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Hey everyone! I’ve followed Bass Chat for a number of years but only just joined the community properly. My name’s Dan, and I’ve been playing bass for around 20 years. I’m lucky enough to work in the music industry through my own music studio and events company, and I also play in a few different bands. Earlier this year, I was fortunate to join the artist rosters for both Blackstar and Alpher Instruments, which has been a real highlight for me. Over the years I’ve owned more basses than I can count, but lately I’ve found myself gravitating more and more toward short scales. My JMJ Mustang has actually stuck with me longer than most others, which says a lot! I’m a huge advocate for short scales—not just for their mojo and unique vibe, but also for how playable they are. One thing worth mentioning is that I developed a tendon issue in my right hand about 3–4 years ago (likely from overplaying). Because of that, longer-scale instruments aren’t always an option for me, but the lower tension of short scales means I can still play comfortably for much longer. So, I’m partly here to say hi, and partly to share my appreciation for short scales. Really looking forward to being part of the conversation!

The strap button, presumably.

Bredon Cider Fest 2025, Jagged Little Alanis (www.jaggedlittlealanis.co.uk) headlining Friday night - this is a wonderful small festival with a big feel when you're onstage. The crowd are great, no lairiness, everybody happy as anything. Cider selection (and beers) was outstanding, food was good, and neither was extortionately priced. A great example of a well run fest, getting in and out was easy and seamless. They ran like clockwork and the sound guys were excellent, even though they'd come on board late in the game and didn't get the spec sheet (which is extensive for the band). The wig was a £10 TEMU job, it's surprisingly good haha Video is of the crowd singing the first verse. Ends abruptly as I suddenly realised I had to get my arse in gear on bass! Tribute acts aplenty (really good ones!) over the 2 days, such a great little fest. IMG_3761.mov

Hi, thank you so much for coming and adding this to BC. It was an overwhelming day, the love for our humble brother brings tears to my eyes as I type...So many friends, family and musicians all together to celebrate his life 💚 Funds raised through the raffle and collection on the day stand at £12,515.05!!! Thank you!!! Nick's legacy will live on, enabling young musicians to thrive, special needs groups to access instruments and enable more LIVE Music 🎶 in our city. We couldn't have done it without everyone's support and Daz & Gav at Grainger Guitars 😇

Practicing? That's boring. I'd rather be commissioning another boutique bass. While still at school, my history teacher wrote the following on my end of term report: "His design of guitars is stunning. I wish I could say the same for his attention during history".

Just had the AVRI 63 delivered. Initial thoughts are that it is possibly slightly lighter than my 78, nicely set-up, the nut width is a bit wider and that it currently has flats on it (whether they stay is another matter). It seems to play nicely, so first impressions are all good. I will put it through an amp when I get a chance later. Also, I need to change the strap buttons, as the previous owner used a different straplock system. I’m gigging this weekend, then on holiday for two weeks. When get I back, I will spend some time playing it properly, maybe even use it on a gig. Then I will decide if I’m going to keep it or move it on, and if I keep it if want to make any changes. First signs are pretty positive!

I've only done my first few dep gigs in the last year, but off the back of them the band I helped out say they now consider me their go-to, and I've also been invited to check out one of their drummer's other projects with a view to joining. Pretty happy with that, tbh. It's their original material that I've been playing, so I guess it's a bit different to knowing a set of covers or standards, but turning up rehearsed, equipped and suitably attired was how I approached it all the same. I was very quick to check before accepting the gig that they were happy for me to play their songs 'as me' rather than trying to mimic their bassist's style; I just don't find that a fun thing to do, and fun plus a couple of drinks was the pay. Fortunately they were fine with that. The one thing I did which might count as advice, is learn more of their songs than they'd asked me to. As it happened, one of the gigs was on a snowy evening which stopped another band on the bill from travelling and unexpectedly increased all the other set times in the lineup by 10 minutes, so me saying that I could play them another three songs was appreciated. After the last gig, one of the singers came to apologise profusely for not having publicly thanked me on stage for helping them out (again, seems to be the done thing with originals; possibly less so with covers bands?) but said that she'd forgotten I wasn't actually in the band! I thought that was thanks enough.

Here's a picture of a gentleman from China, knocking one out in his shed. I'm not sure what the esteemed and not-at-all AI generated luthier here is doing, but I'm sure it's boutique.

Boutique basses…..? Eights and aces…..? Losing money at the races…..? Big suitcases…..? Long shoelaces…..? Presidents with orange faces…..? E.J. Thribb (17½)

Mornington Crescent?

It depends on what constitutes a "boutique" bass. If you mean exotic woods, active electronics, brass bridges made in small numbers by "craftsmen" then...yes but no not really. Looking back now with the balance of hindsight at the days when such basses were considered the pinnacle of acquisition for most self-respecting bassists, a lot of what was considered desirable, and indeed essential, seems pretty preposterous nowadays. Conversely,however, the idea nowadays that I need a very old (probably knackered) Fender P Bass strung with heavy gauge La Bella flats and a vintage Ampeg B15 that breaks down regularly in order to be a hip and savvy bass player is equally preposterous. And the same kind of fashion victims that adhered to boutique basses in the 1980's/90's are extolling the primacy of vintage gear now. If you like boutique basses buy one. If you like vintage ones get one of them. The notes are in the same place on either.

Is this a complete the sentence competition? If so, I suggest: Boutique basses are bought by lawyers, medics and well-paid weekend warriors in the vain hope that spending lots of cash will make up for lack of talent. Over to you lot.

Hi there, Thanks for your messages, Nick's memorial gig was phenomenal, grateful for Grainger guitars and all there support for our family. The weather held out and the everyone rocked there hardest for our big bro 💚🤟🎸 I dropped a couple of notes but managed to get to the end of my song!

🧟‍♂️ Resurrection time. 3 years have passed, but now I’m well and truly back in the fretless fold. I recently took my custom Maruszczyk fretless to a rehearsal (Stingray-alike), just to show it some love and it sounded great. I avoided slides and vibrato where possible as the genre doesn’t call for that style/tone and it just roared, there was a definite Ric vibe to the tone, especially with a bit of grit from my VTDI. I was so impressed (as were my band mates) that I used it for a gig the following Saturday, both sets. The fretted spare (my usual go to bass) stayed in its gigbag all night. Since then it is the bass that I pick up first and I’m loving it all over again. Good to be back.

Blondy's photo...

I think this bit is the end of a boutique bass:

Tried to add a video, technology baffles me... 😂 1757334673869.3gp

Today I can finally present a new Brooks bass guitar to you guys. The Brooks EXB-12-TP Black. As the TP in the name already gives away, it was custom built for Tom Petersson of legendary band Cheap Trick. Tom sent me an email end of november 2024. At first I thought someone was playing a joke on me. But it turned out to be real. And early january Tom ordered two twelve string bass guitars. Here's the first. (more about the second one soon...) - Korina body - Nine ply laminated Korina set neck. Glued in - Black finish. Gloss - Checkerboard binding - White 3-ply pickguard - Ebony fretboard - Abalone position dots. Aluminium ring in 12th position - Jumbo frets - 30 1/2" scale - Buffalo horn nut - ETS Custom made twelve string bridge set. Nickel - Two spokewheel double action trussrods - Carbon reinforcement strip in the neck - Gemini Dominator in the neck position. Nickel - Gemini Devastator in the middle position. Nickel - Pure Tone output. Nickel - Toggle switch. Nickel, black tip - Hipshot Ultralite Mini clover bass tuners, Nickel - Schaller Grand Tune guitar tuners. Nickel, Ebony button - d'Addario custom strings - Weight: 4.9 kg ] I'll post pics of the build process below.

I would have put this in the short scale appreciation society, but it's 32" so I'd be run out of town. Just picked up my Mullarkey the other week - Couldn't be happier. It was a bit over a year from initial order to delivery. I've taken it to a rehearsal, and I've found all pickup combinations are very usable depending on the song. The clip I've attached is the bass straight into an Audient iD4 into Cubase, no EQ, no plugins, nothing. 32" Mid Scale Nitro Finish 12" Larger body than a regular Mullarkey. Roundwounds rather than the stock, everyone seems to have them flats on it. Untitled video~2.mp4

As they say up here in Lancashire....."It takes all sorts...." I think that's at least £12000 overpriced. I watched the videos from the first auction, and the provenance was fairly tenuous by their own admission wasn't it? I don't doubt someone will buy it eventually though!

I've depped now for a good 20 years, with increasing amounts in the last 10 years or so. I've done a couple of weddings already this year, and even had to turn a couple of last minute ones down last Saturday or risk being treble booked. This setlist is so familiar, and that's a good thing! Also - they've given you great key information. Excellent work. I think the key things which help me feel comfortable when depping, in no particular order, are: I play a lot of jam nights. Those songs - those core function band songs - these get played a lot. That helps keep them fresh. I make notes on iPad and have these on a mic stand in front of me. I'm using Gig Notes now but I was using OneNote. The notes are a sort of evolved shorthand shorthandbnotes with basic chord sequences and cover the gotchas like where the key is different, and include the chords in the right key. I try to keep them to a single page if possible, and note any silent bits or modulations / middle 8 weirdness. This really helps for songs I haven't played before. I might include a small piece of notation for some bass figure which *really* matters to the song. A lot of the bands who need a dep are playing standard sets and play them a lot. They'll be great, and that's half the battle when dipping - you need a solid drummer who is picking out something familiar to latch on to, ditto for at least keys or guitar. I always make sure I can hear myself well. I'm actually building a small personal monitoring system which will split the DI from my bass so I can feed a pair of in-ears, and I'll mix the ambient level separately, so I can use those if required (you find out pretty quickly during soundcheck if the band are balls-out) I get to the venue early so there's less stress full stop. I like to help break everything down - it's the right thing to do, and people will remember that you pitch in and don't just blow in, play, and vanish. I bring the bass I'm most familiar with, which I know is the easiest to play. That matters for comfort and confidence. Hope those help. It's a fun thing to do: I'm actually on a pretty large FB bassist-only messenger group which shares deps between bassists and there have been some great ones on there!

Sadly a judge will have to go by the guidelines and it is likely that all of his past, spent convictions won't be taken into account because of the timeline. TBH that is probably why he is being taken to court for such a small time frame; were they to actually act upon some of his actions documented on here, then he'd be in the realms of committing crimes whilst still serving his 2 year suspended! His solicitor has likely come to an agreement that they'll not contest the action if he is only tried for a small number of cases in a recent time frame!

Seconded. It does seem an awfully long way to go to knock one out.

Hi Dan, when I started playing back in the '60s my first bass was a s-s Watkins Rapier that I bought without even knowing that different scale lengths were available. When I found out, I made the conscious decision to play Gibson basses and have been playing s-s basses ever since. Compared to those early days I'm thankfully spoiled for choice now with so many top-drawer s-s basses and string options out there. Welcome to the best topic on the Basschat forum - for me anyway 🙂

It tends to pop up in December as there’re are still 3 months of temptation add good/bad decisions to go…

Aftermarket thumb-rests installed on non-Fender type basses ESPECIALLY on Stingrays.

Wow! The Black EXB-12-TP that I built for Tom Petersson is Bass Of The Week @ NoTreble! Check it out: https://www.notreble.com/buzz/2025/09/08/bass-of-the-week-tom-peterssons-custom-12-string-bass-from-brooks-bass-guitars/

I think you’ve been mis-sold a jazz elite 😉

Short version. Long drive. Double booked. Agreed to be paid of for reduced fee. Then sorted that other band would do one long set then we do two sets for original fee. Landlord getting increasingly 'tired and emotional'. Luckily the band organiser was sober. Landlord decided that as the other band only played half set, wouldn't pay them. They got half fee in the end but we gave them a bit of ours in solidarity. So we went on at 6:45 instead of 5. Crowd were great, several musos present who gave us some reasonably convincing praise. Our setlist which continually evolves works great in the valleys. First half is all pretty heavy classic rock, second half also includes a few crowd pleasers and a 'Welsh Bit'. Anyway landlord disappeared but landlady gave us the full fee and apologised. They want us back (not surprising as normally it would go dead after the band finishes at 7 and we kept it busy until 9) . We were told this had never happened before. Two of our band are in other bands booked there so they checked their bookings. One was double booked and the other was booked in on the wrong date. Apparently we were down for 30 November... this morning I got messages saying 30th November no good can we do the friday. Then actually can we do another date instead. As you might imagine some of us are 'unkeen' about returning.

Back with an enhanced version of Deadlight Dance yesterday, and once again we were joined by our drummer from our Sixth Form band, Mike. This was for a street party in the road my band mate lives in. I had my trusty long scale Hofner Verythin bass but was mixing it up with several on the Gold Tone (AKA Goth Tone) Mandocello and even a couple on guitar and a couple on mandolin. I was going through my Boss BCB60 with the Boss IR2 at the end of the chain. I was telling the story of how we filmed our zombie apocalypse video in this very road, in a very light hearted way - see Infectious for details - when that Government text alert went off! You couldn’t make it up and it was a genuine comedy moment. We played well. We picked up some travelling fans from the last gig and even sold a few CDs. It was also an absolute pleasure to hang out with two of my oldest friends.

Folk that turn up to the local dive with 3k custom fenders and 8x10 cabs. Hate it. I absolutely love seeing top players or top bands sounding great using very much affordable gear. Seeing a bass playing a £300 yamaha bass that they;ve had for 20 years is something i love.

Hey everyone! I’m Dan, a full-time musician and studio owner based in Milton Keynes. I’ve been playing bass for around 20 years, and I’m fortunate to be an artist with both Alpher and Blackstar. Alongside running my studio and events company, I play in a few different bands and get involved in lots of music-related projects, but bass has always been at the centre of everything I do. In recent years I’ve become a big advocate for short scales. My JMJ Mustang has stuck with me longer than most of the basses I’ve owned, which says a lot! I love the style and vibe of short scales, and they’ve also been a huge help since I developed a tendon issue in my right hand a couple of years ago. The lower tension makes them far more comfortable and keeps me playing longer. I’ve followed Bass Chat for a while but never joined until now. Excited to finally be part of the community and talk all things bass - especially the short-scale side of it!

The OP drops a bone with the barest morsel of meat on it and basschatters make a banquet out of it.... but I guess it is a place to chat about basses... even so!

When you are really close you won't hear it. But back off to mid audience sort of distance and walk across the room and you'll hear the difference.

He's fettling. ...

Two carbon strips and just one truss rod would not be enough to withstand the string pull. You really need two truss rods and one carbon strip to compensate the enormous pull of the 12 strings.

All your bass are belong to us.

Definitely if you get the chance sign-up for a play day somewhere. The UK Amateur Orchestras FB page regularly has adverts from groups organising them - and there is a specific page as well for play days (UK Orchestra Play Days). These are ad-hoc events with no commitment beyond the day.

All done! CTS pots and switch craft socket, new pick guard, new Tone Rider The Duke pickups, fender Hi mass bridge and new DR Low Rider strings. £340 in total but that includes the bridge I didn’t need (but I have to have) and you could save money on some cheaper strings if you wanted so less than £300 for a bass which to be honest is as good as my Fender! Sounds completely different though as I got the vintage ish pickups and I went for a higher value capacitor on the electronics. Output seems high and quite bright right now but strings are very very new. It does sound wierdly like my Musicman Sterling I just sold but passive which is a really good thing!