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4 1/2 years ago I received a Squier Vintage Modified Precision 5 string as a valentines gift from my wife. I fell in love with the feel of the neck instantly - enough so that it straight away became my number one over all my other more expensive basses. I have a habit of tinkering with my gear though and since then I've gradually changed bits and pieces here and there. This week I finally finished making changes and thought I'd share the end result. Quick disclaimer - the modifications do include a Fender decal. This has been discussed to death on here already but its my bass, my choice and this bass will never be sold on (in fact it will have to be prised out of my cold dead hands). There's also a Fender logo neck plate but that was only fitted because the original Squier one got a nasty scratch across it and I had this one kicking about already. Here are the other modifications:- Bar string-retainer on the headstock swapped for a pair of round string-retainers. Pickguard changed to gold anodised aluminium (cut by myself by hand from a blank sheet). Black thumb rest added. Chrome pickup and bridge covers added. To make access to the bridge easier for string changes, the bridge cover attaches with magnets which are counter sunk and epoxied into the body. Again to make string changes easier, the bridge itself I've adapted to be quick release by drilling though the tail piece alongside each string hole. Crude but works perfectly! The pickup I've swapped for a Nordstrand NP5V. This originally came from Dave Swift's White Sadowsky P5 so the shell is branded Sadowsky rather than Nordstrand. Dunlop Straploks fitted. I originally installed an active preamp which was an old Dan Armstrong Yellow Humper that @KiOgon kindly repaired for me and modified to include a true bypass switch. It was a simple circuit that just had a 3-way toggle switch to select between a flat eq, bass boost or bass and treble boost. To install this I had to route out some extra space under the pickguard. I also routed battery access through the back of the bass and made a little plastic plate to cover it. Unfortunately the Yellow Humper gave up the ghost a little while ago so this week I've installed an Artec Semi-parametric preamp. Stacked treble and bass, stacked mid frequency and mid level, volume and an optional pickup blend. Because I had, the option of a pickup blend control with the preamp, and because I still had the original pickup, I decided to add a bridge pickup to get a bit more clarity - particularly from the low B. As the original pickup is a split coil I decided to go for the kind of V-shaped pickup layout that you see on the Warwick buzzard bass to try and get more articulation from the lower strings. I don't particularly like the look of bridge pickups on P-basses however so I also wanted to make it a 'stealth' pickup. My first thought was to route the pickup cavity in through the back of the bass so it would sit just below the surface of the body but a quick test showed that it wouldn't get enough signal from there to be effective. Instead I opted to fit it into the front of the bass in the normal way and to just make a wooden pickup cover for it. I made it by hand from a piece of ash and stained it a similar colour to the centre of the sunburst. I think it blends in fairly well. At this point the only original, un-modified parts are the neck itself, the frets and the tuners. I had thought at one point about fitting some Hipshot Ultralights but there's honestly nothing wrong with the original tuners and the frets aren't showing any wear just yet. 🙂

Updates! It's starting to look like a bass!! I've got the top body wing glued on and I've started giving the edge some shaping to soften it off, I love the wenge in the middle and I want that to be seen from the front on the curve. I cut the slots for the frets, that was an awfully stressful experience, I really didn't want to mess that up. Got the side fretboard inlays in place. I've got the lower body section cut and ready to sand and shape before gluing to the body. Got the blend between the neck and the upper body wing sorted, very happy with that. Still loads to do... but I'm really buzzing about the build, it's looking like a bass finally! Next! I need to work on the control cavity and get the cut out neater, I have my EMG circuit and pickups ready to be installed and I've tested the electronics in the space and there's plenty of room to move, I've drilled the barrel jack hole and the pickup cable holes in the lower body section prior to gluing, so, just need to neaten up the lower body wing and then glue it to the rest of the bass. I need to do the fretwork on the bass... another I don't want to mess that up job, and then there is a tonne of sanding to do! Really enjoying the build to date, thanks again for everyone giving this a read. B

My first grandson was born in the wee small hours and I just got paid for a bit of work I did. So. What bass related thing should I buy myself to celebrate?

New ideas flowing. Andy was the right choice.

Here’s a few jazzes.... rogue jazz body at the end with the LP pick up but the rest are jazzes.

Reminds me of a Christmas party gig we did years ago. Set the kit up, and left a CD player on with a 'Now that's what I call Christmas' type compilation on, which started with Slade's 'Merry Xmas everybody'. We left to get something to eat, and on our return I commented to our keyboard player what a coincidence it was that the CD was playing the Slade song again. Then it dawned on us it had accidentally been left on 'track repeat' , and the audience had been listening to Noddy Holder's classic over and over for nearly two hours. Can't believe nobody had manged to turn it off....🎅

I took a long break from this project just because the time and tedium involved in getting the body thickness down got to me, and the results weren't that good. Trying to avoid paying someone to flatten it for me on a machine, I bought 2 strips of right angled metal to make a sturdier jig, as per the one used by Slappindabass above. After drilling a couple of holes into each strip, I screwed them onto the legs of the original sled as I knew they were the same height. A rubbing of beeswax on the sled and and router base to keep everything moving smoothly, and I was ready to go. One more set of many passes with the router planer bit on the new sled and we were down to around 45mm. Getting there! But how was the finish? Compared to the picture in my previous post, much much less lumpy. There's still the occasional line (and we've uncovered an unfortunate knot in the wood) but it's all much less severe than the previous method, and should all sand out without too much hassle.

Recently got myself a Tech21 VTDI again. I’d forgotten just how good this pedal is, and how unlike pretty much any other I’ve tried it has that “spongey” valve feel to the notes when the drive is bumped up a bit. For the classic rock that I’m doing at present it really is ideal, select an SVT style sound, Jazz bass on neck pickup only and I’m back in the 70s. No flares or kipper ties were harmed writing this post.

Playlist now updated - 212 songs, 14 plus hours. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/59RhYT5dLPwboS9u3njL4S?si=a-3N4YylQN6zMRpNJkUfMw

Yep, they're spot-on for rough'n'ready stuff on social media, but get proper stuff for anything else. This was with my Q4n (not Q2n) - completely acoustic (apart from my bass combo, obv.). The mics are really pretty useable (I added a little EQ, 'verb and compression in post), and the image is OK after a bit of lens distortion correction.

I suspect there’s many of you who will relate to this but, following my first Zoot build about 4 years ago I’ve became something of an addict (multi-ACG/Maruszczyk owners – you know I’m talking about!). My first Zoot was a passive 4 string, so obviously that needed a fretless 4 to keep it company. Equally obviously I then needed an active 4 to ‘complete’ the set (well, active/passive actually as it had an East Uni-pre fitted; also went for Mike’s funkmeister body shape on this one so it was, you know, a bit different). As others will have found though 3 is an odd number, so that won’t do. So, there I was, wanting to pull the trigger on a new order, without having a sufficiently differentiated specification to justify another commission. Those of you of a similar age (I’m 57) may feel the same but, for me, there were two basses that stood out during my Thursday evenings glued to ‘Top of the Pops’: a Wal and an Aria SB-1000. Never had the funds for a Wal (have tried quite a few over the years though) but I did own a fretless SB-900 for many years and loved it. As a youngster the fact that it weighed the same as a small cow and had a slab body that made no concessions to forearm comfort – the same as the 1000 – didn’t really bother me, but as a now 57 year-old player, these things matter. So an idea started gestating for my new Zoot – a bass with the SB-1000 sound signature and tonal shaping, but in a lighter weight, more user-friendly body. Some initial googling and thread searching on here led me to discover the Rautia MB-1E pickup that is a direct replacement for the original, as well as Prostheta’s BB Noisekiller preamp. We hit a bit of a hurdle when it became apparent that he was no longer able to produce replacement 6-way varitone circuits at a commercially viable price but, once I located a circuit diagram of the original which showed the capacitor values, Mike has volunteered to make a duplicate for this build. And lo and behold the Zoot ZB-1000 is born! The bass is going to be a medium scale (32”) bolt-on build (yes, I know, I know, SB’s were neck-through and long-scale but the build incorporates my ergonomic preferences). Other specs are: Body: 7/8th sized Zoot bass shape with carved top. English spalted beech on American light weight Swamp ash divided by Ebony veneer pin stripe. Headstock veneer to match. Neck: Roasted Canadian flame maple with Purple heart stringers and ebony veneers. Rosewood f/board, darkened with small amount of clear satin lacquer. Black Hipshot hardware with gold bridge saddles and tuner bushings. Tone Controls: As above but with additional series/parallel switching and passive tone. Some photos of the early stages for your delight and delectation. More to follow as the build progresses. The body: The neck: The fingerboard: The contouring that original didn't have: I'm hoping it be ready in time for Christmas - what a present that will be!

I quite like them! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-x-Sirius-Alienslam-bass-guitars-vintage-german-in-flight-case/174411053560

Hi folks, Had a Gumtree alert on my phone whilst practising last Sunday. Vintage brand Stingray active bass copy for £160. Looked good. ( You know how it is... I had bought a Fender Champion 100 twin amp the week before from a Gumtree ad, so once they have your number, they send you similar flavour ads). Fine by me, Contacted the guy, and he's only a few miles down the road...makes it easier for me to nip out, do the deal and sneak it past Wifey. It's a no brainer! Or so I thought. Wifey taps me on the shoulder, "Col, I need the car to take the grandkids out". Plan B. Need to wheel out my 100cc scooter once she drives off. Just hope I can carry the axe on two wheels. Challenge on. Coast clear and I whizz over to the sellers village. Pull over at the village pub and phone for closer directions. I ask him " I don't wish to offend, but d'you mind if I wear a mask?" " No probs bud". Next I am knocking on his door, he answers and hands me the bass, he is wearing rubber gloves. The bass looks great, still got the sellophane on the pickguard... but I need to play it. Then the guy says " d'you mind if you stay outside and I wheel an amp over to the porch?' " Course not mate, pays to be careful" Next thing he wheels over a Marshall stack as tall as me, and throws a cable over the top. So here I am standing in his front garden hooked up to this powerhouse of an amp. His neighbours are tending their lawns, washing their cars, kids riding bikes etc. Perfect urban summer scene about to be ripped apart by yours truly. (I have snuck the volume of this 300w Goliath up to five. Bit of Beatles "come together" riff followed by Sniff and the tears "driver's seat". Then distort on full treble for The Stranglers "Down in the sewer" for some real dirt. All the birds have fled the trees. Somewhere a baby is crying, and many dogs are barking... People are staring at me...think it's time to stop. " I'll take it mate" I hand it back and pay up, he returns it clad in bin liners. He says smiling " I recognised "come together, I'm a real Beatles fan". I would have liked to chatted to him for longer as I love all things Beatles too, but I need to stow this axe before Wifey gets home. Manage to balance it ok between my knees on the scooter, but to my horror the car is outside our house. Luckily the garage door is up, so I ride straight in and stow my booty. Just need to wait for her to shower later and I can retrieve my new bass and get it in the rack. Mission accomplished, but it was my wierdest buying experience ever. Good to know that other discerning folks are respecting the covid restrictions seriously though. Cheers Col.

It’s not normally the sort of thing I’d listen to but from a bass perspective I found this fascinating, and whatever your taste in music it’s well worth a watch. He’s obviously a superb and innovative player, and also seems such a lovely guy!

I use an Ashdown CTM30. It sounds absolutely beautiful but as my band is very loud and being only 30w does mean I have to find ways around it's low power. Option 1 - small gigs: Through a 4x8 and 1x15. Doesn't really move enough air on its own to be loud enough so I connect it to a power attenuator which then links into a 220W solid state head to do the heavy lifting driving the cabs. The signal comes off the speaker output of the valve amp so you're still getting all the nice back end drive in the sound. Option 2 - medium gigs: Through a 4x10 and a 6x10. More speakers moving more air as well as the hight of the stack getting the speakers right up to ear level ensures it's loud enough on stage and the PA takes care of the rest if needed. Option 3 - bigger gigs: The valve amp runs the 4x8 and 1x15 and then DIs into the ABM500 which runs the 6x10. The CTM30's DI comes off the power stage so again you get the full sound of the amp sent to the ABM. It's obviously a lot of messing around to make it a usable amp for me to gig with but the bottom line is that it just sounds so good that it's worth it! 🙂

Well, I had an SMX and it had a 'blendable' solid state and valve preamp. However the 'valve' preamp is really just a single preamp tube placed in front of the solid state preamp and in my view was such a suble change that you could barely notice the difference in the mix. SMXs were available in 300, 400 and 600 watt versions I think. Really good heads and one of the classic Trace Elliot amps. I think that the 12 band series from the Peavey re-launch had a tube in the preamp as well and a tube as part of the footswitchable drive.

Had my second meet up and car park dodgy deal with Frank this afternoon and it was as painless and easy as the first. This time I took a case off Frank's hands, we'd been chatting privately and I'd mentioned I was on the lookout for a semi rigid case, to which he said he'd got one he was looking to move on which he very kindly gave me. Not only that, he steadfastly refused any payment whatsoever and wouldn't even let me cover his petrol for the 3 hour round trip. What can you say to that? Frank is a man of his word and a Basschat legend to whom I now owe not only a coffee but a cheese sandwich too. I look forward to honouring my side of the bargain as well as announcing the birth of our first child.

Put them in 2 Modulus and @bassfan Shuker I had built

Ohhh good choice. 👍🏻🧡

Good work with router sled. I had similar problems, but have just finished a new sled and rails arrangement, which I will test when I get back from holiday. Here’s a pic:

Generally we have John Cage's 4'33 on in the background. 😉

Paid in full to Bass Direct. It was only ever going to be inevitable 🤗

I might as well just buy the Aguilar now then...why wait for the bass to arrive first? 🤣

Interested to know what you think about the pre’s? I imagine the Bart being more polite, and the Aguilar more ballsy?

Reminds me, band I was in we used to put music on via a phone before, between and after so that it wasn't a shock when we began playing. One wedding gig our singer left his iPhone on random...we went out for a drink and when we came back we found the bride and groom desperately fiddling with the PA in an attempt to turn off chapter four of Harry Potter audiobook! Set the tone for the rest of the gig, that one did...

I love my black Squier VI so much that I wanted a second one. My VI had also spent some time tuned up to B and it makes a fantastic baritone guitar, with the strangle switch actually becoming useful. So, why not have both, a Bass VI and a Baritone? I got a second black Squier VI and started on a refinish and some new hardware to match the colour scheme. Sherwood Green and Gold

I don't know what you're talking about...

yeah true, it's handy for rehearsals and live gigs to chuck up onto FB, just to keep the candle burning. But I'm using my DSLR far more for actual video, we're thinking of going down the "all audio into desk into laptop mode" eventually

I’ll be recording this !

Here's my valve amp, a Musicman HD130. Haven't used it for a while because (a) COVID, (b) weight and (c) I have a GK MBS-iii which I love.

Click bait tosh. YYV indeed 🙄

Forgot the photos 🙄

I’m liking this Bob Marley cover from Mo Ali

Congrats. how about a baby tuner?

The frets look like there's wear, but they really don't look that bad. There's a lot of fret material left. Try a local tech guy. He'll be able to ensure the neck is straight, that the frets are set OK and get level the frets out. This should sort out the issues you're having.

Love a plain fretboard. I just think they look classy.

If you've got good eyes, you can just about make out the Elf on top of my Super Compact in the second picture - just below the head of the guitarists Telecaster. Today's discovery, in trying to have less to carry (as my bag is falling apart and I won't be able to get a new one until later today) I have discovered that the Elf and a tuner will fit in my the pocket of my Hiscox bass case, so my bag only needs the speaker and guitar cables and a mains lead.