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I have fond memories of Sid, my 70RI CIJ Precision from my first punk band Kismetik, a decade or so back. Nice narrow, almost J-like nut width and neck, and my fave style of Fender P logo. So when I spotted this pretty rare, late 1990s surf green edition online I dived in. Also I have been under pressure from Mrs C (who ranks basses purely based on colour) to replace 'Minty', my now-sold 62RI surf green Jazz ... oh and @Happy Jackwouldnt sell me his surf green 54P Lull. Well thats my list of excuses ...

This just landed on my YouTube feed. A Spanish bass player who has taken traditional Flamenco guitar technique (the most sophisticated approach to the instrument in the world) and transferred it to six string bass. I love Nuevo Flamenco as it is but this is astonishing. The guy is called Juan Farjado Louva and is new to me. Makes most slappers look a little silly. Enjoy.

I thought that I'd share a photo of my new Sadowsky!

Black and maple with just a dash of Orange...

Thread needs to be renamed "What's your personal favourite album by (insert artist here). I say this simply because so many of the recommendations are so very, very wrong!

One good thing...........can’t be a great time for ticket touts......every cloud

Oh to be given the chance to be so choosy

The Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks, all that’s needed.

Woah! That didn't go how I thought it would.

I re-lacquered this on Wednesday and the weather was much more suitable so the lacquer has gone on better, (note to self, don't be so impatient next time). I gave it a quick polish up earlier but the paint is still slightly soft so marks on the side that's face down whilst polishing the other side, (note to self, pay attention to previous notes to self). I'll let it hang over the weekend and give it another buff up when it's fully hard, stop sniggering at the back. The good news is the finish is OK out of a rattle can, if I can learn to be patient. 🙂

Nice to have a day off today. Been working on another 27" bass in spalted beech again. Had a piece left from the previous bass so marked it up for cutting - odd shape but sufficient for his build. First, I placed the templates on to work out which was would avoid any of the knots or faults in the wood and look the best when done (always a bit of a guess with spalted beech when you are going to carve some of it as it changes pattern throughout it's thickness) Then marked the line to cut: and ended up with this which lines up quite nicely across the join: I've also been practicing making scarf joints and have a nice selection of blanks for a neck: I've got another body glued up made from ash which may also get turned into one of these.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing indeed. We could form a club of grumpy old scrotes who idiotically sold all their fantastic basses years ago because some shiny new trinket suddenly appeared hanging on a wall in Wapping or somewhere..... we could call it Basscha...... Oh, wait......

Guns n Roses Appetite For Destruction. They never hit the same heights after that album in my humble opinion.

The SG has quite a cramped controls cluster. Some of that is the body shape, and some the fact that they have a top-mounted jack. While I can't do anything about the body shape, I do have the advantage of going for an edge mounted jack. I'm sure there are lots of other ways of laying them out, but after lots of mockups, sticking the knobs and tip on with blu-tack, this one below passed my 'air guitar test' of ensuring I would never accidentally hit the switch while flailing my arms Pete Townsend style, but could still reach both or individual volumes quickly without hitting either the tones or the switch. I tried with the switch position a little further forward but came to the conclusion that it is safer from accidental adjustment here. So it's still tight, but I think is going to work OK live: Inside, I wanted to leave most of the chamber bottom thicker than the pot spindles to maximise the stability in that knotty area, so I just Forstner-cut some recesses for the pots and switch to allow good thread access the other side: Once I've cut the jack hole, I'll tidy up the inside shape to make it look more like it was supposed to look like that

I posted this on the 2nd May in the DOI thread ….it seems appropriate here too...... This date is a troublesome one for me....Seven years ago today my Dad died, leaving me as the eldest in the Sharpe family. This in itself is depressing enough but it makes me remember that 2013 was a bit of an Annus Horribilis for me. One of my best mates, a fantastic drummer, died that year too. It was also the year that the young lady I left my life in Tenerife( some five years earlier) for, and I,went our separate ways. Ammicably it has to be pointed out but sad never the less. The point of inflecting this misery on you all is You lot ….yes YOU, make it impossible to stay down for long! This thread is my comfort zone of crazy ,funny,nay hilarious companionship. The imagination, intelligence and wit displayed on here leaves me astounded at times. I try to keep up but, sometimes I just have to sit back in admiration and laugh myself senseless. No need for sympathy chaps and chapesses….all is good in the Mondo household; I just wanted to share my appreciation of your collective skills. Dr Mondeaux Finks yer awl ggrate annall Thank you bass chatters. BUT …. really the answer is..... Thank you basschat for @skankdelvar… The stories of his past life are just wonderful 😉

Late 1990s CIJ 70RI Precision in pretty hard-to-find surf green

It is worrying for the tens of thousands of people who make their living from live music and music venues.

Why is it worrying? We can't change it, so what does worrying achieve? When the new normality is established we can then start getting back to it. There are people dying in significant numbers so do hardly regard a mere inconvenience as worrying. As Ricky points out, music will find away and in a years time we'll be wondering what all the fuss was about in this regard.

Here’s a bit of my inspiration for ever wanting one in the first place. Interestingly, whereas my old Pro was JG1162, Leigh’s original Wal (he now has 2), was JG1126. Well, I thought it was interesting anyway! 😂

Well, I'm new here and new to bass. I don't yet know what I want from a bass guitar other than wanting something that I can use to play in a lower register than I can with my guitars (which include Gibson, Fender and Taylor). So I bought a Harley Benton 450 Progressive for £129 delivered. I've had it a week and I'm very impressed with it. Over time I will find things about it that I love or hate. Things it can do or can't do. What's it like standing up, sitting down? Does it balance nicely, do bits of it get in the way or annoy me? Is it stable and reliable and if not what's changing or causing problems? Do I enjoy playing bass? Am I any good at it? Etc. When all that has seeped in, I will be in much better position to know what to look for in a higher quality and more expensive bass, if indeed that's what I want. As a basic and reasonable starting point for bass, I think that the HB bass I have is hard to beat. On the other hand, If you have clearer ideas of what you want and would rather have a higher quality instrument from the get go and can afford it; go for it! Either way, I hope you enjoy it.

I have discovered many things +1 for Ashdown Flatwound strings, if only on my Hofner. Also the biggest and most obvious is the pickup sweet spot. I also found my old Manson bass. But the weirdest thing definitely was finding the right handed version of my late bandmate's left handed Jackson bass. A brief recollection for you Back in the late 80s, music shop owner, Big Mart, ordered a custom Jackson bass. It had a Star wars graphic and kahler trem. He went to view it at the music show but they'd made it right handed. Big Mart was a lefty Jackson rushed thru a lefty version. The original right handed version ended up it Brixton musical exchange. It was sold, end of story Big Mart passed away nearly 5 years ago, we carried the band on and I switched to bass and vocals I then posted on BC and Talkbass and various other musical forums, searching for the said right handed version. and on what would have been Big Mart's birthday, I got a message from the owner of the right handed Jackson. He bought it from BEM and still had it. Unbelievable but true

I use the 'holding the bass while weighing yourself' method, but I only hop on the scales once, then deduct what I know I weigh. The only thing is most of my basses are between 35 and 40 kilos somehow.

My mate's girlfriend's mum asked me if I'd like to 'do her in the shower' at one gig about 25 years ago. I said 'no thanks'. I was about 24 and she looked like Olive from On The Buses.

At one gig we were asked to do something Irish. So in the break we went out and dug up the car park.

He answered, and what a nice guy!! It was the 59 P bass through the Basing street Ampeg amp. Yay!

Get something cheap and rubbish, play it until it annoys you. Then buy something that gets rid of the thing that annoys you.

I think that’s part of the story, yes. Knowing him quite well back in the Rockbottom days in Croydon that’s exactly what he used to do with the in-stock basses. Talented git!! 😫 Threw up in the back of my brand new car on the way back from The Lazy Toad in Beckenham, the sod...😡 Lovely bloke really and he’s done so brilliantly in his career. Truly well deserved. Taught me a lot and got me one of my first proper gigs with the Rockbottom ‘house band’.

First Bazzer Manilow, and now The Cure as well! ... *writes note in little black book* 😄

Even if we could only have 30 or so at our gigs (and that just wouldn't work financially) they would all be crushed around the stage - very hard to imagine everyone (or anyone) maintaining social distance at a gig.

Picture Book... how can you think about Stevie Wonder and not think about Superstition? Songs in the Key of Life... how can you think about Stevie Wonder and not think about I Wish and Sir Duke?

This is it. I dismantled the bass quite a while back - really should put it back together again! Sapele laminated with I think two strips of wenge and some other random hardwood. I was looking at this recently as it was my first attempt at a scarf joint that worked really well because I cannot see the join.

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Looks great, well done. I have a used SE 3A if you want to give that a go. I think it works but might have a crackly pot. I don't want anything for it but you might need to find some black stacked knobs for a couple of the pots. I think Axes'R'Us have them. SE 3A has volume, blend, bass/treble and para EQ, last two are stacked pots.

Dominique de Piazza's 'fretless' bridge sounds the best of the lot. He was once congratulated on his intonation by John Patitucci no less. Then Piazza told him it was a fretted bass so good was the fretless sound.

I cut a (thankfully reasonably modest) belly cut, stood back to admire my handiwork and realised I'd cut it in on the front of the body. So now the upper body is "contoured". Sometimes I wonder if it's safe for me to be around sharp tools.

Did you approach many musicians or just bass players?

Maybe there is a reason for that if everyone says it. having played many quality bases, I have not seen this correlation that an expensive bass has to be better than a cheap bass. Some expensive basses have been dogs, some cheap basses have been gems. A Harley Benton jazz had the best playability and tone of any jazz I had played, after the neck was set up, only problem was it weighed a ton and was more than I could comfortably play (seriously it must have been 12lb or over or I would still have it)

I have played expensive basses that were difficult to play and cheaper ones that were a dream to play. The difference in playability was due to the setup. Took me a long time to figure that out So if you get an expensive/not so expensive bass, make sure it's set up well (a decent set up won't cost you much). It makes a world of difference. Especially when you're starting out.

Here's the deal: * Buy a Harley Benton starter kit - bass, case, strap, lead - £138 (less than the depreciation on a new £1000 bass) * When the lockdown eases, take it to a luthier and get it set up. It may play better and you may want to join a band * You can't join a band playing a Harley Benton so buy a Squier * Play some gigs * When you get good and you're regularly playing gigs go and buy a £1500 bass * You'll worry about taking a £1500 bass to a gig so leave it at home and take the Squier with the HB as a back-up

Hofner Ignition Club, Danelectro Longhorn, Kay KJP-1B and Ibanez Talman TMB30. Yes I know there's no knobs on the Talman or strings on the Longhorn. 🙂

It has taught me that tort is good / is not good for a pickguard. It has taught me that a PA is compulsory for pub gigs, apart from when it is not. It has taught me that 4 is the correct number of strings for a bass guitar, unless you have 5 or more. It has taught me that 8ms of lag is too much, except when it is not. It has taught me that the best compressor pedal is always the one I do not have. It has taught me that reading music is the only way to get on, unless you already have gotten on without reading. It has taught me that a p bass is the go to instrument, unless one prefers something else. It has taught me that jokes I think are good are bad and that all retailers are not good unless you have had a good experience of them. Finally; it has taught me most people on here are good people. One thing it has not taught me is what is the best guitar for metal. Thank you BC - I am / I am not a better person thanks to you.

That ‘reporter’ is a plum. If you really want to go after people, then it is those selling decals - no decals aftermarket - no ‘fake’ branded instruments. What a bell end - someone got a guitar for £69 quid.....seems alright

COME AT ME! Now the infinite job of setting it up, it's sharp at the 12th fret, the arc over the fretboard is lousy, the drop from the B to the E is 100 feet and I've never done a neck relief in my life ever. BUT that it's nominally together and makes a sound out of the sound holes is the biggest squee I've done in a long time. it really is the look I was thinking of as well. super clean, really sharp.

I would lower your budget and buy a Squier Precision or Jazz. You will be getting a gig worthy instrument without investing too much cash. If you decide you like playing bass and want to continue, then you can either a) keep the bass and buy a 'better' one or b) sell the Squier and purchase something else. Over £1k for a first instrument is crazy IMO. Hold on for the supercar when you know the way around the racetrack.

And just to update a picture I posted a few months back which had a couple of generations missing, here's the collection covering the Trace era from the mid 80's to mid 90's, along with the baby Elf thrown in/on for good measure!