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And I think the finish for the body and neck may be there. Still got to do the headstock plate but that is a straightforward job. What I'm trying to do is achieve a 'light gloss' with the tru-oil. That is, enough thickness to get the figuring really popping but letting it sink in some of the grain to retain the organic feel of the wood. On the neck, a classic Tru-oil slurry and buff silky satin. Here's where I've got to:

25 years of marriage was worth it after all (I can say that safely as Mrs Strawbs doesn't read these pages ). She surprised me with this lovely shiny silver American Pro II P Bass this morning for our silver anniversary - she's definitely a keeper!

'Plays like butter' needs to get in the sea. Dreadful phrase - what, you means it leaves my fingers all greasy?

Well…mine just got better-ised…

"Rare" doesn't always mean that it's worth having. Somethings are rare because they were shite and nobody bought them.

Up to now I've gone for lightweight and passive (2 Maruszczyk Jake V's - just over 3Kg each), so why have I gone for a 4.5Kg active bass? I can't answer that but it was love at first sight, so it was both Maruszczyk's off to Mark at BassDirect (one as a part ex, the other he's selling for me) and one 1990 Yamaha TRB5P back in return. I haven't played it properly yet, but even though it's 1.5Kg heavier than the Maru's, it doesn't feel like it (ask me again after a 3 hour gig), but it feels 'proper luxury' compared to other basses I've had in the past (even some really quite posh ones). Old strings already off and a set of TI Jazz flats fitted. Tuned up and will recheck everything tomorrow after the strings have settled in. Here's some photos.

I would have nominated Led Zep for this category...

(Another) New Spector Day! Arrived on Friday.... finally after a 9 month wait (partly due to Brexshit).... Spector Euro Classic 4 in solid red! Gorgeous colour and plays beautifully. Sound great through my Class D with headphones but haven't had a chance to play it at volume through a rig yet..

Time to start on the bridge! Made a guide for my router to quickly cut the slots to depth and ensure they were square. Drilled out what I could before the router did it's thing. Everything routed out it was now time to make the saddles, if you have a look at the mid right of this pic you'll see Dr circular saddle tests I did, this was so I could rotate the saddle to ensure the string ran true from bridge to nut... I ended up opting for these rectangular shapes with chamfered edge and groove for the string to sit in. Idea here is the strings hold the saddles in place, they're a tight fit so they're not sliding around freely but do move with a nudge, I'm hoping I'll be able to set the intonation by moving them and tightening the string to pitch, the force from the string should be enough to keep everything happy... Something I have to test for sure though. Decided to "string" the bass (literally) to make sure that the holes lined up with the bridge, nut and tuners, thankfully it all did, don't recommend these strings however, very little tension and they sound a bit wooly. Installed the machine screws and made sure that the bridge raised and lowered as required and again it seems to work like a charm, will be very easy to quickly set the action at the bridge, my worry is the balance of the strings and ensuring they don't sit at different heights, will need to finish the slotting on the bridge when the final strings are here to ensure they sit well. Really cool to see it with strings on! The endless sanding starts soon enough!

I'm listening to Faith No More at the moment and Billy Gould's tone on King For A Day.... is absolutely brilliant

So a slightly belated NBD post - I recently picked up my Alpher bass which is one of the more recent basses that Alpher have worked with Tdog Customs on for the finish. I had been looking for a black sparkle finish for some considerable time, weighing up getting a bass resprayed along the way, but ultimately "took the plunge" to go custom with Alpher. It's not a plunge at all, and as ever with hindsight, something I should have done a long time ago; I couldn't be any happier with this bass and the whole process working with the gents at Alpher. I've followed Chris and Al's work for years and have always been blown away by pictures and videos, but when you physically play one... It's another level. Every aspect of the bass is better than I imagined; the craftsmanship is far and away the best I've seen, as is the tone. "Little" details like the inclusion of a branded hard case, and even a proper mini tool are also excellent. Chris kindly knocked up 3 scratch plates to keep it fresh periodically, and I'll add those photos on here as I change them for anyone interested. I could quite literally spend hours raving about Alpher as a company and the bass itself, but most of you probably know it all already, and are just here for the pics, so here's a few to get going!

Did more neck shaping as well… forgot to post Almost final now, pending client approval.

And fretted…. Still need to level, dress etc.

Hi , my friend and great luthier is making a Bass for me again , really best Basses for that Price Range , my Jazz Bass 5 from hin is a Dream, i Hope this new one will BE a Dream to Here the specs Walnut Body (i Cut the tree 8 years ago) One piece hard Rock Maple Neck 34,5 Scale 22 frets honduras Rosewood or Maple i will Post Pictures Passive , Nordstrand music man Pickup and Jazz Bass on the Neck . Until Nom only got a Pic from the Body Wood but i will Post Moore

Just picked up a 425x after placing a wanted advert. Keeping my 424x company as the 414 and 734a have been under the bed since lockdown began. Fell out of love with the BB shape a few months ago but I've been seduced back into the fold 😲. Bought a Harley Benton 5 string to tip a toe into the 5 string pond. Really liked it so thought I would give the 425x a shot. So far so good. Not miles better than the Harley Benton and a hell of a lot heavier but with a wide leather strap you don't notice to much and it balances well too. Currently wearing old Cobalt Flats which seem to suit the bass. The B string feels pretty tight, possibly better than the Harley Bentons. Think am going to get on with this but may alternate between this and the Harley Benton, which is wearing DR Hi Beams

I used to have a Hohner Jack headless bass, on that I was able to adjust for a decent low action, it was actually a very good bass ...purely IMHO...sounded great ( active elecs but you could switch them off if you wanted) I used it for gigs and it did the job well. I prefer the headless ones with a "body" myself, not keen on the little cricket bat things, again just IMHO .

RM500 into two twelve inch speakers. Compact, lightweight, punchy as hell. Yeah the Sandberg is a rare treat for me. Seldom buy a bass over £400 but when a seller as good as @Frank Blank offers a bass as good as this I'm going to break the bank for it.

Does it get much better than this? Maybe, but not much.

Wrap (one layer) some very fine grit sandpaper paper around each different string and use it as a perfect file. Go slowly. It's a very old trick used by so many players.

"Very unique" Either it is unique or it isn't. There aren't degrees of uniqueness.

Oasis?

The extraordinary : All (or fully) original, except... (often a list longer than what the item countains).

Right, you're banned. Say your goodbyes.

I just bought a damaged B-Stock 6 string from Gear4Music on eBay, broken nut and 'knobs scoring marks in lacquer' that you can only see if you take them off, that was apparently enough for it to be sold for £110 instead of £429. It arrived today, I glued the nut back together and sorted the truss rod out (back bow). It is now utterly fine and i'm sat here wondering why G4M couldn't do that 10 min job and sell it for £275 or something. I intended to make a new nut etc but just wasn't necessary. So yeah here you go a 6 string fanned fret bass, new for £110 that is absolutely fine. I think someone at G4M has sausage fingers.

I'm hanging in there guys. I'm scheduled to go under the knife in October. I'll be in the hospital for 5 days. I'm goi g to finish our summer gig schedule and O have .y son's wedding in August. Yes, it's scary. I've been busy 5 gigs in for days last week.week. I'll be in touch , sooner than later. Blue aka Daryl

😂 love it

Amongst the weird things I do is play the viola da gamba aka viol. The double bass viol is the violone and is the ancestor of the upright double bass. There are some right weird options with viols for tuning - partly because there was no standardisation in the early days over sizes/tunings. They all have 6 strings (mostly), so the bass which is cello sized is DGCEAD and the tenor is a 4th up at GCFADG (treble is octave above bass and violone octave below tenor). But you'll sometimes encounter an 'alto' tuned B upwards... Then there's the lyra viol. This is usually a bass viol that is played using lute tablature rather than staff notation. These can be in all sorts of tunings and the tuning is indicated at the start of the piece. I've played some lyra viol music - it is brain warping.... there's a video in this link which is informative. https://earlymusicshop.com/blogs/viola-da-gamba/introducing-the-lyra-viol

My old band played there, we’d heard horror stories of how the locals treated the bands but we went down fine. Probably helped that we had as many of our mates with us as there were locals in the pub, bullies don’t often go for equal opportunities.

Sorry Frank, but you've got to be on the list. It doesn't look right otherwise. Please cut and paste and add yourself and your gear to the list... @Rich - a) Shuker custom 5, Tanglewood acoustic 4 - both basses strung with nickel Elixirs. b} Korg Pandora (if I can find the feckin thing) and headphones. c) A desperate hope that @scrumpymike's Magellan amp isn't as good as I've heard, otherwise I will want to buy it with money I haven't got. @wrinkleygit - Jabba’s Semi Hollow Fretless, ‘72 Gibson EB0, SWR Working Mans 10 combo & 1x10 ext cab & a set of h’phones. Both basses strung with Labella flats @scrumpymike - Setting aside a bunch of FS stuff to give SW Bashers first shot and minimise packing and shipping work/costs. Unless cash flow dictates earlier sale, this will include: a couple of BF cabs (either SC Gen 3s or Two10s, to be decided); BF One10; Maruszczyk Elwood 30" scale; Spector Bantam if still unsold (already posted FS); Eden WT550 if still unsold (already posted FS); Ampeg PF800. 'Keepers' also on display will be: the other pair of BF cabs; my no. 1 gig bass 'Rascal Mervyn-Lyte; 'Rascal Lyte Mkll - provided I can decide what it's going to be in time for AndyJr to build it; my no 1 gig amp (Subway 800+); my old no 1 gig amp (Genzler Magellan 800). All of which will hopefully bring forward the day when Mrs Scrumpy can finally join her old man in retirement 😁 @Pea Turgh - My Frankenstein Jazzguarman(!) strung with D’Addario XL Chrome flats. My black bitsa (same strings). Probably my Peterson combo which I’ll flit between selling and not selling (still). @stevie - Ibanex SR1200-VNF, Ashdown RM500, BCbass 112, plus some other bass cab developments (probably) @yorks5stringer - Warwick Star Bass Proline (4 string), Status GP Artist (again 4 string), Marcus Miller Micro 101, 1972 Telecaster Bass (poss.), Shuker Course 5 String (poss.) @Andyjr1515 - Not yet sure what I will be bringing except my athletic physique and chiselled good looks (and if you believe that.... ) @stewblack - Trace Elliot Rig of Death. Ric inspired 'tributes' various amps and basses for sale unless they shift here first. A hernia (probably). @basstone - For Sale refurbished Marshall DBS200 combo fitted with beyma 12" speaker. BC v3 cab with G&K MB500 amp. '78 Fender fretless jazz bass with rotosound nylon coated strings. Probably plus one other bass TBD @Woodinblack - Ibanez EHB1505, Shuker Uberhorn, Chapman Stick, PositiveGrid Spark amp. @Chienmortbb - BC112 speaker, Bugera Mosfet amp, Fender Aerodyne and/or Greg Bennett semi acoustic bass ( might sell if the offers are right). I may even bring my homebrew 500 watt amp designed in conjunction with @Passinwind if finished. @Cuzzie - tbc @MoJoKe - whatever demo gear is left over from the month before (Manchester Bass Show), so will definitely have my Casa rig, probably the new Vintage D2 head (which I am thinking of selling the Casa to buy... it’s that good!), and I'll try and bring Markbass instruments and some packs of the new Markbass strings to give away @olipaulo - Fender Elite Jazz, Status Empathy 5 and PRS SE Kestrel. Markbass CMD 151P, SWR LA15, GK MB112-ii and GK MB212-ii (the last three are for sale so they may be missing from the bash). Helix LT & IEMs @sbrag -- some or all of: Yamaha bb1100s, G&L JB Tribute (Tuned d std), Shergold Marathon, MTD CRB with tone styler preamp (Tuned D std), Tobias Toby Pro, Hohner B2A, Encore Fretless P with Roto tapewounds, Tanglewood Elf, Bugera Veyron T, Barefaced Super Twin T, Various pedals @Triumph_Rock - Rickenbacker 4003S5, Sterling Stingray Sub4 HH, Ashdown Little Stubby Amp, Ashdown 15" Cab. @Richard Jinman - tbc @Stub Mandrel - Fender Performer, Deathburger (sublime to the ridiculous) maybe another bass and an amp. @Frank Blank - Spirit Of The Bash, bike park

At least the lyrics made more sense than Vienna. They meant nothing to me.

"custom" = (1) I saw this on an expensive ad once, (2) I put a sticker on it "hand made" = I'm sure someone touched it "rare" = I challenge you to find any other Encore guitar or bass anywhere! "first to see will buy" = look, I'm desperate to get rid of this "if you're reading this then you know..." = I don't know "selling for a friend" = not my responsibility if it's stolen "plays like butter" = I saw this on a Fender ad once "plays like I can't believe it's not butter" = Squier "modified" = repaired (badly) "from a smoke and pet free home" = my dogs and cats don't smoke "buckle rash" = I'm careless "never gigged" = I can't get in a band, check how knackered the neck is from me not knowing how to tune "recent set up" = once set up at some point in time. Maybe "collection only from Liverpool" = stolen

White 424x

There was an ad on Facebook that took a hammering from group members - Fender Strat all original except neck and body!

It practically plays itself!

I wish I'd kept some of those 70s Melody Makers, just for the ads! "No ties" always sounded sinister to me, as if they want to make sure nobody will miss you when they take control of your mind😱

While I profess to have never knowingly heard a single note by Kingdom Come, I think what made me chuckle about this post was the throwaway 'whoever they might be' comment. They were known as being Led Zeppelin-esque since their incept in the late 1980s and have released about 20 albums. Isn't is a case that imitation is the highest form of flattery?

Thank you! This time I used a 30mm panel cutter for the valve socket holes instead of a step drill.

My particular bugbear is basses that have been "Upgraded". No, what you mean is modified. Ban it, please.

Rare

I've even seen "No W@nkers"... obviously I didn't reply to that one..

Not entirely relevant but I always thought it a "ban worthy" phrase... If anyone remembers the old musicians wanted ads in the Melody Maker, a popular ( and absurd) one was "No Breadheads" ! I cringe even now..

So this started life as a fairly normal Harley Benton Jazz bass kit. However, yesterday I finally screwed the new iteration together and set it up. Man, this thing rocks now! Wilkinson PJ pickups, Wilkinson tuners and bridge, an Artec SE-2A preamp and a switchcraft stereo jack. The pickguard is from WD Music - their Blacktop Jazz model. I love it!