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Thank you all for your helpful input. I've taken these comments on board and have been considering the various options - and I'm not quite sure how this has happened but I've just found myself ordering a 5-string fender deluxe active jazz bass with next day delivery from GAK 😃 have to say, it looks very cool!

I can assure you, they do exist.

OK guys, it's decision time again! Despite the positive trend at the moment, we're looking at putting this back to September 19th to be really REALLY sure. We want the event to be completely free from even the slightest covid concern and, equally important, to not be further complicated by any covid-related safety measures that will increase the already considerable work-load on the team. July or August would probably be equally good but I can imagine that holiday catch-up plans would impact on attendance. Comments please! Sorry for any further disappointment caused but we WILL get there!

I think this is what you might call Work In Progress But why is that middle switch not fixed in place? Ah...there's a bit of a story to that. What happens when you don't know your own strength? Well, to fix toggle switches like this, I use a socket without a handle. Because of how they are made, you can't tighten them up in the same way as you can potentiometers. And so I'm careful. But clearly not so nearly careful as I thought An email has gone to Martin at SimS confessing my sins and to order a replacement In the meantime, even with the inability to switch the options on that middle pickup, I could plug it in to make sure I'd got the basic wiring right. And it is VERY promising

Mailman just dropped this off all the way from Bass Direct! I couldn’t resist taking a quick peek, although I haven’t played it yet. I’m letting it acclimatize in it’s case. It’s a lovely looking thing !

Guitar amps should have a mute, remotely controlled by the bass player. 😊

A new ACG delivery today... that makes 4 in the 'built by Alan' collection. A number no doubt to grow in the future!

When Jack Casady suggested to Gibson that they reissue the Les Paul Signature Bass, they sent him to Epiphone who went to Peerless in Korea to make the basses for them. Then they took production to China so Peerless brought out their own version. So here we have a Peerless Bassmaster Player, which apart from the headstock and tuners is pretty much identical to the Epi. Really nicely built and sounds great, currently strung with rounds, should I try a set of flats which the seller sent me. Rounds / Flats???

Here are the actual bass tracks from Michael Jackson’ “Get On The Floor“ master tapes. Bassist Louis Johnson recorded the main track with Music Man bass. He overdubbed his part with Alembic Series 1, which he used in recording sessions during that period. I can tell that both tracks were used in the final cut. However, I don’t know the proportions in the mix.

If I thought I could get away with it, I'd suggest the following to my Punk/New wave band: 1 - Damaged Goods - Gang of Four 2 - Death Disco - Public Image Ltd 3 - Totally Wired - The Fall

OK. Draw circle on panel. Drill hole inside the edge of the circle. Place panel on work bench with hole just over the edge. Jigsaw blade into hole. Start cutting, pulling panel towards you. Stop. Remove tins, tools, cup of tea which panel almost knocks from bench. Resume.

Quinton Berry Found him for ya - he is funky

It’s the same situation in my function band. It’s a compromise- I have a five string but most gigs it’s a P bass with an octave pedal, MXR octave. I’d rather have the bass I prefer playing for 90% of the tunes, keep the momentum between songs without having to ponce around changing basses and it’s a cliche - the audience will not give a flying monkeys.

Happy with how this is turning out just midi and a few more bits of power to sort out

She's back with me! And I was the one that named her Rita 😁 I bought her from The original owner Greeneking who fitted the Nordstrand. I also remember seeing her with another basschat owner in Bassist magazine. Recently had a new nut fitted a full setup/electrics check and a clear perspex guard. Somewhere down the line a horrible nut making the strings narrower was fitted! I got that fixed as soon as I could afford it. I've had her back about a year now. I first owned her 12 years ago, I got from Warwickhunt who traded it to me, I part traded it later to a young fella Josh whom I believe sold her to you Mr Wrinkleygit. I recall I PM'D as I followed her adventures and missed out on need a 2nd time to Warwickhunt who can't help himself and sold her a second time 😂 She stays with me and had been doing a lot of recording recently. Small body/slim neck of a sterling and the Alnico vintage balls of a classic ray, and looks amazing Funny everybody loved her, NOBODY kept her😂 I regretted parting straight away,even though It was for a Ken smith.

I'm with @Nail Soup on this one, I could only dream of getting anyone to try these. And I've tried, oh, how I tried. Holiday in Cambodia - Dead Kennedys Bikini Girls With Machine Guns - The Cramps Poptones - Public Image Ltd Let's (alternative) rock! Now, I just need some gigs! Oh, and a willing band. Hmmm.

Think of the food, think of the food...* *and the basses.

He never shuts up about you though, funny isn’t it...how two people can have such oppositional views on their friendship... 😉

Sorting out some of older videos I found this great footage of third world from reggae on the river, check out the acoustic guitar at the beginning, so nice

Small gig set up 👍

Church did it's first in-person service in a couple of months this Sunday. However, with both of us having underlying medical conditions and a child with some special needs we're all still shielding for now (roll on our vaccinations - hopefully not long now). So we did another one of those "record it on your iPhone and glue it together" videos as a special for this week's service. Our indie-rock version of Chris Tomlin's "Set Free (Joy, Joy)" but with a Valentine's twist at the end. The song starts dead on at 5 minutes in. The sound of my Pro Series Wal bass comes through really nicely on the mix. So glad that our pastors and worship team appreciate the role that bass can play in a mix and driving a song and aren't scared of it!!! Hope you like it.

This ......

Not a fan of octave pedals, I owned an EBS unit a while back and while it was OK with higher notes, but once you dug into the E string it was quite underwhelming; problematic tracking and you'd get this odd double note thing. If you can live with this then fine, otherwise you'll be spending more time concentrating on when it needs to be on and off. So you have other options. D-tuner. I've got these fitted to my Spector and Aria Primary. They work fine, but the E-String does go a bit sloppy. Use sparingly. Buy a five string. I'd say it's always useful to have one; while I'm predominantly a four-string guy, nearly all my recording work is on a five-string. Better than a D-Tuner. Going BEAD. Decent option if you're not busy slapping/pulling the G-string, otherwise you're going to have to be very busy up the dusty end. Remember you'll possibly need to adjust the nut slots to accommodate the wider strings and you may need to tweak the truss rod to keep the neck straight. Buy a Kubicki Ex-Factor bass (which resolves all the issues beautifully; All these cost ££. Weigh up how much you need those extra notes and decide what suits. It's all a personal choice; you could even try a heavier string gauge and tune down to DGCF and capo across the second fret to play off a standard EADG tuning. Too many options.

My list unfortunately will soon be one made up of stuff I’ll need to sell rather than acquire. Hoping it doesn’t come to that but must admit I’ve been looking in my music room mentally noting what would be first to go if the gig situation doesn’t turn around soon. Fingers crossed.

Doug Wimbish does that a lot, doesn't not do him no harm.

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I don't see a problem. if I want it, can afford it, have room for it, I'll get it. End of. If it turns out to be less than expected, I'll move it on. If it is better than expected, I'll keep it and move on something else. Or not. At least I would have had the experience of playing it for a while. I call it 'curiosity' rather than GAS and certainly nobody else's business. Of course if it meant not being able to meet debts or put food on the table that is another thing.

So took the plunge on one of these. Went for this over an HX Stomp as I prefer more footswitchable options for live use. Also wanted the amp sims for recording, so also ruled the HX out. So far, its an impressive machine. Still learning, but its pretty intuitive.

Just got back from a sale, my GSR100EX for only $100 USD. Guy would not just sod off after the transaction, instead he gets out his phone & is showing me photos 1 by 1 of his 50+ instrument collection. Who has the heart to tell him that he must be mentally ill? Buying up stuff just because it's a deal is some sort of sickness in my opinion. However, we are encouraged to Buy More almost everywhere in the player communities online. Even I am guilty of buying due to influence from the internet, but when it's the other way around NO one will take heed of the ONE guy who is commenting NOT to buy it just because it's there!

EBS MicroBass II A Aompletely GAS fueled purchase as I have a SansAmp Bass Driver DI II that I'm not unhappy with but I've been EBS curious for a while (amps, pre-amps and effects pedals) so when feeling bored and a little low this weekend I indulged in some retail therapy. The EBS is also better spec'd with a FX loop and Headphone jack, the latter being a very useful feature giving the MBII can also be powered by 9v battery. If lockdown ever ends having this in the pocket of the gig bag makes a nice little travel rig. I know the Micro Bass III has been here a little while and I'd been considering getting one for a while now but when I looked into it little more there were a few things about it that put me off based on my current requirements.. 1. I wanted 48v Phantom Power capability from my Audio Interface. The III is PSU powered only 2. Size - I wanted something that could sit on my desk and not take up too much room, the MBIII is pretty large 3. Price - I picked this up new for £169 from Andertons where as the MBIII is almost double that 4. Although generally favorable reviews for the III a number of users claimed to prefer their II 5. I figured if I decide to keep the SansAmp I can return the EBS for a refund, if I favour the EBS I could get most of my money back by selling the SansAmp so this shouldn't be an 'expensive' purchase.

NBD! Well, it was a few weeks ago actually. I picked up this awesome @Bassworks PPJ5 early January. It’s a great machine. For me the melding of modern engineering and great luthiery is awesome. TBH I wasn’t planning on buying anymore basses. I’ve recently sold quite a few pretty nice instruments. But I spotted the PPJ5 on a No Treble post and then noticed that Bassworks are only 40 mins from me. I was quite intrigued by the spec and philosophy behind the build. So off I went for a noodle and back home I came with it! I was so impressed that I ordered a matching fretless for it while I was there. The build diary for the fretless is here: https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/445717-fretless-5-string-bassworks-build-diary/ In fact the build diary for this fretted one has been posted by Bassworks in the build chat: The attention to detail and re-world ‘players’ approach to design coupled modern features in a traditional format is really refreshing. For me, while I’ve got some nice basses, I was really attracted to the versatility and stability that this instrument provides. The PPJ5 feels really well build and its only 8lbs. 8lbs dead on for a great sounding/playing 5 string with a 35” scale. It means that I should be able to use it on all of my current gigs (well, when gigs come back!). Here’s some pictures of the beast in all its glory. Here’s the spec taken from the No Treble post: • Lightweight Swamp Ash chambered body • Canadian Rock Maple neck with carbon fibre rods • 2-way truss rod with 12" to 20" compound radius • Macassar Ebony • 35" scale • block inlays • Luminlay side dot markers. • "Aero" treatment to fret ends and invisible fret tangs • Asymmetric thumb groove profile • 4mm Birdseye Maple headstock plate on lightly chambered headstock • Recessed tuner detailing, • Hipshot USA hardware • Bartolini PJ pickups • Tri-point pick up height adjustment from the rear and lockdown screws to the front • John East UNI Pre 01 3 band EQ running at 18V with a true passive option + PTC/VTC • Dean Markley Blue Steel cryogenically treated strings strung through body • Copper shielded electronics cavity. • Bassworks' top secret proprietary heel connection geometry and 5 screw fixation into threaded inserts in the neck heel.

Peaches - Presidents of the USA Electric 6 for a good laugh! James - laid Beastie boys - sabotage or you've gotten fight Tooooo many choices!! Oh and Faith no more - epic

I stand corrected sir. Yes, Jody & Julie Turner, Tracey Lamb on bass, later replaced by Dee O'Malley (just been pulling vinyl out of my sideboard)

Oh I can become free - you don't get rid of me that easily.

I did think of Brian "The Brain" Mantia, and Tim Alexander (the other Primus drummer) And I'll add another; Pat Mastelotto. Awesome drummer.

Couple more coats on now.... I'm going to get a couple more on before I do any buffing... still getting a tiny bit of stain pickup with the oil. The guitar is in a cold workshop, so each coat is taking some time to go off.

I sold the basses I would never sell - the Hamer Blitz bass I always wanted, and my Rob Allen Mouse (although I bought that back, thanks @Clarky!). But I REALLY would not sell my custom Shuker's

Thanks, purple is actually the default color from the most popular prototype board vendor in the US, OSHpark. They do a black one with clear solder mask now too though, which also looks pretty cool. And yeah, I mostly design my own circuits using LTspice and very rarely do clone stuff. But of course rolling your own and doing something truly unique are two very different things and there's so much to learn by analyzing existing popular circuits.

I use the pitch shift feature on my HX Stomp to shift all the notes down 5 semitones, have a patch specifically for this which I flick to when I need that low B. The tracking is excellent.

Bear in mind that although a song may not go below E in its original key, your singer may sound better singing it in a different key. When I was doing covers, I think there was only one song we played that would have originally required a 5 string - but I still ended up using the Eb and D a lot on songs that we'd transposed down a bit. Though I will say that the low B, C and Db very rarely got any use!

Sigtryggur Baldursson or Budgie.

Hanging On the Telephone? Just use Zoom, Debbie!

With your set up I'd probably go Tuner>Octave>Filter>Synth>Whammy>Overdrive>Fuzz>Wah>Chorus>Delay. If you are using the Alpha Omega as a DI I'd put it last, but I'd move it nearer the front if it's being used as just a preamp. The compressor could either go first after the tuner or last before the DI, depending whether you want to balance your signal before hitting the effects or use it as a limiter to stop any spikes from using multiple effects at once. I only suggest that order because I've found that after playing around with a lot of pedals on a lot of gigs, that would give me the sound that I want. Really it's about what works for you. Move them around and see how the pedals react to each other. You can get some really different sounds just by swapping the order of a couple of pedals.

Initial Thoughts I've only had a chance for a quick play at lunch today when the pre-amp was delivered and the main goal of that was to try and recreate the Rock Bass tone I had on the SansAmp Bass Driver DI (based around the SVT preset). For general recording and with the piezo pickup of the Portamento I've been favouring blend at 0%-25% and using the SABDDI v2 primarily for EQ - I'm pretty confident the EBS can do that just as well but I was keen to know if I could get that 'rock' tone from the EBS which is one of the Bass Driver's best features. With everything at 12 O Clock and none of the special features engaged the SansAmp and EBS sounded very similar. I need to record with the EBS and do some comparison's with some of the Police covers I've recently been working on but from a bit of A / B playing through headphones the EBS came pretty damn close (in A+B mode), at least with the fretless. The EBS is a little bigger than the SansAmp which is a perfect size for my desk so +1 to the SansAmp. I do however prefer the overall design and feel of the EBS, the notched pots and control knobs are much nicer. One thing I instantly missed from the SABDDI was the Parallel Out. I've been recording with both the DI and Parallel Out feeds into the 2 inputs on my Scarlet Solo and then processing them differently for my bass sound. I can kind of do the same thing with the MBII using the Link out but both the Link and Output outs of the MBII seem to be post Pre-Amp / EQ where as on the SABDDI it's completely clean. You can use the Pre-EQ button but that effects all outputs. The only difference between DI and Link out (other than the connection types) is the Speaker Sim does not effect Link. It's not a bid deal but it's a nice feature of the SABDDI that I can get a completely neutral tone along side the SansAmp tone that doesn't seem possible with the MBII. Last thing I checked out over lunch was the Drive channel. There are a number of comments in user reviews that complain it's a bit fizzy. After trying it at full gain I can see that it wouldn't be to a lot of peoples tastes, it's certainly not close to sounding anything like the Darkglass pedals that have been the hype in recent years. Again I think they've tried to do this more with the MB III but I didn't hate the sound from the drive channel and I am someone who doesn't generally like OD / Distortion with bass. At lower drive levels it seems very usable and I rarely use high levels of gain but even that tone I kind of dug the tone. More thoughts after I've had a chance to play with the pedal some more.

I made the money saving realisation a while back that the 'I want a new bass' feeling often coincided with my strings getting old. new strings are cheaper than a new bass!

Also the inspiration for this Madonna classic.