Leaderboard

Finish pretty much done - it'll take maybe a week to fully harden before it can be micro-webbed, but I can finish the fret-levelling, hatch magnets and shielding / electrics installation while I'm doing that. Although I've had issues with the gloss version, the satin version of the Osmo Polyx is really straightforward to apply and gives a nice looking and tough finish.

Actually, how about a 'Sausage Fest' pedal - one knob, to control the bias. No footswitch of course...it's an 'always on' kind of effect.

Curiosity got the better of me. Weight as is at the mo (minus pickup, plastic cavity plate and jack socket and string tree) is 6lb 8oz so I’m expecting a tiny smidge over 7lb all up weight.. cor.

I once bought a ... ... ... ... ... ... delay pedal.

Well; you try getting the strings taut without one, it’s a right pain!

Not a bass I know, but a cool story so thought I'd share. The guitar is an EKO Ranger, made in Italy in the 1960s. While it's nothing really special in itself, it has great sentimental value to the owner as he has had the guitar since new, when it was given to him by his wife as a present. Disaster was just around the corner though as early on he tried to fit an output jack to the lower bout, unfortunately instead of fitting an endpin jack, he decided he was going to fit it on the lower bout... in the thin side wood. So when he came to drill for it, the side split and it generally made a mess. He repaired it, but the fix was....umm how shall we say - less than professional! So I was asked to put it right. Here's the mess, while it's certainly ugly looking now, it's about to get a lot worse. Some sanding revealed the repair, there's wood filler, screw holes and a piece of plywood around 3 times the thickness of the side! You can see by all the light coming under the straight edge here how far it's been pulled in and distorted. Without drastic measures (coming up!) nothing can be done to make this look right again. Obviously having a 1/4 piece of ply stuck to the side of the guitar is less than ideal also... Problem solved...an extra sound hole (joking of course). In case it's not obvious, here I have cut out the damaged, distorted, ugly wood and removed all traces of the repair. Here's the "repair" I dug out. As mentioned above, he used a very thick piece of ply, then drilled holes in the side of the guitar to insert screws to pull in the repair to the side. It was never going to work and there was still a decent sized void between the ply and the side, so he filled that with expanding polyurethane foam! Now onto my repair and filling the large gaping hole. The best material to fill it with (and any hole in wood) is wood of the same species, being a guitar builder I have no shortage of Mahogany and some of it is quite old, meaning it's very stable. It's also nice to replace material with wood of a similar vintage. But first I need to make a frame to support the new patch of Mahogany. I also make this frame out of strips of vintage Mahogany, making sure the strips are a good deal longer than the patch to give plenty of gluing surface. They also need to be bent to match the side of the guitar, this is done with steam (and patience!). In this picture you can see I have bent all the frame material and the patch itself (on the left). You'll have to ignore the dodgy pickguard on the guitar, I'm guessing that's another story! Here's the frame all glued into place. I used traditional hot hide glue, which is exceptionally strong and period correct. The strips are glued to the side of the guitar and also to the kerfing on the bottom edges. Now I glue in the patch, using a caul which I made up to match the profile of the side, this is made up of two pieces off a body blank screwed together to give the required width. This caul ensures even pressure during the glue up. A nice tight fitting patch all glued into place. It needs to be a tight fit as if there were any gaps you could get problems with the patch "telegraphing" it's outline through the new finish over time. Fortunately no gaps here, just a few lacquer chips round the edge which will need to be taken care of during finish prep. I mask off anywhere I don't want lacquer and spray a couple of coats of clear Nitro to get an idea of anywhere which may need more work/levelling. I repeat this process until I'm 100% happy before spraying the colour coats. Then I mix up some black Nitro to match the original finishes colour. Here the colour coats have been sprayed, the masking on the binding removed (the binding gets clear coated, but obviously not painted black!). This is the clear coat straight out of the gun so there's a very slight spray texture, but so minor it won't require too much wetsanding and it's reflecting a clear image (i.e me!) without too much distortion. I now need to leave this for a month before proceeding with 1000 grit and through the grades before buffing. The finished article! No trace of the repair and straight sides! Thanks for watching.

So after one of my One10 cabs started farting at practise, and with a gig last night I had a quick search for something to get me by until I get the One10 sorted. Found a Trace Elliot 1210 combo and 1x15 cab for a bargain price near me, bought it and gigged it straight away. Seriously impressed, wasn't sure how decent this gear was from mixed reviews online but it more than did the job last night ! Starting to think that there is something about heavier gear now...great haha.

Shut up, Meg!

Awesome, are you female? It wouldn't be great if a company released a 'Black Person Melter' pedal, where the description (parody or not) is 'wahey, lynching is fun, here's a pedal that sounds like that'? Presumably because it's an abhorrent idea and largely society is against it.......so why is the same thing not considered when we talk about gender? It's an extreme example, but hopefully you take my point. Your comments seem to be coming completely from a place of male privilege, even if you have personal experience of a different area of society. Yes you might have experienced marginalisation, but it's not the type we're talking about here. If anything, you should be fairly sympathetic to the issues at hand because you understand that most white people haven't had your experience due to operating from a position of relative privilege. There are obviously lots of exceptions within that, there are rich privileged black people and poor underprivileged white people, but I suspect those are minority cases on a global average. Si

Dude, no-one will because men haven't been historically marginalised by society......seriously, this is what I meant by "the forum being overwhelmingly made up of what I suspect is to be white men, it's worth us checking our understanding and approach before crying 'the worlds gone mad'".....this is now aimed at you! Si

At the risk of repeating myself, can't believe the generosity shown from this forum. Way exceeded anything i could have expected, so again, thank you very much to everyone.

I've never noticed an issue with the BBOt on my precision, it sustains forever. @Christine says "A lightweight bridge will vibrate more " but I don't see that as truth simply because its screwed to the body; surely it might make the body vibrate differently and it might have its own saddles vibrate sympathetically if they were loosely fitted, in a different way. Perhaps the qualities of the metal in a cheaper bridge of equal weight might make a difference, albeit a miinor one. I honestly think its minimal at best and the £130 bridges you see advertised are truly overkill when a wilkinson will do the job

Hmm...it sounds to me like there probably was something a little awry with the bass pot. The amp has a very bass-heavy tone, but I've never found the bass control to be that ineffective. (The bass-shift control was in the 'off' position, I assume?!) That said, I have come to like the old-fashioned tone stack. I appreciate that it's not everybody's cup of tea; you certainly can't "sculpt" a tone like you can with a lot of modern amps, but I already like the "baked-in" tone so it works for me. The biggest revelation for me - and you may have already tried this - was pushing the mid-range shift. Made the mids much clearer and more aggressive - more to my taste, anyway!

Real Electronics in Sheffield are the approved repair company for MarkBass. From comments by people who have used them they are pretty quick and reasonable. http://www.realelectronics.co.uk/Markbass-Amplifier-Repairs

My personal view is that the podcast isn’t for hearing the difference between them, it’s for discussing what people’s thoughts and experiences are Si

I decide I need a compressor so I buy one, use it and then decide I don’t need it so I get rid of it. Then a year or so later I decide I need a compressor so I buy use it and then decide I don’t need it so I get rid of it. Then a year or so later I decide I need a compressor so I buy one use it and then decide I don’t need it so I get rid of it. Then a year or so late I decide I need a compressor so I buy... (repeat ad infinitum)

1. Says the guy with a collection of Gus basses. 2. Yeah we know it's easy to put there, it's not as easy for the user to adjust though. 3. What's that got to do with the price of cheese?

We're back off holiday so I had a few hours in the workshop today. I routed the headstock for the truss rod access slot and then drilled the hole for the nut to fit into.The truss rods were fitted and a strip of masking tape put over then to stop glue getting in the slot and fouling the rods. I rolled the frets to about an 8" radius, cut the wire into lengths and started trimming the ends with a grinding wheel in a Dremel, fiddly but it worked OK. I fitted the frets using a press and nipped off the ends. That was about it other than to make a clamping caul to protect the fretboard when I do eventually glue it to the neck which should be later this week daily life permitting

Majority of mine have a traditional BBOT, and I can’t say I’ve ever had one move, or found it hard to adjust alignment or intonation. They are simple, and work perfectly in my opinion. Would something different audibly (for most players or audience members) change the sound? Unlikely.

Nor even a diary. I picked up this wee beastie from the Bay of Fleas. It's older than I am, very well made and very very heavy. It needs a new drive belt and I'm not sure how to get the extension out of the spindle yet.

I went to see Nate Smth and Kinfolk at the Jazz Cafe in Camden last week. Fima Ephron was on bass (Tokai P bass with added bridge pickup - cos I know you care about that stuff). What a sublime bassist. Always playing the right thing, always supporting, getting funky when the time was right and locking RIGHT in with Nate Smith. It was everything you hope for - but not for the technique or the flash, but for the ensemble playing. Proper lush. Respect is due.

Post of the day

Chalk and cheese, and then confused by Barts classic range so that it’s like chalky cheese. Anyway @Andyjr1515 amazing build, was supposed to be getting an early night but stayed up reading this- you’re making me want to build another bass when the problem is I’ve too many basses in the house!

A list... Three words currently being woefully misused... a) Iconic b) Literally c) Decimated I also abhor High Rising Terminal, obviously. One more thing that really grinds my gears is the current trend of beginning an answer to a question with a drawn out “So...” or, particularly prevalent at the moment amongst politicians (I think I remember Tony Blair starting this) starting the answer to a question with “Look...”, a confrontational beginning to an answer that invariably avoids the initial question.

+1 for the Schaller 3d. But on looks, adjustability and having lots of screw holes for solid mounting. Massively improved my project bass in every way ... Except perhaps the sound.

What a super collection - lovely.. 😀

Well I did ask the question Pete, and you avoided it....typical male Si

I have a perspective here too - I've been using a Warwick Pro Tube IX (900w solid state with a valve preamp) for years through a pair of Warwick Neo Pro cabs (full 4x10 and 1x15) - great sound and huge power, plus biamp and stereo capabilities etc. I now have a Trace V4 head and the sound is just amazing. The all-valve gets so much more out of the cabs - it's so lush, with the EQ completely flat: of course it's oranges and apples, but they weigh about the same. The V4 is just that massively weighty all-valve tech with massive transformers. I think there's something to it. For the cabs I'd wager the weight of the cab itself forms a kind of inertia which the speaker can work against to shift the air, particularly at high volumes.

@CameronJ, @tonyxtiger, @andybassdoyle, @GisserD, @lee650, @radiophonic

As I said I contacted Ashdown about the bass pot, and they said there was nothing awry about it. As well I had it looked at by a tech who also said there was nothing technically wrong with it. It's just designed to do only 2db cut, which wasn't useful enough for me. Maybe yours is different to ours, EliasMooseblaster. That being said, most of the time when I'm gigging the amp now, I still usually have the settings at noon. Just being able to alter the tone enough to work in different rooms is what I struggled with. And it's not because it's a passive EQ. I used to have an Orange Ad200b that I never thought had a useless EQ. But yeah that mid shift thing is cool for added gnarlyness! Glad to hear you're loving the change with yours though, Artisan!

I always have the mid shift pressed too 😁 The new pots make a massive difference & are definitely worth changing. I run mine through a fender bassman neo 410 & found in some rooms I had far too much bottom end with no means of reducing it. Now I have plenty of adjustment on tap to remove the boomyness,so I'm much happier with my amplifier.

To be on the safe side I think I'd put the old D back on or get my credit card out and buy a new D, though maybe someone on here could lend you one.

Thank you and it is indeed! Originally the property of the impressive young @TJ Spicer of this manor who bought it new a couple of years back from my favourite bass shop in town (Wunjos) so an added affinity there for me! In terms of your Ric GAS; it's hardly "inexplicable" - there is just something about a Ric that just says "I'm special". And if it's good enough for these guys... :

Hi from Essex. I started playing at 16 and was in bands in my 20s. Always kept a bass and finally got back into a band at 52 and wonder why it took so long! Kit wise I started with a Hondo precision copy, on to a Westone thunder 1a then an aria pro II which I had defretted when I bought the Musicman Stingray in the late 80’s. Still have the aria and the Stingray (honeyburst with clear scratch plate and mute equipped bridge). More recently bought my first fender jazz - an American pro with cherry burst flame maple top. Amp was a peavey combo for years and then a Tc electronic bg250 210 which I’ve just replaced with a Markbass little mark III and 210 traveller. Enjoyed lurking on the site so far but though it only polite to introduce myself Darren

Beautiful job. They look splendid.

That's a good argument for long-scale basses rather than the number of strings. When my keys player goes off too fast (as usual) I can "accidentally" knock him on the head with my headstock from a plausible playing distance with my 35" - it might look deliberate with a 33" 🙂

Good point, but I also think the audio format makes it possible to actually hear what peeps are talking about. There have been many excellent threads where peeps are describing differences in sound between - amps, bridges, pups, ... - and I'd love to be able to actually hear what they're describing rather than trying to imagine it from the descriptions.

Actually I agree. Stick some decent cans on and you can hear modulation on the bass tone. At first, I thought it was Derek on keys playing in unison. He’s tighter than a tight thing playing and uses lots of mods on his keys tones... but if you listen to the bass notes at the very end there’s definitely a flange like effect going on in there. Interestingly I think I have the same on my Helix for one of the songs in one of my band sets.

Looks awesome. I'm loving the new colour schemes, especially with matching headstocks. I've always liked the V4, and have had two already. One of those Firenza Red's is on my radar....

Yes, bridges can make a massive difference, and importantly, there's not an obvious cost/benefit ratio, which is why I'm about to sell three Badass II bridges. These days I'm preferring fewer overtones and less sustain, and there's not much point paying £100 for a bridge if you have to stick a 20p piece of foam in front of it to get the tone you want

That looks great bridgehouse 👍 I asked myself the same question a couple of years ago , and was realised in 2016 ( not made by my hands - wish I could ! ) Walnut body , maple neck & Mac ebony fingerboard

Surely we can get this to £600 at least!

Thank you again @Akio Dāku, @SpondonBassed, @Chownybass and @Sibob for your hard work! The new guidelines sound fine and I'm looking forward to the next episode! I have mentioned the podcast in my BGM column for issue 160, out some time next month (I think).

I highly recommend it

I always thought that it was Colin Hodgkinson from Back Door.