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71P and 83J (Fullerton AVRI 62 RI)

Well, that was short-lived. My 2022 Gear Abstinence lasted a matter of days and if it wasn't for this pesky Thunderbird I'd have gotten away with it. It's a 2015 Thunderbird with the factory added coil taps and other features such as a thicker rosewood fingerboard, Babicz bridge and Pearl inlays. It's in really really good condition and I can't imagine has been played that much. It's surprisingly versatile and actually a lot more comfortable ergonomically than I first thought. Im not sure exactly when I'm going to use it but I will definitely use it!

I've had the amp (bought on here) and cabs from new since they were launched about a year or so ago. The bass is a new addition purchased on here from Joe. So glad I decided to as it sounds wonderful. "Everything from Marcus to Jaco" in his own words. The John East pre took some getting used to but a month on feels more natural. I usually set and forget all my other basses. I normally play 5 string high c on all my instruments but wanted a more standard low b setup as after many years of not being in a band forming one again with a few friends. Looking forward to gigging after what seems like a lifetime (technically having 3 young kids lifetimes...) It looks as good as it sounds...or sounds as good as it looks.

I wonder if there are a bunch of women somewhere talking about expensive purchases, and one is saying, I just wait until he buys another sodding bass — he's so worried I'll flip that he doesn't notice the new etc etc

She knows the difference between bb1100, 1600, 414, 424, 1300, 300, 350, 450… She has “favourites” I’ve owned. She adored a bass I had (even though I didn’t) and says I’m to buy it back if it resurfaces. She’s an absolute diamond - and about 7/8 years ago, actively stopped me giving up playing by booking a rehearsal space and contacting all of my musician friends to start a band, she was adamant I wasn’t giving up on a passion… She pushes me all the time.

Wife-friendly living room setup

To be honest, if you have so few basses that your partner is able to notice that you've got another one then you haven't got enought basses in the first place. You only have yourself to blame.

I've always liked the look of the Gibson Rippers and Grabbers, and in turn the 70s/80s Japanese copies. That's why when this popped up on facebook not too far from home I had to have it. After a quick message to our resident expert on Japanese basses, @Bassassin, for some much appreciated info I'd agreed a price the seller and I were both happy with. These are the sellers pictures. I picked it up yesterday and had a chat with the seller. He acquired it forty years ago in a swap for a 4x12 guitar cab, the seller is also a guitarist so it's spent the last forty years hanging on his wall, with the occasional play just for his own fun so it's in really nice condition. A couple of dings that were there when he got it and a couple of little issues that have been sorted but obviously have left it non original, which is a shame but can't be helped. Firstly, the original scratchplate was a celluloid one and had started gassing off and crumbling, so he has fitted a replacement. The original would've been a very dark tort, as per the early Gibson Rippers, the later ones were black (I think). I was going to make a single ply black one but I actually quite like one on there now. Secondly, the original three point bridge had snapped and this is a generic replacement. It seems a pretty good copy and looks the part so it'll probably stay as well. The only issue is the strings are higher than I'd like but the bridge is bottomed out, something I'll address. I've pulled it apart for a good clean and polish, and to sort any little issues such as the pots which are a little crackly. Very clean in the cavities and nice, tidy routing. Maybe newer manufacturers could learn something from the Matsumoku workers as I've seen some more modern basses that are much rougher. The electrics look good and all original so just a squirt of some cleaner/lubricant will hopefully quieten things down. You can see the 'burn' marks where the celluloid scratchplate had started to react. It's constructed in a kind of butchers block fashion but build seems really good. The rear with a rather nice grain to it. Three piece neck construction so should be stable. And a set neck. All the wood joins are nice and tidy and in all honesty most of the woods match really well. I'll update in a couple of days when it's rebuilt, set up and been put through it paces with some new strings. Hopefully the pickups will have the same edge to them as the Gibson ones.

Got this from Bassbros Its the first P bass I have ever bonded with , so I could finally be a convert after 35 years of mostly active J type basses . A great service by Will at Bassbros couldn’t be happier at the moment . Feels like a Fender Custom shop I once tried at over 3 x the price in a shop . The chunkier neck takes a bit of getting used to for me , but it has temporarily put a stop to my mindless dusty end noodling 😁

I've got this old Trace AH250 and had decided to move it on. It used to be the hire amp at our local music shop, Hollywood Music. Battered to funk and a weighty beast. So I took it to rehearsal yesterday to make sure it was all working and wow - just blown away with the tone. Solid, clean and amazingly loud! The guys immediately berated me for considering selling it so it looks like it's staying. It's nice and quiet now as I've had a new fan put in and the UV, which caused a crackle, has been replaced with LEDs. Just need to figure out a way to protect the front and back in transit and she'll be good to gig. Next rehearsal I'll be testing the much smaller Series 6 SMX250. If that sounds as good, this one might get the push but until then I've made some room in my life for it!!

We all know what the true confederate flag looks like though.

It's okay, really. Knowing the gallery, it's probably been sold for at least 18 months now and they haven't realised, much less amended their site to reflect the fact. 🙄

My Squier JV Precision. Yum.

Better light today - and I've added the decals: And so 2-3 overcoats of clear to put over it and the headstock is basically done.

… certainly different from someone shouting, “shut the f**k up”!

I have to agree that the necks on Atelier Z jazz basses are sublime. Here's my one in blue.

Just a bit of a post-script on this stunning build. If you haven't ever read this thread, then pour yourself a beer or a long soft drink, find a comfy chair and read it from the start. On every one of the nine pages of the thread there will be things you see that, I guarantee, will leave you open-mouthed in amazement. For those of you who have read the thread, then you will remember that not only is the bass a stunning build, but also that @mhoss32 designed and made his own pickups and @mhoss32 also designed and built his own powered EQ. And, what seems like an age ago (covid lockdowns/covid lifting restrictions/etc/etc) @mhoss32 sent me one of his prototype EQ systems to try out in one of my basses which I was delighted to try out and suggested I got Matt Marriott (an excellent musician who has done a number of videos featuring my builds) to do a couple of videos with it fitted. It's taken a while (Matt is a pro-musician so half the time he was prioritising trying to make a living when everything was locked down, and the other half trying to make a living when things started opening up again!) but here they are. The first video is a run through just a very few of the myriad of settings and the second is a short original piece he used to demo the sound 'in the mix'. The donor bass is the camphor-topped single cut. The pickups are DiMarzio PJ s. Matt is recording directly into the DAW. As always with these things, best heard through headphones. Video 2

Just wanted to let you all know that my life size greek ornamental garden figurine has been completed and will be delivered on Tuesday. I'm so excited I had to tell you all, hopefully no-one is uncomfortable with Statue updates

There's some fine instruments out there. And some that I'd surely keep. But none that would eliminate the need to own any others.

I wanted to join in this topic, as a very happy Sandberg owner for about 3 years now. California TM2 5-string 35" in Blackburst with ebony fretboard. I have never had such a relationship with a bass before... there's just something about the playability, balance and quality which work together in complete harmony for me. I kinda want another identical spec, in a different body colour, but I'm reluctant to pay up front for a custom build. Anyway, appreciating my Sandberg at all times.

I spent some time convincing my wife that the new packages that would arrive at our door were, in fact, "new cases for some of my old basses that are presently stored in gig-bags". One time she asked me - with a smile on her face - what colour the lining of the new case was!! When I showed her, I was almost as surprised as she was that the supplier had forgotten to take out the instrument that had obviously been used to display the case lining In the store!

I just put a pair of new lady shoes on the bed with a note “love ya kiddo x” she finds them. comes downstairs… ”where’s this new bass then?”

Is that a Gibson Victory? If so, hardly appropriate, given that the North won the civil war...

Please don't throw me out, for Christmas I've got a GUITAR It's a Baton Rouge X54S from Thomann, a small size ("parlor size") electric acoustic. It's very pretty and plays nicely too!

Very much doubt I will ever find my perfect bass. Being completely honest, my huge amount of bass turnover in the past decade reflects my shortcomings and the flawed belief that a new shiny bass with a wider/narrower neck, longer/shorter scale, passive/active electronics etc will somehow make me a better player. I now have a nice P and J and they are both lovely basses, I am satisfied which is good as it gets

Are they both red? For my most recent acquisition, bought a week before my birthday: Me: "You know you asked me what I'd like for my birthday?" Mrs Zero: "Yes" Me: "Could I have forgiveness please?" I really should sell one or two though. It's currently somewhere round the two dozen mark.

This (plus the fact that it looks absolute 💩)

Regardless of the accuracy, I think the intention is obvious. If I had a bass shop in London, there is no way I would retail this

Bela Lagosi’s Dead - Bauhaus

Still trying to convince the wife that I need something to move it about in:

The One there is not. The Chase only there is.

Thundercat put a nice top 10 together on YouTube. A favourite of mine which is on there is Narada Michael Walden, I Shoulda Loved You. I may have put a link to it in the above thread by@Reggaebass

Here's my recent bits of kit. Bb424 and TRB1005J

I'll say 'I might have bought a new bass' and Mrs S will say 'That's nice' or 'Good' and carry on doing whatever she was doing. If I say 'I'll sell one of the others' she usually says 'Don't - you know you regret selling them'. I am a lucky chap. I won't say 'she's a keeper' because a/ we've already been together for 37 years and b/ the way threads seem to be going recently someone will no doubt feel offended by such misogyny

A * friend * had some success with telling his wife that he had lent the bass in question to a fellow bass player and that he had just returned it after a lengthy period. Cough

We live in a world where people pay millions of dollars for a pixelated digital image. Nothing surprises me about this world anymore.

Paid £60 for this in a pawn shop in 2004 or 5. Expected to clean it up, stick a scratchplate on it & flip it for maybe twice what I paid - but even exactly as it looks there, it felt right. Not much left original beyond the body & neck but this is the one I'd save in a fire - best Jazz I've ever played, by a long way. I have quite a few basses, many of which I bought since finding this. To be honest I'm not entirely sure I know why.

Next refinement then, make the analogue pots digitally controlled so that settings can be saved. As if this bass wasn't complex enough!!

The mild OCD in me is wanting to only buy seafoam/surf green basses and pedals from now on...

Not read the whole thread but what I 'like' about these 'wunderkinds' is that they give me permission NOT try keep trying to be a virtuoso. It's not about chops, it's about Music. Transcriptions I have done reveal that you can make about 90% of Music without these levels of technique. Someone once said they had never met a player without more chops than they could use.

Assuming you already have other basses and that you can get the new one into the house unseen, then I’m a big fan of the hidden in plain sight trick (think of the scene in ET where he’s hiding in the closet amongst all the kids other toys when the mum looks in 😉). If an extra bass appearing is too obvious then use the ‘Colditz ghost prisoner’ technique where an existing bass is hidden away, say in a previously empty case (this works best if it’s the same colour). Then look for an opportunity to introduce the extra bass, for example when the wife has bought something extravagant. My wife’s penchant for expensive handbags provides me with good opportunities for this. When she says “what have you been buying now”, I just say “a new handbag dear”. Checkmate. 😂

You could always tell her about the bass and straight after tell her you doinked her best friend she will soon forget about the bass purchase then lol