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I left the last group because I asked them what chords they were playing and they couldn't answer me.

If you rehearse in a small room, in a circle, with amps pointing at each other and at gig volumes, then I'm afraid you don't understand the purpose of a rehearsal and you''ll always cause/have problems. However you set up in a rehearsal room turn the volume down (because this isn't a gig) and you'll a be able to work on the detail of the songs. This is where the selfish and incompetent hide behind the 2 great excuses. . . . the drummer has to play that loud and I need to play this loud to get my sound. Anyone who is so inadequate that they resort to using these 2 cop outs should be fired forthwith.

Hopefully we will have a great 'special guest' chat/clinic to announce shortly - just firming it up!

The biggest problem with pretty much every rehearsal room I've been in is volume. You have a room roughly the same size as a single garage and you fill it with stacks by Marshall and Ashdown, plus a PA that could handle the main stage at Glastonbury, and then the band plays at gig volume. Well gig volume only works at a gig, in a decent-sized room with carpets and furniture and stuff, and above all with dozens (perhaps hundreds) of bodies absorbing the sound. I've never understood why so many bands are so stupid about this. The only thing that gig volume is good for at a rehearsal is hiding the mistakes ... so why bother rehearsing? Grumpyguts, try insisting (just once) that the whole band turns down to a sensible level. Turn the singer down on the PA to the point where he's at home stereo level, you take the bass down to match, force the guitarist(s) to follow suit, and then the drummer has no choice. I believe that you'll be very pleasantly surprised at the result. And your ears won't be ringing the next morning.

I have plenty of time to play now as my boys are in their twenties. Cherish the time with your kids Your time will come

Yep, we`ve been together for almost 5 years now, have released 3 albums, 3 eps/singles, played festivals, done overseas gigs/tours, and it`s all still incredibly good fun. I think a lot of it is to do with age, similarly we are all 40s/50s with no illusions of being stars. As such with the ego malarkey out of the way this is the most successful any of us have ever been, probably due to it being a hobby, albeit a very time-consuming one, and primarily done for fun/the love of it. We don`t take any money from the band, it all goes back in to the pot to pay for recording, flights, ferries, hotels, more merch etc. This coming week we`ll rehearse Mon, then got gigs on Tue/Wed/Thu in Bristol, Manchester and London respectively. Later on this month we have another 3 gigs in 3 days, Stockton On Tees, Edinburgh & Doncaster. That`s off the back of releasing an EP at the start of this month, at The Rebellion Festival in Blackpool. Were I to be in my 20s doing this I don`t think I would have appreciated it at all, probably would have just got riotously drunk at all the gigs (which is what I did in fact do at the smaller gigs I did back then) whereas I realise now that I`m incredibly fortunate to have my hobby enabling me to do all of the above. I reckon being able to do all of this in my 50s has made me appreciate it all the more.

I haven't said 'Yes' yet mate ...

Just got the Zenith back. All I can say is OMG. It's gorgeous. Simon at GUS has managed to fit a 22 fret 5 string neck to a 21 fret 4 string bass and you'd never know. The passive EMG's and greasebucket tone mod sound lush with a threeway switch and wired in series and parallel. The piezo only has a volume pot but it's got a hidden secret. Instead of being battery run it's powered by a capacitor that takes only 1 minute to charge and this will last 16 hours. I've put the original brass bridge logo on the headstock instead of where it should be. In my opinion it just looks better on the headstock (it looked good on the original rosewood bridge but now that has been made larger it looked out of proportion and 'wrong'). Anyway, I know I didn't do anything to convert it (unlike some of the skilled people on BC I would have just ruined something that, in my eyes, is probably one of the best looking basses I've ever laid eyes on), but I knew what I wanted and luckily had one of the finest luthiers on the planet just down the road from me who managed to transform my thoughts into a work of art

Always fancied the idea of trying Thunderbird pickups, so when a coupla chinese clones came up for sale, I did this, with some bits I had lying around . I really, really like it. Great punch.

I just can't deal with loud rehearsal. It seems like such an antiquated way of working. We use a decent electronic kit, amp modelling and in ears to rehearse. The clarity is awesome and by plugging a laptop into the mixer we can record the whole session. At gigs the only difference is an acoustic kit instead of electronic and a pa speakers so no boomy wall of sound there either.

I know there will be recommendations that this or that 212 will outperform a 610, but I`m yet to have the experience of one that does. Sure they`ll go loud, most possibly louder, but that huge all enveloping sound you get from a 610 imo is due to the amount of speakers all going together. Again I reckon that there will be disputes on that based on science/technology/efficiency etc, but I know that of the high-end 212s I've had they didn`t give that same all enveloping sound. However they did deliver on the low-end punch, no loss of that - they were Neos as well.

Tsk! Pah! Far too late to complain about lack of time now. One has to commit either to being a good bass player and keeping one's pants on, OR banging it on the table and rogering anyone within grappling distance at every opportunity. Unfortunately I did neither.

Maybe. I have a day job tho which brings in most of my income, so I don't need to stay in a band with a##eholes just for money. That's why playing solo works well for me - I can be an a##ehole all by myself then!

Same as Blue: never quit until you have something else (hopefully better) to go to and don't do "personality clashes". They are a pointless waste of time. I have just one bottom line, I'm in bands so I can gig. It's always a bonus if the band is made up of good players but as long as the gigs are good then I have no problem playing with anyone. I mostly play with great guys anyway, but over the years there have been a few very unpleasant people. I make sure I''m friendly with everyone. I treat everyone in every band and every gig with a "professional" attitude. It helps that most of the guys I play with are professionals, either making a living from gigging or teaching their instruments, so I see very few personality problems. Most ex-bands have folded and just broken up, so how to leave wasn't an issue. I've been fired a few times, usually so the band leader can get in one of his mates. C'est la vie. I've left a few to join a better band. Twice I left because I just didn't have enough time to juggle the number of bands I was in with a young family and a job. I've only quit one band, that I can recall, about 10 years ago, because the band leader started messing me about, ie cancelling gigs and not telling me. I emailed him after the second time and told him where he shove his band.

Funnily enough, nor is mine!

18 at the moment: Aria SB700 (1981) Aria SB1000 (1984) Aria RSB Deluxe II (1986) Aria SB Black ‘n’ Gold I (1984) Aria SB1000JT (2006) Peavey Cirrus USA 4 (2002) Fender Jazz Geddy Lee MIJ Fender Precision 1962 replica Fender Jazz Bass Special (1986) Fender Jazz Bass Special (1987) Fender Jazz Bass Special (1993) Philip Kubicki Ex Factor 4 (1988) Yamaha BB1024X Yamaha BB1025X Shuker Custom Sandberg VM4 HCA Warmoth Fender Jazz Maruszczyk Elwood Custom

1st pickup template done, I am pretty happy with the design although will tweak the top curve to better follow the body.

Watched a Rush documentary last night about their last tour (think it was called ‘Time Stands Still’) The overriding impression was that they’re phenomenal musicians, and I can’t wait for Geddy Lee’s bass book - he had some beautiful gear on stage, All custom colour Fenders, a Zematis, a Thunderbird and of course a Ric or 2 (a 4005 in fireglo was a pleasant surprise!)

I liked DuranDuran. The songs were good, the singist can sing, the bassist played some fantastic basslines & the keys guy made me want things I couldn't afford (hence taking up bass). I've always loved synths & synth bands. I don't know how any of Depeche Mode would fare against a good pianist, but that's not what synths are about. It's sound creation.

My local shop to work is bass gallery. So all good. I don't buy brand new basses, only really vintage now, so a great environment and stock. I do make a point of buying my strings there also. I know I could pay a little less, but I value the facility, advice & service so I see no reason to quibble. I don't ever try gear in a shop then buy it online. If you are happy to buy without trying first, you have earned the discount.

As soon as I know I'll drop you a message on here!

Just use headphones ...

Hi! I'm going to assume that the coloured wire is considered 'hot'. Ok, referring to left coil and right coil as pictured (they are going to be both the same so not really important UNLESS the pole pieces on the front side of the pickup halves are different heights. Which I am assuming they are not) Take left hand coil and solder the black wire to the coloured wire of right side coil. That is all you need to do for the pickups, save for wrapping some tape around those bare solder joints. You will then have a free coloured end and a free black end. Coloured will be hot, the other, well, self explanatory. The back you'll be able to solder to ground, the coloured will go to the 'hot' on the volume pot. Now, given which way you are holding the pot or what diagram you are looking at my description could get confusing so I will see if I can find a diagram for you!

Let's be clear. I KNOW that Jazz standards are a bit stinky poo and if I had to never play another one it would be fine by me. But playing Jazz standards is completely different to reproducing a Rush set. When I play Autumn Leave (which I try REALLY hard not to), I am not thinking 'what did Miles play'?, 'have I got the right gear'? 'is my hair 'authentic'? The only 'tribute' is to the concept of playing Jazz standards (which I refer to as 'the increasingly tedious American Songbook') and the tune's core chord sequence. Everything else is up for grabs (actually, thinking about it, even the chord sequence sometimes! A passing reference to the melody is all you need really ). Why? That's easy. Because most Jazz 'bands' are scratch bands made up of people who have never met before let alone rehearsed so it's a means of getting a credible set together without the need to read or rehearse. When players know each other and can play together a lot, the standards quickly ebb away in favour of more and more eclectic stuff. The concept of Jazz standards is, for me, a manifestation of the chronic unpopularity of Jazz and the impossibility of funding anything in the way of a rehearsal or composition (one guitarist friend of mine once said 'I like Jazz but it's just not worth the amount of work involved'. If you do it for the money, you don't do it. It's not often that three player who have never met before turn up and say 'does anyone know La Villa Strangiato'?

Not going to disagree with Lozz that an excellent 212 is going to "out perform" a 610. But a 212 will hopefully perform very well indeed; and more importantly should perform more than well enough. And your back will love you forever...

If its a small rehearsal room you want a volume that you can talk over (maybe talking loudly) but not to the point you need earplugs in. The lower you can get your volume within reason keeping in mind the drummer has a minimum level on a standard kit the tighter your sound will be at rehearsals. You don't need excessive volumes to be good and especially at rehearsals. At a gig let the PA do the work for you and keep your stage sound low enough to be heard over the drums on stage. Dave

If I did that, then two of the three bands I play in would be reduced to a solo bass act!

^ I would have thought. Use the edge of a credit card or similar as a rocker to bridge across the 9th 10th and 11th frets and check if it 'see-saws' on a high 10th on the A string. If so just use a fine flat needle file in that area to take the high spot off (until it doesn't rock - don't overdo it) and polish it up with very fine wet & dry or micro-web to polish out any scratches. For a single high spot you can do this with the strings still on.

@Bassmingo wading in here, but I do know that Mr G has a background in wood finishing and french polishing as well as a keen fettler and so I would be confident that if anyone can take a decent shot at it, it would be him.

I was referring to the Rush tribute band, not Jazz. 😇

No it wasn't Mine was built for me by Sander. Different pickguard, dots + binding. Nice bass though

Last night was the second of five dep gigs that I'm doing with a Rolling Stones Covers band this month. The first one had gone well - just a couple of little stumbles where they play things a bit differently to how I'm used to, but on the whole very good. Last night was really brilliant. Great venue in Brum. Very small stage, but plenty of room for the punters to dance. All ages, really nice atmosphere. Very helpful sound guy. But near disaster struck as I was loading in. Managed to trap my finger in the door of my boot! First finger right hand - my main plucking finger so to speak!!! 😮 So quickly got a glass of ice from behind the bar and stuck finger in that for a long time. Skin broken just under the nail, but luckily pad of finger OK although very tender. So I soldiered on and didn't even notice the pain during the first half (despite Paint it Black and Sympathy for the Devil!) but afterwards it was really throbbing. So spent the break with my finger in a glass of ice again and it was OK for the second half. It went so well - people smiling, dancing cheering. Some bloke wanted his picture taken with me during the break. He kept going on about what a great guitarist I was, and I suspect that he thought the guitar solos were coming from me, haha! I didn't disabuse him of the fact 😄Also, most of the members of the other two band I was in had come along as well and they all really enjoyed it. And I'm getting paid - which all helps to eke out the pension. Feel like a proper musician at last. Very happy bunny this morning, despite throbbing finger 😎☝️

The pickup looks to be in the right place, from the images I've seen... so it will probably have a Stingray-type kind of sound. It's a different pickup though so that accounts for some of the sound too. The preamp is not that important. A 100% passive Stingray has an unmistakeable Stingray sound. The preamp only allows to to 'access' other Stingray sounds. If you really want a good Stingray equivalent without the price tag... look for a USA made MusicMan SUB, the ones made between 2003-2006. The range of finishes is limited among other things, but they are true Stingrays in anything but name. Around £400 for an excellent condition used one, and they're not hard to find. I have a white one as well as a 'proper' Stingray, and it's not going anywhere.

My two year old says “bass song” and then does her “bass dance” very odd

I want to try an SWR but I'm scared it's a gateway amp

No excuse not to get one now since I’ve been seeking the dUg tone since 1989!

Reasons I have quit tend to be around members I want to beat to death with their own shoes... I have generally taken the shithouse way out via group message as I don’t hold my tongue well when I’m angry. It’s usually down to laziness, wanting the world at their feet but without putting effort in. Turning up late, not helping move gear, losing gear on packing down. I don’t need to gig to pay bills so I’m probably not as patient as some might be.

Were the finger positions to tell him where to play or indicating where he was playing? Is that not musical? Duran duran were basically just a synth group, so that is most of it. I just make all the thuds and clanks in my group

More my era of Rush, but this is terrific, too, especially the vocal: I've heard Geddy worse...

I have a bit of a thing for white Basses so when this arrived before Christmas for my 40'th it was clear the good lady had been paying attention My brand new Lakland.