Leaderboard

Don't worry guys, unless the risk is manageable to the point of being practically negligible we won't be going ahead. There is NOBODY more risk-averse than me and Mrs Scrumpy when it comes to covid-19. We're moving forward on the basis that it's still on unless/until it's called off, and the only reasonable approach is to decide closer to the time, say around the end of August.

This is it.... the Basschattiest Moment.... The very Essence of Basschat. " i've got a pickguard..... Oh well; better buy a bass to fit it !!! "

Unwrapped a suspicious parcel only to find lurking inside, surprise surprise, another bass guitar 🤦🏼‍♂️ Seriously, somebody stop me. Every time I scrape together a few quid I tell myself to save it for a rainy day. Then find myself in a dark alley trembling and twitching as I hand it all over for just one more score. This week I have become the proud owner of a Washburn Scavenger. I have a few weak areas in my feeble defences, of which, early 80s MIJ basses is one. This is a doozy. Really lovely finish, great shape (I think so anyway) and it sounds wonderful. No neck dive at all. There can't be any really. Not unless the neck was another three feet longer and constructed from cast iron. This is a heavy piece of wood. No problem on a comfort strap, I played it all evening and even my dodgy shoulder is fine. It's also string through, which I've not had before. Tell me, does this mean flats are a no no? I know @Bassassin knows a fair bit about these. Any info gratefully received.

Normal stuff - happy to show what I do and why...but don't assume this is the way it should be done Binding. The problem I have with wood binding is that - even when it is bent to shape (which mine always is) it is very stiff and it is very springy. So the traditional way is glue it - tape it tightly - wrap the whole body very, very tightly with a fabric strip or bicycle inner tube like an Egyptian mummy. Then leave it overnight for the glue to fully dry And usually - in my experience - when you unwrap it the next day there are gaps. And you burst into a rage and jump on the almost complete body until it is a pile of matchsticks and start everything all over again. And, folks, life is just too short for that. So what I have done the last three or four builds is iron on the bindings - in the same way that I iron on veneer. Basically, - I use Evostick 'Resin 'W' PVA wood glue: - I put an even coat on both the binding AND the binding channel - I let it dry. (30 mins or so) - I then get a hot dry iron (I use an old heatshrink iron but any iron will do) and iron it on. (I forgot to take a photo while I was doing it but hopefully you get the idea): - the heat melts both layers of PVA which merges and when it cools holds the components tight. It's repeatable so if there's a gap, I just heat it up again, hold the joint tight with my gloved hand for a few seconds and it is done And here it is...done, ready for final sanding: No tantrums. No firewood. Not the way the books say to do it - but it works for me!

No problem. There are some excellent bass and electric solid body kits on the market - and some at unbelievable value for money (have a look at the Gear4Music ones!) And onwards...to the next scary bit, the end graft rout. This required again the body to be suspended over the concrete floor clamped by the modified workmate - this time to be routed with my Dremel: From the offcut of the fretboard, I have been able to slice a thin strip that will contrast with the back woods, but key in with the fretboard. It's generally best to avoid too many different species so we have: Red Gum Walnut: Back, Sides, Rosette, Headstock plate Spruce: Top Macassar or lookalike (ie, the bindings): Fretboard, bindings; end graft Should all coordinate nicely. I'll decide whether the heel plate would be better in macassar or Red Gum Walnut when the rest is sorted Anyway - the above slot had to be cut at this stage, but the end graft can't actually be fitted yet. But eventually it will link into the binding feature lines with its own lines something like at the top left corner here:

I think I have a fairly well established reputation (both here and on TalkBass) for being open and honest on topics where I can be. I am posting this in response to several PM's and e-mails I have received over the past week from some of you, so rather than responding individually I am making the assumption that these are common questions to many of you even if you didn't PM me. International distribution is a VERY complicated thing. For example, I'm responsible for the technical and regulatory side of international safety and EMC compliance. I spend considerable time and effort (which translates to cost for the company) to sort through and follow the laws and rules governing each country (or in the case of the EU, the region). Even though there has been a lot of talk and efforts over the years about bringing all of these rules under a single unified umbrella, in practice that really hasn't happened. Coming up in December, there is an entirely new set of safety standards (UL/cUL/EN/IEC-62368) that all products imported into the EU must comply with. Initially it was promoted as being an easier, less time consuming and less expensive way to bring everybody together for safety compliance but in practice it has been the opposite. It has almost doubled the work for design/compliance engineers as well as the test labs themselves. Add to this the fact that many regions that initially signed onto the new standard and the agreed upon transition dates have begun to back away from their commitments and will require new products to be certified to the older (60065) standard. Since the two standards require different analysis and testing procedures, this means that now we need to maintain two costly certifications per product! All of the Subway amps, for example, are now fully dual certified to both the 60065 AND 62368 standards. Who pays for these costs? Ultimately the customer does. Maintaining customer support, service centers and service agents is another costly aspect to sales (where customer service is better than the bare minimum). This includes training technicians, providing service documentation, multi-language paperwork, and transporting/stocking of parts necessary for service and warehousing product for sale. I understand the frustration regarding distributors like Westside, but at the same time they have done a good job supporting the product. Every service tech that I have dealt with at Westside was in fact very good and well qualified. It's been part of the cost of providing customer support. With the changing of the way global is being done, we have shifted as well, though admittedly it took quite some time. Hopefully this will make our products more attractive to the rest of the world. There are bound to be some learning curve experiences, please bear with us as we take this step forward. Covid-19 has made this more difficult due to many of us (still) working remotely, but once I receive the information and links to service centers in the EU and UK, I will post this information. Warranties will continue on uninterrupted, region by region, since each region shares a different set of governing rules it's necessary to respect the rules and different requirements of each region. I hope this helps you understand the changes.

Decided to do a build with parts I have hanging around to clear the decks. I had a block of Black Limba and a P bass Lyte neck - beautiful feeling thing it is. Mocked up my own shape with obvious influences, and did all the carving via hand with my Japanese pull saws, spoke shaves, Chisels and a Shinto saw. The rounding off was with a router as is the neck pocket, I did a heap of sanding via hand, but I did weaken and use an orbital sander and an oscillating one to finish off. The current state is with tinted grain filler from Rothko Frost (great company) and I will Tru-oil finish it (it’s actually gun oil) I do like a gnarly bit of wood look

Having been 'resting', as the luvvies say, since NYE 2018, tomorrow sees first rehearsal witha new band. I've depped for them before, so less pressure than there might be, but still a little nerve-wracking after all this time. Long day of practice tomorrow! Would have been today too, but other work got in the way. Excited!

...bloody good 😂

Hello! Aye, t'was me. Flats are beautiful things.

This stinks of the tired assumption that the self employed are all on the blag. I work in the touring production industry. I trade as a limited company, even though it's just me. This means I'm not "self employed" so I wasn't eligible for that support. I can't furlough myself, because I still have to undertake what tiny little business activities I can, otherwise I'll have no business to come back to. I don't have premises that are eligible for business rates, so none of the grant schemes apply to me (I did have a small unit but it was within a self storage facility and not counted as eligible premises. I've had to give this space up for financial reasons). I've got precisely zero government support. The government support that does exist will cease in a couple of months, long before our industry is able to return to normal. There will be no concert touring, festivals, theatre productions etc in 2020. There is no guarantee they'll be back in their normal form in 2021. Will the government continue to support artists, musicians, technicians, production companies, venues, event trucking and bussing suppliers, tour caterers, stewards, security, all the huge supply chain that supports live events? Like hell they will. Redundancies and dead companies will be all over the place. @dudewheresmybass, like me, will not see his income return to normal levels from live music for quite some time. Our mortgages and bills won't go away. Our kids still need to be fed and clothed. I won't be working for free.

Are you married?

I’ve still got one Steve I found it in an old bass case I had in my loft 😁

The wedding has already been postponed from this year, but I think all the arrangements are still valid for 2021. AFAIK it's not a massively complicated and expensive do. However it will be held in a church. Given that we're a Goth band I would expect half the guests to burst into flames! 😉

Ah, Bell's Music Catalogue. Jumpers for goalposts etc. 🙂

Absolutely. Two things I would say: at some point in the not too distant future people will feel safe enough to go out and not avoid crowds and; it is not a case of being ‘principled’ to refuse to accept changes in market forces and go out of business. There is going to be a recession, not just because of COVID 19. This will lead to venues closing but still (nearly) the same number of bands who want to play in them. Therefore, there will be an over-supply of bands causing band fees to drop. Going hand-in-hand with this will be a drop in demand from punters, many of whom may lose their jobs or struggle to pay the mortgage and therefore can’t afford to go out to support live music events. This will mean a potential loss of income for pubs / venues, again forcing gig fees to drop. As you say, all this is going to push down band fees as a result of the change in the supply / demand curve. All of this is going to have an effect on the live music scene, both at the professional and semi-pro levels. At pub band level, the better bands with established followings may find themselves having to reduce their fees and start competing with bands who are perhaps not so good. These bands will struggle even more for gigs and may be forced to play less often for free. On one hand, this might mean that it is likely that there is an awful band on when you turn up at a typical pub venue, on the other hand how are these bands supposed to get better it they’re starved of gigs?? At the pro level, it’s difficult enough these days trying to make a living with music as your main source of income and it’s not going to get any easier! Interesting times…

I suspect strongly that this is going to be the future. I can only really look at this through the prism of a guy who tends to play small clubs in the UK. I also believe recent events in Manchester are only going to reinforce the idea (among those with a more mature brain) that a crowd is a thing to avoid. It's a tricky one. We could be very principled and sit at home as our venues gradually fold (the numbers of people will not be enough to sustain the place) or we all try and swim together. This is, indeed, crystal ball stuff but I do believe that the number of playing opportunities are going to shrink. Rather like the jobs market. Places are closing and so the there are fewer jobs and more people trying to fill those that are available. That itself is going to push down band fees as a result of the change in the supply/demand curve. For free? If my back can be scratched later on (if you trust the venue to honour a gentleman's agreement) then I would. I wonder how many venues (pubs especially) have built up that kind of goodwill? In general, my maxim is always be as loyal to your employer as they would be to you.

I'm in a 12 piece band. I basically play for free anyway

The thing is, for all of us who are willing to do it for free, we’re setting a very dodgy precedent which could result in those who either do it til time for a living, or who need the gig money to supplement their income no longer being able to do so. In effect by keeping the venue going we may be preventing a fellow musician from earning. Difficult.

I play original music so, overall, I have played at a loss for 30 years. Playing for free would be a step up in the world 😂 I would play for free for now because I enjoy playing, provided there were no expenses and, perhaps, the venue could throw in some goodies to sweeten it a smidge. The situation would be fluid, however, and no long term commitments would be made. Once the venue is doing well, the band should do well too.

These are perfectly fine...not exactly a tone of technology involved. I have several of these (bought a 5 pack) and the higher end Gruv Gear ones - I can't see any significant difference. I sent one to Bassfan when he posted a wanted ad - cheap enough to give away - I'm sure he'd say they're worth £3. I ordered three...expect to see one or more in the raffle at your nearest Bass Bash.

I had a Watkins Rapier 33 guitar about 13 years back, picked it up at the local car boot, cost me £12 for that and a Kay Strat copy that looked like it had been found in a ditch. The Rapier was a really interesting guitar, did a lot of reading & research about them - they were proper garden shed instruments in many ways - no truss rod, hand-wound pickups, switches cannibalised from Morphy-Richards hairdryers & so on. The finish was an odd sort of plastic coating rather than conventional paint/lacquer - very prone to cracking & flaking, probably due to age-related shrinkage - mine wasn't an exception! The one I had turned out to be a pretty early example - the features & serial put it at around '63, I think. What was good was that everything worked fine, a couple of frets needed re-seating but it played quite nicely after a clean, fettle & re-string. Sold it for around £350, if I remember - which was quite pleasing considering it cost me £6.

I gave it to a mate who painted it rainbow colours. knowing him he took it to a gig and smashed it. glad I head butted him when I had the chance, tosser.

With valves the cab impedance should be equal to or lower than the tap rated load. With SS the cab impedance should be equal to or greater than the head rated minimum load.

While locking XLRs are fine, I've always found locking jacks to fiddly to unlock. Especially in a hurry.

I’m turning the clock back to 1976, what an album.

Yeh, ours too:

I have a friend who has a degree in music. His main instrument is the guitar but to aid his creativity he collects and plays many other instruments. He feels the unfamiliarity with an instrument aids his creativity.

I love my B15N from 1969. Just had it serviced yesterday. Works a treat! That glow 😊

There are some great kits about and it's a great, great way of starting to understand the geometry and what matters and what doesn't matter for both solids and acoustics. And I mean, if you're talking acoustic...Martin do some superb kits...

Man, making screw holes to carbon is SLOOOOooooW But take your time and size the hole carefully, otherwise you end up with cracked laquer. 1. Make a pilot hole. 2. Remember to countersunk. I did these all the way through the finish, so that I got some black dust. 3. Size up, if you don't have all possible drill sizes, use a round file. Rinse, repeat. DO. NOT. RUSH.

Poor excuse for missing a gig. Sack him!

It's not just you mate. I've found myself looking at basses again recently that I really don't need, can't afford, and if I'm honest, don't even want. No prospects of playing live any time soon, even without the Covid restrictions. We're a new band doing all original stuff and still very much in the writing / rehearsing stage. That being said, I still keep trying to convince myself that I need a P bass for recording. I don't even like P basses!

I think it's going to be down to what sort of band you are, if the audience normally sits down quietly at tables the gigs will start sooner, but if you're a raucous rock act like us gigs are a long way off

Last gig was September. I played 3 sets with 3 different bands at an all dayer. Tried to quit one of those bands after the show, they didn’t let me (best mates and all). Didn’t want to do one but couldn’t get out of it, not playing with them now. Then the third one was my band so all rosey. Pointless bank story there. As an almost 40 year old alt/punk kid, who is doing this for fun, it’s frustrating not to gig. But like so many others, as it’s not a revenue stream so I’m not too phased. I’m spending the time writing for a new project that I’m very excited for. Our first practice was a huge success and we are going at this with the main aim of making some really good recordings, not worried about gigging at the moment. A very fortunate position to be in. My heart bleeds for people that need to make a living out of this stuff. Venue staff, performers, techs and engineers. Things won’t get any easier for a while as those small gigs and venues will be hardest hit. However, when they are back (bigger, better, stronger) I’m going to love and appreciate them even more. I look forward to playing live again.

I like the video to this early one by eek a mouse

No harm no foul. Not exactly an easy search when you couldn't know how other people might have titled their threads.

I haven’t been in a supermarket since a week before lockdown (when I decided to lockdown) I’m almost sixty, overweight and diabetic. I am quietly confident that the SW Bash will be an annual event for many years to come and (as long as I haven’t sold my gear and given up playing bass, which is a distinct possibility) I have no doubt that I will be attending them in the future but until the criteria in my earlier comment have been met it’s a no no for me.

The obvious response is something like: "Will you play for free?" "No, but we'll play if you cover our costs." "How much is that?" "About twice what you normally pay."

I seem to recall that Andy Fraser used to play for Free and he did OK out of it.

Yes, my band would do it (we are covers). We play for free sometimes anyway, and not in it for the money. As far as I am concerned the venue is doing something for us even if they pay us no money - they are providing us with an audience and a 'platform' (every sense) to play on. I'm doing it as a music fan as well as a musician. I want the venues to stay open or keep doing music and provide me with live music for years to come. Speaking as non-pro, so other perspectives may apply!

We play for free anyway, so no change for us.

WOO HOO! I now have the bass back! It still has the cables and strap that were in the gig bag too. It did take an email from my MSP to help move things along, though I was mostly raising concerns about police funding and restructure making the cops' job difficult. I now also have twins.... (kind of)

Recorded at the last gig we played in December last year: