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Not sure if this one has been posted. Really made me laugh.

And so I'll be moving into a 'planning before doing' phase over the next couple of weeks - not least because there are some grandparenting duties looming which means 'moving all your mess out of the way' But there's a lot to get right and it is worth the pondering without the temptation of cutting or gluing something before I'm sure! This is where I'm at with the wings: The ebony is around 6mm thick and will have a subtle top carve, following the same sort of curve as the back, a couple of diamond 'f' holes and some weight relief scoops in the underneath. And some very careful routing for the switches. Switches? Yes - we're going Jaguar guitar switch system, back mounted. "And so I'll be moving into a 'planning before doing' phase over the next couple of weeks"

Update - DIY head based on Ampeg B15.

Decision made! Order going into Thomann for a set of their own brand strings (>£5), a set of TI SA (£27) and ead's donated RotoSounds (+ a few small items to make the delivery charge worthwhile). I'm going to attempt to review the differences and possibly record the strings. No strings will be wasted as I have a couple of basses need stringing; I'll obviously do all of the strings on the same bass before transferring them to another bass. Wish me luck!

Just the one old pic…

Hello all I am a new member on BC and was pointed this way by @Reggaebass. I thought I would share this that I only found on YouTube within the last week. The user appears to be creating their own dubs and also editing videos to run alongside the music. This one for Django is brilliant it drags the whole film in ...and I really like this dub of Eek-A-Mouse's Anarexol. Plenty more on the channel.

I'm going to get round to adding other models, I just wanted a representative of each manufacturer. At the moment on mobile which makes if far more challenging to edit!

The irony of the baby in a photograph chasing the dollar, now chasing the dollar because he was the baby in the photograph chasing the dollar...

I know what you mean about the TI SAs; they have an almost compressed tone, yet bright and punchy. They are supple but not sloppy... great strings but £40 a set when you are stringing a few basses, not good. I may end up getting 1 set and a bunch of others from Thomann (my order basket sits open from last night). A very kind BCer is forwarding me a set that he is unlikely to use, so I'm almost at the point where a shoot out of free/cheap/expensive strings is in the offing.

And some more wood has arrived. First I added some kerfed linings to stiffen things up: And then repeated everything described above to make the second back: And so, although there are many tasks to be done before I glue them, it was time to rough-cut the tops. I chalked the optimum (only) position for the tops using my modified mould as a guide: This was the longest/widest piece of ebony I could find - not much leeway in any direction! Now you can probably see why I need a visible through-neck And cut, oversize, sitting on the backs: Clearly, there will be the weight of the through neck length to add, but, with some overage and carvings still to take off, all 4 components - 2 tops and 2 backs - are sitting at 3 1/2lbs total. Not bad. A 'standard' solid body blank often gets up to 5lbs, so probably comparable even though it's a much larger body than standard

So I came home today to this……. (See pics) My 1984, serial 067 Streamer headstock (it was a glued repair) has miraculously let go…. The body has a minor dent at the bottom from my guitar rack, and obviously the bass is beheaded. Like Gibsons, the early Streamers were prone to breakage due to not having a volute. The break was pretty ugly and repaired by a monkey, but the bass sounds wonderful and glue is stronger than wood. So I used it quite often, never an issue. But since it has let go and I will probable never be able to sell anyway, I have hatched a cunning plan….. I could replace a large part of the top of neck and headstock with new wood, add some splines ….. basic traditional Gibson-esque surgery. But I am going to do something else….. I am going to use the wood of the headstock, graft that in place (keeping serial number intact) and turn the bass into a (semi) headless! Will post the plan/design here soon. But the plan is to go from beheaded to headless, using mostly original wood.

31st July 2021 first gig since Feb 2020. During lockdown we decided...due to age, bad backs etc to go digital & no backline or monitors. We are a 3 piece ( guitar, bass & drums with two vocals) mainly doing 60's & 70's. We use Roland V drums which is a godsend for our ears and setting up time, so decided to go for a silent stage. We are big fans of RCF so invested in RCF M20X mixer, TT FoH active cabs & bass bin. I have been able to get a great & powerful bass sound in rehearsals at lowish levels & at the gig last Sat outdoors ( and in a hall with no audience ) it was excellent, ...so the risk and investment paid off all of the band were happy & the feedback from the audience was good a couple of musicians commented on the clarity, separation & hi fi sound..so the backline is gone (for this band anyway) And YES the guitarist amp etc is history...load cheers from BC members But what about monitors? they have gone to. We have used IEM's but did not like the ground level noise, sound quality, latency and "faf" We invested in a DACS Clarity headlite 3+ with upgraded power channels (1U)...basically a studio headphone amp. This is individually fed from the desk and each band member has his own mix & volume control via desk, ipad or phone...stereo jack cable from headphone amp to belt clip with stereo socket...plug in you inears (at rehearsals, headphones) and no noise...clear real time hi fi mix. We did not need as much volume in our ears and we sang better (pitch and harmony blend)...it took a lot of practice but wwe are we are hooked and cannot go back We have a comms channel to band members only via momentary pedal ..and a shotgun mic to pickup the crowd when we stop making a racket! I am sharing this as we have never had such a great FoH sound, foldback & clarity of how we are playing together...it was quicker to set up and pack...horah and we were not tired & our ears did not ring on the way home....I hope it inspires you..to think different...it took a lot of incremental tests and different gear (desks, headphone amps, In ears, headphones, footswitches etc) Some pic's during testing...NOTE: the desk EQ is sooo good, I have got rid of the sansamp RBI Cant wait for the next gig 15th Aug

Every couple of days someone post a topic about 'what lightweight cabs should I get'. So I decided to help people and put up a (almost) complete list of what's about. The link below covers the brand, the most popular cab sizes (1x10, 2x10, 1x12, 2x12, 1x15 and 4x10) and NOW EVERY RANGE! I've also put Watts and ohm rating in there, as well as tweeter/horn inclusion, just to be extra nice. If there's anything missing or incorrect let me know and I'll update it. Enjoy! *Every current range has been added. Please let me know of any mistakes **info needed on tweeters functionality, fixed, on/off, multilevel https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GFuEsRKhs0CZcp3GrN_lzr8Ey1uB1YOi32_lS7RoHEQ/edit?usp=drivesdk

I absolutely loathe the look of dots and blocks on the front of fingerboards/fretboards. Always have and on several occasions the presence of fretboard dots has stopped me buying a bass. I've been a fretless player for the last 6 years or so and my main bass is a defret. The aesthetics of Fretlines don't worry me in the slightest, but the dots make me want to cry, so one evening (after a few drinks) I decided to apply a layer of black vinyl tape over the board. I'd often wondered about the feasibility of this, using colours to theme a bass for particular performance settings, of a UV reactive colour for ridiculous stage presence under blacklight etc etc Would the vinyl mute the sound, would it wear through quickly? Well, it doesn't mute or dampen the sound and with half-round strings there is no noticeable wear after a fortnight of playing. The fretlines provide nice position markers on the edge of the board. I can imagine I'll keep this going while I own the bass.

Picked the Mesa up today off our very own @binky_bass what a rig

Getting GAS for another one of these after seeing all these pics! This is my old one, had it maybe 12 years ago.

We have a theatre gig tomorrow night, and have all been requested to provide negative Covid test details. Also will each have some sort of test when we arrive at the venue. I’m impressed by their efforts to minimise risks, and happy to assist in this. Know it’s not a guarantee of safety but probably all that can be done to ensure the show goes on.

Use multi-coloured strips... 12 Different colours, one for each note, repeated all the way up and down the board 😀

Gig tonight, a little worried. Although we have done two gigs so far, this is the first one that is indoors in a pub. And there is one tomorrow too.

Jeremy ～ Pearl Jam Dedicated to @Fishfacefourand other River Monsters

Those are lofty aspirations. I think you're going to have to be a bit more realistic.

I'll just go with the flow and try to meet their standards. I'm not the sort of person who will throw a tantrum because they've simplified a cover version or quit because the guitarist thinks the Earth is flat (so I'd be fine in Deftones!). I mostly just want to have some fun playing loud music and hopefully play it well and maybe one day play to a pub full of people who are annoyed because we're blocking the dart board.

Space is Deep - Hawkwind

Glad you like it! The Fwonkbeta and Discumbobulator ended my filter search, although I'm curious to try the Spectrum (although I didn't like its predecessor the Manta) and an original Mutron!

During which you can recover from the tongue lashing you're going to get for using the Mrs's clothes pegs.

Here’s the bridge, but I changed the saddles to brass ones because I had them flattened off on the bottom to get a lower action, there’s a side pic for the depth

Well, it's a tale of two halves. Externally, it's all good really, it'll get a full make over but no real issues. Internally, holy guacamole Batman! We'll get to that in a bit. The wood is very dry feeling and slightly rough, so I'll probably take off any finish and give a fresh oil and wax finish, or possibly clear lacquer, not decided yet. Maybe even dye the outer body wings red. It's had a thumb rest added at some point, but that's the worst part externally, it's not even got any real chips or dings. Pickup covers are starting to crack, but from what's been said about the tone I want to keep them. I'll probably try and stabilise the covers with superglue and polish them up. The cavity cover is a home made one that's not the best so will be making a new one. Maybe a nice brass one to match the TRC. Does anyone know if these are the original strap buttons? Internally 🙈 Apparently it works but the pots are crackly and only work in certain positions. As it looks like someone has been storing salt in the control cavity I'm not surprised. Look at the state of these pots. The pickups have been glued in, which coupled with already very fragile, cracked casings made removal more like a surgical procedure. But they're out in one piece, and the cavities are a mess. It's nothing that can't be fixed though, and it should be a great little bass once done.

Whole bunch of lawsuits here....... Still, they can afford it.

Turn down the amps on stage. That's the real problem.

I got to see it a couple of nights ago after Mrs HH used her Tesco clubcard vouchers to get Disney+ for a couple of months in an offer. Loved the footage - especially Stevie's bass player's Jazz bass. Not sure if it was actually British Racing Green or an effect of the film, but it looked lovely! Was almost matched by Larry Graham's burgundy one with blocked neck.

We swapped to rehearsing with quieter backline and relying on monitoring either via wedges or IEMs a long time ago and it makes such a difference to live performances. No more arguments about how loud backline is, no volume wars between guitarists band members - just a tweak in their own mix and viola! It needs investment - not only in equipment but time both to a) mic cabs, setup wedges etc etc at the rehearsal and b) to get things to the point where you have 'ready to go' base-line settings for gigs - but it's worth it on both counts. In the current setup with 2 monitors are you running a compromise mix @geoham i.e. those two wedges providing monitoring for multiple band members? If so then it's unlikely you'll get something that works for everyone, just a poor compromise that just winds everyone up. I do feel your pain as band leader, bass player, PA/Lighting owner/operator and backing vocalist! We do this but to prevent excessive lead guitar volumes in monitor mixes by applying a limiter to 2nd guitar channel only feeding the monitors.

I've just been pondering Thomann's own brand strings. I very much doubt they own a factory, so they'll likely be buying in from one of the other string manufacturers and packaging themselves. Which begs the question; How can they retail them at £4.15? The TI do feel supple (even the old ones on my bass now) and yes I'd say the feel like a lower gauge string in tension but still have the same mass as other 45-105 strings obviously. When I have the 3 sets here I'll measure the actual gauges and see if I can devise some (non-scientific) way of testing the tension.

I'll probably add other models for various brands soon, I just wanted to represent each manufacturer in case people want matching cabs or a particular sound. Can't do anything about the Watts stated by the manufacturer. I only put what they state. I hope people will do a bit more research into loudness/power. My list gives at least a ball park figure. I added an extra column if the cab has a tweeter, which is incorporated in to weight. If I have time I'll add what the crossover frequency is. I'll happily add you to have edit permission

I'm not really that much of a Beatles fan, but Ringo Starr is more a case of right place, right time. A mate of mine (and a Beatles fan) once said that his playing was 'clueless and uninspiring' and the the ability gap at the end was akin to having Meg White replace Mike Portnoy in Dream Theater. Chuckle.

I messed around with a pair of Eminence Beta 12A-2's a while back in a sealed and a ported cab in an attempt to get a useable 500watt 4 ohm box with a deep 'warm' tone using a p-bass with flats (and an ABM 500). I picked up a generic sealed (empty) cab in the classifieds and a ported cab ( an empty tc electronic BC212) for just a few quid. Both sounded fine to a point but the ported cab won the day. The sealed cab struggled with the really low stuff( I know thats not very technical sounding) but was good with that low mid honk. The ported cab was seismic in the lows by comparison. The cab dimensions were almost identical at approx W x H x D 462 x 662 x 380 . The ported cab had two very large ports to the rear. I sold on the BC212 and had replaced the drivers with Celestion BL12-200X units by that time and they paled in comparison to the Eminence Beta 12-A2's in either the sealed or ported cab. The Celestion's were very inexpensive to buy at the time. I haven't owned a windows computer for eons so don't do WinISD so can't offer any technical data as to why the Eminence units sounded better. I just used my ears. But they did in my opinion and the ported cab was by far the best option to deliver a meaty warm low end with a pair of twelves.😁

Finally got round to watching this, found it very enjoyable. Loved Sly, Fifth Dimension , David Ruffin and of course Stevie Wonder. Couldn’t make out who was in the house band(s) but some great players.

https://newsthump.com/2021/08/26/banana-to-sue-the-velvet-underground-over-exploitative-album-cover/?fbclid=IwAR3pwW6UkToduFPLbr65kqNd8t5X6COg0lVVSybDsrSVqTakAsUeon95ZiQ