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My 9yr old daughter has been bugging me to build her a guitar so I thought I'd better get started on it She's a bit too small for a bass at the mo so I had an old strat copy kicking about she wanted it orange after seeing my Jazz I'm just going to put a black pickguard on it and back cover and chrome hardware

I'll be along shortly...... once I've got my whole list together...!!😂😂😂😂

Sides trimmed and mahogany front and back blocks glued on: And the (unsanded) back also cut - leaving it oversize to allow both wiggle room and for the contraction when it is dished to its 15 foot radius: Much of the build will be done with the sides remaining in the mould: The top wood (sitka spruce) and bracing / kerfing wood is on order so not much more can be done on the body at the moment. While I'm waiting for the wood to arrive, I'll start on the neck and fretboard. Busy tomorrow but I should be able to make some progress on Wednesday

I'm surprised that this bass is recyclable. Everyone knows that Hofner basses are stuffed with dead cats and sawdust. Much like DFS sofas actually.

He does that. It’s mildly annoying as you end up planning your own projects- but in my case without the skills

Well today was a good day, one of those days when I remember why I like making things First job of the day was to get the necks glued on, a bit of masking just in case I got some glue seepage (I did and was glad of the tape) then some titebond and clamps and there they were, two bass shaped things Then after a couple of hours I gave the tops a light sanding and proceeded to spray, a total of three coats went on today. By the time i cut back the second in readiness for the third my worries from the other day about grain filling were completely put aside. Then the third coat went on and I have to say I was very chuffed, I'm not an experienced luthier by any means and I was very surprised how good it was looking, in fact I spent an embarrassing whole hour just looking at them. Days like that are far and few between, I hope all you other makers get them too, sadly its something that you just get used to doing and the novelty wears off eventually, that is a sad thing I think

The Parable of the Lost Bass Player. Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred guitarists but loses the bass player. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost Bass Player until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost Bass Player.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one Bass Player who repents than over ninety-nine (self)righteous guitarists who do not need to repent. We welcome you back, oh lost one....😂😂

Tell her that even fewer people will like her if she looks like Adam Ant.

Saw Chic and Nile tonight. Very enjoyable, they know how to put on a show. Bass player wasn't bad either lol. Actually, he was top notch. I was air bass-ing it tonight, sadly enough. I slap so much better without a bass.

Although I am currently MM-less, here are my previous 'Rays:

"Hey, you sass that hoopy Bluewine? There's a frood who really knows where his towel is."

Here's where I'm up to. Reshaped Headstock, decal added, tinted neck, sprayed scratchplate cream. Just a bridge ashtray and then I'll decide if I wanna smash the body up a bit! It's been fun.

hi guys & girls !! I'm joris and I leave in France and I salute all the members of Basschat who read this lines !!

In days of yore, there were way-stations, taverns and lodging houses all along every highway of this island. Travellers would be compelled to stop at one or other of these inns, as travel was on foot, on horseback, coach or bullock cart, and there was a limit as to how far one could go without feeding and watering both the rider and the steed. With the advent of alternatives, (rail, cars, motorways...), some vestiges of these services remain, albeit much evolved, but anyone trying to do things 'the old way' would have a hard tome of it, I suspect. Times change, and the services one needed, even in pre-war days, are now redundant, or so changed as to be no longer recognised. Farriers are now rare, in a not-so-distant future, local filling stations will be just a memory (already the case in some areas...). It's the same with local commerce, whether music shops, book shops, cobblers... There will be a place for niche outlets, but they will no longer be dependant on local trade, I suspect. There's no going back any time soon, so best to leave the sentimentality and nostalgia behind and make the best of what's 'now' and tomorrow. Is it a Good Thing..? Does that matter, as it changes nothing..?

This picture from my archive must from 2004 when I had a thing for Musicman basses. The last of these, the Pacific Blue Burst SR5, finally left two weeks ago. Its place has now been taken by a natural Sterling, the third I've owned over the years - I'll never understand why I ever sold the others.

The Sterling HH switching is the same as the 'ray, except the coils are in series. The 'ray is wired parallel.

Lot's of lefty basses in a limited space. This picture was a experiment with a extreme wide angle lens, just to see if I could make a acceptable picture with all the distortion going on, not a bad result I think.

I've had a good laugh here, you just make that look so easy! I'm impressed

Calling @cetera... I believe he has one or two bass guitars, if memory serves...

Buy it and find out...I'm fairly sure that Sylvia will "adopt" this long before you get the chance. 😃

Ha ha.... I need to rename the posting as I have done the measurements, basically using my trusty calipers on a picture of a Thunderbird at full zoom and then transposing measurements to full 34” scale. Thank you maths... the P is staying a P. As I do not want to tamper with the graphite neck I cannot get the front pickup in the period correct spot exactly, but very close and the back pickup I can get just right. Thunderblackstone it is! Project estimated start date end of August on a build diary near you , will focus on the build element first but if it turns out right I will also do a repaint in TB Pelham Blue at a later stage.

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I think that's endemical on post 2008 Musicman Stingray5s/Sterlings. Back when the 3 coil ceramic PUs in Sterlings/Stingray5s there wasn't such volume or EQ mismatches as there are now with the 2 pickup models. Overall this Sterling5 HS sounded thinner than my old ceramic Stingray 5ers, most notably in the two "classic" Musicman positions (just the humbucker, series or single coil). I think the post 2008 redesigned EQ has something to do with it, modern Stingray5 basses also sound thinner than my old ones. In fact Ernie Ball seems to have played a real crappy marketing move lately, they sell you the 30th Anniversary Stingray5 with a "redesigned preamp", but it's in reality a pre-2008 3-coil ceramic PU Stingray5 with the preamp it had back then, exactly like the SR5s I own, just with the added binding and fancy roasted maple. I've tried 2 and they sound exactly like my old SR5s, the EQ acts the same (in modern Stingray5s, besides the obvious change to alnico, the EQ is more tame somehow, in old ones a little boost or cut goes a longer way). To summarize, you should expect not that much of a volume mismatch but certainly be ready to boost some bass on the onboard preamp when moving the switch from anything neck or neck+bridge to only bridge.

For me the HS is the best of both worlds. It retains 2 out of the 3 single PU tones you get in a regular Sterling H (series and single coil, parallel and single coil on a Stingray5 HS) and still offers 2 flavors of J (sorta') plus the neck pickup soloed. A tad more diverse than the HH model (which has 3 J-like tones, and series for each pickup soloed -parallel on Stingray5 HHs-). Here's a sample of the 5 positions it had (neckside to bridgeside, clean & compressed, then positions 1 -sorta' P- and 2 -sorta' J- picked widh SansAmp crunch). Also, here's a sample of the 9 positions in my current Ray35 "HS" (quite modded). I much prefer this bass. Half the price, similar weight and I added that single coil pickup (AliExpress creature -very decent sounding-) in a position that makes it a little nicer at the P game. The tradeoff of the closer distance between it and the stock humbucker is that J-like tones are a little "Spectoresque", there's a certain "metal friendly" but indeed nasal scoop to it, and also some combinations don't humbuck (there's no phantom coil in this so single coil is real single coil), not a bummer in any way as it's hardly noticeable. I also prefer this bass to the Sterling5 HS because I can mod it without remorse (it's intended in fact to be my "Sagrada Familia", a living creation) something I'd never dare on an EBMM (my Stingray5s, both old 3-coil ceramic, are in fact modded but nothing as invasive as adding a pickup).

This isn't the topic I expected.

Well I hope you are all happy with yourself. If it’s not bad enough having the loss of Barry Chuckle to deal with, Rock n Roll is a tall order.

I was doing my first summer season back then , I’m old now but was a great time to be learning bass lines .. Remember playing loads of Nik Kershaw in our sets ..The Riddle , wide boy .etc Also Level 42 , Toto , Prince and many others of that era ..I’d only been playing a couple of years so there were some challenging basslines to learn for me at the time .. I went on to work in many bands after .. but think this was my favourite time being a bass player .. skin tight jeans , yellow converse and a bleached mullet .. the fashion however sucked 😀

At least since its recyclable you won't feel so bad when it quickly goes in the bin.

I've never understood the "not versatile" thing, there must be an example of one being used in every genre of music to good affect. I think there are players that have a fixed way of playing that are used to being able to adjust from front to back pickup along with the tone or EQ controls to get a variety of sounds, imo it's the player that lacks the versatility not the bass.

That white fretless SUB looks good! 😉 It needed some more Stingray shaped company though, so it now takes the place of the black Sterling SUB in this photo, which has got handed down to the other half's kid. The P bass in the back has long gone, and the only reason the Jazz hasn't been sold is that I keep forgetting it exists.... must dig it out at some point! I occasionally have some half-hearted GAS for a 5 string or a Bongo - or maybe even a 5 string Bongo - but it never gets to the point I feel the need to get the wallet out...

I think I’ll be hanging onto them to be honest - Plus they’re still in the cabs at the moment, and the Beta 12s are still in their boxes! I bought the strap handles I used, along with the bulk of the rest of the hardware, from Blue Aran. They have a metal strip inside the rubber outer so they’ll take plenty of weight. After you’ve used them they won’t go back completely flat, but that’s probably not an issue. T-nuts definitely though. Here’s one of mine before I put the grilles on...

Ive never liked a les paul bass till I saw yours!

I often wonder what my local music shop would say to me to encourage me to walk in their door instead of shopping online?

I'm thinking of maybe incorporating a Jazz pickguard and control plate into this build? I would have to modify the shape slightly and alter the angle of the control plate but it will look along these lines not sure what colour pickguard? I'm thinking probably Black?.......

I can understand why they feel that way, although it may come across as being unnecessarily obtuse to customers...

That's what Ken was using, I'm sure. He seemed to have it in a compact galvanised steel tank (possibly repurposed from some other water system) that was no longer than eighteen inches. You'd need some good ventilation for your workshop to help prevent water vapour condensing on your tool steel.

The bending irons are a sort of steam-bending to be honest. You comprehensively soak the wood first and then spray it frequently during bending. Some folks also use a flexi stainless steel sheet that keeps the steam in, although I find it easier without. The other common method is a fox-type bending rig with heating pads - common in the US but the equipment tends to be quite difficult to get hold of and expensive here. Also, it is a specific rig for each size of guitar. Fine if you are doing multiple builds of the same design, but a bit over the top for one offs For me, the bending irons work (as long as they are turned up hot enough) and don't take up a lot of space. With a workshop about the size of a public toilet cubicle, that's important to me

Really.?

I wasn't aware there were any "design flaws" with Schallers or that they needed any special technique to fit. I've been using them on my instruments for years, just screw on and forget. Maybe every few weeks I've check the nuts as I'm picking my bass on and they never seem to loosen noticeably. That said, I've never heard of anyone having any problems with Dunlops either so you can pick whatever you prefer I suppose, I've just never been a fan of the aesthetics of the Duncans with that big "dog water bowl" arrangement they have, but functionally I've found both to work just fine.

The Wal will make you a better player

I love the London Bass Show and I wish everyone a great event. Cheers, Jeff

I've got the matching blue sparkle to that but with a maple fingerboard, it's also a later version with the Alnico pickup. I've got a black and white one with a ceramic pickup that was fretless. A stingray classic five. And a six string jobbie. free screenshot

I agree with you to a large extent, but I am confident my bands approach is the right thing for us as a band.

I grew up playing the violin, which is tuned in fifths just like the cello. You could just learn one chord shape, or box, and repeat it all the way up the neck, but that's not how classical players are trained. They are trained to only move their left hand into certain defined positions (1st position right down by the scroll, third position five semitones higher, fourth position two semitones higher than that etc). So you play a D scale in first position with one set of fingering and an E scale in first position with different fingering, rather than just moving the D fingering up by two semitones. On bass we're much freer with moving our left hand around so we mostly take a shape and move it to whatever fret suits us. So what you describe (a 'box' that can be moved anywhere) is possible on a cello, it's just not how classical cello is taught.

Lefty Harley Benton Fiesta Red PB-50, ordered one eight months ago right after it was announced, today it finally arrived!

Got my pickguards back from Jack’s Instruments. I have a lefty medium scale 32” P bass in vintage white. I couldn’t decide between a tort and a gold anodised one so got both.