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If it's any consolation, that's the best packaging for a musical instrument that I've ever seen, anywhere. You're up there with nuclear industry standards.

I like plastic wrap too. Some carriers say black wrap causes probs for inspection. Its mandatory for palletised ships. I also sent my JJ build Bass build crated. Again, no probs. I think a crate is a good thing to make for all basses not just £1500+ vintage basses and technically the original flightcase it came with (with original price sticker) deserves shipping protection. 12mm Featherboard, 2-3mm ply, screws. It can be reused/upcycled/repurposed or turned to kindling. I feel bad about styrene though, looking into alternatives..

I used to be “Punk Pony Princess Precociously Packing a Priceless Pink Precision” ...And its been declared found, paid for and no longer lost/stolen. I don’t have access to Facebook or Antisocial media so could those forces for good please update accordingly?

There's a bit of pragmatism, a bit of conservatism and a bit of personal taste and a bit of an opportunity all mixed together, @Si600. The pragmatism and conservatism is that "I want everything the same as a double cut but I want it to be single cut. So Kert's Camphor: Becomes this as a single cut with a 3 minute session on the bandsaw: (Hmmm....there's a build for the future.....) While @Len_derby 's Swift Lite: ...could easily become a beluga with the saving of 3 minutes on the band saw: (Hmmm...to my eye, that don't look too bad...one to keep in the back pocket?) Functionally they are identical. But you then have to ask, why is the top horn...hang on...why are either of the horns there in the first place? Well - the bottom one has no purpose (edit: Big purpose if you try to play it without a strap!). The top one is somewhere to put the strap button. Functionally, that is their only purpose. So in Banjoland, folks would look at a 'traditional' bass and say "What was Leo F thinking?????" Because their Swift Lite's would look like this: (Hmmm........................................Nahhhhhh!!!) You can tell I'm still waiting for timber to arrive....

BC thread escalation in one 5 minute blast

Poverty, Chris, poverty... I'm completely skint since I bought these. I'll be eating the plate next.

Some progress!!! 😲 After the hold up with the neck screw alignment I enlisted the help of a local luthier to plug and drill the holes in the correct place and fit some cup washers – now I can get the finish sorted and get the thing together – full steam ahead!

We got Keller Dome played on Tom Robinson's Introducing Mixtape on BBC Radio 6 (very) early this morning. Iplayer link at 25m 25s "Life affirming upbeat electro pop" says Mr Robinson. Chuffed.

With much thanks to Jon @Bassassin for all his advice, knowledge and patience. I've had the hots for one of the old, better quality Japanese 'SG' style basses for a while and this one popped up for sale on Reverb at a reasonable price. A Fujigen made, Antoria branded, short scale EB-3 copy finished in what I guess you'd describe as a dark walnut lacquer. It arrived a couple of weeks ago now. A serial number on the back of the front pickup dates that, at least, to 4th August 1972 and, apart from a few dings in the paint, it seems in remarkably good nick for a bass that is approaching it's half century. Lots of life in the frets. I believe everything is original and, more importantly, still works. It arrived absolutely spotlessly clean, the neck dead straight and the action to my liking so all I needed to do was tune it up and lower the bridge pickup a tad to balance the output. I took off the middle chrome hand rest that I found rather in the way and there was a (original?) foam mute under the strings at the bridge that I also removed. The bridge adjustment is crude but, then again, so is my playing Edit - re-strung it with my favoured TI Flats. Weighs in at 3.4kg and sits nicely on the strap, no neck dive. Slim, shallow neck with a nut width of maybe 39mm. Have to say I am really impressed. Build quality is everything you would hope from an early Fujigen. It is the tone I was unprepared for. The neck pickup in particular is warm with HUGE character, a million miles from the Epiphone EB-0 I had years ago, even with the industry standard Dimarzio upgrade. Wander up to the 7th-12th fret area and there is a hollow, almost choral sound - hard to describe but I like it lots. And that is just at home. I suspect that pushed it will break up nicely and growl - really looking forward to trying it in the context of my blues trio. I have one of the Gibson Les Paul Jnr DC basses and I love it to bits. But, big question, do I prefer this? Possibly. I like that this is old. I like the whole quality Japanese copy thing. I particularly like that it cost me well under £300.

Hey guys! I’m new here but was so stoked to find a bass community online. Hope y’all don’t mind an American crashing to party cause I call the US home lol if not then kick me out now 😉 I fell in love with playing bass a couple years ago. My Dad is makes music for a living so I’ve grown up in a musicians world - in many way playing bass came naturally! I’m a die hard Fender fan girl and have 2 P-basses + looking to add a Jazz! I love em both and always love getting the chance to play with my band! Country and jazz are my two fav styles, although I also enjoy delving into rock and pop. Looking forward to all I’ll learn here and getting to chat with y’all about one of my fav things in da bass!! ✰

Whilst I'm happy with my MarkBass gear (MM101Combo, CMD121P Combo and NYC 121cab) I've had issues with handles, not only the rubber breaking down over the metal innards even with little use but also with the aesthetics. On the 101 it is short, tight and very difficult to hold too if you have big hands! I had a short-lived daliance with a MB Ninja Combo and thought the leather handle added a touch of class and was much easier to hold too. So scanning the internet one evening I came across some very affordable pleather handles which I've added to my 101 and 121 Combos. They are not so clever on a cab because if you have to stack on top it stops them lying so flat. However you get all the parts with the handle including the inner sockets which attach themselves into the wood so they don't vibrate free. This is the handle on the 101 Combo. On this, the existing holes are covered, on the 121 it comes up a little short but rather than fill the holes I just reinserted the old handle's screws into the holes and it looks fine.

Someone sent me this link. This genre is described as 'Noise Rock' I'm not going to pass comment, you might like it, you might not, but it's certainly interesting. Band are Lightning Bolt, it's bass and drums only, the 'music' starts around 3.00... err - ish The audience clearly love it, but I think the disco pills might help. Not sure whether the two girls in red shorts launching themselves into the audience are part of the band or not, but, hey, whatever.

They used to have wood tuners............. ........... but they wooden stay in tune. They 'wooden' stay in tune, They 'wooden' stay............. ah forget it! 😁

Thanks for all the input I’ve decided to go for the Boss WL-20 so I’ll let you know how I get on.

If you're after a bog simple, free bass amp sim to liven up your DI'd sound then the TSE BOD v3 is a good place to start https://www.tseaudio.com/software/tseBOD

There are both dream buyers and dream sellers. My overall experience with Basschat has been pretty good. Glad it turned out OK in the end.

Lovely little thing, isn't it? I had an identical one about 9 years ago - Antoria 2354B, made by Fujigen, exactly the same bass as the Ibanez & Greco versions. Mine was a car boot classic, needed a proper clean & setup, & a very hard-to-find replacement neck pickup, as the original was dud & rewinding's not part of my skill set! Couldn't find a handrest though, there must be thousands of dusty ones at the backs of drawers... Very, very good little bass and one I thought twice or three times about moving on. Happy to be able to give @Paul S a few pointers and delighted it turned out as good as it looks!

Yes, the third one is a bit more difficult to get into. However, it still does have some great songs such as "We are", "Aeons", "Sky Machine", "Alpha Omega" and "Eidolon". I especially like this version of "We are" (starts at 1:12):

Read it again. The point was that folk in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. I didn’t elaborate detail. I won’t because I think the point has been taken and resolved. All the stress of this year is getting to everyone, I’ve had to shield for much of it and I really hope this vaccine comes good. It’s been a humbling year for everyone with a heart (sadly they don’t seem to be in the cabinet) Everyone has apologised now. Hopefully that’s the end of it, though I pity any poor sod that has to read the whole saga from the start like I did. I’ll let y’all know what I think of the pedal. peace

That Russian P I bought from @Beedster now with Badass II and 1972 tort and pick ups. CTS pots and switchcraft Jack. Man she growl!!! Look how pretty she is.

Grab your Kia-Ora for this big budget sci-fi extravaganza.... warning. Involves a Mustang not sounding like a Mustang.

Lovely stuff. I want both. Debated spraying one PB a few years ago.

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Send Brian a message through his eBay shop. https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/earlpilanz?_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2754 If he doesn't already have you just send your existing one to use for a template. There's been plenty of satisfied BC customers in recent months.

Only just seen this thread and my only contribution to it is to say that, although I've liked some (not all) of The Smiths music, I've always had a loathing for everything that Morrissey has presented to the world as his 'The Man as serious artiste' persona... In recent years, the slow, unpeeling of his fake public persona has finally revealed the nasty, hate filled human being that he truly is. His reputation in the music business was always bad, and now his reputation as a public figure is on par with it. 😐

OK I'd go for two tubes 6.5cm long which will give you a little bass lift at 120 Hz. Not real bass but it will make things sound just a touch punchier/warmer. That speaker actually models just a little better in your cab than mine

I like Lightening Bolt, own one album by them and would love to see them live. Apparently they don't play on stage, but on the floor in the middle of the audience…. in this case surrounded by a barrier. Apparently, for extra non-conformity they sometimes start their set within a few seconds of the support band finishing. The line up is one guy on drums/vocals (vocals are into an old fashioned telephone stuck to mask which he wears) and one guy on Bass (G string replaced by a banjo string).

They are very good, I received a bass in one of these last week. Pretty much indestructible I’d say.

They usually do, sadly I was not there for the pickup but my partner was not given one. Buyer has sent me a photo of the package arrived and the taped over screw holes remain unmolested. With the data from the GLS and the Parcelforce stickers in the photo they sent me I can get a complete picture of the parcel and it sat in the local sorting office for 11 days — even though Interparcel said searches did not reveal it and declared it lost. Fingers crossed for a happy ending. The buyer had been exceptionally patient throughout this entire process.

Quite difficult - the MC900 was the first, and consequently rarer 22-fret iteration of the Musican range. I'm not aware of any circuitry issues with these but it's probably reasonable that if an example has issues, they will have shown themselves by now. There will be specific MC series experts who know much more than me, perhaps ask for advice here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ibanezvintageguitars There's also a BC member who's recently acquired an MC800, which is the passive electronics version, he might be able to give info & advice about build & playability: These were the top end of Ibanez' range at the time and build quality is generally exceptionally high. Obviously a bass that's 40-odd years old will have had a life, but unless it's been abused or has excessive play wear I wouldn't expect any construction-related issues. I'm not sure if you're just looking for one of these, or are asking advice about a particular one you're interested in buying - if you're still looking, considering the rarity of the early MC900s, I think if you'd consider a later MC924, there would be a lot more choice available. Hope this helps a bit!

This diagram is from Knut Guettler's excellent book A Guide To Advanced Modern Double Bass Technique. Sadly now long out of print but it crops up used occasionally.

Practice, I'm afraid! I can't claim to be particularly great at doing this, but better than I was a few years back. Best thing I heard was thinking of your whole arm, shoulder down to fingers, as a connected system like the pistons and rods on a steam loco. Aim towards a smooth circular motion, the end result being the least possible interruption to the flow of the bow. At the reverse, your shoulder switches first, followed by upper arm and so on with the fingers being last to switch direction. They're the smallest and lightest bit of the system, thus least noticeable switch. A little easier with French bow than German due to the extra flexibility of your fingers, but same idea either way. We'd better both get practicing!

The Lion Sleeps Tonight - Solomon Linda

It's kind-of black.....

A wee anecdote of an experience that changed my view on gear... I remember my old originals band managed to get a support slot with the Pat McManus Band. I had no idea who they were, but Pat was a proper hero to our guitarist. What was surprising was that they used budget gear - With a Vintage (brand) Les Paul and a Pino style Squire P Bass doing most of the work. I had a chat with their bassist Marty about his gear. He had tried a proper Pino signature model in the past. There was a definite difference in quality - but nothing to justify a ten-fold increase in price. Overall, their ‘cheap’ gear was perfectly sufficient to gig with, played well and sounded great. Also less to worry about when chucked in the back of a van. From a whole other perspective, a friend of mine will happily drop £2k+ on a Gibson Les Paul to play at home. Folk will play the gear that’s right for them - who are we to judge?

reidmar 750 and proline 410. Very recent, only managed one rehearsal

Well that was a fun way to spend a Sunday lunch. I too don't come here that often. Only when looking for something or have something to sell. I too have a year from hell, and have not acted as well as I should to some folk due to the stress - it's very easy to judge. Pre Covid my best friend was murdered, My studio has been effectively closed since March, all touring work obvs out the window, and in September my lifelong partner was discovered to have cancer. Now post major surgery, we are about to start chemo. I'm selling gear to make ends meet and clear space as I do when times are hard, but this shitshow made me think again about doing so on here. I particularly liked @Beedster throwing his teddy out the pram, then airing some dirty washing, and shaking @Alex like a dog with a rabbit on the grounds of him not liking criticism Thought it might be a good time to bring up the conversation I had with la Beedster when he very kindly offered some gear on here free to a charity. Got him a lot of kudos publicly that did... I run a music based charity helping disabled and deprived folk enjoy what we take for granted. I sent him info and have a guess what happened folks... Anyhoo I came for a review of the Machinist. Didn't get very far, but now despite the times, I'm gonna go buy one. A) because dirt is my fav thing and B) I want to help Alex out. He and his company have been decent with me and folk I work for, and I admire what he does. I might put a review up

That cover sure reminds me of...

Living in the South of Belgium, I'll have my radar on. Already checked all the places I know, but I haven't seen it.