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If this catches on, it's going to kill the 'basses for sale' section of the forum! (If anyone wants to buy anything I have advertised after New Year's Day, I promise them complete discretion and anonymity!)

To be fair they'd both get it!

And there rests the case for the prosecution, M'lud...

I should be so lucky

I've stained the neck and fretboard and started applying the finishing oils. Ref the fretboard and neck, the owner has always preferred a strong amber tint. For particularly the fretboard, to contrast it needs to be lighter or darker than the top. I did a few trials (my own inclination was to go lighter, like @Len_derby 's, rather than darker) but in the end we pitched for a match of a bass he sent me a photo of and which contrasts the other way round - strong colour neck making the body top actually look a decent number of shades lighter than it actually is. Fascinating stuff. Anyway, I'm about 1/2 way through the finish application and this is how it's looking: Couple more days of finish application and then that can be sitting hardening while I do the remaining jobs. Oh yes, and there's probably Christmas in between those two sets of activities

Finding it extremely hard to leave this bass alone, I actually went and found where it was hidden last night...

That would be an ecumenical matter.

The book is only £18.19 NOW on Amazon. Out of stock but delivered within a month...

I only put my head above the parapet at blues jams, where a basic 12-bar can take you most of the way, but "Hey Joe" keeps coming up, "Black Magic Woman" and "Hooch Coochie Man" and "Crossroads" are usual suspects too. And "The Thrill is Gone". It does bug me that the bass player is expected to just know anything that comes up. I play as many open blues jams as I can - it's really good experience - but almost all the time either the guitar player(s) just announce what they're going to play, or (even worse) everyone else gets together on the other side of the stage and then someone walks across and tells me what they've decided to play. I've had to learn to listen for the first few bars and then blag it, but that's good experience too and I'm slowly getting better at it.

I don't think so! A fatter string requires more tension in order to make it's higher mass resonate at a given frequency. More mass and tension require more energy for the same amplitude. Apart from the fundamental tone, harmonics appear along the string. The more energy, the more harmonics. As those harmonics are multiples of the fundamental frequency, the result will be a richer tone, not a fatter tone. As the proof of the pudding is in the eating, I analysed the waveforms produced by both, thin and fat strings. It can be clearly seen that the percentage of harmonics versus the fundamental frequency depends on string gauge. In other words: Thinner strings produce more boom. In the graph tone, gauge and tension are listed.

Well this was unexpected! A tax rebate, a few things going well and a quick trip to Denmark street led me to acquiring a brand new, 3 EQ USA stingray! it's a bass I'd always lusted after, but like so many you see your hero's play it but you don't know if it's going to be practical for yourself. I played a Sterling by Ernie Ball a few years ago and didn't think much of it. This USA Stingray has such a punchy and rounded sound, it's like a recorded and processed bass sound but coming from your fingers. As I said to the guys in the shop you can drive yourself mad looking at a plethora of options online, sometimes you just want to play something and go "yep! That's the one". I played a USA Jazz too and really enjoyed that, but felt the Stingray was better suited to playing live in my covers band which is leaning towards becoming an 80's cover band. So here it is. I also have to say the guys in Wunjo are superb. No pressure sales, gave me a good trade in on my old jazz bass too. Top marks for customer service!

Having been messing about on my acoustic guitar for a few weeks, I picked one my basses up last night and you know what I actually enjoyed playing for me and playing stuff I enjoy it was great with a drum machine and lot of different effects

I was going to say "westcountry"? Glastonbury's over two hours north from me. Eden is westcountry. (Tongue in cheek disclaimer for the argumentative types) I don't know why anyone gets upset over these Glastonbury bookings, it's a mainstream pop festival and Kylie is a mainstream pop star whose been churning out hits for three decades. I'd have thought that qualified her for 'Legend' status in the eyes of the average Glastonbury goer. I'd be fairly content to have had her longevity and success, as would many more on here I'd imagine. Never mind keep knocking her.

Har, challenge most definitely not accepted. Another project is the last thing I need! You, however, have all the Hohner parts already - all you need is a cosmetically challenged Peavey to go with it. If only there was one around...

Easy, Dave. Take a large mirror to the jam ...

I just concentrate on getting a good signal to the recorder, I run out of the DI out on my Markbass LM3 and couple that with a Red Audio 6 Condenser mic in front of a 1x12 cab, between the two signals I am getting all the bass tone I need for a recording

Unless we hold the bash in Hawaii - which I personally would be up for 😎

An early Christmas greeting from the Family...

How's it going guys? I just published my guide to chords on 4 strings. It's got 4 essential tips you can use to find your own awesome chord voicings. Take a look! https://onlinebassguitar.com/bass-chords-4-string-players-guide/

I could contribute by offering a space to keep it or any of your other basses in case they feel left out a bit.

I know what cetera really needs is a whip round for a new bass - he's not got quite enough to choose from...

That's def a beer or two i owe you next time you are up here with your new project.

the Ramones went off a bit after their 8th Album

I posted a brief comment on another thread about playing acoustically, and doing so piqued my interest, so I thought I’d share it. I play bass in a purely jamming/hobby/non-gigging band (by choice, as we’re mostly in our 70s!), but have decent soundproofed facilities, with full PA, drum kit etc, so we don’t spare the volume when rehearsing. But we gave our first 'performance' last night, in front of our wives (!) in a living room, so went acoustic. No mikes, the drummer used a drum box and tambourine, I did use an amp, but very low. To our surprise, we thoroughly enjoyed it, even though any mistakes tended to be more obvious, not that there were that many.....

I used them for my first 2-3 years of bass playing until I understood there were other string brands. 😁 They eat your hands, eat your frets and die quicker than any other string I've tried, usually after one gig. Started using D'addarios and Elixir (when flush) and have never looked back!

It looks like an ashtray.

I bought a 5 string set of TI flats about 2 years ago. I'm hoping to get at least another 10 years out of them!

I've found them consistent for years, one gig, dead.

And the sellers name is ....... scotdexte Methinks the cheeky chappie is having a laugh.

Further pair added since last family photo.

Being the sort of person that sits and thinks about this sort of crap, I'd say yes, although so small it's negligible. The strings are constantly trying to pull the head and bridge together. If a bass is stood on something, stand, floor whatever, then the bottom is supported and gravity will help the head move towards the bridge under string tension. If the bass is hung then the head is supported and gravity (the weight of the body) will help resist the pull of the strings. Very basically, if stood gravity tries to compress your bass, if hung gravity tries to stretch your bass. String tension tries to compress your bass and anything to counteract this has to be good, no? In reality the forces are so small it's not worth worrying about, but that's the way I see it.

Remember to bring Red House to an end before it becomes Red Housing Estate.

£5500? Shut the front door!

Well, the B15 came into its own in the studio so you would think home would be fine. I used to have an early 70's one and used it very happily at home.

Can you? I can't! I would love to release the cash tied up in my instruments so I regularly check out cheaper basses. A couple of months ago I went to Andertons and tried all their Sire and Fender 5 string basses and while they will certainly be someone's pride and joy, I haven't found one that sounds or plays as well as my current £1500 bass. Not even close. So what makes a better bass? What makes one bass more expensive than another? How can someone appreciate a more expensive bass over a cheaper one? IMO for basses the answer is, the quality and build of the components, the ability of the guy making it, the time he can devote to making it and the sound it makes. We all have preferences, so for me the diminishing returns rule depends entirely on the instrument, but I guess starts slowly at about £1000 and really kicks in at £2000.

We need to knock up (or find) a definitive list of models, it’s a minefield.

There are U.K. dealers selling relatively cheap bows online, or you can get them through Ebay from China. However I tried the China route and the bow was already bent on arrival. I did get my money back but I had to send the frog end only back to the dealer.! You may be able to hire a French and German bow from a bass shop but seeing where you are located, that may be difficult. Are there any orchestras you can contact to see if any bassist can help, with lessons or hands on advice? I’ve had a French bow for years and now believe I should try a German one. I seem to have problems holding the French bow so one day I might try a cheap German bow, maybe a cheap graphite type one. Good luck.

Excellent allowance. I hope to be working with my teacher almost every week next year as I have this year - good for me and for him. To be encouraged. Likewise the cost of travel to practices and gigs. I do think excluding straight trades is a bit harsh though. Not that I'm expecting to - there's nothing I want right now, and I'm trying to sell two basses - but a straight trade wouldn't cost any money or increase one's collection. I'm definitely planning to upgrade some strings, so I'm out of the challenge, but I'll try to avoid anything else, and just use and appreciate the wonderful gear I have now. And my teacher will be furious if I buy anything else! I admitted to my Ibby 6, and persuaded him it was ok, as bass stuff is the only thing in life I spend significant money on. But I hide my latest purchase - Epiphone Jack Casady - when he comes round. He's right, I need to spend more time playing the basses I already have. Mr Josie doesn't notice or care.

I think the Sadowsky bit might be responsible for a lot of your happiness.

Andy, sorry I've only just caught up on this but have read from first till last in one sitting, enthralled (really, I don't get out much🙄) This is really a great technical build, lots of creative problem solving and an end result that looks amazing. You really couldn't ask for more in a build thread. Eggnog all round. 😀

Well done Roger, I do so like a happy ending!

Nik Kershaw arranged a lot of his stuff for acoustic, I think there was an acoustic album back in the day but he toured last year with an acoustic one man show. Works fantastically well.

Quite, that would clearly be my only concern when buying this...

Glad to see you're getting into "the season of good will to all men" theme...😆😆

This is the modern world. Fakery everywhere. The fakery is even fake.

I dunno ... the English are very fond of saying that Germans have no sense of humour, and then get all po-faced about a very obvious joke.

Thanks so much everyone! i'm super happy that everyone is enjoying this build log, im certainly enjoying building it! making a start on the top carving for the body now. lots of work with rasps and spoke shaves. as mentioned in the previous post, this isn't going to be the most radical of carved tops, its more to add some shapes and highlights to the upper "horns", i also have to keep the carve very close to the edge at the bottom, so that the top is flat enough to accommodate the bigsby. on the wider parts of the body, i really just want it to catch the light, and be a bit more shapely than a normal bass. this will also help to remove a little bit more of the weight from the body! you can see from the left picture sort of what im going for, the curve is mostly convex and then only concave right down at the edge. it makes it look quite bulbous, but i dig that! i also put a tiny bit of tru oil (literally 3 drops for the whole board) do darken the ziricote a tad before i put the frets on. i might do 1 more but i think that'll be it. i dont want the board to end up shiny, just a bit darker to add some contrast

This is possibly one of the most over-the-top basses I have ever seen, and I love it! I imagine Dracula would play this bad boy if he were a bassist.