Leaderboard

just finished putting this together. jazz neck, custom shop 62 pickup. 3D bridge. Flats Haven't plugged it in yet. my first p bass looked like this, includinf the schaller bridge. It's a nice weight, about 4kg I reckon. Northwest body and neck, sourced from here

Over the last few months I have been busy with a side project. I have always wanted to build the 3 Joe Strummer Telecasters (one is an Esquire to be precise) and I have now made enough progress to start showing them off a bit. The bodies need some relic work and I may change the bridge on the black one to a 3 saddle one. No idea what I will do with them when they are finished though. Jon

A detail like that never stopped the tonewood devotees! 🤣

Keep the 'Ray & the MIJ Jazz, and sell the Limelight & the '73. If your kids do grow up sufficiently wrong to want to be bass players, the last thing you'd want to do is let them loose on an original, good-condition 1973 Fender that is worth a stack of cash. Sell that to someone who will appreciate it for what it is and look after it, & if they do go mad, buy your kids a £100 Harley Benton that will play & sound about 97% as good as the Fender.

Given Jaco's strings never actually made contact with the wood of the instrument at any point, surely the type of epoxy used, how thickly it was applied and the percentage of resin to hardener is what's really important here? Jokes aside, in the video with Jerry Jemmott, Jaco sounds like Jaco playing a J bass with a fretted all-maple Precision neck. How you play is going to get you closer to the Jaco sound than any tonewood witchcraft.

Our SansAmp DI's are tube amp emulators. They are designed to sound like a vintage tube amp. They can be set totally clean or overdriven if desired. The original intent behind the design was for the product to be used like a typical direct box. You plug into the Bass Driver and the parallel (uneffected) output goes to your amp. You would use your amp as you normally would but the DI to the mixer has the ability to send your uneffected buffered signal (boring) to the board or the sound of a tube amp instead. The blend control allows you to add in the uneffected signal with the tube emulation. This is a common technique that was used in studios for years. The engineer would mic up a bass amp and take a DI of the bass and the final sound was a composite of the two sources. Somewhere along the way players started using our SansAmp's in front of their bass amps like stomp boxes. It can work either way. You just have to decide what you are trying to do. Our original Bass DI didn't even have a stomp switch or controls on the face of the unit. It looked like most direct boxes and had internal controls.

My pedalboard is finished... well for now at least!

You can't claim its science without evidence, maths or theory to back it up

Absolutely this. Great minds and all that.

So. Tomorrow the nice man in a van collects my bb1500a from the wonderful @tredderswho collected it for me from the seller who wouldn’t ship. I’m even more excited with the reports that it looks basically new, and plays perfectly. Worth the wait? We shall see…😋

A strange one for me today... A gig with band I regularly dep with, who specialise in playing Eagles / CSNY stuff. In a pub. In a Newcastle suburb. ...at 3:30pm. On a Thursday afternoon. Yep, just a normal midweek afternoon pub gig. And there were people there to watch us, too. So confusing. I was home with a Chinese for 6:30pm. Wouldn't mind doing it again sometime, actually. Anyway, this is what I used:

Yes, the sort of money that changes hands for Hifi stuff is obscene, and second only to Basschat's illustrious marketplace.

I have a TT4 passive with the Black Label pickups and I'm a big fan of that combo. Does things a J bass does very well and mine is 8lbs (3.6kgs) so very comfortable. I have V/B/T rather V/V/T as I prefer 1 volume for gigging. The pickups are quite hot but I've lowered them down a bit and the sound is sweet now.

Yeah, it was 2014 I believe, and a collection only ebay deal. Sold it for twice that some time later when between jobs, and regreted ever since.

Along with my basses, I have always liked my records. Around the time they suddenly became "vinyls" the prices shot up and I became accidentally fashionable. I kinda wish that hadn't happened, purely because it now costs me more. I don't really care about being in fashion or out of fashion - I'm 49 next month and I think I have always just done what I please for me. I like supporting the artists direct on sites like Bandcamp and the one plus side is that there have been some really colourful packages on recent releases. I still stream stuff when I work out and I like CDs in the car. I never really went in for snobbery. I like the ritual of putting an LP on. If your mega expensive Sonos reveals me to be a cloth-eared idiot, I can live with that.

Reading this part I`d say this is the one to keep: 2002 MIJ 62 RI Black Jazz bass, now with US pickups etc - my absolute favourite bass to play (and look at) - I don't think I'd ever find another as good and with such a perfect neck.... not a massive amount of money in it either.......it's a beaut. Sometimes it`s not the one that costs the most which actually has the most value, value being its meaning to the owner in this case.

Hopefully the following information will help others get paid by Greene King more promptly and avoid unnecessary frustration. Before the event, I was advised we would be paid within a couple of days. Three weeks after the event, I am still awaiting payment and have had to fight my way thru numerous steps using the Concur system. Today I obtained useful information directly from a manager at their Head Office (not Concur). All such payments go thru the Concur system, no cash, no exceptions. That said, it should be possible to get paid in about 1 week. The steps appear to be as follows: 1) Set up a supplier account in advance including your bank info (some simple verification is required). 2) Create a "Request" in advance describing what you intend to supply (a "Request is like a "Purchase Order"). 3) The "Request" should then be approved promptly by both the pub landlord (or suchlike) and then their manager. I was delayed unnecessarily by both parties and recommend strongly you insist the order is approved in advance of the event. This is an agreement between both parties to pay a sum for a service. Any suggestion that you may not turn up is nonsense as they can refuse to approve any payment later on. 4) Immediately after the gig, create an "Expense" (an Invoice) from the "Request". You need to upload an invoice which must contain the amount, same supply details, full address of both parties, invoice number, same date as the "Request" and perhaps other details. 5) Within 3 days the "Expense" should be approved by a Concur auditor. 6) The approved "Expense" should then be approved for payment by the pub landlord (or suchlike). 7) The payment should then be received shortly (after some 3 days). Lessons learned: 1) My expectations were set incorrectly. There was no way I'd be paid in a couple of days. 2) Your account and the "Request" should be set up and approved by two parties in advance - not afterwards as advised. 3) Upload a proper invoice promptly after the event to create an "Expense". 4) The system is new to Greene King and some staff are not progressing approvals in a timely manner. Don't hesitate to call Concur support or Greene King directly to chase progress. All parties, including you, have a vested interest in making the system work without unnecessary frustration and maintaining good relations.

So, getting ahead of myself here but asked my local luthier about making a '61 spec neck and here's a body he can attach it to. So, '61 neck, Walnut/mahogany body, Weather Report pickups.

I watched countless videos of single coil and double coils Ps and what sounded nicest to my ears were those with the Seymour Duncan SCPB-1, so that's what I went with in the end. No electric funny business after all, which is quite unlike me. The Warmoth stuff has been good to work with. The neck pocket is snug, though would have been too tight if I had sprayed the neck with lacquer instead of an oil finish. I've rolled the fretboard edges and had to slightly widen the output jack hole but that's the extent of the woodwork, pilot holes aside. Fret dressing and polishing was straightforward. It's coming together nicely. Schaller tuners, brass nut, old Gotoh bridge leftover from a previous upgrade to another bass, SD pickup and shielding done. Just the pots, output jack and associated control plates left to do from a functional perspective before I string it up. I'll add a bridge cover and Cabronita-style mint scratchplate for the sake of aesthetics too.

I've been enjoying playing the Bacchus I bought on here recently, so decided it was time to get an amp. I really don't need anything of this size/power, but I've had Markbass stuff before & really liked it & this was just too much of a bargain to turn down. It's a made in Italy one, in excellent condition & it's bloody lovely.

Thanks. A lot of work left to do but I’m happy with the start. Just don’t know what I will do with them. Might sell them and donate the money to Joes charity

My latest vinyl purchase. The Hobbit in 4 LPs (apparently an unabridged version would have run to 18 LPs). Who remembers Nicol Williamson? Great actor.

As I said, I agree with you about the alder wood and I think this body is going to be project B. But out of interest, I can understand this particular body not being someone's cup of tea but nice woods, ergonic shape.... horrible?!

The '73 Jazz is worth next to nothing, I mean, it's almost 50 years old. Everything wears out after that much time has elapsed. As I'm such a generous guy, I'll give you £50 for it, probably only get some of that back for scrap...

personally I'd keep the MM and the '73 as the '73 will continue to go up in value. Or just keep them all, if you don't need the money and have the space, keep 'em

Getting vinyl to sound good (if that isn't an oxymoron) is mostly down to mastering and cutting. When vinyl was the only delivery medium (compact cassettes very never really taken seriously) all the mastering and cutting engineers knew exactly what they could and couldn't get aways with to the best quality signal onto the records. Remember also that in order to press records the cut acetate goes through at least another process to create the stamper(s) and often two more for high volume runs. Because it is a mechanical process there will be a slight loss of quality with each process, so the cutting of the acetate has to be done with these losses in mind. While there are some new good cutting engineers about these days, they don't handle the sheer volume of work that was being done in the 60s and 70s (backlogs are mostly in the pressing plants rather than the cutting rooms) and there are no well-known names like Porky (George Peckham) and Bilbo (Dennis Blackham) who back in the day were probably as important as the musicians and the producer of the records that they cut. When I looked at my record collection in the early 80s nearly every disc was either a "Porky Prime Cut" or a "Bilbo Bopper". There is also the problem that masters for vinyl, CD and digital downloads (and cassette should you be hipster enough) all require different techniques, and there is no "one size fits all" master that will make the best of each delivery medium. I think also that for a lot of consumers vinyl is an artefact rather than a music delivery medium, and will never get played. I have on a couple of occasions toyed with the idea of releasing an album on vinyl, which would simply be cheap second hand records with new sleeves and labels. I wonder how long it would be before someone complained that the record didn't contain the music it was supposed to?

Colour coordinates with your cats nicely too.

Specialised CD transport mechanisms are a complete con. All the data off the CD gets read into a buffer first to allow for the error correction, so any talk of minimising digital jitter and the like is bollox. So long as the drive spins at approximately the correct speed and the DACs are decent you won't hear any difference between a cheap CD player and an expensive one.

I’ve always loved vinyl but a lot of that love is nostalgia. In the days before Napster then the likes of Spotify the only way to find more obscure artists and recordings would be to trawl backstreet independent shops and occasionally find something special. It was fun and made the music more special for the effort. Then there was the entire ritual of the care of the records and selection of what to listen to. Digital music has provided an infinite jukebox and endless choice. It’s simple, convenient but like fast food somehow insubstantial and lacking any “soul”. Edit: I like to think that the resurgence of Vinyl is a new generation looking for this reconnection with music making it a little less instant and more tangible. It’s hard for something to be special when it’s just a bunch of 1s and 0s in the either.

I grew up with vinyl so for me it's a nostalgic thing, so I'm a bit biased. To be honest I don't care which medium (cd, tape, vinyl! Blah blah) is the ultimate, so long as it's good enough. Hell, mostly I play spotify download through a getto blaster with no stereo separation, so that's my benchmark. But I like the physicality of vinyl, the fact that I'm not going to randomly skip tracks and listen to at least half an album before switching off. It's literally a more physical medium. And there's more room on an album cover art!

I love the sound of vinyl, but as I haven't owned a turntable since the 80s I have to make do with listening to MP3s while the missus is fryng some bacon to get the same effect.

I love playing vinyl, I love picking up old original jazz records and listening to them how they were originally intended. They sound absolutely fabulous on my system, warm, rich and full of character. To me this is what vinyl is all about. I don't really buy any new releases as it's a bit pointless but I have bought a few older 80' albums or some of the half speed remaster's and they have sounded great.

When I was buying vinyl around the late 80s I found that the quality had already begun to diminish where what was for sale was cheap wobbly plastic. This was compared to the old 60s and 70s vinyl I inherited from family members who no longer listened to records. Most of what I have been buying has been on at least 180gsm vinyl so it's super thick. Once you squeezed too many tracks onto one side of a record the quality diminished as well as the grooves couldn't be deep enough so there wasn't as much bass as there should have been. Again, some recent reissues have been spread over two discs rather than the original one. A lot of the reissues are also remasters so they're not just the same as what you'd buy on a CD. Having said that there are releases that sound terrible and that haven't had anything done to them to make them sound decent. One of my favourite Genesis albums is Duke so I bought that on vinyl - it's completely bereft of the fantastic grinding bass on Behind the Lines that is on the CD and MP3 releases. Conversely Mother's Milk by the Chilis is incredible. The first time I listened to it I could hear a lot more on the vinyl than I could on the CD and the quality is superb. Same with Fragile by Yes. Personally, I listen to MP3s about 80% of the time. I might stick on a CD once or twice a month. Vinyl is more about the experience than anything else. I love to make myself a big pot of coffee and just sit and chill listening to an album. I find it very therapeutic

As a consumer: A nicely designed 12" album sleeve and all the other associated packaging is a thing of beauty. Unfortunately the lump of plastic inside which contains the important part (the music) is more fragile and sonically inferior to a properly mastered CD. Vinyl is a lot better quality these days than than the crap we were being sold from the mid 70s onwards, but I'd still rather have a CD from a musical PoV. As a musician: I will make my music available in whatever format my audience wants. Last time I looked (about 5 years ago), for an album, vinyl wasn't significantly more to produce than CDs (for quantities of 500+) but the lead times were fairly horrific, and from what I have seen they have only got worse.

So having been let down by DPD picking tue bass up on Tuesday I decided to take a look at the Kiloton to see if I could work out what on earth was going on and whether it was a quick fix. Turns out it was a very poorly cut nut, which in a new bass that cost a lot is frankly unacceptable. Anyway, a bit of superglue/baking soda mix and all is well. The retailer was kind enough to pay for the cost of a new nut and all is well. It plays beautifully but I'm annoyed that a US G&L shouldn't be anything other than perfect. On that subject, compared to my recently purchased SB-1, there's a marked difference in feeling of overall quality and this one came with polishing powder marks on the fingerboard (soon resolved) and but the overall finish of the chrome definitely feels diminished. Not sure if it's just a one-off or whether G&L is experiencing production issues. All that said, it's still a fine bass but disappointing nonetheless.

Spector fans, decided to thin the Spector herd. Both my 2018 Forte 4 in Vintage Tint Ash (only two were ever made in this finish, PJ Rubal has the other one) and my 2021 NS-2 in lava burst (well, that's what I call it anyway ;- ) are on their way out. Both are in "as new" condition as they have never left my living room and I only played them a few times each. I won't put them on BC, reverb, ebay etc. as I don't have the time to deal with all the hassle. However, I am always happy to hear from a fellow Spector friend from this thread (and I only mention it here). Think of getting them to BD by the end of next week the latest. So, let me know via PM if you are interested before I send them to BD and save yourself some quid before you buy them from BD anyway 😉

So the provenance is that in 1968 someone in a shop told the current owner that John Entwistle pxd this bass. And the bass itself has been refinished, repaired and modified, so it's compromised as a vintage instrument in its own right. 1968 is a long time ago and people's recollections can be unreliable, as can the information they were given at that time. I am sure that the seller is sincere in his belief that this instrument is as described, but for ten grand you need to be able to prove what you say, or else find a very trusting buyer. If I were in the market for a vintage Precision Bass I would pass on this one for all the obvious reasons, especially if I was after a celebrity-owned example. I remember going to the Bass Center back in the 1980s and they had several of John Entwistle's basses for sale, complete with signed certificates of authenticity. And they were reasonably priced from what I remember. Back in those days I wanted a shiny brand new bass with active electronics, and I thought to myself that if John Entwistle didn't want these basses why would I have them palmed off on me? In retrospect, that might not have been my best ever decision.