he'd blow our minds There's a starman waiting in the sky He's told us not to blow it 'Cause he knows it's all worthwhile He told me: Let the children lose it Let the children use it Let all the children boogie

Problem I have is that dressing like a tart in a Glam band means most punters think I’m a roadie once out of stage wear so I never get the hero worship I deserve 🤣🤣🤣

Last gig while soundchecking, no sound from the bass. Soundguy "Is the amp switched on?". Me "yes". Now in my defence it looked like the amp light was on. But it was an outside gig and it was just the sun shining on it, making it look bright. When the sound walked over and turned the amp on I looked like a right 🤬 I've only been gigging for 40 years 😖

Now the excitement starts. Work is coming on apace. Quilted mahogany front and ash body.

Panicked at Rebellion when setting up, no volume from the bass at all, due to start in less than a minute. Hadn’t pushed the jack plug from my lead fully into the tuner.

Gently lambasted someone on the "newbie fret buzz" thread about which way to turn the truss rod nut (left or clockwise), then promptly went and tightened my truss rod when it needed loosening. Muppet.

Went to a friend's studio to train up a new trio drummer, and wondered for two hours why my TC Electronic Plethora Tone Print pedal was bypassing fine, but silent when switched on... I'd got the input and output cables plugged in back to front. Duh!

What’s the matter with you man? You can’t go around dropping the ‘S’ word so casually. Don’t you realise there’s a huge amount of people here who don’t believe in taking ‘a duplicate’ of anything! They’ve never needed it and it will never happen to them don’tcha know 😎😂

Similar to wondering why my amp is silent, when the Speakon cable is still in my bag.

Ive never felt that either, but I do get caught up in the hype sometimes, especialy if it's something I feel could benefit me. HPF's definitely one of them. There have been times where im just reading posts and see a throw away comment of something and it just clicks, I have to get one. Sometimes it works out, sometimes not.

Nice... Great. 😎👍

So they hear all the wrong notes? This is getting worse by the minute!

Yet another one here who succumbed to peer pressure and bought some flats despite having tried them several times over the years and never getting on with them as I had that nagging doubt that I must be missing something. A special shout out goes to La Bella flats. You've no doubt heard the cliché about how some new piece of gear 'lifts the blanket off the speaker' in terms of the wonders it does for your tone. Well, the La Bellas added that blanket to my speakers. Not a thin cotton sheet either, a full on 18 tog winter duvet. Then another. And another. Then half a dozen more. Just an indistinct dull thud with no note information. And for context, I'm not a big fan of bright bass sounds, I don't like that glassy high end tone that slappers use, but I like enough upper mid and treble to be able to distinguish pitch. And this was on an MEC equipped Warwick which I find to be pretty bright sounding pickups.

been using my monaco for about a month now and its really, reeeally great. I've had a barefaced super twin and currently own a vanderklay mnt210 and mnt212. Its definitely louder than the 210, sounds clearer and more accurate than the super twin and is waaaay smaller than the vander 2x12. no problem with volume at outdoor gigs, it really punches and gets super low when needed. standing close on stage the vertical high end dispersion is really good as claimed. I'm really happy - and selling some vanderklay cabs if anyone's looking!

A P Bass. I had basses that I was happy with but I felt (through the BC collective and others) that I 'needed' a P bass. I managed to secure a deal on a 'B' stock American Fender P and after a few days of dialing it in, I fell in love. My go to is still my Sterling HH but the P works in situations where I'm not 100% sure what's needed - I've been fortunate enough to pick up some depping work recently and it's handy to have for the initial rehearsal and/or until I know what the sound is. Plus my main band often does some laid back gigs where the HH is a bit too forward in the mix and the P sits nicely. I also record, and it's great for that too.

The Personal Trainer that takes one of my classes decided to have an hours worth of Ozzy / Black Sabbath songs playing during his class as a tribute to Ozzy. It went down really well. Its great to hear decent music in the gym instead of the usual pop drivel you normally hear. He generally plays decent music. Dave

Ah, but it also denotes Great Britain. One Britain is bad enough, can you imagine how awful 1024 of them would be? Oh, the tera!

Dunno about that, some people will complain about anything! Obviously, I prefer playing the bigger, better gigs but I'm perfectly happy to play bars as well. Sometimes the bad gigs can be fun in a perverse way and provide you with the best stories!

Bass recorder and piano accordion. The acoustic accordion has the very cool 'Stradella' button board which lays out the bass and chords in 4ths/5ths but of course just makes accordion sounds. But I also have a digital piano accordion which can generate bassoon, double bass etc., or drive a MIDI synth. The bass recorder isn't that low in pitch, there are great bass and contra bass which actually get low down. In the picture below is the great bass recorder I used to own...

Venues that advertise “Live Music” and put on a person singing to a Karaoke backing track. People who think they are musicians who sing to karaoke backing tracks.

How does one “gently lambast”? it’s like “lightly deep-fried”

I have two examples. My very first gig. I set everything up and go to tune my bass, only to realise I had left it at home. Touring in Germany. Nice big stage and superb foh sound man. Soundcheck goes well, but the bass is non existent as we start playing. I can hear the bass from the foh but nothing on stage. Finally, after 3 songs, I found I hadn't thrown the standby switch. Did that and all was well!!

-When someone says something like "let's have a jam" -Calling a guitar an axe -The word mojo -"the pocket" -When you see band members looking at each other like some little lick they've just played is the best thing to ever hit human ears, with a stupid smug look on their faces. I understand that they're getting into the music and enjoying themselves but I still hate it, smug fart sniffing b*****ds. -The word "lick"

I kind of like using it but I guess I own a P bass partly because I feel I ought to, as a keen bassist... But I don't really need it. To be fair I don't need most of my gear at all. I am probably going to go back round the loop of shedding basses and other gear down to a minimum just to build it all back up again. "Stuff that needs repairing" is something I've been inspired to acquire but I have not the time, skills or tools to do this. I have just felt the need to buy an 80s Aria Pro ii with a broken neck, all the components of a bitsa that ended up looking great but costing more than a Sire that would be a much better instrument, and some weird kit bass I bought and tinkered with. All completely unnecessary and almost a total waste of time.

As i said before, just take lessons... Video's on YT are nice but they will never correct you which increases the chance that you'll learn the wrong techniques. Besides that, there are lot of crap lessons on YT too.. And when you've finally learned the "wrong/bad" techniques you'll get stuck someday. Its harder (and takes more time) to "unlearn" bad techniques then to learn the good ones rightaway.. Succes!

You’re welcome here we have lots of US members and it’s much nicer here than TalkBass

Gary Willis's complete bass part for 'Punking Head' from the 1985 Tribal Tech album, 'Spears', including the solo. That's all of the album done now (there is no bass on the track 'Tribal') so I no longer fear death. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/punking-head-tribal-tech/

Although the new one hasn't improved your typing.

My Frankenstein! (Or is it Fronkenshtone?)