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The Final Episode: ‘The Green Manalishi’ I was just looking back at when I bought the body for this project from @mojobass and can hardly believe it was just over two months ago! It seems a lot longer than that for some reason. I’d like to say a big thank you everyone who checked in making comments and suggestions, especially @AndyTravis, @walshy, @Chiliwailer, @bassfan, @KiOgon who I’ve had PM conversations with during the build. I’ve learnt a lot from these guys and thank you all so very much. A special huge thank you to David Wilson for the refinish. We were punting around a few ideas at the start and I happened to mention the Custom Shop P bass I had seen at Peach Guitars. David was very keen to try and create something similar and I’m happy to say he’s nailed it. I can’t recommend David highly enough. In summary, the spec on the build is: Fender Flea ‘61 jazz bass neck (MIM) complete with tuners Squier CV jazz bass body of unknown age (presumed alder) refinished in Aged ice Blue Metallic by David Wilson Lindy Fralin jazz bass pick-up’s @KiOgon stack knob control plate and solderless loom with series/parallel switching Fender Vintage bass bridge Vintage white BWB pick guard Chrome Schaller S-Locks Fender ‘big F’ neck plate I started with these: ....and this is the end result....

For those wondering why all manufacturers are experiencing delays, here are a couple of good shipping industry articles that outline the specific issues being encountered, and why: https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/will-container-shipping-reliability-come-back/ https://theloadstar.com/blanked-sailings-and-covid-19-bounce-back-bring-new-congestion-at-ports/ What we are seeing more shipments (both inbound to us outbound to Europe) being delayed for a variety of reasons, but primarily from canceled sailings where the shipping line simply eliminates a ship's trip and consolidates those containers on a later shipment. Since ships do not leave every day, and in fact they can leave every other week between some ports, resulting in accumulated delays if two trips get canceled back to back. This makes predicting anything related to delivery more and more difficult (and frustrating to everybody concerned, including us).

New Hamer Bass Day!!! With HUGE thanks to an amazing friend in WA, USA (who secured it for me and sent it to the UK) I have just received this amazing condition Copper/Gold 1990 Hamer Impact bass (designed by Kip Winger). Less than 200 ever made of this beauty....! It looks, feels, plays and sounds AWESOME!! A really focused, tight but full piano tone with a little edge. 😎🎸😎👍 That makes three Hamer Impacts in my collection now! 🎸🎸🎸

I have two in the door pocket of my car, just in case. But in my view the schoolboy error is designing an active bass that won't switch to passive.

What the world really needs is Lego Lemmy

I'd always fancied the look of the Guild B series basses but simply assumed they would all be boat anchors and discounted them. Back in August @cd_david started a thread on Guild porn, where I discovered that they weren't all heavy. In fact some of them are relatively lightweight. So I stuck a 'wanted' post out there for a lightweight one. @AndyTravis then did me a MASSIVE favour by alerting me to a lightweight 301 for sale on Facebook, collection only in Matlock, Derbyshire. I got in touch with the guy, he wanted a cash only sale so, after initially toying with the idea of starting off one of the infamous 'Basschat Relays' I decided I'd actually drive there to pick it up. 3.5hrs each way. I have been further for less. So that is what I did yesterday. The auspices were good - not a single hold up en route and I found a car parking space just 50m from the shop via an alleyway. He took it out of the gig bag and handed it over - it was one of those instant bonding situations. Love at first sight. Weighs in at 3.7kg on the nose. 8.14lbs. One owner from new, original unmolested condition. Some honest wear about the body but the frets have been barely worn in by the look of them. Serial number indicates it was the third from last ever made - 1980! Pics below are as I got it, I've since taken it to bits and given it a clean. Fresh strings. Wow. The tone is like nothing I have owned. Not Fender-ish. Organic, deep, rich but punchy. Really punchy Pickup is further back towards the bridge than, say, a P bass which I guess makes it so clear. The build quality as right up there, as good as anything I have owned. open back Grover tuners with a cute wiggle to them. 3 point bridge that is a massive improvement over the Gibson version. I even love the knobs! A little neck heavy but nothing a grippy strap won't cure. I've kissed a lot of frogs but reckon this is a Prince among basses. It has completely blown me away. Can't wait to give it a try out with my blues rock band!

So, strolling past crack converters, as ya do... Ibanez EDA900 that i spotted 6 weeks or so ago was still in the window... Now priced at £100... I updated the above post and got absolutly no support or counseling for GAS... YOU BASSCHAT BASTARDS MADE ME DO IT... Strings off, fret clean with wire wool and a dremel polish, oiled the fretbord, squirt of Mr sheen... Wonky first pot, (Pickup Vol)... pulls out a bit and just goes round and round!? - B250k Solid Shaft... Put the old strings back on after cutting about 4cm off each one leaving 8cm past the post n three turns on the spindle... Action is a bit high, dropped the saddles, but the truss may need a tweek. Found a manual so will give that a read, piezo pickups? Ready for some distorted synth funk from the Zoom B1xFour - gonna channel my inner Daft Punk So, bit-of-weird for £85... What ya recon?

I'd feel a fraud posting this in recording as I am basically miming on a uke bass inside a toy car but here's a clever little video we did on a budget of £27. Trying to be creative during these difficult times. The band is getting a bit of interest in Spain now and it's frustrating that we can't get out there at the moment. Anyhow, hopefully this'll make a couple of you smile for a minute or so

Scat means something else where I come from! 🤔😉😆

Thanks for the lovely feedback everyone, and all new orders are now good to go, and will be shipped tomorrow morning.

I'm probably one of the biggest TE fans on here - I have 5 currently, including an Elf which, IMO is only a Trace Elliot because it has the sticker on it. It doesn't produce the classic Trace sound that most of us have come to love. TE started to go down hill when it was taken over by Gibson then Peavey. If you want the classic Trace sound in a Class D, buy an Ashdown.

Erm.......no 😂

Another Reaper user here. Main attraction for me is that it's very resource-light (will happy chug away on a fairly basic spec computer) and very stable. My main use for it is capturing live recordings, where it needs to just work, and that's exactly what it does. As far as editing video - you won't find much in the way of software that does both well, because they're different tasks with different demands and workflow. Video editing is much more demanding of your computer than most audio tasks. If you're trying to do both at once, especially if you're doing a lot of processing/plugin useage on your audio, you'll be taxing your system. I'd be inclined to use the right tool for the job - finish your audio and do a final mix in a DAW, and throw that mix in to a video editor where you aren't asking the system to do anything extra other than playing a single file with no live processing.

Have a gig next week, so thought i would finally get round to doing my (not at all pretentious, but just the right size) pedal board. By dropping the voicelive in favour of the critical mass it means I have enough room for my synth pedal, yay!

Here we go again... I’m getting the blame 😊

And here it is on the Shorty. For me a bwb pickguard looks so much cooler than the white one

He's kinda right, but he makes it sound like the original was only good for funk whereas it was used by loads of guys in rock bands, etc. The Stingray is a very unique, aggressive sounding instrument. It doesn't have loads of different sounds, but what it does have works for most genres. If you want that typical MM sound then go for the single humbucker version. The HH seems to be trying to be more versatile, which is great if that is what you need.

We live an learn..........unlike me to leave a bass plugged in.......worse things happen I suppose........only came here for sympathy!!!

That must be really heavy to carry around...

Dynacord BS412 amp. 250watt (350 peak) combo From the 80s. Comes in it’s own flightcase. Unbelievable German high end studio quality. Managed to get this one after searching for many years and a quick day trip to a very rainy Skegness secured it. Someone had over painted the flightcase aluminium but that came off with a blunt flat blade driver. Its a great sounding amp with a fantastic onboard compressor. I’ve never really liked onboard ones but this is fantastic. I tried one at a rehearsal room years ago and saw many on touring band stages so I presume they were popular in hire stock. After buying many amps and cabs I lusted after years ago and being bitterly disappointed when I tried them, I wasn’t holding out much hope for this but it’s every bit as good as I remember, if not much better.

Three amps Two are loud, fully featured, and quite expensive. The other one is as simple as simple can be and is really an £85 toy with an annoying power supply. Guess which one I like the sound of best? Maybe I just need to get an Ampeg and have done with it?

If this doesn't cheer you up.............

If this has already been shared I'd love to say I'm sorry. But no. It bears sharing more than once. Virtuosity and a great creative, fun idea. (Sorry to those who didn't realise that playing a Harley Benton really does make you a better player - this is the definitive proof)

Did anyone catch him on Graham Norton singing the track "light " ? I never found him on Norton's show but did find one live from the states. What a fabulous voice and lovely twanging on that Gibson

No I was trying to be clever and use bebop language - you're harshing my buzz man, it was a failed attempt at humour.

Well I got the build finished with 30 minutes to spare. I will film the next video this week with a summary but here are a few pictures. Still needs a bit of a set up but getting there. in this build I used blue fret lines which I’m hoping you can see in my bad photos. I’m sure other people have used coloured fretlines but I can’t find any examples. Can anyone point me to some?

And it matches your table

I too concur with @Eldon Tyrell and @ead love my 1977 too.

My newly aquired 2006 Stanley Clarke signature. Man, this bass is a beast.

I’m a big fan of both old Trace heads and the Elf and I also believe that the Elf is very usable with efficient cabs. However if you’re looking at the Elf purely on its ability to replicate the classic Trace sound, I personally don’t think it does or was ever likely to. It’s just a good, tiny amp in its own right. Given the choice I’d have an older Trace head every time, but if I was using public transport I’d go class d and if you’re going down that route there are many (though not-quite-as-tiny) heads to choose from.

Sending back starting to reveal the grain. I’m thinking it looks good! Thinking about filling the pick guard screw holes and maybe a white stain. Though I’m worried that could be a bit “Habitat”

This

Just to add that I have used one of the old 130W TE combos before now and it is SERIOUSLY louder than the Elf.

I recently sold an Elf. Years ago I had be heavy TEs. By no means an expert on such things, but I couldn't hear the TE in the Elf, so I got rid PDQ. Light, small, well made, happy green, no character - but that's just MHO and E.

Garageband isn't a video editor. As far as I can tell you can only load a video and then add sound to it (from garageband). You can't edit the actual video, ie cut scenes, add transitions, have multiple camera timelines etc. For that you need a dedicated video editing program like adobe premiere pro, Final cut or, as I use, Da Vinci Resolve (which is free). The advantage of Da Vinci Resolve as well as being free is that it also has it's own built in DAW called Fairlight should you wish to use it, it even lets you load in your own VST plug-ins. It's head and shoulders the best free video editor out there and I've tried loads. Personally, I do my audio capture with Garageband, mix the audio in Reaper and then transfer to Da Vinci Resolve, it sounds a hassle but it really isn't, everything gets saved on a usb stick anyway and it's just a question of loading from there in each program.

PJB Towering Inferno!!

Windsor Davies?

Another lesson : an electric bass can be played unplugged... Buy a passive one, easy to carry, with 30.5 inches scale in Trans Red and the problem will be solved.

Paul Martinez's bass part from the title track of the 1977 Paice, Ashton and Lord album 'Malice In Wonderland'. This is an album chock full of great grooves. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/malice-in-wonderand-paice-ashton-and-lord/

It looks ace, I wonder if having the strap button on the now upper horn would hang better and bring the headstock back closer to the player? If so I’d be down for that because they were the 2 things that put me off when I tried a couple ☹️

Are you suggesting we have a short atten......

Nice one !! I’ve been thinking about doing this myself. So I’ll def be checking this out 🙂 awesome:-)

Wouldn’t read this as bad service, they just haven’t understood the question. Happens a lot in these global times.. just reword it and ask them directly again.

Maybe he and Rob can play with each other?

This is well worth watching too.... long and detailed BUT play along. Hit pause. Save the preset. I found this invaluable when working out how to build a sound from scratch!

He's an extremely talented chap. I've been subscribed for a while now, a bit too much YouTube cheese but his playing is incredible.

Frankly I would not be going anywhere an indoor gig at the moment, as musician or punter