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cable arrived this morning! sounds great! now to practice 😄

That's a great first bass. Goodness me how times have changed since I started out. I would have killed for this level of quality back then.

It's all back together and almost set up. I've used a threaded saddle type fender bridge fixed in the old holes and it has intonated just fine, so I'm not sure why the previous owner said it wouldn't. I've used a threaded saddle type so that I can pop the strings over a touch to give a more suitable spacing, but as I thought, that tends to pull the saddles outwards when playing. I have plenty of height adjustment so I'll cut a groove in the saddles where the strings need to be and then make a groove in the base plate (some have this anyway) for the height adjustment screws to sit in to stop the sideways movement. It's not a huge amount but it's annoying. The trussrod was out of adjustment but a washer behind the adjuster nut fixed that and has pulled the neck back nicely. The nut which was a righty, then cut for a lefty, now being used as righty again, is now sitting higher due to the coats of paint on the neck so the slots will need filing down which means I can file to the correct size and not have to replace the nut, again it's not a lot but will bring the strings down and hold them in place again. The action is pretty good at the moment and once the nut slots are sorted it will play nicely. The tone pot does practically nothing so will be replaced at a later stage. All in all I'm quite happy as, although it needs a little fettling, it is going to intonate properly and play decently with a nice low action. I've also picked up a suitably cheap looking strap which fits with the look.

If you think the cable sound great, try playing the bass, that will sound amazing! Very difficult to get the tension needed on a cable.

Unless it's something I want, then I should be able to dictate whatever I like

Little by little. This is my hobby and usually is interspersed with a lot more 'life' stuff. With the lockdown and building a guitar on a bit more 'doing something everyday' basis probably makes me realise how much work there is involved in one! But - in actual terms - decent progress. This morning I have tapered the fretboard to it's final size and rough-tapered the neck: Next job is probably putting the frets in the fretboard. Nowadays, I do that before gluing to the neck - easier to handle, easier to keep stable for hammering and clamping the frets and MUCH easier for getting the fret ends square and straight with the fretboard edge.

Eddie Jackson with his Spector NS2 and a Gallien Krueger GK800RB amp being driven to hit the rails. The 'holy grail' of bass tone imho. Listen to that growl on the low D..... 😍 😍 😍 And here..... the punch and growl! Mmmmmmmm........ 'Nuff said.......

Just so people know I LOVE Andy!!!! He's an absolute legend. Oh and yes its mine!!!

OK, so we’re all going stir crazy... here’s a little quiz I saw somewhere else to pass the time and channel all those pent up creative urges... Post up a recreation of a famous album cover using just bits and bobs found around your (locked down) house. First person to guess can then post their own and so on... I’ll start us off...

Hi Everyone, Just thought I’d stop by and say hi! Lockdown is forcing me to evaluate what I spend my time doing and consequently, I’m spending loads of time in the shed (not a bad thing as I love to play and keep myself bass-fit 😁) but with that comes the inevitable casual browsing of anything bass related! Been playing for 16 years (I’m 31) and currently rocking several Jazzes, a Precision, a Lakland DJ5 and a Stingray. Can’t wait to jump into the community!

You freaking amateur ... honestly I’m just disgusted ....“radiused block”, clamp, titebond it’s all just so pathetic, this is your first build right ? you got all this jargon off YouTube didn’t you ?

Heard this today, Great tune from 1983

I did alright. I played at Wembley Arena with it.

I cut the frets to length and detanged the fret-ends. Lucky break - the little bit at the bottom is all I had left off the coil... When I'm fretting, once I've run along each slot lightly with a triangular needle file, I run a small bead of Titebond along the tangs,then hammer them in (one side, other side, middle) and then pop a clamped radius block on while I'm preparing the next one. And, after the glue has fully cured, the fret-ends are snipped and edges sanded and we have a fretted fretboard Next job is the headstock while I wait for the trussrod to arrive

Returned to Rhythm Stick for my annual bash at it.

Ok I’ve taken a break and spent a lot of time and effort to recreated this iconic album cover: Don’t let your guitar weep over this, no matter how gently.

BC doesn’t strike me as the best choice to try and sell something for more than it’s worth... Everyone here is pretty knowledgeable about bass gear and how much it costs. A fair number of us spend a large part of the day looking at bass gear on the internet when we should be doing something else 😕

Meanwhile...I've been practicing on my two sires....and ignored my own advice and flattened all the batteries by leaving them plugged in! Doh!

Lol, it does t have to be Rush, or even Prog... here’s that big blue Ikea tray being put to use for a slice of 80s pop...

All done! Bit of a nightmare doing the wiring. Probably the fiddliest thing I’ve ever done! Had a couple of issues including wiring the jack socket up the wrong way round and I also managed to overheat the treble pot with my dodgy soldering iron. Once I moved to the garage and kept the tip super clean with a wire brush on my pillar drill it got a bit easier! I think I’ll order a spare treble pot. Contact cleaner has got it working ok but id rather be safe than sorry. after a quick set up it’s sounding as I’d hoped. Really nice to get some passive jazz tones out of my ray! The Ray pickup sounds pretty authentic to my ears too. I’ll see if I can post some recordings later.

You're describing a Fender Rumble 500.

I weighed my sterling tonight if I’ve not played it for a while, when I pick it up it feels heavy, but on a strap it’s fine so I weighed it, 10lbs 🤪 that’s heavy for a smaller body bass! its sounds and plays great Tony

Yep. And if it wasn't for the always on tuner, how is the guitarist supposed to know what chord they are supposed to be playing?

It's almost as if Norman Watt-Roy is better than us. 😬

My latest Jazz

I'm going to get some 2000 grit, sand it flat put 2 light coats of laquor in sand that back a bit then apply, thank you

Amazing how many of you have had underwear chucked at you. My experience wasn't so gentle. It was Bob's Palais in Midsomer Norton, early 1980s, the band, Neurosurgeon (formerly The Rubber Vultures) , played an eclectic set of deliberately weird originals. We scoffed at such outmoded conventions as time signatures and keys.The yokels however obviously put more stock in such things. The boos and catcalls were eventually followed by one of those enormous pub ashtrays. You probably remember them. Giant bowls that could hold the ash and dog ends of an entire evening's puffing. It span from the crowd like an overweight china Frisbee which would have laid me out had it dipped a little earlier. As it was it hit the proscenium arch shattering into shrapnel and showering the stage. We beat a hasty and overdue retreat. The ashtray got the biggest cheer of the night.

Progress

I have finally realised what the figuring on that body reminds me of. The vortex swirls you sometimes see behind the wings of aircraft, or the wake of a powerboat. As if the neck is passing though the fluid body at speed and leaving vortices in its wake.

01 Ever played a gig sitting down? Only for a school play! 02 Ever gigged on a different instrument? No 03 Ever shared a stage with a musical hero of yours? Yes - played WITH current/ex KISS members Peter Criss, Bruce Kulick, Mark St John & Eric Singer.... and played TO members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Def Leppard and Ace Frehley (ex KISS) 04 Any fan ever had a tattoo of your band's logo? No 05 Ever signed an autograph in a dressing room? Yes, many times 06 Ever cried on stage? No 07 Ever worn a hat on stage? All the time these days. It's part of my 'identity' in the show I play in.... 08 Ever gigged with a band you hadn't met before the gig? Yes. On MANY deps. 09 Ever been in a relationship with a fellow band member? No 10 Ever played in different bands on the same day? Yes, filled in with various bands on a multi-band showcase. 11 Ever had anything thrown at you while playing? Yes, knickers! 12 Ever crashed on the way to the gig? No, but came close on a motorway when the rooftop luggage carrier of the car in front exploded open at 70mph and a huge duvet and various items of clothing flew onto the windscreen of our van in the fast lane...! 13 Ever left a band over the choice of set list? Yep. If you don't like any of it - why would you play it? 14 Ever slept in the venue despite it not being a hotel? No 15 Ever been supported by a band clearly better than you? Who's to say what is 'better'? 16 Ever played a gig suffering from some debilitating medical condition? No, but shared the stage with various dickless wonders, singers with Lead Singer Disease etc! lol! 17 Ever been in a band where the guitarist was your favourite bandmate? Yes 18 Ever played in the grounds of a stately home? Yes 19 Ever injured yourself on stage? Yep, fell off my 7" platform heels onstage many times, burnt my mouth badly when firebreathing..... and fell off the front of the stage while doing my bass solo (ALL in KISS tribute)! 20 Ever been told that your bass isn't loud enough? Very seldomly! lol!

It’s builds like this that make me weep into my pots of variously coloured sanding dust....

Please nobody recreate the cover of Hemispheres.

That's sort of what I do with a varnished neck. I, like you @Pea Turgh , do sand down to 240 and then apply a couple of coats. But I make those my sealing coats, not the first of the finish coats. I then sand down those coats back to the wood with 300ish grit and finer before starting to add the actual finish coats. So, maybe more by accident, you are actually on the right path, I reckon

In my experience, keep at it until it is second nature. If you can't play it smoothly straight off, it is simply because your chops are not there yet. Kepp playing it and it will get smoother and smoother.

Pretty sure I know what that is. Just not sure if I can recreate something in a rush to move the thread along. Sorry, I probably come across as a fly by night, but I’m supposed to be working from home.

Day 18 - More Gear

Hrm, Where is it then? 😬 (asking for a friend )

No point, it sounds like you're beyond help. 😄

It'll only take me 8 years to save the dosh instead of 10 years

Nice little Podcast/interview with Bassist Mike Watson. During the interview he talks about his ABBA sessions. The Podcast is about halfway down the page. https://thestrangebrew.co.uk/abba-mike-watson/

Cut with the scalpel then widened with a knife so the saw bites (but that's for another day) Whether I've been accurate enough for this thing to actually play in tune remains to be seen, but I'm pretty happy to have got this far!

I wanted this sort of colour all along, in a matt finish, but it was quite hard to find. I ended up taking a bit of a gamble and getting some graffiti paint! It's the Montana Black range, loads of colour options and it went on really nicely! It's a nitro-combination paint. Spayed a few coats on and then a few coats of matt polyurethane laquer to protect it. Seems to have worked pretty well!

Barefaced cabs are immense and weigh as much as a kitten holding a chaffinch!

Speaking of Ampeg, I've always really liked Krist Novoselic's tone on Teen Spirit – I’m pretty sure he was going through an Ampeg SVT400. Maybe why I've taken an instant shine to my VT Bass DI pedal - that tone was clearly already there in my subconscious!

1972, all original Jazz bass, was Olympic white which has faded to a rather beautiful buttermilk colour, she’s had a tough old life but she’s been getting plenty of love from me over the last couple of years...