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There most certainly is a difference. D is the key our singer can sing in.

So here’s a bit of good news...for once! After sterling efforts from the sender who ended up going the extra mile and also the PA to the CEO of Parcelforce my bass finally turned up today. This after nearly five months of emails and many phone calls and texts. The best bit and a tribute to a Fender is that despite it being unwrapped at some point the bass and case are virtually unscathed. A tribute to modern Fender build quality. It really was in tune too!

I was bored at home, and had some Seafoam Green, and custom mixed Smooth Mint (Fiat 500 car colour), nitrocellulose lacquer leftover from previous builds. I wondered how the colours would look together. So, I made this: 2 piece, double bound, Tele body. 1 piece maple neck. Gotoh tuners and bridge. Fender Pure Vintage 64 Tele pickups. CRL 3 way switch, Fender Pure Vintage knobs, and CTS pots. All lacquer finishing was applied here at home. (I masked off the binding on the sides, and scraped back the front edge binding using a scalpel blade.

I've wanted to foray into the world of fretless and took the opportunity to acquire this beauty, semi hollow so pretty resonant even when not plugged in. Now i've just got to practice until I don't suck!

Yamaha BB235 review Not a lot of reviews around, decided to write one. I am new here, don’t know if there is a better sub-forum for this. This is my first 5-string bass. Never even played one before, so can only compare to 4-string ones. Took a risk, ordered it unseen, but I trust Yamaha - have played and liked their basses, guitars, synths, amps and so on. Chose the cheaper model instead of BB435 because didn’t feel like paying almost double the price for an instrument I might not find any use for (and liked the BB235 finish options more). No used basses available where I live either. Also considered an even cheaper Ibanez TMB105 as an alternative but decided to go with Yamaha. Ordered from Thomann, arrived in 5 days. First impressions: very well packaged. Vintage White with black headstock & pickguard looks much better than in pics (it is my first white bass ever). Maple neck has nice flames, extremely thin matte finish, rosewood fingerboard looks good, it’s dark (maybe dyed?) with even grain. Neck seems almost perfectly flatsawn, don’t expect it to be warping easily. Very good! Surprisingly light weight, less than my BB1200S. Construction seems fine. Very comfortable neck profile: similar C-shape to BB1200S, not as thick and slightly flatter radius. Close enough to feel familiar immediately. Set-up is adequate: strings had been loosened for transit, after tuning up neck stayed straight with minimal relief (0.3 mm or so). Excellent! String height quite optimal, intonation good enough, nut seems cut just right. There was no need for retuning in the first half an hour of playing. Tightened the neck, bridge and tuner screws before tuning up, a few were slightly loose. How does it sound? Played at home (Zoom MS-100BT SVT model to home stereo with cheap subwoofer, some AKG headphones) I’m surprised. It sounds perfectly usable as is. Pickup balance seems well adjusted, so is string-to-string balance. No need to adjust anything. The factory strings sound clear, deep and balanced, they hold their tuning quite well. Negatives? Of course. After half an hour of so, the smell of the strings started bothering me. Hard to describe, but I can’t stand it. They also coloured my fingertips black. Anyway, those strings performed better than I was expecting, as I was prepared to change them right away. Got an evening of play time off them, fair enough. Scratchy pots, all of them. They work smoothly, but all three have scratchy noise when adjusted. Poor quality? Probably. But what to expect, I’ve changed pots on instruments costing three times more. Might try cleaning them first, see if it helps. Might be dust or something in the control cavity. Or, maybe the cavity shielding leaves something to be desired. I’ll find out later. Close inspection of the body, its countours and finish reveals little surprises. The contouring is functional, if not exceptionally pretty. The paintjob is fine until very close inspection, which reveals some imperfections. Jackplate is plastic, so not the most durable. The output jack nut was slightly loose out of the box. Nothing serious. The 235 is new and shiny and I’ve owned it for less than 24 hours now. I’m quite happy with it. String change next, some more playing at home, then in a few days I’ll take the bass to my studio to test it with a Darkglass/Ampeg rig. More to follow. Btw, sorry for the autocorrect. There may be some inexplicable mistakes because my IPad insists on translating everything to Finnish as i type. Part two: new strings & findings I had a 5-string set of D’Addario Chromes ready. What happened: the .132 low B string end wrappings did not fit through the bridge! Not happy to do any major modifications on the bridge, yet. Four local music shops later no 5-string flatwound sets anywhere. Returned home with Dunlop Nickel Wound 45-125s. They are fine, much better than factory strings. No smell, no dirty fingers. Intonation needed adjustment - the bridge works and seems stable enough. Still want them flatwounds, though! Control cavity has no shielding whatsoever, I doubt the pickup cavities are any better. Pots are made by Alpha, so the quality is ok. Pot noise must be a grounding/shielding thing. Some Copper Tape Magic needed. More to follow in a few days, after some testing at proper volume levels. Part three: more volume & finally flats So, took the BB235 to my studio to play it through Darkglass M900 & Ampeg 1x15. Everything seems ok: it holds its tuning and sounds perfectly usable as is. With 45-125 Dunlop Nickel Rounds at a loud level, the imbalance of non-reverse P pickup feels a bit irritating: G and D strings sound unnecessarily bright, the lower strings slightly out of focus. Nothing wrong with that, just one of the reasons why I prefer reverse P configuration. No surprises, the BB235 really is a solid instrument and performs quite well. As noticed earlier, the finish on the back of the neck feels extremely thin, almost non-existent, and either it isn’t perfectly sanded or, playing the neck makes moisture off my hands lift the wood grain just very slightly. Whichever it is, I think the feel could get better with some extremely fine grade steel wool and suitable oil or polish. Yesterday I finally got a set of Dunlop Stainless Flats (45-125). Did not have much time to play the bass after changing strings, but I liked the feel and sound already much better than the roundwounds. Minimal adjustments were needed, trussrod was fine with 1/8 of a turn, couple strings needed their intonation checked. More analysis and final verdict to follow, in a week or two. Maybe better pics too.

There are relatively few steps left before I can start the finishing process...but most of these final steps will tend to take a proportionately longer time because there will be lots and lots of accurate measuring involved, trial and error assembly and disassembly, etc.. And none more so than fitting the neck. I'm going to break from convention for the neck fitting. My preferred method is mortice and tenon with sturdy bolts and threaded inserts, which is also what I will be doing here (I did succeed in one build with a dovetail joint but can't afford the post-trauma psychiatrist bills again!) : But I have found - on my own OM and a dreadnought I built for a fellow band member that over time the bolts slacken. It's an easy thing to fix - just a quick nip up with an allen key - but I don't want that to happen to an instrument that is a few hundred miles away. I think that it is that the mahogany - great quality and lightweight from David Dyke - simply compresses a teeny bit over time and temperature change and, eventually, this lessens the friction on the machine screw head. So what I now do is do everything in the conventional way with a bolt-on - up to and including finishing and a fully strung-up test of the action, intonation, etc, and then as a final step, take the neck off, add some wood glue to the joint and re-bolt. And so what about if in the distant future it ever needed a neck re-set? Well, see the heel? I will drill a small hole from here into a small chamber at the joint to allow a luthier to use their steam needle (that's what they use to remove set necks) to be able to insert it to soften the glue. Normally, a luthier would have to remove the fretboard for access to the joint (that's what they do to fix a Gibson Les Paul and SG set neck), but providing access here, all that needs taking off will be the heel end cap: And the flaw in the scheme? Well, as far as I know, no-one else provides this facility and, as a neck reset is only usually needed after around 30 years or so hard playing - and even then rarely needed - then P will have forgotten that this facility exists and almost certainly I won't be around to remind him Anyway - next task is getting the neck joint accurate and at the correct up/down and side/side angles. It's a shame that it is needed because, as a roughcut-straight-off-the-router, this is the best fit I've ever achieved(and it's just as close a fit the other side) : And is it needed? Well, it would be most unusual if it wasn't. I have found that the best way is to use a carbon stiffening rod - they are dead straight - to line up along the frets and centre-line of the fretboard. You can see here that the left right angle needs a tweak (a very small tweak in the angle at the heel makes a BIG difference at the bridge): And now I have the actual fretboard with the actual frets in place, I can fine-tune the up/down angle - which needs a small adjustment to end up with the bottom of the rod flush with the top of the bridge: So that's the next job

I like the first guitarist, I also like the second guitarist, But which one's better? There's only one way to find out... FIIIIIGHT!

Nice! And if it was a 4 string it would be the exact bass I'm looking for to complete my holy trinity.

My 68 now a fretless

There was truth to it back in the day*. Now we have an even tempered scale, meaning the differences between each note is the same, no there is no difference (even d minor isn't really the saddest key). But back in the day, the notes were difference so there really was a difference between the scales. The day being about 200 years ago. Since the beginning of the 1800s even temprement has been the norm. Before that, anyones choice. Stuff really did sound different

Well, that went better than I expected! With a decent fit of the heel to the body (final action will be to 'floss' the neck/body join with emery to end up with a perfect join), the neck is now in line with the body: And the carbon rod is at the same height as the bridge

A good friend of mine who was a big man in the sound system days reminded me today of this, heavy tune

“Creatively I'm thinking I've got a different idea of what I want then you guys. If we're going in different directions then that's just how it is and part of life.” Sounds like he’s one foot out of the door. This sounds like his opportunity.

Here are a few of mine 62 Casino, 65 Strat, 66 Tele. Quite happy with current setup.

Does either have a pretty sister?

In all likelihood, yes. Best not.

If it helps : I have isolated the tracks with this website tool : moises.ai Source : this video They are here : https://1drv.ms/u/s!AmA5zf7XPDdug_AKW_UoiM-Wh0aKTw?e=M24eUf Drums / Vocals / Bass / other

Our singer can sing in all keys. And usually does.

Mike is on to shaping the body now!! Love the detail of adding the dark veneer between the body and the bookmatched top!

Maybe your brain is just expecting to hear it in the original key.

Example: C major - Completely pure. Its character is: innocence, simplicity, naïvety, children's talk. C minor - Declaration of love and at the same time the lament of unhappy love. All languishing, longing, sighing of the love-sick soul lies in this key. Db major - A leering key, degenerating into grief and rapture. It cannot laugh, but it can smile; it cannot howl, but it can at least grimace its crying.--Consequently only unusual characters and feelings can be brought out in this key. D major - The key of triumph, of Hallejuahs, of war-cries, of victory-rejoicing. Thus, the inviting symphonies, the marches, holiday songs and heaven-rejoicing choruses are set in this key. D minor - Melancholy womanliness, the spleen and humours brood. D# minor - Feelings of the anxiety of the soul's deepest distress, of brooding despair, of blackest depresssion, of the most gloomy condition of the soul. Every fear, every hesitation of the shuddering heart, breathes out of horrible D# minor. If ghosts could speak, their speech would approximate this key. Eb major - The key of love, of devotion, of intimate conversation with God. E major - Noisy shouts of joy, laughing pleasure and not yet complete, full delight lies in E Major. F major - Complaisance & calm. F minor - Deep depression, funereal lament, groans of misery and longing for the grave. F# major - Triumph over difficulty, free sigh of relief utered when hurdles are surmounted; echo of a soul which has fiercely struggled and finally conquered lies in all uses of this key. F# minor - A gloomy key: it tugs at passion as a dog biting a dress. Resentment and discontent are its language. G major - Everything rustic, idyllic and lyrical, every calm and satisfied passion, every tender gratitude for true friendship and faithful love,--in a word every gentle and peaceful emotion of the heart is correctly expressed by this key. G minor - Discontent, uneasiness, worry about a failed scheme; bad-tempered gnashing of teeth; in a word: resentment and dislike. Ab major - Key of the grave. Death, grave, putrefaction, judgment, eternity lie in its radius. Ab minor - Grumbler, heart squeezed until it suffocates; wailing lament, difficult struggle; in a word, the color of this key is everything struggling with difficulty. A major - This key includes declarations of innocent love, satisfaction with one's state of affairs; hope of seeing one's beloved again when parting; youthful cheerfulness and trust in God. A minor - Pious womanliness and tenderness of character. Bb major - Cheerful love, clear conscience, hope aspiration for a better world. Bb minor - A quaint creature, often dressed in the garment of night. It is somewhat surly and very seldom takes on a pleasant countenance. Mocking God and the world; discontented with itself and with everything; preparation for suicide sounds in this key. B major - Strongly coloured, announcing wild passions, composed from the most glaring coulors. Anger, rage, jealousy, fury, despair and every burden of the heart lies in its sphere. B minor - This is as it were the key of patience, of calm awaiting ones's fate and of submission to divine dispensation. (https://www.pitchperfecttuning.com/post/2019/07/17/characteristics-of-musical-keys)

I wouldn't be concerned about the nerves btw. I am an absolute mess with nerves in an audition, or even a soundcheck sometimes. But get me in front of an audience and I'm like a man possessed. If someone had to overcome extreme nervousness and still turned up and played well, it speaks volumes for their determination, character and courage.

Pick the one who tunes up with the volume off

Good tempo that, I see where he's coming from. Also you're a funk band, so the progression is I - IV. Get him to pick a key (I assume he has limited range so it'll be one of the 3 he's comfortable with) and boom you've got yourself a song 😁

Have you heard the Todmobile version of Awaken with JA on vocals ? It's a life affirming performance.

I don't have many gig stories but my first gig was actually a charity fund raiser the wife of the BL organised. Sell out show, 200 people, in a small venue in the cente of town. We were headline act (the band was established before I joined).. I got go the venue early to set up, chose my spot on stage - right behind the big Front of House speaker system so I was mostly hidden from view - was feeling pretty happy about that and was helping with nerves. Performance time came round and since we were the largest band playing as a 6 piece the sound engineer decided we needed more space. I had not realised the speakers were on wheels and he just wheeled them out of the way - so there I was, now fully exposed to all right at the front of the stage. It was such a massive high playing that gig but rather than getting easier the nerves just got worse with each one we played.

I'm leaning towards the one that doesn't twiddle his knobs. We have one of those and it drives everyone nuts. He can't do it at gigs cos he's tied to the mic but it's irritating at rehearsals. And he's been playing the same guitars and amp for 20 years so if he hasn't 'found his sound' by now there's no hope......

Perhaps, as your instrument has a zero fret, the walls of the nut slots should be higher.

Welcome with open arms

Who feels it knows it.

i know what you mean; you used to see them for not much money at all back in the '90s when I started playing. I would add a couple of caveats though. Firstly, I don't think they were ever as bad as some say they were. Some exhibited poor routing/assembly but the vast majority didn't. Also, there is nothing inherently wrong with the three bolt neck construction or bullet truss rods, and yes, they were heavy, but a lot of things were back then. I would also say that '70s Jazz basses, and to a lesser extent the Precisions, have a very different sound to the '60s ones. If you want to get the Marcus Miller tone you have to forget about anything made prior to 1972, which could also be a factor in their increasing value. Of course, I'm sure that nostalgia and the fact they are now old are also reasons why they're going up in price, but the same would be true for the pre-CBS instruments as well.

To me it looks like the nut on the bass side (E) is not flush with the side of the neck, and there is some overhang of the nut on the treble side (G). If that is the case (I cannot 100% see it from the picture) I would try to reposition before thinking about replacing the nut.

I shall be joining this auspicious club later today! Is there an initiation ordeal I have to go through? 😬

@Happy Jack Fantastic videos. Thank you for this! @Hellzero great heads up on these amps

My wife’s lockdown snoring....

Where do I begin? I keep reading the above sentence and find myself shaking my head in disbelief. Fully developed great riffs that do not grab the singer. It must be so hard for the singer when faced with such a difficult starting point.to springboard from. I concur with @NickD's judgement on this one, you are giving it to the singer on a plate. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

Sharp looking bass.

Some top guys having fun - great! Anderson's voice though- wow. Seemingly no change at all over the years. And LoLing at Wakeman's nonchalant reach over at the end to play the last bit upside down!

one more for you. all steak! Steak sample 6.mp3

Mesa amps both guitar and bass were never as straightforward as their control layout would have had you believe. I geeked out reading the manuals way too much in my teens but it really made me appreciate that every amp builder/amp can have its own quirks and it really does pay to RTFM if you can get access to it.

It's no different than choosing a 'proper' bass speaker really. If you buy something cheap it's going to have cheap drivers in it and they won't work very well. Spend more and there is no reason why a bass driver in a PA speaker won't handle bass as well as a bass guitar speaker. After all it's only got to produce the bass at a level to balance with the rest of the band which is what you should be doing anyway. Equally a 1x10 bass driver isn't enough for most of us and a 10" PA speaker isn't going to be magically louder. If you normally go out with a 2x12 then 2 12"PA speakers are going to be what you need. Again a 12" Barefaced is more likely to be enough compared with a lesser speaker and a 12" QSC is likely to blow a lot of cheaper speakers away. On top of this it's a good idea to look at what others have done loads of us have gone for the QSC or the RCF PA speakers and so you can be confident that they'll do the job.

Go with the one who smelled the least.

I’ve been amazed seeing the value and desirability of first early 70s and then late 70s Fender skyrocket over the last few years.