Leaderboard

I picked this up on Tuesday from a guy in London. It needs new strings and a setup, which should be done next week. Overall I’m very pleased with it. It’s a Stentor Conservatoire, approximately ten years old. The guy actually sold it as a Stentor Student 2, I noticed the Conservatoire label inside earlier today. The Conservatoire model is quite a lot better than the Student model, and consequently a lot more money. It has a carved front and back - the back is really nicely flamed.

I’ve been lusting after this burgundy mist Sei from the first time I saw it about 3 years ago. Finally got round to purchasing it and couldn’t be happier. Almost perfect spec for me 33.5” scale, a P that sounds great solo’d or mixed with the bridge humbucker (which can also be really snarly solo’d), sounds just fine in passive mode, super slim striped maple neck, lovely fingerboard, very low action, through neck with beautifully carved neck to body alignment, bound body, back-angled headstock and even has nice subtle white LEDs on the top of the neck. Sits beautifully on the wall next to my other Sei too 😉

Finally have a door and a window installed. The door is a composite door with added security locks. Quite hefty with some soundproofing. Electrician came round yesterday routed the wiring which will allow me to do the roof and wall insulation too. I also started painting the studio. Word of advice, if you're going to be paint porous blockwork with a paintbrush, don't bother. Much better to invest in a spray gun which can get into all the pores of the block work. Wish I'd have known this earlier. It would have saved a lot of graft.

And what is probably the final 'one slip could spell disaster' step is done...and, happily, without a disaster. Drilling the tuner holes There's lot's of stuff to get right - not leaving the backs of the tuners hanging in fresh air, keeping the string runs as straight as the neck blank size will allow, positioning the tuners so they don't clash, drilling the holes straight so the bushes don't bind. Well, with a lot of care and a huge dollop of good luck, I think it's OK. And why the angled tuners? See above So I have just a couple of preference questions to ask Matt and a tidy up of the volute carve and then I think we are rapidly moving towards the 'finish sand' stage

Right then- deposit down for the 4th of September. Will update the title shortly.

I have been running a thread on this in the DIY lounge but wanted to show more people so that Ceri who did it can get the applause he deserves. https://www.facebook.com/rendallsrestorations . He has done stellar work. Andy and Jabba also played their parts and I am grateful to everyone )

Here's a couple of mine...

OK - short diversion for @spacecowboy or anyone else interested in one way (I'm sure there are many) of re-burnishing card/cabinet scrapers. By the way, when you buy a set (and they are not at all expensive) they come ready burnished so this is only if you use them more frequently and they go blunt. It's all about getting a completely square edge Once the cutting edges of the scraper are completely square and sharp (the solid blue in this magnified representation), we will be 'squashing' the top of the scraper which will create a tiny burr either side: And then we will be rolling that burr over a touch so it now acts like a mini plane: Starting with a rectangular one. This is what I do. To get that edge absolutely square, I polish the edges on both sides on a flat abrasive surface. You can use a flat file, or some fine emery glued to a piece of glass or similar but I find my diamond sharpening block (which I use to sharpen my chisel and plane blades on) easier. I use this wet: Then I use a piece of wood with a saw slot cut in it highly sophisticated tool to hold the scraper at exactly 90 degrees and run the edge along the diamond block: I now have the completely square and sharp edges. I then clamp the scraper in a vice. I pop a drop of light machine oil (bicycle oil or 3-in-one) on my finger and run it along the edge (careful because those edges are sharp) Then I take a screwdriver or similar (needs to be hard, chrome vanadium or similar) holding either end and at 90 degrees to the scraper, I press quite hard and run it down the length of the edge. I repeat this three or four times, ensuring it remains square: This will have deformed the edge and formed the teeny burr (you will be able to feel it but probably not see it) Now I tilt the screwdriver shaft around 30 degrees and repeat along one side of the scraper edge. Again, personally I press quite hard. This will bend the burr into a minute hook shape. I tilt the screwdriver shaft 30 degrees the other direction and peen over the burr on the other side: You won't be able to easily see the burr but you should be able to feel it with your finger (again, remember it's sharp) Goose neck is exactly the same except you have to fiddle around a bit moving it round the curve, especially the edge flattening and the burnishing: Hope this helps!

Nothing wrong with dreaming about an Ibanez, it's all subjective. Also nothing wrong with dreaming about a Mondeo either. It's all about perspective.

Fretless

For anyone with the Dave Ellefson signature Jackson

My latest incarnation... just needs an SY-1 now... I think.

Celinder J-Update Also by a man named Christian from Scandinavia Vigier Passion G&L SB1 Wingbass Stingray

My Relic'd P Bass

Steinberger/Hohner 'Cricket Bat'. 😉

Steinberger XM2. Took me years to find one. I think it's absolutely beautiful in black with white binding - a work of modern art. Unfortunately, it was the only bass I've ever owned that had a dead note on an open string - the E. I didn't even think it was possible, but it happened.

Yes but I aint saying as I might want to sell a couple of them on here at some point

Looks like one of those did not get the memo on naming standards!

I liked her reaction to the initial suggestion to add a lead guitarist to the line up. Can't remember the full rant but it included something along the lines of "Why do we want some egomaniac jizzing all over our songs?"

Awesome!!!

1st world problems.

"He is risen!" Sorry, that should be: "He is risible!"

But we don't all dream of owning a Ken Smith, Fodera etc. Sometimes our dreams are tinged with reality. I'm not a pro musician and don't need to spend £1k plus on a bass. My pitifully modest 'dream' bass is a Sire Version 2 Marcus Miller M7 swamp ash 4 string in natural finish. Full price at Andertons, £669. Anything Marcus Miller endorses or has a hand in is good enough for me.

At the moment it is cut a touch oversize and straight sided - but it's on Once the tuner holes have been drilled and I know exactly where the tuners are going to be I will carve the curves a bit deeper to tone in with the body shape : But, final shape or not, always worth a gratuitous mock-up

Not for me sadly, but one for my Fretless Jazz. I really can't get on with Jazz Bass bodies as they always sit awkwardly on me and I look like I'm Clay Pigeon Shooting. I really don't like the sound of Fretless P Basses though, so decided to order a P Bass body with Jazz Bass pickups from Guitar and Bass Builds. It's a 2 piece swamp as body, so is very light and I decided I'd go for the lacquered body rather than make an awful hash of it myself. It's only been dry fitted at the moment as I need to order a new EMG loom to fit in it (the Jazz one won't fit sadly) but it's gone together very easily and the build quality is excellent and it didn't require any significant fettling. I need to cut some proper slots in the Badass Bridge as it's the unslotted version and the G string is just slightly out of line for me but other than that, I'm delighted.

Status Buzzard?

Not sure many will be interested, but you did ask! Band name - The Mason-Dixon Line. Initial line up was two-tone, unusual for the 60s, with Guitar, bass, drums, tenor sax, vocals and keys, playing jazz-oriented stuff, like Big Noise from Winetka etc, some Fats Domino, also Bluebeat, and the obligatory three-chord rep. Inevitably we broke up, leaving just G, B and D jamming, but a lead guitarist/vocalist without a band, who I’d been in bands with previously, and who thought we were still gigging, got us some work, so we recruited him, to make this lineup. It lasted a year or so, and eventually broke up when I left to join the RAF. As a post-script, I’ve been doing some remote recording during lockdown with the guitarist/vocalist who joined us...

Channeling your inner He Who Shall Not Be Named guitar converter?

Bitsa

It’ll never catch on! 😄

I take most of this stuff with a pinch of salt. It’s largely Theatre and contrived controversy. As for some of the historical practices of established religion there are some things that are genuinely shocking and more warped than some gangly Norwegian teenagers can ever dream of.

"What, this old thing? Nah, had it for years, just thought I'd get it out for a change. See, it's really old. Nope, not new, was in the cases all along". Ahem.

This image haunts me. Supporting Sikth, decent venue, big solo. By the time the shutter had gone off on this pic, the bass had failed. I swapped to my backup jazz and carried on. But not until after restarting the amp and checking the pedals etc. The bass just cut out, I checked it at home after and it was fine. It never did it again either. But right there and then, a backup was essential.

Tbf- with that username this isn't really a great surprise 🙂

Even if the input lead had gone open circuit, the light should still come on although you might have to press the footswitch. Most pedals us a stereo jack socket on the input, When a jack plug is inserted it connects the OV in the circuit to the -ve of the battery/power supply.

Ain't No One Gonna Honour Kill My Sister But Me:

I mostly listen to music that is under the extreme metal umbrella (post-hardcore, mathcore, grindcore, black metal, post-metal, metal-core, death metal, sludge, doom), so pretty heavy I'd say. For example the last five albums I bought were by Terrorizer, Godflesh, Neurosis, Din Of Celestial Birds and Greg Puciato. I'm not sure if today is a Bandcamp Friday or not, but I'm planning on buying albums by Cave In, Botch and The Armed

Ibanez did an interesting tweak of the Musician series for Alphonso Johnson. It's factory built.

The instrument is only half the equation. Some great sounding tracks were recorded with Stingrays for instance. I have to cut both lows and treb on my Ray to make it sound good. My Warwick Thumb needs some help in the bottom end from an amp or external pre in order to shine. Make it work. Every bass can sound proper.

Just finished a GUMA-Drive. Real happy with it. It was above my soldering skills (and gear) so it was mostly done by my brother (an engineer, designs electronics since he was 10 y/o). Also he had all the printing material needed, lacquer, etc. I really only applied primer and yellow to the box, that's about it All in all a nice project and one more great excuse to hang out with my bro, who recently moved close to me after being 12K km away for almost 2 decades. Now I only need to get him to sit seriously in front of a drumkit (he's a SOLID drummer, he just always had to be dragged when it came to making music, simply he leans to other stuff in life). It sounds like this (using my rat rod Jazz, both pickups, then just the neck, EQed and compressed after the GUMA-Drive). Will record a wider variety of samples and do a video once the missing knobs make their way home.

Separate pedals on a board => multifx unit multifx unit => separate pedals on a board

Ta-daaaaaaa! Witness the fitness.