Leaderboard

One of the jobs today was sorting the earth on the bridge. Nowadays, I use the shielding copper foil and use the drill-hole to hide the solder joint with the earth cable. I find this a much more certain way of getting a good earth contact without the danger of the bridge being lifted off the body by the splayed wires of the more traditional way of doing it. I solder the earth wire to a strip of sticky-backed copper first: I then just feed the wire through the drilled hole, peel off the backing paper and stick it in place: Lastly, after sanding the paint off the back of the bridge block, fix that and then do the all-important electrical continuity check: As I outlined in a previous post, the head block connects the other three strings to earth via this string saddle. I heard from Martin and have a set of switches on the way - I've ordered all three as they will have been overstressed the same amount as the one that failed (and, actually, while I was plugging and unplugging cables, a second one did the same thing). I gave him a call on a couple of things I wanted to check and came away wiser on two other things: - I'm an engineer (by qualification though, clearly, not by skill ). But I hadn't thought through "If you pop a nut on the switch shaft before you put the spring washer and switch in, then the outside nut is tightening up against the inside nut and so there's no stress on the shaft to switch joint and you can tighten up as much as you like". I think the fact that I hadn't thought that through confirms that you should never walk over a bridge that I've designed... - For many two pickup sets, the bridge is more powerful than the neck. For a guitar 3-pickup arrangement, the middle pickup is usually the same lower power than the neck. But it is also reverse polarity and reverse wound so that it humbucks with both the bridge and the neck pickup. So one of my question marks was how was this going to work with the Superquads, where I have a bridge and two identical neck pickups. Martin clarified - the Superquad bridge pickup is exactly the same power as the neck pickup. Therefore, to get the 'reverse polarity reverse wound' effect, then to put the bridge in the middle. So the bridge, middle, neck pickups will actually be neck, bridge, neck Superquads Finally, he confirmed that this - to his knowledge - is the first triple Superquad bass in the world Might be worth entering it into the US-based NoTreble ezine's 'Bass of the Week' comp - it would be pleasing to win that for the fifth time (he says with all due modesty )

Getting there...looks a lot better with the black hardware 👍

Most things by Yes...

Sh*t on fire. 😄

im trying a new technique that was suggested to me for marking the fretboard for inlaying the branches. holding the branch down and using a spray paint to mark the area to be cut away: im pretty pleasantly surprised by how well this seems to work, very easy to mark the edges with a scalpel and chisel, and then just work up to the line. once id got the 2 branches cut out and the areas for the inalys chiseled away, i set them in place with some CA glue and flooded around the edges: This is the lower of the 2 branches, and you can see the colour contrast with the macassar ebony fretboard. should look really nice with the leaves in place over the top Meanwhile, im getting ready to cut out the 2 top pieces with some laser cut templates: these have been made to leave a perfect 2mm gap down the S shaped join in the body, so once these top pieces are cut and trimmed, i can run 3 layers of veneer (white, black, white) down the middle. this should give an effect similar to the rendering on page 1, and should look pretty cool with the flamed redwood top. im not sure this approach would look quite so good with a burl top or something like claro walnut, but with flamed wood with a grain running one direction and the chatoyance running perpendicular, i think itll be a nice effect. in the future if i make any more of these with those woods ill just to a straight bookmatch. I also cut the laminated beam that will make up the body wings into the 2 pieces i need. this also lets me line up the laser cut template with the top to make sure the carbon fibre extends down the the right distance all looks good to me, so time to cut the wings out. again, i am missing a bandsaw bigtime here, but patience can normally replace industrial equipment: here you can mostly see the pattern that will be visible at the top and bottom of the body wings. the innermost piece of walnut doesnt extend all the way to the end, however, as it only needs to match up where the wings meet the central beam I also put together another little helpful gadget for this build: its a test prototype for the preamp, that allows me to test lots of different component values without de-soldering. the 8 dip switches let me test 3 different values for the top and bottom of the frequency sweep and the top and bottom of the resonant peaks without endlessly swapping out resistors. its a bit too big for installation inside a bass in reality, but its a useful tool in understanding how these things sound. im just using it plugged into one of my other basses at the moment. the single pot controls the frequency sweep, and the push/pull function selects between high and low resonance. im hoping that once ive got this all buttoned down, i can get another version of this made smaller for retrofit into another of my bass guitars.

Oh, listen to you lot! 'I'd never sell this, my trusty Archangel Splattenberger seven string, my late grandmother (15 times removed), bequeathed it to me on her deathbed in 1902, which says something as I wasn't even born then. I played it at the Queen's coronation. Well, I was thinking about it while I was watching a documentary about the Queen.' Every one of your basses has a price, much as I love my kit, they're all expendable. I said I'd never get rid of my white Thunderbird but as soon as I got GAS elsewhere, boom, up for sale. We are a fickle bunch, so attached to some wood and wires.

No. I've now listened to loads of Bands/ Drummers that I never heard of before. It's opened my mind. Stay cool.

Halo again folks. I’ve been away from Basschat for a while, but I picked up another Matsumoku gem in the interim. Aria SB Special-II. I’ve read that only 1000 of these were made, between 1982-84. The SB Special came in single and dual pickup versions, in either black or sunburst. These were the pre-cursor to the more common ‘RSB’ basses, though there are a few defining differences. The SB Specials have ash bodies whereas the RSBs are alder, the necks on the SB Specials are clear-coated whereas those on the RSBs are painted. The most notable difference is the bridge pickup on the dual pickup versions. The SB Special-II has a MB-III unlike the RSB, which sports a single coil MB-J. These may be among the ‘poor siblings’ of the Matsumoku Aria output, but they’re truly excellent instruments none the less, well made, beautifully balanced, and just oozing with Matsumoku mojo. I find this one more comfortable to play than either of my ‘full-weight’ SB’s, and it sounds amazing ... really clean, bright, and articulate, super smooth tones, fat thru glassy, with the same control set as on the SB900 and SB-R80 so, yes, very versatile. I’ve got a ton of love for this bass.

Cabinet is complete in it's basic form. It weighs just 5kg and I've noticed that Jewsons where i bought the ply are advertising it now as poplar cored, when i bought it it was sold as Baltic birch though it looks like a generic hardwood on the outer veneers. the Chinese are making 'poplar' cored Eucalyptus skinned ply at the moment which is what I suspect this actually is. Anyway poplar cored is a nice bonus as the cab is extraordinarily light and i didn't pay a fortune for the ply. It has some voids which is a nuisance but It's tough to find a source of really good ply at the moment without going to specialist suppliers. It's good enough and 5kg is a very pleasant surprise. Photo's soon

My 1989 Ibanez SR800LE.....my first proper bass

I went for it. To heck with being sensible. I have updated the firmware. Had a little fiddle. Changed a few effects. I got a little tired and left it for now. However, I had a noodle, and so far I've discovered that it sounds really, really good. The most encouraging thing about it is how utterly simple and intuitive it is. More to come.. oh, who fancies a picture?

Yeah, its me, so I'm babbling on about compression again (sheesh get a life you tedious old fart). This one is worth it, the absolute best video about how compression can be used to manipulate sounds to get your desired emotional content (thank you Bruce Lee). This needs to be on every single wanna be recordistas play list. Enjoy!!

I'm sure many will disagree but there seem to be a fair few rock songs where the writers tag on chunks of music which bears no relation to what's gone before it. Fr'instance Baba O'Riley and the gypsy fiddle tune, which is not bad in itself but it just comes out of nowhere Layla and the plinky plonky slow piano bit with meandering slide guitar all over it. I know there are more.

Time for a set of catgut strings

In a paper bag, on your doorstep.

The guitar(s) at the end of Layla sound like 2 Tom cats having a set to at 3am. It really is a horrendous racket.

God, tunes are more formulaic than ever these days. This could have been released ten years ago.

🤣 I'll chuck Pete Sandoval and Steve Asheim in as well, then! And I can name a couple of drummers I never want to play with again..

I have just received this today It's a Bespoke strap made in Lincolnshire from an old RAF fire hose. The hose would normally go in land fill. It served its time in Cambridgeshire at RAF Wittering Looks nice in my opinion

I guess this one.

I think it's a consequence of a composer having an idea they really like, but which lacks the substance to be developed into a full/good song. I should know, I do it all the time. Accidental prog...

If I don't like them I will give to the girlfriend as an orange polo...........

The advantage for me of much lighter amps, isnt that I can carry a 3kg head, but I can rack 2 of them and a tuner and a wireless system, all pre wired and secure in a lightweight and rack and all of that comes in around 15kg. No setting up, no faff. No forgetting or losing anything.

I sometimes hear of bassists like that who only play the 5 string because they honestly believe that they're making their bass life "easier". Their rationale being the economy of movement and that learning one type of bass can cover all ground. Many do, however, eventually realise where they're going wrong. There are some notable disadvantages: -it encourages a lazy box-squatting approach to the bass. No need to be creative or explore their instrument, just stay in the same box and play there every night. -some go to great lengths to torture their poor instrument to make full use of the B string on every song, even though it doesn't call for it most of the time. -many don't appreciate that the rumbling unmuted B string doesn't make a good recording or live sound, even when they're using it as a thumb rest 90% of the time. Both 5 string and 6 strings and even 7 strings have their rightful place, but it's best to use the right bass for the job.

I love rackmount stuff. I find it a lot easier than smaller separates. Dont have to worry about forgetting anything. Everything is there, bolted in and pre wired. One plug and one Speakon and I'm good to go. I found the separates, micro heads etc much more time consuming, having to take individual things out of cases, add plug leads, extensions, cables, connect to tuners etc. Then having to remember not to lose anything packing up. Plus the vertical arrangement makes it pretty limitless for adding items.

Miserable sod alert! Most specialist guitar polishes are a way of squeezing a teeny bit of standard polish used in the automotive or furniture trades into little containers and charging double the price. Still it gives advertising people an outlet to save them getting constipated with their shite. 🙂

I won't be letting my mid '90s MIJ '51 Precision Reissue go anywhere anytime soon. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary maybe, but it just has the look, the feel, and the sound for me...

I had one who played through a JBL loaded Fender Twin which he placed on the floor without using the tilt back legs. He stood never more than two feet in front of it, so the only way he could hear it was to play loudly enough to shatter drink glasses on tables thirty feet away. 🙄

Gullible & stupid person alert.

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???

I'm not that crass OK OK, I wanted a laser beam from the headstock - but couldn't find a blue one that was exactly the same colour as the LEDs

Franz Ferdinand's Take Me Out starts out as a completely different song that just runs out of steam...

I prefer blend knobs to volume / volume, but yes, you are right, they aren't as useful on passive basses, as at full blend your pickups have half the volume down anyway.

The main advantage of rack format for me is the interoperability. It was/is a 'standard' that designers built for so that things could be swapped, interchanged, combined. In the case of my original post, I like the idea of having a combo in which the head can die and the combo can survive (just choose a new head) without the whole thing needing to be scrapped. Triggers broom comes to mind...

Just seen this in Private Eye, written by an Amazon Driver, think it gives a perspective from the drivers viewpoint... Scan 5.pdf

GigRig ftw. Nice board. I’m getting me an Isolator. No brainer: split one of my 500ma outs four ways, isolated? Yes please. More power

You can take a photo of the Kustom and get it printed on cloth. My sister has a large textile printer. Would probably look ok from a distance

man himself explaining

Quinton Berry Found him for ya - he is funky

I'm not sure if this has been said before - it probably has , on here at some time or other . But is the Courier industry , the only industry , where you pay for a service , and then have to take out extra insurance at cost , in case they don't do the job that you've already paid them to do in the first place ?

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

Aria R80, 1986. Look at the grain on that.