Leaderboard

And the day arrives… Proper studio day. Doing all live takes today - then some overdubs for guitars. I felt the 602’s EP was too robotic and polished. I asked that we live tracked this new stuff. we’ve booked a local string quartet for some tracks and we have a Horn section doing some remote recording for us. Giddy for today. I think we’re doing 9 tracks.

... or making love to a beautiful woman, perhaps?

I recently sold a Pbass and thought I'd replace it with..........a PBass! It's a MIJ Hama Okamoto signature Precision.........who? That was my first thought too. He's the chap who has the pointy Katana as his new sig. Essentially it's a 62 reissue body, but with a jazz neck. Nice and light and the neck is a breeze to get around. I'm not too sure if the tort will stay, I'm possibly thinking anodised gold and whacking a pup cover on it too, but we'll see. I'm not sure how the chrome and gold will go together.

There I was, in the middle of a very sensible Reduction In Force (I CAN'T do justice to more than 4 basses) when up pops this beauty on eBayI've always liked this bass, and it ticked a lot of boxes for me (mahogany, semi-hollow, f-hole, Matt finish, piezo), but I felt it was overpriced. "No", says I, "be strong", then the seller dropped the price by £100! Too good to resist, so the credit card took a punch to the nose... When it arrived, I was slightly underwhelmed, but I knew I would be: I'd played two examples previously, and both were the same- the piezo just swamped the magnetic pickup, to the point where it served no purpose. The second tryout, I raised the pickup to the point where it could compete, and I could see the potential. This one, though, was the other way around, the piezo was anaemic. Also, I didn't like the fact that although the neck is subtly lined, those lines don't extend over the top. This looks nice and sleek with the binding, but the player has to lean over the fingerboard to see where he is. Also, I don't like the Chromes it came with, they always sound sterile to my ears. SO ... Sell it on, or...? Investigation in the cavity revealed a trim pot for the piezo, and the balanced sound works well. Some 'skillful' use of yellow tape on the neck: A new set of Thomastik flats, and it's become, and likely to remain, my favourite bass! It's light, balances well, has nice simple controls ( vol/ tone x2 ), and sounds just fantastic with both pickups- tight and focussed with the Bartolini, and loads of girth and texture with the piezo. I'm a happy bunny.

A small job that @vmaxblues has been patiently waiting for, while I tinkered on the dark side with the ebony 6-string and Happy Jack's Lull necks. The patiently awaited job was the refretting @vmaxblues defretted neck on his lovely Warwick. The neck had, in the past, been de-fretted and the slots lined with maple veneer - a nice job, albeit with the evidence of the tang chips at the slot edges that are unavoidable when removing frets. But well finished and sound. The temptation with fretting a lined board is always to simply use the veneer as the saw markers. The problem with a defretted-lined neck, however, is that the fret slot is usually a teeny bit wider than the veneer used to line it and so you can get slight inaccuracies - not a problem when used as a fretless, but important if it's going to return to a fretted state. So out comes the Stewmac fret calculator, sharp-nosed punch and my long steel rule to mark the fret positions at the treble and bass sides: Usually for a slotted fretboard, I would use my G&W Mitre Block - but that is only usable for unfitted boards. For this one, I had to go back to old-school methods. Using the end face of a radius block to keep the fretting saw blade vertical, I positioned the block and blade so that both punch dots disappeared under the blade width: To check the depth, I frequently checked using a tool I use to clear dust from the fret slots, now marked with a thin pen line at a depth a smidgen deeper than the fret tang: After slotting all of the positions (and yes - some of the veneer strips were indeed a teeny bit out of line) I rechecked both bass and treble sides with the steel rule and fret calculator sheet. And then time for re-fretting. @vmaxblues was happy to have my favourite fretwire - EVO Gold - which was cut to oversize length and detanged at each end. The wire I use comes in a coil and so already has the all important radius. Then - with a teeny line of wood glue along the tang - hammer one side, hammer the other, hammer the middle which, because of the radius, splays out the barbs on the tang underneath the fretboard surface and locks the frets in place. I then clamp a radius block on the fret while I move onto the next: And done, ready for levelling and recrowning: I levelled the frets with my long levelling beam and then recrowned the flattened tops with progressively fine emery and micro-web wrapped round a crowning file: Lastly, rounded the fret ends, filled the edge slots with epoxy mixed with wenge sanding dust and polished it all up: And, at last, sent it back to him

Farida. There are 2 of them - was an idea I shared with their head guy and they arrived with my name on. had them for about 12 years…

I decided today that I'd fettle my old Godin fretless as I've not played it for a while due to the fact I had a few issues with it: 1. overpowering E string. 2. treble side slightly high at bridge. 3. bad static/crackle when adjusting the sliders. 4. intermittent fault on the output. Whipped the bridge/piezo out and someone has previously fitted a nasty shim... removed and that fixed 1 & 2. Took out the preamp / EQ and cleaned the slider tracks with anti-static spray and a cotton bud (very dirty)... fixed 3. Took off the output plate/jack and hey presto a chunk of tin foil trapped in between the contacts! No idea how that got in there or why but it isn't in any more. Glad I dived in and did that as the bass plays and sounds lovely. Moral of the story; don't put off till tomorrow!

Oh dont get me started on this, absolutely boils my blood, partly because I physically can't buy a bass I want as it's not available and especially the whole lined fretless neck thing. I have no issue with people wanting to play a lined fretless bass but c'mon, at least give us the option. Fender back in the 70's released the fretless Precision and can you buy one now, nope, not unless you want a cheaper lined Squire or a super expensive high quality signature model. Absolutely nothing in between. How about Jazz basses, again, nope, not unless you want lined. I grew up listening to Pino, Sting, John Giblin (Kate Bush and Simple Minds), John Taylor (Duran Duran), Derek Forbes (Simple Minds), Paul Webb (Talk Talk), Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel), Mick Khan (Japan) to name a few and who all played unlined fretless basses. I adored their unlined fretless Fender Precisions, Stingray's, Wal's and Ibanez Musicians. I'd never even heard of Jaco until the late 90's and lined fretless basses were not even a thing. I gave up in the end and had my own necks made for my Fender's and bought a Stingray when one eventually became available. With the amount of special editions, remakes and models Fender churn out each year, I just wish they would make a bog standard US Jazz and Precision with an unlined fretless neck or at least make it an option to choose lined, unlined or fretted like a few other manufacturers offer. At least be brave and make an FSR fretless Jazz and Precision if you don't want to take too big a risk, just make sure the neck is unlined. I just think its incredibly lazy of Fender and I have predominantly played Fender's for the last 35 years. I'd love to give my money to Fender for an unlined standard fretless Jazz or Precision but sadly they don't make them and haven't for years so my money went to Ernie Ball. Rant over.

Whey! if I actually record fretless I’ll be shocked. Whenever I record fretless it makes me feel like when you hear your own singing voice - I cringe.

Had this for a while actually, but forgot to NBD it! My poor SUB, always being the base for my graphite related tinkering, after having previously had a fretted Status neck and then being returned to its OG neck for a while, I thought it would be time to experiment once more. After wanting to buy a fretless and absolutely loving the tone a fretless ray gets, I'll be ashamed to admit it took me a while to realise that I didn't have to go and buy a whole new Musicman and could just change the neck on my SUB! A fair amount of money later, this was the end result. Now, It might just be the most resonant instrument I've ever had. The whole body and neck vibrate to an incredible level (even the tech who did the work commented, stating it was probably the most resonant instrument he had worked on) and although this might not be everybody's bag, the amount of mwah out of the graphite neck is off the scale - It absolutely *sings* Tonally, with 40-95 Flatwounds, the graphite just adds to that Musicman growl. It's an incredibly pokey instrument with the tone wide open, but roll it back, and there is a lovely, soft, warmth to be had, with total articulation. I'd describe it as a live 'studio' tone. The neck profile is the typical Status (what I'd term) flat 'D'. Narrower front to back than the stock Musicman profile, with stronger 'shoulders' but the same width. I'm not going to say it's better or worse as that sort of thing is totally down to preference. I went for lightweight, black Musicman tuners to set off the whole 'dark' vibe, which had the added result of making the bass a little lighter. Thanks for listening to my mini ramble/review, I'm off to go get my Pino on! *Stomps on OC-5*

You nasty little man.

AKA a purple Warwick.

Currently in PM's with a bass seller here, and his bass, packaged , weighs 77kg. I said you mean 7.7kg ?? He insisted its 77kg. So the packaging weighs in the region of 73kg, give or take. I'm going to have to decline. My TE combo weighs half that and i can barely lift it

I should have said in my earlier post, I did play a XJ5 many moons ago at the London Bass Guitar Show. The playability seemed really nice. A comfortable neck that was just right for me i.e. on the slim side. It sounded very good through the EA amp/cabs, although there was a general racket in the room that made it less that ideal. They've been on my gas list for a long time. I really like the original Xotic design too, but you don't see them around so much.

OK. Gap Year. Stick with it. It's good. This was a memorable gig for all the most cringe of reasons. So... this was down in Cornwall on a massive private estate in the middle of nowhere. It turned out to be for the wedding of the son of a Lord (I won't divulge names as he's quite trackable). Working through some of the events of the day - 1. We were asked to get changed in the servants quarters in the house. We were told that "Tarquin" would let us in and show us to the room where we can get changed. As the good lord told us - "Tarquin. Philippino bloke... but awfully nice. He'll show you the way." I don't think Tarquin was Tarquin's real name - and I don't know why a he would be anything but awfully nice... but there you go. 2. We went off to get changed and whilst in the toilets, a tin box was noticed on top of the back of the toilet cistern. It was inscribed with William and Cathrine. After some keen googling, I found out that it was a cake tin from the Royal Wedding. That was the first indication that these folks were connected as up until this name, we only had the name of the events organiser. For anybody interested, the tin looked like this: 3. We went through the hallway (on the way to our holding room with the hired help) and the place was full of the family with their more famous family members... including one who probably wasn't sweating in the photograph and a picture of the lord with Charlie boy. As the evening progressed, we realised that we were in the company of some quite notable people... and our "warm up" act (who was providing the music during pre dinner drinks) would appear to be somebody of pop royalty (I'm shocked that they didn't just get her band to play). Anyway, that's probably a story for another day... Carrying on... 4. The marquee was built onto a hillside - a platform had been built on stilts to have the marquee on the level - but give the infinity views out the side of the marquee. Pretty impressive stuff. This marquee was absolutely massive - with large lounging areas, separate bars, the main eating area, indoor fountains... just think of something completely over the top and multiply it by ten. The band area was a separate "surprise unveiling" - in that it looked like (from the inside of the marquee) it was just the side of the marquee... but it then opened up into a.. err.. nightclub in a marquee. So this brings us to our first notable incident. We were running on a generator - presumably the same one that was powering the whole of the marquee. There was a lot to power - and probably of note was the huge chandelier and hanging illuminated pinata (but more on that later). As we soundcheck, there was what I could only describe what felt and sounded like a bomb going off. The whole ground shook and the sound was just louder than anything I'd ever heard. Everything inside power wise, was dead. We went out to the generator was located, and there we found that the top of the generator had been blown clean off. Cue the electricians (whole team of them) trying to get phone signal to source another generator. To be fair, they sorted it pretty quickly. They'd got a make shift generator running and then another lorry turned up with whatever was needed to restore power. I had thought that would be the end of events... but turned out, that was only the start of the fun. 5. We went to the catering tent - and jeez, you have seen nothing like it on this planet... Curiously enough, despite the immense catering facilities, outside the marquee, there were two complete stoners (like, obviously stoned) cooking up some dubious looking meat in a dubious, patently unsafe oven, out in the open for all to see... with their rust bucket of a van parked next to them. Clearly there was something not quite right... so being a member of the band (which gives you the right to speak to folk, right?), I struck up a conversation. Turns out these chancers were cooking the meat for one of the main courses - which I seem to recall was something rare and oxen like. I asked them how they got the gig... and apparently, the client had been ringing around catering people to see if anybody knew how to cook this thing. It would seem nobody else would go near it... but this pair told me that they had said "yes, do it all the time, no problem". I looked at him... and he pre-empting me, he responded, "yes, we've never cooked it before, but I mean, how hard can it be?". You could see and feel the tension between the catering crew and the stoners... who by the end of the night couldn't stand due to their alcohol consumption. Hilarious. From a bystanders point of view. And no, I didn't partake in the food. Come to think of it though, I can't actually recall eating anything. Probably had a bag of crisps in the van. 6. We'd all sound checked and was waiting in the house ready for "the call" after the speeches. It was delayed... and delayed... and delayed. The speeches hadn't even happened... so I went out to investigate. Turns out that the best man had told the groom not to marry the bride whilst waiting at the altar as she was only after his money. She clearly was... just after the money. He - socially awkward, dweeby, pretty ugly (trying not to be too unkind here) guy... her, super model looks but not the err... supporting pedigree shall we say. It was clear who her guests were and who the grooms were. Anyway, turns out, one of the brides friends had overheard this and told the bride. Naturally, the bride went off the hook at the groom shortly after the matrimonial vows had been exchanged. Unbeknown to us, the whole day was running late as the bride and groom had vanished and spent the day arguing in the grounds. The wedding breakfast had mostly gone ahead without the bride and groom being present. 7. Eventually, about 11 o'clock (that's PM), the speeches happened. There had been some cooling off by this point and the best man got up to do his speech. Lets just say, he started the speech with (and I paraphrase here), "it all started as an unlucky chance meeting on a gap year in Ghana where the "happy" couple met. He then proceeded to rip into the bride. The father of the bride then ripped the mic out of the best mans drunken hands and kicked him out of the marquee. Then started another half hour of chaos and guest awkwardness. The father of the groom came across to me and apologised and said he would still try and make the first dance go ahead. 8. The first dance. Probably the most memorable first dance I have ever had the (dis)pleasure of seeing. About quarter to midnight, the "nightclub" was revealed. Bride and groom were dragged onto the dance floor (literally) and told to dance as they were causing embarrassment. (I found this so funny - like the most embarrassing thing for the family at this point was the reluctance to have a first dance?! ). We played "You're Too Good To Be True". I remember this sequence of events like they were only yesterday - a - band starts b - bride and groom do nothing c - singer prompts - "this is your time to shine x and y" d - nothing e - father of groom appears with a sword f - groom puts his hands awkwardly on brides hips g - bride removes grooms hands from her hips h - bride is standing there, groom is dancing in front of her like an awkward Alan Partridge. i - father of groom gives sword to groom j - father of groom whispers in groom ear k - groom jabs heart pinata with sword l - confetti falls on the happy couple, causing the bride to roll her eyes and storm off stage m - we finished song with groom just quivering in the middle of the dancefloor, the guests having remained absolutely quiet and motionless (even whilst the band was doing the baa daa baa daa!! bit...) n - the singer turns around and asks what we should do next, we just shrug - the dancefloor is now empty and some of the guests are dispersing o - father of groom comes over to band and mimics the hand to the neck movement (cut it there) p - he speaks to me - "you're only contracted to midnight and I dont think anybody is in the mood for music anyway" q - we start packing up at about 5 minutes to midnight in absolute silence. No music, no talking, nobody in the marquee was talking. I don't think the band spoke to each other until we were all back in the van. r - father of groom gives me an envelope "for our troubles". (I should have mentioned we had already been paid up front anyway... so I think this was embarrassment money) s- we drive out the venue, having packed up, past the bride and groom who were arguing at the gate which was at the perimeter of the field we were in. We wound down the window and thanked them before wishing them a very happy life together. So yeah. that was a memorable one. I've never been paid so much for 4 minutes of playing. (If you are wondering, my rate that night for playing was £150/minute)

I'm being harsh, Jaco is awesome, but of course there are others, Pino, Tony Franklin and a whole host of others who have dabbled and come up with something beautifully creative. My point is, however, that all "budget" fretless basses appear to think we want to be Jaco clones rather than individuals. The standard is, especially for fender styled instruments, has become the stereotypical sunburst jazz bass, now usually with a lined fretless neck. I like jazz basses, I like p basses, I don't like sunburst finishes and I'd prefer a non lined neck! Arrrgh How about a simple squier pj in black with an unlined neck? Franklin style? Or a Jaco noir? Red? Natural....Surf Green?.... don't know maybe I'm on my own here. I have a tatty old hacked about ibby roadster fretless maple neck in white, it's great but I'd like to match the rest of the collection somewhat as it stands out like a sore thumb...maybe a refinish is in order.

I acquired this lovely little lot the other day: AH300 SMX, 4x8 and matching 1x15. Ultra compact cabs labelled as V-type extension - presumably for the 4808 and 115 V-type combos. I've had lots of trace rarities over the years (including a 4808 combo) but never seen either of these in the flesh before. It sounds superb! 😀 The little 8" drivers are Celestion BG8-60 units as found in the 4808 combo and early SWR Henry 8x8 cabs. They certainly punch well above their size might suggest - a lovely driver. The 15" is slightly less glamorous loaded with the C15H which is a custom version of the Celestion K series. They were in the 1153 and the 250 / 300w combos - a great sounding 15 despite only a modest spec. As a size reference, notice how big the Squier Jazz seems in the top pic and the horizontal format 400SMX / 2103H / 1153 in the lower one.. I've dubbed it the 'mighty mini rig'.. 😊

Genuine Rickenbacker basses are temporarily being allowed, but that's it. Everything else that is pulled now, will continue to be pulled. Direct answer; yes, that would have been banned before and as such it still would not be allowed.

Good job nicely done 👍

And it is spectacular! A superb job, fixed back on the bass, intonation was a dream to set. Neck plays beautifully, it is such a tidy job, all fret edges are smooth, beautifully filled, all the heights are bang on. When my beloved Ray needs the frets doing I know who I will be asking. I will take some better shots, but in the meantime, see below.

This really is a thing of beauty 👍 So pleased my son has been offered one.

Just stumbled across this old pic. I used to use this for pub gigs, humping that 810 in and out the back of my Vectra hatchback. I gave that cab away to someone on here, Bartleby I think it was. The awful Behringer unit is long gone, but I still have the ABM, it lives at our rehearsal space for times when I can’t be bothered to take my EBS TD650 to rehearsal.

Two brothers playing oud and saz supported by a drummer. Really talented.

I suspect some of this is how you were brought up, although I’m sure there are many other factors, not the least of which are time, inclination and, as already mentioned, confidence. Growing up, I don’t think I ever even saw my dad - or mum for that matter - change a plug. If anything needed doing in the house, a ‘professional’ was brought in. My partner’s family was completely different. Her dad - and mum to a lesser degree - will tackle pretty much anything, even fairly major (by my standards) building work.

The Stomp only has very few “blocks”. 1-4 of these are immediately eaten up by amp/cab blocks. If you use two amps you are also SERIOUSLY close to hitting the DSP limit. Even some single bass amp models eat up loads of DSP. If you use a complex delay or reverb block it’s gone. Add a Plethora and you have 5 more “blocks” with no DPS used.

It's just wood & wire, whether it's a £100 Harley Benton or a Fodera worth more than your house. Quite happy & confident doing setups, fret leveling/crowning, electronics (although a diagram can help!), truss rods etc. Initially from necessity based on having little cash & cheap basses, but I grew up with a can-do attitude to doing practical stuff, & quite enjoy it. Always been a little mystified by the hands-off attitude many have - although we do live in a culture where people will cheerfully pay £100 plus for a 'qualified mechanic' to pump up the tyres and tighten the cables on their pushbikes!

Lovely, and a jazz neck 👍

Rosewood, three tone sunburst, gold guard, chrome covers: Doesn't seem a change worth spending actual money on. Browsing through a Google image search, the anodized pickguards seem happier on the more muted two tone sunbursts - the bit of red in three tone seems to trump the gold. (But maybe I'm just preferring what I'm used to seeing?) Anyway, Rotosounds on that, right?

Absolutely, why don't reviews do more playing in the mix, a little pointless otherwise.

Don’t buy that for your jazz bass

No problem!...i just have to stay away from my computer at all costs , whilst i'm isolating just after being paid. Help.

The first thing I do when I buy a used instrument is strip it, clean it, then put it back together again. It gets all the old users out of the picture early on, the best for everyone. People can do stupid and often disgusting things with instruments. Never live with someone else's stupidity or bio-crud 😀

Sorry I’m a bit late, but …. we all sound the same and no one cares anyway.