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Showing content with the highest reputation on 01/06/21 in all areas
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My favourite tools for neck carving starts with a spokeshave to take some of the bulk away. Always satisfying when you get a shaving the length of the neck : I then move onto a micro-plane. I draw it along the neck with both hands (when I'm not holding the camera!) like a spokeshave. Because the cut is lighter, it is a safer option once you are getting closer to the shape: Then my favourite - and sometimes this is the only tool I use - the trusty cabinet scraper. Again, when I'm not holding a camera, I draw this down the length of the neck with both hands: For the trough, I will rough out with a mini plane and then use a gooseneck scraper: The whole process is one of do a bit, walk away, come back, measure, do a bit more. But it is at least starting to look like a neck now : There will be a bit of iteration - the neck carve affects what looks good with the body carve and vice versa - another reason why it's best to do it in stages10 points
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Greetings everyone at Basschat - I hope you’re all well?! For those how don’t know me, “Hi!” I’m Philip! Some of you may recognise me from Scott’s Bass Lessons, my writings for Bass Player Magazine, or any of my old teaching haunts (such as London's Institute, or The Players School of Music in Florida)…I’m also a regular at most bass shows…I get about! I’ve been busy over the last year creating a little bass platform of my own - I’ve got fingers in so many different cookie jars, that I thought it’ll be really lovely to bring everything together and create something new…thus, I started www.withbassinmind.com. First up, it's 100% free and not just another subscription channel - that’s not the idea... There’s a few bits on there about me (sorry), resumé, performance videos, information about my signature j-basses from Overwater and also how to order my books and book private bass lessons. But generally, it’s all just about good vibes and sharing all things bass. On the .com website there's loads of my archived magazine articles, techniques classes, transcriptions, interviews and reviews that you can help yourself too. On the YouTube channel I’ve been collating some interviews with everyone from Victor Wooten, to Damian Erskine, David Swift, Mo Foster, Jeff Berlin, Snow Owl, and Neil Fairclough - all of which are available on the YouTube Channel (I’ll post some links below in the thread). Occasionally, we also do some competitions, only this week we announced the winner of our Ashdown Engineering giveaway (Mark Ellis). Anyhow, thanks for reading, come and pop by if you like - I’m also on all of the usual social media platforms. My best, stay safe Philip8 points
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I am driving from near Bath to Rainham in Kent some time later this month. I'll be there a couple of days then driving back. If I can be of help to anyone out East either sending or receiving a bass let me know. Happy to drive somewhere from Rainham as I'll be twiddling my thumbs up there.7 points
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My BB:6 points
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Because of Andy's inpiring post..🙂6 points
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Due to the Covid-19 situation and severe back problems (67% officially disabled because of it) plus right shoulder injury (non-operable capsulitis from which, after more than 3 years, I will never fully recover), I'm selling all my basses over 4 kilos and also the ones I'm not really using. I've also considerably lowered the price for a quick sale. ACG Finn R Type Fretless 5 Custom Spec Level, November 2014. NO TRADE ! NON NEGOTIABLE PRICE ! Asking price including shipping fully insured with tracking number to your place in these European countries (ask for other countries) : Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France (excluding French overseas departments and territories), Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Monaco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom : £1895 GBP !!! (new price is way more than £3000 GBP and some time to have it finished...) Shipping to United Kingdom is, of course, possible, but with an extra customs fee (VAT + other taxes + courier fee), because U.K. is now outside EEC. Fully working and in excellent condition. Here are the specifications : Body : black limba Top and back : thick flamed redwood with two black accent veneers Neck : set in with a small tone block of Macassar ebony, 5 pieces of, from center to external side, Macassar ebony, ash and wenge (asymmetrical profile and fast neck, think JP Basses or MTD) Fingerboard : thick (7 mm) flat radius acrylic impregnated Birdseye maple with a black accent veneer Positions : 26 with partial fret lines and Luminlay side dots Headstock : angled 3 + 2 shape with flamed redwood top and back and two black accent veneers Pickups : 2 x ACG FB humbuckers Preamp : Richter BassXX 3BP-CC (filter based) Controls : volume, blend, stacked bass and treble with active/passive push-pull, stacked mids (cut/boost + frequencies sweep), passive tone (only working in passive mode) Tuners : Gotoh Res-O-Lite GB-350 Bridge : Hipshot "A" Style Strings spacing at bridge : 19 mm Nut : ebony Strings spacing at nut : 9 mm Knobs : Richter-Warwick Scale : 35 inches Hardware colour : black Truss rod : one double action Finish : satin finish that has become shiny over the years Land of craftsmanship : United Kingdom (Scotland) Serial number : 0172 Year : November 2014 Weight : 4.680 kilos Action : from 1.5 mm under the G string to 2 mm under the B string at 12th position (can go lower, but was perfect for me) Will come with the original Hiscox hard case (2 keys inside), a set of Dunlop black Straplok (used) and the Luminlay torch. Non-smoking environment as usual. The bass has been fully set up professionally. It has received a new battery and has been fitted with a brand new set of La Bella White Nylon Tape Wound 750T-B-XL strings (50 - 65 - 85 - 105 - 135T). Certainly one of the best fiver fretless around. Top luthier build quality (Alan Cringean aka @skelf is in the top ten, for sure) and a sound to die for. The neck is a pleasure to play and the sound has tons of mwah. The original preamp was an ACG EQ-01 (there's a mistake on the website confirmed by Alan himself), then @Bass Wielder put a John East Uni-Pre and I removed it to put a Richter BassXX 3 bands preamp (filter based too, but with fixed frequencies except for the mids), which, to me, suits the bass better, making it easier to dial in the sound you want and having a full real passive path. The La Bella White Nylons are simply perfect for this bass (and any fretless, by the way) as they allow you to make very fast slides and also small accents with dramatic effect. There is absolutely no neck diving. I'm only selling it due to my health problems as it's really too heavy for my broken back. Link to this very ACG page : http://www.acguitars.co.uk/project/0172-finn-r-type-fretless-5/ Link to the Richter BassXX 3BP-CC : http://www.richter-ee.de/preamps1.html Link to the La Bella strings fitted : https://www.labella.com/strings/category/5-string-white-nylon-tape-bass/ What you see is what you get ! Look at the photos taken under different angles and light to see the excellent condition of this bass. Some very minor scratches and very small dings impossible to photograph, except for the two obvious dings photographed that were already there when I got it. Here is the link to the 45 photos in high resolution, plus some of the work in progress : https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1B8nKp4jd9M-0fXHwkpQAiz4FYEaeNpKr?usp=sharing Don't hesitate to ask for more.5 points -
Job done : Fingerboard oiled, frets/finish/ hardware cleaned and polished.5 points
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sold4 points
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My board has changed again 🤦🏼♂️ This is fun4 points
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The presets I've got from elsewhere for a clean sound tend to have multiple blocks of compressors and EQs. I have paid for the bass essentials pack on 3Sigma Audio because it was quite cheap and I expected it to be pretty good. I had a lot of the Dr Tone ones but frankly found most of them either unsuited to my gear and playing style or just completely unusable. I have removed all but one of the Dr Tone presets now. There are two things in the effects world that puzzle me. The assumption that every bassist wants a "dirty" sound and you don't need to create good quality clean tones, and the assumption that "synth" means the noises of industrial Middlesbrough fighting against Megatron.4 points
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Kent's finest exponents of Celtic Soul, Bexley's Midnight Runners4 points
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Job done : Fingerboard oiled, frets/finish/ hardware cleaned and polished.4 points
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Sorry, just me geeking out that I've finally been able to order an NS WAV 5 eub, set up with trad flat sound strings and raised bridge, and with an endpin so I can play sat down in my wheelchair. I've been wanting one of these for literally almost a decade, since my disappointment trying to play an acoustic upright (I bought a lovely old Stentor, but my mutant arm couldn't cope with their body size). That's all, just excited to get into it! It's so great now compared to a decade ago, you can just go online and find free video lessons and so on, while I'm looking for a local teacher.3 points
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My version of the Music Man HD 150 One Fifty Preamplifier: I used the factory schematics to create my own pcb.3 points
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Nice one Stew. Do you now add GAS Engineer to your cv?3 points
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Test kits available free delivered NHS online. Easy for everyone attending to test themselves that morning before setting out.3 points
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With some of the family stuff done, the rest of this week will be devoted to trying to finish the build and start the finish, if that makes sense Where possible, I try to achieve a 'familiarity of feel' of the necks. While every bass has its own feel, I try to get at least into the general spectrum of the shape of the future owner's favourite bass. So I got @Matt P to send me some measurements of the thickness at the 1st and 12th of his favourite bass and, using a profile gauge, the shape at the 1st, 7th and 12th of his favourite player. Armed with that, the first job is getting the thickness right at the neck spine - and then if I carve towards the spine and not into it, the thickness will end up where it should. To do that accurately meant getting the dreaded router out again, and my home-made thickness jig: These are my datum cuts with around 0.5mm oversize for scraping and final sand: The neck will be carved in full length sweeps of spokeshave, micro-plane and cabinet scraper and so it is helpful if the volute edges are carved out of the way. Then a scrape with the cabinet scrapers to get rid of the router levels and get it down to around 0.2mm oversize at the spine: And then, finally, the templates cut from Matt's profile drawings: And neck carve can commence!3 points
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....so faux pickups that can't be seen - genius! 🤣3 points
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You have to ask yourself a number of questions: What sort of band are you in, and what sort of gigs you do. Are you playing 30-45 minute sets down at the local? Or are you doing 2-3 hour stints at functions (weddings etc.)? If you're doing the first option, then no. You don't need to buy and take a spare bass. Make sure your main instrument is looked after, strings, batteries, plectra, etc. and you'll be fine (always carry spare strings & batteries if you need them though). If you're playing in a function band and doing a couple of long sets per show, then yes, you do need a spare instrument, as it's a completely separate premise. You're being paid decent sums of money to provide entertainment, so you need to be professional and be prepared for any eventuality. And if that eventuality occurs, then the switch should be as quick as possible. I would assume that the first option is the case, and you don't NEED to take another bass to rehearsals & gigs.3 points
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No its so easy to use it went straight onto the working board. The obsession with pedals has been a useful distraction during lockdown.2 points
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Hi Frank, TBC nearer the time. Unless things turn really ugly (again!!), my plan is that the Bash will definitely go ahead according to a sensible covid protocol that I'll draw up with the team to suit whatever conditions prevail in September. As I'll probably err on the side of caution, I can't guarantee that everyone will be happy with it but at least people will know what to expect and decide whether or not to attend based on their own assessment of the risk. Of course, anything I do is subject to the hall being open on the day. Obviously what you guys and gals think matters and I'll be canvassing everyone's opinion in the run-up to the event.2 points
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OK that's fair enough, pubs in the UK are usually fairly small and 50 people in the space you are playing would be a very decent audience. A lot of our pubs are pretty old so tend to have low ceilings and be odd shapes where separate rooms have been combined to make bigger spaces. Bands tend to be weekend warriors like myself rather than pro musicians and the better bands often move on to function work with bigger venues. It isn't well paid over here and PA equipment is often basic with vocals only PA. That's why I mentioned that we are lucky enough to have PA that will handle a bit of bass when we need it, a lot of people will still want a bass amp that will be enough to reach an audience of up to 50 people and most of us in the UK are familiar with 'an average pub gig'. It was just a very rough guide to how capable this little speaker would be.2 points
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Unavailable2 points
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I think that’s the reason why we get so many varied responses in these ‘spare bass’ threads. People’s circumstances are different. As much as I would advocate always taking more than one bass, if I was doing a pub gig with a passive bass, I might be persuaded to take just the one and a set of spare strings. Theatres and dedicated music venues can be a different animal. I think it would be universally frowned upon to stop a theatre show for five minutes whilst one of the guitarists potters offstage to find some new strings/batteries.2 points
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I use my cordless 18v dewalt combi drill for jobs like this. Complete overkill to drill a 1.5mm hole in a guitar, but the chuck has no visible run-out so it is very precise. The small 2ah battery pack keeps the weight manageable for 1 hand unsupported operation.2 points
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That's what the DFA fader is for.2 points
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When it comes to creating a recording I am really not sure I agree with you at all. A band's sound on a recording is very much a team effort between the band, producer, tracking engineer, mix engineer and mastering engineer. These days these extra roles are more and more often covered by less people, so the producer may be tracking, and even mixing, but probably not mastering too on a commercial release, variations certainly apply. However you only have to listen to the mix contests on basschat to hear how 10 mixers given exactly the same input can produce wildly different output, and not in the realm of remixes alone, just completely different takes on the source material as it was tracked. If you take that to its logical conclusion in a larger venue the sound person is effectively producing a live mix of the band, unencumbered by the stage volume. Almost certainly they have reference mixes of recorded band output to work towards, but not always. So in this setting the audience experience is very much at most 50/50 band and sound person. If you don't believe me that's fine, but I can assure the person behind the board is absolutely the one calling the shots in terms of sound live. Of course to keep their gig they need to work to produce something the band, their management and tech people approve of, but its still only the sound person who can achieve that live. In contrast a monitor engineer is only as good as how happy the band feel about their personal monitoring on stage in the moment. A far harder nut to crack in a lot of situations (guitarists and singers, jeez!). The smaller the venue the more of the band's own generated volume 'invades' the audience space and the less the sound guy has ultimate influence (for better or worse). In these cases a band can royally ruin any chance of a decent mix regardless of the PA output or any mount of soundy skill. I saw Vic Wooten at the Komedia in Brighton, stood right in front of Vic, could have muted the strings on his bass any time I liked, utterly brilliant gig. The PA stacks were 15 feet to either side of me. His Hartke bass rig was about 8ft behind him - I heard the band mainly from their own monitors, and Vic entirely from his rig. Now in that venue, on that gig, the soundy had very little to do with what I heard. But damn they sounded good! Even when Vic accidentally kicked the kick drum mic fully out of the kick drum To be honest I think the different 'engineering' roles I have mentioned, tracking engineer, mix engineer, mastering engineer do actually warrant the title engineer, live sound FOH guys who know their beans are in the same sort of position as mix engineers for me, but also deal with shabby acoustics every night - certainly more and more bigger rigs use virtually limitless computing power live for fx and plug ins to achieve better and better mixes live (or closer to the record anyway). The amount of understanding required to perform these roles technically well, never mind artistically, is staggering - just look at the endless compression discourse on this site, that stuff is recording fx 101 and most bassists don't have much of a clue about it - they often struggle with the concept of gain staging for crying out loud. Mastering is a darker art still, very much a psychoacoustic role as much as anything else, but the technicalities of saving a mix at mastering stage are not insignificant at all. Where as tracking, although technically not quite as out there as mixing in some cases, requires a degree in psychology to get into a person's head and extract the very best from them in a stressful situation. Producers on the other hand, eat doughnuts....2 points
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New build. Moved from a pure HX Stomp setup to an HX Effects and an Atomic Ampli-Firebox. The Ampli-Firebox is an amp modeler and IR loader for guitar and bass, and will serve as my DI output from the board (either with or without amp modeling). The AFB is in one of the FX loops of the HX Effects, and the splitter (bottom left) splits the signal right before the AFB and runs one output straight to a separate output on the board, while the other goes through the AFB and back into the HX Effects. It basically functions like a "Through" output for the AFB (which doesn't have one). This means I have one pedalboard output without any amp modeling (for running to a real amp), and one with full modeling and cab simulation (for running direct at home or at a gig). It's a pretty flexible setup. I might replace the AFB with a more bass-oriented preamp at some point, but since I also play guitar it's nice to have an all-in-one solution right there on the board.2 points
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If anybody needs any I have a box of white "sucked sweets" knobs.2 points
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This one? Starts about 0-51 for the riff. Trigger Happy had some great tunes on it. I still miss the fighting dogs.2 points
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This is what I posted in a PJB thread back in 2008 😮 I had the Dalek, whick was the full PJB stack with the M500 head. In a word awesome. It's MOSFETs but IMO it totally outgunned Ampegs (I have owned Ampegs). It's all there, you need to spend some time with it then you'll find your ideal sound. Then after you've spent more time with it, you'll find your ideal sound again! It's all there the tonal options are immense. It's built like a tank (some of the components are military spec) and quite weighty because of it. There are people of this forum who's experience of PJB hasn't been good, but any email I sent was replied to either by Phil or one of the team usually the next day. I only got rid, because the stack wouldn't fit into my new car. Try it, and AB it with another amp, you'll hear the difference.2 points
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"....sell at a fair and reasonable price....." What may be a fair and resonable price for one buyer / seller may not be for another as basses tend to be very personal items. I've seen posts of people lusting after year of birth Fender Jazz's for thousands (yes, multiple times the value that you could have bought them for in the 70's & 80's). Does that make the seller a rip off merchant? Nope, it means theres a market for that bass and someone is happy to pay the money. I doubt there's many of us who if we found such a bass "under the bed" would advertise it on here for under market value! Over the years of buying and selling gear I have had the good fortune of making on some deals. I had a Pedulla Pentabuzz which I sold at a profit of 30% 😮 Does this make me a rip off merchant? Again, nope as the market value was up. The very same bass came up for sale in the last 2 years at over twice the price I sold it for! 😮 Does this make the sellar a rip off merchant? Again, nope as it reflected the current market value and what someone was willing to pay. ....And for balance I've also lost on deals. So, did someone else rip me off? Nope, they got a good deal whilst I took the pragmatic approach that if bills need paying, gear will be sold. I would rather have as little debt as possible than squeeze the last $ out of an item I NEED to sell. There have been some good deals on here over the last year where people have advertised basses at what I would regard as under market value (again very subjective to personal likes / dislikes). I bet no-one has gone to the sellar and said "Sorry I cant pay you £1,000 for that bass, it's worth at least £1,250....here's the extra" 🤣 I suppose my answer to the OP - I don't see the current market as being a special time for buying. There are some good deals out there but that's no different to other years, you just keep your eye open and something will come up. As for selling, I think it is slower than usual, which over time could lead to some deals being available but I wouldn't hold my breath. I've also noticed for sale trends that some months theres a flotilla of Fodera's for sale and the next a stable of Sue Ryders. This may just be one of those times when there are more "professional or posh standard" basses available. Gigs are hopefully on the horizon and "normal trading will resume" 😁 Now, if any of you have a Fodera Emperor 5 available, drop me a PM as I have a spare £500 to spend 🤣🤣🤣2 points
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Absolutely spot on! Last time I went to a grunge gig was Mudhoney in 2018 and it was just as explosive as I remember in the 90's. I did manage to inhale a dreadlock in the mosh pit. Very unpleasant.2 points
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I don't think that's the reason there are nice instruments for sale. I know of a lot of working musicians who have had to sell off some gear because of the lack of work and/or getting screwed over by the SEISS payments. On the opposite side, Fender have just had their best year ever, and a couple of luthiers who I've spoken to said that they have been busier than usual. Gear is obviously selling, but it appears to be mainly working players who are selling through necessity rather than affluent amateurs cutting back.2 points
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434 centre of 12th fret to centre of P pickup 291mm, compared to 295.5mm for my Fender P bass and the J pickup is roughly in the 70s J position at 374mm2 points
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I bet none of the other bass bashes will have such a unique thing on display.2 points
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So excited for this event. I'm bringing a bass student who is that remarkable and rare phenomenon - a singer who helps carry gear, brings and sets up the pa. I've known her for a few years and I still can't get over this fact.2 points
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Surely that would make it a good time to buy? To be honest, I have been buying and selling quite a bit over lockdown and secondhand prices have been pretty much what I would expect. I suspect that things are about balancing themselves out; some people are on restricted incomes / lost their job / worrying about having gear that they can't gig; whilst others are living on the same income and have spare cash as they can't go out and spend like they usually would or can't go on holiday, etc...2 points
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There’s some good suggestions here but in my experience I’d say don’t be reluctant to leave things just as they are. Let the change in dynamics and sonic space work for you. When I hear a bass player suddenly getting busy or stamping on effects pedals during a solo I often think it shows a lack of confidence in themselves or the material they’re playing.2 points
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Doesn’t help the OP, I know, sorry.... I had an identical set-up, but in Olympic Red Silk, with a chrome Premier Orchestral snare-drum. Unfortunately only a monochrome photo. (Posted previously in another thread)1 point
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Love this. Regret selling my Yamaha. But this is way nicer.1 point
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Those tapewounds with the Fralins do sound rather tasty1 point -
Picked up Sennheiser 206's and for the money they are great. Not super loud or over bassy but really clear and crisp sound with a good neutral tone. Had Marley headphones before which were great but very hi fi with a bass bias making them too bassy, if that's possible, for home practice. Already said but I agree, for the money you can't go wrong.1 point
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Stew Nine !1 point -
I think Fenders prices are about what I would expect them to be from an historical perspective. If you don’t want to pay the brand tax but want a “Fender” just get a Squire. Same analogy with Audi/VW and SEAT/Skoda. Bit less brand and luxury trim same basic vehicle but suffers on the resale market.1 point
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Not wanting to be too pedantic, but the Blues scale is just a minor pentatonic with an added flat 5, so E G A Bb B D The thing with Bass Guitar is that it's actually transposed an octave below whats written. So on a piano score like this, the pitch of the low F that's 4 ledger lines down would be the 1st fret of the E string, but on a bass guitar part that same note would be written an octave higher as the F just under the stave. If your reading isn't relatively strong and you're still learning, I'd avoid piano scores for a bit and look for actual bass parts for this very reason.1 point
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Interesting question. I am both a real engineer (electrical engineering degree) designing products for the bass, guitar and pro audio markets) as well as a FOH mixer (40 years in the international touring act market). I never have to worry about misuse of the word engineer. There are colloquial uses of words like engineer, but being an engineer (having graduated from an accredited engineering university program) carries with it certain assumptions if you operate as an engineer… that you know and follow the regulations in your industry, that you are licensed (for some work) that you carry certain insurance coverage (called professional liability coverage here in the states), you may be required to carry a bond, etc. In different parts of the audio industry, a FOH mixer may be called the BE (band engineer), FOH engineer, FOH guy, A-1, board op, etc. There are other terms for the monitor mixer like ME, A-2, monitor guy, monitor engineer. In other segments, you have playback techs, playback ops, dubber ops (from cinema days where mag film was unmarried from the picture in rush or daily screenings), sound op, etc. Of course different areas of the world have their own vernacular, and often it’s based on very loose translations. In the end, it generally doesn’t much matter what they are called so long as they are not representing themselves as a “real engineer” and doing things like signing documents as an “engineer” might.1 point
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UPDATE: Guy at Ashdown has not only put the correct Pot. in the post, But also supplied the Schematic PDF, and talked me through the replacement procedure... All at no charge... So, THANK YOU ASHDOWN, this is customer service above and beyond!1 point
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