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Classic Stranglers. 😄

This just arrived, such a nice colour and rather hot IMHO Better pics than mine in FS ad http://davidjpym.com/page295.html

It's been a hell of a weekend. It was my birthday Friday and I was offered a place at ACM to study musicianship with Bass, so my boyfriend bought me a new bass as a Happy Birthday/Congratulations present! My very first Fender! A Jazz 'American professional II'. I'm in love

First full band rehearsal for us last night since the start of lockdown. Could tell everyone was delighted to be making music together again!

All done, finally. Kept going with the oil, then finished with a few coats of renaissance wax. I added indicators to the wooden knobs with a bit of cocktail stick. The guitarist had given me some Seymour Duncans to install in place of the original PRS pickups, so had to re-jig the wiring, but that went OK - the single coil settings on the push/pull knob sound decent, and the volume is pretty even whichever pickup(s) are selected, so job done!

Babylon though is a great film, and great soundtrack.

Glue up all good!

On a different tack, the Alton Ellis track a bit earlier made me think of this one..

All of em.

Dogs don’t like slap bass because they have no thumbs. It’s sour grapes more than musical differences.

There’s plenty to like about Rick Beato’s videos. No ‘fun’ graphics or visual puns, no pretence of cool. Just dense information and loads of enthusiasm.

It's a myth that no one hears the bass player. Try playing a song a semi tone flat. They'll all notice that in 2 seconds. If you sound bad, the phone stops ringing. If the phone keeps ringing it usually means you don't have a bad tone. Because other guys in the band don't comment doesn't mean they don't notice or don't care. Most good players will expect everyone in the band to sound good, as they will expect good timing and interesting ideas. That is a given and is not a source of interesting conversation so they talk about other stuff.

The more likely scenario is that they stick the Eden name plate on inexpensive Asian imports to make them appear legitimate. That's what GC did with Acoustic, not to be confused (though they endeavor to so so) with Acoustic Control Corporation.

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 😉

Gonna preface this by saying I'm a singer turned singer/rhythm guitar playing songwriter by trade. So, I know a great bass when I see one, but don't have need for a great one like many of you own. I owned a 2004-ish Ibanez GSR200 and was always wowed at how nice it was for a cheap bass. Had legit bass player friends play it and have get same reaction. Then, a few years ago I decided I needed a 5 string to accompany riffs written on 7 string guitars. So, I got a 1990 Fender HM from Guitar Center and was really excited as a buddy of mine who is a phenomenal bass player has had one since he bought it new and it's incredible. Well, the one from GC showed up and it was fairly well ruined. Took it to a buddy who builds high-end custom guitars and he messed with it for days, then advised me to sell it. So, away it went. Then I got an Ibanez SR305 I loved, but my brother passed away unexpectedly last October and I inherited his Ibanez EXB445, so I sold the SR305. After awhile of jamming on the 445, it's years of use & abuse made me year for another new bass, so that's where this story begins. After going down the entry-level bass rabbit hole, I kept finding people raving about the TRBX174 series. Bass players better than I could ever hope to be thinking it was as good, if not better than a lot of basses that cost 3, 4, 5x as much. I'd narrowed my search down to another GSR200, a Jackson Spectra or one of these. So I went down to one of the local Guitar Centers and played a GSR and a Spectra and since I couldn't find a TRBX anywhere, I settled on the Spectra. Well, GC had them on sale for Memorial Day weekend, but I was a day late on that deal. So, I called, figuring they would honor that price anyway cause they need to sell stuff. The guy who answered the phone was a giant customer service fail and made it out like I was lying about the thing being on sale... like, seriously, you work there and don't know what your sale that just ended was? And, instead of trying to find out you question a customer's honesty? fosters off. Then I googled Guitar Stores Near Me (we just moved to this area a few months ago) and found a cool mom & pop shop about 20 minutes away. And, they had six TRBX174s in stock. I hoped in the car on my lunch break, drove over, played all 6 of them and thankfully the blue one, which is what I wanted, was the nicest of the bunch. But, it wasn't like the Jackson entry-level stuff I'm used to, where there's a huge variation in quality control. If I'd bought any of the TRBXs, I'd have been happy. The body is heavy enough to feel good, but not so heavy as to wear you out playing it. Surprised me that it's definitely heavier than my 5-string Ibanez. It feels really solid. The Spectra felt very lightweight in comparison. Neck is fast, straight and smooth. The action was a bit high, so I lowered it ever so slightly. Not really loving the pickups, so I'm going to replace those pretty quickly. Most likely with a set of Entwistle neodymium P/Js thanks to several awesome peeps on these here forums. The bridge is just sad. Literally looks like someone bent a piece of chrome dipped sheet metal and slapped some saddles on it. But, I can get a Hipshot replacement for $50-60 so no big deal. Any recommendations for a better option are certainly welcome! Tuners are nice, but apparently Yamaha has adjustable tension ones on the TRBX304, so I might look at getting a set of those down the road when these ones start to wear. Same with the bridge, if you have a great recommendation, I'd love to hear it. Not sure I love the tone I dialed in at first, and probably need to knob fiddle a bit more with it, but the bass is so much fun to play I lost interest in tone chasing and just jammed.

Robber Bullets - 10CC !!!!

I’m out …

FFS. I'd type more than that if I was selling a no name bitsa 🙄.

Just checked and it is a legit 1962 number. Don’t know much more than that though. Ran it through DVLA out of curiosity and it’s not had an MoT recently.

I'm really missing live music....I love this.

I fitted a replacement pickguard on my P7 (the stock one was de-laminating), and I also changed the control knobs for chrome one’s. The pickguard was from Jack’s Instrument Services in Manchester, I’m really pleased with it and it looks a lot better than the original. (See photo). I wasn’t keen at all on the stock black plastic control knobs, did Marcus really sign off on those?? The only other thing I would change (at the moment) is the string tree, I like the look of the one’s you’ve fitted and shown on your photos. With regards to the tuners and bridge I think the stock items are fine, not 100% sure on the pickups, even though the bass has a “P” split pickup at the neck, to my ears it doesn’t quite capture that Precision Bass sound? Anyway I’m leaving those for the moment, but if ever EMG bring out a Geezer PJ set for 5 string basses I would get a set without hesitation! I’ve got some on my Precision Bass and they’re brilliant (IMHO).

The first one in the morning is hard to beat.....oh wait, I think I may have misunderstood the question...

This is one of my all time favourite rock bass tones.

I really like track, but I think Billie’s great anyway.

My work in progress from Dave. Please remember he doesn’t like heavy relic finishes but he’s made an exception for me 😂 . I’ll post pics of finished bass next week after it’s had some time to settle.

It won’t, never an issue. When going close to the end on a build I cut the end slot to 0.6mm to ensure and file the tangs to ensure the fret does not apply much pressure. Glue holds it in place…. Hey presto! Done this multiple times successfully so no concerns there.

You just can't go wrong with a Yamaha. Never played a bad one, always well made. @Chienmortbb brass saddles are the worst for sustain, because brass is a softer metal than your standard steel saddles, so absorbs vibrations more, meaning they deaden the sound. If you want sustain get a bone nut and high mass bridge. 😀

Getting sillier!

Probably THE perfect pop song, a great no.1, AND a great bass line;

This might explain the difficulty I had in getting a WTP600 last year. Ordered it in March, then came lockdown and a year of chivvying by the local dealer who got nowhere with them. Managed to find one on Bass Direct in the end. It's a crying shame. I love the Eden sound.

I absolutely loved the Ashdown ABM215 that I played through, far preferred it to the SVT810.

I like Yamaha basses I have an RBX 5 string and it is awesome. I have gone down the route of upgrading everything on a bass and, IMHO the bridge is that last thing I would change.Those BOBT bridges are more than good enough and often the "high mass" AKA heavy bridges actually add nothing to the tone.

This thread has revived at an opportune time... My 80s band wants to start to audition keys players.... Wish me luck! Every keys player I've ever met has had a distinct serial killer vibe.

The guy gets to make a living doing what makes him happy. Can't say fairer than that

Hmm. Interesting question, as so far as I’m concerned I’ve never heard anything heavier than the end section of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. And I love SBS. Of course I’ve listened to loads of stuff that most people would think is much, much heavier, but for me it just isn’t. That quibble aside, I probably go about as heavy as the heaviest bits of Babymetal (say something like BxMxC) but it really does depend. And if your tastes are way beyond that, that’s absolutely fine by me.

We've just done our first gig back at a pub we've played before. An odd sort of do a kind of hybrid between a wedding party and a brewery mini festival. We'd had a couple of rehearsals but the rust was still present and we've immediately booked more rehearsals. the punters as ever didn't seem to notice. My goodness it was good to be back. We've got another 5 bookings this year with an apparently steady flow of enquiries. The pubs are largely absent at the moment so these are outdoor events mainly, and from previous bookers. Full marks to @skidder652003 @Happy Jack and @Silvia Bluejay for getting out there and working at it. I'm optimistic about next year, a lot of our regular pubs have closed/changed hands and a lot of bands have folded too. I suspect there is a generation of older musicians who will have retired from regular gigging, A lot of faces disappeared in the last few years before COVID and this will make up some people's minds to join them. Driving everything though will be the desire for people to go out and be at a live event. If I were a pub I'd be waiting and watching but I think when it happens there will be a rush and the bands that are prepared and ready will be in demand. I also agree that it's not the time to push prices, we need to give the venues a break and help build confidence. good luck all.

That's really nice!

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So. Brief recap The singer quit. In a huff. We never replied. And he admitted he was being a massive knob. And really missed it. Guitarist who “moved to Birmingham”, has messaged - the move didn’t go well…so much so he’s bought a place up the road In Didsbury (posh fecker). So all the reasons we jacked…gone. We meet on Monday. Either. We’ll ride off into the sunset. or…it’ll crash and burn. I’m genuinely unsure what this means for the current setup with Tom and Andy…🤨🙄🤦🏻‍♂️

That's a cool idea and the balance looks good in that pic. Love the chrome & maple. I wear my bass a little higher than you -- not too high, mind -- and I've found that it's very comfortable if I wear it like Entwistle's doing in this pic and rest my right forearm on the top edge of the body. It gets rid of all the dive but it still looks ok. If only I could play like him. Tweaks are done for now... black tuners, string tree & neck plate, the jack socket's been moved to body edge (I prefer them there) and everything's rewired with an added pickup toggle to go with the original V/V/T. It's still a cheap POC and still owes me next to nothing, but I rather like it.

And another

One for a summer evening -

Buy it online from somewhere else i.e. have it sent to your house. You then have the statutory right to return it for a full refund. You will have to pay the cost to return it (courier £15?), but that is still a lot less than 20% of its value.

And before anyone asks, yes I do have the Pioneers original (!)