Leaderboard

Yes - that's going to work OK. Probably a couple more coats over the next day or two and then it will harden over the next couple of weeks. A few days after the final coat and it will be hard enough for me to start sorting out the installation of the electrics, etc..

'Can you show me how to play Hong Kong Garden?.

The neck will stay satiny, organic, slurry and buffed for that playing feel that few other finishes quite achieve. But for the body, of the choice between the same, or a Tru-oil medium gloss, or a polyurethane full gloss, @Jus Lukin is opting for the tru-oil gloss. It's a nice finish - the gloss element brings out more of the wood figuring while retaining the 'real wood' look, but tru-oil done this way tends to settle down to a softer medium gloss after a few months - think 1960's Les Paul nitro. It is actually great for a shape like this with a passing nod to a 70's Alembic This is the first coat. See what I mean about it bringing out the beauty in the wood

That actually was valid when 10s went higher than 15s and 15s went lower than 10s, with 12s in between the two. That would have been for the most part before 1980. It may seem odd that so many bass players are still going by what was true 30 or more years ago, but not when you consider that a guitar player could be perfectly happy with a guitar and amp from 1959.

Anyone else discovered that while recording yourself can be fun and helpful it can also be deeply depressing, revealing that what you thought was your totally tight pocket is actually a shallow bomb crater?

The issue of horizontal dispersion is well known but few dwell upon the very particular problem associated with vertical dispersion rigs, namely, that in order to hear what the bass player is hearing the audience has to be the same height as said bass player. Should the bass player be - let us say - six feet tall and be performing on a stage three feet high - the audience members would have to be nine feet tall. If the band is a glam rock tribute and the bass player is wearing period-correct platform shoes then we can add another three or four inches to that. Of course, no audience is going to be exactly and uniformly nine foot three inches tall. Some audience members will be shorter and others will be taller. Some might suggest that this is a trivial issue. Not so. The last time I gigged a vertical dispersion rig I was accosted afterwards by two very angry and very short gentlemen. Tempers flared, a brawl ensued and that's how I died.

They’re struggling to be audible above thundering double bass drums!

Crying In The Rain (1987 version). Trivia: the chord sequence through the whole guitar solo was my idea, but because the song had already been recorded without it on Saints An' Sinners (1982) I didn't receive a credit. Crying In The Rain.pdf

Plus, everything is made to order. They don’t produce for stock like Fender does. So, if you charge that much for an instrument, SURELY you could offer a choice of hardware colour, or fretboard... and some “basic” colours like white... if I fork out £3000 on a bass made to order, I’d like to choose my specs.

The carbon rods arrived. 4mmx4mm box section - light as a feather and very strong! A bit of tidying up of the slots to make sure they fully seated: Then a liberal application of Z-poxy and a clamp to a flat surface, using wooden radius blocks to protect the neck from the clamps: And a quick check to make sure that both edges are fully flat with the tabletop (no - it's OK...it's not MrsAndyjr1515's favourite dining table . Mind you, it IS MrsAndyjr1515's clingfilm ) while the epoxy fully cures:

I just got a Sandberg California TM5 SL and it's my favourite Bass I've ever owned. I'm loving the thump of the MM pickup, and the warm tones that can be got from the Jazz pickup, and blending between them, good slap tones too, and nice muted sounds in passive with the tone down, and big dubby bass that can be added with the active EQ. Good neck and fretboard (although I've never understood the need for position markers down the middle of the fretboard- can't see them when playing), good ergonomics, comfortable and nice to play. And 3.3kg?!? I never had much of an issue with Basses being too heavy but it's so much nicer to practice for hours with a lighter Bass. I worried low weight would mean neck dive but I don't notice it doing that, not any more than any other Bass I've owned. My only gripe is a bit of a gap (only about half a mm) between the neck and body where it joins on one side - it doesn't seem to cause any issues though, and the pickguard raised up in one part, and generally the hardware doesn't feel quite as high-end as the Dingwall Combustion I traded it for (or even my previous Ibanez which was half the price). And in an ideal world I'd like a mid EQ with 3 way mid frequency switch - that's one of the best features of the Ibanez SRMS805 and I think it's an option on the Lakland 55-02 via an internal switch. I say 'favourite' rather than 'best' Bass I've owned because the Dingwall Combustion is objectively a better engineered Bass, but it didn't have the variety of tones I was after and was more effort to play; it was 4.5kg, had a slightly uncomfortable reach down to B & E string 1st frets, and it ideally needed plucking in line with the offset direction of the pickups rather than vertically down the strings for consistent tone (if you plucked vertically down from the B to the G you'd go from being in front of the pickup on the B to behind it by the time you get to the G) . But if you were after a high quality well engineered Bass for something like session recording or technical stuff that prioritises note clarity and hi-fi tones, and great sustain, fast playing with lower action, and more consistent string tension and timbre then the Dingwall is the winner. What it comes down to for me though is what's comfortable and fun to play and gets the sounds you want, and for that the Sandberg is my favourite. Some Basses feel like an piece of engineering, others feel like they have character and should be named- this is one that needs a name....Maroon 5 if someone hadn't got their first, or perhaps Sandburgundy.

It’s me again, thx for all the comments, I had this bugging me and now I am glad I didn’t pay too much attention to this ad, definitely a weird vibe, and I agree it’s prob a fake. Thx again for the warnings

Hey guys, I thought i'd share my new video with you all here. It's a mash-up of Dean Town and Teen Town (I think we've all heard of those tracks!), it's been done before but this time it's a bit different. I am using my Mayones Jabba 5 string that I bought used on here, I cannot remember who I got it from though... Hope you enjoy and that the video doesn't give you a 90s flashback migraine.

Gibsons biggest mistake with the Thunderbird was making the Epiphone Vintage Pro so good. I think it sounds better and its a grand cheaper. I own a vintage pro and have played a 2020 Gibson and maybe I'm biased but I don't think the Gibson was a thousand pounds better. It just seemed to be slightly nicer finished.

I've one of Willie's (Twin-Cam) necks. Yet to use it so can't comment on it. I've also bought a few Kmise jazz necks, really nice necks that cost buttons. The Kmise folks are brilliant, very proactive should there be a problem. Dealt with them plenty of times, honest and trustworthy. If I'm honest Kmise is one of the best eBay sellers. They've refunded me for goods on route, trusting I'd contact them for an invoice once they arrived.

The trouble with Hong Kong Garden is that you feel like learning another tune after an hour 😃.

I loved the TE 4X10 combo I had, easily the best sound I've ever had, shame about the weight. Seeing these pics reminded me of when I'd spend hours glossing over these mags fantasising about upgrading to stuff way out of my price range. Thanks for sharing...

You're doomed. Now she'll realise just how much you've spent on this stuff...

Pretty lady... and a Spector.... Win double!!

That said, the bass strapped much higher will avoid her a huge double tendinitis (elbow and shoulder). 😉

You could go one further and have two colours in EACH

It’s more of space problem I’m up to 14 basses now. And I’m not really playing the 414 and my 1024x so I’m thinking about maybe moving them on.

D'Addario Chrome's? Out of the 'bright' flats they are about the stiffest I think. Ernie Ball Colbalts are brighter but lower tension. I've personally settled on D'Addario half rounds as my go to string for that brighter sound but still retaining a high tension, smooth feel. Maybe worth consideration.

Been done to death on here by some of our esteemed cab builders. In a nutshell, if you like one cab a second identical one will work perfectly with it and give you more of the same. A different cab might work just as well/better, but may not. Matching cabs removes the unknown.

If you grew up anywhere near a guitar in the 1960's and 1970's, you'll have heard the riff to House of the Rising Sun. Everyone learned it, most didn't play it properly, but we all paid homage. RIP Hilton Valentine, thanks for the riff of a lifetime

It also allowed for the blood to pool at the front, sparing much backstage inconvenience

Hate to let it go to your ego.... But I prefer your pickguard 😂

Well worth a listen. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3cszvcj?fbclid=IwAR0tks7Zs0oQM_EDVe2zuHL8G2kt-nK26_kCmAmdyuzOKdMQbnzb-_F6hpU

The Ernie Ball forum is the weirdest cult-like forum I've ever seen If you don't agree with summat there, you're dead.

I know you are all desperate to know the outcome. It seems to be behaving at the moment. I have been using it all afternoon.

Only required for the very high bit in Nite Club by The Specials, RB. 😄

I've found exactly what @nilebodgers says r.e. the one Chinese neck I bought. The whole thing is oversize, but if you did buy one RB, a woodworking man such as yourself may be able to slim the whole thing down by a mm or two? I found the extended heel that Nile also mentioned, is a hurdle to playing chords or whatnot on the high frets. Here is a pic of the behemoth, next to a more normal neck: I sanded the heel end to fit in the body, but if all the Chinese necks are like this, as I said, in my view it's oversize by a fair bit in every dimension. 👍

Holy Moly....... are you mad????? How can you post a pic of such awesome finishes on BB's ???? I won't sleep for weeks now !!!!!!!!!!!!

Decision made. I'm going to sell my Stingray 5 and get one of those fan fret Ibanez.

That's the thing, if you don't put it on very tight right at the nut you still get reasonable sustain on open strings, but there is an audible effect on any fretted note too. It's subtle, it sounds like a bunch of higher harmonics are removed/toned down. Now, depending on what sound you go for this may not be a great idea but I don't like a very bright tone. On passive basses I'm always rolling the tone control somewhat. Adding that fretwrap at the nut just seemed to make it sound a bit tighter. I was not expecting it but it was there and very reproducibly so, it wasn't that I just happened to hit the right spot. It's not something that stands out in the mix, but you feel it when playing, if you know what I mean.

It is worth mentioning that instrument prices for many manufacturers have been on an upward trajectory for quite a while. Even Fender. If you take the original American Standard P bass from around 2008, it went for about £830. Today a virtually identical bass is almost exactly double the price at £1650. I’ve had both a 2008 original and now a Professional (v1) and I cannot tell the difference. However, I don’t get the Ford/Aston Martin comparison. There are tons of stingrays around and the for sale section always has a few. MM has the Sterling series like Fender has Mexican, player and Squier ranges, and at that price point, as others have said, that’s where most of the action is likely to happen for MM in future. They definitely upped their game with the Specials, but having played one, TBH I’d prefer a regular, more production-line instrument as they produced previously at £1500-1600 tops. It’s easy to forget that many indie, hard rock and metal bands not long ago had a Stingray-wielding bass player (as well as top level session guys like Pino and Tony Levin, two of my all-time favourite bass players). I’d be more than happy for them to go custom shop, so long as the pricing represents the choices on offer. For £3K+ I’d expect to choose a wider range of colours, fingerboard, matching headstock, pickups (H, HS, HH, even Big Al setup would be cool) and hardware colour. 8 fixed colour ways on what is essentially the same bass for a lot more money is sadly unrealistic.

Bit of cool comfort in these strange times.

Is it just me or is that picture slightly on the p*ss? Yes. I can tell you from ongoing experience that these are things to be very very much avoided.

Can't answer for @Basscabman but my necks from Wang Guitar on Ali-Ex (Jinwan on eBay) have been great. Had the blocked/bound 42mm nut version on my ThunderCabronita for 6-7 month ,not one problem 👍

I’m perfectly happy to hire them a rig. The production manager is a very good friend (and bassist), and I said he could probably buy a rig, but he’s trying to help me out as I’ve got a few rigs sat doing nothing

Musicman: "Introducing the Bongo!!!" Vox: "Hold my beer!!!"

I think the antidote is to listen to many isolated bass tracks. Many of them are not great on their own.

I think they're a useful thing to have. I struggle to mute open strings, especially when playing fingerstyle and one of these doohickeys does the job quite nicely. A few years ago, I was in a band that covered "All Right Now" - don't judge me... The nice bass break in the middle relies on a lovely open 'A' note, but if you let it ring out too long. it muddies up the phrase that follows it. I cured that by using a Victor Wooten approved hair tie, which I'd roll from behind the nut when necessary. A "proper" version does the same thing, but is a lot easier to get on and off the neck. I think mine was about £4.00. You can use a bit of sponge down by the bridge, but that's a faff to remove, or you can buy one of those on/off muting devices, but they're a bit expensive. This seems to be an cheap and cheerful way to dampen strings, if that's your thing.