Leaderboard

Massively overpricing coupled with a steep decrease of build quality will see off even the most iconic brand eventually.

If that was true Rickenbacker should've folded 40 years ago. Ricks have always fallen to bits if you look at them funny. Maybe Trump will succeed where John Hall's bloodyminded incompetence has failed. Probably because Fenders were designed to be mass-produced inexpensively & they've sensibly decided to maximise the cheap & cheerful end of their product range for the last 35 years or so. Can't help thinking their cleverest trick might have been to persuade some people it's worth paying £3000+ for a bass/guitar that's fundamentally identical to a £200 one with Squier on the end.

Having worked out the carve shape - and therefore the thickness of the body at various points in the cross-section - I was able to rout the main chambers and cable routes. Control chamber-wise, we are going for a Master Vol/Master Tone/Blend option, with the pots following the curve of the lower bout. Theoretically, I could rout deeper at the areas further from the neck but the swampash is so light it really won't make a difference. The rout in the top is more for aesthetics than weight. Bear in mind that the top will be curved and so this will slim quite a bit, it will eventually give the illusion of being a semi, when it's actually basically a solid: Before popping the top on, I will line the f-hole chamber with some redwood veneer to further give the illusion of depth.

George W got in by accident. After screwing up so much and taking the country into an unnecessary war and getting US soldiers needlessly killed you'd have thought the US citizens would have turned around and said no more. But they didn't. . . they bloody well voted the idiot back in! Trump is a far more dangerous character because he is totally uncontrollable and seems to have no idea what effect his words have on other, equally dangerous, leaders. I can understand why he got in this time, but he's a bully, egomaniac and unconcerned by any view point other than his own. That's why he likes Putin so much. Two sides of the same thuggish coin. Trump for a second term would indicate the American people really have no idea what is the best for them. A trade deal with Trump? That is the really frightening thing. For anyone who thinks the EU exerted too much control over us, wait till the details of the UK/US trade deal emerge. We are going to be royally screwed and with no way out. Oh, and Gibson are in such a bad shape because they are badly managed and charge top prices for poorly made instruments. Talkbass have had ex Gibson employees posting that one reason for the bad QC was they were on a target of instruments to be completed each day. The target was way beyond what could be achieved in the time so the manufacturing process was rushed, corners were cut and inspections were derisory. Gibson's did make instruments that had a good reputation, they don't any more.

True, but why not? Trump claims EU steel is unfair competition, meaning the U S steel industry is simply not up to speed and fails to compete. We could do the same to their musical instrument industry. Even better, tarrifs on all the junk food they dump on the unsuspecting.

I nipped in to toolstation on the way back from shopping and picked up some 600 and 1200 paper. Now I have done the body in 1200 I can see what you mean. It felt smooth before I started, but after doing the back with the 1200, the other side suddenly felt as rough as old boots

Age has no influence on if you should do something in life or not, only ability and if you want to do it or not. Being 42 is no age either, only half way through your years. I say stop thinking about it and go do it, you don't know the fun and enjoyment you are missing. As a tip for when you get started, don't pack your bass away in its case with the intention of getting it out to play each time. It won't happen I promise you. Leave it out somewhere where you see it or walk past it all the time. You'll then get the urge to play it more often, usually at weird times like before going to bed, waiting to go out as your other half gets ready, sitting waiting for a courier, waiting for the kettle to boil or the oven to warm up but it means you still get to play it. Pack it away and you'll never play it I promise. Second tip, play everything, literally everything, play along to your favourite advert, genre's you dont like, songs on the radio, literally everything. At this stage, be a sponge so be as open to everything you can and take everything in as there will always be something you can learn from. Final tip, there is no right or wrong, there is music and expression and how you play and express yourself is your choice. Don't be told you are doing something wrong but be open to learning a more efficient way of playing.

Hi All, Arrived yesterday a new ACG TKO from Alan. It is one of two he has made and it is absolutely stunning, the photo's only get you 90% there. The texture within the wood itself really adds something. It comprises: Black Limba body and top. 3 piece Maple with carbon Rosewood neck, 30.5" scale. Hipshot Type B in chrome.Hipshot string tree, Gotoh GB7 tuners, Dunlop straplocks, Newtone strings. ACG PB pickup with Alnico magnets. Weighs around 7.5lbs (not put it on the scales yet). It has what I would call a true PB sound but with more tonal variation available. Can't wait to try it out at band practice on Tuesday.

What a great idea. I recommend exploring if you like the vibes. Every cover is awesome. Members of Vulfpeck, Knowler, Postmodern Jukebox etc can be noticed there.

Love these guys and associated bands, you should check out Pomplamoose too:

I've held (my) fire until now....!

That is both weird and wonderful.

I think the important thing to note about Hooky's melody lines, especially in Joy Division, is that he'd often be adding an open string 'drone' alongside the line to keep some low end, e.g. She's Lost Control. He did this less so in New Order, though there was usually a Moog Source or similar synth pumping the bassline out, and his Clone Theory chorus sound would cut through most mixes! This is my recent attempt at a definitely Hooky-influenced bassline!

About 5 years ago my next door neighbour, a lovely German lady, decided to learn double bass. She was in he 60's. She plays jazz and her band (she already runs her own band!) is rehearsing next door right now. 3 years ago they were always out of tune and there were bum notes all over the place. These days there are hardly any and they all sound sound pretty good. They are not picking the easy songs to play either. If anyone wants to play bass be it like Adam Clayton or Charlie Mingus. . . just do it. Have fun.

i think linking it to trumpy pumpy or any politician for that matter, and inferring that gibson's decline could be terminal because of politics is a bit disingenuous - gibson's ceo and his board chums managed that all by themselves with their executive "lifestyle choice" decisions without any need for political scapegoating

doesnt work very often ( imho ymmv mcton etc etc) this example works extreemingly well great player great tune

Thanks @dmccombe7 😊 I have the harmony vocals coming off the backing tracks with the drums. Long story short I recorded my album then just used the drum and harmony vocal tracks for the live tracks. Thanks @BreadBin that's very lovely of you to say. 😊 I'm beaming now chaps, you've all made my day. 😁

Let me know what you reckon folks, I think this is better than my last one but It's still irks me that my vocals are pitchy in places. I suppose I'm making progress though so I should chuffed about that. 😊

I think you might find that 320 doesn't look as good as it feels once the finish goes on. Edges are unforgiving. If you are unsure, prepare a test piece to the same stage and apply the finish. You might find that there are finer grades of abrasive to work through yet. On the other hand, you might be happy with the finish as is. Now that you have power in your shed, It would be worth clamping a good anglepoise lamp to your bench. This will help when natural light is of poor quality. Maplin used to do a good one that had a ring tube with a large magnifier at the centre for less than fifty knicker. It gets lots of use. Good progress! From a standing start you've now got a lickle workshop and a taste for whittling. Just be aware that sheds can become storage bunkers during the colder months. If that happens, it is very hard to come back from.

I have asked the original thread that Funkinshui posted with the details about this fraud be put on hold as we wouldnt want any details that have been mentioned interfere with any trial results. So please dont ask for details as the safest thing to do at this moment would be to not mention any, there is a basic explanation at the begining of this thread, the person involved as scammed many others as well as us, it is going through the legal proceedings at the moment and as soon as we can tell you anything we will do, at the end of any case we will give you all the details we can. Thank you for any donations so far and we are nearly halfway to recovering what Funkishui lost, when his bass was stolen. Cheers everyone, you guys and girls are amazing

So could any further extension of CITES. Or currency movements. Or a contractual clause which enables Henry Juszkiewicz to stay in post. Or a blind shoot-out on Pete Thorn's YT channel where a $250 Chibson blows the ar5e off a real Lester. I could portentously observe that a series of rainy weekends this summer might play havoc with the UK ice cream industry; but it would be a dull-as-f*ck observation, being predicated upon the twin pillars of being both blindingly obvious and entirely speculative. But if I could somehow work Trump into it I suppose a few people here might wet their panties with affronted excitement. Anyway, you started the thread asking what people think; now you know

I started bass lessons about two months ago and I’m 55.

I'd put the Jazz neck on the precision body and hide the Jazz body & Precision neck from the missus in the loft.

Just do it.

No one has suggested that the Commander in Chief has caused Gibson's woes, the OP and others simply suggesting that his ongoing antics may not be any help in getting them back on their feet, to sell more guitars, or be profitable - or Fender or any other US industry to be profitable for that matter!!

They have a keyboard player?

I remember a mate doing me a copy of this album on a trusty TDK D90 when it came out nearly 30 years ago. I couldn't stop playing it, and played and rewound it time and again. To this day it still ranks as one of my favourite albums - it's otherworldliness (?) put me in mind of how I felt hearing Bowie albums in the 70s or Prince in the early/mid 80s. It all seemed so far away from the traditional sound/production I was used to hearing.

Cheers Pierre 👍 you have incoming 😎

Mid 2018 family pic, pre ACG, which should arrive in a month or so I think. L-R Bass Collection Jive fretless, 2006 CIJ Mustang, 1971 Precision, Lakland US custom 44-94, Lakland Skyline 55-01. Si

I started playing guitar and bass in my teens; I'm now about to turn 68 and I'm still no blinkin' good at either. This proves that starting early is not a guaranteed recipe for succeeding. Any age is good, as long as the criteria as in posts above are in place (motivation and the time to put into learning...). I'd recommend a tutor, at least at first, as being a 'fast-track' to playing decently (at any age...). Good luck with it all...

That should work - a jack plug on the mixer end, a jack and a trailing socket on other end. Plug the jack into the IEM unit (you can leave this permanently rigged up) and plug the monitor jack-jack cable into the trailing socket.

I don't think it was an error making all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff, I think their main error was buying loads of other unrelated companies and running them very very badly.

Yes, he was selling loads as neck blanks. He was called to remove a wooden conservatory, it was about 50 years old and made of paduk and mahogany, this is from that, it’s been around a bit. But 950mm to me says headless!

Cheers for the feedback @SpondonBassed and thanks for taking the time to check it out. 😊 I'm glad my crude advertising methods worked haha. 😂

(Nice product placement there chap! I followed your link from the play the upper register thread.) Good build up. Singing and playing works well for you. Nice bit of upper reg ornamentation near the end. I liked it.

My first real band in 1977 was a 3 piece, so there was a lot of scope for the bass to add melodic lines in the songs, so I often found myself playing in the upper registers.. Looking back, there were a lot of bassists around at the time who played like that, so I guess I just found what they did really inspiring. Those players - such as Dennis Dunaway (Alice Cooper) in particular, Chris Squire (Yes), Leigh Gorman (BowWowWow), Steven Severin (Siouxsie & The Banshees and John Gustafson (Roxy Music) for example - made the role of the bass much more interesting to me by creating bass lines that either the whole song was built on, or hooks and lead melodies that made the overall songs more compelling. Jean Jaques Burnel of The Stranglers was really good at that too.. Every now and again you'd get a bass solo that'd really jump out, like Graham Gouldman's solo in 10cc's 'I'm Not in Love', or John Gustafson's solo in Roxy Music's 'Song For Europe', and of course John Entwhistle's solo in 'My Generation - they were important reference points for me as a young bass player. But it was only later on that I really began to appreciate players like McCartney and Jamerson who's melodic basslines were (for me) the real magic in the song and were in effect, almost a solo instrumental part from start to finish. I thought I'd settled down over the years and become much less likely to be playing up in the so-called dusty end, but this photo that Mrs Silverfoxnik took of my band last summer shows that I've really not grown up at all! 😁

A used yamaha bb1024 would be my first choice.

Yep - 9 pieces in that neck. Plus another 6 pieces if you count my muppetry earlier where I made up the veneer bits to put between the thicker pieces. I made them light-dark-light instead of dark-light-dark as I confused myself in the 20 feet between my house and garage and made them up wrong...….DOH!! Start again and take the neck pieces with you for reference......

Just got this photo from Mark Dakota red with gold adonised guard 1957 precision and a spare parchment guard Mark says it looks brighter in the photo than the actual whatever it is looking good

I tried a little bit of oil on a couple of offcuts of the burl top. Think this will look good after a few coats. Both pieces have been oiled but using two different types of oil - one remains pretty much as it was, the other darkens a bit. I prefer the darker one as I think the grain and colours show up more.

My mate had a band which has now disbanded I think which had a great name for a bunch of codgers getting together to play: 'Old Country Union' That name always tickled me.

I agree. Looking at it another way... a shortened bottom would look hornier. (It must be that time of year where I usually get referred off to have my bumps felt)

Yes, that'll be me then. I'm not currently with them, apart from a one off this weekend at Tunes in the dunes, the wonderful luke Palmer has been the bassist for the last few years, and yes he plays a squire....very well. I also played a squire for most of my time with them, an extremely playable red CV precision which had a great relic job done by Al Knight, I later installed a darkstar copy pickup called a nu-sonic made by a guy in Brighton, stuck on some TI flats, left them on for four years, and there you have it...... I later had a copy made by Al, in white with a matching headstock. The amp was indeed a GB streamliner 900 through a barefaced super fifteen, with the FOH signal split through a REDDI and a Sansamp VTDI. The Squire will be at home this weekend though as I'll be using a recently acquired JMJ mustang..... what a killer bass ! Anyway, I have to say, it's very nice to get a mention on these hallowed pages. Cheers John Lee-Man, we should get together for a bass pint, i'm in Notts, as I think a few others here are. A pub based bass bash if you will.