Leaderboard

It was easy. Factors are : * Shipping has gone up 250-450% and lead times are SLOOOOOOOW * Prices in India have gone up * It insulates us more from currency fluctuations * It allows us to control stock better * We are also making careful changes to the range to be more efficient in production without a cost in quality. The cost is effort. Expect some improvements to the SWB. Announcements to follow but sneak peak. It'll be : * Lighter (chambering in the body) * Design tweaks * New Deluxe Edition Thanks EVERYBODY for your positivity. We're excited and nervous in equal measure!

@owen will often pop up in threads to say "there is no one [bass] just the chase" - and I think there's some truth in that... but playing lots of things does help you work out what you like... and I like P basses.... my first proper bass a japanese '57ri... then a Squier series JV '57ri ... then a gap and a Yamaha BB1200 (sounds nothing like a precision) and then bought Gareth's green G&L L1000, a kind of super precision that taught me how much I loved bolt on basses. Fast forward a few years and my main bass is a sadowsky jazz that oddly has a lot of mid punch and not much Jazz bass scoop... and the L1000 and my old Warwick isn't being played so last spring I sold them both and set out looking for a precision.... Firstly, it's taken a while and I want to say thank you to everyone who's ear and expertise I borrowed... @warwickhunt, @Hooch, @boroman, @AndyTravis, @marleaux62, @walshy, @gareth, @owen and whoever else I've pestered with opinions of a billion different basses... There's a man in the UK who when I started playing was making basses that looked like old ones, I wanted one of his creations for at least 15 years... except he doesn't do custom orders at all now and builds what he wants... I had an idea, he liked it and started building it. A year later I got asked if I would like to buy what he had built.... It looks pretty cool I think!

I sold all my dogging gear on eBay. I had loads of watchers. (I'll get my coat)

He will be crucial in assembling them as well as setting them up! All in our new Bristol workshops.

I'll be documenting my weird prototype builds here, I want to have them written up somewhere online in case someone else tries to patent this idea or something. I'll be open sourcing all the code when it's ready and anyone is welcome to copy these ideas 😀 they're not that groundbreaking or anything but I'm pretty sure I haven't seen anything similar before. First up is something I suppose I'll have to call the AntiBass. It lets you play guitar and drums simultaneously. Each metal bracket is a capacitive touch sensor which triggers a different drum sample. So depending on where you strum, it will trigger Kick, Snare, etc. Touch sensing and reading the buttons/switches is done via an Esp32 board. Ground is connected to the bridge, and this requires use of a metal plectrum. Strum sensing is very reliable as long as you're touching the strings with your left hand. I used aluminium angles for the strum sensors originally but it didn't work too well. Aluminium basically forms a thin layer of oxidation the second it's exposed to air. I went a bit overboard with the switches. Everything will be controllable with a Bluetooth android app eventually. For now I will use the switches to change drum kits and add cymbals i.e it could play a hihat every strum as well as whatever drum is assigned to that trigger. Drum sounds are played from a Bela board, it's an open source beaglebone Cape. Audio Output latency is about 0.6ms with the Bela. Normal midi latency is about 1ms per note, but I'm using rs232 module at 512k baud. Regular midi is 32k baud so this should be a fraction of a millisecond. I haven't tested the total latency but basically feels instant. Can load any soundfont < 300mb. Has at least 16 note polyphony. I've got it set up as one-drum-per-trigger at the moment, but it could also have a whole pattern per trigger, so you could be playing an entire drum beat by hitting one trigger at regular intervals. Plus, it's just playing soundfonts so it doesn't even have to be drums. It could play 1/16th of an organ loop every time you strum. Still working on the android app for this, there's so many potential features! NEXT ONE WILL BE A BASS!

We're also formalising our partnership. Expect announcements soon. New partnership to sit on top of the two companies inbound!

Hmm quite a sweeping statement about the Shuker basses. Well to put my slant on it, I commissioned a Flea / Modulus Inspired build from Jon without ever playing one of his basses. Communication was amazing, workshop visit was really eye opening and the end result far exceeded what I thought I would get, for a damn good price too. In fact it was so good I had another made exactly the same in a different relic finish. His instruments are absolutely beautiful and dead wouldn’t be a word I’d use to describe them. Maybe you weren’t the right fit for the basses you tried 😉

You can’t, I’ve got your coat! 🧥

Bass time! I realized i don't actually like playing guitar so now I'm planning a bass+looper one man band. This is a headless bass with touch-sensing thumb rests. Depending on where I rest my plucking hand thumb, it will change my EQ/FX, activate a vocoder, etc. Only 2 of 3 thumb rests are shown here, they're not installed yet. There will be another one in the middle, forming a continuous line where the B string would be. This is strung with a high C. No volume/tone controls, pickups are wired straight to the jack output. The top plate has 3 small latching buttons which I will use for selecting presets. So I can access 8 different FX presets, each one with 3 different channels depending on where I'm resting my thumb. The bass signal is going into a Dr J sansamp clone for basic EQ, then into an axoloti DSP board. The axoloti is kind of a reconfigurable multifx/synth board, it has stereo inputs so I'll have a mic in the second channel for vocoder stuff and vocal FX. The bridge on this is from AliExpress, it was about £100 at the time, but they're like £70 now. Quality seems good, but the knobs are quite hard to turn by hand. They have an awkward little wrench which goes into the side of the bridge but I've made my own replacement one out of a 5mm allen key bit and a wooden disc. I like this design of bridge, there's no Allen keys involved in changing strings. It came with a headpiece but I made my own with a bit of aluminium z-profile. Neck is an ibanez sr1825 factory second I got from eBay. I bought 2 of the 5 string ones and one 4 string. £80 each, panga panga(wenge) with titanium reinforcement rods! I'm probably gonna leave the headstocks on the other 2 intact. Body is just a wenge neck blank with a bit of wood stuck on for the bridge.

I’m getting a semi-hollow, just at the thought of it…

The "sponge on a string" they use to make the mold goes in further than the actual plugs themselves. As @chris_bsays they're probably the main reason many of us can still gig and hear OK. Best value money I've ever spent on musical equipment!

The eagerly (I hope) anticipated update of Tomreadbass Transcriptions. The big update I have been promising. Too big actually, in that once I had completed my jobsheet of transcriptions and arrangements, adding them to the website then took me nearly another week! So what's new? Well as usual, the additions have come about as a result of one of two things; either a customer has ordered a bass transcription and taken up the half-price deal (which means it gets shared on the website for everyone else's benefit), or I've written a bass part for myself (or a band arrangement) for a gig. Lots of orders have been fulfilled recently, and as I'm currently gigging full-time on a cruise ship (MV Spirit of Adventure), there's quite a lot resulting from that too! OK, here goes - you'll see I've kept myself busy in my cabin! The complete Joe Satriani "What Happens Next?" album: Energy - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_3c7239b84bde4ca0a753caebe4a532e0.pdf Catbot - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_a336ebe570de40ee9b34aeb4a0f6c194.pdf Thunder High On The Mountain - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_76607f18cd714d0bac6d176691bb5c76.pdf Cherry Blossoms - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_76c384c40caa47cabd3aa84e8b3fa666.pdf Righteous - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_029cd91abc31451a8a9d0faad15fee3e.pdf Smooth Soul - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_98b9190e872648f8af336d7457124ced.pdf Headrush - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_63085eb9aaf64be8be1e83d32309917a.pdf Looper - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_6886369d0efa44a683219cf4a202aadc.pdf What Happens Next - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_514d7efdebde4bb392ef4069b856d365.pdf Super Funky Badass - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_befdae1f9aac4f5d9cf6a036aa1718d0.pdf Invisible - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_f00d6d2fe5864b53af59729f8ec1ee9b.pdf Forever And Ever - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_39c0940a5f0c4502871d4460566490b4.pdf The following bass transcriptions are all brand new additions to the site: I've Got You Under My Skin - Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_82c5d198b4304979bc47f869d376a26f.pdf Love Of My Life - Santana - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_187696a51ca9460a8ca203ef5b0ca85a.pdf Ain't No Stopping Us Now - McFadden & Whitehead - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_03d8b165da6440a38c99875452ba131b.pdf Welcome To Burlesque - Cher - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_b3132946a1fa4452bd5ffb33f75cb6e1.pdf Twisting By The Pool - Dire Straits - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_82c1e9c30b584b9889ba47f221f1be05.pdf You Make Loving Fun - Fleetwood Mac - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_cac2f9df645f4cf7b77347ff9f7b4435.pdf Borderline - Madonna - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_f3a4f9fb96aa4a3cac71a586d4be79c3.pdf The Chain - Fleetwood Mac - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_dba98b654a4c4de28fa9aa652594cc17.pdf Get On The Floor - Michael Jackson - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_b125f84605df4e5dbd7d3b80d52efc24.pdf YMCA - Village People - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_1f17fa8d41164b3bbacc6c84e7ba3ee6.pdf 25 Miles - Edwin Starr - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_1522a1f90b77404fa4f67bd66db529cb.pdf Always On My Mind - Elvis Presley - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_4c7aa7820f444f8c964fb2e9b3894e7f.pdf Dancing Queen - Abba - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_e7fb2d244a8d4e81a8f8289745c58e4d.pdf Don't Know Why - Norah Jones - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_f8dfcc04dcb549489d54cff05f604149.pdf Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me - George Michael & Elton John live version - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_bace09f67a5c47d28bbb3959ca83bbfd.pdf Heartache Tonight - Michael Buble - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_015f7aa1d04144fa92f8f3c6df71e005.pdf Hooked On Rock 'N' Roll - Peter Criss - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_6afbab65078a4c5ba740edb73b0e1e79.pdf Three Times A Lady - Commodores - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_414ee15a14ee4132960bd71dbf81a5b4.pdf I'd Rather Go Blind - Etta James - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_8eec18ae036a45ff898d711e59b48aa7.pdf Kashmir - Led Zeppelin - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_75820ff748104e439df4b1bd6051010b.pdf Last Dance - Donna Summer - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_12dda9f745ac45419ab38f0247abb8bb.pdf Never Can Say Goodbye - Gloria Gaynor - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_86c1cafc204a4d4ea438785b6739b109.pdf The following transcriptions were already on the site but have been enhanced with the more attractive MuseJazz font and style, improved arrangement structures, and the very occasional minor correction: September - Earth, Wind & Fire - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_132afaa2f9184db7a68234fa8d74da71.pdf Rather Be - Clean Bandit - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_b70c7e2129aa445ca7d4e4b4b5319fba.pdf Wonderwall - Oasis - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_576c072e9c074ce5a7e8dce0c2ad8c17.pdf Disco Inferno - The Trammps - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_11aa7b33c85f4aeea9179bfb6865d103.pdf Love Is In The Air - John Paul Young - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_0298dd6eb4d94ec49285caef8bfbc754.pdf Stuck In The Middle With You - Stealers Wheel - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_4b04792dd62947e29aef886e6dcd7756.pdf That's The Way I Like It - KC & The Sunshine Band - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_670cf42511ab41fc83980772e17ecc28.pdf Le Freak - Chic - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_fd94a24b88b14e29add243fe09a0cdf3.pdf Young Hearts Run Free - Candi Staton - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_2e708eb36bb84e9e970166d1bc18f513.pdf I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_21db921b29d94aa7b129ac884e84387d.pdf Walk Of Life - Dire Straits - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_386a4a22b90a4439abf330b756b6cfd1.pdf Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_716adbe8fa3140b99683479ac90e6626.pdf 500 Miles - Proclaimers - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_ef0ce27ff5ab4c8fa9f7ce996d1008b1.pdf Black Velvet - Alannah Myles - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_b842595aadd7449dabae49de304b603d.pdf Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_f75564e03f724875906dddd3a645a0b8.pdf Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_3051f0760b37438eb37cf09a5b88b525.pdf Diggin' On James Brown - Tower Of Power - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_f45b4c27189c494ea6223cbd0b02cda0.pdf Happy - Pharrell Williams - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_a8723e3f41374f9f8671c20b2fba6496.pdf Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_ef7fa69382014160be04168ce1540e0b.pdf The Best - Tina Turner - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_2ab43d6a8a404990be7be8e5b8af997c.pdf Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go - Wham! - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_6ae7f4ebb90f425aa4af8fe24344bfc6.pdf Waterloo - Abba - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_9130f37b0eb64b278d33ac68d8933828.pdf We Are Family - Sister Sledge - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_4dd72e70d8174b7ba67c0a1148ed1932.pdf You To Me Are Everything - Real Thing - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_b9e2fef30719404382066270e2ec7e0e.pdf I'm A Believer - Monkees - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_d7c7f1b6b3b146b79ed3a51d69347fea.pdf I'm So Excited - Pointer Sisters - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_5fba44c908e54c1d97ca3029aa98854c.pdf Johnny Be Goode - Chuck Berry - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_81238acfa0004c2e87722a95a1597663.pdf Love Really Hurts Without You - Billy Ocean - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_7294d9b2eb3f48ee99a7e2c6b53f3d2c.pdf Shut Up And Dance - Walk The Moon - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_6501651748d943769067281ccfafe032.pdf Signed, Sealed, Delivered - Stevie Wonder - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_c0a2a54a26f04825a34f49d349446eb6.pdf Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_57f26c06ad6841a496239d4c261b1c95.pdf Son Of A Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_349e374425cf45aa9fb37a2a1d82cfc5.pdf Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams - https://05ee92f2-68dc-4cc0-94b6-9739e6e6eb5e.filesusr.com/ugd/238d8f_92e871098576411899a31c0711a0b417.pdf Hope these are of use and enjoyment to my fellow bass players around the world. The transcriptions website remains absolutely free to use and no log-in required. Just download whatever charts you want as PDFs with my compliments! (And please share!) Now over 900 bass transcriptions on the website! I am planning something special for the 1000th, which may well happen within the next 12 months. The next one will be added within the next week or two - it's been ordered by a customer and is a virtuoso upright bass part by the fantastic Christian McBride. http://tomreadbass.co.uk

I had one of these back in the day and really enjoyed playing it. Foolishly though, I decided it wasn't particularly practical so moved it on. Fast-forward at least a decade and a bit, when this one came up for sale. It's a 2003 model (which I think is the first production year) in a lovely Lava Pearl, the same colour of the one I had before. It's a lot more orange in the flesh which I really like. It is virtually spotless and even the ubiquitous tip chip being less than 1mm long. It weighs in at sub-9lbs and I love it. Not sure if it's a forever bass but I'm planning on having it around for a while yet. I appreciate they're very marmite but I'm getting increasingly old and grumpy now, I don't really care. I intend to play it and enjoy it as part of my ever-dwindling bass collection that has somehow gone from three basses up to six...oops

Whenever I see a listing that says "dont put this on watch unless youre intending the bid" I immediately put it on watch and ask all my friends to do the sam,e.

Something like this:

I've tried not to be interested in playing music, even tried to stop listening to music. I thought, I'm bored of it all. I'm just kidding myself. I can't stop. I was up the other night watching something about REO Speedwagon...I don't even like REO Speedwagon. Family aside Music is my first love.

Bear in mind a fair few watchers are watching not as potential buyers but they may own something similar and want to see what yours goes for. I once had 200+ watchers on a bass that was priced quite reasonably (less than anything comparable on BC)... not one single bid!

A neck that's too straight or back bowed can present itself anywhere on the fingerboard depending on a few factors in construction etc. It happening on the first few frets is usually a sign that the instrument is actually well set up (apart from the truss rod tension). So I'm hopeful things will come back into check with a bit less tension for you. A good way to check this is to fret the first fret with your left hand, and fret the 15th (or around there) fret with the little finger on your right hand. You're effectively creating a straight edge across the frets then. You can tap the string around the 10-12 frets and notice if the string is tight against the frets, or if there's a little gap there. The gap tells you that the neck has relief (is curved/concaved). If it's tight flat then the neck is too straight. I personally run my necks really almost straight, as do lots of guitarists I know. Then get the bridge saddles adjusted accordingly. This gives you nice tension and low action. But it's all completely personal, as long as your not getting too much choking it's totally up to you. Marcus Millers sound, you can hear the strings 'rasping' on the frets for example. The nut is crucial for intonation, fretting hand string height, resonance transfer to the neck, and obviously open strings. Any buzzes once you are fretting with your left hand, are very unlikely to be nut related, sonically. Hope that's helpful

Sometimes just a 1/4 turn on the truss rod nut can make a big difference , it might be all it needs, the main thing is that it’s nothing serious, just a bit of tweaking 🙂

Which String or All Strings? Start by just a thin bit of waxy card or plastic shim, yogurt pot? just to rest in the bottom of the nut slot... See if that fixes it, if so lots of Youtube stuff about building up the nut with super glue and baking soda. I'd start there as its a free fix to the bass you've got. I love the Ibby SR shape and it is all about the neck... If you dont like the EQ maybe bypass or remove it and go passive with a @KiOgon loom. VVTT... VVT, VBT... coil pickup selecting and or coil switching.

I ordered EMG Geezer pickups from Thomann last Thursday and just received them this morning (Tuesday). UK retailers all seemed to be saying… have to order from German, will take 2-3 weeks (even the ones that advertised next day delivery). So I thought if it’s coming from Gernany I might as well order from Thomann. I was prepared to wait three weeks… but I didn’t have to. I always had excellent service from Thomann pre-Brexit and pre-Covid… this was just as good. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy from them again.

If you are getting choking on the first fret then it potentially calls into question the initial set up. Without seeing the bass, the choking could relate to the neck relief (or lack thereof) or the string height not being high enough, both of which can be cured by a revised set up. Failing that it might be a high fret rather than a badly cut nut. It might be the nut but I definitely wouldn't buy a new nut until I absolutely thought it was required. I would initially try raising the string height slightly to see if that cures the choking problem. If if does then you will have solved the problem without it costing you any money.

I really enjoy rehearsal. Group of like minded people in a room playing music. What's not to like? My band mates are good people, we get on well, take the fosters, jam around some punk riffs to warm up and have fun with it. You can learn the parts. individually at home but you need to practice together to get used to each others playing and get your sound working together and get things wrong without an audience.

In general I’m happy to pay more for stuff made in the UK. Good on ‘em

Yes that's pretty much it Al. Limited but fool proof which is what I was looking for. And yes you can have six phones all doing their own mixes or you can do it for the technophobes if they need it. The reality is that once they have their mix you just save it. The best bit for me is the software, the simple menu structure and the sheer reliability/ease of use of the sliders. One tap on the screen gives you 1db adjustment and as most of your adjustments are of that order it's hard to completely mess up the mix or your playing. It's actually easier than physical sliders in practice, which was my only worry about going digital. You can trial the software for both by just downloading for free and it was trying that which convinced me the M18 is just more sorted for live work. If I was a sound engineer mixing someone else FOH I'd probably have gone for the Behringer but I'm a bassist standing at the back. having said that any of these mixers offer you so much more processing power than you'll have ever had on stage before. To be accurate the Behringer does offer multi track recording but the M18 doesn't, just the stereo mix. If I do decide to record our live performances multitrack I'll probably go and buy the X18. In the meantime the M18 does all I need and if I sell it I'll make most of the cost back I can see a place for both or maybe an M18 for pub gigs and an X32 for posh. The M18 though is the perfect engineering solution for my needs with 4 or 5 piece bands playing mainly pub gigs

This has a lot to say for it but I think I’m going to try tweaking the truss rod first. If this sorts it I’ll just stick with it as is. I’d like to try a higher end Ibanez some time though.

Can't remember where I found this photo, but yeah

This thread disappointed, was expecting

I've worn my ACS plugs to gigs, at Santa Pod (with ear defenders over them!) and In Atlanta and New Orleans watching the NFL games. They have saved me many times.

+1 for this, not just for your own rehearsals and gigs. They make a big difference to attending gigs too. No ringing in the ears afterwards.

I list all my bases at the price I'll accept (with the addition of fees and associated nonsense that eBay brings). That means BC members get a healthy discount. eBay is basically gumtree now. It's an online marketplace offering fixed price listings for most things.

+1 on the UE6's! I really didn't want to fork out for these and actually had some regret once I placed the order. Once they arrived I wish I had got them earlier. It's just a different league with the custom fit.

I sold an old, unused Marshall Bass Amp, quite a few years ago now. I was in more or less the same boat as you, getting 17 "Please sell it to me now" messages. Some of them went as high as £150, to "take it off my hands". I let the Auction run, and eventually ended up getting £438 for it! Don't weaken, and let the b*ggers wait! 😁

Sounds as if you may be selling "an old thing that I never used and was going to scrap" that you may not realise the value of. If it's a 1952 P bass, I'll give you 50 quid cash...

In my experience it's usually the people who complain the band are 'rehearsing too much' and don't do any preparation at home that then go on to f*ck it up at the gig. They seem incapable of joining the dots.

An octave and a really nasty fuzz gets quite a lot of the way there. I have a Devi Ever Soda Meiser that gets that harsh square wave sound quite nicely.

I've recently made my first post-Brexit order from Thomann. Delivery times were exactly the same as before. Items arrived on the Wednesday the week after the order was placed.

Yes WiinterMute problem solved. That was the problem. I'd airdropped the files. Dragging them from my iCloud photo library and success. Can someone delete this thread. Thanks to all those who took the trouble to help best Peter

Wouldn't affect my opinion in the slightest, I still think the CHB is one of the best 4-string basses I've played regardless of price point. I dare not go to their website as I find it a real struggle not to accidentally buy a sapphire-burst one.

Great to see a brand extending its roots in the UK rather than following the sun for cheaper production costs. Bristol-based too; what's not to like?! Once it's all up and running I'd definitely be interested in placing an order for one of the semis Here's wishing you all the very best in this next chapter 👍

I like all aspects of making music. I enjoy recording, I enjoy gigging. And I enjoy rehearsing, always have done. I really like it when the band decides on a song, we all learn our bit at home then put it together in a rehearsal. Particularly with my blues rock trio, we will usually put our own touches to a song. More of an interpretation than a cover, if you like, and one of the joys of the genre imo. We'll decide on a new song, listen to and learn a particular version so we know the structure then work out our own arrangement at rehearsal. But, personally, if I am going off piste with stuff I need to either rehearse it regularly to keep the changes in my mind or be gigging lots, which we aren't. My memory isn't what it used to be

Glad to hear you came to a conclusion on this, most comments I hope were constructive It does sound like a more traditional build is what you're looking for and Mr Shuker will certainly make you a wonderful instrument. Please be sure to share progress if you can. Cheers, Eude

I don't get band who don't want to rehearse. I like rehearsing more than gigging. But for me, in an originals band, that's where the magic happens. I much prefer the creative process of creating music, than actually playing it in front of a crowd. Some people see rehearsing as a necessary evil at best, and something they just have to put up with. I feel pretty much the same way about gigging.

One from Friday night. We supported Thea Gilmore at a fairly local event in Northwich, designed to highlight the venue's potential. Hopefully they'll be able to put on more acts, as it could turn out to be a decent place to play, with a possible capacity of 1,000.

I never really saw the appeal of a relic bass myself until I found a brand new Vintage V4 Icon for a steal at £200 so I nabbed it. The relic-ed parts on the neck and fittings were really authentic looking but the body was terrible, looks much better after I took to it with a scalpel and some sandpaper though. Would I buy one again? ... Meh? (picture on the stand is before I made it better... or worse depending on your view)