Leaderboard

You don't half come up with some rubbish. There isn't one . Either you are the most judgemental person I have ever heard of or you are the most boring Troll. Yes ...I am aware that that last bit is judgemental but, in my defence, I've never used Broccoli to play bass with.

I don't think how many notes you can play in a given time is any kind of indication of ability at all. Is a badly timed busy bassist playing a hundred miles an hour all over the fretboard better than one who puts in that perfectly timed single note per bar, whilst locked in with a great drummer to create the heaviest funk groove in town? Sometimes busy is good, sometimes sparse is good. The bassist who knows when to do what will be the most respected. 🙂👍

Neck pocket cut and headstock veneer and cap glued on.

To be able to do that is not just practice, it is a drill.

I struggled with this approaching my 50th. What I would really have liked was a YOB bass, maybe a Jazz. But since I’m... erm... “of pre-CBS vintage” that was never really on. My wife’s big “21st birthday” (again) was also only 6 weeks after mine so in the end we had a joint present commissioned - but in a very different musical direction. We are big fans of Gordon Giltrap and have got to know him well over the years so we decided to commission a piece of music from him. I chatted to Gordon about it and he asked us to provide a title (the fulfilled promise is our little boy whom we had adopted a few years earlier). He knew I loved his 70s prog albums so felt inspired to create something a little in that vein. When he came up with the melody he thought it would sound great with a violin doubling the line and it prompted him to get back in touch with Ric Sanders from Fairport whom he’d done an album and tour with many years earlier. So near my birthday we got a CD with the song featuring both Gordon and Ric. Then it appeared in a more fully arranged version similar to the version above on his next album. Not a bass but still a nice, musical way to mark two big birthdays!

Here it is. Handsome beast IMHO! http://

I don’t think it helps that you seem to post every thought that comes into your head as a thread on the forum. I mean there’s no rule against it but perhaps a more considered (and maybe more bass related) approach might be a sensible way forward. I also think you’d like Google, it’s amazing!

It's like bloody Hotel California in here.

Not for a scuba diver...

what a silly question. We're bass players so generally nice folk who don't really need to divide people into acceptable and unacceptable..... Also our instrument is easy to learn, but hard to master. So the level a respectable bassist needs to get to be accepted is fairly low. I've no issue with people at the start of their learning journey. As for "gold standard" - depends for what where and music style, and I doubt BPM has much to do with it. Turn up at a practice for a regular originals band and 95% of people who bothered to register for a site called basschat will have the skills needed. Play in a wedding band, maybe 70% of us, be asked to do recording sessions - maybe under 30% of us would have the skills and ability to do that. My mate is a studio engineer in a pretty high end studio... I imagine only 5-6 folk on basschat would be gold standard enough for what he needs. None of which has anything to do with BPM

-

250 bpm

This will be the sort of instrument that you look at and immediately want to pick up and play, regardless of what you should actually be doing. Very nice.

Just throught I'd share some first impressions now I've had a few days to play around. This is one of the second series of Ibanez headless EHB basses, released in 2021 (the first series came out in 2020). I've been playing short scale basses, but since my experience with multi-scale guitars was positive I thought that multi-scale would suit a short scale bass quite well as the main 'problem' with shorter scale lengths can be the lack of tautness in the E-string. My main concerns when ordering were that there were some issues with the first series of EHB (reasonable number of reports of neck cracks, misaligned bridges, poor jack socket), but no-one short of custom ordering did an instrument like this, and nothing like this kind of price. Stuck my pre-order in at Andertons in January with delivery expected in early-mid March. Well, it turned up on the 2nd of March, so top marks there. Slightly disappointed to find that someone (presumably at Andertons) had rifled through the gigbag and opened the accessory bag, presumably to get to the 9V battery, which I found with the wrapper semi-removed plugged into the back of the bass. Guess it was the first one in and someone wanted a play. Doesn't bother me too much as long as they were careful, and as there wasn't a mark on it I guess they were... First, some pictures: Metallic green/blue paint, burl maple fretboard. A nice combo in my eyes Bolt on neck, but upper fret access is very good. The back of the body is bevelled, so the upper half is thinner than the lower The neck profile is incredibly flat and wide in true Ibanez fashion. It's comfortable to play, although the width was a bit of a shock at first Playing Feel The first thing that hits you is that adding a string makes for a very wide looking/feeling neck at the treble end of the fretboard (the nut's only 45mm). It also knocks your calibration out of whack, and I found that I'd be playing the wrong string from time to time. I've played a 7 string guitar so was expecting both of these and it'll come with time. The action is low, aiding playability, and is not buzzy. I'd say the setup is pretty well judged out of the box, but the intonation will need some adjustment. The string tension is lower on the B-string than I'd expected, but not excessively so. The multi-scale will take a little getting used to, but with a neutral (that's basically the 'normal' fret, perpendicular to the string) 7th fret, the pattern makes a lot of ergonomic sense on a bass-length scale. As I move my fretting hand up the neck, my fingers follow the arc/fan of the frets very well. Just need to get the muscle memory re-learnt so that I'm placing my fingers in the optimum place - I was getting a few 'just-past' the target fret moments at first. My main concern was about successfully muting the newly acquired 5th string. I usually right-hand mute strings by hooking my ring and little fingers through/around the strings, whilst anchoring with my thumb. This works nicely on a four string bass as even when playing the G-string, the second playing finger will mute the D-string. What I've found to work really well on this bass is anchoring my thumb on the edge of the neck: When playing the 3rd to 5th strings it's business as usual, but when playing the 1st or 2nd strings, the thumb starts to naturally rotate into position and touch the B string. It's pretty natural and works well. When using a strap, you'll find the rear strap button is rather higher than a 'normal' bass (much like a Strandberg), so you'll find that you'll want to shorten the strap by a good 10cm or so (I couldn't figure why it felt weird at first). Balance is excellent as you'd expect with no head - it just sits where you want it with no pull one way or another. It's also very light (just 3.3kg), not just for a 5 string, or a bass, but it's light even for a guitar. That lack of weight is much appreciated during longer playing sessions. Build Quality The build is generally very nice, the neck in particular being a high point. Fret ends are nicely finished and smooth, the edge of the fretboard is well rounded, making it very comfortable. As is often the case, it's just the upper corners of the nut that could use a bit more time with the sander as the corners are sharp, and without a headstock it's easy to run a little too far and catch on the nut. The hardware feels excellent quality and is easy to adjust (and there are a lot of adjustments available too). The individual bridges are good and straight as you'd expect. Before buying headless I'd heard many complain that the tuners are difficult to adjust with fingers. Not so here - the knobs are a decent size and are very smooth and easy to adjust. A minus point has to be that the manual is a generic Ibanez document that is almost entirely irrelevant in every respect to the EHB. They'd have been better off providing nothing as the only 'normal' thing shared is the truss rod. It's particularly weird that they've not included any specific manuals as they've produced some which are on their website, both for the hardware and the EQ/electronics. As mentioned before the paintwork is generally very good, but the area around the bridge/tuners is not up to a great standard. Only really visible if you're looking for it though Electronics The pickups are a pair of passive Bartolini BH2s, through an Ibanez 9V powered EQ. Again, some documentation in the box would have been nice, but a quick download later and all was revealed. Volume Pickup balance (clockwise for neck, anti-clockwise for bridge. This has a central detent for both pickups on equally) 3 - 7 control the EQ Lower knob is bass EQ, cutting or boosting the bass (this has a central detent for a flat EQ) Upper knob is treble EQ, cutting or boosting the treble (this has a central detent for a flat EQ). It also becomes the passive tone control if the active EQ is switched off Lower knob controls the mid frequency that control 6 affects Upper knob is the mid EQ, cutting or boosting around the frequency selected by control 5 (this has a central detent for a flat EQ) EQ switch. Switched forward this disables the active EQ and control 4 becomes a passive tone knob The controls are nicely weighted and are smooth, although the plastic knobs do feel a touch cheap. Being a beginner to 3-way EQ actually on the bass itself I've not played around too much yet, sticking to passive control. The pickup blend is a nice feature, although I'd have preferred two volume knobs and a switch as it allows for mid-song changes more easily. The jack socket is a captive type preventing accidental disconnects. It's fairly stiff to release, but easy enough to do with one hand I don't feel qualified to comment on the sound, but through my Ashdown ABM III it sounds bloody good, punchy and clear, even driven by my fingers. Output volume is not boosted like an active pickup which means less equipment adjustment if switching basses (it's very similar in output to my Hagstrom Swede). Overall As the owner of a Strandberg Boden (guitar) I do find there's a lot of similarity (even superficially), it really feels that Ibanez are trying to create an instrument that is very reminiscent of the Strandberg, but substantially less expensive. It's a well made, ergonomic instrument that undoubtably has a few niggles/areas for improvement, but the overall impression is of a well designed bass with a good variety of tones for playing most genres of music.

Remember those matt 3 ply guards from the 90s? I was gutted when they stopped them, so got one made for my Special 😊 Not easy to photo, but loving the contrast.

Finally got round to grabbing a pic of my recently acquired (off this FS forum) Cali s-s. Jazz Flats fitted, just completed my usual super-low set-up by doing the intonation, and I think this is a keeper - even though my two Andy Rogers 30"-scale custom builds will always be my go-to gig basses. I can honestly say I'm deeply impressed with my first Sandberg. It's the best sub-£1500 'manufactured' s-s bass I've played. http://

Also, I was in a band in the mid 70s with a slide guitarist who used Rotosound Top Tape flatwound guitar strings on both his Dobro and his Shaftesbury Les Paul. Rotosound, Picato, Pyramid, GHS, La Bella, Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker, and probably several others were all supplying flatwound bass and guitar strings in the 1970s.

Don't take any notice of them, they're all pink torpedos. 😛

Mine too 😂

1974 ... I bought a used c1964 Hofner Artist with short scale Rotosound Jazz bass flats with light blue silk - £30 1976 ... I bought from Woodroffe’s in Birmingham a new Fender Precision which was factory fitted with Fender flats with green silk (as I think were all Fender basses up to that time) - £220ish

I would say you at least need 312 BPM playing 16th notes for an hour to even be considered to be anything near gold standard imo. Platinum standard, is ridiculous, were talking like in the 1000 BPM.

Less is more.

OK, from previous record company experience (and I've just checked and it is still the case) - nearly all music is broadcast through a license with PPL. There is no negotiating fees for radio stations for individual tracks*, so it is not a cost issue. *There may be one or two exceptions, but I've checked and the Beatles are not one of them.

Getting a bit fed up of reading how Pino played on "Lady in Red" ...that's me folks.

I bought Steve's Ibanez Les Paul off him, the one he recorded the Rocks Off EP with. IIRC it cost me £125 - it was just after they got their record deal. Like a pillock, I traded it in for a brand new Gibson The Paul. Wish I still had both.

Don't forget the distance at which the lighter tuners are a benefit, all the way out there at the end of the neck: it's only a few ounces lighter, but it has a much bigger effect than that*...well, that's what I've always found. I have Ultralites on all my basses... *I've had to check, because it was a long time ago when I did my Engineering HND, but it's the Turning Moment of the weight, which is the force multiplied by the distance

The important thing for those at beginner level to know is: FAST ≠ GOOD. There are a million things that matter more than BPM.

And for proof of that, check out the bass line on the verse of Alright Now. 😀

This ones gone on a diet

Are you sure?

Very offensive and uncalled for! I'll have you know I'm a brown starfish!

The Strings on that Shaftesbury look like Roto Black Nylon. From my memory most new US basses were fitted with flats in the 70's but most everyone changed them to RS66's As for amps we thought HH were posh We had Carlsbro or own made!! LOL

Does it come with ‘fighting drummer’ - the one that kicks off when playing Stones covers?

Same! And then I would sell it on here.

That's nothing! I'm downloading Haughty Drummer™ and Smug Drummer™ , so

An adult man who can sustain a BPM around 70% of what he achieved in his teenage years can consider himself a proper ****er.

Which actually leads to the next question. How many notes per beat are you talking about? Playing 16ths at 10bpm would require the same dexterity as single notes at 160bpm. Bpm is irrelevant.

Why would they ? Guitar groups are on the way out

No clue as to why they don’t get played much but when they do they sound brilliant- still. So much life to the recordings and production.

Busy week this week, but been having a whale of a time, coming down to the garage to this: having done a little more shaping to the body, at the end of last week i ended up here: in terms of actual shape and lines, its getting fairly close here, so its time to start work on the neck. there is an awful lot of material to come off. using the laser cut templates and some careful routing, the neck is brought to the correct width and alignment with the body. as you can imagine, this caused a huge mess, but the closer i get to putting the router back away for good, the better. with the neck closer to its final width, i can start work on the transitional areas where it meets the body. on the front, this means carving into the areas around the bottom of the fretboard. i had orginially intended that the white maple stripe would follow through from the upper horn to the lower, but now im leaning towards having it how it is in the picture above, curving up toweard the fretboard where it transitions. it just looks a bit more organic to my eye Meanwhile, round the back this should give you some idea how much material ive got to remove. thankfully a lot of this can go without losing much in the way of stiffness or leaving a weak area, but its going to be a big old job. But starting to remove some of the material from the back of the neck is super satisfying. its starting to let me see how the pattern is going to look, and the gorgeous grain of the namibian rosewood. theres a hell of a lot of wood left on up at the headstock end, but this is mostly because i want to get the neck profile down to where it should be to test the stiffness before starting on the headstock. this way i can add additional carbon to the neck if needed. at the moment it feels ridiculously stiff, but we shall see what happens as more is removed. ive got some plastic templates cut out to make sure i dont carve too far. up at the headstock end there is not a lot of wood between the carbon rods and the outside of the neck, so need to take care up there especially. one of my big worries with this build was that the neck marquetry wouldnt look as good once it had been rounded over, but thankfully im starting to see it come together and i like what i'm seeing. it actually helps to keep the neck profile symetrical, as i can use the pattern to judge how much to take off. and this is where i got to. theres still a huge amount to take out of the bottom of the neck to get the transition looking nice and smooth, and i haven't started the carving on the back yet either, but im happy with this progress so far. honestly the first time taking a rasp to that marquetry to start shaping the neck felt terrifying, but you soon get into a rythm and start enjoying it. it will be interesting to see how it looks, and how heavy it is once the shaping is all done and the cavities are routed out as well, so stay tuned!