Leaderboard

As much as I’d like to say that I’ll put videos, notation and tab up right away, here are the various reasons why it’s more complicated than that: To varying degrees, my parts are not written, and aren’t exactly the same every time I play them; Ain’t No Love will be slightly different each time, and playing it with a different band might require quite a different feel or groove, quite apart from changing parts around to keep it interesting for myself. So although I’ve played well-known Whitesnake songs over the years with different bands, the parts slowly change over time and I get used to the way I’ve played them recently rather than how they were in the late ’70s. Similarly, I would be unlikely to play Fool For Your Loving note-for-note every time, though I do tend these days to try to stay fairly close to the original. The point is, to reproduce exactly what I played 40+ years ago, with the same tone, with no mistakes, while videoing myself, is quite a tall order. If I am pernickety about other bassists doing not-totally-accurate covers, then I need to be totally accurate myself. If I play along to the original, it’s quite possible that YouTube will block the video for copyright reasons. If I reduce the level of the bass on the original, as it’s quite high in the mix, by technically reducing the volume of sounds that are in the centre of the stereo image, then the drums (and vocals) are reduced too, which makes it harder to play along too - very unnatural. There is a way of ‘remixing’ tracks to play to, but if they get blocked, there’s no point. Although I read music a bit, to transcribe the bass parts completely perfectly will be a laborious task, and even more so when it comes to tab, which I’m not a big fan of. It’s better to use your ears! Furthermore, if you said to me “play exactly what you did on Live In The Heart Of The City”, for example, I probably wouldn’t be physically able to. Apart from being 40 years older, I would need to have been in a touring situation beforehand, with my chops at peak level, instead of sitting around unable to play with anyone because of lockdown. Even back then, I’d had to have a hand operation just after Ready An’ Willing because of subjecting them to over-exertion, so there’s zero chance I’m going to attack the parts with the same energy I had back in 1980. [I think I was often over-busy on Live In The Heart Of The City - trying too hard to impress!] Playing and chatting to the camera may come naturally to Lee Sklar and Guy Pratt but it certainly doesn’t to me, let alone jumping around as if I’m on stage; if I think what I’ve done isn’t up to scratch or embarrassing to watch, I’m not going to put it out. I have done a few collaboration videos but I haven’t been happy with how I came across - my fault, no-one else’s. Shooting and editing videos to a good standard are whole extra skills to master in addition to high quality home recording which I’ve spent many years slowly getting better at. I’d still far prefer to be in a studio with experts taking care of the sound and vision. The living situation I’ve had to be in because of lockdown also doesn’t lend itself to being on top form or producing good work. Not saying I’m not going to, but it has to be good or I’m not putting it out. Same goes for a book!

Finally received my BBNE2 after waiting nearly 4 months. Fantastic build quality and tone. The eq is super powerful, although I’m in two minds about the magic knob. I probably won’t use that. Sorry Nate! Not used in anger yet thanks to the apocalypse, but sounds great at room level through my Berg gear.

Strap locks on now i wouldn’t be able to live with myself if the bass came off the strap and I put a scratch on it .👍😁

So last photo before turning my attention back to the headless for a few days - the finished swifts:

Putting the inlays in was normal method. Started with a pencilled outline of the inlay and then my Dremel with a 1mm bit in the precision router base, plenty of light, frequent vacuuming and a very steady hand Then mixed a generous amount of collected ebony sanding dust with some Z-poxy epoxy resin and filled the chambers with the mix: Then pressed the inlays , forcing the black epoxy out, and hence gluing them in and sealing and filling any gaps at the same time: And when that's fully cured they will be sanded flat at the same time as the pre-fretting sanding of the board itself. Nickel silver fretwire is on its way and, while all the fretboard stuff is out, I'll get on with a similar process with @Jus Lukin 's headless build

Neil's response suggests that there is no one absolute truth in playing bass parts and, like any great story, it grows in the telling. Any part learned, whether by rote, tab or conventional score, is a moment in time and is only definitive by concensus. I guess we all agree that there is one way to play the core riffs in 'Rhythm Stick', 'Good Times' or 'I Want You Back' but, even the hits allow for the injection of a little bit of individuality. Classical musicians such as viola players need to be absolutely accurate because there are 23 of them playing in unison. Bass players are rarely that constrained. Accuracy at that level is not anywhere near the whole deal in Jazz, Fusion, Rock etc. Much more space to stretch out (or hold back, as you see fit).

@marleaux62 - I don't want to alarm you, but if you look very very closely at your bass there is a teeny tiny scuff in the paint... Almost invisible to the naked eye.

Just wow nxt210 just came

As those who have had a custom build done will know, even in a detailed thread there's lots of PM work goes on behind the scenes. Most of it is questions from Andyjr1515 to the prospective owner, 'do you want this; do you want that; what colour of the other do you prefer...' and usually matched with responses from the prospective owner to Andyjr1515 along the lines of, 'well, LIKE I SAID THREE TIMES NOW; Oh no - you haven't cut it have you?; Oh... I think we did spec a 6 string but now you've only left enough room for three strings...' Just normal supplier/customer communications, really. Anyway, while I've been doing the stuff on @Fishman 's Wal save, this back and forth has been going on between @Jus Lukin and me and I'm now in a position to start a number of the next steps. While the fret cutting jig is out and screwed down on my bench top, I'll be fret slotting, although for this build we are going for a radiused board and, to minimise any possibility of chipping, I will do that first. Then the slots. And then we are going for a couple of swifts at the 12th too @Jus Lukin is opting for no 'f'hole with some sound logic that, because the bridge and Superquads will hide so much of the walnut figuring, it seems a pity to lose even more with a hole in the middle of what's left. But that means that I can also now glue the top to the neck And so that's broadly what I'll be doing over the next couple of days

So is this your final comment Or is it this one ? this one ?

Shootout underway.... Sadly couldn't get hold of the MXR but i'd imagine these are some of the more popular options!

I've wanted for years a way to have some of my album sleeves on display - the artwork is so good and the memories so vivid that it always seemed silly to me to have everything tightly packed onto a deep shelf! As luck would have it, @Chownybass has just launched his solution and jolly good it is too. In the interests of full disclosure, Stephen did not actually make the Hofner 500/2 ... nor is he responsible for the current contents of the frames. The frames work better with single album sleeves than with gatefolds or double albums, but apart from that tiny niggle I'm impressed with these. The albums are retained very securely, yet it takes roughly 60 seconds to remove and replace, allowing me and @Silvia Bluejay to have our vinyl on constant rotation.

Ironic that it was sold through Bonhams.

That's what she said.

You can get a decent TV too. But if you don't need a new TV, probably isn't relevant? 😂

Before suggesting the next big thing to be snapping up, I put down a few thoughts as to why I think the JVs have become what they are. The success of the Squier JV Series was the result of a few things that are unlikely to occur now. They were made to a high standard in terms of materials (good wood was the norm, US pickups, decent hardware etc), construction (the Japanese had shown the standard of guitars they could make, Dan Smith played that to his advantage), accuracy (the Japanese pretty much made the instruments exactly as per the year being copied), no really limiting budget (these were a main product for Fender whilst the US production was getting sorted out). The JVs were recognised at the time as being good guitars (although not every one is outstanding, I've seen some with less-than-svelte cutaways, for example) and whilst they have always been respected and quietly-collectible, I think the increase in collectability - and, therefore, price - is really down to the internet. At first, this would have been genuine enthusiasts happily sharing their love of the instruments and history (21frets, planetbotch etc) but in the last few years it seems everybody is after 'the next thing' (not just basses or musical instruments) that has a bit of a story, maybe some myth and certainly has to be 'vintage' - this last now seems to feature in pretty much every sales ad for, er...anything. The JVs do have all these qualities, together with the actual quality-of-product to back it up. There were also just enough made to establish their reputation and make them accessible but not too many made, thus keeping them desirable. They also were made at just the right time for those who couldn't afford one then to satisfy their longing now, and those who weren't even born in the early-mid 80s to be able to see what the fuss was about, although the recent price rises may preclude some hopeful buyers. Although this has turned into a long sprawl about JVs, I wanted to show that I think they were the result of unusual and unique circumstances that won't occur again. The Chinese Squier CV (especially the first runs?) do have some similarities - most obviously the Squier name - but you can be certain that Fender will have built them strictly to a budget (no US pickups here, for example) and would not have had to make them top-quality as they already had their Mexican, US and Custom Shop ranges to sell, unlike when the JVs were made. This is not to be taken that they are poor guitars but I do think that they have been subjected to a little internet-hype. Could other basses/guitars be the next JVs? The Japanese basses of the late 70s and early 80s (Greco, Burny etc.those that caused Dan Smith to turn to Japan for the Squier manufacturing) are already well-known with prices increasing. Ibanez from that era are well-respected but just not as well-known as Fender/Squier and will probably not gain a massive following. My favourite brand, G&L (particularly the original Leo Fender era) always seem to remain niche, I think any massive increase in demand and price would have happened by now. Staying on that brand, I have noticed that the early Tribute series by G&L seem to get a lot of praise so may be ones to look out for (cue prices going up...,) but, as mentioned, they will always suffer from just being generally less well-known than the Big F. Another suggestion for a future collectable: the Fender Mexican Classic with the nitro finish, I think it was made within the last few years - not sure of the exact name or years but I vaguely remember there was one or two versions that seemed more sought-after than the rest. Happy for any corrections to any of the above as I've written from memory so may be out with a couple of the JV details.

Check out the first issue of the new online Mark World magazine! In the first issue there are interviews with Joe Dart, Marcus Miller and Richard Bona, and an article about their basses and the new Markbass Vintage Preamp... enjoy! Mark World Magazine

A bit of bunny ☝️

Anyone heard of this band?? I hate the name, I mean it's fairly terrible even when judged against other fairly terrible names! ...But, they're great! Utterly random prog-rock-pop-metal from Norway. 🇳🇴 Worth a listen if you have a spare 2 hours. They only have 3 albums, each being around 40 minutes long, so if you do them in order it's only 2 hours of your life! Good, fun, interesting music that doesn't take itself too seriously!

Yeah, blue. Andy's one is sublime.

It does hide the beer stains 😆

I prefer anonymous black cabs at the back of the stage.

[Namedrop] I knew Horace before he was famous. He went to school with my next door neighbour and would pop round for a chat from time to time. That was the late '70s. Then the band took off and I never saw him again. [/Namedrop]

Sorry totally forgot about this! Check this one, it makes justice to the sound

the Wal uses alnico 5 ferrous bar magnets which , when inserted across all 4 pole pieces, something funny happens & a layer of distortion is in play...at least in a traditional single coil . I use neodymium magnets which have a clearer output & use 1 magnet per coil = 8 altogether. Iv'e been in touch with an electronics whizz from Portugal & between us, I think we have got pretty close & now have a 1 humbucker per string model making 3 types in total. There is nothing out there like a WAL though, it's a great piece of product design. But if it's the tone you are after.........

@prowla - do it! "Ronniebarker" basses - that made me smile on this damp, dreary morning

5+7+0+5= Seventeen - Sex Pistols

Some Sunn O))) on a cold and wet morning:

Necrothread time... There's a "Tokai" Rockinbetter RG43 up for sale at the moment, so I was looking up some info and happened across this thread. Some facts: Tokai is a place in Japan and/or a translation of "city". The word is not copyrighted. Tokai Gakki is a Japanese guitar maker founded in 1947, who brands their instruments "Tokai" and is commonly called "Tokai". Tokai UK is a UK importer of guitars, including (but not limited to) Tokai. Tokai Gakki did list Rickenbacker 6-string guitars (RG43) in their catalogue, but never a 4-string bass; the fact that they listed is 6-string guitar is no proof whatsoever that they did a bass. Now, with a quick sleight-of-hand, Tokai UK commissioned a run of Ric bass copies, branded them Rockinbetter, and sold them as Tokai (UK) and plant the seeds for people to infer the link. Likewise they a run of 6-string guitars, even calling them "RG43" to hint at continuity, or even to satisfy existing orders? This is not much difference to Rose Morris being the importer of Rickenbackers and also having their own Shaftesbury branded copies (made in Italian or Japanese factories), apart from the suspiciously not-dissimilar company name similarity. To show how easy it is, anybody can set up a UK company for fifty quid and can commission a run of a hundred instruments from a factory in the far-East. So, suppose I don my entepreneurial hat and create a company and called it "Tokai GB"; I could then get a batch of "Ronniebarker" basses made, say £10k for a run of 100, and flog them on. If I planted a few whispers here and there and gave a nonchalant shrug of my shoulders and knowingly tapped my nose any time someone asked if Tokai was involved, then hopefully the myth would perpetuate. As for the Rockinbetters themselves, IMHO, they are adequate instruments but pretty dire copies of Rickenbackers, being the wrong scale, having dissimilar hardware, and being oversized. The irony now is that, once they shifted production from Indonesia to China, the plans got out and everybody started making them (with fake "Rickenbacker" logos on them), to the point that the Chickenbackers became a cuckoo which pushed Rockinbetters out of the nest. And now we have a proliferation of mediocre copies of Rockinbetters (not Rickenbackers) on the market at ridiculously low prices.

I can only agree. The new logo is so much better.

I've had some trouble trying some updates to my G1Xon. Thing is I couldn't get some bass effects in there (Bass OD, DI Plus and a couple others). They wouldn't show up and it'd hang when changing models with the up key (not the down key, it'd scroll and just show "bypass" as many times as missing bass models + 1). After 2 days of failure I realized I was using ZDL files from the MS-60B, not the B1Xon. As much as parameters are the same and the effects sound the same the ZDL files are not the same (i.e., the MS-60B's DI Plus model takes up 5 blocks space in the MS-60B while the B1Xon's takes 6). As soon as I took those effects from the B1Xon firmware everything went back to working like a charm. BTW, I'm toying with some "Royal Blood on the cheap" kinda' schemes with my Zooms. Not bad at all. Just ignore the PitchSHFT or any other and use the BA Pitch, others won't work remotely as good on bass. All details in the video. Most efficient setup (also the most effect slots available) is the MS-60B doing bass duties and the G1Xon doing the fake guitar part. But I still can use any of the 3 for any task. Just can't have guitar amps on the B3, but still, many of the included distortions/overdrives can do a decent job at that too.

Massively prefer the new logo over the old one. Glad BF decided not to make it exclusive to their guitar cabs!

I really like the look of that now. The scratchplate works well and looks like it should be there. 🙂👍

I reckon you’re not far off being able to put a toe on each push button. (once again, apologies for taking up space on forum posts with my endless drivel)

His book 'Ska'd For Life' is a good read. Amazingly he hadn't really been playing long when he joined The Specials and seemed genuinely giddy with the rollercoaster ride.

I just watched it on YouTube - very impressive! Right, best I see if we can get one in for review then eh!

And here they are: I've done two pairs. I'm pretty sure that @Jus Lukin wants a completely plain board and just side dots on his headless build, but, while I had the folding table out and cutting rest clamped to it, it was almost as quick to do a second pair at the same time just in case or for another future build. Along the same efficiency drive (don't worry, I'm sure that won't last long), then while the fret-slot mitre block I've just used for @Fishman 's board is still screwed to the workbench, I will hand mark the fret positions for @Jus Lukin 's 30" scale (I don't have a template for 30") and cut the slots on his board. For this Wal project, then tomorrow morning - when I have a bit of daylight to be able to see the pencil marks on the ebony fretboard - I'll pencil round two of the inlays, rout the recesses and fit them onto the board

The original Classic Vibe basses, and especially the Matt Freeman Precision.

If it distorts turn it down. The power required to do that is moot, as you have no way of knowing how much power you're pushing anyway.

Two from me Always a sucker for a good choral performance. And ..... Love their tongue-in-cheek-ness. The Darkness Rig Rundown is terrific for the same reason. By the way. Do we know why Michael Buble was apparently breaking wind over that present?

The problem there is that pretty much nothing is flat. Just as with tone this applies to every link in the chain. If you did somehow manage to actually get flat response it would be as appealing as flat beer. Skunky flat beer at that.

Purchased a TE80. Really cant fault it so far apart from its weight. Not a problem though as we bass players are made of stronger stuff. 😆. Really nice flame top, ash body. I dont know a huge amount about guitar pickups but they are Roswell single coils. No idea. Really nice satin neck. Im amazed you can get a guitar this well made for £170. Ive looked over the guitar and it is flawless. I wasnt aware this guitar was a homage to Prince,s Anderson Mad Cat.